Dave wrote in asking TiPb how he could email full size, full quality photos from his iPhone 3GS. Sounds simple, right, but by default if you go into Camera Roll choose one or more photos, and then choose Share, the iPhone will crunch the image(s) down to 800×600.

If, however, you use the copy command, then exit, go to email, and use paste to insert the images, the iPhone will keep them at their full 2048×1526 size.

Of course, increased resolution means increased file size, in our test case 816KB vs. 104KB for a single photo, so keep that in mind before trying to attach 10 full res photos and then wondering why it takes forever for the email to send and your buddy’s tiny free-mail account bounces it back for exceeding maximum capacity…

But for people like Dave who just need to get a few, high quality shots off via email, this looks like a great work around.

[Geek.ThinkUnique.org via DaringFireball]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

How To: Email Full Size iPhone 3GS Photos via Copy/Paste

TiPb loves answering your questions, but we also love sharing our answers with the community in hopes that more people will benefit, and even better answers will present themselves (hey, that’s why we have them forums!). Today’s question comes from Stupendoussteve on Twitter:

ever heard of iPhone finding you at a previous address, states away, where you’ve never even taken the phone (post restore)?

We have! And TiPb answers after the break!

The iPhone uses Location Services to determine where it is. Location Services uses three (3) distinct technologies, and different iPhones (and iPod touches) support different levels.

The most precise, supported only by the iPhone 3G, is aGPS. aGPS uses cell tower-based GPS crunching to give you a fairly tight indication of your current position.

Next is cell tower triangulation, supported by iPhone 3G and the original iPhone 2G. Google mapped all cell towers in the US (and other countries), recorded their GPS locations, and then tries to determine where you are if it doesn’t have — or can’t get to — an aGPS signal proper.

The last — and the one causing your problem — is WiFi router mapping. Skyhook got into a bunch of vans, drove around the US (and other countries), detected WiFi routers in homes and businesses, and recorded their unique IDs along with their GPS locations.

For iPod touches, and for iPhones that aren’t getting good aGPS locks, Location Services uses WiFi mapping to find out where you are. The problem you’re encountering is likely that Skyhook recorded the location of your WiFi router when you lived in another state, and now when your iPhone is finding it, it still thinks you’re at that old address, across town, or across the country.

Skyhook may eventually drive around and re-map your WiFi router, or you can go to SkyhookWireless.com and manually re-locate your WiFi in their system — though in our experience it can take a long time for them to update either way.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Answers: Why Does My iPhone Think it’s in a Different State?

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

Fair enough, the CrackBerry’s didn’t smack me around as badly as the WinManiac — those who bothered to read the context disclaimer and understand the point of the Round Robin at least! Ha! And along with the awesome CrackBerry.com forum members who tried to help a poor iPhone n00b out, the commenters added many useful insights and a tip or two to boot! Still some questions were asked and that means there are answers to be attempted… after the break!

Rey Says: Could you compare video quality on the two screens? Same resolution but does it look better on one than the other?

Better is subjective. Due to it’s much higher pixel density (217dpi vs. 160pi) the Bold looks sharper than the iPhone, but because of the much smaller physical size, you may or may not value that sharpness over the beefier screen on the iPhone. (Think iPod Nano experience). Again, it’s like a 1080p LCD TV at 37″ as opposed to 52″.

Jhauser3 Says: How does the browser compare? I have used the black berry browser in the past and it was not even close to safari. Has RIM made steps towards a better browser?

I haven’t used previous BlackBerries, so it may well be night and day better. It rendered regular pages well enough but had some problems with CSS elements, which may be due to some optimization it’s trying to make. JavaScript didn’t look to be very well supported, especially since RIM turns it off by default. So, steps have been made, yes, but not leaps or bounds yet. For an iPhone user, it’s not quite good enough.

Touch Me Says: How does the battery hold up with heavy internet use compared to the iPhone?

Battery life was excellent! RIM really balances this well. However, I didn’t enjoy the web browsing or media experience (never mind gaming) as much as the iPhone, so I didn’t do those things as much. When I did, it added considerably to battery drain as happens with pretty much every device.

Tk Says: another question i’ve had was, it looks kinda big, is it heavy? or in other words, is it small/light enough to fit in your pocket without feeling uncomfortable?

The Bold was much lighter than I thought it would be, and given it’s width, it’s still incredibly slim on the profile, so it’s very pocketable.

Bear Says: How do the speakers sound. Are they tinny sounding and are they loud enough?

The speakers sounded great! The Bold has one huge advantage over the iPhone 3G when it comes to speakers: they pump much more serious volume out of the ear speaker when playing media. On the iPhone 3G, the ear speaker is much lower than the bottom speaker. The Bold balances this better, for a nicer stereo experience. (You listening, Apple?!)

Steve Says: How many minutes does it take to figure out where things are? And does it come with a giant magnifying glass to read emails?

No UI is yet as intuitive as the iPhone’s, and frankly while the neon wireframes look neat, they’re not always immediately obvious. Add to that multiple email icons when you add accounts (I can hide them, I know, but they’re not hidden by default) and the lack of iPhone-style text labels beneath them, along with the trackball moving too little or too much, and it took some time and practice before I was speedy with it. And no magnifying glass, as the email was easy enough to read, though the app is Spartan to say the least.

mbiphonefan Says: i would like to know about the typing comfort. is it more comfortable to type on that device than on the iphone? is the wifi connection better than on the iphone?

I dislike physical keyboards as I find the repetitive pressure stressful and it burns out the small muscles in my forearms. I far, far, prefer typing on the iPhone, but other people will no doubt feel the opposite way. That said, the Bold had the nicest keyboard I’ve used so far. I did like the sticky feel of the Treo Pro, but the Bold’s width made a big difference.

Didn’t try WiFi as I get really decent 3G. I did see that there was a separate WiFi browser mode, which I found strange and off-putting. UI should be UI and pipe should be pipe, and never should a user be forced to watch the sausage being made.

Deathscaller Says: Hows the internet speed and battery life compared to the iphone.

Speed is probably a function of network, but I found the iPhone on 3G rendered pages faster and better than the Bold, especially with JavaScript enabled on the Bold. I think the Bold, however, manages battery life a tad better than the iPhone, as their push solution can handle a lot of lower-power interactions (I think?)

frog Says: Is there much/any lag in the menu system?

Nope. Menuing and UI systems were hecka snappy. However, once in a while the screen would flash pure white for a second then come back. Not sure what that was about?

The Reptile Says: 1) The BBB browser. How well does it work? Is it frustrating to have a good screen but no compelling interface? 2) Media capabilities. How do they compare to the iPhone? 3) Non-NOC email. Can you do this on the BlackBerry and if you can how well does it work? 4) Navigation. How long does it take to navigate to screens using the trackball? Are there other methods or is the track ball the only way? 5) If you don’t email or text much is there a compelling reason to own a BBB?

1) It works okay. The frustration was minimal, but the screen was sharp and small, and it takes a while to scroll. It’s hard to use other handset browsers after MobileSafari, however. 2) It seems like RIM is trying harder with media, and the built in players all worked well enough, but again anything would have trouble in comparison to the iPhone’s real strengths. 3) I tried the Gmail downloadable app, which worked well enough, but again I prefer having 1 email app to rule them all. 4) Keyboard shortcuts work, but the trackball is king. 5) Nope, other than fashion. Messaging the Bold’s forte.

Glenn Says: How does the app store and browers compare?And how does apps like aim and facebook compare

No App Store yet in the iPhone sense. CrackBerry.com offers so similar services, but Apple really nailed the mobile software delivery system. I didn’t try Facebook. Anyone tried them both and willing to share?

James Says: How was the Bold’s radio reception compared to the iPhones?

Good, but I’ve never had trouble with the iPhone’s radio. Not had a dropped call yet on either device. (Knock wood).

Charlotte Says: in terms of applications, which one has better selection and more powerful/useful apps? access, costs, etc??

App Store is unmatched as of this moment, but RIM is planning to iClone… er deploy their own version(s) soon.

Jonathan Kutz Says: How is the battery case cover in terms sturdiness? I always found myself playing with the cover on my palms, taking it on and off alot.

Good! Fix it in place and forget it!

Steve Says: I was listening to the Crackberry podcast, and something Kevin said made it sound like there is more than one type of Internet browser on the phone. Is there more than one? What’s up with that? Secondly, is it possible that having more buttons on the phone make games more enjoyable than on our beloved iPhone? Finally, just to get Kevin back, can we find some excuse to come up with a good name to call the BB in retort to his “Oh Frack-phone” label….???

Bla1ze was kind enough to answer the browser question, and I bow before his crackspertise! “the “Internet Browser” the “Hot Spot Browser” and whatever lame wap browser your carrier wants to install (ie: medianet for AT&T) but essentially all function in the same way you can read a better explanation that I posted @ http://forums.crackberry.com/f3/why-do-i-have-different-browsers-ie-wap-internet-wifi-85060/“

Maybe a real time strategy game would enjoy more buttons, the way they do on PCs vs. consoles. Dunno. We could come up with many names, how about it, commenters?

Steve Says: Could iPhone users find any practical use for the BlackBerry Bold… like for scraping ice off of their windshields?

It scraped a scratch in my iPhone 3G glass, which nothing else had thus far been able to do, so yeah, I think it would kill at ice scraping.

Dan Hinze Says: So, if this is exclusively for legitimate questions about the BlackBerry Bold from an “iPhone” perspective, why is an iPhone being given away? Shouldn’t a Bold be given away instead since most the questions will come from “iPhone” users inquiring about the Bold???? Anyway, here’s my “Bold” question. Do third party GPS apps such as Google Maps work with the Bold yet?

Er… I’ll just assume you finally read all about the Round Robin contest in the many, many links we’ve posted and skip on ahead… Yup, I believe the bold has Google Maps goodness.

bas.life Says: I know this is pretty much a subjective question, but I watch many movies on my iphone; knowing the screen size differences, do you or anyone find watching video/movies on the bold enjoyable? Another question, will my movies formatted for the iphone play natively on the bold or do I have to reconvert them into a compatiable format?

It was about the same as watching on the iPod Nano in my experience. Super high density in a tiny little package. I’m not sure about the movie format as I didn’t try moving anything over.

Cherryhead25 Says: I think I have a legitimate question. How’s the Bold sound as a phone, ya know like when placing a call? Is the sound quality good compared to the iPhone 3g, eh?

Sound was good. I’m not sure digital actually improved on analog, and everything sounds chopped off to me, but I’d say they’re pretty much good all around.

iAirmanshirk Says: Why is the blackberry track ball so hard to use, why is their user interface not been upgraded since the 90’s and how are they still selling phones?

Trackballs are mechanical and hence subject to mechanical failure. Think old school ball mouse. I don’t think anyone really understood mobile interfaces before Apple launched the iPhone, now RIM is struggling to adapt a last gen micro-OS to a next gen world. They’re still selling phones because they took a lesson from Microsoft and managed to get a huge install base of locked-in proprietary technology: BIS, BES, and NOC.

Patrick Says: Blackberries are famous for their email capabilities. However, I’ve heard the gmail experience on a BB is not that great (e.g. no push, haphazard 2-way imap synching, etc…). How does gmail on the Bold compare to on the iPhone? I’m looking at getting one of these devices, and the gmail experience is a huge factor for me. Thanks!

Google has really poor IMAP support on any and every platform, so there’s really no way to make a fair comparison. When Gmail is working, they both work.

msbaylor Says: What is the cost of the blackberry data plan? What color bit depth does use? What’s the picture resolution (talen from the camera) ?

Cost will vary by carrier, but I think it’s roughly the same as any data plan. I believe the Bold tops out a depressing 65K colors, which is a little out dated, but again at 217dpi, I’m not sure how noticeable it would be (I couldn’t see much if any dithering or distortion). 2 MP camera… but with flash!

lordzod01 Says: there are enough reviews to compare both the iPhone and bb indepth. Why do people keep blogging with stupid questions about browsers and battery life.

Anything unknown remains a question.

Kevin Nuckols Says: I would like compare the the fuze web browser and the bolds experience.

I couldn’t get Opera Mobile working on the FUZE, so no comparison for me. Maybe Dieter would know.

Amani Says: Whether I get an iphone or blackberry, I won’t be using the 3G Network(I don’t want to pay for a data plan) How does the wifi compare on each?

Sorry, didn’t try WiFi on the Bold, but the iPhone’s is awesome.

Garrett Says: Fantastic review. I am currently on a BB and looking forward to a Bold or an iPhone. I have used both and both are great fantastic devices. There are tons of keyboard shortcuts you can look into. I stumbled across a lot of them while using mine. Having and iPhone I am sure you have a mac. Have you found any solutions to the BB syncing to mac catastrophe? If so please let me know!

Kevin swears Mac support for the BlackBerry is improving. Pretty depressing that it took them this long!

December 21st, 2008 at 9:05 pm Are there any applications that you loved on the Bold? Either on the BB OS or third-party? Did you feel like you used the Bold “on-the-go”? Or was it a “stop & use” phone?

Bold was stop and use for me. It had to be. I don’t know how Kevin can handle really parsing, processing, and responding to all that push email and messaging without stopping. Then again, he’s much smarter and more productive than I am. (And those were the apps I liked most).

SomeAudioGuy Says: Really after your Spazz-out review of the Fuze, I’m really curious to see how you handle a non-touch screen phone. What do you think of the total messaging package? Being able to receive IM without being IN the IM app?

Well, since you were so gracious and classy in the asking, I really enjoyed the power of the messaging, but as I said in my review, the demand of it was terrifying.

talljason Says: How do the Bold and iPhone compare for consumers not dependent on getting and sending e-mails…is there a certain feature other than e-mail that makes the Bold better than the iPhone?

The keyboard if you prefer physical keyboards?

Jrock Says: Is the bold better than the iPhone? =O

Depends on your needs and preferences.

Scotty Says: How does it feel in the hand. Too wide?

Nope, felt fine!

cole Says: how is the reception compared to the iphone after all the iphone doesn’t get good reception at all

iPhone reception has been solid for me, get a better network!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin: BlackBerry Bold Q&A!

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

So the WinManiacs kicked my butt a bit over the HTC FUZE review. David Pogue was wrong, neither Apple Nuts nor BlackBerry nuts hold a candle to WinMo users scorn. However, I’d counter by saying they were so busy being indignant, they didn’t really stop to consider the point of the round robin, or the points raised in the preview or final review. In other words, coming from where we’re coming from, iPhone users approaching other devices, we were right, and the enraged WinManiacs… well… read on after the break!

Justin Says: It is abundantly clear that the iPhone is excellent as a multimedia device, but lacks some of the productivity tools that a business user is looking for, a Blackberry is really the oposite. I want something that can fit both of those bills, how does this phone handle that?

It doesn’t do both well, it compromises to do both from poor to fair to okay. It’s power is considerably hampered by its unease of use, and its overall experience is a confusion of inconsistent TouchFlo 3D and archaic Windows Mobile 6.1. I’d almost recommend getting a BlackBerry and an iPod Touch. If, as I mentioned in my review, you’re really into tweaking hardware and controlling every little aspect of your device, then go for Windows Mobile and you can make it the best of both.

Jim Says: Just how easy (or hard) is it to get the FUZE to work with an Exchange environment?

Theoretically it should be a snap. I couldn’t get it to work, however, as Windows Mobile claimed my Exchange certificate was invalid, so while on the iPhone I could just tap ‘ignore’ and keep going, this was a dead end on Windows Mobile, as was the convoluted process required to move my Mac desktop certificate over the device. (Yeah, I know, they don’t support Mac — not acceptable).

Brooks Says: Speaking of HTC phones, how’s the HTC Touch HD? Is it available in the US?

Haven’t tried the HD but it looks good based on Dieter’s hands on. Not available in the US, and not going to be, unfortunately.

WatersWest Says: Would I be able to load up a fuze with music, photos, and videos to the same extent that I do on my 16GB iPhone, and would it be as easy?

Yes and no. You can load it up pretty much with everything you want, but nothing in my experience currently matches the ease of use of the iTunes and iPhone integration and sync.

WatersWest Says: My newest favorite feature on the iPhone is the wireless downloading of podcasts. Would I still be able to do that on a fuze, and would it be as easy as it is on the iPhone (where it is so easy, it’s a pleasure)?

Dieter loves him and recommends him some Kinoma player, which streams podcasts (though I don’t think downloads them). I didn’t try any direct downloads, so I’m not sure if those are possible. Nothing on Windows Mobile was as easy, however.

Touch Me Says: let’s assume that the bulk is acceptable to me and I am more at home with a physical keyboard. Further, once I get the device set up to do what I want the software becomes more-or-less transparent. Where does that leave the Fuze-iPhone comparison?

It leaves it manipulated to the extreme More specifically, it leaves a bulky device that you had to invest significant time tweaking compared to a slender devices that’s really not tweak-able to any significant degree.

Touch Me Says: Will the Fuze work more easily with other carriers besides AT&T? Is its replaceable battery a significant advantage in the field? Does the screen look as good as an iPhone’s especially outside? Is Window’s vast array of applications, not to mention the Palm applications it can run, a plus? Is every program efficient with the iPhone’s touch interface or are some uses better with a keyboard (text input, forms) or stylus (database, some games like backgammon)?

An unlocked GSM device is an unlocked GSM device, so until the iPhone 3G is software unlocked, the FUZE is more transportable. I had a replaceable battery on the Treo 680 and never used it, so for me it made no difference. The screen is higher resolution, I believe, than the iPhone and looked gorgeous, but the plastic matt finish vs. glass gloss of the iPhone will depend on individual preference. Are more applications better? No. Look at the 10,000 App Store apps, when many more are more realistically CrApps. So, this will also depend if there are applications you really need that are Windows Mobile or Palm emulator-only (like Office suites, currently). Keyboards and styluses will likewise be individual preferences. I never used keyboards well on the Palm, and didn’t like styluses, so the iPhone’s paradigm suits me far more. As to types of programs, that’s really down to the designers — they should be able to make any app work with any input method, the same way Photoshop works with a mouse or with a tablet.

Dimietriev Says: I don’t remember if this has come up, or if some other round robing review has talked about it. But are the many buttons re-mapable in any way?

I didn’t test for this. The fine folks at WMExperts likely know, but my guess is everything is configurable on Windows Mobile if a) you dig deep enough, b) spend time enough.

The_Reptile Says: How about a history lesson? This platform has been around in one way shape or form since the PDA days. What innovations has Mr Softie come up with and why is this not a me-too platform/device?

History available from Wikipedia, where you can discover that, unlike the iPhone which leverages the same core as Mac OS X, Windows Mobile is really Windows in name only. Now, if we go by CES shows, then Mr. Gates et. al. have created magical devices that take our entire computing environment with us where ever we go. However, that’s all been vaporware. Instead, we’ve got an aging OS chasing Palm’s garnet on the way to obsolescence, with a next generation version delayed to the point being vaporware itself. So, it’s not a me-too platform/device, more like a never was. Sorry folks, but Microsoft, like Palm, should have given us an iPhone-class experience 5 years ago. Their complacency has cost them.

ekabe Says: How does the turn by turn GPS compare.

The iPhone doesn’t have turn by turn GPS, so it’s not comparable. Google Maps is a much, much, much better experience on the iPhone. Turn by turn is nice to have on everything else, but I don’t use it much so I’m not missing it like others might be.

James Says: How well does the touchscreen on the phone work?

Uh… watch my video review. It’s resistive rather than capacitive, which is good news for stylus lovers, bad news for those who have gotten used to the iPhone, Android G1, or BlackBerry Storm.

Todd Says: I had a question, is the Fuze screen quality way better than the iphone bc it is a VGA device?

It has greater pixel count and density than the iPhone, so you get more dots in less space for a theoretically sharper picture overall.

Glenn Says: What is the biggest difference between windows mobile and OS X on the iPhone, does the htc blur this difference??

iPhone OS X is a modern, desktop derived operating system, built from the ground up to support multi-touch and other next generation mobile features. Windows Mobile is currently an out dated system built for last generation embedded devices. HTC’s TouchFlo 3D attempts to mask this, but ultimately fails due to inconsistencies of its own, and — worse — the necessity of dropping back into Windows Mobile proper all the time, which creates a completely Jekyll and Hyde user experience. (Again, I’d be really interested to see TouchFlo 3D given a little more consistency and backed right into a Samsung Instinct class consumer device).

The last WM device I owned was an T-Mobile MDA Vario II (HTC TyTN*), which was a WM 5 device. Lots infuriated me about it, but nothing so much that it didn’t automatically connect to Wifi networks (even if you’d joined them many times before). Is that fixed now in WM (like in iPhone)?

It might be; I was running off 3G fast enough I didn’t couldn’t bring myself to try to enter my long, pseudo-random WPA key into Windows Mobile with a visibly state-changing keyboard. However, going to the settings screen and seeing just how many wireless configuration apps were just sitting there scared the bajeebers out of me. I’m sure they all provided cool functionality — maybe tethering? — but that many similar looking and similar named icons is just depressing from a UI point of view. Collect ‘em up!

Andrew Says: The physical keyboard for me looks like a win. I don’t have an iPhone, but the iPod Touch Keyboard is annoying for my big fingers, unless in landscape mode, which isn’t always possible…

You know, I have fingers big and smushy enough that typing on a hard keyboard if very frustrating for me, and with the iPhone, I find I barely ever use the landscape keyboard. Maybe it’s my alternating typing style, but the portrait keyboard works just find for me. For those who want a hard keyboard with some room to it, the FUZE was definitely a nice, wide slider.

Bla1ze Says: What I wanna know is…Why does the device lag so bad with all that processing power behind it, I mean TF3D really suck up that many resources?

Windows Mobile 6.1 + TouchFlo 3D = Vista Aero on a “capable” 2006 machine.

Joshua Says: If you do a hard reset and not allow the ATT software to load, this device is so much faster.

If you, like Apple, stand up to the carriers and say “No crapware, frakyou very much!” it runs faster still!

Steve Says: When I look at those screen shots I can’t even make out what it is I’m looking at. It’s a typical cluster-f**k of Windows icons, menus, and tabs. What do I click on? What will happen?

That’s a very real concern. The device is not intuitive.

PhilR8 Says: I also with you would have addressed some of the comments from the preview thread that gave you suggestions on how to better use TF3D (like mine). Were these tips helpful? Did you even try them? Or is it still not for you?

The tips did help somewhat, but I think my usage method was just too iPhone-trained to really do a good job with it in only a week. Switching to my nail made it better, but it never did what I intended it to do. I would even try just hitting the icon I want, when it was off to the side, and different things would happen at different times, and no matter what anyone says, if I drag sideways on the music app instead of up and down, no way should that activate the tab bar (which is nowhere near where I pressed) and shoot me into different apps.

Nailing touch is hard. I think we all know that. HTC names their like Touch. That’s a really brazen thing to do if you don’t nail the experience utterly and completely. I’d argue Apple did with the iPod Touch, and HTC absolutely did not with their line.

Maybe I could have gotten used to it if I spent more time with it, or if I’d spent money on it and knew I couldn’t return it, but — again — I don’t think, in 2008, I should have to.

ekabe Says: But after a month of using this phone ive never had a random application generator moment using touchflo. You sure you where holding and dragging? Its not meant to be flicked.

I switched to even just trying to press the icons. Maybe I should have held and dragged, but can’t I even just press the icon I want to launch an app? From testing: nope.

pinguino1 Says: I’m not a fuze guy, but many of your negative comments are because you just didn’t do what 99% of people in this planet do: . Read the manual! . The other 1% are iPhone guys.

I never read an iPhone or iPod Touch manual, nor the Android G1, nor the Treo Pro, and I shan’t be reading the BlackBerry Bold why should the FUZE get, never mind need, special consideration?

And if it does, that sorta makes many of my points. I really don’t want a phone I need an instruction manual for, especially after having used PDAs and Smartphones for a decade already…

Darrell Pittman Says: You know, irony can be so ironic. I think back to that 1984 Super Bowl ad, where the Mac’s avatar strides up to the big screen and supposedly, strikes a blow for the everyman against Big Brother. Now look at you lot, grateful for being able to spend big money on a phone, then set it up AT HOME. Then when you do, you can install only Apple-approved apps. You can’t even change your own battery. It’s sad, for people who profess to love freedom.

If I go to a gourmet French restaurant, look at the menu, and then proceed to throw a fit because I can’t order pizza, is that a blow against my personal freedom? Of course not, that would be silly. If, on the other hand, I want to go to the trouble of cooking for myself at home, I can make anything I want. I enjoy cooking, and I enjoy restaurants. Cooking can be a lot of work, so sometimes I eat out. Setting up a Windows Mobile device (or Linux distro) can also be a lot of work, so currently I choose to use an iPhone. What’s really ironic is all the so-called freedom exponents with little no respect for the choices of others. Part of being free means the freedom to chose proprietary solutions.

PmMann Says: As much as they say “Think Different”, every ipod I have seen is exactly alike. Heaven forbid you want to change the skin of the UI, or even choose a different UI..

“Think Different” was a Mac, not an iPod campaign. There are plenty of devices you can tweak to your hearts content, but does market share show them to be as popular? Nope. Why is that? Could it be that while some groups are especially loud, they don’t consider that there’s a far larger, albeit more silent group, that doesn’t really want to tinker, doesn’t even really care for technological details, and just wants their music to work? Apple considers that, and the market has certainly born them out.

Thanks for all the great questions!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin: TiPb vs. HTC FUZE Q&A!

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

Our video preview is done, our final review is posted, but you had Palm Treo Pro questions and so we’ll try to provide some answers… After the break…

deathscaller Says: Does the Pro’s Internet speed compare to the iPhones at all?

3G is 3G, but the cpu speed and software engine can make a difference. Web browsing on the iPhone seemed much faster, which I chalk up to MobileSafari’s WebKit foundation (well known from back in it’s Linux Konquerer days for its sheer speed). Email is much lighter than web rendering, and iPhone does HTML email, where I only saw mobile email from the Treo Pro, so that’s not a fair comparison, but both were snappy (though Gmail IMAP still gives me fits on every platform)

Justin Says: I’m curious to know your thoughts on the email set up. I had a hell of a time when I used the Treo 750, and that was ultimately what drove me away.

I won’t lie: it’s fairly hideous. Then again, Windows makes you set up Exchange in Control Panel rather than Outlook, so my expectations have been trampled. I couldn’t get Exchange to work due to the failure to allow custom certificates to be accepted (on the iPhone, you can just ignore the warning). Gmail set up, but defaulted to POP, not IMAP. It did do a decent job of auto-detecting Gmail’s settings, however.

Mike M Says: How well does it do things the iPhone is lacking? Cut and paste, to dos, mms, etc. And would you even consider switching just to get these features? I know I wouldn’t, but I’m sure there are people out there who are on the fence who would like to know.

I really wanted cut and paste, but on both the Treo and Android I ended up not using it much. It was too annoying. On the iPhone, if I want to send you a webpage I’m looking at (or location, or photo, etc.) I just hit the + button, pick your address, and boom, email is sent and I’m back in on the web. Having to manually fiddle with highlighting tiny, irregular text blobs, going through menu gymnastics, manually switching apps, etc. just slowed me down and made me think it wasn’t worth it.

MMS is useless to me as I don’t have any friends or family using it either, and everyone else I just email the stuff to right off the iPhone. It’s device independent, which I prefer.

If Apple really nailed implementations of these features, I’d certainly be really happy and probably use them when I had to, but if they did it badly (no Storm jokes!) I’d be even more annoyed. So no, I wouldn’t switch.

Anthony Martinez Says: How’s that keyboard. I picked up a Palm in a store once and thought it was way too small. But then the iphone keyboard is small in portrait mode too. What are your thoughts?

Material is better than the 6xx/7xx series, but the narrow width takes that step forward back a notch.

Jeff Says: What have you missed most from the iPhone that the Pro doesn’t offer?

Without a hint of sarcasm: joy. The iPhone is just a pleasure to use. The Treo Pro was powerful but a lot of work. I didn’t enjoy the experience, even when it impressed me. User experience on the iPhone — every little detail from app flow to stretch and bounce animation effects — is just so well polished.

PRIMECHUCK Says: Does the phone stream live events

Qik style? According to WMExperts, yes it does.

Mike M Says: How close do you think palm and the iPhone are from being incomparable devices? Palm doesn’t seem to be much of a contender anymore, how long before they drop out of the competition?

I hope never. While Apple is amazing at competing with themselves (see the iPod space), everyone does better with strong alternatives pushing innovation.

Jason Says: Is the touchscreen very important to navigation/data entry/etc? Most other phones are either all keys or all touchscreens…

I’m used to using touch screen on Palm devices (insert stylus humor here), so for me it was very easy to default back to. Crackberry Kevin, by contrast, likely never went near it.

Rey Says: What’s the best and worst thing about it?

Best is that it’s a really great WinMo device with excellent hardware. Worst is that it wasn’t a Palm Treo.

Touch Me Says: The tiny 320 x 320 screen on the Treo looks like a big disadvantage compared to the iPhone’s 480 x 320. How does that affect its use? Or does not needing screen real estate for a virtual keyboard and menus make it a wash?

It felt cramped, which is amazing since the previous gen WinMo Palm had 240×240. And when the default soft keyboard popped up, not only was it tiny and stylus-compelling, it usually covered the field you were supposed to type into.

BLUELINE Says: What is of like haveing a phone with both touch and physical buttons for the ui. Do you think it is better or worse then a all touch or no touch phone?

I like having the choice, though I won’t know for sure until I’ve used a completely non-touch device like the BlackBerry Bold. However, I’m increasingly coming to believe that hard keyboards — for some types of users like myself — are a thing of the past.

Jason Says: Has palm changed anything about the Windows Mobile OS to make it their own? Sort of like the panels on the SE Xperia or the Fuze…

Not this time around, far as I could tell, though that keeps WinMo smoking fast (if heinously ugly).

Jeff Says: what was the learning curve like on the keyboard going from the iphone to the pro?

I used to have a 680, so not too bad. I did find it annoying that the hard keyboard wouldn’t change to reflect state. With the iPhone, I’ve gotten used to pressing “shift” and seeing upper case, pressing 123 and seeing numbers, etc. Especially in password fields, I was never sure what I was typing (even with the little icons on screen).

Jason Says: With the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack, would you use the Treo Pro (or AT&T Fuze and T-Mobile G1) as much for music/videos?….I can’t imagine using the connectors

Treo Pro has the 3.5mm headphone jack, it’s the Android G1 and HTC FUZE that don’t have them, and yes it’s even more egregious than the original iPhone 2G’s wonky 3.5mm (because it needs an even more annoying adapter).

Jeff Says: How about battery life?

It was great! It lasted more than a day, however because I couldn’t get everything working, I did far, far, far less with it than I typically do with an iPhone.

KLutes Says: I am curious as to how robust the device feels as a whole in comparison. More solid less solid or about the same build quality. I see lots of cracked glass iphones on my college campus and I am curious as to how bang up prone this little gem is.

Both the iPhone 3G and the Treo Pro have had reported problems with micro-cracks in the plastic casing, but Dieter’s Treo Pro is still pristine! Build quality is superb, with a ton of fit and finish. However, it’s plastic, not glass, and was a little creaky around the battery cover. The iPhone has no removable battery, so it’s as close to a solid slab as you can get.

Bela says: Do you feel that this phone compares to the Android ?

Android is still very much a beta/technology preview, while WinMo in its current incarnation is a relic, so as the former rises and the latter falls, they could be comparable during this brief slice of time. What Android 2.0 and WinMo 7 look like is a far more important, and difficult question.

Thanks everyone for sending in your questions!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin: TiPb vs. Palm Treo Pro Q&A!

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

You had Google Android G1 questions, we’ll try to provide answers. Unfortunately, we already shipped the Android G1 off to TreoCentral’s Jennifer and we’re moving on to the Palm Treo Pro, so we won’t be able to answer anything we didn’t already find out last week, but for the most part, we’ll try our best to give you an iPhone look at Google handset.

See our answers, after the jump!

Jason asks: in what user-friendly ways does the G1 shine? I know the open OS is a big deal for developers, but what about the average user?

If you’re in a Google world, with Gmail and gCal, then the G1 is awesome with it’s login/activation setting up Google push at the same time. I still maintained Google Contacts is an embarrassment, however, and needs work pronto. I’m not sure how well Google Docs work, if at all, as I didn’t test those.

For users, the open OS means the potential for a wider range of more innovative software, but it will depending on developers being interested and able enough to produce it, of course.

Fassy asks: What are the major differences between Android’s WebKit browser and Mobile Safari? Do sites render differently, and, if so, how? Can/does the G1 use iphone-optimized versions of sites? Is the G1’s browser any more (or less) stable than Mobile Safari?

The major difference between MobileSafari and “Chrome-lite” (is that what the cool kids are calling it?) is that Chrome lacks multi-touch, which was a huge negative coming from the iPhone mindset. Multi-touch just kills on moving around the space.

Sites rendered similarly, since the engine is the same, but Chrome didn’t resize pages and text flow the way Safari does, so it required extra zoom-out steps all the time. I didn’t see any iPhone-optimized pages pop up on the G1 either, though I did notice when I tried to login to the MobileMe website, it told me to use the built in iPhone apps instead, so Apple was obviously miss-identifying Chrome as Safari.

Chrome was much more stable than MobileSafari 2.1. It didn’t crash once the whole week. So far, MobileSafari 2.2 hasn’t crashed on me either, so maybe things would be more even now.

cherryhead25 asks: Obviously their apps are tied into Google but have you found the phone productive at all? I mean is there a document/spreadsheet editor, or alarms for tasks? What are the calendar views like compared to the iPhones PIM? What about foreign language support like the iPhone has built in, specifically Asian languages. These are deal breakers for me so please elaborate on the productivity side of things.

The learning curve definitely impacted my productivity, especially the dismal contacts. I didn’t try docs, but I didn’t see any way to view or edit them built in. Calendar had a week view, which is lacking on the iPhone. Didn’t see foreign languages, but remember this is a localized to T-Mobile in the US phone. I’d bet when it goes international, like the iPhone 3G did, we’ll see that. I think Android Market will need to enable paid apps before we see the big productivity tools show up as well.

It’s still very much early day with this phone. Just imagine the omni-pesent Google “beta” tag being on the phone.

Dimietriev asks: How easy is it to buy and download apps from the android store. With the iphone, you can do it fairly quickly, especially from the phone.

Very easy! I was very impressed with the download and install on Android Market, and the notification of what services each and every app would use (i.e. GPS, network, etc.) Update notices also popped up right when I launched an app, so no having to rely on an App Store-like badge.

Dimietriev asks: Also, how do you think the swinging hinge will hold over time(long term)? You refer to the word ‘creaky’.

In my experience, each added level of complexity and mechanics is an increase in the chance (read: certainty) of breakdown. Whether it lasts as long as you plan to keep the phone, however, is a question. I’m guessing many people would upgrade handsets before wear-and-tear sets in. But, yeah, definitely “creaky” and not my preference.

Leanna asks: Is the touch screen just as nice and responsive? Or do you need to push harder or hold your finger down for longer?

It’s good, being capacitive like the iPhone, but not quite as buttery smooth (but what is?). Also, not being a glass screen, it didn’t “feel” as nice. Also, having to switch input methods ruined the sheer joy of the experience. I like touch screen. I don’t want to have to change to keyboard and back, track-ball and back. When the virtual keyboard launches, I’m hoping this goes away.

Keil Miller asks: Will android be on other phones and allow for less confusing methods of input?

My guess is yes, there may well be all keyboard, all touch, etc. versions of Android, similar to what we see with WinMo and BlackBerry now. However, on the flip side this will make development as difficult as those platforms since lack of unified hardware means never knowing what input end users will have available. Every iPhone/iPod Touch works the same, which is a huge plus for developers.

Dimietriev asks: Also, what are the options, if any, if you want to back-up the device?

Didn’t see any. iPhone backs up via iTunes when you tether it, and the G1 you really don’t have to tether, which I love. I’m guessing there’s some sort of backup in place, but I didn’t stumble across it. If the iPhone goes completely tether-less eventually as well, I wonder if we’ll see a Time Machine-like option?

Lead asks: Is there a software keyboard?

Not yet, but I understand it’s coming. In my opinion, it would greatly enhance usability in portrait mode especially

James asks: is there any way for you to type up messages an emails while still in portrait mode?

Not yet! See above!

jhunt4231 asks: Does the G1 run flash?

Also not yet, but also coming if we’re to believe the demo at the recent Adobe MAX conference.

Deathscaller asks: Whats the internet speed like compared to the Iphone and(if it has WiFi) how does that compare.

The G1 has WiFi and while I didn’t run any speed tests (d’oh!) I found them both to be snappy.

Luis asks: is there anyway to change the icons on the G1? how customizable is the whole android os?

In theory, it’s ultimately customizable by carriers, manufacturers, and users. According to Ryan Block of GDGT, while there’s no skinning process yet in place, all the UI files are standard image and XML, so anyone could either replace or rewrite them, or create a framework to more easily do so.

Firas asks: but I wonder if my 3 year old nephew would enjoy using it as much as my iPhone.

At the age of 2 1/2, my godson could use the iPhone. By 3 he could use it well. He can unlock it, return the home screen, switch home screens, find the apps he likes, launch them, quit them, play games, look at the photos, etc.

About the only thing he could do with the G1 was launch in at my head and demand the iPhone back. (I joke only slightly).

Alex Radu asks: How’s the camera on the G1? Both in terms of quality and features and options…

I’d say better than the iPhone but when really discussing mobile cameras, we’re discussing the difference between horrible and terrible. It’s not as bad as an iPhone, but not as good as an N95. The iPhone’s camera is greatly restricted by the thinness of the device. It lacks the space for mechanisms. The G1, however, is much thicker, even if part of that is taken up by slider action. Everything is compromise.

royk asks: what’s one thing the g1 does better than the iphone? what’s one thing the g1 could learn from the iphone?

Aside from the more open SDK, Gmail is much better. User experience could learn tons from the iPhone.

Eric asks: Do you like the physical keyboard better than the iPhones virtual one?

Not for me, but then I’ve never liked physical keyboards on small devices. Going back to the Palm 600, I’ve found them hard to use. I vastly prefer the iPhone-style keyboard. I’d recommend asking Crackberry Kevin or Dieter this question, as they live with hard keyboards while I — frankly — have freed myself from the tic tac-tiles

Thanks everyone for sending in your questions!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Round Robin: TiPb vs. Google Android G1 Q&A!

TiPb loves answering your emails, but we also love sharing our answers with the community in hopes that more people will benefit, and even better answers will present themselves (hey, that’s why we have them forums!). Today’s question comes from Chris:

“Why doesn’t the iPhone have real GPS?! Even the [redacted] Samsung Instinct has turn by turn! Why does Apple add [redacted] like street view [but] not the things users really want?”

TiPb answers after the break!

We’ve covered iPhone GPS and turn-by-turn navigation quite a bit here at TiPb, especially Dieter who lives out in the middle of somewhere and claims he needs it quite a bit. Why wouldn’t Apple add it indeed? Should be a no-brainer, right?

Well, here’s a few things:

1. Apple doesn’t really supply the GPS middlewhere on the iPhone. They have the chip, of course, and they made the UI (Steve’s even boasted about it on stage!), but the App itself is “powered” by Google Maps. So, the functionality of the App is in some ways limited to the functionality provided by Google. For example, we’re seeing street-view, transit, and walking directions in iPhone 2.2 Beta 2. Why? Because Google has been rolling that out across smartphone platforms, starting with Android. Do any devices have Google-powered tun-by-turn yet? Not to our knowledge. And there may be a reason for that…
2. Licensing conflicts. Google doesn’t own the maps they serve. They license them from Tele Atlas and Navteq. Dieter pointed out a while back that Google’s “API only provides Tele Atlas data, it appears that it’s prohibited from serving Navteq data. As early as ‘05 there has been speculation that there was some sort of license fight between Google and Navteq and both sides decided to take their ball and go home.” This looks like a pretty complicated and potentially deal-breaking deadlock (read the whole article for more). And it’s not the only legal problem…
3. Apple’s iPhone SDK agreement currently prohibits 3rd party turn-by-turn Apps. This could be to avoid the licensing issues mentioned previously, to leave the door open for an “officially licensed” version if Apple and Google can come to an agreement with the licensors (who may not want to see a competitive convergent device like the iPhone get that functionality), or because Apple feels they’ll be sued by the first brainiac who tries to switch between turn-by-turn and SMS and back while driving into a lake.
4. Why can’t TomTom or another dedicated GPS manufacturer release an iPhone App directly, using their own Apps? After all, TomTom has already said they’ve made their system run on the iPhone. The App Store has a reported 2GB size limit, so there’s likely space enough for a robust install. Despite the SDK licensing restrictions, however, would a company like TomTom feel iPhone App sales would make up for the loss of dedicated hardware unit sales they’d face? There have been stories about the dedicated GPS players fearing the iPhone (and other convergence devices) would put them out of business. Let’s remember when Popular Mechanics asked the president of a GPS navigation system manufacturer how he felt about the prospect of a GPS-enabled iPhone, the president said he was: “Scared [expletive]-less“.
5. Could all of the above issues be at play? Apple’s head of iPhone Marketing, Greg “Joz” Joswiak, previously said: “there are some murky “complicated issues” preventing driving directions apps at the moment. ‘It will evolve. I think our developers will amaze us.’ “

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Answers: Why is There No Turn-by-Turn Navigation on the iPhone?

TiPb loves answering your emails, but we also love sharing our answers with the community in hopes that more people will benefit, and even better answers will present themselves (hey, that’s why we have them forums!). Today’s question comes from Jozsoo:

Is there an iPhone-friendly version of the web apps section of Apple’s site? Seems odd to me that the iPhone maker has no such tailor-made service on its site. Or am I missing something? Maybe you could cover this on your blog for others, too, to know.

TiPb answers, after the jump!

To the best of our knowledge, there is no iPhone optimized version of the Apple WebApps page for MobileSafari. Curious that. On first blush, it may seem that Apple is merely doing what they promised: providing a real web page for a the first mobile device capable of displaying “just the internet”.

Is this strange, however, in the face of promoting other sites like Facebook and Amazon that do provide iPhone optimized WebApps? (We’re not talking games here that require more complex AJAX-based interactivity — though Facebook can be buggy enough to crash MobileSafari almost regularly…)

It seems like Apple could show a little leadership here and create that very MobileSafari optimized version of that page. Call it WebApp Central (because “Store” would be inappropriate), and make it the drop dead easy (and gorgeous) way to add browser links and WebClips to our Home screens for every great WebApp out there (because there are still many).

Anyone know of a great 3rd party WebApp for WebApp sites that Jozsoo and the rest of us might like?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Answers: Why No WebApp for Apple’s WebApp Site?

TiPb loves answering your emails, but we also love sharing our answers with the community in hopes that more people will benefit, and even better answers will present themselves (hey, that’s why we have them forums!). Today’s question comes from Joephoto5:

My Bookmarks are listed in the order that I created them… Is there a way to resort them??? Is there a way to “group” them … (ala: sites dedicated to “news”, or sites dedicated to the “iPhone”, or sites dedicated to “aviation” etc.) ???

TiPb answers after the jump!

On the iPhone, you can hit the “Edit” button in the bottom left corner to delete (red circles on the left) and re-order (stacked lines on the right) your bookmarks in Mobile Safari. Once in Edit mode, you can also create new folders. However, I don’t believe you can move items into or out of folders on the iPhone itself.

Update: twokidtech in the comments below points out that, if you tap a link, it will open up a properties inspector which, aside from letting you change the display name and other attributes, will let you re-file your bookmarks. Thanks twokidtech!

However, if you sync your bookmarks with Safari (Mac/Windows) or IE (Windows), you can organize your bookmarks on the desktop however you want, and your next Sync should update your iPhone to reflect this. (MobileMe users can also have this happen automagically through over-the-air “push” sync).

Anyone have any bookmark organization tips for Joephoto5? Let us know!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Answers: How Do You Manage Mobile Safari Bookmarks on the iPhone?

TiPb loves answering your emails, but we also love sharing our answers with the community in hopes that more people will benefit, and even better answers will present themselves (hey, that’s why we have them forums!). Today’s question comes from Brandon:

I think it was universally acknowledged that September was when Apple promised is background notifications for the iPhone 2.x. September has come and gone and I don’t know about you guys but I still don’t have background notifications on my iPhone. Would be nice if you guys posted something busting apple’s 3@!!$ for missing the date and hoping we wouldn’t notice. I think alot of people like myself bought iPhones with the promise of these notifications in mind.

TiPb answers, after the jump!

We posted about the lack of push-notification when it disappeared from 2.1 Beta 4, and again when it didn’t show up in 2.2.

However, our take is that 2.0.x was so beset with bugs, that Apple had to focus on stability first, and then worry about new features later.

We think Apple was humbled on July 11th, and they’ve chosen to take some extra time with Push Notification and get things right, rather than rush out new, likely buggy features just to make self-imposed deadlines. (Do we really want a Push Notification Service as broken as MobileMe was at launch? Hopefully not!)

Of course, TiPb would love us some working Notifications, so we really do hope we get them — stable and properly polished — in 2.2.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Answers: Should Apple Have Released Push Notification Services with iPhone 2.1?