Entries tagged as 'gps'
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Posted Thursday, 10 July 2008
The first reviews of the iPhone 3G are coming in, and they are less than glowing. Two of the reviewers are iPhone users who have been using new 3G models provided by Apple for a while.
Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal likes the iTunes App store and 3G bandwidth, but he did not like the shorter battery life. During one day of testing, his iPhone ran out of power.
Mossberg also notes that the AT&T’s new data plan pricing means that the iPhone 3G is more expensive than its predecessor. His article called Newer, Faster, Cheaper iPhone 3G has a video review, and a good amount of detail.
David Pogue of the New York Times has his review in an article called For iPhone, the ‘New’ is Relative. Pogue seems to agree with Mossberg that current iPhone owners shouldn’t rush to the store for a new iPhone.
There’s still no voice dialing, video recording, copy-and-paste, memory-card slot, Bluetooth stereo audio or phone-to-phone photo sending (MMS).
Upgrading to the iPhone 2.0 firmware will provide access to official applications, along with many of the software tweaks in the 3G model like Microsoft Exchange support. The firmware won’t make an old iPhone use 3G frequencies or upgrade an old unit’s psuedo-GPS, however.
I’m less interested in getting an iPhone now, and more interested in looking at an iPod Touch, the WiFi-only cousin of the iPhone. The Touch won’t make phone calls, but I can buy an old unit and add the iPhone 2.0 firmware for $10, or just buy a new model.
Want to see the insides of an iPhone 3G? iFixIt from New Zealand has posted plenty of pictures. At least the battery is no longer soldered onto the board connections!
Image courtesy of dotmotion through a Creative Commons license.
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Posted Thursday, 3 July 2008
Bruce Schneier published an article in Wired called I’ve Seen the Future, and It Has a Kill Switch. I agree with his basic premise - it’s a dangerous idea to include a kill switch in a networked device. It’s difficult to keep a determined cracker out of a well-defended network. It’s ludicrous to design a device that can disabled by remote control.
OnStar call representatives can bring a stolen vehicle to a slow and gentle halt by remotely disabling the car’s fuel system. Information Week article called Stop Thief!.
So how long will it take before someone tries to shut down an OnStar vehicle, just to show they can do it?
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Posted Monday, 9 June 2008
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Apple has unveiled the iPhone 3G, which I had been calling iPhone 2.0.
- The new iPhone will support 3G data connections, which should provide faster service when users cannot access a WiFi network. Om Malik thinks that some carriers, including AT&T, may not be ready, which I find hard to believe.
- 11 July 2008 is the first day of sale in the US and several other countries, with availability in 70 countries by 2009.
- The new iPhone is slightly thinner, so it should fit inside current cases and accessories.
- The back of the phone is black plastic. Bye-bye, aluminum metal back.
- The headphone jack is no longer recessed, so almost any standard headphone should work.
- The US price has been lowered to $199 for 8GB, $299 for 16GB of RAM. There must be some factories in China that are humming with activity this summer.
- The new iPhone firmware supports Chinese character recognition.
- The new iPhone will have true GPS features.
- Enterprises will be apple to authorize iPhones and to write enterprise applications that are restricted to company phones.
- The iPhone 3G will work with Microsoft Exchange 2003 and 2007 servers.
- The .mac email and file sharing service has been renamed to MobileMe, and given better compatibility with Windows machines
- Steve Jobs claims the iPhone 3G will have decent battery life, with 300 hours of standby time, 10 hours of 2G voice, 5 hours of 3G voice, and about 6 hours of web browsing.
Engadget has a live transcript of the announcement. I enjoyed reading BoingBoing’s satirical version, written as a Greek drama.
Om Malik has a recap that focuses on the entertainment and social networking apps and sites for the new iPhone.
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Posted Wednesday, 4 June 2008
As the rumors swirl about a new iPhone model, there’s speculation that the phone will include a GPS chipset. The original iPhone simulated GPS though some Google technology, as described in this Business Week article by Arik Hesseldahl. He believes that Apple might wait on true GPS, and add it to the 3rd generation iPhone in 2009.
I think that we will see a GPS-enabled iPhone this month. Om Malik claims the new iPhone will have new GPS capabilities because of FCC regulations. Emergency 911 services are just one way that GPS can help mobile phone users.
Google engineers have been working hard on the company’s Android platform for mobile phones. This is a Linux-based system that can be used in a wide ranges of devices, from low-power basic models to CPU-intensive touch screen devices.
It’s about advertising revenue
Google, Apple and advertisers really want mobile phones to produce ongoing revenue streams, and the easiest way to do that is by placing advertising on the devices.
The Android platform will let Google serve ads onto these phones in a seamless, personalized manner. GPS chips help content providers find and serve appropriate ads based on the user’s location.
Apple and Google saw early indications that users wanted accurate location-based mobile services within the first 3 months of iPhone service in the US, according to another Om Malik article. Google Maps usage on iPhones rose quickly, while YouTube usage lagged.
The first generation iPhone suffers from its slow EDGE connection to AT&T’s network. Users want to access location-based services when they are on the move, away from WiFi networks. YouTube is a connection-intensive application, and a good indicator of user acceptance for bandwidth-intensive, media-rich location-based service.
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Posted Sunday, 18 May 2008
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I’ve been writing articles about the iPhone since the device was announced in January 2007.
billso.com uses the WPtouch plugin to provide iPhone and iPod touch users with a touch-friendly interface, search and menus.
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