RandomMuch

July 8, 2010

Taking a bite out of Apple

Filed under: iPhone/Cell Phones, News, Tech — Tags: , , , , — Arturo @ 12:20 am

If you follow cell phone news at all, and maybe even if you don’t, you surely know by now about the problem with the new iPhone, the iPhone 4.  For those that might have NO idea… The new iPhone 4 is being reported to have an issue in some sets that cause you to lose reception and drop calls if you hold it a certain way(which is actually quite common).  Steve Jobs supposedly answered an email about this issue stating, “Just avoid holding it in that way.”  WOW, really?!  That’s your answer.  So, after Apple did some investigating, they released a statement saying that the problem was some lines of code that were causing the phone to display more bars than you actually had and it was going to be fixed with a software update.

I just had a realization about this lost reception/you’re-holding-it-wrong crap. So, Apple claims that it’s due to programming that is displaying the wrong number of bars right? Well that didn’t sit right with me. How can “displaying” the wrong number of bars actually cause you to drop calls? If anything, you would show NO bars but still be on a call.  And now I figured out why it seemed odd. They programmed the phones to show more bars than it actually had so that people would think they were getting better reception. Since they ran a risk of people finding out, they used the crappy antenna design to disclose this programming and fix it without being accused of doing it on purpose. I very seriously doubt this update is gonna fix the actual reception problem. It’ll just remove the farce they were trying to pass off as better reception.

Debunk that conspiracy theory Apple fanboys.  LoL, I’m only semi-quasi-half way serious… kind of.

–

AC

P.S.

Please give this site a looksy… maybe you’ll likey.   www.lipsyncallstars.com

March 24, 2010

Nexus One: iPhone Killer?

Filed under: iPhone/Cell Phones, Tech — Tags: , , , — Arturo @ 7:30 pm

OK, so it’s been a while.  I hope you haven’t missed me too much.  Just FYI, things have taken a weird turn in my life and I was busy taking care of real life problems.  But I am back, although I haven’t thought of much that I wanted to write about.  I do have this one thing that I am now excited about… the Nexus One.

So, being the good tech geek I am, I broke down and purchased myself a Nexus One to tinker with since I plan to get one when they are released for Verizon.  So, a good friend of mine told me why not get it to test it out before I jump ship from AT&T, and that way if the Nexus One is a total brick, I won’t be locked in to Verizon.  That was all the convincing I needed.  So I bought it.  Set it up.  And went to town.  Here’s my final thoughts.

The Nexus One is by far, the coolest phone I have had… bar NONE.  It is SOOOO customizable.  It does everything well.  It gives you so many options.  The user interface is not as polished as the iPhone’s OS.  BUT, Apple has had more time to polish.  Let Google make some adjustments and Android will be just as smooth.  The NExus One is faster than the iPhone in almost all aspects.  The apps load quicker.  The web responds quicker.  I absolutely LOVED that I could setup all my emails and they ALL push.  I wasn’t limited to just ONE Gmail push.  Almost all the apps that I used on the iPhone were available on the Nexus One.  And I honestly cannot think of anything that I needed and missed.  The maps app is WAY better on the Nexus One as well.  It coms with turn by turn navigation out the gate.  It was so cool to be able to use ANY song I had on the Nexus One as a ringtone.  I could change the wallpaper to anything, even have a moving wallpaper.  Plain and simply, the Nexus One seems to be everything I thought the iPhone should be.  Apple loves to dictate what you do, and how you do it, and I don’t like that at all.

There are a few things that the iPhone does better though.  the keyboard is much more responsive and easier to use.  The coverage seems to be a lot better on the iPhone, but that’s mostly because the Nexus One that I got did not support 3G on AT&T.  And although the Nexus One is easy to manage due to drag and dropability, I did miss using iTunes to manage everything.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there is no and will be no iPhone “killer”.  All phones are different.  Some do things better than others.  Period.  The Nexus One had the advantage of coming out after the iPhone and was able to take advantage of learning from the iPhone’s mistakes.  But that being said, the rumored iPhone 4G will have the same advantage.  In all reality, they will just go back and forth.  And in the end it is really a matter of preference.  My wife won’t even try using the Nexus One, she loves her iPhone too much.  Another friend of mine in Lubbock won’t give up his iPhone any time soon.  My best friend and I LOVE the Nexus One.  So in closing, this is how it goes down:  Some people will prefer the iPhone, some will prefer the Nexus One.  There is not iPhone Killer.  The iPhone does a lot of things VERy well.  But if I, personally, HAD to choose one phone, it would be the Nexus One.

–

AC

P.S.

Oh and as petty as it may seem, there is one thing that killed any iPhone love I had left.  I locked myself out of the Nexus One a couple days after I got it.  All I did was verify my email on the phone and I was allowed back in.  I switched back to the iPhone for personal reasons, and I happened to lock myself out of the iPhone.  I had to restore the entire phone in order to get in.  Losing recently downloaded apps and contact changes.  That was VERY annoying.  Go Nexus One!

January 5, 2010

Hold the phone, the iPhone that is…

Filed under: iPhone/Cell Phones, Tech — Tags: , , , , , — Arturo @ 3:01 pm

Ok, geeks and geekettes.  It seems that the rumors were true.  Google has unleashed the Nexus One.  And by the looks of it, it is better than the Droid offered by Motorola via Verizon.

From what I’ve read, it is currently available through Google for $529 unlocked(GSM only).  Meaning you can buy it and use with T-Mobile.  Or you can buy it and use it with AT&T, but without 3G capability due to the frequencies it supports.  Your other option is to sign a new two-year contract with T-Mobile and pay only $179.  Now if you’re like me then you hate AT&T’s service, and you don’t consider T-Mobile very reliable.  Never fear, you will be able to get it through Verizon Spring 2010.  That’s right kiddies, just a couple months away.

I put together this little chart, please forgive the crudeness, I REALLY tried to get it to look better…

.                                                    iPhone                            Droid                                  Nexus One

phone size(millimeters)         115 x 62 x 12                   115 x 60 x 13                     119 x 59 x 11

phone weight(grams)              135                                    169                                     130

screen size(inches)                   3.5                                    3.7                                      3.7

processor speed                        600MHz                         550MHz                            1GHz

removable battery                    NO                                   YES                                     YES

talk time                                     5 hours                            6.4 hours                           7 hours

standby                                       300 hours                       270 hours                         250 hours

3G internet time                       5 hours                            N/A                                    5 hours

wifi internet time                     9 hours                            N/A                                    6.5 hours

video playback                          10 hours                          N/A                                    7 hours

audio playback                          30 hours                         N/A                                    20 hours

camera resolution                    3MP                                5MP                                   5MP

camera flash                              NO                                  YES                                    YES

camera zoom                             NO                                  4x                                       2x

video recording                         480 res @ 30fps          480 res @ 24fps              480 res @ 20fps

There it is folks.  In my opinion, the Nexus One takes it by a nose.  The only question now is how do the OS’s compare.  I know for a fact that the iPhone OS runs really smooth, but that’s because they limit you as to what you can and can’t do with it.  Android is almost as stable, but WILL allow you to customize and tweak it.

It is my humble opinion that just like Microsoft is losing customers to Apple, so shall Apple lose to open source like Linux and Android.  Only time will tell.

–

AC

Droid: It is but it isn’t an iPhone killer

Filed under: iPhone/Cell Phones, Tech — Tags: , , , , — Arturo @ 1:13 am

OK, so if you remember a while back a wrote not so much a review as a prediction of the Droid.  At that point I hadn’t gotten my paws on one, but I compared the proposed specs to the current specs of the iPhone.  The reason I did that is only because the Droid is the latest “iPhone killer” to hit the market.  Here’s the problem, there is no such thing and will never be such a thing as an iPhone killer.  And I’ll tell you why.  It is NOT because the iPhone is the be all and end all of cell phones.  Not in the least.  The problem is that the iPhone is so ahead of the curve that every one else is playing catch up.  Will the day come when iPhone is dethroned, of course.  Nothing lasts forever.  iPhone set the bar and while others are trying to reach that goal, Apple continues to improve on their winner.  So until someone has been in the game long enough, iPhone will not be “killed” any time soon.

That being said, the Droid is REAAAAALLY close.  I finally got to play with one for a few minutes.  I have grown tired of AT&T’s crappy service in my area and I want out.  This is not a reflection of coverage everywhere, because from what I’ve read and researched on my own, AT&T has good coverage in a lot of places.  But I get crappy coverage and I am tired of it.  Plus I am developing this anger towards Apple for their Communist hold they have on their products.  I totally get that limiting what you can or cannot do with your Apple product is one of the main reasons that they are stable.  BUT… when an iPod is only accessible via iTunes, and both the Macbooks and iPhones can only be customized with what Apple approves, I feel like I’m living in under a Techtator(that’s Tech Dictator for normal people).  The Droid is a great gadget for me.  I get away from the unreliability of Microsoft AND the techtatorship of Apple.  Google is the wave of the future.  I want a Droid so bad.  And I even want to sell my Macbook and get any laptop and run ChromeOS.  The only reason I haven’t is because the wifey has a strangle hold on her iPhone and paying for two separate cell providers makes no sense to me.  And please, darling, do NOT take this as an attack, I love you.

If you have Verizon already and want to feel what iPhone owners feel as far as having a great gadget, get the Droid.  If you have an iPhone with AT&T and are as tired of Apple or AT&T as I am, get the Droid.  I still think the iPhone is the best phone out there, but coupled with bad service, I can’t really suggest it better than the Droid.  Like I said, is the Droid a better gadget than the iPhone?  NO.  But is headed in the right direction?  HELL YES.  Is it better than the Blackberry and Palm phones?  HELL YES.  Is it worth leaving the iPhone behind?  If you have no problem with Apple or AT&T then probably not.  But if you feel like I do about Apple and or AT&T, then HELL YES.  For those of you that still want to wait, and even more so if you’re with T-Mobile, then wait for the Nexus One from Google.  I’ve read, at least, that it will be coming out with T-Mobile as of today as a matter of fact.  And it, I believe, will actually be even better than the Droid.

–

AC

October 28, 2009

This IS the Droid we’re looking for…

Filed under: iPhone/Cell Phones, Tech — Tags: , , , , , — Arturo @ 2:02 pm

LMAO, I just HAD to throw in that Star Wars joke considering that I paused my first viewing of Fanboys.  And, by the way, it is VERY funny so far.  A must watch for Star Wars fans.  Or even if you know Star Wars pretty well.  But I digress.  So I’m sitting here watching Fanboys and I get a Gmail push notification on my iPhone.  Too much info?  Wait and see why it’s relevant.  It’s an email from someone asking me what I think of the new Droid from Verizon.  I must admit I had briefly heard of a Google phone coming out for Verizon, but never followed up on it.  So I looked in to it right now and I have to say, I am looking forward to this.  I saw and tinkered with a G1 from T-Mobile a while back and it was alright.  Not bad for Google’s introduction to the cell phone world, but nothing that would make me sell my iPhone.  And for those that don’t know, I LOOOOVE my iPhone.  I am NOT, however, such a fanboy(see tha tie in there), that I am blinded to the potential in other smart phones.  Let’s check it out.

The first thing that jumps out at me is the design.  It is not ugly, but it doesn’t have the sexiness of the iPhone.  That might not be fair, considering that Apple prides itself in making their products aesthetically pleasing.  And to be honest, it’s a phone.  It is not a fashion accessory.  Maybe to most women, but it’s not meant to be.  The other thing was the full keyboard.  I have gotten soooo used to my virtual keyboard, that an actual keyboard seems so old-fashioned… TO ME.  But I see how this could be good.  There are plenty of iPhone users that have stated that a real keyboard would be a good thing to have.  As I was watching THIS presentation, I was thinking, “This looks pretty cool, but the App Store is the major advantage that iPhone has.”  Then I got the part where they mention the “thousands” of apps available for it.  Hmmm?  Could this be a true contender to the iPhone Empire?

As for the advantages of the Droid, I saw a few.  For one the screen is bigger than the iPhone.  Yes, I know it’s only 3.7 compared to 3.5, but ask your girlfriend and trust me size does matter.  The camera is 5MP compared to iPhone’s 3MP.  I take a lot of pix with my phone.  I don’t even carry a digital camera anymore.  This would be awesome.  Granted, megapixels are not the only thing to consider when taking pictures, but a few sources have compared the two phones’ picture taking capabilities and the Droid holds up very well.  There are apps available for the Droid.  Will they be GOOD apps?  We’ll have to see.  It may not eliminate the Apple’s advantage all together, but it does put Android in a good position to level the playing field.  Something is better than nothing.  Also, multitasking.  I got my paws on a Palm Pre a few months back for a few minutes, and that’s one thing that did impress me about it.  The Droid does this as well.  I’ve wished for this capability on the iPhone.  It is a little annoying having to relaunch a previous app just because I checked my email or clicked on a link.  And last but certainly not least, the Droid will support Adobe Flash.   Yes, ladies and geeks, FLASH.  Not a big deal to some, but to geeks like me, this is a HUGE.  Now we can really enjoy surfing the MobileWeb.  And yes, fanboys(there it is again), the iPhone OS is MobileWeb 2.0, deal with it.  Hulu, here we come.  I will say this.  Do NOT be surprised if Apple announces soon that they too will be supporting Flash.  It only makes sense and I will thank Verizon, Google, Droid, whomever… for this wonderful break through.

Will I go get a Droid any time soon?  Probably not.  But if I get my grubby little paws on one(hit me up Verizon, Google), and the user interface is more fluid than other touch screens, you never know.  I tried a Voyager or Venus, I can’t remember which, but the touch screen was horrendous.  Considering that I had better coverage with Verizon than I do with AT&T, and I find it ridiculous that I’m pay extra JUST because it’s an iPhone… I might take a serious look at jumping ship.  Likely?  Probably not, but you never know.

–

AC

P.P.

I am totally serious about reviewing this phone for Verizon and Google.  I am a life long geek and I will be honest.  Pretty please?  *bats eyes*

September 25, 2009

We pushed and pushed, now… Gmail Pushes back

Filed under: iPhone/Cell Phones, Tech — Tags: , — Arturo @ 1:35 am

This one will be short and sweet.  It pretty much speaks for itself.

I have been waiting and waiting for Gmail to be able to push to my iPhone.  I know it may seem silly to most of you.  Especially you Blackberries out there who already get push.  But this is sadly a big deal for us iPhone peeps.  I mean Google releases this AND AT&T is releasing MMS later today, Sept 25th?  Great day for iPhone fans.  Like I said, I know most of you have this already and I agree that it is a little late for the “greatest phone on the planet”.  I will say to those being nice about it, I agree… touché… and I concede your point.  To those more cynical and crude about it, I say this… We may not have had push for our Gmail nor MMS, but can you choose from over 72,000, that’s right seventy two THOUSAND apps for your phone?  Do you have an iPod integrated IN your phone?  Do you have the closest thing you can get to a REAL web browser on a handheld device on your phone?  I didn’t think so.  And that’s a short list of things the iPhone does better than any other cell phone.

If you have more than one Gmail like I do, this only supports one account at this time.  But you can get an app from the App Store called PushGmail and that’ll give you one more.  Supposedly PushGmail will be adding “multiple accounts” capability soon.  Enjoy.

Please note, he isn’t very clear about contacts and calendar.  It will ask you if you wan to t overwrite or leave your current info on your phone.  Just to be safe go in after setting it up and slide the bar.  It’ll ask what you want to do with your current info.  ;)

–

AC

June 24, 2009

How do you stop a cell phone from charging?

Filed under: iPhone/Cell Phones, Tech — Tags: , , — Arturo @ 8:16 pm

Take away it’s credit card?  No.  At this point in the advancement of technology, it seems that even taking away it’s power cord won’t stop it.  For us iPhoners, there’s THIS.  That’s right.  A simple charging pad.  Put it by your door, walk in the house and set your phone down with your keys, on the pad of course, and you’re charging.  Ready to go out, pick it up and it’s charged.  No more messing with the cable.  You know it’s happened.  You want to charge your iPhone, but you last used the cable to sync your music.  So you have to go allll the way to the computer room to get the cable, find the adapter, and plug it in.  No more cable.

Now hold your horses.  You may be saying, “But that still limits you to a specific area.  I still have to get up if the phone rings.  Then set it back in the same place.”  Au contraire.  Reportedly, THIS is in the future.  Now you can charge when ever, where ever.  Now those radio waves will be sucked in to the phone instead of our bodies.  All kidding aside, I love technology and this only makes it deeper.  The only thing is I wouldn’t be surprised if companies get together and offer up a huge check to keep this technology in the vault.  Unless of course Nokia sells the tech to Duracel, Energizer and the like, and they all make their own models.

Imagine harnessing this tech and then WiFi being available everywhere… I can take my Maccy(Macbook) any where at any time and write my lovely posts.  How cool would that be?

–

AC

June 19, 2009

Locked in a cell… contract

Filed under: iPhone/Cell Phones, Tech — Tags: , , — Arturo @ 6:39 pm

So here’s my first real post.  Let’s hope it goes well.

So, the iPhone 3GS came out today.  I’ve been seeing online, mostly Twitter, that people are happy as clams with their new toy.  I, myself, did not get one and yes it had to do with the surcharge.  If I had pushed a little harder, I think I could’ve gotten some help from a rep at one of my local AT&T stores but I thought hard and I decided not to get one.

First off, it’s too expensive.  I mean, if you’re upgrading from the original iPhone, it’s not too bad.  But if you are mid contract, with a 3G like me, it’ll cost an additional $200 on top of the $199 to upgrade, PLUS $18 just for upgrading.  Also, I am currently paying $90 extra dollars, JUST because I have an iPhone.  Now, let’s say your rebuttal is that I’d still have to pay for a data plan with any other smart phone.  OK, that’s like maybe $20?  That means my wife and I pay $40.  OK.  So I go from paying $90/month to $50/month right.  That’s still $600 a year, JUST for the privilege of saying that I have an iPhone.  Really?

Now let’s look at the device itself.  We get Cut, Copy and Paste!  We should have had it with the first gen.  We get landscape!  We should have had it with the first gen.  We get Universal Search!  We should have had it with the first gen.  And of course, we get MMS.   Not only should we have gotten it with the first gen, but that’s some thing the FREE phones have had since forever for crying out loud.  But the MMS isn’t even complete.  If I want to share my niece looking cute while dancing around, I can’t because there’s NO VIDEO.  Oh, others get it with the 3GS, but not us 3G people.  Not with 3.0.  Why the heck not?!  I know for a fact that it has the capability.  Jailbreak proved that.  So is that how you get people to shell out $399.  Offer them better speed, and make video exclusive to the 3GS?

In the end, I did buy an iPhone 3G last year, so I did it to myself and shouldn’t really complain.  But trust me, if this exclusivity ends next year along with my contract, I will NOT be renewing with AT&T.  I may take my iPhone elsewhere if possible.  Or I may even forget about the iPhone all-together and just get another phone.  It’s like I tell people when they ask me about the iPhone.  “If you want a SUPER cool mobile device that is also an “OK” phone, the iPhone is for you.  If you want a GOOD or GREAT phone that does other things “OK”, go with another smart phone other than the iPhone.  The iPhone is just a way of not having to carry your crappy FREE cell phone and iPod Touch.  Just carry your iPhone and save pocket/purse space.”

P.S.

I wrote this all out on the iPhone I can’t live without.  LOL  </joke>

P.P.S.

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