iPhone
A letter from Apple, translated
Jul 2nd
Dear iPhone 4 Users,
The iPhone 4 has been the most successful product launch in Apple’s history. It has been judged by reviewers around the world to be the best smartphone ever, and users have told us that they love it. So we were surprised when we read reports of reception problems, and we immediately began investigating them. Here is what we have learned.
In the following letter, we’re going to put forth the argument that the iPhone 4G isn’t flawed. Ask yourself this, would you buy a flawed device? We wouldn’t either. The 4G has been our fastest selling device with a few of our media plants even describing it as “THE BEST PHONE EVER”. Since we previously established that no one would buy a flawed device, and the 4G has sold like crazy, it stands to reason that the 4G isn’t flawed.
To start with, gripping almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars. This is true of iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, as well as many Droid, Nokia and RIM phones. But some users have reported that iPhone 4 can drop 4 or 5 bars when tightly held in a way which covers the black strip in the lower left corner of the metal band. This is a far bigger drop than normal, and as a result some have accused the iPhone 4 of having a faulty antenna design.
Without providing a scintilla of evidence, we’ll make a vague assertion that “all phones” suffer from this problem. While we acknowledge claiming “theirs sucks too” doesn’t really address the deficiencies of OUR device, we doubt you’ll take the time to google and debunk our assertion. Although we stated a moment ago that other phones lose ONE bar and ours loses FIVE, we have no CLUE how someone could make an inference to a reception problem. Anyone suggesting that a FIRST GEN antenna design could experience growing pains, is clearly in need of institutionalization.
At the same time, we continue to read articles and receive hundreds of emails from users saying that iPhone 4 reception is better than the iPhone 3GS. They are delighted. This matches our own experience and testing. What can explain all of this?
We’ve sold 1.7 MILLION devices and have received HUNDREDS of letters from people claiming that the moon is made of cheese, Jimmy Hoffa is buried under the NY Giant’s end zone, and the 4G has the best reception of any iPhone ever.
We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising.
After huddling with our legal team for a few days, we’ve come up with a plausible (enough) explanation that will allow us to avoid a total recall.
Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.
For years, in an effort to boost the “appearance” of improved reception, we’ve been displaying four signal bars when you’ve really only had two. While this method has served our marketing department well, we must now switch to a new “increased reception” appearance trick. Three years from now when the iPhone 6G has a problem, we’ll claim our current technique was “totally wrong”, and the circle of life will begin anew.
To fix this, we are adopting AT&T’s recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone’s bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.
AT&T has a more clever “formula” for calculating signal strength, so we’re going to use that from now on. Remember, If a car gets 30 miles a gallon, it also gets 48 Kilometers a mile, which is much more efficient. We also implemented graphical tweaks that will visually reinforce a stronger signal, but are really just a bunch of cheap optical illusions.
We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula. Since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone, this software update will also be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.
To further distract you from believing this problem solely exists as a 4g problem, we’ll offer a “placebo patch” to all our legacy models. This will further reinforce the impression that it’s a “reporting the bars” issue instead of a 4G fucked up antenna one. It’s our belief that admitting to FOUR defective devices makes far more PR sense that admitting to ONE.
We have gone back to our labs and retested everything, and the results are the same— the iPhone 4’s wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped. For the vast majority of users who have not been troubled by this issue, this software update will only make your bars more accurate. For those who have had concerns, we apologize for any anxiety we may have caused.
Although we’re issuing a patch, there no reason whatsoever to do so. If you think something is wrong, it’s time to take your anti-anxiety pills.
As a reminder, if you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.We hope you love the iPhone 4 as much as we do.
Thank you for your patience and support.
Apple
We’d prefer if you’d kindly shut up and move on with your life. Since you CAN return your phone, you forfeit all rights to complain anyway. Luckily, our accounting team knows this will never happen because you’re too lazy to…
1) Google the address to return the phone
2) Look for a box
3) unable to find a box, empty an existing one
4) find a pen that isn’t dead to write the address
5) tape the box
6) walk half a block to the post office
7) stand on line with a box for 28 minutes
So enjoy your phone! Unless you’re some motived type A personality that will actually go outside, you’re pretty much stuck with it.
Funeral for RIM
Jun 15th
I’ve been drafting this post for a long time, but have held off on hitting that “publish” button. At first I was unable to explain the delay, but after some reflection, it’s obvious a little part of me is still a crackberry addict. “There’s no love like your first love” rings equally true with your first smartphone. Since you’re reading this, however, you’ve cleverly deduced that eventually, I DID hit the button. (Or you wanted to pimp out your refrigerator and mistyped “tech-rator.com” in which case you can stop reading now)
Anyway, I’ve got a simple explanation behind my decision….
It’s time for me to shut up and move on. RIM’s actions this past year have forced me to sound like the most annoying broken record ever conceived. Grab an old vinyl copy of “Take me out to the ball game”, scour it vigorously with steel wool, and play it at 78 RPM for 419 days straight. That’s what they’ve turned me into!
I’ve decided to overcome my denial, click publish, and let go…
They’re dead? What are you smoking?
Let’s get the elephant out of the room first. Yes, RIM currently enjoys 35% market share and is valued at 32 billion, counterpoints that might be important were I literally proclaiming their death. No, instead I’m invoking a far grimmer demise, one of “geek death”. This is where millions of device lovers begin a slow exodus to shinier gadget pastures, leaving a once innovative company to plummet into obsolescence. Got that? They’re as good as dead in the world of the next “cutting edge shiny thing”.
Let’s start off on a positive note
First, some faint praise that will establish a more dramatic contrast with the 97% of this post that won’t be faint praise. Research in Motion has a fantastic history and should take enormous pride in their accomplishments. The Blackberry has become a cultural touchstone, led at the forefront of mobile tech for generations, and even developed it’s own lexicon (crackberry, crackberry thumb, etc). Take a bow fellas, it might be your last!
The beginning of the end
Everyone has their theory, and mine is that death blow numero uno can be attributed to the first iPhone. While it consisted of existing components, (yes, the Nokia 5500 used an accelerometer a year earlier) the iPhone had a technological “bigger than sum of all parts” thing going for it. Needless to say the device instantly added serious competition to the mobile battleground.
As an avid Blackberry user at the time, I was confident that RIM was capable of quickly adapting to their new competitor. RIM was in the game so long, couldn’t they simply go in the lab and fetch some bad ass prototype they’ve been toying around with? Helping the situation was that the iPhone for all its strengths, lacked multitasking, cut & paste, a camera flash, 3.5 headphone jack, removable battery, and push notifications, all features my existing Blackberry had.
So the message to improve was out there, but it was uttered in a smooth Jamaican-esque “No worries, be the best mon you can be, mon” instead of a deep-space radio-garbled “My god what is THAT????” *signal lost*
I’m so tired of being wrong
The three readers (four, if I count as a proofreader) of this fine blog know all too well about what transpired next. In the past year I’ve conveyed my concern to RIM, pleaded with them, and even WARNED THEM of the competition lurking on the horizon. Whether unable to handle the truth, or completely unaware of my existence, they chose to ignore my advice and that of similar blogs. I’d say the consequences of doing so are now bearing fruit.
After the debut of the iPhone, and the critical failure of the Storm, RIM seemed content to sit around with their head in the clouds, ambivalent (instead of terrified) to be in a showdown with Apple. They had a window of opportunity to get their act together, but I believe it has now SLAMMED shut.
A second leader emerges
Death blow numero dos (and the inspiration for this post) was delivered a few weeks ago at the Google I/O developer conference. This is the annual get together for all things Google, and a slew of announcements were made. Most impressive were those related to Android, specifically the next iteration that will soon be released. The new features of “Froyo” (Frozen Yogurt is the codename for some bizarre reason) were so impressive, many felt Android even leapfrogged Apple’s iOS in awesomeness. Android phones will be soon be rocking flash, becoming portable hot spots, have insane cloud connectivity, and will even be able to drive your kids to school! (That last item is unconfirmed)
As I was reading all this news, I remember mumbling to myself that Blackberry “is completely screwed”. Apple and Google are in a full war, and the pace of innovation is breakneck. It seems more likely that RIM will first slide into territory Palm previously occupied (3rd place), and then continue into territory they currently occupy (no place).
How could this have happened?
RIM is well known as being a traditionally conservative company. Generally thats a good thing, unless it’s the hyper competitive world of technology. Obviously RIM has some bright people and a great product, because they gloriously rode the top of the tech world for over a decade. But….
New decade, new players, new ballgame….
Their current problem is failing to adapt to the emerging realities of the mobile world. Instead of making bold decisions and being aggressive with technology, RIM has plodded along with a glacially slow incremental update cycle.
I’m probably as sick about writing the same crap over and over as you are reading it, so in the name of efficiency here’s some earnest advice I gave them, and here’s some more.
In a nutshell, RIM is behind the times philosophically and technologically. Their OS, the heart and soul of the device, lacks a cohesive interface, connectivity (internet especially), and scalability. Their hardware is an even uglier situation. While Apple, Android (HTC, Motorola) and others are now incorporating front facing cameras, digital compasses and gyroscopes, RIM twiddles their thumbs and offers one uninspired feature set after another.
Is RIM unwilling or incapable of keeping pace with this innovation?
And here’s the spittle flecked crux
The problem is that cellphones have evolved into a complete mobile experience. Phones are no longer phones, they’re handheld laptops. The former requires a fraction of the resources and creativity of the latter. Slap a keypad on a block of plastic, add a screen and an antenna, and voila! But these newfangled super phones? You need to start off with a nice obsidian colored slab packed to the gills with accelerometers, compasses, gyroscopes, cameras, plugs, jacks, buttons, radios for Wi-fi, aGPS, bluetooth, AND THEN slap on the BIGGEST, BRIGHTEST fucking screen ever made. If that glorious collection of circuitry isn’t prepared for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you throw at it, you go back to the drawing board and WILL it into existence. I’m talking about a piece of tech with so many electronics crammed in it, the radiation alone will mutate a punk 100 lb eighth grader into a 10 foot tall Norse God after a five minute phone call!
THEN……(deep breath)
you design an OS with the foresight that new innovations come, so YOU better make them easy to integrate ahead of time. It needs to be a robust multitasking MONSTER that stingily sips battery, yet eats apps FOR BREAKFAST. An elegant architecture is a MUST, and easy accessibility for the programming community follows closely behind. If you’re thinking “an approachable vegan bodybuilding ballerina with unlimited dancing potential”, come and collect your prize!
THEN……(deeper breath)
you need to create and support an ecosystem for your product. Break out the Cat o’ nine tails and get those app developers to pump every OUNCE of utility out of the device. Once the ball starts rolling, they’ll be coming up with ideas that would put the most fevered visions of a black plague dying Renaissance artist to shame! I’m talking the phone drives the car via bluetooth and orders crumpets from the upcoming rest stop type of shit.
And don’t give me any “many of those items are mutually exclusive” crap either. Are you telling me the iPhone 4G, Evo, and next gen Droids aren’t getting closer to the description above? (Hopefully minus the radiation)
RIM “did” great smartphones, but they “do” horrible handheld laptops. A few years ago when things we’re simpler RIM could compete until the cows came home. But now? In this new landscape? I wouldn’t trust a RIM engineer to tie my shoe, let alone expect them to make a major change in the way they do things. And don’t think anything is going to happen, because how can one change when one’s very problem is an inability to change?
What’s their future?
The fate of BB can go a few ways, but I’ll bet 90% of it will be following in the foot steps of Palm. (For those unaware, Palm once strode upon the top of the mobile world, then sat on their laurels and let it pass them by)
Rim may take a slightly different fork at the end of the road, but it’ll be inconsequential for our purposes here.
On their present course, I envision the following…
Now to two years out
Apple and Google will take off in the mobile race, creating an ever widening disparity between their platforms and RIM’s. As it begins the descent from “Smart” phone to “not as smart phone”, the Blackberry will probably reign supreme on the second tier for awhile, competing with “cutting edge” companies like LG and Garmond. The days of being featured in a Time Magazine “hot new gadgets” article or a Good Morning America tech segment will come to an end. Then, in the next iteration of Android or iOS, their corporate grip will reach a tipping point of erosion.
Two to Five years out
Apple set the grinding wheels of inevitable doom in motion, but I’ll put my money on Google being the assassin. That’s because Google will unveil some free corporate equivalent to the Blackberry Enterprise Server. (Let’s hope they re-brand it, because white shoe lawyers and little green robots sounds like an odd mix). With RIM’s BES licenses now having a value between “losing lottery ticket” and “single square of toilet paper”, it’s only a matter of time until someone (Microsoft) picks them up for scraps (Patent portfolio).
A fond farewell to an old friend
I’d like to thank RIM and it’s “instant” email for efficiently delivering the rambling poems of roommates past. Your awesome messenger services alerted me via text that I was single again, and your web browser helped me kill time in such exotic locations as Cleveland INT’L airport and the local Dunkin’ Donuts. Your contributions to my life won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Perhaps in a few decades we’ll briefly meet again via an “I love the 00’s show”!
Need help?
Mar 23rd
Seeking a quality control “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?” person? Need to fill out your Chief Devil’s Advocate position? Made some technological blunders and need a new perspective? Where do I apply?
Oh, what qualifications do I have? None really, but at this juncture that’s not important. It’s not my qualifications we should be questioning anyway. I do understand how “the dance” works though, so I’ve gotten my resume all polished and ready for the world. I’ve even given it the fun title…..
“Things I WOULDN’T have screwed up”
Palm Pre as a Sprint exclusive.
The company, after years of ineptitude, was on the ropes. The only remaining option to stay in business was a bold reboot of their product line. Palm went for the gusto and prepared to rebuild their ANCIENT phone software from the ground up. (It’s rumored it was coded under Methuselah’s direct supervision) The dust settled, and the result was their new flagship phone, the Pre. It was a well crafted combination of kick-ass software and hardware. The reception was overwhelming, and it was widely believed the company had turned its fortunes around. Then, perched atop the world, Palm made the BAFFLING decision to make the Pre EXCLUSIVE to Sprint, the Oldsmobile of wireless providers. Let me get this straight, you thought people would switch TO Sprint for your device? The phone eventually arrived on other major networks, but it was A YEAR LATER, and comparable devices were already entrenched.
The G1, Google’s first phone
iPhone mania was sweeping the globe, but out for over a year, the device was getting long in the, er… antenna. The Android G1 was looming on the horizon, and was generating SERIOUS buzz. It appeared situated as the first phone that had a chance of toppling the Cupertino Monster. Had I been under Googles employ, I would have shared my secret for creating the “(insert name here) killer” phone.
But I wasn’t there, probably because eating Dinty Moore out of the can during the interview was verboten. (Let history be aware that I brought an extra fork) Needless to say, the result of my absence wasn’t pretty.
The G1 (out of the gate) FAILED to match several features the iPhone ALREADY HAD. Some genius thought they could compete with the most media-centric phone ever made by….
1) Leaving off a standard sized plug for headphones (a mistake the 1st gen iPhone made)
2) OMITTING A VIDEO PLAYER
3) Providing no default method to easily sync audio/video files
Too busy creating their own shortcomings, they didn’t get near addressing those of their competition. Remember how people were bitching about the lack of video recording on the iPhone? Well, the G1, released SIXTEEN MONTHS LATER, ALSO lacked that functionality. At that point, any new features, such as the slick compass mode street view, just weren’t enough to overcome the G1’s deficiencies.
Yoda was so disappointed with you over that.
The Blackberry Storm
One day, technopologists will look back and examine the bizarre decisions involved in creating this device.
First, there was NO WI-FI. I really can’t emphasize how much of a screw up that decision was. It’s THE MOST standard feature of any device purporting to be a smart phone, and its absence provided the worst “comparison chart” fodder imaginable. I don’t care if it was RIM’s call or Verizon’s call, it was an absolutely stupid decision. I’m sorry to say, but the moment the spec sheet was released, the device was toast.
Another irritating design choice was the omission of flick scrolling. Without it, I nearly wore a groove in the screen swiping (or I should say swipe, swipe, swipe, swiping) through an article or email. Even worse was scrolling through the eternal Blackberry user agreement after installing a new application. After downloading a few apps, the callous on my finger rivaled that of a death metal bass player.
These features WERE included in the second iteration of the phone, but it was already a day late and a dollar short.
The Nexus One
I’ll avoid the whole “getting into the hardware being a bad idea in the first place” angle. What I won’t avoid is how the launch completely botched the concept and novelty behind the phone. The idea was that people were annoyed with top tier phones such as the iPhone, Moto Droid, and Palm Pre being exclusive to a single network. Google recognized this and attempted a different approach. Essentially, build an awesome phone and make it available on ALL networks! So far so good. What Google neglected was the second critical component, the AT ONCE part. What followed was a piecemeal release schedule (over months) that makes it no different than a Blackberry Curve, which also is now also available ON ALL NETWORKS.
If you’re going to be a bear, be a grizzly. Read up on RIM’s “World Phone” party trick and create ONE piece of hardware that works on ANY network.
Google Buzz
Let me grab my megaphone for a moment. ATTENTION SOFTWARE COMPANIES. What ever CRAZY idea you come up with, ALWAYS MAKE IT OPT IN!
No one mentioned that automatically adding everyone I’ve EVER emailed to my social circle was, INSANE? You REALLY thought I wanted “noreply-2343453@craiglist.org” with whom I inquired about shelving in 2006 as a social contact? Words can’t describe my astonishment at this decision.
As soon as I heard about Buzz, I was all “YO BRAH, Google just FLIPPED everything up with a crazy facebook/twitter hybrid!!!”. Five minutes later, after reading about the giant security holes, I told everyone to avoid it like the plague. From what I know, millions of others did the same thing. Significant privacy changes have been made since Buzz launched, but so what? Locking the barn door after the horse bolted is a reactive and pointless approach.
Talk about fail with a capital G.
Windows Mobile 7
Microsoft announced their new phone OS to the world at the Barcelona Mobile Conference and had us SALIVATING. Their stodgy old operating system was DESTROYED and replaced with an interface that takes design cues from a Ralph Lauren Polo catalog. It’s new, it’s different, and it’s slick. (The Polo catalog look on a phone, not the catalog itself)
*sigh* Are you seeing a pattern yet? Two minor oversights have dampened enthusiasm for the upcoming software. Apparently, usability things like “multitasking” and “cut & paste” were left on the cutting room floor.
I’m trying, and failing, to understand the logic. The engineering team sat around brainstorming, coming up with crazy ideas for a phone to be released in 2011 (you know, that flying car future we’ve all been dreaming about). I assume they went down the spec lists of the competition, noting what they’re doing well, what they’re not, etc. They took all this research, incorporated it into their ideas, and settled on the feature set for windows 7 mobile. Sounds like a good way to do business, except one thing seriously perplexes me. My whole rant hinges on the premise that Microsoft is gunning for the king phone slot currently occupied by Apple. So, why wouldn’t they address multitasking, the MOST GLARING FLAW OF THE IPHONE SINCE ITS INCEPTION? It’s not like consumers and tech pundits have been bitching about it for THREE YEARS.
NOTE: Technically, W7M features multitasking because apps can run in the background. That’s to say that programs will open to the same state in which they were closed. The problem however is if the device needs more memory, the OS will arbitrarily wipe out a running process. What the hell type of engineering is that? Microsoft even employs the same excuse Apple does, blaming their half-ass implementation as a bid to conserve battery life
Nothing is worse than compounding one stupid decision with another, and that’s precisely what Microsoft has done. Since they incorporated the chief complaint of iPhone users into their OS, why not go for the gold and incorporate the second? Yep that’s right, cut & paste, a basic function of modern computing (since added to the iPhone) was omitted. According to the horse’s mouth, people don’t use that feature. Yeah, who would do something crazy like copy an address from their email and paste it into the map application?
Well, a metric ton of outrage followed, and a week later we get this gem.
*cough*
We were going to add it all along, we swear!
Yeah, right.
Un Mas Cosa
I wanted to double back and make one more appeal to RIM, because the writing is on the wall.
Blackberry and their OS dilemma
It’s been 4 months since I gave RIM some heart to heart advice. Looks like I’m going to append it a bit.
Let’s just be blunt. Right now, RIM should take the servers that store their master OS code, set them on FIRE, and launch the ashes into the sun. I actually FEEL PITY for a company with a market cap of 42 billion. How is that even possible? I guess I hate to watch a great product/company fall from grace because of factors within their control. (See Palm) RIM makes some of the most advanced devices IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND, but a few more years on their present course, and they’ll be competing with Sanyo for the $49 soccer-mom smart phone market. My GOD that’s depressing. 
It’s become painfully apparent that modern interface design is no longer RIM’s forte. Their OS has become DOWNRIGHT STAGNANT from an appearance standpoint, and the usability is going along with it. Their attempts at software have fallen pitifully short as well, like their recent attempt at a twitter app (in beta, but still) which was mocked across the web. Even worse, alleged screen shots of their next gen OS have emerged, and let me tell you, a 3rd grader could have come up with a better design
You want to change course fast? Get out of the interface business. Start by acquiring Ubertwitter and other 3rd party companies for app development. Then for the OS, go hire The Astonishing Tribe and pay them whatever they want. (TAT designed the Android interface, and are well known in the design world for coming up with insane yet practical concepts)
Finally, take a page out of MS and Apple, and stop releasing so many damn phones.
So that’s my resume
I’m fully aware that you’re not going to make everyone happy all the time. Some phenomenally talented people design these devices and have probably forgotten more than I’ll ever know. That said, there’s some serious breakdown in either the decision making or feedback process these days. I’ll also sprinkle in some willful ignorance of tech history. If product X is missing a feature, and product Y wants to topple X, then it better include the feature that X lacks. It’s common sense.
If your people don’t want to do the scouting report on the competition, I’ll be happy to, for a nominal fee =)
Call me, we’ll do beer.
The three greatest apps ever made in the history of man
Feb 25th
Every once in awhile you stumble across a utility that makes you utter the phrase “Sweet mother of Moses! This application is fucking insane!“. Well today, I’ve got three for you! The following apps are so awesome, their absence in your life should be considered a crime against humanity.
Note: I may be late to the game here. If you’re already using them, I tip my hat to you. If you haven’t heard of them, prepare for a new world of excellence.
Oh, and the best part? They’re all FREE AND they’ll all work on Android, Blackberry, and the iPhone.
SugarSync
We’ll start off with the app that inspired this post.
What it does
As you might extrapolate from the name, it um.. syncs stuff. I tried to type an explanation, but it really ended up making no sense.
Here’s a diagram…..
To get up and running
1) Go HERE to sign up for the entry level 2 GB acct.
2) Go to the Downloads page. There are two components you’ll need. The program that runs on your computer, and the app for your mobile device. Install them.
3) On your computer(s), select which folder you want to share with your other devices.
Welcome to your new life
Note: Your phone (or comp without Illustrator installed) obviously can’t read the file. You can still email it, delete it, copy it, etc. Anything except open it. Sweet!
1) Put the wrong version of a work file on your memory stick before you ran out of the house? No prob, just log into your account at work via a browser and download it.
2) A friend razzing you at a party about “never emailing that picture”? Too bad the file is at home on your computer. Oh wait a minute! Whip out your iphone and bring up “desktop computer”. Navigate to your picture folder and hit email.
3) Take a lot of pictures on your phone? Sure you do. Ever copy them to your home computer? I bet you don’t. It won’t be a problem anymore, so I’m glad you never wasted time getting into that habit.
Qik
This app is best described as “turns your phone into a streaming webcam”. There’s not much else to say about it. Pull your iPhone/’Berry/Android phone out and start filming. The video will be streamed in real-time up to your “youtube” style Qik account. You can also share it straight to FaceBook and Twitter. You have the option to make a video private and share with a select few, or you can make it public and share it with all.
To get up and running
Go here to sign up for an account. Then, go to the respective app store for your phone and download the mobile software.
Welcome to your new life
There are also some other helpful uses….
Google voice
Gvoice integrates a whole new level of awesome into not only cellphone, but your regular phone as well.
To get up and running
Go here to request an invite.
Wait a week until you get your info
Go here to sign up and put all the settings in.
Download the app for your phone.
Multiple Phones
One of the strongest features is that you’re not limited to one phone. If someone calls your GV#, it can ring as many lines as you want. When the number is dialed, both your cell number and house number will ring. Whichever you pick up first obviously takes the call. You can even switch between lines mid call.
Allow me to illustrate…
You can also do some neat GPS tricks
Welcome to your new life
1) You can’t find your phone/dropped it on the floor. Until you find or fix it, route all calls to your house number.
2) Spending a weekend visiting family in an area with horrible cell coverage? No worries, just route to both cell and their house. If the cell has reception you’ll get the call, otherwise, your “back up”, the house phone will get it.
3) Use the number for emergency only. Your kids have a problem, they call and it rings both parents and grand parents phones. Increase the chances of them getting help faster.
4) You’re on a work call and just ran in the house door. Cell battery is about to die, but you can’t find the charger. Pick up the home phone and switch the call to it. You’ll close the deal!
Multiple People
For some reason I always hate giving out my phone number for a one or two use purpose. Hotels, signing up for something, Chinese food, freelance work, etc. Gvoice gives you robust control over individual numbers.
Another illustration……
Welcome to your new life
Have a client that literally went insane halfway through a project? I have! Although I pulled out, the client kept calling and emailing me for advice as if nothing ever happened. Filter on gmail + Filter on Gvoice = Person no longer exists
Multiple Voicemail Greetings
Gvoice isn’t only about complex call routing and avoiding insane clients though, it can be fun!
Final pict-o-gram……..
Welcome to your new life
Your wacky message will brighten their day!
I hope you use and love these apps. They’ve made my life easier, and I think they can do the same for you. I have a few more I’ll be adding to the list at some point in the future. Until then…
Google vs. Apple – This is going to be epic
Feb 5th
<Michael Buffer>
Ladies and gentleman, tonight we have a bout of epic proportions. From the Blue corner, weighing in at $179 Billion and hailing from Cupertino California, the undisputed King of Sexy Hardware, the Lord of all things shiny, the Bane of Microsoft………aaaappplllle!!!!!!!
In the red corner, weighing in at $170 Billion, from Mountain View California, the Champion of Information, the company that knows more about YOU than YOU…………gooooglllllee!
LET’S GET ERRRRRREADY TO RUMBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
</Michael Buffer>
Simpler Times
The year was 2007, a young Shia LaBeouf was battling enormous intergalactic robots on the screen, Rihanna’s “Umbrella” rang from the rooftops, a watered down webpage called a blog was taking the internet by storm, and the cellphone geeks were clicking away on their hot new Blackberry Curve 8300’s. It was in those halcyon days that the mobile world would forever change, and the seeds of a rivalry would take root.
On June 29th, 2007, the iPhone was released to the public. The impact it had in both the technology sector and the public consciousness could only be described as transformative. Apple wasn’t the only one that would ultimately benefit from this new piece of hardware. Software companies and application developers worldwide immediately scrambled for their piece of the action. At the front of the scrum was Google, with their powerful web presence ready to share a special connection with Apple. The relationship was in many ways symbiotic. Google’s apps made the iPhone better, and the iPhone made Google’s apps better. The companies also worked closely on a lot of development issues. YouTube (owned by Google) even re-encoded ALL their videos into a more friendly H.264 format since the phone didn’t support Flash. They were so tightly knit in those times that Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, sat on Apple’s Board of Directors!
Google has to go off and do it’s thing
Google’s spirit of dabbling in every technology under the sun, however, would soon set the two titans on a path towards confrontation.
After becoming a force in not only the internet realm, but the mobile application world, Google naturally had an epiphany. Hey, let’s build an entire freaking mobile operating system!. It just seems to be their modus operandi, tinkering away in an attempt to build a better mousetrap. It’s like they can’t even help themselves. (An OS would also provide new and exciting vectors for advertising, their bread and butter).
The idea was to create an “open source” operating system that could run on a variety of hardware types. Manufacturers (Samsung, Motorola, and HTC, et al) were essentially free to modify the source code until the cows came home. The best part? Google would license it for FREE. Android was born.
In an attempt to keep things kosher with Apple, Google supposedly showed them a prototype cellphone. Upon seeing it, Apple requested two things. (Both due to, or at least under the guise of, patent related concerns)
The first was that multitouch gestures must be left off the device. Now unless you’re an octogenarian from the Icelandic fishing village of Akureyri, you’ll probably know that multitouch is simply the ability to register two or more touch inputs simultaneously. The gestures made possible by mulitouch however, such as “pinch to zoom” also happened to be one of the BIG selling points of the iPhone user interface. Google probably did a cost-benefit analysis and concluded that riding the iPhone’s coattails outweighed some interface eye candy on their phone, so they omitted the feature. Apple was also threatening some companies with litigation and Google probably wanted to wait and see how that would play out.
The second request was that a 3.5 mm headphone jack (the size used on almost every audio device on the planet) NOT be used. Apple claimed a patent on a 3.5 mm jack that had controls in the headphone cable as a means of controlling the media of the device. Instead of simply taking the controls off the headphone cable, Google (or HTC the manufacturer) went with an irritating proprietary USB type of connection. The result was you couldn’t even plug your existing headphones into the damn thing. Moronic to say the least.
On Oct 22nd, 2008, the first Android phone, the G1 Dream, was released. I bet you’ll be blown away to hear the two biggest criticisms were the lack of multitouch and a standard sized headphone jack!
A shot across the bow
While the G1 was humming along to strong sales and decent praise, trouble started brewing when some conflicts of interest began to emerge. In July 2009, Google introduced a friend location service called Latitude, which Apple promptly rejected from their app store. Was their objection due to privacy concerns or even legal considerations with Google? Not according to Apple, who responded with an excuse that was downright bizarre. They claimed that Latltude would be confused with the native Google Maps application, thus resulting in a poorer user experience. No one really bought this as “find a friend on the map” was simply an extra feature tacked on to the core app. Anyway, Google acquiesced (cost-benefit redux), and rejiggered it as a non-native app, it’s effectiveness gutted as it required a constant internet connection.
Curiously, around that time, Apple was filing a patent for a location based tracking service of their own. I’d wager they didn’t want Latitude to steal their thunder. A crippled version would give people a taste of the wonderful functionality, yet allow Apple a future “one up” when they rolled out their version.
And here we go again…
A few months later in Sept, the real fireworks began when Apple rejected another Google app. This time it was Gvoice, a free service that adds all sorts of crazy functionality to your existing phone line.
People were pissed, the FCC threatened to get involved, and Apple & AT&T pointed fingers blaming one another for the rejection. Since Gvoice is more of a threat to traditional phone companies, AT&T slamming the door shut on this one seemed entirely plausible.
Well, it turns out that it was Apple behind the smack down. This time, Apple claimed that the program was rejected on the grounds that it “duplicated the core functionality of the phone dialer”. In other words, the device was perfectly capable of making a call on its own, and we’re scared that the Gvoice version might be better. (That’s how it played out in my mind at least) Other apps, such as Skype, seemed to violate the duplicity rule as well, yet were still approved for the app store. (It should be noted that Skype is “crippled” and cannot utilize the high speed signal, but I just heard this restriction will be lifted in a few weeks.)
The battle lines are drawn
The app store tensions exposed the cracks of the relationship and showed that the companies were becoming leery of each other. Where the future once existed in merging their strengths in alliance, it was now clear that the only path forward was through encroaching their adversary’s turf.
Towards the end of the 2009, Apple looked to strike first. The iPhone was still selling like hotcakes, and the (then secret) iPad tablet was a few months away. Apple knew they’d have to claim a stake in the mobile advertising game in order to maximize the revenue potential of their devices. They focused their attention on buying AdMob, a vender well established in the mobile advertising world. I’d imagine the logic was akin to “Screw Google serving ads on our devices! Let’s buy a shop, serve up our own, and sleep on a bigger pile of money!” Right when the deal was in the final stages Google slipped in, thief in the night style, and swiped AdMob with a $750 million dollar 11th hour purchase.
While all the above fun was taking place, Google was gearing up to fetch a slice of the iTunes pie via a music service acquisition. Lala, an internet streaming company with some amazing technological promise, caught their eye. This time it was Apple who swooped in at the last second with an $85 million offer and was gone before Google knew what hit them.
Don’t feel bad for Apple, they eventually snapped up mobile advertising company Quattro Wireless for a paltry $275 million.
Time to play for keeps
Google’s next move couldn’t have made Apple very happy. Until then, Google had been pushing Android phones in the manner of “The new Samsung/Motorola/HTC (insert awesome name) featuring Android”. This time they decided to get involved in the hardware to make a true Google Phone, pushing their presence even further into the mobile arena. The result was what’s regarded as their current flagship Android phone, the Nexus One. The twist here, is that Google attempted to do something many believed Apple might eventually try. In a nutshell, 1) Make a phone that connects to ANY US provider, 2) Sell it directly from the website, and 3) Let the consumer do whatever with it. It hasn’t worked out entirely (yet?) as expected for Google, but that crazy type of thinking sure opened some eyes.
This time, it’s personal!
Things were quiet for a few weeks, but we recently got some new fodder. This time it was some great insight into Apple’s evolving attitude towards Google. Summary: Apparently it’s just short of searing hatred.
Check out these grenades that were tossed in Google’s direction….
“We did not enter the search business, Jobs said. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them, he says.”
Jobs then allegedly turned to ”Don’t be evil” – Google’s unofficial motto calling it “bullshit”
These comments (true or not) took the tech blogs by storm the next day. The absence of “taken out of context, completely fabricated, we share a vision, etc, etc” talk from Apple’s camp didn’t help quell things either.
Several days later after Job’s alleged comments, Google turned up the volume with a pretty massive “screw you”. They unleashed an update to their Nexus One phone, enabling full multitouch gestures. Whatever gentleman’s agreement or patent infringement concern they previously held was just drop-kicked out the window. They then articulated the “S” and “Y” by releasing an updated Gvoice app, making a brilliant end run around Apple’s approval process. Utilizing the improved capabilities of next gen HTML5, they built a web version that’s for all intents and purposes IDENTICAL to the functionality of the rejected native app. Awesome stuff.
Two different ways to successfully skin a cat
The operating philosophies of the two companies couldn’t be more different. Apple takes the “measure twice, cut once” approach to design. The iPhone, now in it’s 3rd (and soon to be 4th) generation has changed very little from its original incarnation. There have obviously been software tweaks, but we know Apple had the master roadmap plotted out way before the first device was sold. Apple’s latest gadget, the iPad, was supposedly in the making for over a decade. Steve Jobs, unhappy with results during development, allegedly sent engineers back to the drawing board TWICE! Ten years later, with a snap of his fingers, it’ll be making its retail debut in about 7 weeks.
Google prefers to “throw things at the wall and see what sticks”. Luckily for them, the immense intellectual and financial resources at their disposal allow them to do this quite effectively. How many times have you heard about a new Google app that does X, or does Y, or does Z? If you’re listening, it’ll be practically every week. Google Mail, Maps, Earth, Docs, Reader, Goggles, Skymaps, Listen, Feedburner, Wave, Picasa, Navigation, the list goes on and on. I couldn’t imagine their thinking to be anything other than “Some things hit and others miss, but hey, at least we got the idea out of our head.” *shrug*
It’s going to be very interesting to see how these two methods clash, that’s for sure.
So what’s the point of all this?
I suppose I could have put this closer to the top, but I have a cousin that’s an ophthalmologist, and his business has been kinda slow. The point is that this impending battle is going to result in a truckload of win for the consumer. Already as a result, Android users have multitouch, iPhone users have Gvoice, Apple has taken heat and made steps to open up the App store, and Google has realized it can’t be all things to all companies. The battle currently rages in the phone arena, but it’ll likely continue into the tablet world. The iPad is now a reality, and a Google equivalent has been rumored on the horizon.
The gloves are off, and now with civility and compromise out of the picture, we have a fun ride ahead. I’m going to sit back and relish the action as these two behemoths clobber each other into a pulp. After all, the hearts and wallets of the consumer hang in the balance.
