As per usual, at the most inopportune time when I was already running late, I decided to sync my iPhone as I was getting ready to leave home today. Like clockwork, iTunes asks me if I'd like to update to Firmware 2.1. Would I? Unlike last time, I actually downloaded the update and took off to make my a Saturday class.
During a break, my fellow iPhone-laden class attendees got out their iPhones to check email, text messages and voicemail and the discussion turned to Firmware 2.1.
"Did you get it?" one fellow classmate asked eagerly.
Some of us had, and others, like me, had not. The only visual difference the few of us noted was that the iPod's song listings now listed the artists as well as the song title. But it was funny that we were talking about a firmware update like schoolgirls gossiping as the discussion quickly shifted to cool iPhone applications. Seismographs to levels to games....
On the way home, however, I ran into two of my friends who work at an Apple Store here in the Bay Area. One is a general floor rep and the other a Genius Bar rep. Both were touting the update as getting a new iPhone (essentially making the life of the Genius Bar rep a whole lot easier, me mused).
From what I've gathered from everyone I talked to today about the update (the whole point of non-geeky types talking about a firmware update is not lost on me) is the following: Somehow, Apple has increased 3G performance AND improved battery life in one fell swoop. Perhaps, some theorized, Firmware 2.1 has addressed 3G network access issues that drains battery life. Whether this involves AT&T slackening 3G access standards or if the change is on Apple's end doesn't really matter to me. The details behind the conclusion aren't critical to a lay user like me and my classmates. We saw a Firmware 2.0 iPhone placed next to a 2.1 and noting that 3G reception on the 2.0 was 2 bars while the 2.1 iPhone had 5 bars. Really? More bars everywhere for everyone AT&T?
Can't wait to see if this Firmware update finally makes good on AT&T's slogan of 'fewer calls dropped,' which has, thus far, rung hollow with the iPhone 3G.
I still stand by my original post that the updates promised for the iPhone released today as firmware "update 1.1.3 "should be given a better number, maybe a 1.2?, to mark the great features and updates. Hoaxes and teasers aside, I can't contain my giddiness - mass SMS text messages are back! That and many other neat features tracks the industry-wide trend of users being able to customize their iPhones to greater and greater lengths. Installation, via iTunes (which itself got an update) was quick - within 10 minutes I was up and running.
The changes I've noted and used so far that have made all the difference:
Google Maps qausi-GPS. Pretty cool to know where you generally are while stuck in traffic. After hitting a button a circle appears to indicate where you are generally. Kind of looks more like a targeting device for Kang and Kodos but eh, I can see how this will be pretty useful.
Customized iPhone application homepages - without a hack! Finally, I can change my icons and shove Stocks and YouTube to the second page! I never used those applications anyway and, finally, here's a way to get rid of them, well, not seeing them. That and I've added Safari icon links to this newly freed real estate to The New York Times, Facebook mobile for the iPhone, SFGate and to CNET (of course). The best part of this new feature is the seizure-inducing icon-shake when you want to change the ordering and inclusion of icons (via a drop and drag feature) on the various pages (up to 9 pages, I've read) that contain your iPhone menus - perfect for all those developer applications that are coming.
And, finally, SMS-texting en masse One of my New Year's resolutions was actually to text less and call more. Well, with 1.1.3... let's just say I probably won't be keeping that resolution. I had been finding that, because mass text messages weren't available, that I communicated with fewer people than I did with my Razr. After all, there are only so many individual text messages you can send while at a traffic light, or waiting in line at the store, it wasn't only time-consuming, but tedious. Now, you can add multiple recipients - what the maximum number of recipients are is currently unclear, but sending the message does take longer. These text messages are denoted with a little group of people icon (how cute and convenient). What's more, early polling data seems to indicate that recipients of the mass text message can't tell it's a mass text message. Responses from individuals are also segregated and not contained within the original mass text thread. Excellent.
It has been a while since Apple tinkered with the iPhone and its firmware. While the developer pack applications and free-for-all rages (For example, this week I saw a neat app that allows you to call internationally via VoIP-like interface; stay tuned), I keep getting notifications from fellow-iPhoners of leaks and teaser shots. Considering that the firmware update would be only a "1.1.3," all the screenshots and anticipation that have been featured by bloggerswho know a whole lot more than me, I still wonder (and am skeptical) if these features are forthcoming. I'd guess that these features would be worth a 2.0, or maybe even a 1.2 designation. But until the real update comes out, I'm not holding my breath, although if the features are really like those teased about... well then whoo hooo! I'll have egg on my face, but I'll be able to mass-SMS about it.
I usually get up in the mornings and go to my office and turn on my desktop CPU to check the day's news, my email, etc. But before I even turn on my desktop on a given morning, the iPhone, which sits atop my office desk, will now tell me if I have new email that has come in overnight. (Note: I have to leave my iPhone outside of my room because the GSM signal interferes with my iPod/JBL music dock's speakers, making that noise--you know that noise). Being aware that I got email overnight is nice, sure, but it sort of takes the surprise getting a new email on my main computer.
Sure, on the other hand, it could be the universe telling me NOT to turn on my main CPU in the morning. The iPhone is a shortcut, it's a timesaver for sure. I could do my emailing and browsing on the iPhone. Turning on the CPU will invariably lead me to lollygaggle in the morning as I will ended up checking this site or that, clicking on an interesting article, or buying a song from iTunes. (Question: Will Apple ever allow iTunes purchases from the iPhone?) This all causes me to leave the house later for work that I had hoped. The iPhone's gentle ping to let me know that I have email is nice and would arguably save me from having to turn on my CPU in the mornings, but I think there's still something to be said about checking email on a bigger screen (not to mention a bigger keyboard).
Speaking of screens, I've noticed lately, that the iPhone's screen doesn't quite clean as easily as before. While it remains relatively unscratched (unlike the rest of the iPhone's casing) it is harder to get my grimy fingerprints off, even with the iPhone's iRag.
On another random note: While my iPhone friends and I still await for a major update, the security update released a couple of weeks ago added a feature that I was awaiting: Namely the ability to forward an email. This basic function was previously unavailable and, like most things in life, you don't realize how important it was to you until you don't have it.
Apart from that update, the bugs in the Camera Roll I noticed earlier are still there. Other random freezes leaded to the dreaded Black Screen of Death also remain, including a bug that freaked me out this morning while commuting on San Francisco's MUNI.
Namely, I was creating a long text message only when the train stopped (I get car sick from staring at the text screen for too long, sad, I know) but, invariably, the screen will automatically shut off for powersave. If it's more than a minute, I also have to enter my passcode. Anyway, in the middle of the message, after the screen had gone dark, I tried to finish off my message and nothing worked. No touching, no fiddling with the home key, no clicks with the top switch, nothing worked. The iPhone stared at me blankly, dead and unresponsive. Of course, there was a brief moment of panic. What if the iPhone itself was completely dead. I was expecting important calls, access to music, etc. Well, as with this month I had to do a hard, 8-second reset. Much to my relief (and after 10 seconds by my count) the Apple symbol reappeared and a reboot had commenced.
But, of course, the text message was gone. D-oh!
Today was the last day for us earliest of early adopters of the iPhone to return our $500 or $600 iPhone purchases. This is the point of no return. My friend Patrick wryly noted that it happens to fall on Friday the 13th. Steve Jobs does have a sense of humor I'm sure.
So, would you return yours?
I, for one, really do like my phone, if not for the functionality, for want of the question. People ask me almost daily: "Do you like it?" whether it be Post Office, Bar, lunch, standing in line at Target. I can honestly say no, I did not return my iPhone today, for all the reasons blogged about here and others more mundane. There are other people I've met (who will remain nameless) who actually returned their iPhones (Lord help us, could you imagining the hassle of dealing with AT&T to de-activae the iPhone - I wonder what the reverse process is like, anyone?) But, these people only did so reluctantly noting extra keystrokes, cost and 'bugginess' as their main reasons for their trip to an Apple or AT&T store near you.
Anyway the iPhone has its flaws, there are bugs, there are freezes, but what did we expect? But, it's not like Apple would leave us in a lurch. After talking to one of my friends at Apple who worked on the iPhone's applications about my BSOD entry, I am confident these early issues will be fixed because when I asked him: "When is that update coming? have you seen my posts?" to which Mr. Apple (a nom de plume of course) responded: "No comment."
That "no comment," of course, speaks volumes.
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