Articles by Casey Chan
Let’s do some catching up. First, iPhone users had free AT&T Wi-Fi at their hotspots. Then we lost it. Then it popped back up. Then it disappeared. And now we’re going to get it…eventually? If and when they do decide to officially give free Wi-Fi to iPhone users (June, perhaps?), I will be the first to commend them.
Now Boingo, in a newsletter to customers, goes and announces free Wi-Fi for iPhone users, albeit with an asterisk. That asterisk being: watch a 15 second advertisement for 15 minutes of free wi-fi in selected airports. Boingo is also encroaching on AT&T territory by offering Wi-Fi services at Starbucks locations. This piece of news isn’t as cheery for iPhone users because well, we have to pay.
Since there are around a gazillion Starbucks around the country, I’m sure Boingo Wi-Fi and AT&T Wi-Fi would work just fine. But would AT&T work out a roaming-esque deal with Boingo to provide free Wi-Fi for their iPhone customers at Boingo-specific locations?
Now THAT would be customer service (since it is AT&T, I guess we can rule that out).
Ah, this isn’t any ordinary map application. Sure it’ll give you all the fun stuff that maps usually offer, but it also brings the iPhone’s already unique controls to a whole ‘nother level. Schmap for the iPhone is noteworthy because of its ability to take advantage of the accelerometer: portrait mode lists the attractions while rotating it to landscape mode displays the attractions on a googlemap-ified map.
Because it isn’t June yet, we’re still dealing with web apps, so basically punch in www.schmap.com in Safari and you’ll be able to use this slick and innovative way of finding hotels, restaurants, bars etc. on your iPhone. Granted, it’s only limited to select cities (mostly the big ones) and Schmap itself is in beta, it will obviously grow and mature over time.
Under brief testing, I found the layout to be clean and straightforward, giving you short descriptions, reviews, and pictures on popular attractions. Also, the ability to quickly see it all on a map is a wonderful bonus.
Go give Schmap a try and tell us what you think.
Thanks Donald for the Preview!
We’ve covered gaming on the iPhone more than a few times here at PD. And the general consensus is a combination of hope, excitement, and we-can’t-freaking-wait. Well jailbreakers, you might not have to. After getting a glimpse of Raging Thunder (via TUAW), a car racing game made by Polarbit and made available through Installer.app, all I can say is…
WOW.
I gave the game a quick test drive and the graphics are impressive for any handheld, not to mention a cell phone. The screen (with help of the accelerometer) functions much like Mario Kart for the Wii meaning tilt right to turn right, tilt left for left. Gameplay is fluid and responsive and it is just mind numbing fun to be playing something so advanced on your phone.
To be sure, there are flaws and glitches but at this point it is almost to be expected. (Tip: try to avoid pressing the home button mid-race. Just, trust me). But for one of the first steps into gaming on the iPhone, Raging Thunder works better than you would ever imagine.
Is it June yet?
The Case-Mate Signature Series Perforated Leather Case for iPhone ($34.95) is a subtlety styled, high quality leather case that offers nearly full protection for your iPhone. It provides easy access to all buttons and ports on the iPhone and is a breeze to slide in. How does the Case-Mate Case perform?
Read on for the rest of the review!
Can’t wait any longer for Native Apps? Me neither. (Late) June seems too far away? I’m with you. So why wait, when you can jailbreak! Over the next couple months before 2.0 is released, I’ll give you guys a glimpse into the jailbroken world of native apps every week. Plus: let’s face it, Jailbreaking isn’t going anywhere. The SDK is awesome, but some people won’t settle for anything less than full-on access to all the hidden bits of the iPhone.
With Apple including handwriting recognition for Chinese characters in the latest 2.0 firmware build, I think it’s a great time to see what handwriting apps are currently available for jailbroken iPhones. HWpen is an app made by the developers over at Chinese company Hanwang and it offers handwriting recognition for both Chinese and English. Is it successful? Better than the iPhone’s soft keyboard?
Read on for the rest of the review! (and remember you’ll need a Jailbroken iPhone to take advantage of this native app)
I wish therefore I command? I command therefore I receive? iPod therefore ..wait..
Remember last week’s review of Installer.app? One of my main complaints about the program was the lack of a search feature. Well, the folks at Nullriver sure know how to treat a blogger, because Installer.app just got an update. And it has a search feature.
The search feature is still not as integrated as I would like because it doesn’t appear on the main screen. Meaning you would still have to narrow down the category before you can activate search. A good workaround is if you click All Categories and search from there, this should allow you to search everything. Either way, it’s a huge improvement to Installer.app and goes to show how hard the Nullriver developers are working to improving the app.
I use Flickr a lot, whether its perusing for great pictures or posting some of my own, Flickr is the standard on which photo-sharing websites are judged upon. And according to Flickr data (per TUAW) the iPhone, in only a years time, has become the most used phone on the popular photo-sharing website. So is the iPhone the mobile camera for which the rest of the industry is judged upon? Well, I wouldn’t go that far.
Is this good news? Of course, it goes to show how much the iPhone is used beyond the typical parameters of a phone. But it is interesting, considering the camera on the iPhone is often maligned, overlooked and bypassed. Being number one in mobile web usage makes sense because Safari on the iPhone is just that good. With a sub-par camera being number one, well that should push Apple to further develop the iPhone’s camera.
One of my biggest wishes on the next iPhone, aside from 3G and GPS, is a much more advanced camera: better resolution, auto-focus, zoom, video, geotagging, etc. If the iPhone can be number one on Flickr with the current camera, imagine what it could do with something better?
Canon Rebel XTi watch your back?
Sorry AT&T workers, I guess you’ll have to re-schedule that Hawaiian vacation. The Boy Genius Report reports that an internal memo has been making the rounds over at AT&T and it strongly discourages vacation time between June 15th and July 12th.
To quote the memo, AT&T “anticipates heavier than normal customer traffic” and an “exciting Summer Promotional Launch to enable your sales to soar”. I wonder what product fits that description: exciting, heavier than normal, soar..okay maybe I’m reading between the lines.
Does this mean that AT&T is positioning themselves for the launch of the 3G iPhone? That would be the obvious conclusion considering that AT&T had issued a similar no-vacation mandate just a year ago. For what you ask? The original iPhone.
But with no Apple “special event” currently scheduled, can we now expect the 3G announcement to be made during WWDC’s keynote (June 9th)? When is the FCC going to get their hands on this little, powerful puppy? As much as I thought the 3G iPhone wasn’t coming until fall, it looks like June will be the date.
Can’t wait any longer for Native Apps? Me neither. (Late) June seems too far away? I’m with you. So why wait, when you can jailbreak! Over the next couple months before 2.0 is released, I’ll give you guys a glimpse into the jailbroken world of native apps every week. If we don’t find anything life-changing, hopefully we’ll learn a few things along the way. Plus: let’s face it, Jailbreaking isn’t going anywhere. The SDK is awesome, but some people won’t settle for anything less than full-on access to all the hidden bits of the iPhone.
Today, we start with another look at the ever-evolving program that is Installer.app. Developed by the guys at Nullriver, Installer.app is the first app you see after jailbreaking. Its main goal is to serve as an outlet for all the rest of the iPhone’s native apps and it has come a long way since we first showed you how to use it. Does it succeed? Is it effective? Can Apple learn something from Installer.app?
Read on for the rest of the review! (and remember you’ll need a Jailbroken iPhone to take advantage of this native app)
Do you remember that ChangeWave Survey back in March? It essentially ‘discovered’ that the Cell Phone customer satisfaction/popularity contest/war was a two-horse race between, you guessed it, Apple and RIM. Following up on their initial survey, this time ChangeWave tries to determine why their customers are so satisfied with their iPhones/Blackberries.
Alot of things on the ‘Favorites List’ are pretty predictable. E-Mail was an astounding ‘Most Favorite’ for Blackberry while the synergy of phone, iPod, and web browser was Number 1 for the iPhone. Taking a quick glance at the numbers, it seems that the iPhone’s ‘Favorite List’ is more well-rounded compared to the Blackberry’s. (Or maybe it just means Blackberry’s e-mail is just that good. I’ll let you guys decide.)
However, an interesting thing to note is that 27% of iPhone users determined that the Touch Screen Interface was actually their FAVORITE thing about the iPhone while 11% of Blackberry Users thought that the Blackberry keypad was their LEAST favorite thing. I understand comparing one iPhone to the entire lineup of Blackberry is like comparing apples to oranges (I’ll spare you one cheesy pun), but it goes to prove that Apple has done a great job in effectively ridding the keyboard and is leading the way to phone different (sorry I couldn’t help myself).
Oh, and the top 2 wishes for the iPhone? 3G Capability and Third Party Software. June can’t come soon enough.
