iPhoneKing

AT&T customers in the Northeast portion of the US were affected by a data outage earlier today. According to TUAW, affected US cities include Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Missouri. Reports have confirmed that the outage was not unique to iPhone users, and in fact affected all AT&T customers. AT&T has since commented on the outage, stating that service should be restored to customers shortly, if it hasn’t been already.

Kevin Rose is at it again, this time with more details regarding the rumored release of iTunes 8. According to Rose’s sources late last month, iTunes 8 will be “a true upgrade” implying that significant features will be added. He has since stated that one of the additions will be a new visualizer, which he describes as “…really trippy - there is one with planet like objects wrapping around each other w/stars/light streams”. Today on his blog, Rose posts what looks like a summarized feature list from iTunes 8. The most significant is a new feature called “Genius” which is said to make playlists based on songs which go well together.

The full text reads:

It’s understandable that some may be dissapointed with the current performance of the iPhone 3G, but it’s probably fair to say that most of us aren’t about to sue Apple for something they may well fix in the near future. Still, that didn’t stop Jessica Alena Smith. Now another is following suit and trying to get compensation for what they think is sub-average performance.

According to a report from Net Applications, iPhone and iPod touch browser marketshare rose 58% from July to August to 0.48% in the market. While it’s still got a long way to go before it becomes a major player, it has been growing extremely fast, with the exception of a plateau. As is common with Apple products, it is expected that for another mobile browser to catch up to the iPhone, it would mean a drastic change in the whole of the industry.

BrightKite announced on their blog yesterday that the native version of the popular social network has entered private beta testing. The posting didn’t offer many clues as to what features would be included in the finished version, although it did note that the app is not yet feature complete. The beta program quickly closed as Apple only allows each developer 100 ad hoc authorizations. Those who made it into the program are required to send information on bugs and possible ways in which to improve the app before its submission to the App Store.

Yesterday, customers in the Northeast portion of the US were affected by an apparent data outage.

Affected areas included Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Missour, with reports confirming that the problem affected all AT&T customers.

AT&T has since commented on the outage, informing customers that service has now been fully restored to all affected areas.

“There was a routing issue affecting some wireless data use in the Northeast region. AT&T technicians determined the cause and restored service at 11:56AM EDT. Voice calling, text messaging and BlackBerry e-mail were unaffected.”

[via Electronista]

Post from: Talk iPhone - iPhone Forum

Following on yesterday’s Net Applications MobileSafari metrics, which showed ever increasing iPhone browser share, TUAW now tells us Investor Village has found yet another obscure path to sales deviation. This method involves tracking the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) code on each individual iPhone sold, and using it:

researchers have figured out that Apple has manufactured at least 5,649,000 iPhone 3Gs. Add that to the 2.4 million 1st generation iPhones sold in 2008, and you arrive at 8 million iPhones.

Now, we’re admittedly as mathlexic as Fake Steve himself, and we’re still not entirely convinced this isn’t tea leaf reading of one sort or another, but we’ll likely know for sure come September 9th “Let’s Rock” event.

Apple promised us 10 million sold in 2008 , and with the holiday season still coming, looks like they may not just make those numbers, but break them.

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

IMEI Tracking Voodoo = 8 Million iPhones Sold?

Were you an early adopter of the iPhone 2G? How about an early adopter of the iPhone monolithic-slice-of-tech-heaven 3G? Are you still contemplating a migration from your 2G to a shiny 3G? Is the 3G in your hand and the 2G in your nightstand drawer, collecting dust? Questions, questions. What should you do with that 2G? Read on for this week’s Tip!

We’ve covered the “what to do with your old iPhone” question before in a previous Tip. Although you could feasibly use your old iPhone as an iPod Touch, backup phone, paperweight, doorstop, etc., money can have a strange way of changing attitudes and behaviors. If you have a strong sentimental attachment to your old trusty 2G iPhone and want to keep it that way, stop reading now and continue your 2G love-fest. If you think you can handle an extra $500 or $600 bones in your purse or wallet, then this Tip is for you.

The venerable Erica Sadun over at tuaw.com posted about this very subject about the steady rise of first-gen iPhone prices. She wrote the following:

From easy-unlocking to contract-free usage to eco-consumerism, consumers are looking for those original units and paying premium prices to get them. A majority of phones are heading outside the US for resale while growing demand at home keeps resale prices high.

It’s just the good old-fashioned basic economics of supply and demand. New iPhones require a contract with AT&T and, unlike the first-gen iPhone, they can’t be bought off the shelf for later activation. The 2G iPhone can be bought, unlocked, and used contract-free. Just a quick browse on eBay and you will find that 2G iPhones are selling for about $500 for the 8GB model and $600 for the 16GB model, respectively. Obviously, the better the condition, the more likely you’ll fetch a higher price.

As I write this, I’m staring into my open nightstand drawer at my 2G iPhone. Do I see an older, unused iPhone or do I see a stack of Benjamin’s? Needless to say, it’s very tempting right now to take advantage of the current market conditions where you can get top-dollar for your used iPhone. What are you waiting for? If you won’t sell, then what are you doing with your old iPhone?

Disclaimer:  Tip o’ the Week makes no guarantee, express or implied, that any tip found herein will be new or particularly useful to the reader (and make sure you let eBay know where you got this Tip — I want a piece of the action!). 

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

Tip o’ the Week: Old iPhone Part Deux

tsopanos emails in and points us to this iPhone Hellas story. Yes, it is literally Greek to us (groan), so here’s a Google Translation.

Here’s the scoop: the Data Meter on the iPhone is very helpful for letting you know how much data you’ve used, as Rene pointed out a few weeks ago. Sadly: it’s not a “Cellular Network Data” meter proper, apparently. Tsopanos has figured out that if you play around with the Access Point Name (that’s APN to the rest of us, and no, AT&T owners won’t see that setting under General -> Network), you can get that meter to return false information on 2.0.2.

More specifically, if you ‘break’ your APN by changing or screwing around with those settings and then go back and browse any data you have cached on your browser, email, or maps, the iPhone believes all that is more data that’s been downloaded over the cellular network. What this means is that the Cellular Data Meter might actually be double-dipping when your APN is right, i.e. counting locally cached data as cellular data. We’re not sure yet as we don’t have an iPhone with editable-APN sitting around — browsing cached data while in Airplane mode doesn’t seem to register.

Yeah, it’s a esoteric bug and yeah, at least that bug errs on the side of caution by showing you potentially more data than you’ve actually downloaded. Still, something we’re hoping will get a fix.

Thanks, Tsopanos!

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

Cellular Data Meter a Little Untrustworthy?

I remember back in the day while driving, I would take an audio note on my Palm Tungsten, T, before smartphones really took off. My, have we come a long way.

Jott (recently out of beta) is a way to take audio notes, then have them transcribed into SMS, email, or just a web note. This truly takes my Tungsten Audio recording days to the next level.

There are a couple ways to use Jott; either the iPhone application or via an 800 number. This review will focus on the use of the iPhone app., but will touch on different ways to you can access your Jott.

Starting out

Jott is a free service with optional paid plans that allow you to take verbal notes spoken into your iPhone and have them transcribed and placed in an online todo list.

After installing Jott, you will have to create an account. Jott gives you 3 levels of service; a free level which should cover most people’s needs, and two paid levels. The main differences between levels include the length of a recorded note and the ability to have these transcribed notes sent to you via email.

After you have logged in you can begin using Jott right away. The applications’ home screen has a visual recorder. Simply tap it to begin recording. The screen turns red on the top and bottom telling you that you have begun recording. You have 15 seconds to record your note. If you end earlier, simply tap the screen to stop. Afterwards you MUST stay in the application for your note to be uploaded to Jotts servers for transcription.

I’ve recorded a note, what next?

It takes a little time to transcribe your note; somewhere between 3 and 15 minutes. Afterwards, you note will appear in the “Notes” tab on the bottom of the application. From here, you can see the transcribed notes from today, yesterday, etc. If a note is not done transcribing, the software tells you to check back in a few minutes. You can tap any Jott to read it. Once you have read the Jott you can move it to a folder (your defaults are Home and Work), delete it, or mark it as “done”. You can also make a new list at any time by tapping Edit in the top left corner of the application. You can then move and organize your Jotts as needed.

If you prefer to type out a Jott, you can do that too by simply tapping the ABC icon located in the top right of the screen. Your typed note gets uploaded to Jotts servers along with your transcribed Jotts.

Conclusion

I like Jott a lot. It really comes in handy when you can’t type out a todo or reminder; Jott is there to save the day. The ability to use Jott as an actual todo list is quite helpful as well since Apple does not have any built-in software to accomplish this task. It is important to note, that once you have an account created, you can Jott by calling their 800 number and via the web and their Adobe Air application. Using these tools, you can access your Jotts just about anywhere. I have also been very pleased with the quality of the transcription. I speak relatively fast and Jott picks up most everything very well. Kudos to Jott!

If I had to find an Achilles heel with Jott it would have to be that in order to use the service, you really have to be online. So, for example, you are using this app with an iPod Touch and have no Wi-Fi, it is essentially useless to you. Once you record your Jott, Jott wants to begin the upload immediately for transcription. If you are using it with your iPhone, the fact that the Jott cannot be sent in the background can be quite frustrating as using an EDGE connection can take upwards of 2-4 minutes to upload. If you exit the app and come back, it starts all over again.

All in all though, this is a great app, especially since it is free. There are other todo applications out there, but they are just that, todo tools and they don’t really offer much in terms of voice note. If you are looking for a melding of traditional todos with voice notes, this is a great option. The todo functionality is not as strong as it could be, but it is enough for basic needs.

Ratings (out of 5)

• Look and Feel: 4
• Navigation: 5
• Features: 4
• Reliability: 4
• Overall: 4.25

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Take a note anywhere
• Touch or talk- two ways to enter data
• Many ways to access your Jotts

Cons:

• Uploading over EDGE is painful
• You have to stay “in the app” to upload
• 15 seconds on the free service might be too short for some

BONUS: Here is a video discussing how Jott works!

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

App Review: Jott- take an audio note!