Random thought exchange

Back story: About 2-years ago I switched providers (from Bell to Rogers), so that I can get the iPhone 3G. I love it, but there are some downfalls to it. First would be the lack of video recording without any add-on apps. The second would be the basic capability that most phones have – voice recognition. My old Samsung A900 even had that.

So when iOS4 was released a few weeks back I did the upgrade right away. I enjoy testing out the latest hardware and software, so I figured what they heck… why not?

Within 2 hours I had it loaded, and all my music and apps synchronized back on to it.

I immediately set up folders for my apps.  For the past year I’ve had my “screens” setup so that all my apps were arranged logically. I had a screen for navigation/car items, a screen for utilities, a screen for social media, two screens for games, and a screen for web links. So setting up the folders was great for me, because now I don’t have to flick through all the screens to get to the last one. I have all my folders on one screen.

I then realized that my camera now has a zoom function.  Great!

That’s pretty much where the good ends.

Within 10-minutes of using the phone, I had at least 5 apps crash and quit on me. And yes, that even includes the Maps app and App store apps that Apple ships with the os and phone.

So I shut down the phone, boot it back up, and the same problems persist. So I load up iTunes, and make sure I have the latest version of the apps. Sure enough there are a few that have updates, and those say iOS4 tested. Wonderful.  I load those on, and they work well, but the App Store app still crashes intermittantly.

The following days and weeks – up until now – have had many app updates. I would imagine that nearly all the apps loaded on my phone are now updated. There are a few that aren’t, like iFuel Lite, but I would imagine the developers are working on that – at least I’m hoping they are.

So what’s my real gripe?

I’m annoyed at how slow and laggy the phone seems now. It’s just chugging along.

This past weekend, I was at the Toronto Eaton Centre, and I figured why not go in to the Apple Store and chat with a “genius”.

I make an appointment on their computer system, and wait about an hour.

They hook my phone up to their computer, and within a minute or two he tells me that the problem is with some of the apps. He says there are 8 apps that have “bad data” on the phone. I ask him if he can write them down for me so I can uninstall the apps and reload them. He tells me that what I need to do is restore the phone software, and set it up as a new phone. Then go in to the app store on the phone, and download all the apps again through the phone – not through iTunes.

He said that just wiping the app doesn’t remove the data files and preference files. For all I know, the problem lies in the apps that I don’t even have on the phone any more.

I thought that once you deleted an app from the phone, all the prefs would get wiped out with it. I’ve had experience where I decided to delete an app, and then a few days later load it back on, and I needed to setup all the preferences and settings again.

Anyways, I’m wondering if anyone knows what app Apple uses to diagnose iPhones? All I could find is the “secret” iPhone Configuration Utility on the Apple site. I have yet to run it, but I doubt that’s what they used.

I’m wondering if I should even bother restoring, since the rumor is that the iPhone 4 will be hitting the Canadian market on July 23, 2010, and I just so happen to have that day booked off work… so I think I might attempt to get one on launch day.

Related posts:

iWant… iPhone!
Got the iPhone
iPhone – coming soon to a David near you…
iPhone ringtones from any MP3
iPhone 3.0 software

Installing the software as I type this! YAY!

Screen capture of the install

Related posts:

New blog software!
iOS4 for iPhone 3G isn’t all that great
iWant… iPhone!
iPhone ringtones from any MP3
iPhone – coming soon to a David near you…

Just stumbled across the Audiko website – amazingly easy to do – just 6 steps…

1. Upload MP3.
2. Select section of the song, and if you want it to fade in/out.
3. Download file – yes, they have an option for iPhone specifically.
4. Import file into iTunes – the file will show up automatically in your ringtones list.
5. Sync your phone.
6. Go into your iPhone settings, and select the ringtone.

Related posts:

iOS4 for iPhone 3G isn’t all that great
iWant… iPhone!
iPhone – coming soon to a David near you…
Got the iPhone
iPhone 4th gen, and more!!! at WWDC on Monday

Well, so far I don’t have my iPhone yet. I spoke with a CSR at Rogers, and there’s no tracking details, which means the order hasn’t been processed.

Anyone want to place their bets on when I’ll get it?

Related posts:

iPhone – coming soon to a David near you…
iWant… iPhone!
Online ordering – now enabled
iPhone ringtones from any MP3
Bell launches the HTC Touch

I’ve been debating switching over to Rogers for about 3 years. I’ve called in several times to see what they could offer me, and nothing has been able to beat my Bell plan.

Over the last week or so, I decided to start calling in to sign up and port my number from Bell to Rogers, so that I can take advantage of the 6GB data plan for $30 before it expired on October 6th.

After calling about 15 times to different reps, and about seven-hours on the phone I finally got a CSR that was able to come pretty close to the Bell plan that I’m on with my HTC Touch. This was yesterday evening – I was getting anxious as it was getting pretty close to October 6th!I had to leave to meet up with some friends, so the CSR said that he would call me today around 5 p.m. to go over the plan details that he was going to work out for me. He said that he was going to spend about an hour trying to come up with the best plan that he could for me. Since I didn’t already have a mobile phone with Rogers, he was having a difficult time, because apparently he needed to create a mobile phone on my account to play around with all the pricing and plan details. That’s where we parted, and I was a bit concerned that he wasn’t going to call me. He was really nice and seemed quite knowledgeable. I was pleased that I finally got a CSR that was willing to help me get something as close to the plan that I have now.

5:45 p.m. came and I hadn’t heard anything from him. So I called Rogers, and after about 20-minutes of listening to bad music I got to speak with a rep. I let her know that I was looking for the person that I spoke with yesterday. I was told that he was in meetings or something, and that they would pass a note on to him to let him know to give me a call.

At 7:14 p.m. I got a call from a really friendly rep saying that the person I spoke with yesterday wasn’t at work today, but that he left the notes that he wrote down for her to follow-up with me. 104-minutes later all of the documentation and plan details were worked out.

So, despite the early termination fee I need to pay Bell, I’ve taken the plunge and have started the process to port my mobile number to Rogers.

Now it’s just a waiting game. The iPhone’s are out of stock, and when they get their next shipment they’re going to ship one to me.

I’m hoping that my Bell cell doesn’t get disabled before I get the new phone – I’m not too sure how the whole porting actually works when a phone is OOS.

I’m also a bit skeptical of the billing – I’m somewhat concerned that all the discounts and bonuses that were applied to the new activation aren’t going to actually be on the account. Having said that, the CSR that I just dealt with said that she’s going to be following-up on my account in a few days to make sure that everything is going ok with the porting, and that if I don’t have the new phone within a week she’ll be calling me to let me know what the status is.

Kudos to the CSR’s for stepping up, and offering me an outstanding plan. The closest plan that I was able to get up until this point was about $30/mo more, once you factor in taxes.

Once everything is settled, and the billing is all proper, I’ll post the full plan details. For now, I’ll leave you with this… the plan has more features that I have with Bell, and is only going to run me $5 to $9 more a month – that is… if everything goes according to plan and the billing isn’t messed up!

Related posts:

iWant… iPhone!
iOS4 for iPhone 3G isn’t all that great
Got the iPhone
iPhone ringtones from any MP3
Palm Treo 700p

Google launched their free 411 service Goog-411 in Canada with full Canadian listings.

How does it work?
You simply dial 1.800.GOOG.411 from any phone, and talk into the system. Using their voice recognition they’ll respond with several listings. Not only that, but they’ll connect you directly for free!

Related posts:

Free Belkin TuneCommand AV for iPod Remote
Free replacement Chapsticks
Cellular Class Action – Bell, Telus, Rogers, Fido, Sasktel, MTS, Aliant Class Actions
iOS4 for iPhone 3G isn’t all that great
How to sync and browse on the Touch

I have the touch… on my computer at work I sync with Windows XP running through Parallels on my Leopard (10.5) system.

At home, I sync it with my Leopard 10.5 system using Markspace MissingSync (MMS) software… you can get a 15-day trial of their software or their Beta software (I think the Beta is 30-days).  I’m using their latest Beta.

Using Parallels, it will sync with Outlook… no probs…  (we have an exchange server at work – so this is how I sync all my meetings and whatnot). I could use MMS at work to sync with Entourage if I wanted to – but I don’t bother.

When I sync with MMS – OMFG….  amazing stuff happens… I can sync with iPhoto, iMovie, iCal (I don’t use this as I use Entourage), and even Mail (again, I don’t use this – I use entourage).

The stuff with page magnification and whatnot… I have a few things to say about that.  The version of IE that comes on the touch doesn’t do that. You can set it to landscape or portrait, you can set it to force everything into 1 column, or desktop mode (there’s a 3rd option but those are the 2 that I use).  By default, the touch will try to load mobile versions of webpages – if I go to http://facebook.com – it will actually load up http://m.facebook.com automatically, unless I put www. in front.

There’s a version of Opera for the touch that runs through the Java app. I’m using the free Opera Mini (OM) – doesn’t seem to work all that well – so much so that I’m not going to continue using it. I’m not sure how the full version (paid version) of Opera runs. From what I’ve been able to get OM to do, it will load up the page zoomed out and in full “real” mode, and when you click on an area, it will zoom in to that part of the page. You can then pan around the page.  Not quite what Safari can do on the iPhone – but close.

I’m content with using the IE that came with it.  I don’t plan on doing a TON of web browsing on there. Mostly Facebook, Canada411 lookups (free… yay… no more 411 charges… BTW bell is $1.50/411 call).

It will be interesting to see how or if Firefox ends up debuting on the Windows Mobile 6 platform. My guess, is that something is in the works.

Perhaps Google is already working on something…

Related posts:

5 days with the Touch
Bell launches the HTC Touch
Palm Treo 700p
Parallels audio not working
I got parallels v3 audio and isight working!

Today is day 5 that I’ve been using the HTC Touch on the Bell Mobility network.

So far so good. Unlimited mobile browser and e-mail. Everything is setup and working how I want.

So – I decided that I would give some “hacking”, skinning, and apps a shot and turn my HTC Touch into an iPhone.

It took me about 30-minutes to get everything done – using some great resources that I found online. The interface works pretty well, but I should admit that I MUCH prefer the today screen plugin that HTC developed and included.

Why? Well, it shows the date and time without having to read the analogue clock – easier to see if I’m in a meeting or driving or something (yes, I wear a watch, and my car has 2 clocks in it). The weather panel is upfront vs. having to open an application (you have to change “tabs” in the HTC plugin – very easy to do).

In an effort to answer some peoples questions…

Hey man, its hard to get a straight answer from the forum, so I was hoping that you could answer a couple questions for me about the new HTC Touch and the unlimited plan for $7.00.

So, can you go to like any website with this for free (ex www.ebay.ca, www.mapleleafs.com) or is it restricted to certain sites?

Can you download clips and sound waves from these sites or is this not included in the plan? Ex: if I am on TSN can I watch one of their highlight clips?. Can you download an attachment from an email etc?

How is the speed and approx what sort of kb/sec do you get?

Thanks in advance for all the help! I know – some people just don’t understand/are upset that they’re not with bell/are speculating when they have no idea.

My response….

yes… for $7 you can go to ANY website you want. It seems that using the built-in IE – the sites that have mobile versions show you the mobile site (WAP versions) – but a site that doesn’t will show you want you want. Does that make sense? If I were to go to www.facebook.com it will end up taking me to m.facebook.com (their mobile version). I haven’t tried to see if there’s a setting to disable that – but it doesn’t make that much of a difference to me.

I haven’t tried to watch clips or videos… so I can’t answer that for you. You CAN download files off the web and save them to your phone or memory card. The phone has a built-in zip decompressor too…

As for speed – it’s EVDO… what the rating is I couldn’t tell you. There is a bit of a lag as it trys to load sites – but not too bad. For $7 who can complain?

You can get e-mail from any webserver on it – you can have 8 addresses setup on the phone. You can set the e-mail to check every 5/10/15…etc. automatically for you… so it’s similar to “push” e-mail. Also, if you have an active exchange e-mail server you can get hooked into that from the phone for real push e-mail. I don’t have one – so I can’t tell you about setting it up or anything. I do use my own pop mail servers though. It also supports IMAP.

On another note, I have a bunch of screen protectors and hard-plastic protective cases that are coming to me from a supplier – so if you have a Touch and want one, let me know.

Related posts:

How to sync and browse on the Touch
Bell launches the HTC Touch
199 days to go
iPhone – coming soon to a David near you…
Motorola Q available at Bell Mobility Canada

The reports are that Bell is going to launch the HTC Touch smartphone today.

Why is this big news? There are a number of reasons.

1. It’s a touch screen phone – similar-esq to the iPhone
2. It’s launching in Canada prior to the iPhone
3. Bell is reported to have a $7 unlimited data (does not include tethering to a computer) for it

I guess we’ll see later on today if it’s true or not. If it is, I have every intention of switching my Palm Treo 700P for the Touch.

Related posts:

How to sync and browse on the Touch
Motorola Q available at Bell Mobility Canada
5 days with the Touch
Palm Treo 700p
Cellular Class Action – Bell, Telus, Rogers, Fido, Sasktel, MTS, Aliant Class Actions

That’s right!

Ever wonder what the purpose of system access fees (SAF) are? Have you ever asked? Well, a Saskatchewan lawyer has setup a Class action lawsuit, naming the Canadian cellular providers regarding the overcharging and misleading the companies have done to the consumer regarding the SAF’s.

Back in the early stages of cell phone history, the CRTC implemented SAF’s to helpp build the infrastructure. Now, it’s completely useless, and being charged to solely profit the corporations.

On September 17, 2007, a Saskatchewan court has approved the go-ahead with a class action lawsuit against Canadian cellular service providers.

It’s about time that the big corporations stopped taking advantage of the consumer!

If you have a cell phone – or had one – go and Join the class action.

Related posts:

Motorola Q available at Bell Mobility Canada
Bell launches the HTC Touch
Rogers website is ‘busted’
iPhone – coming soon to a David near you…
iOS4 for iPhone 3G isn’t all that great

Well, Apple finally announced the product launch of the Apple iPhone. It’s an iPod, Telephone, and internet communicator all in one. It looks somewhat similar to the Dell Axim, but this is also a telephone!

iWant one of these… it’s the ultimate in geekdom. The phone runs a version of OS X, which means that it would be fairly easy to develop applications for it – similar to WM2005 or WinCE.

So, what’s the problem? I’m in Canada! Yup… Apple finally released a product that’s been speculated about for years, and it’s not going to be available until June, and apparently only being released in the US via Cingular.

What’s the other problem? It’s only being released in a GSM version.

Why is that a problem? I’m with Bell Mobility which is CDMA. You cannot use a GSM phone on a CDMA network. Bell – GET WITH THE TIMES!

So why not switch to Rogers or Fido? I can’t do that because in Canada the CRTC has not made phone number portability possible – yet anyways. Supposedly this is something that will be in place come March 2007. Check out the CRTC press release from December 20, 2005.

So why not switch when the phone is available in Canada as it will be after March 2007? I’m on a corporate plan that I doubt Rogers would be willing to match. The last time I spoke with someone at Rogers, the best they were able to do was $15 more a month than what I’m paying now.

Phone specs:

• 4GB ($499 US) or 8GB ($599 US) versions
• 3.5″ screen
• 320×480 @160ppi
• Quad-band
• Wifi (802.11b/g)
• EDGE
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 2MP camera w/ video
• sync via iTunes on either Mac or PC
• 4×5″ x 2.4″ x 0.46″ = 115mm x 61mm x 11.6mm
• 4.8oz = 135gr
• playback of music, photos, and video
• rotate the device, and it goes into widescreen – part of the built-in sensors
• calls, voicemail, sms
• Safari, e-Mail, live maping via Google maps, widgets

Fallout since the Apple annoucement

• Cisco announces that the iPhone trademark belongs to them, and is launching a lawsuit against Apple
• The day of the announcement RIM stock dropped $14/share
• Announcement day Apple stock went up 8%

Anyways, check out the iPhone… it’s HOT!

Relevant links:

• Apple – iPhone
• Bell mobility
• Cingular
• Rogers

Related posts:

iOS4 for iPhone 3G isn’t all that great
iPhone – coming soon to a David near you…
iPhone 4th gen, and more!!! at WWDC on Monday
Motorola Q available at Bell Mobility Canada
iPhone ringtones from any MP3

Well, it’s about time that Motorola released a version of the ‘Q’ for the Bell CDMA network. It’s been a few months (at least) since Telus Mobility Canada unveiled the Q for their network.

The pricing from Bell seems to be listed at $449 + taxes, however their website claims to have special promotional pricing for it’s launch. I’ve been waiting for the Q, as I think I might get rid of the Dell Axim X50v. There are only 3 downsides to the ‘Q’.

1. not a touch screen
2. no built-in wifi
• I’ve been seeing how much I use wifi on my Axim, and to be honest, not really all that frequently – although it’s quite cool that I can! I wonder if I get an SD wifi card if it will work on the ‘Q’
3. small internal memory – insufficient for any serious PDA users.

Here are the specs:

• Dimensions: (H) 116 x (W) 64 x (W) 11.5 mm Weight: 115 g
• 1xEV-DO network enabled
• 2.4″, 65,000-colour TFT
• QWERTY keypad with 5-way and thumbwheel navigation
• 64 MB SDRAM/128 MB Flash ROM
• 1.3 megapixel camera with flash
• Tethered data support
• E-mail- and Web-enabled
• Outlook® Mobile
• Media Player 10 Mobile
• Internet Explorer Mobile
• Pocket MSN including MSN Hotmail and MSN Messenger
• Bluetooth-enabled
  • Stereo Bluetooth Support
  • This device supports Bluetooth GAP (General AccessProfile), SPP (Serial Port Profile), FTP (File Transfer), OPP
• Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP)
• Speaker phone
• Calendar
• To-do list
• Alarm clock
• Calculator
• Text Messaging

View more info. on the Bell Mobility Canada site.

View more info. on the Telus Mobility Canada site.

Related posts:

Bell launches the HTC Touch
Happy birthday Canada
iWant… iPhone!
Cellular Class Action – Bell, Telus, Rogers, Fido, Sasktel, MTS, Aliant Class Actions
5 days with the Touch