I'll save that for later

One of the things that was puzzling to me about my iPhone is why I couldn't download files off the internet.    Say for example you found a menu online, and you wanted to save it to your phone.  

  The iPhone does not allow this.   It has no problem viewing the menu(assuming its not flash), but if you want to save it to your phone you can't do it.

The same goes for all file types.  

Wierd...

Superphone Returns - How much do you love _____?

I returned the iPhone the other night.  It was actually cheaper to return than any Android phone I've returned.   They charged 10%.   Other phones are a flat $35.   I did not say goodbye and I do not miss it.

I was SO happy to have my android back.  My friends asked me what I missed the most.

I said on a large scale, I missed apps abilities to integrate with the system (for example desksms)

On a small scale I missed Swype

Today I was thinking.    How much do I love my Android phones?  How much do people love their iPhones?  How much do people love their blackbackberries?

There is no way to quantify this, so I made one up.

How much would somebody have to pay me to use an iPhone 4 for two years?   The answer I can up with was about $1500, plus getting the phone for free, for a net price of 1699.

So if somebody paid me $1699 i would use an iPhone 4 for 2 years, no exceptions.

Here are some more examples...  Note these are all personal, but I encourage you to put prices on your own vices.

$2500 to not drink soda for two years
I would PAY $800 to use a macbook air for two years (macbook airs are $1300)
$1,000,000 to not drive for two years (i would have to close my business)
$10,000 to be a vegetarian for two years
$1000 to not eat fast food for two years
$3000 to not play video games for two years
$15,000 to wake up at 5:00 AM for two years


In other words, I would rather use an iPhone than not drink soda for two years, or, I would rather use a macbook air than anything else on the list.

Anybody have some fun examples?

Battery update

I never did update my battery status.   The battery never got better.   There was a Saturday where I had 53% remaining at the end of the day.   However that was just luck.   If you remember, when I first mentioned the battery problem, the phone had been in my pocket for an entire night, with no usage at all.

O well, i wish I could have been able to tell what it was.

Back on Android I never charge my phone, I just replace batteries.   My android phone does EVERYTHING for me, and the battery pays for it.    I would rather turn the phone off for 30 seconds to replace the battery than worry about keeping it charged, constantly plugging it in and unplugging it.   (I get in and out of my truck 25 times per day).

Flash

In my nearly 4 weeks in using my iPhone, I have to say I never missed not having flash.    Every website had figured out some other way of delivering content.  In fact I never even needed it.

However it is still comical that it is left out of the iOS.    Every once in a blue moon, when your trying to look-up a restaurant menu from a random restaurant that is IN flash.... you'll want it.

Its like keeping the phone number to some of your high-school friends.    You dont really need them, but when you NEED them, you want to have them.

*note I didn't really use the phone browser a whole lot because i felt the screen was too small.

Planned obsolescence

Definition: Planned obsolescence: in industrial design is a policy of deliberately planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete or nonfunctional after a certain period of time.


Most consumers don't know it, but Apple doesn't care about consumers, only profit margins.


Apple has perfected planned obsolescence.   Not only do they do it on purpose, they do it deliberately in-front of everybody and nobody has a clue.    This post will clarify how Apple only wants your dollars.


iOS updates - with each iOS update, apple leaves major features out of old hardware.    I mentioned earlier in the bog that the 3GS is not getting a tabbed browser.  Why?  Its not like it takes extra processing power.   Here are some more examples


The iPhone 3g didn't get these updates with iOS 4.   
   - multi-tasking       (the three year old HTC G1 had multitasking, why can't the iPhone?)
   - custom backgrounds.  Really? must be a big memory hog!
   - Screen lock 
   - Bluetooth keyboard support (no biggie)
   -There are also numerous reports of the phone being slowed WAY down to borderline unusable.


The iPhone 3gs will not get with iOS5 - rumored
  - a tabbed browser
  -advanced picture editing
  -"reader" feature
  - iMessage


It is being reported that the iPhone 4 will not get Apples new "assistant" voice assistant program.   They are saying its because of processor and memory usage, but Android has had this service for two years!   Two years ago phones had 600 Mghz processors and 256 meg ram.   Apple just wants to sell more phones, and they are very good at it.


A quick google results in numerous posts from owners that upgraded their iOS, and report more bugs, worse battery life, overheating, ect.


Perhaps one of the biggest exampled of planned obsolescence is the lack of removable batteries.    Apple states that after 400 complete charge cycles, the battery will lose 20% of its capacity.    I was going through about 1.5 charges per day, so after about 10 months, I would have a noticeable decrease in battery life.   After 15 months i bet the phone would be almost unusable.


Apple wants you to buy a new device before the average consumer would consider the phone not useful anymore.


Luckily my Android phones have replaceable batteries.   The Nexus one, which is now almost two years old, has every feature the hardware allows as the Nexus.

Marketshare

   Android is currently hammering iOS in market share.   In the third quarter it was reported that Apple sold iPhones to 28% of smartphone buyers, while Android sold to 56%.   Over the past year, i THINK iOS has gone from 21% to 28% while android has gone from 35% to 56%.

   Consumers are voting with their wallets.   Consumers are saying that when ALL THINGS ARE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION, Android is vastly superior to iOS.

I say "all things are taken into consideration" because this is a very important part of my argument.   This argument is more than iOS the operating system vs Android the operating system.   Its about iOS the "choice" vs Android the "choice"   You could replace the word "choice" with "economy" if you wanted.

Apple has chosen to only be available on AT&T and Verizon.
Apple has chosen to have a closed ecosystem
Apple has chosen to release one device, once per year
Apple has chosen to charge $199 for their top tier device the entire year, regardless of competition.
Apple has chosen to keep a 3.5" screen
Apple has chosen to release tech that is outdated (yes i said it)
Apple has chosen operate an OS that lacks basic features.
Apple has chosen to never have "SALES" on their devices.  They are always $50 or $200.

I have heard these arguments before defending iOS

"of course android sells more, they have more devices"
"of course android sells more, they are available on more carriers"
"of course android sells more, you can get free phones"
"of course android sells more, you can get them on any carrier"

My point is that when a consumer weighs ALL their options, twice as many are choosing Android over iOS.

Does this make it twice as good?   I dont know, i'm still wrestling with that....

*I can take this example to the extreme.   Say you have the option of buying a Lexus for $60,000 or a Hyundai for $5,000.  A vast majority of people with choose the Hyundai.   In this example i'm saying that the Hyundai is the superior car, all things taken into consideration, because it would sell 10x the numbers of the Lexus.

Now take price out of the picture, everybody chooses the Lexus.   However this does not take all things into consideration.

Open vs closed

This post is about an open system vs a closed system.

   More directly related to phones, Apple operates their iOS economy in a closed matter.   With the exception of accessories, you can only buy apps, songs, hardware, etc from apple.   Only Apple makes the device and only Apple can service the device.   Any violation of the above will violate your warranty and/or get you sued.

  Android on the other hand is a like a frat party.   Anybody can do anything they want for any price and for any reason.   However there are some restrictions.  In order for a phone to have the Google name on it and have the stock Google apps installed, Google has to approve the device.

Most people probably don't care about open vs closed and that is fine.   However this topic will directly relate to the next one on "market share"

Consumers have seen this battle play out multiple times.   Here are some examples of previous open system vs closed system battles, and their outcomes.

Betamax vs VHS - Betamax was a superior product, but operated by Sony in a closed nature.   Only Sony made Betamax players, while VHS was made by anybody who wanted too.   Guess who won, even with an inferior (albeit slightly) product.

AC  vs DC.    This battle was the the standard for electric current.   Thomas Edison backed DC current and had many patents and inventions in place to ensure their success.   Westinghouse, Siemens and Oerlikon all backed AC current.    When Edison realized he was losing, he went on a negative publicity campaign trying to halt the success of AC.   Sound familiar?

Mac VS Windows.   Perhaps this is the best example.    In the early 80's Steve jobs essentially perfected the personal computer.  Apple fought with IBM and a number of other competitors throughout the 80s.    In the late 80's early 90's Bill Gates licensed Windows to manufacturers, while Apple remained a closed system, manufacturing their own computers.   These manufacturers competed with each other, drove down pricing, and won (and are still winning by FAR) the marketshare wars.  

Apple wants complete control of their OS and they are going to lose AGAIN because of it.

Historically, even though somebody MAY have a better product, if they operate within a closed system, they will lose the marketshare wars.

*****
Fun facts:
  -Car manufacturers cannot void your warranty if you service your car somewhere other than a dealership.
  -Long ago when I was looking to switch from my blackberry, I was up in the air about Android or iOS.   I chose Android because i had read that Apple recently denied the Google Voice app from the iPhone.
  -Apple has recently required software developers to get thier applications signed in order to work on their computers.
  - Apple charges $99/year for software developers.   The first submittal is free, but if your app gets rejected it costs $50 to try again.
   -An iOS developer had submitted an iCloud similar app to the appstore and it was denied, about 6 months prior to the announcement of iOS5.  

Best. Accessory. Ever.

I didn't accessorize my iPhone, but if your into that kind of thing, there are many many many many options.   Since the iPhone is the single best selling phone in the world, lots of companies put time and effort into making accessories for them.

For example, say there are 50 million iPhone 4's out there.    That is a large market for a case manufacturer, so they are going to make lots of different cases.

Recently, the Galaxy S2 has sold approximately 10 million phones, and that is a big deal!   However it will not get near the amount of accessories because it is a much smaller market.

Case in point.   Wooden cases are EASY to find for an iPhone, but try ANY android phone and you will not find one.

The 4g's and why I think AT&T is the best - UPDATE

If you read my earlier post, this is an add-on to that post to explain the situation in a different way.   Imagine data speeds are similar to methods of transportation.

3g is equivalent to a bicycle

HSPA+ is equivalent to a car

LTE is equivalent to a jet airplane.

If you want to get from Hillsboro to Gresham what method do you use?

AT&T currently has a bicycle and car, it would take the car because it servers the purpose needed

Verizon currently has a bicycle and a jet airplane.   Verizon will waste lots of time on a bicycle, or lots of fuel (battery) on a jet airplane.

Currently AT&T has plans to build a jet, but are 18 months behind Verizon

Verizon has no plans to build a car.

I know where you are....

One of the things I don't understand about my iPhone is why i have to tell the phone where I am.  The prime example is the stock weather app.

When you open up the app, the stock location is Cupertino (Apple headquarters)

Why do I have to tell the weather app the location that I want the weather, doesn't the phone know where I am?

The fox news app is the same way.

On android, the weather updates based on what city your in.   If your in Hillsboro traveling to vancouver, it will update as you go along.

Other apps have "check-in" ability.  Those apps know exactly where you are.

I suspect that Apple has dis-allowed the less accurate method of triangulation to find location.   Think of it this way.  GPS can target your location to a 9 foot circle, using accurate sensors and things that use battery.   Cell tower triangulation uses no additional battery, but provides a 500' circle in which you are in.  Its close enough to know what city your in with no tax to the battery.

Weird.....

The 4g's and why I think AT&T is the best

I believe AT&T is the nations best wireless provider.   Some people flame me for this, but here is why.

The answer is in wireless data speeds.

The iPhone 4 and soon to come iPhone 5 are strictly 3g devices.   The data connection is manageable and gets the job done, but to view HD video its too slow.   Data speeds top out around 2500 mbps (dont worry about what this means, it just is)

All the new, high end android devices are HSPA+, or what I call 3g+.   They can stream HD videos, movies, load web pages and download apps in seconds.   In my opinion this is all a mobile phone NEEDS, unless your running a bit-torrent server through your phone.  Data speeds here cap out around 7000 mbps ( i did pull 14000 on t mobile a couple times).  AT&T has HSPA+ but Verizon does not.

Verizon has an awesome LTE network (AT&T will soon, but they are 18 months behind Verizon).   The connection speeds on LTE peak around 25000 mbps.   There are a number of high end android phones on Verizon that are capable of this, and Verizon has some 140 cities around the county with this technology.  Portland is one of them, and their LTE network goes from Wilsonville to Vancouver and Hillsboro to Gresham.   The downside here is that LTE EATS your battery for lunch.    These data speeds are faster than my fiber optic line running to my house and it just isn't necessary for a 3.5" to 4.5" screen.
  When Verizon released the thunderbolt (first LTE phone), you could charge it to 100%, set it on your desk and never use it, and the battery would die within 6 hours.

This is why AT&T will be the best.


  Verizon will only have a 3g(too slow) and an LTE(way more than necessary) network.  They have no middle ground.   Users will toggle LTE on when they want to download a bunch of data, then off when they are done.   Any user that leaves LTE on will have worse battery life.  When LTE is off, 3g data will be too slow.

AT&T has the middle ground, HSPA+.   The data speed is fast enough for anything you would want to run on your phone, but doesn't eat your battery  

My opinion is that LTE speeds are not needed unless your tethering your device to a laptop.

Here is why the iPhone 5 will not be a 4g device


1) LTE chip sets are too big for Apple to incorporate into their design.   This is the first no-no.  LTE android phones are rather large, but customers can CHOOSE THEM if they want.


2) Apple would never allow AT&T and Verizon to have two different speeds.   A consumer could think "do i want an HSPA+ on AT&T or 3g on Verizon.   Apple is not about choice, so they aren't going to give it to you.

*Note that second generation LTE chipsets are being released in Q12012.   These will consume less power and be smaller than the current generation chipsets.   However, they will still consume MORE power than HSPA+.   AT&T phones will always have much better battery life.

The comparison is similar to EDGE and 3g today.   If you put your phone on an EDGE data connection, the battery life is significantly better.

Back it up V2

The Safari browser is nothing special.   It has every feature I would expect it to.   It does one thing for me that is very very very annoying and confusing.

On your iOS device, open up news.google.com.   This is my favorite news aggregation service and I check it multiple times per day.

Click on your favorite news story, read it.

Try and go back to the original news feed.

Since the iPhone lacks a back button, you can't just press back to go back to your original article after the browser opens a new window.  

You have to press the 'windows' button in the lower right, then go search for your original thread of articles. 

You then get to search through the other 7 windows to find which one you were at originally.   

Oh!  Look we have a "back" button that says "done" in the lower right.  First time I've seen that one....

I wish i could install a third party browser... o no wait, apple doesn't allow it because their way is the best way.

back it up, back it up, back it up!

This post is not about backups.  We already established that the method apple uses to backup/restore or transfer to a new device is pretty epic.

This post is about the "back" button or lack thereof.

One of the things Apple has done to "simplify" the look of the phone is to only have one hardware button on the phone, the "home" button.

Apple has allowed developers to decide where to place the "back" button.   Allow me to show you some pictures.

Facebook here has the typical back button location.   Note that it doesn't SAY "BACK", it changes each time, in every app.  

Same app, different location, different text, different shape.
















This app doesn't use back buttons.  It has a 4 option selector from the bottom.   The location of the typical back button is "update all"

 This app doesn't have anything!   Its a fun game called "find the back button" where the user gets to look in all 4 corners, then down at the bottom, then analyze the two icons to see if they mean "back".  How do I go back?   Answer: You click the screen, then the back button is in the middle on the right.








Here is a back button in the lower left?








This is a consistent theme I have seen over the past 30 days or so of using this phone.   Apple tries to simplify the look or feel of their device, and ends up making it confusing to use.

Android phones have the back button in the very same place, every time, in every app.   Its one of the four buttons a phone gets on the bottom.

When I am in an app, even one I have used many times, here is my thought process

Ben's brain
"ok, im ready to go back"
"look in upper left"
"there is a button, it doesn't say 'back', what does it say"
"it says 'news feed' Is that where I want to go?"
"thinks..."
"yes, click, look for another back button"

Why do I have to rack my brain when trying to backup in an app?

AUTOMATION: UPDATE! -non iphone related

I got a request from an old friend of mine to explain my automation post, and how to setup the various tasks I have my phone do every night.


One thing that is nice about the iPhone, is that dont have all these options, so there is nothing to "set up"


You could think of it like a woman.  A woman that has a small wardrobe has a very "easy" time selecting what she wants to wear for the day because of her lack of options.   Another type of woman has 10 closets full of clothes and can spend 10 hours deciding what to wear.


However since Android users have CHOICE, they CHOOSE to have 10 closets.   An android user can still have one closet, and never use the other 9.   In other words, an android user has these options, but they HAVE to use them.   iPhone users dont even get the choice....


automatically downloads the latest podcasts I listen to
  This can be done a number of ways.   The easiest way is to download an app.   The one I use is called "podtrapper".   You can set the phone to only download new podcasts when its plugged in, connected to a wifi network.   There are a number of other apps that can do this, this is the one I use


Silences notifications and SMS until 6:00 AM.  Vibrate from 6-7AM, full volume at 7AM.
  There are a number of ways to do this.  This app is the first one I found in the market.  I do it with Tasker (see below)


ADVANCED - If I get two calls from the same person in my contacts within 15 minutes, full volume.
  There is an app for android called TASKER.     The very basic premise for this app is "if - then" statements.  For example, IF i turn around three times THEN turn my GPS on.  IF my phone rings twice at night THEN turn the volume up.    The downside is that tasker has a pretty steep learning curve.   Its more complicated the hypercard, but  way easier than any programming language.    Its pretty similar to excell "if-then" statements.  If you are a medium excel user, tasker is easy.  If excel makes you cringe, go find a good nerd.  Tasker walkthroughs


Turns off my data connection until 6:30.  Turns on once per hour.
  Juice Defender is an app that is available in the Android Market.   It takes total control of pretty much anything that uses battery on your phone.   You can set it to turn off your data connection when your screen is off, and you can set it turn turn off your data connection at night.   You can also set it to turn ON your data connection every once in a while to check for emails.


uploads all my photos from the day to google+ if connected to wifi
  You guessed it, there are a number of apps that can do this as well.   Google plus is by far the easiest to setup, you can have it auto sync on power and wifi.


automatically turns off my GPS until 6:30
  This is an easy profile to setup in tasker.  It is beginner level


automatically turns off Bluetooth until 6:30
  This is an easy profile to setup in tasker.  It is beginner level


Syncs my music/videos folder from my desktop computer
  sugar sync is a free app/service that runs in the background and will sync files to/from your computer.  Kind of like iOS5's new magic "iCloud"


automatically back's up then entire phone to dropbox.
  This is done with mybackuppro and can be scheduled to be done ever night, every other night, etc.  It will backup pictues, txts, apps, app data (if your rooted).  Titanium backup is another app that can do this.
  

Battery Update

So the wipe did nothing to make my battery better, I have settled with the fact that the battery on the phone battery pretty much sucks.   It makes sense, a smaller phone is going to have a smaller battery.

Anybody with a smartphone should have a charger wherever they go.   One at home, one in your car, and one at work.

The advantage of android phones is that you can have an extra battery in your wallet or purse so that you can replace the battery at any time.

iPhones must always be around a charger.

There are some manufacturers out there that make "extended batteries."  I do not recommend these to any user, as they only make the phone bulkier and uglier.   They can double the capacity of the stock battery, but they also can double the thickness of the phone.   There is no point, because anybody can always have an extra battery in their wallet or purse.

My Wife's G2x

I just though I'd make a quick note about my wife's toilet phone.

The LG G2x was T mobiles hottest phone for April.  It was a dual core, 4" LCD, yadda yadda yadda, android phone.

The phone was a piece of crap.    It had bugs galore, even after the maintenance update.   The screen was awful,  it was HUGE and heavy for what it was, and I've mentioned a number of times on this blog how I thought i needed glasses to use it after my iPhone screen.

We couldn't plug it into a computer because I couldn't find the drivers for the mass storage mode on the internet.

Given the choice between that phone and my iPhone 4, I would probably take the iPhone (that is a big statement for me).

When she told me she dropped it in the toilet, I said to myself, GOOD!

I've said this a number of times.   You are always safe buying a GOOGLE NEXUS PHONE.   If your not going to do that, follow these recommendations.

1) Always buy from a top tier manufacturer (Motorolla, Samsung or HTC)
2) Always buy a top tier device, some devices are made for entry level.   The giveaway is when it is a just released phone for less than $98.  Top tier devices can be FREE on sale or on amazonwireless.com.  When they are free, they are often a few months old, which is fine.   Top tier iPhones are always $200 no matter how old they are.
3) Never root/jailbreak your phone

Random un-phone related thought

  This thought occurred to me last night.  Google's CEO is currently in Washington DC defending the company against a FTC investigation.   If I understand correctly, Google is in trouble for promoting their own products in their own search engine.

In other words.  Google creates a search engine, then uses it to promote their products.

In the above sentence, replace "Google" with "Apple" and "search engine" with "iOS"

It is my un-educated, completely oblivious opinion that Apple has done more to promote their own products within iOS than Google ever does within their search engine.  Also, the products Google is promoting within their search engine are often FREE!

If I have something incorrect here, or if you have an opinion leave it in the comments.

That is all.

UPDATE:  It just occurred to me that Google has 67% market share in the search-engine world.   Apple only has 27% of smartphone share, and probably only about 10% of smartphone and feature phone share.

   Will Google get in trouble when android reaches 67% market share?  It will probably happen within the next 18 months.  Android phones come pre-installed with many google apps....

the wipe

So my battery is so bad I need to do a backup and restore of my device.  Here we go!  The below is a play by play as I performed the wipe/backup.

-I plugged in device and decided to update before I backup/restore.
-I went to my device, and pressed update.   Itunes told me that there were purchased items on my iPhone that had not been transferred to my iTunes library, and that I should do that before i update.   It did not give me a button on how to do that, AND I have not purchased anything through the app store???  
-After some time, i found if I "right click" on my device I found the "transfer purchases" - done

-Still says there are purchases, but doesn't say what they are or give me a button to transfer them.  All i want to do is update my phone.  Google here we come.
-I found it.  Google said I had to authorize my computer, why didn't itunes say that?
-Never mind.  This is still an issue.   It appears to be doing something, but the header does not say it is syncing.
-Waited 5 minutes and tried again.  Success!
-7 minutes to update.  Not bad!

-"right click" backup phone - Easy!
- On the phone, general settings, wipe device - Easy
-Phone doesn't work unless I plug it back into iTunes.  Wierd!
-restore done!  only took a few minutes
-more restoring (apps) is taking a little bit longer.
-Done! After the initial hickup this was pretty easy.

The backup restore process was pretty flawless.  The phone is EXACTLY as i left it and any moderate computer user can figure it out.  HOWEVER if you never plug in your phone, you dont have any backups.  If you lose your phone, you SOL.

  Over on the android side of things, backups are a little big tougher.   Google does not provide any computer software to end users because everything is cloud based.    If you get a new phone, Google will do a basic backup and restore of apps that are installed, but that is it.  
  Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and a number of other things are stored in the cloud, so they dont need backups. It is up to the user to backup SMS, photos, app data, videos and a bunch of other stuff.
  An app called MyBackupPro does all this, but it costs $5.   It also one-ups the iPhone backup in one very very very special way.... users use it.

It will backup to the cloud when you send tell it to via the developers website.   Say for example you dropped your phone in a toilet, but it magically stayed on?   Back it up and restore to a different phone without touching it.

I should also note that no backup app can backup application data or settings without root access.  This plain sucks.  If you work for 10 hours beating angry birds, you can't backup the data!  Apple has done this flawlessly and they deserve a gold star!


So what would I recommend to the average user?  That is tough.  This article implies that users are not plugging their phones into their computer.  If they do, they are not running the backup because they are not updating their OS, i think (iphoners correct me if i'm wrong).

What good is an awesome backup if it is never done?

MyBackup Pro can be scheduled to backup every night, and back-up to the cloud.... every night.

fragmentation v 2.0

I was updating my iphone, as i should to improve my battery life, and came across an interesting article.

Apparently the verizon and AT&T iPhones have two different version numbers.

This one states that the verizon iPhone is missing features that the AT&T iphone has.  Another

Ready to get confused.   Read the Wikipedia article on iOS versions.

That is all

Automation

Here is a list of things my iPhone or Android does AUTOMATICALLY at night(10PM) when I plug it in.  I'm not iPhone bashing, these are just statements of fact.

iPhone
charges
(empty)

Android -only when plugged in
charges
automatically downloads the latest podcasts I listen to
Silences notifications and SMS until 6:00 AM.  Vibrate from 6-7AM, full volume at 7AM
Turns phone to a gentle vibrate (yes you can set how much vibration)
ADVANCED - If I get two calls from the same person in my contacts within 15 minutes, full volume.
Turns off my data connection until 6:30.  Turns on once per hour.
Automatically goes to low brightness (i always leave my phones on full brightness during day)
uploads all my photos from the day to google+ if connected to wifi
automatically turns off my GPS until 6:30
automatically turns off Bluetooth until 6:30
Syncs my music folder from my desktop computer
syncs my video folder from my desktop computer
automatically back's up then entire phone to dropbox.  Useful for when you drop your phone in the toilet.


When I wake up, i have all my new music, video's and podcasts.  All my data is backed-up.

I understand that my iPhone can do some of this stuff when connected to a computer, but I don't have a computer on my night stand.  Do you?

Basic features

For the past three weeks, I've been checking the email on my phone and wondering why I got new emails, but did not hear them.  I would turn the volume all the way up and still miss emails!

Today I figured it out.

The notification volume for SMS and email is the same no matter what.    It is too quiet for my truck and I miss emails all the time.

I have two CHOICES for Notificaiton and SMS volume on my iphone.
1) On
2) Off / vibrate

On my android phone I have virtually unlimited possibilities.  Super Mario "one ups" is one of my favorite.

1) I can chose my notification tone, anything I can think of
2) I can vibrate the phone AND have sound notification
3) I can turn the volume down all the way, but still barely noticeable (at a library or something)
4) I can turn off SMS and email notification, but leave on the ringtone (good for night time)

I feel like iOS leaves out basic features and dont understand why these phones are perceived as "industry leading"

That is all.

UPDATE: Dont forget to wipe!

  So i can't figure this battery thing out.   I've closed apps and turned off the GPS.   The only thing I haven't done is start manually update my email.   I can't do this because I'm trying to run a business, and email is extremely important.  What good is a smartphone if everything has to be done manually? (giggle)

  Tonight I'm going to wipe and restore the phone.  I anticipate it will be an easy process, but then again I thought the iPhone would be easy to use.

  The last thing the guy at the store said was to run my updates.   I haven't plugged this phone into a computer since day one, because i SHOULDN'T HAVE TO MAINTAIN MY PHONE!

  I don't understand why it is so complicated to see what app is using my battery and data.   If this were an Android phone, the problem would have been solved in 3 minutes... literally.  Talk about ease of use...

FYI: This is not a "your using your phone problem"   The first day I had the phone I was impressed it only dropped 5% battery over night.   Last night, between 11:00 PM and at this morning at 6:00 AM (only 7 hours) it dropped 30% battery

Hulu Plus on Android

I dont subscribe to Hulu, but if I did here is something interesting that happened recently.

Hulu added support for 9 more devices today.  I'm not going to list them, but here is the point.

Nexus One and Nexus S were already on the list.   Along with a few others, those devices were the first to get the Hulu Plus app.

When netflix was released, it was available to the nexus one and nexus S on the first day.. It took another 3 months or so to get 84% of devices covered.

If app fragmentation bothers you, ALWAYS GET A NEXUS BRANDED PHONE.

Just like iPhone users only get iPhone branded phones... its the same thing... same concept.

UPDATE: i-no-phone

In my post here I complained about this phone dropping more calls than any other phone I've ever used.   it has only dropped one call in the last couple of days.   I'm not sure if its an AT&T thing or and iPhone thing... I'll try to update again.   I'm returning the iPhone on the 26th of this month.

Pepto Bismo

I dont mind this, but some people do.

Android phones come pre-installed to bloatware.  Bloatware is software (or apps) that come pre-installed on your phone, for the purpose of promoting products.   Some verizon phones will come with "verizon navigator" which is a paid navigation app.

Why do I need to pay for a navigation app, when the Google maps app is free and awsome?

The most frustrating thing about bloatware is you often cannot uninstall it, so it clutters up the phone.   You can never uninstall bloatware, but you can get an app that will "hide" it fairly easily.  

Here is a list of software that came on a stock droid x.   Bloatware is in BOLD. 

3G Mobile Hotspot
Alarm & Timer
Amazong mp3
Backup Assistant
Blockbuster
Browser
Calculator
Calendar
Camcorder
Camera
Cardock
City ID
Contacts
Corporate Directory
Dialer
DLNA
email

keep going !!!!

Emergency
Files
FM Radio
Gallery
gMail
Help Center
Latitude
Maps
Market
Media Share
Messaging
Music
My Accounts
My Verizon Mobile
Navigation
News
NFS
Places
Settings
Skype
Social Networking
Talk
Text Messaging
Voice Command
Voice Search
Voicemail
YouTube

 You should also note the LARGE AMOUNT OF APPS.   This just clutters up the phone with stuff.   Kind of like hoarding.

  A Nexus branded will have no bloatware, just like Apple, Google is not allowing it on their pure android phones.  However a nexus phone still comes with a significant amount of apps.   I counted 33 last time i used my Nexus One.

  Apple has done a very good job at consolidating apps and eliminating 'clutter'   I counted 18 apps that came pre-installed on my iPhone 4.  However you should also note that an Android phone simply DOES MORE out of the box.   FM radio, DLNA, Cardock, and a couple other apps are installed because the phone can do that out of the box.

  

  If bloatware and un-necissary apps bother you.... you guessed it ALWAY BUY A GOOGLE NEXUS PHONE  If they dont bother you, then you have the CHOICE do do whatever you wish.

Bugs bugs bugs..... v3 - I really dont want to talk to you

I was on the phone and another call came in.  I switched and nobody was there.  The line had picked up, but nobody was there (this is the third time this has happened, maybe i'm "doing it wrong").

I wanted to hang up.  I pushed the area where the button SHOULD have been and nothing happened.

iOS bug are just as numerous as Nexus phone bugs.  iOS bugs are coming in the form of un-responsiveness.   I still have to press the text field 5 times in the phone contacts.   Fox news scroll bar still doesn't work.   The phone often just sits and blinks at me waiting for the A4 processor to catch up.  My battery is still dropping 10% per hour.   It used another 100 MB over night.

Nexus bugs come more from force closes, which I have also experienced on my iPhone 4.

  On older iOS devices I believe bugs are more prevalent.   Apple might even do this on purpose as part of their plan for "planned obsolescence" *more on this later.  If you plan on keeping your iOS device more than 24 months, your probably SOL.

bugs bugs bugs v2

  Since my wife through her phone in a crapper on Saturday, I got her a new(yet temporary) phone.   Its temporary because the Nexus Prime is rumored to release at the end of October/early November.  
  She was setting it up, as you  do with Android phones, and her favorite widget wouldn't work.  It bugged out every time!.   ITS A FREAKING WIDGET!  It has nothing to do with display resolution or skins.

Anyways, I told her to just deal with it.  

This problem goes away if you ALWAYS BUY A NEXUS BRANDED PHONE if this kind of thing bothers you.

Patent wars

/rant

The news and media have had an explosion of patent litigation over the past year or so.   Because of the way patents work, Apple has patented many things I dont think should be patent-able

Apple owns patent on rectangle

Other things they have a patent on

 - using two fingers on a glass screen

 - scanning a text or email to recognise a web link or phone number

 - a touch screen device

 - a sleek rectangle device with a user interface

In my opinion, companies should only be able to patent the technology or CODE behind the idea, not the idea itself.

The below statement is my opinion, there are no facts here:

  In my opinion Apple has realised they are losing the smartphone war, just like the lost the computer war in the early 90's.   Even though Apple perfected the personal PC (or smartphone) they used closed source tactics and the same stuff we are seeing now.   IBM came through as the winner of the personal computer age.  

  We are fighting the exact same battle now.  Apple perfected the smartphone, but they are losing the war.   Current worldwide market share shows the iPhone has 27% market share, while android is pushing 50%.

  Apple has gotten desperate and decided to sue everybody into oblivion.  link  Article with this posts image.  Over the past month some interesting stuff has happened.   Google, whom operates android, only had 1000 patents for the entire company.   Then they decided to purchase Motorolla Mobility, aquiring a total of 24000 more patents.   Notice that they Android partners are not suing each other.   It has been one on one for a while, and pretty soon its going to be Apple vs (google, htc, samsung, motorolla, LG, etc).  

If i was apple, i would fear that they I just awoke a sleeping giant.   Apple is one company suing many different companies.   What happens when those many different companies decide to fight back?   You have many companies suing ONE company, and I think this will start to be a problem for Apple.   Patents for rectangles are nothing, when webOS has the patent for the smartphone.

Intersting facts:
  Google transfered 9 key patents to HTC for defence and couter-suit against Apple.

  Samsung announced today they are sueing to block the release of the iPhone 5 in Korea.

  Motorolla has lawsuits with Apple.

  Motorolla has the patent for a device that turns its screen off when its next to your ear.
  Motorolla has many key patents for LTE 4g services
  Palm (webOS) has the patent for the smartphone

I dont believe Google will ever go on the offensive.   They will win the smartphone warswith true innovation, competing for consumer products.   Once apple stops suing for rediculous reasons, everything will go back to normal and it will be the same battle of OS between Microsoft and Apple of the 90's and 00's.  Apple's current tactics and method of attempting to win involves lawsuits.

In the end, all these lawsuits stifle innovation.

Funny thoughts: 
  Can I patent walking?  
  The "new" iOS notification system is the one Android has been using for 3 years. 
  There were many tablets before the iPad, the Crunchpad is one to name.  
  What would have happened if the laptop had this many lawsuits over a "book like square design"

Dont forget to wipe!!

If you have an iPhone and are one of my friends and family, I apologize ahead of time for this post.  I love you all so dearly!

  So i figured there had to be something wrong with my phone so today I decided to take it to the genius bar.  The genius bar is located in all apple stores and is for the purpose of troubleshooting and repairing phones.  This is truly a great idea!  If you have a problem with your phone, they might be able to fix it.  If you broke your screen, i'm sure they can fix it there too!

  This is the holy grail of tech support!  One on one, face to face tech support.  EVERYBODY SHOULD LOVE THIS!

  Sprint, Verizon and AT&T also have local repair shops in SOME stores, but I dont think they are as numerous as the genius bars.

Here is my problem.   Something is drinking my battery and using tons of data.  I went to the apple store at Washington square.  I got checked in and helped immediately and had a great customer service experience.  From a technical experience though, it was awful.

I told my genius that something was using my battery at 10% per hour and about 800 megs of extra data.    I told him it started about a week ago.

There are two options for for what I was told.   My genius was either an iDiot or iOS is a PiOS.  I dont really know which one, but i have guessed below....

Here is what he told me.

1) "You have your GPS on, and all these apps are using it all the time."   I have about 6 apps that have access to the GPS, but i dont ever USE those apps or the GPS.   Facebook asked for it for check ins, Maps asks for it for locations.  I never check in anywhere on facebook, and I never use the "maps" app.
  I asked my genius why doesn't an app only use the GPS when being used.  He said that is not the case.  He told me that the GPS is running all the time if a single app has access to it and that app is open
 On android, you can leave your GPS on ALL the time, and it is only used if you use an app that wants your location.  When you leave that app (you dont have to close it) the GPS stops  I suspect this is the same with iOS, but i really dont know.  RESULT: iDiot and PiOS

2) "You have all these apps open, you should close them all at least once per day"  Why doesn't the phone close them for me?   Why do i have to perform maintenance on my phone?   Android phones will close apps for you, unless you tell the phone to leave it open. RESULT:  PiOS

3) "let me take this phone to the back and run some diagnostic for you" I initially happy they could do this!   He took it to the back, and 3 minutes later came back and said "Yea, something is running in the background, but I can't tell you what it is"  Really?   No shit sherlock, what am I supposed to do!  I came to the store to TELL YOU something was running in the background, and I wanted to know WHAT THE heck IT WAS!!!!  RESULT: PiOS


4) "You should probably do a backup and restore of the device" WOW!!  Apple marketing, technical articles and my friends have all told me that iOS is the most stable, low maintenance OS available.   All I want to know is what is using my CPU and data, why do I have to wipe my device?    This sounds more like a Windows PC than an APPLE PRODUCT. RESULT : PiOS


5) "the phone is currently syncing your gmail calendar, email and notes every 15 minutes, you should do it manually"    I actually argued with him on this one.  iOS 5 is supposed to bring cloud syncing to my calendar, but the phone is doing it now with iOS 4?   I asked him a question he said he didn't know the answer to, and told him I didn't believe my calendar was cloud syncing.    When I got back to my car I added an appointment on my android tablet... low and behind 15 minutes later it showed up on my iPhone.   My jaw hit the floor, if iOS 4 already does this, why the heck is it a big part of iOS 5? RESULT AWSOME!  However, why do I have to do it manually to save the battery?   Android phones have an app that allows you to only sync when connected to wifi (and/or only when plugged in). RESULT PiOS

In conclusion this was a huge letdown.   I truly believed that iOS was a more stable, easier to use, less buggy operating system, but its turning out to be far worse than android.   At least on android I would be able to tell what was going on....

The Phantom Menace

Something is using my battery and data.   I have no idea what it is, but the battery is dropping about 10% per hour with the screen off, and it has also used about 800 megabytes of data.   There is no app or setting within the phone to be able to tell me what it is, so I'm going to go to an Genius bar in an apple store and hope they can tell me.

ALL android phones come with the ability to see what is using your battery.   Within the settings, you can get exactly what app is using how much of your battery.

To take it a step further, you can download an app called "spare parts" that will tell you what app is using ANYTHING on the phone.

It would say something like "google maps has used 53 seconds of GPS time"
It could also say "your phone's accelorometer has used 15 seconds of CPU time"

I couldn't find anything similar to that on iOS, so hopefully the geniuses can.

My transformation

This phone has turned me from a super user to a standard phone user. Here is why:

-I dont use my calendar, it doesn't auto sync and there is no widget.
-I dont make notes because they have to be in a separate app
-I use the browser sparingly because the screen/keyboard is so small
-I use a separate alarm clock because the screen is too bright at night.  Samsung screens dont produce light to create black
-I dont use the navigation
-I dont play games
-I can't text from my tablet or my desktop
-I dont use the youtube app because its not HD, I use my  computer or tablet instead.
-I dont listen to podcasts because I have to sync with my computer to get them on the phone

This phone sits in my pocket all day, and I use it to text and make calls.  That is about it.  Saturday night at Octoberfest, I didn't use it for anything and the battery still died..

Place your bets!

We went to Octoberfest this weekend.   We had 4 phones with about 40%-60% battery battery at 6PM.

1) Droid X 70% battery
2) LG G2X unknown battery %

3) Samsung Infuse 40% battery

4) My iPhone 4 60% battery

Place your bets on who's battery lasted the longest. 

Wait...

Wait..

So here is the story with each phone.

My wife dropped her G2X in the porta-poddy about 10:00PM.    She forfeit.

The Samsung Infuse lasted until about 12:00 before the battery died.   No special story here.

My iPhone 4 died around 10PM.   Really?   I didn't even use the thing?

My buddies droid X made it all the way until 3 AM.   He still had 7% battery life left, but just to rub it in my face, he took his extra battery out of his wallet and put it in the phone.   He had 100% at 3AM without ever charging.

My experience so far with the iPhones battery has been really disapointing.   Its always been touted to me as a phone with a "magical" battery.   I'm starting to believe this phone's battery is jsut average all the time.   However if you do your research online there are many tests sayings its better than average.   I just dont get it.

I reccomend to ANY android user to get extra batteries and an external charger on ebay for $12.   The batteries are the thickness of about 3 credit cards.  I tell guys to remove three cards from their wallet (blockbuster card, library card and maybe a gift card?).   I tell women to just find a place in their purse.    Replaceable batteries are one of the best things available.

Dont Curb-stomp your phone

When I buy a phone they often ask me if I would like insurance.   The answer is ALWAYS:

"Why yes, yes I do."

Being the super-user that I am and working in a semi hazerdous industry (construcion) I have the tendency to destroy my phones pretty good.    I am what insurance companies would call a "high risk user."

Over the past 2 years I have had 3 insurance claims.   I dropped my Nexus One face down on a foundation, cracking the screen.   I fell into a GIANT box of water with my Evo 4g.   I cracked the screen on my infuse carrying heavy boxes around and putting pressure on my pocket. 

Stuff happens.

Speaking of stuff, my wife full on dropped an insured phone into a porta-poddy at Octoberfest this year.   That is number 4 in 30 months.

My point is this.   Mobile insurace is a good buy for android phones.   AT&T charges $5/month, with a $125 deductable when you destroy, lose, or have a phone stolen.   If you multiply it out ($5x30 months + 4x$125) the total is $650.   So for $650 I have recieved approximatly $1600 worth of benefit.

The iPhone is differnt, this is not an opinion, it is a statement of fact.

The insurance cost for an iPhone is $13/month plus $200 deductable when you have a claim.   Lets say I destroy 4 iPhones in 30 months.   The total cost is 30x$13 plus 4x$200 = $1190.   Sure, iPhones are more costly to begin with, but the similar scenereo is almost DOUBLE.

If you were buying a car and had to get insurance, which car would you buy?   Android car insurance is $59/month and iPhone car insurance is $130/month.