Now that the iPhone 3G has been officially announced and the details have been released, we are holding the first ever: TiPb vs TiPb. In the two articles we will detail reasons why we SHOULD upgrade and why we SHOULDN’T upgrade to the iPhone 3G. No hard feelings, No blood spilled, just good old fashioned point-by-point debate.

My first computer was an Apple II. Sure, I flirted with DOS (KDS 7860!), then had a fling with an Amiga before falling in with Windows 3.1 through Vista (now tucked safely away in a VM). But even in the Dark Days, I had a Mac Performa for a while, and now for the last year, I’m back on Mac full time. I say this to show that I don’t believe in being loyal to company that just sees me as cash. I believe in a company being loyal to me if they want my cash. They have to earn it. And the moment another company, platform, car manufacturer, game system developer, or cola maker does a better, more innovative job earning my cash — they get it.

So, for me, just because Apple released a new iPhone didn’t mean they “had me at 3G”. If they wanted my cash (and my enslavement to a carrier — more on that later), they had to wow me.

And wow me they did.

Read on the top 5 reasons you SO need to upgrade!

5. Tech Waits for No One

Usually I’m not the guy that rushes out and buys every new toy to come down Tech Ave. Usually I wait until a new release, Apple or not, and then buy the last gen, often refurbished, so I don’t suffer any first-adopter tax or retail premium.

Sure I write for an iPhone blog, but I really, truly love me some iPhone, and here’s why: it’s the next big paradigm shift for computing, every bit as much as the Apple II or the Mac, and I want in. Sure, 2.0 will run on the last gen device, but there are some tiny little hardware features to consider, like, say 3G HSDPA speeds, GPS location services, a flush headphone jack(!), among other things, not to mention the App Store apps which will certainly take advantage of, if not demand, an iPhone 3G, and being on the bleeding edge for this ride seems like a no brainer.

I don’t always need the latest or the greatest, but when Apple combines both those things together in a gorgeously evolutionary little package like iPhone 3G, how can I resist?

The world is moving mobile, and who’s driving that world now? Not Palm anymore, not Windows Mobile, not Symbian, and not even Blackberry. A UNIX box, always online, super fast, location aware, with next generation UI, all in my pocket?

Where do I sign?

4. Price.

$199, even though I’ll probably spring for the 16GB at $299. It’s just that simple. (Actually, it’s not, but I detailed my thoughts on it already yesterday — check them out!)

3. Speeds and Feeds

Steve Jobs’ Keynote demo showed the iPhone’s 3G speeds pasting EDGE and giving Wi-Fi a run for its money, and Engadget’s and Gizmodo’s early hands on helped confirm it for me: the iPhone 3G is a screamer!

Data transfer alone is only part of the picture, however. As we saw with the original iPhone rendering web pages of EDGE faster than some 3G phones could over HSDPA, processing power, HTML and Javascript engines, and a variety of software and hardware integration factors also effect overall speed. And this is where the iPhone 3G nails it.

Ubiquitous connectivity, where you’re online all the time, moving seamlessly from WiFi at home or work to cell data when you’re out and about is hardly seamless when you hit the road bumps that are EDGE. The difference between WiFI and EDGE is just too great, even on the iPhone, not to notice.

3G HSPDA may not be perfect, but it comes tantalizingly close to delivering that seamless experience. And it’s an experience that will be more and more important, and sooner than we think.

Once you go fast, its very hard to go back. iPhone 3G, with its blazing HTML email and web page rendering, means I won’t be going back, not after I upgrade.

2. GPS and the Cloud

I’ve mentioned the cloud before. It’s real, and it’s out there, and some analysts believe Google will use it to make more money next year than Microsoft does with Widows and Office. Google knows it, which is why they’re pumping out Android. Microsoft knows it, which is why they’re hyping Live Mesh even as they dally with Yahoo! and Facebook, and Apple knows it, which is why they’re refreshing .Mac to MobileMe, and putting A-GPS in the iPhone 3G.

Location based services are going to be the Excel and Internet of the next big platform adaption, and the iPhone 3G is uniquely poised to leverage them, with the right guts, the right services, and Apple, who’ve proven to be the best guys on the planet at marrying software, hardware, and now services.

Google Maps on the iPhone was just the beginning; the App demo at WWDC 2008 just the appetizer. The cloud revelation is coming, and I want in now.

1. International Support

I’m Canadian. and that means I’m currently running a jailbroken and unlocked iPhone. I don’t run any unofficial 3rd party apps, and I don’t have any data set up. I simply have to have a cracked phone in order to use it in the country I live. While I take responsibility for my own actions, though Apple who wanted revenue sharing and Rogers who has a GSM monopoly and gouges for data rates to the point that oil companies find them obnoxious certainly need to take responsibility for their (previously?) myopic views as well. (And as of this writing, Rogers has not announced rate information for the iPhone, so there may yet be show-stoppers on my end).

I also don’t have any warranty recourse should my iPhone develop any problems, no easy access to Apple Stores for fixes or even accessories. I’m a vagabond, like Bruce Banner always just one issue ahead of the army that hunts him.

And I’d like to come in out of the cold. I’d like to buy an iPhone in a regular store (I’d prefer an Apple Store, but I’ll take Rogers if I have to). I’d like to have it under warranty and service, and be able to take it in if I have any problems. And I’d like a data plan, a real one I can use everywhere and anywhere, without $0.03 a kb overage charges, and no recourse with Rogers billing for using my SIM on an unsupported device.

For those who want more languages, including the ability to draw out Asian language characters right on the phone will also be huge.

Absent being part of the privileged few nations to have gotten the original iPhone, international support is my killer feature.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it, my Top 5 reasons why I’ll be lined up at a Rogers store on July 11th, waiting for my iPhone 3G.

How about you? Will you be lining up somewhere just like me? Or will you, like Casey, be watching us from afar, still content with your 2G? Let me know!

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

TiPb vs. TiPb: Top 5 Reasons I’m SO Upgrading to iPhone 3G

Now that the iPhone 3G has been officially announced and the details have been released, we are holding the first ever: TiPb vs TiPb. In the two articles we will detail reasons why we SHOULD upgrade and why we SHOULDN’T upgrade to the iPhone 3G. No hard feelings, No blood spilled, just good old fashioned point-by-point debate.

More so than any other Apple release, the iPhone 3G was probably the worst kept secret in the history of Apple. There was plenty of speculation, some wild (video conferencing) and some tame (black casing). Some were right, some were wrong.

I flagrantly participated in the rumorpalooza. I was excited for every nugget of news even though it didn’t contain a kernel of truth. So maybe I hyped myself into thinking the iPhone 3G was going to be the be all, end all device that the iPhone was. After my initial excitement subsided, I realized, hey, the iPhone 3G isn’t a necessary upgrade! I could wait a little until all the kinks are worked out, so these are the 5 Reasons Why I’m NOT Upgrading to the iPhone 3G.

Read on for the 5 Reasons to NOT upgrade!

5. Form Factor

Actually, could I even lay it down flat on its back, without getting scratches? Do you guys remember your first iPod? It looked great coming out of the box with it glossiness but after just minimal usage, that thing was SCRATCHED. Scratches going every which way, some small, some big, and all with unknown origins.

And honestly, there wasn’t much you could do about it. With plastic, daily usage caused scratches on those plastic iPods. Will it do that to my precious iPhone? Looking at my iPhone now, it’s just as beautiful as the day I opened it.

4. GPS

The My Location feature in Google Maps is plenty good for me. Even though I live in Los Angeles and driving is the only form of transportation I know (walking? People do that?), the coverage and cell towers that triangulate my location is plenty good. Sure it doesn’t give me pinpoint accuracy but I like to take in the surrounding cross streets and intersections.

For me, My Location is good enough because in a sense, it turns your map book to the right page and section. Using My Location it feels as if you are constantly learning more about your surroundings. Using GPS narrows your perspective and focuses you on the dot, instead of what is around you.

GPS on the iPhone 3G is going to be great, I have no doubts about that. It’s probably the best mobile device to be equipped with GPS, but for me, its not going to change my lifestyle by leaps and bounds. Some people, constant travelers come to mind, need the exactness of GPS. Right now, I don’t.

3. 3G

A lot of the things I do, 3G isn’t quite necessary for me. I’ve played with some 3G phones and their battery life is horrible. Apple has a tendency to sometimes, over-state their battery performance, so I’d rather take the current battery over the iPhone 3G’s. When AT&T improves their 3G network, maybe I’ll change my stance. But I feel as if even though 3G is pretty much in every phone, the network is still in its infantile stages.

2. Price & AT&T Control

Sure, $10 dollars a month isn’t a big deal monetary wise and it’s better than handing over $399 in one lump sum or living in Canada (zing!), but I think the precedent AT&T is setting with the hike in data plans is highly disappointing.

I enjoyed the first iPhone because though it was carrier-locked, it seemed free of the usual BS behavior of carrier-locked phones. I didn’t have a carrier branded phone layout, I wasn’t forced with a AT&T MediaNet store, I didn’t have to scratch off the AT&T logo sticker and I was paying $20 a month for data + 200 SMS. It was as if Apple was only using AT&T services as their playground—I was having fun and had no idea AT&T provided me the service. Using an iPhone was a treat from Apple, not anybody else.

Now? AT&T is hiking up prices, reverting the activation process, fining people who don’t activate under 30 days and who knows what else. All the misinformation that is floating around is so confusing that it seems as if AT&T is changing the rules while we play the game. The 3G playground? Tagged in Blue and Orange, branded by AT&T. Someone blow up the Death Star, please. I’ll stay in my current sandbox, thank you.

1. What They Didn’t Update

This wasn’t the iPhone that iPhone users wanted. It’s the iPhone that RIM’s, Palm’s, WinMob’s users needed. 3G & GPS are no longer checkpoints that Apple can’t fill out. As Apple & iPhone users we usually have dreamy scenarios for upcoming products. We want video conferencing even though it hasn’t matured yet. We want an iPhone nano because we love the iPod nano. But the reality of it is, the iPhone 3G isn’t as important a release as the original iPhone was.

A lot of our astute readers are realizing that the iPhone 3G isn’t the must upgrade we imagined. Like the iPod Photo that updated the iPod Click Wheel, the difference is big at first glance: color screen/3G & GPS, but it isn’t the completely revolutionary tool that the Video iPod and the iPhone Next will be.

Final Thoughts

I’m not saying that I’ll NEVER buy an iPhone 3G. I think it’s a GREAT deal for those who don’t currently have iPhones and need 3G & GPS in their daily lives. Just don’t expect me to be in line with you guys come July 11th. I’ll probably come around at some point in time, probably when I get to hold the iPhone in my hand and ‘race’ the iPhone 3G with my original iPhone. But until then, I’ll be more than happy with my beautiful, getting better with age, original iPhone.

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

TiPb vs TiPb: Top 5 Reasons Why I’m NOT Upgrading to iPhone 3G

A lot of people look at the iPhone, in its current iteration, and complain that while it looks good, it lacks customization and is in dire need of native applications. And there’s a lot of truth to that, Apple has restricted much of the features on the iPhone and has limited what you can and cannot do. As much as it falls in line with keeping the user interface clear and intuitive, making users become passive to development prevents Apple from fully realizing the iPhone’s potential.

You want to run 3^rd party apps? Safari and Web Apps is the only ‘official’ way. Granted that Web Apps have come a long way, it doesn’t give justice to the true power of the iPhone as much as it shows off the versatility of Safari.

Currently, the only answer to this dilemma is jailbreaking. After having mulled the jailbreaking option a few times before, I made the switch only a couple months ago. And my, if you want to get a true glimpse of what the iPhone can do, Jailbreaking is currently the only way to go. In this article, I’ll show you why you should strongly consider jailbreaking and what it offers for iPhone users.

Read On For The Reasons to Jailbreak!

Previous jailbreaking options left the users with complicated options, you could either rig your iPhone in terminal or jump through a bunch of hoops to reach the desired jailbreak. Though ‘bricking’ your iPhone used to be an issue, current jailbreaking programs almost eliminate that pitfall completely.

With jailbreaking programs like iLiberty+ and ZiPhone*, the process is essentially invisible. You connect the iPhone to your Computer (Mac+PC) and then run the program ZiPhone and it does all the tasks it needs to do behind the scenes. Well a lot of script is run on the iPhone’s screen but other than that, it’s as hands off as syncing your iPhone to iTunes. After a few clicks, you are ready to roll worry-free and don’t have to jailbreak again.

After running iLiberty+ or ZiPhone, the Insaller.app is brought to your Home Screen and that is where the beauty of jailbreaking lies. As mentioned before, the Installer.app is as polished a program as any on the iPhone and you are a mere few clicks away from natively running any third party app imaginable.

If you do happen to run into issues, a quick restore should do the trick. And when 2.0 is released, the jailbreakers will already be prepared. You can access the updates and sync your iPhone with no hitches.

The community nature of Installer.app allows an advantage that other phone ‘stores’ simply cannot offer. Any and every app is essentially available through the outlet of Installer.app and the apps are constantly being updated and getting better (not to even mention the improvements of Installer.app itself). Unlike 3^rd party apps for other phones where there are a gluttony of choices on how to install, everything in Installer.app is seamless and typically, error-free. Search for a program in Installer.app’s integrated search and immediately install the program. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

With jailbreaking, anything in your wildest dreams is theoretically possible. Do you want to make your iPhone into a graphing calculator? There’s iPlot. You want to have a ‘today’ screen that notifies you of appointments, emails and messages akin to something from WinMob and Blackberry? Well, there’s an app for that too. Even enhancing existing features on the iPhone such as the camera is possible. Snapture and Camera Pro add features such as digital zoom and a camera timer, among others.

Sure, apps like Pocket Guitar and Drummer don’t do much other than give you an excuse to start an iBand. In fact even one of my favorite apps, Sketches, is theoretically a gimmick program that lets you draw chicken scratch on photos. But claiming that it doesn’t increase the fun-factor of the iPhone by about a billion is short sighted.

There are games that the Web Apps try to emulate, but simply cannot be matched without jailbreaking. iPhysics is a great platform that serves as a blackboard for developers, there is an endless supply of level packs to ensure you’ll never get bored. You get to take advantage of multi-touch and the accelerometer to beat the game. Also, emulators for the NES and GBA are also available, sure you won’t break any records, but quickly firing up Super Mario while you wait for an appointment is a great way to pass the time.

What’s better is that almost all the programs I’ve used are free! Installer.app is a community that wishes to unleash the capabilities of the iPhone without charging you a dime. So the arguments against jailbreaking are dwindling—it increases the power, adds fun-factor, and is free!

One of the best aspects of jailbreaking the iPhone is that it gives you a crystal ball to see what apps could possibly be available in the upcoming App Store. Many of the developers who develop jailbroken programs are also planning to release programs in 2.0. So becoming familiar with programs in the jailbroken iPhone gives you the framework for learning what to expect in 2.0.

Jailbreaking also gives you a great look at what the iPhone can do. It makes your iPhone even more than the versatile device it already is, it offers a platform where developers can truly go wild over. Like I mentioned before, the world is truly your oyster—what you want, you can probably always get.

To fully take advantage and enhance the iPhone’s features, jailbreaking is a no brainer. Personally, I can no longer imagine using a non-jailbroken iPhone. Even when 2.0 and the App Store is released to the public, I’ll still be excited to see what the community of jailbreakers can offer me. Sure, Apple-approved apps are going to be fun to use but for everything Apple doesn’t want you to do, jailbreaking offers you the key.

The best analogy I can offer is that jailbreaking an iPhone is like completing a full course meal. The iPhone is a great dish in itself, but jailbreaking adds appetizers, desserts, sides, and a fine brew to make the dinner even more delicious. The iPhone is a great little device without jailbreaking, and I won’t deter you from keeping it the way Apple envisioned. But if you demand more from your devices, jailbreaking is the best option that offers much too many benefits without any obvious harm.

Hopefully you’ll consider the jailbreak option because here at TiPb we’ll constantly give you updates on the jailbreaking scene and continue to offer you guys weekly jailbreak app reviews even after the 2.0 update. Stay tuned to jailbreaking because when the update is finally released, it’ll demand the jailbreaking community to step it up another notch. We’re excited to see what’s in store.

*After initially recommending ZiPhone for our iPhone jailbreaks we are now supporting the use of iLiberty+. One of our astute readers, Bad Ash, has shown that while ZiPhone is the easiest way, iLiberty+ is the safer route to jailbreak and nearly foolproof. It uses a more sophisticated jailbreaking process that while takes a bit longer, is most certainly worth it in the end.

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

The Case for Jailbreaking – Wait-a-Thon