iPhone

There are certainly times I am on the road, stuck in an airport, or just stranded somewhere, when I could just kick myself for not converting my favorite shows or downloading them from itunes to keep me occupied/entertained on my iphone. With the sheer amount of quality video content out there on the internet, wouldn’t it be nice if someone could stream it directly to my iphone?

Well, joost has just launched an iphone version of its online site, beating Hulu to the mobile phone/iphone punch. Joost does not appear to have the broad content appeal that hulu.com has, however it does offer more than 46,000 videos — including 18,000 music videos — as well as 400 TV series and 1,200 movies and short films.

“Offering Joost on the iPhone and iPod Touch is an important step for Joost as we endeavor to offer users premium entertainment where they want it and when they want it,” Joost CEO Mike Volpi said in a statement.

My initial take at the new joost app was impressive.  The quality of the stream was very good, and the interface was solid for a v1.0 version of any product.  I am sure joost will improve apon the user experience in the future, however, the bar has now been set, and Joost is the king of video streaming on the iphone!

Apple Announces Iphone Software Update 2.2

Apple release today a software update for the iphone available immediately on itunes.  Some may say this is a preemptive strike against the highly anticipated Blackberry Storm due out today.  None the less, the upgrade caught many by surprise as it appeared at midnight today.

The updates/improvements include:

• Decrease in call setup failures and dropped calls
• Enhancements to Map
  • Google Street View
  • Public transit and walking directions
  • Display address of dropped pins
  • Share location via email
• Enhancements to Mail
  • Resolved isolated issues with scheduled fetching of email
  • Improved formatting of wide HTML email
• Podcasts are now available for download in iTunes application (over Wi-Fi AND Cellular network)
• Improved stability and performance of Safari
• Improved sound quality of Visual Voicemail messages
• Pressing Home button from any Home screen displays the first Home screen
• Preference to turn on/off auto-correction in Keyboard Settings

Features

Google Street View

Street view takes you on a virtual walking tour: Navigate street-level photographs of places your’ve located in Maps.

Public Transit and Walking Directions

Get walking directions, find public transit schedules, check fares, and estimate your travel time.

Share Location

Tap the Share Location button to send an email that includes a Google Maps URL.

Podcasts

Get access to millions of free podcasts on the itunes tore via wi-fi or cell

Safari Improvements

A new search-friendly user interface, better performance, and more stability

So, not a whole lot, but nice update.  Apple does appear, in my opinion, to be trying to take a little of Storms thunder away…  Btw… have not heard of giant hordes of people lining up to get the storm… let me know if you hear differently!

T-Mobile announced the G1 today, the first mobile phone to support Google’s Android operating system.

At a glance, the G1 features a 480×320 65K color touchscreen display with a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, a 3-megapixel camera, 3G antenna and Wi-Fi. Even though Google’s phone does not look and feel as stylish as Apple’s iPhone, it has many chances to capture the hearts of users as the Android OS is open-source unlike the iPhone. Apple strictly controls which apps are available and this has proven a major point of contention over the past few weeks.

Other relevant Information / likely features
★Can buy in-store, but only available in stores within 5 miles of a 3G covered area.  Otherwise you have to purchase it on t-mobile.com
★3.1mp camera – NO VIDEO RECORDING
★No stereao bluetooth (A2DP)
★Expandable up to 8GB
★One touch access to Search, Maps, Calendar, Gtalk, Youtube and Gmail
★GPS
★Must have dataplan and gmail account to use gmail
★Approx 5 hour talk time, 130 hour standby
★$199

APPLE ULTRACOMPACT USB POWER ADAPTER EXCHANGE PROGRAM

Apple apparentlely has been forced to recall the chargers that shipped with the iphone 3G.

I just recieved a text message from Apple on my iphone 3G that read:
“A Free Message from Apple.  Important Safety Notice:
Apple has announced an exchange program for the ultracompact USB power adapter that came with the iphone 3G.  Findo out how to get a replacement adapter at http://www.apple.com/support/usbadapter/exchangeprogram/

Thankfully there have been no reported injuries so far, and apple has released the following statement on their … website.

Important Safety Notice
Today Apple announced the Apple Ultracompact USB Power Adapter Exchange program.
Apple has determined that under certain conditions the new ultracompact Apple USB power adapter’s metal prongs can break off and remain in a power outlet, creating a risk of electric shock.  We have received reports of detached blades involving a very small percentage of the adapters sold, but no injuries have been reported.
The ultracompact USB power adapters were supplied with every iPhone 3G sold in the following countries, and may also have been purchased separately as an accessory:
â–ªUS
â–ªJapan
â–ªCanada
â–ªMexico
â–ªSeveral Latin American countries (click here for a detailed list of countries)

Note: Apple USB power adapters supplied with original iPhones or supplied with iPhone 3G units sold in other countries are not affected.
Customer safety is always Apple’s top priority, and therefore we have voluntarily decided to exchange every ultracompact power adapter for a new, redesigned adapter, free of charge.
Users with ultracompact power adapters should immediately stop using them until they exchange them for a new, redesigned ultracompact adapter.
In the meantime, they should charge their iPhone 3G by connecting it to their computer with the USB cable that came with their iPhone or by using a standard-sized Apple USB Power Adapter (with fold up prongs) or with a third party adapter designed to work with the iPhone, such as a car charger.

iphone update available!

Friday, September 12, 2008
Noticed the iphone 2.1 software update is now available this morning.
From update:

• iPhone version 2.1 contains many bug fixes and improvements, including the following:
• decrease in call set-up failures and call drops
• significantly improved battery life for most users
• dramatically reduced time to backup to iTunes
• improved email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
• faster installation of 3rd party applications
• fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes if you have lots of 3rd party apps
• improved performance in text messaging
• faster loading and searching of contacts
• improved accuracy of 3G signal strength display
• repeat alert up to two additional times for incoming text messages
• option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
• Genius playlist creation

Upgrade status

9:55 Start Download

9:59 237.8 MB Download is complete

9:59 Auto Started backup – We will now see how much faster the backup is!

10:29 Backup Completed

10:29 Auto Software/firmware installation begins

10:40 Iphone Upgrade Complete

Total Time : ~45 min

Impression: Much faster backup time, not much change in software/firmware installation.  We got what was advertised to us.  Faster backup.