My Digital Life

Underwhelmed by the Apple iPad, but There Were Some Interesting Nuggets

Let's face it the iPad is an iPhone on steroids nothing more nothing less. From an overall technology breakthrough it does not even come close to the introduction of the iPhone which redefined the smartphone market. I agree with Apple's positioning of the iPad between a smartphone and a laptop. The problem I see is that it acts more as a smartphone than a laptop. I personally want something in that segment that acts more as a laptop than a smartphone I agree 100% with Chris' comment on my post from yesterday); I need a smartphone because of its functionality and size, so why would I purchase a device that essentially replicates the iPhone experience without giving me some key functionality such as multitasking and Flash. I can't tell you how many web sites I browse on the iPhone and get the little blue Flash icon which prohibits me from fully experiencing the site.

That said I think the hardware is leading edge and shows the importance Apple is placing on chip design as a differentiator going forward. It will be interesting to see how proprietary chip design creeps into the Mac line. As usual the industrial design of the iPad is top notch, I am sure the device feels very comfortable to hold and use. The iPhone OS 3.2 announcement did not bring any features I personally was looking for other than the interesting nugget that allows VOIP over 3G, although with the A-List and included mobile to mobile I have so many rollover minutes that for now I would probably not use that feature.

My big disappointment yesterday was that there was no iPhone OS 4.0 or next iPhone hardware announcement. I understand that they not want to detract from the iPad but still a little nugget for their biggest customer base would have been nice.

I am sure that the iPad will be an initial success because it is an Apple device; the question is whether it will have staying power.

Although The Apple Tablet is Interesting, I Want iPhone 4.0!

Although Apple's implementation of a tablet based computer will be very interesting, I am more interested in what will be in the iPhone 4.0 OS. With Android fast on the iPhone's heels; Apple needs to play the leap frog game well with iPhone 4.0 or risk losing potential new or even current customers.

Here is what I would like to see in iPhone 4.0 (not necessarily in preference order):

• Ability to have a second ActiveSync mail account
• Ability to flag emails in an Exchange account
• Background push synching of selected email folders like sent items
• API access to calendar, contacts, email to allow developers like WebIS to develop fully integrated PIM applications (Pocket Informant)
• Background application functionality (let the users choose what app may run in the background)
• Active unlock screen to display weather, calendar events or whatever any app may provide.
• Customizable icon shapes
• More power management settings

On the hardware front:

• AMOLED screen
• 1GHZ processor
• 5+ MP camera with zoom

I will have to wait until this afternoon to see how my wish list fairs.

Will 2010 Mark the End of the Stylus?

Since the days of gray scale LCD screens on PDAs, the stylus has been the invaluable tool which allowed you to precisely navigate the small screen. With killer applications like the venerable PhatWare Calligrapher, which converts hand writing to text, you can use the stylus to mimic the analog world of pen and paper. Along, with integration of cell phone technology, the hope of a converged hand held device for your mobile life was starting to become a reality. As cellular data and push email where implemented, the world was starting to be at one's stylus tip. Microsoft along with Palm were visionaries in understanding that the success of this new world was tied to the innovation of third party applications and there again the stylus played a key role in providing an easy way to access application functionality. Although, Research In Motion has proved, with its thumb keyboard, that not everyone was or is a stylus devotee. However without the stylus the BlackBerry never became an multi faceted application device. The Windows Mobile vendors adjusted quickly to that fact and offer the best of both worlds with physical keyboards and/or styli support.

Four years ago, Apple through a monkey wrench into the device design paradigm by introducing the iPhone, a device with no stylus or physical keyboard. Google Android has followed suit by providing a finger friendly OS which does not require a stylus but does allow for form factors with physical keyboards like the Motorola Droid. On the Windows Mobile front the HTC HD2 is the first device that I know of, that does not ship with a stylus. As we slowly move towards Windows Mobile 7, will the stylus become extinct? With the talk of capacitive styli (HTC HD2 stylus) for the new breed of touch sensitive screens, designers seem to be on the fence and if a majority of users are not clamoring for a stylus, over the next couple of years the stylus could become instinct.

What are your thoughts, do you use a stylus or do you prefer your finger?

AT&T “Mark The Spot” App is Brilliant

Yesterday, AT&T released (or should I say Apple) a customer service application for the iPhone called "Mark The Spot". It is brilliant on several levels.

• It allows frustrated customers to easily vent
• It provides AT&T network engineers with additional data to map issues
• It shows leadership in utilizing crowd sourcing to gather customer service data
• It shows its customers that it is trying to listen, the next step fix the iPhone (new chipset!) and network

From my experience in Washington, DC the AT&T 3G network has gotten better and better (the new cell tower down my street clearly helps), but when I was in midtown Manhattan last weekend I can vouch that 3G data sucked (awful latency) on both the iPhone and the Verizon HTC Eris.

The Mark the Spot app is available in the App store for free.

Hurray! After 6 Months AT&T Finally Turns Up 3G on a New Cell Site Down My Street

3G signal strength inside my home has been terrible until yesterday. It has forced me to use 2G while at home (iPhone did not switch bands effectively and caused too many dropped calls), which has been a real pain since on the iPhone it takes 4 taps and I have to remember to do it.

Back in early 2009, I heard that AT&T was about to put a new cell site down my street and I was quite excited. Little did I know it would take so long to activate. The antennas were put up back in May, but apparently there were issues with Verizon (the local phone company) installing the appropriate backhaul circuit and Dominion Power installing a dedicated power feed. Even after all the regulatory and contractual hoops AT&T has to jump through to get a cell site approved, they then have to deal with the local phone and power companies taking their sweet time to deliver critical infrastructure. Especially Verizon who has no real incentive to give AT&T any slack when it comes to building out their 3G network, I know this is cut throat business but…

Anyway, it looks like yesterday was the magical day when all the stars aligned themselves and now I have 5 bar 3G coverage even the depth of my basement. And look at that dslreports speed test result…

Blogged with Word 2010

Verizon Has a Point with Their 3G Ads

I have been travelling this weekend and had the opportunity to borrow (not from Verizon) a Verizon Wireless MiFi 2200. The drive south from Washington, DC on I95 shows how far AT&T has to go before they provide the level of 3G coverage Verizon currently has. That said it does not mean that AT&T does not have coverage, they do but at the slower EDGE speed. This is where the Verizon ads are slightly misleading; I think most individuals don't make or understand the distinction between 2G and 3G. AT&T 2G coverage is as good as Verizon's.

I have no issues when I am in Washington, DC with AT&T, I love my iPhone and 3G speeds are good. Although I do have the occasional dropped call, overall the service has been getting better and better. My biggest issue is in my home office, my 3G signal is lousy and I have to manually switch to 2G. After talking to friends who have seen results of carrier network performance tests, they are convinced there are two major issues with the iPhone. First the chip set that Apple uses is just not very good and the AT&T base station configurations do not handle data bursts very well. The base stations are designed to provide high quality real time voice processing; data packets seem to arrive in burst and overload the base stations causing dropped calls. The bottom line is that there is plenty of blame to go around between Apple and AT&T. The iPhone issues are not AT&T's alone as many pundits claim, the problem are shared between Apple and AT&T; that is clear to me when my iPhone does not switch between 3G and 2G in my house. Apple controls the network programming on the iPhone and AT&T controls the network. Both have to work well together to provide a good user experience.

What is great about the MIFI 2200 is that I can use it with my iPhone on Verizon's 3G network even if I am in an AT&T 2G EDGE area.

The Verizon MIFI 2200 unit on my dashboard.

The Verizon MIFI speed test result via a WIFI connection on the iPhone in South Carolina.

A speed test result on AT&T EDGE network in the same Hilton Head Island, South Carolina area.

The bottom line; if you need 3G outside of major metropolitan areas then Verizon is currently the way to go, and for iPhone users a MiFi 2200 may be an excellent option. If you need only occasional 3G access Verizon has a day pass for $15; however you do have to purchase the MiFi at the full price of $269.99 vs. $79.99 with a 2 year commitment with a minimum $39.99 per month plan.

Apple – Another Quarter, another Blowout!

Apple and the iPhone just keep trucking along with a record quarterly sale of 7.4 million iPhones and 440,000 Macs. The only disappointing news was slightly lower iPod sales, but Apple still holds 70%+ of the MP3 player market. Maybe the Zune HD is having an effect! (I had to say it)…

The interesting tidbit in all of this is that smartphone competitors are throwing everything they have at the iPhone and are barely dinging it. It seems that even the mighty Verizon is growing concerned and have now started to attack the iPhone with the Motorola Droid TV ad.

 That said Apple still has a formidable opponent; Research In Motion's BlackBerry holds 51% of the smartphone market (IDC), while the iPhones is at less than half with 22%. The basic reason is that Apple has neglected corporate functionality especially on the email front (when do we see full Exchange ActiveSync functionality?). Tim Cook's (Apple COO) response is that iPhone is being piloted or deployed in 50% of Fortune 100 companies and he is very pleased. From my contacts in the Federal government and corporations, IT is begrudgingly allowing the iPhone but they are not supporting it. This means users are on their own, which is very problematic for most users. Until Apple can show they are serious about corporate requirements they won't make a real dent in RIM's lead.

My International Roaming Experience – Credit Card Alerts and Fees

I know this is a bit off subject, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Most credit card companies have now implemented alerts systems which allow you to define a transaction limit amount that triggers an email or SMS. Since most thieves attempt to charge high value items this is a great way to find out if someone has gotten a hold of your account number. On my last trip to Europe I received an alert from Chase for a high value transaction which was made in Japan. I did not even have the card with me, but was able to call Chase collect, and have them cancel the card. By the time I got home, I had a new card waiting for me.

On this trip I used my Capital One credit card. They have an international transaction alert option. It was extremely helpful and unbelievably fast. Every time we used our credit card, I would receive an email within 30 seconds of the transaction's completion with the US Dollar amount and location. When you are abroad you are always guesstimating the amount in US Dollars, but with this feature you can easily validate that you were charged a valid amount while you are in the vicinity of the retail establishment.

 

Email alert on my iPhone.

On the fee side, it amazes how diverse international transaction fees can be. I chose Capital One because they have no transaction fee and from my calculations the bulk foreign exchange rate follows what you find in the Wall Street Journal. I found this great WIKI which lists what providers charge on international debit and credit transactions. As with everything, you should always call the institution directly to make sure your account provides the benefits described.

My International Roaming Experience – Today’s Cruise Ship = Connected for a Price

I have taken 2 cruises in the last 3 years, one to Alaska and this recent one in the Mediterranean. The cruise in Alaska was on Holland America, a cruise line owned by Carnival Corp. and this recent cruise was on Regent Seven Seas owned by the Apollo Group. Both cruise ships had internet and cell phone service. Both services are offered via a satellite link provided by SeaMobile, although the cellular service (Cellular@Sea) is managed by a subsidiary called Wireless Maritime Services which is joint venture with AT&T Mobility.

The cellular functionality on Regent's Seven Seas Navigator provided GSM/GPRS and CDMA/1XRTT voice/data services. As I remember it the Holland America ship only had GSM service, but by now it probably has been upgraded to handle CDMA traffic as well. The ship's cell site only operates when the ship is out of range of local cellular service. It is a roaming service where your cellular carrier bills you for all voice and data. The costs seem to be fixed across all US carriers at $2.49 per minute for voice calls, $.50 to send an SMS, $1.30 to send an MMS, and $.0195 per KB for data. The fact that all carriers are charging the same seems like price collusion but who am I to say. The Bottom line it is expensive, but much cheaper than using the wired phone in the cabin at $6.95 per minute. Also carriers offer data plans which can be very beneficial for heavy email users, Verizon offers a global unlimited email plan for $69.99 per month and includes cruise ships. AT&T International Data plans do not include cruise ships which is a real shame. I talked to both AT&T and Verizon customer service before I left. They gave me detailed information, provided me with alternatives and more than once warned me about the costs. Given the articles that have surfaced about surprise bills (especially with the iPhone); it is clear that carriers are going out of their way to educate consumers. The catch you have to call them. Even if you think you understand it all, I strongly urge everyone to call their carriers before leaving on trip abroad. AT&T emailed me an FAQ about the iPhone, and Verizon emailed a detailed rate chart with the list of countries I planned to visit.

On the internet front, both cruise ships I have been on had Internet cafes with workstations, the Regent Seven Seas Navigator even had WIFI throughout the ship. The service is run by another arm of SeaMobile called MTN Satellite Services. They charge by the minute and the cruise line can offer several different plans to its guests. On the Seven Seas Navigator I had the option of 250 and 500 minutes. As part of Regent's loyalty program, after you cruise 21 nights you get free internet which is a very nice benefit. The 250 minute plan was $87.99 with a first time registration of $3.50. The 500 minute plan was about double. Additional minutes on the 250 minutes plan were $.35 and $.25 on the 500 minute plan. I find it interesting that they charge by the minute rather than the Kilobyte, but given all the activity I saw in the Internet Café I can understand why; minutes should get people off of the workstations faster but I was amazed how many people seemed oblivious and where typing email tomes in web based editors. I was told by the Internet Café manager that the average speed is about 65Kbps per user. Unfortunately I neglected to run a speed test, but from an end user perspective it was not broadband but response times where decent. If you want to see the world and have some IT skill they are looking for people, here is the job description.

I ended up purchasing the 250 minute plan which over 11 days gave us about 22 minutes a day. Since I had problems with my Sony VAIO P's wireless drivers, my wife and I ended up using our iPhones. We would connect to download email, disconnect, respond off line, then connect again to send. One of my major pet peeves with the iPhone's email application (ActiveSync/Hosted Exchange) is its inability to deal with deletions offline (you get an error message). I would love to know how Apple thought that was a good idea…Anyway, the plan worked out well and I even had some minutes left over to go to the Internet Café to check in with United Airlines online and print our boarding passes. I also tried Skype on the iPhone using the $2.95 per month unlimited subscription plan to call phones in the US and Canada. It worked well, the person on the other end heard a little breakup (I would expect that with constrained satellite uplink speeds), but we heard them very clearly. This made calling much cheaper ($.35 per minute on our plan) than using the in cabin wired phone or on board cell system, but still more expensive than the calling card (although you need a dry land wired phone!). During the entire 12 day trip we only had a couple hours one evening where we could not get connected. The default web page told us that interference was blocking the satellite signal.

I think bringing your own computing device makes a lot sense so you can perform tasks off line to save your minutes, and then connect for data transmission. I saw a couple of Dell Mini notebooks, and a Mac book. On the mobile device front, the BlackBerry was king (looked like mostly corporate types), although iPhones were around. I did see one bulky satellite phone (it reminded me of early cell phones), why someone would think you need one on today's cruise ship intrigued me, maybe they owned it or their company wanted them to have failsafe communication. The gentleman had to stand outside on the pool deck to make a call. I also thought that newer satellite phones could switch between cell and satellite.

The bottom line is that staying connected on a cruise today is possible and easy. You just have to do a little research on plan options with your cell phone carrier or purchasing an on board internet plan (I suggest bringing your WIFI enabled smartphone or netbook) make to cost manageable if you need to stay connected without needing to be online 24/7…

My International Roaming Experience - What I Took With Me

My goal when traveling is to minimize what electronics I need to take with me to ensure some level of connectivity for voice and data. Since this trip was a vacation my computing requirements where email, basic multimedia entertainment (no HIDEF video playback required), basic photo editing (EXIF tag management), surfing, and flash media backup/storage. I also brought a Verizon HTC Ozone (thanks to the folks at Verizon Wireless for providing me the device and service) to test international roaming for an upcoming pocketnow.com article on how well you can travel with a Verizon Windows Mobile device.

Here is what I decided to pack:

1. Sony VAIO P 1.6GHZ Atom/128GB SSD. My experience was disappointing. For some reason the network drivers failed early on and I could only get connected in safe mode. I tried using a restore point but that did not work. I ended up just using it as my flash media backup and EXIF editor. I am now rebuilding it. I will be very happy to get the production Windows 7 drivers from Sony (hopefully they will release them on 10/22).
2. PowerBright XR100/12 mini power inverter. I have never been a big fan of power inverters, I would rather purchase the correct power supply for the job, but Sony does not seem to care about providing traveling power chargers for its notebooks so I was forced to purchase one. That said I actually used it more as a USB charger for my iPhone in a rental car (used Navigon) and on the United (EmPower plug required) flight back home. On our Lufthansa flight over to Europe we had 110V plugs (very nice touch).
3. iPhone 3GS 32MB
4. Jawbone BT headset. I never used it but it was good to have and small enough to carry just in case.
5. iPWR battery backup iPhone charger. This battery backup has been a life saver in the past but with email push turned off on this trip, I never used it but it is small enough to carry as insurance.
6. Griffin PowerBlock Dual Universal Charger. I bought this at BestBuy for $20. It is small and charges 2 USB devices at once. It worked great and worth $20.
7. Sony HDR-CX12 HD Flash based video/still camera. I love this camera for the good quality 1920 HD video, the 10.2MP still pictures, the great 12x optical zoom and its diminutive weight in my hand.
8. And of course the Verizon Wireless HTC Ozone CDMA/GSM Worldphone.

The one item I did not bring and missed was my old D-Link Travel Hotspot device. Our hotel in Athens (AVA Hotel, by the way it was very nice) had wired internet and all my devices were WIFI only. Our remaining accommodations had WIFI.

On the services sides I signed up for the following before I left:

1. Boingo Mobile $7.95 per month. This was a total bust, never found a Boingo HotSpot I could use. I cancelled the service since with my Verizon FIOS WIFI feature (Verizon/Boingo relationship) and the iPhone's AT&T data plan I get plenty of WIFI coverage in the US. Bottom line check locations before leaving and look into iPass, I think they are more popular in Europe.
2. Skype Unlimited US/Canada landline/cell calling plan for $2.95 a month. It worked well (more on that later).
3. Verizon/Costco $30 international calling card. Worked well when we had access to a land line.
4. AT&T 50MB international data plan. I used the same iPhone strategy I posted about before and it worked well for me. I think this strategy along with Skype is a winner for getting around high roaming fees. I will update my post.
5. Verizon International plans (article on pocketnow.com coming soon).

The only connectivity service I purchased while on the trip was 250 minutes of Internet on our Regent cruise ship (more on that tomorrow).