iPhone 3G

In the early days of the App Store for the iPhone and iPhone 3G, there are some definite gems, like Pandora, NYTimes, and MLB.com At Bat. And the selection of games is outstanding, especially those that take advantage of both touch and motion control like Crash Bandicoot.

On the other hand, there are also plenty of relatively useless programs. So far there are three applications that make it look like you’re drinking straight from the iPhone: iBeer, iMilk, and iPint. What would we like to see? Let’s count down the top 10–and don’t forget to let us know what’s on your wish list.

10. LoJack for iPhone
One of the benefits of the iPhone 2.0 software is that enterprises can remotely wipe a device if it’s lost or stolen. So what about those of us who don’t have an IT department that’s got our back? Enter Absolute Software, whose LoJack for Laptops is easily the most popular service for tracking and recovering mobile PCs. With this app, which wouldn’t have an associated icon (we wouldn’t want to tip off the thief), you would be able to remotely delete sensitive information and help the authorities get your precious device back by leveraging the iPhone’s integrated GPS. It costs $39 a year for laptops, so $29 a year for the iPhone sounds about right.

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Most of the early reviews of the iPhone 3G have cited vastly improved call quality, partly due to work Apple has done to the hardware and partly due to the inherent boost you get when you’re within 3G coverage. To put the iPhone 3G to the test, we tried a little experiment. Mind you, it’s not exactly scientific, but we think it will give you an idea of how much improved the iPhone 3G is over the first-gen iPhone.

Download the MP3 files below and listen for yourself. Read the rest of this entry »

Our iPhone 3G arrived just an hour ago and we can tell you it doesn’t need to train for an Olympic Web browsing dash. We have seen all the unboxings and the early reviews so we thought it was best to put the iPhone 3G and its EDGE predecessor up against each other in a series of Web browsing tests because, of course, the defining characteristic of the new iPhone is its data speeds.

We started out or tests by having both phones visit NYTimes.com. The iPhone 3G KOed the first generation by 28 seconds. But we suggest you watch the video below because you have to see it to really understand the difference in loading speeds. The NY Times and all the images were completely done loading by the time the EDGE phone caught up; in that time you could have already decided what article you wanted to read on the main page and navigated to it.

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Matt Miller at ZDNet beat me to the punch about the lack of free trials in the iPhone App Store, but boy have I been thinking that all day. I spent the last 8 hours downloading applications to determine which ones we here at LAPTOP Magazine liked the best. I downloaded tons of stuff, including applications like the MLB At Bat, which costs $4.99, and Moo-Cow-Music’s Band for a hefty $9.99. Granted, I don’t pay out of my own pocket for software, but I racked up a bill of about $75 today in iPhone applications.

Sure, there are loads of free applications—and it turns out some of the best applications are the free ones—such as Facebook and Pandora. But other apps, such as games, can cost anywhere between $2.99 and $20. (LionClock Lite, which God knows what that is, costs $29.99.) Why download a $10 application that you may not even like? This is the reason software companies offer full, or even limited, versions of its software for 15- to 30-day trials. (Plus, it’s a great way to reel in the addicts; after 30 days of playing Bejeweled, you try to live without it.)

So why has Apple decided against free trials? Probably because they want you to pay for a non-refundable game or application. On the other hand, this will probably mean the end user will want to read more reviews of mobile applications, so in the end that keeps the money coming to me, and then I can buy all the iPhone Apps I want.

We don’t have the iPhone 3G yet (we are counting down the hours until Apple hands one off to us tomorrow), but we do have access to the Apple App Store via our first-generation iPhone. We spent the day testing some of the hundreds available applications from the new App Store—ones that start at free and go all the way up to $15 apiece. So which are our favorites?

We chose 10 that we found worth the download. Check it out and then let us know which ones you like or think is missing from the list.

Super Monkey Ball ($9.99)
Ever since seeing this application demoed at WWDC, we knew it was going to be a hit. The fun starts with choosing one of the four monkeys: AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, and Gongon. Each monkey is trapped in a transparent ball and you can tilt the device to roll your monkey through the different stages. Our monkey was very responsive and we didn’t have to overextend ourselves when tilting the screen to get the little guy moving. Watching people play this game in public is going to be a hoot! Read the rest of this entry »

While working on a post for my favorite iPhone applications, I came across one app that was just too amazing not to talk about right away. Hold on to your seats Star Wars lovers (including you, YouTube Star Wars Kid), because you can turn your iPhone into a PhoneSaber. No, seriously, that’s exactly what TheMacBox calls its application.

We preface this short review by saying the 0.8MB application is free. We did not spend our hard-earned money on becoming mobile Jedi masters. Here’s how it works: as you swing your phone, a range of light saber sound effects come out of the iPhone’s speakers. You can change the color of the saber on the left side. Saber colors include: blue, green, red, purple, and yellow.

When you are not swinging the phone—I mean saber—you get some nice high-tech background noise. But words cannot detail this application. Check out the video of my fight with iPhone lightsaber-wanting Haselton. Read the rest of this entry »

Remember those long, hot, sweaty, summer days of yesteryear when you and your cohorts crammed your bodies into the local arcade with the mission to blow your collective allowances on Pac-Man or its classic sequel, Ms. Pac-Man? The arcade scene may dead and your teen years may just be hazy memories, but you can dive back into the Pac-action thanks to Namco Networks.

Today, Namco Networks announced that that Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man will be available for purchase tomorrow, July 11, in the Apple App Store to coincide with the release of the iPhone 3G. In addition to the classic ol’ school gameplay, the dynamic duo have been upgrade to take advantage of the iPhone’s capabilities.

The titles (priced at $9.99 each) feature three unique control schemes: virtual d-pad (which simulates traditional game controls), touch screen (which lets players guide Pac or Ms. Pac with a finger), and accelerometer (which lets gamers control the yellow gluttonous dots by tilting the iPhone in the direction that they want them to move). Time to once again show those ghosts who’s boss of this here maze.

iPhone 3G: It’s here, it’s upgraded, and Apple has addressed nearly all the complaints and objections raised by business users about its do-it-all device over the last year. But while many ogle the iPhone’s faster data speeds and GPS features, it’s the 2.0 software that has some execs slobbering: The iPhone can now deliver push e-mail, calendar, and contacts from a Microsoft Exchange server at the office. All you have to do is get your IT department to open the door for you.

It’s a small-sounding advance, but it means everything to Apple. If the company hopes to meet its oft-published target of ten million iPhones sold by the end of the year, a heaping pile of orders are going to have to come from enterprise customers. The problem is that those customers are currently clutching their BlackBerrys with death grips.

Push support isn’t the only enterprise-friendly advance for iPhone 2.0 software. Other features include WPA2 support, device configuration options, identities, certificates, and remote- wiping capability. RIM’s recent problems with service outages might also lead BlackBerry users to eye greener pastures.

So should RIM be worried?

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I suppose some congratulations are in order. This past week Sprint announced that the Samsung Instinct became its fastest selling EV-DO handset ever. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that this touchscreen phone’s price had been slashed from $199 to $129 just hours before it became available—most likely out of fear of the iPhone 3G’s impending availability.

In the press release John Garcia, president of Sprint’s wireless division, couldn’t help but take a swipe at the 3G part of the iPhone’s name. He reminded the public that Sprint’s EV-DO Rev A network offers five times more coverage than AT&T’s HSDPA network (based on square miles). He shouldn’t have gone there.

The goal, of course, was to plant the seed of doubt in would be iPhone 3G owners that its increased data speeds won’t wow once you venture outside of downtown. That’s a fair criticism, but it ignores the fact that the iPhone’s Web browser runs circles around the Instinct’s. I’d rather wait a few extra seconds for a site to load in the suburbs and have it look like the real deal than be stuck with a browser that crowds the screen with icons and crudely formats pages. Speaking of circles, I’ve started using the Instinct and I’m sick of staring at spinning circles as I wait for applications to open. It’s like Windows Vista on a phone.

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With WWDC and iPhone 3G news still making headlines worldwide, it is hard not to think about where old Apple started off. Back in 1976, it wasn’t just Steve Jobs taking center stage. It was him and Steve Wozniak together that gave birth to the first Apple product - the Apple I.

It wasn’t too long ago when Woz sat down with me and poured out his heart about where mobile technology and Apple stand today. Knowing he was a huge fan of the first-gen iPhone, I reached out to him to find out what he thought of the unveiling of the new 3G device on Monday.

Updated: In an e-mail and phone conversation, I spoke with Woz about the new iPhone, Apple’s business direction, and his thoughts about the Eee PC and other mini-notebooks.  Check out the full interview.

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