iPhone 3G/MobileMe Launch

noel · Post by **noel** » July 11, 2008, 5:53 pm

I'd already made the decision to hold off on getting one (variety of factors including the free crackberry I already have and the battery life of the iPhone 3G), but I can say this:

The release of the 3G has been an unmitigated disaster.

Many people aren't able to activate their phones at all (no calls etc.)

Many people with first-gen phones at iPod Touches are not able to upgrade to the 2.0 software.

The transition from .mac to MobileMe (me.com) was supposed to have occurred 2 days ago, and the site is still not 100% operating.

I like Apple and their products, but this just goes to show all the Apple and Linux-loving MS-haters out there that it's a lot different when all the spotlight is on you. Apple's always been the 'cute' alternative to Windows. Now they're at center stage and they're fucking up horribly on a product, service and back-end server front. I have no doubt that all of this will be resolved shortly, but this has been a horrible launch and rollout of services for a highly touted, hyped and anticipated product.

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » July 11, 2008, 6:05 pm

It was a pretty much a national holiday in Japan!

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » July 11, 2008, 6:19 pm

What I find amazing is that Apple didn't learn from last year's launch and went ahead and repeated it.

noel · Post by **noel** » July 11, 2008, 7:31 pm

I don't agree with that at all. Certainly there were problems the last time they did this, but nothing compared to what they've got going on now.

There were far fewer problems last year than this year because of the degree to which they've compounded it.

MobileMe is now working fine as of 2 hours ago or so.

But the simultaneous release of the 2.0 software for the old models, and the 3G with their idiotic activation bullshit (which has already been jailbroken) was really unnecessary. They should have turned on MobileMe a week ago or more. Released the 2.0 software to the old models a week ago or more and then had their Launch. That way the problems would have been limited to a single front at a time.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » July 12, 2008, 12:01 am

I'm pretty damn sure I am returning my Instinct, and I will probably see about switching to the iPhone. A coworker with the original model bricked his phone today...well, it wasn't really "bricked" as it still worked, but it erased all of his info on it. The good thing, from what he told me, was that the information gets backed up prior to the "upgrade" being installed, so he will be able to restore it once the "upgrade" is fixed.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » July 12, 2008, 12:40 am

I read about this yesterday and was surprised not to see a big post by Winnow all about it. Come to think of it, Sony had an extremely shitty PS3 patch that caused major headaches last week and I didn't see a post by Winnow about that either.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » July 12, 2008, 12:49 am

I have firmware 2.0 on my iTouch.

This is supposed to cost something I think for iTouch owners but following this thread:

http://www.ipodtouchfans.com/forums/sho ... hp?t=77642

(may have to be registered to see it)

I was able to restore my jailbroken iTouch to Firmware 1.1.4, download the new 2.0 firmware off Pirate Bay:

http://thepiratebay.org/tor/4287908/iPo ... store.ipsw

and then restore 2.0 to my iTouch. I'm looking at the App store right now. (you need to upgrade to iTunes 7.7 before you do anything with the firmware stuff)

So my iTouch is no longer Jailbroken but who cares now that it has access to extra apps the iPhone has (stocks, weather, maps, etc) and access to the 500+ (some free, some pay) apps on iTunes. Nice, I guess they're not too stressed about people upgrading their iTouch without paying.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » July 12, 2008, 1:27 am

I figure I will leave my Touch jailbroken if I get the iPhone. Not sure if I would jailbreak the phone.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » July 12, 2008, 1:54 am

Boogahz wrote:I figure I will leave my Touch jailbroken if I get the iPhone. Not sure if I would jailbreak the phone.

I dunno, there are some great free apps on iTunes that I'm checking out right now. I can't think of anything I'm missing from the jailbreak apps that I used. I think 2.0 is already jailbroken anyway. It's just a matter of a few days for the peeps to port it so you can do it from windows.

You can take a screenshot in 2.0 by pressing the sleep and home button at the same time. It saves right to you photos and then you can easily email it to yourself.

Here's the fresh install, except for the Remote App which I installed already before taking the shot:

That remote app is pretty cool. It doesn't stream your iTunes library to your portable but it lets you use your iphone/Touch as a fancy remote to play songs and videos in iTunes on your computer. It has limited use but might be cool if laying in bed or something and you don't feel like getting up to change your lists, video, etc.

BTW, I recommend mippin.com for anyone with a cell phone/PDA Internet browser. It works great with Instinct and iTouch/Phone.

What it does is collect a shitload of good news sites, organizes and formats them well for your mobile browser.

Here's what it looks like. I don't think you even have to register to use it.

There's a lot more news sites in each category accessed by scrolling down like normal.

The gaming category shown above has around 45 sites for example.

Last two screens are from Kotaku news feed.

It's a great news site and the search window works well for finding stories if you don't want to browse and have something specific in mind for a news search.

Just enter http://mippin.com in your mobile browser and you'll get there. If you click it here it doesn't show the search page but lets you "mobilize" a site.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » July 12, 2008, 4:21 pm

I was on the phone with my cousin in Japan yesterday.. He went along with his friend to get one (they actually sat in line overnight). There were insane lines like this everywhere in Japan, but him and his friend managed to get in like 6th spot in line. Well, the lines got so big for this goddamn phone there that they ended up doing a lottery system and drawing the names of people in line that would get the opportunity to buy one, instead of going in order of who got there first.

He got it home and I guess it ended up being almost 24 hours before he got the thing working at all, and at that point he still couldn't even make a call.

Not a very good launch, and to think a few days ago I (of all people) was just telling someone that when the new 3G iPhone came out it would likely be the best phone out in the U.S.

Fash · Post by **Fash** » July 12, 2008, 4:26 pm

I guess you should have said that about 48 hours after it came out it would likely be the best phone out in the U.S.

I haven't had any interest in the iPhone, due to the vendor lockin... but, I have been thinking about getting a second phone, and I can't seem to find my iTouch... hmm.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » July 12, 2008, 9:47 pm

Aura Feint is a great freebie game:

http://aurorafeint.com/

valryte · Post by **valryte** » July 15, 2008, 1:42 am

fkn AT&T wants an additional $200 (so $500) from me to upgrade to an iPhone....I need to tap my Apple connections, see what falls off the tree...

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » July 15, 2008, 9:16 am

Isn't that fairly normal for upgrades with current carriers? I know that I was basically told that when I was grilling a rep on what to expect if/when I bought the Samsung Instinct and decided to get a different phone down the road.

valryte · Post by **valryte** » July 15, 2008, 8:40 pm

Except, it costs $175 to just cancel AT&T. First, they want $25 more than what it costs to cancel. Second, if I'm paying a fee that is as much a cancelling, I might as well look at other carriers and possibly switch. If it were 75 or even 100 more then it would be ok, but the same or more than what it costs to cancel is ridiculous and makes no sense.

Truant · Post by **Truant** » July 15, 2008, 9:58 pm

It makes total sense. Phones are status symbols now, much like cars. The iPhone is the 'it' phone, and AT&T has exclusivity to it. Therefore they can charge whatever they want, and people will pay it...because people 'need' to have that phone. People that can't reasonably afford to get that phone will do so anyways...because their self image is based upon their possessions, and as stated above having an iPhone makes you cool/attractive/respectible/(whatever other delusion) to your peers. (there are other reasons that make an iPhone attractive to certain customers, but those reasons, and those customers are not the majority/mainstream target market)

Look at the RAZR when it came out. People paid $300 for a phone (shitty one at that) because it was the coolest thing to have.

So, you should say you don't like it, or you don't agree...but don't say it doesn't make sense, because it makes perfect ~~cents~~ sense.

If you want to cancel and switch carriers, go right ahead...but they know that people who want an iPhone won't, because you can't get an iPhone anywhere else.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » July 15, 2008, 10:07 pm

Truant wrote:Phones are status symbols now, much like cars.

That's one of the saddest statements I've ever read. Who gives 2 shit about somebody else's cell phone? I mean, really. Am I just old and getting out of the loop? I've never met anyone that cared anywhere near that level about a cell phone.

Post by **Xouqoa** » July 15, 2008, 11:03 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote:That's one of the saddest statements I've ever read. Who gives 2 shit about somebody else's cell phone? I mean, really. Am I just old and getting out of the loop? I've never met anyone that cared anywhere near that level about a cell phone.

You might be surprised!

Just the other day I caught Truant trying to have iSex with my iPhone. True story.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » July 16, 2008, 12:24 am

Fairweather Pure wrote:
Truant wrote:Phones are status symbols now, much like cars.
That's one of the saddest statements I've ever read. Who gives 2 shit about somebody else's cell phone? I mean, really. Am I just old and getting out of the loop? I've never met anyone that cared anywhere near that level about a cell phone.

Agreed.

Truant · Post by **Truant** » July 16, 2008, 3:28 am

Fairweather Pure wrote:
Truant wrote:Phones are status symbols now, much like cars.
That's one of the saddest statements I've ever read. Who gives 2 shit about somebody else's cell phone?

Honestly, I feel the same way about houses, cars, clothes, watches, whatever. I honestly couldn't give a shit what someone else has, or how mine measures up against it.
Regardless, just because you, or I, don't care about that sort of thing doesn't mean that those things still aren't considered status symbols by the majority of our society.

However, from a marketing standpoint, it's a company's wet dream.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » July 16, 2008, 4:26 am

I don't know about that. I mean, a status symbol is easy to see. Hell, in many cases they're meant to be seen. With a phone... well, who looks at the phones people are using? Who really cares that much about phones? Your hand covers them up anyway. I don't really understand how anyone could even show them off without looking painfully stupid as they try and get everyone to notice their phone, and that's the furthest from cool anyone can get.

I guess anything can be seen as a status symbol. I just think a phone is one of the worst examples.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » July 16, 2008, 1:39 pm

Unfortunately, the iPhone is the best data/browsing phone out there as well as being the "it" phone.

Sucks.

I still haven't decided on whether I'm getting one. Playing around on the touch with the apps to see how much I'd use them.

Syenye · Post by **Syenye** » July 16, 2008, 5:28 pm

I switched from a Blackjack II. The browsing is way better, but I still can't type on it very well. It's taking me a while to get used to it.

I waited in line so long that the servers were running smoothly by the time I got one.

noel · Post by **noel** » July 16, 2008, 9:01 pm

Truant wrote:It makes total sense. Phones are status symbols now, much like cars. The iPhone is the 'it' phone, and AT&T has exclusivity to it. Therefore they can charge whatever they want, and people will pay it...because people 'need' to have that phone. People that can't reasonably afford to get that phone will do so anyways...because their self image is based upon their possessions, and as stated above having an iPhone makes you cool/attractive/respectible/(whatever other delusion) to your peers. (there are other reasons that make an iPhone attractive to certain customers, but those reasons, and those customers are not the majority/mainstream target market)

Look at the RAZR when it came out. People paid $300 for a phone (shitty one at that) because it was the coolest thing to have.

So, you should say you don't like it, or you don't agree...but don't say it doesn't make sense, because it makes perfect ~~cents~~ sense.

If you want to cancel and switch carriers, go right ahead...but they know that people who want an iPhone won't, because you can't get an iPhone anywhere else.

While I don't disagree with your overall point for a lot of people, I think you're denigrating the iPhone which is not only a cool phone to have, but a really full featured, good phone to have. Sure there are people that act like sheep, but a lot of them are acting like that in this case because there's some real substance behind the phone this time.

Truant · Post by **Truant** » July 16, 2008, 11:25 pm

Oh I agree with you completely Noel, and I didn't mean to discredit the phone itself. I think the phone is absolutely badass, but it would be foolish for me to get one as I would only be able to use a small portion of it's functionality. And I think that many who purchase this phone are in the same boat, but they'll buy the phone anyways (and pay those fees Valryte was so upset about).

noel · Post by **noel** » July 17, 2008, 1:24 am

Roger that.

It's just under $2k after the second year assuming you go with the cheapest plan and don't add SMS. Maybe if you have a cell bill coming in regularly that's not a big deal, but given that my crackberry is free, I'm just gonna sit on the sidelines and drool. Maybe I'll get an iTouch when the updated models come out. /sigh

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » July 17, 2008, 1:55 am

I'm having a hard time justifying an iPhone.

Basically, I already have full access to the internet at work (high speed remote access to my home PC) and I'm just not out and about enough to need internet access other times. When I'm out, I move with a purpose and hate lines so don't wait in them unless absolutely required. (DMV or something)

So, while in my car, the hour I spend commuting each day, I can't surf but can use the iTouch (or Fatty) to listen to podcasts. Same deal at lunch when I'm driving or eating. I don't need to surf at lunch because I've been surfing all morning at work and will surf all afternoon barring any stupid meetings..

On top of that, I barely use my cell phone for voice so I'd be shelling out $2K over two years for not much return in entertainment/use. That doesn't mean I still won't get one but it certainly doesn't make sense except for getting rid of one item I have to carry (other phone).

If the situation was different at work, I'd be all over an iPhone or possibly some sort of mini tablet type thing with a data connection.

-----

As for the iPhone being a status symbol, I could care less. It's all about me! If it will satisfy a need, I get it. And if clothes are a status symbol, I'm at the bottom of that ranking as well. The coolest thing I had on me lately was when I was carrying around a Wolverine Pez dispenser right after I bought it until I got back to the car.

noel · Post by **noel** » July 17, 2008, 9:44 am

I totally agree. The main thing for me is to have a smaller sized device with some meaningful browser and application capability.

The iPhone does that on a level that the blackberry (as good as it is) just doesn't match.

Post by **Sylvus** » July 17, 2008, 11:08 am

I would just like to agree that the iPhone is definitely a status symbol for a large number of people. In my opinion, that's a major component of Apple's whole marketing strategy for virtually all of their products: making them status symbols. I've had more people, strangers included, get their iPhone out to "show me something" than all other types of phones combined. And while the iPhone may do things better than other phones, it certainly doesn't do anything that other phones cannot do (please note that's hyperbole, it probably has some featureset that other phones don't, but I'm speaking more of playing music/viewing pictures or video/surfing the internet/etc).

That said, I think I still want an iPhone.

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » July 17, 2008, 12:01 pm

As a carrier, Verizon just works way way better where I live. I imagine that 99% of my life is spent in a 40 mile radius of my home and both voice and data reception are leaps and bounds better in this location than any other carrier. For that reason alone, I have to look for iPhone alternatives. The window for my additional phone discount for my 2 year loyalty ends this month and I still have no idea what I'm going to get. I have an LG 8300 and I'm probably going to end up with an 8350 for $20 when all is said and done. I don't text but I would like to check e-mail on the go. It's almost depressing really. Maybe I'll get the BB Pearl. eecchh it's irratating

noel · Post by **noel** » July 17, 2008, 12:34 pm

Sylvus wrote:I've had more people, strangers included, get their iPhone out to "show me something" than all other types of phones combined. And while the iPhone may do things better than other phones, it certainly doesn't do anything that other phones cannot do (please note that's hyperbole, it probably has some featureset that other phones don't, but I'm speaking more of playing music/viewing pictures or video/surfing the internet/etc).

To your first point, I'd have to say: "Because they can and because it's no longer a hassle to do so on their phone" It's far quicker to display photos on the iPhone, easier to get to, easier to navigate through, and the display is better than any other phone I'm aware of.

To your second point: There's no better browser on any phone that I'm personally aware of. Even though it's Safari (there are disadvantages to it not being Firefox or IE you're well aware of), it still performs better and makes pages far more readable than any other phone on the market. People have often raised the criticism that all they want is a phone and they don't care about all of the ancillary features. I'd offer that the ancillary features are the selling point and the phone is an add-on. The paradigm (for all phone manufacturers) is shifting and the iPhone is at the forefront pushing that change.

Very clearly if a phone is only offered by one carrier and if that carrier sucks in your area, it's not an option. I think we've covered that.

Also there's this:

Appleinsider wrote:iPhone 3G clarifications: battery life, GPS, office apps

By Aidan Malley
Published: 06:15 PM EST
Apple itself is setting the record straight and says that iPhone 3G's GPS mapping unit is as powerful as in dedicated devices. Also, cut-and-paste is still a possibility, and outside testers have found the iPhone's battery life the best in its class.

Contradicting claims by the New York Times' David Pogue, who was told by Apple that iPhone 3G's GPS chip is too small to work for turn-by-turn navigation, Apple product chief Greg Woswiak tells ExtremeTech that the hardware is just as capable as in other GPS-aware phones, many of which provide live driving directions.

Instead, the lack of an existing program from Apple or someone else to handle real-time road navigation is due to "complicated issues," according to the executive. He expects full navigation functionality to be expanded once developers are given more time.

"It will evolve," Joswiak says. "I think our developers will amaze us."

At least two veteran companies of the GPS industry, TeleNav and TomTom, have already said they are developing fuller navigation software than what's offered with the iPhone edition of Google Maps.

As for other features on the iPhone wish list, many of these are limited more by time and current implementation, according to Joswiak. A long-requested ability to cut and paste, among other features, is said to be absent only because Apple had to prioritize which features it added to the iPhone 2.0 firmware and iPhone 3G before launch. The official doesn't say if or when the feature would be implemented.

Office suites are possible on iPhones but are limited as "there's no cross-application file structure," he says, creating a fenced-off environment where the resulting content can't be shared between other iPhone apps.

Separately, PC World argues that claims of short battery life are also misleading. The publication agrees that Apple's call time on 3G is much shorter than the 10 hours promised on normal GSM phone networks but has run tests it says show iPhone 3G to be the longest-lived of the 3G cellphones in its class, which includes both smartphones and high-end media phones.

In a calling test, the Apple device exceeded Apple's own estimates and lasted for five hours and 38 minutes and just edges out the Samsung Instinct by five minutes -- a statistic which doesn't factor in the need for legacy voice support on the Instinct and other phones for CDMA-based cellular networks.

The next-closest device with comparable 3G technology to iPhone was HTC's Touch DUAL slider, which lasted 20 minutes less. In return, Palm's smartphones typically performed the worst, with the Treo 750 lasting just three hours and 53 minutes on AT&T's network.

Critics also frequently overlook some of the technical limits of these devices, says the magazine's Yardena Arar. Aside from the call quality difference, the HSDPA (High Speed Packet Download Access) technology used for 3G on AT&T's network allows iPhone 3Gs or similar devices to access the Internet while taking calls, a feat which is still impossible with CDMA-based 3G phones for networks such as Sprint and Verizon. Still, Arar says, that may be cold comfort for those expecting their earlier battery life.

"The good news for 3G iPhone owners is that they're probably better off than other 3G handset owners in terms of battery life," he says. "But that won't help when your 3G iPhone stops running at the end of a long and busy day."

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » July 17, 2008, 12:51 pm

Speaking as an Apple hater, the iPhone/Touch's browser kicks the shit out of any other browser available on a cell phone. My goal with a mobile browser is to access the data as quickly as possible (through the UI) and have it presented in as viewable/readable a format as possible on a small screen.

On top of that, the new Apps (free) available for various news are very well done. The combination of a powerful processor, touch screen (with the two finger zoom/spinning, etc), along with the auto portrait/landscape rotate, etc etc etc, makes the iPhone/Touch the best.

Personally, I can't tell what kind of phone someone has unless I'm standing right beside them and I don't really like to stand next to people and don't live in a city where I have to cuddle up to strangers on a subway or something.

Still, for the reasons listed above, I think some people might like the iTouch better. For music/podcasts/video, it's outstanding. (except for codec support)

Don't forget, the iPhone doesn't have stereo bluetooth which is retarded. I still laugh at the iPod commercials that glorify the headphone wires by making them glow neon and fly around as the hipsters dance. Fuck that.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » July 17, 2008, 1:13 pm

I don't even own a cell phone. Not sure where that ranks me!

Post by **Sylvus** » July 17, 2008, 1:13 pm

noel wrote:To your second point: There's no better browser on any phone that I'm personally aware of. Even though it's Safari (there are disadvantages to it not being Firefox or IE you're well aware of), it still performs better and makes pages far more readable than any other phone on the market. People have often raised the criticism that all they want is a phone and they don't care about all of the ancillary features. I'd offer that the ancillary features are the selling point and the phone is an add-on. The paradigm (for all phone manufacturers) is shifting and the iPhone is at the forefront pushing that change.

No no no... I wasn't disputing the iPhone's superiority in all of it's functionality. I was stating that people will bust out an iPhone to show me a picture of their dog, or a funny link they read today, or to play me their favorite song or yadda yadda yadda. Things that they always could have done, perhaps it would have taken them .75 more seconds to get to on a different phone, yet they didn't do before. It was only to reinforce the fact that many people view phones as status symbols, and the iPhone is to cellphone status as Jordache is to jeans. Well, perhaps I'm using an outdated analogy, but you understand what I'm saying.

While people on this message board may be above status symbols, they are still very alive and well, and phones are easily near the top of the list of things that people use as status symbols, these days.

I think the iPhone is great from a purely utilitarian standpoint. But it's also a much more portable version of my large collection of leatherbound books and my apartment that smells of rich mahogany.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » July 17, 2008, 1:18 pm

Aslanna wrote:I don't even own a cell phone. Not sure where that ranks me!

My 88 year old grandmother has a cell phone and so does my 10 year old sister. I would say you rank somewhere around "Amish".

noel · Post by **noel** » July 17, 2008, 1:28 pm

Sylvus wrote:
noel wrote:But it's also a much more portable version of my large collection of leatherbound books and my apartment that smells of rich mahogany.

I think I used to live in that apartment right before I moved to the mansion recently seen on Entourage.

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » July 17, 2008, 1:51 pm

I have rich mahogany right now.

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » July 17, 2008, 2:59 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote:
Aslanna wrote:I don't even own a cell phone. Not sure where that ranks me!
My 88 year old grandmother has a cell phone and so does my 10 year old sister. I would say you rank somewhere around "Amish".

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » August 13, 2008, 1:15 pm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26164307/

Best Buy to sell iPhones starting September 7th.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » December 6, 2008, 4:05 pm

There's been talk of the iPhone on this thread as being a status symbol. While that has some merit due to Apple being so cultish and their ability to sucker fanbois in with dumb commercials, I've been using the iPhone for the past few weeks and have a few things to say about it.

I've officially changed my rating of Apple from sucking to neutral due to my experiences with the iPhone. My hate for Apple is mellowed by how fucking awesome the iPhone is.

I've owned the iThouch for a long time and it was nice but wasn't enough to make me not want to beat random Apple fanbois on the street. With the speedy 3G net applications of the new iPhone, that's changed. I have a simple black grippy rubber 9.99 case for my iPhone that makes it very inconspicuous and I don't whip it out in front of people to use so the status part means shit to me. Here's why I am so content with it though.

iStockMnger: FREE

This app is amazing. It allows me to log into my AmeriTrade account. That in itself is cool but the app is so well written with live streaming quotes, level II (if you subscribe to them or get them for free like me for having premium account (making a lot of trades)...only $10/month if not), able to see your current open orders, make new orders, modify orders, click on your various positions and buy/sell them immediately with very easy ways to adjust the number of shares, change type (market, limit, extended hours, etc etc). You can add as many stocks to watch as you like, toggle between percentage and actual gains/losses, have your account balance displayed on the top being actively updated.

Here's a few screens:

Front page shows live balance at top, just click the green(or red) to toggle between % gain/loss and actual gain/loss. Watch list also shows bid/ask below and above the current price which is nice.

Balance and position screens show your account values. The positions screen (not shown) allows you to quickly click and modify (buy sell, change standing orders of existing positions)

Click on the stock symbol to get to the screens below:

Level II not showing much as these are examples I made while market was closed. Whenever you're on a particular stock, there's a "Trade me" button in the upper right corner.

Charting is basic but looks decent and is readable. News is up to date. (I'm scrolled down on the news in screenshot resulting in 15 day old news)

Here's an example open order. You can click on it and modify quickly as seen below:

The +1,+10,+500 (and corresponding -'s) make it easy to adjust existing shares and prices. You can also type in data directly using the keypad. The scroll wheels at the bottom make it very easy to change your order type.

-----

I've made several trades and modified a few using this method and it's as fast as if I were on the main AmeriTrade site. I've placed orders and then watched on my PC as the orders go through on the "last trade" window. it's instant (well as fast as placing on PC).

This app rocks and it's free. I can justify the iPhone for this app alone with one good lunchtime trade that I might have missed otherwise. The usability factor is off the charts. As for security, I have my iPhone pin locked (which wouldn't stop anyone seriously trying to get in with 9999 possible codes). I have iStockMngr set to automatically log me into my Ameritrade acct so someone could see my balances and positions if they got my phone and hacked it, but my Ameritrade Password is required to place or modify orders so they couldn't fuck with my accounts. You don't have to have iStockMnger auto log you into your acct if you are concerned about that. I don't feel like typing in my password every time I want to see stuff though.

-----------------------------------

ComicZeal: $1.99

Here's an example of a non free app. Some peeps on this board are comic book readers so this might be of interest.

ComicZeal makes it easy to read comics on your iTouch/Phone. It converts cbr/cbz or folders of images into it's own cbi format for viewing on the iPhone. The reason it does this is because images in normal cbr/cbz files are huge and compressed. While the iphone is capable of viewing them with the right app, it's very laggy and processor intensive.

Besides making browsing through your comics a lot faster, ComicZeal has done some nice things with the UI.

ComicZeal remembers your reading position for every comic. As with PodCasts and Audiobooks, this is a huge help. It also allows you to download public domain GoldenAge comics directly but you probably won't use that much. The sync button on the top right is what gets your own comics uploaded to your iPhone. ComicZeals Mac/PC software is very basic and confusing at first but is easy to use once figured out. SyncDocs is the separate free app which is used to upload the comics. It's a java app .jar, and requires no configuration as long as your iphone is on the same wireless network as the PC you're using SyncDocs from.

While the text is too small to view full pages all at once as seen above, landscape and scrolling works well. You also have access to the pinch/zoom capabilities of the iPhone and also the tap/zoom functionality. Moving from page to page only requires a swipe right or left of your finger to switch pages. A little button in lower right pops up the UI.

The owner of the app is active and making improvements.

---------------------------------------------

Some other cool free apps:

Shazam:

If you hear a song song on radio, in a movie, or anywhere else, you can click Shazam and it records 5 or so seconds of the audio, analyzes it, and tells you the name of artist and the song title. It also provides a link to iTune or to YouTube to search and view the video of for the song. So far I've tried it with two songs. I had a jazz station on and it accurately found the song and then some strange song I'd never listen to and it found it. Very cool App!

Again, the ease of use is what's key here. Click one button "Tag Me" and you're done. Stuff doesn't get used if it's not convenient.

Truveo:

Is like a deluxe YouTube. Has channels of videos (CBS, NBC, Fox, National Geographic, ESPN, PBS, etc) and has Categories (Entertainment, Tech, Science, Politics, etc ) etc that are streamable to your iPhone. I use it to catch up on the latest news. Football, etc.

IM Apps:

These work great. I keep in touch with a few friends using IM. I don't use SMS. iPhone has a bunch of apps for individual IM messengers or that combine them all (including some voice if on wireless)...Yahoo Messenger, MSN Live, AOL, ICQ, Google Chat, Skype, VoiP, Twitter, etc. (app called "fring" does all of that among others)

On the rare occasion that my cable net connection goes down, it's nice to have these handy as well. The other day my connection went down and I jumped on the iPhone.

Safari (browser): mippin.com is stupendous for getting news from various RSS fees in iPhone friendly format. I use it to browse Kataku stories and other game and tech news sites. Think I already covered that earlier in this thread though!

Haven't tried games. No time! I'm info junky and there's all sorts of apps for getting text, audio and video news. Also have the loads of Podcasts that are of interest to me. In short, I'm never bored.
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In Summary, I'm highly impressed with the speed of the 3G iPhone and it's usability. The thing works really really well. the 3G network was down the other day as they were upgrading the towers or something near my work. I was able to switch to Edge and keep using the net with ease. It also switches from 3G to my Wireless network seamlessly when I'm at home.

So, while the iPhone can be seen as a status symbol, in this case, it's also the best by far for ease of use and the amazing diversity of it's net apps.

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » December 27, 2008, 12:31 am

I have to agree with Winnow. My hatred for Apple has been tempered by this awesome awesome device. I have had mine for a few weeks and am constantly fucking around with it.

I had a Crackberry Pearl previously. Since I did not use the Pearl for work, its email features did not make up for the slowasshit EDGE network. Of course, the email features on the iPhone are much better for my use.

my iPhone!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 1, 2009, 3:48 pm

Sweet!

http://i.gizmodo.com/5143766/flash-on-i ... ch-hurdles

Bloomberg's interview with Adobe's Shantanu Narayen reveals that Adobe is developing Flash for the iPhone, it's been in development since June 2008, and is a customized solution just for the iPhone.

Apple has said repeatedly that regular desktop Flash is too heavy (on CPU, and thus battery life) for the iPhone, whereas Flash Lite is too lousy. Jobs has coerced Adobe to create a custom solution. From Narayan's words of "the ball is in our court. The onus is on us to deliver," the engineering effort lies more in Adobe's engineering team than in Apple's.

Adobe actually said, back in September '08, that there would be a version released "in a very short time" if Apple approved it. Obviously either Apple rejected it, or Adobe themselves decided it wasn't quite resource-friendly enough to launch.