iPhone 2.0

After returning home from camping, I finally downloaded iTunes 7.7 and iPhone 2.0. Even though I’m not getting the new 3G iPhone I have been really looking forward to the new software. I had just won a $50 gift card from Stacey over at Pill’s Place so I decided to get an iTunes card, just in time for the opening of the App Store (and the purchase of Alan Jackson’s Good Time).

In addition to the App Store, 2.0 has some new features, such as the ability to do a screen shot (Jason Tucker explains how). Now I can easily show the applications I’ve downloaded.

So far, my favorite apps are: Remote - now I can control my iTunes from my iPhone... awesome! Guitar Toolkit - A great portable guitar tuner Where To? - An app that shows nearby restaurants, attractions, etc. Super Monkey Ball - fun game, kids will probably play more than I do Fuel Gauge (MPG) - helps me track my gas mileage Tetris - amazing game for the iPhone, a must have! AOL Radio - I know, it’s AOL, but the interface is beautiful and the music choices are great!

I was also thrilled to see the push services work. Since I rely heavily on iCal and Address Book (and, oh yeah, Mail) I can now go about my day no longer worrying that I may double book myself. Another new feature I really like is the way passwords are masked. Now, the last character is left un-masked until the next character is typed - very helpful when I fat-finger a password and forget what I’ve already typed.

So, thanks Stacey, for letting me go wild on the App Store!

Do you have an iPhone? What are some your favorite apps? E-mail me (mb@mattbeckwith.com) or post your favorites in the comments section.

Happy Birthday to my iPhone

Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to my iPhone Happy birthday to you

Of course, everyone knows that the iPhone turned 1 today. I still love my iPhone as much as I did the day I brought it home and am proud of the fact that even though I have dropped it several times it still works fine (except that the vibe doesn’t work).

My Hopes for iPhone 2.0

I originally planned on waiting until June 29th to write "Why I Still Love the iPhone One Year Later". With any luck, however, I won't have the same iPhone on 6/29.

I was one of those crazy people that stood in line overnight to get my hands on the first iPhone. Emily and I spent 20 hours in line in front of a local AT&T store and were, in fact, one of the first people in the store when they opened the doors at precisely 6:00 PM on Friday, June 29, 2007, amidst cheers and applause.

My impression of the new device and the launch event was very favorable. In my mind, I had built up the new super phone to be the greatest thing since the invention of, well, you guessed it, the phone. How do I feel about the phone a year later? I still love it. The seemless integration with my e-mail, iCal, Contacts, pictures and videos makes it one of the most useful tech gadgets I have ever used.

Having said that, I am super-excited about the rumored next generation iPhone announcement next week. Nearly all rumors point to the new iPhone running on the much faster 3G wireless network and being available in larger capacities, among other exciting offerings.

Of course I understand that next week's WWDC is about more than just the iPhone. Perhaps we'll see some new hardware. Perhaps all of the iPhone chatter has provided a convenient cloak for some other new whiz-bang; only time will tell. For me, it's all about the iPhone, so here are my hopes for what happens tomorrow on the iPhone front (in order of personal importance).

* New iPhone available for purchase * Lower price, subsidized by AT&T * 32 and 64 GB models * Copy and paste (c'mon, why did I have to wait a year for this!?!) * Picture messaging (I am so tired of the "... has sent you a picture..." messages) * Search functionality (like PBF Search) * Video camera (like PBF ShowTime) * Over-the-air syncing with dot-mac (or whatever it'll be called after next week) * Native IM with video * Flash * GPS I am also excited about the launch of the new App Store. I am not much of a gamer but the games that were shown at the SDK launch were pretty cool. Also, I can't wait to see what the jailbreakers have been bragging about.

If you have some time to kill tomorrow morning, check out 2008 WWDC keynote bingo. Me, I'll be following on MacRumorsLive andTwitter (although, based on the recent health of Twitter I would venture to guess that this site will crash tomorrow).

I will not be attending WWDC but, as luck would have it, I will be in San Francisco on Monday afternoon, perhaps a trip to Stockton street will be in order.

iDay - the iPhone Launch!

Wow! That's the best way to describe this phone. Since January I have been eagerly waiting for the iPhone. Could this small device truly be all that Apple and AT&T said it would be? Was it really going to perform like those great videos Apple released in the last couple of weeks? For the last several years I have carried about 10 different cell phones and a few different PDA's and Blackberries. I have never found a device that did a good job of syncing my life (e-mail, calendar, contacts, etc.) and have been stuck with a Razr for the last 18 months, waiting for the iPhone. After spending 20 hours in line with Emily, I finally got an iPhone in my hand shortly after the AT&T store re-opened. The employees of the store were great and added to the carnival like atmosphere. Once I got home I took the iPhone out of the box and connected it to my iMac. My activation went flawlessly and my number moved from my Razr to my iPhone in just a couple of minutes. Syncing my pictures took the longest time but by 7:00 I was making calls and sending e-mails.

Although it could have been due to the plethora of blogs, podcasts and the Apple videos about the iPhone before it was released, I had no problems whatsoever setting up or using the device. The menus and functions are all very intuitive and most have a similar look-and-feel as their Mac counterparts.

I couldn't browse the internet using WiFi the first night but once I edited the static IP WiFi options on the iPhone I was on my wireless network. I have pretty slow DSL so I didn't mind using the Edge network. Websites really looked great on here. I bet the NY Times got a lot of traffic because that was one of the first sites I could think of to visit.

Visual voicemail is awesome! Instead of "dialing" in to the voicemail system and fumbling my way through the menu to find the options for greeting there is a "Greeting" button once I selected voicemail on the Phone menu. I was purposely missing some calls just to get a voicemail... something I would have never done with any other phone! This feature is amazing!

Google maps has great detail on the satellite view and looking for directions was a snap, even without GPS. I will never get lost again (yeah, right)!

The camera feature is cool... with it's full screen view finder and the pictures seamlessly work iPhoto. With good lighting it takes pretty good picture!

The typing did take some getting used to... notice I said "did" and not "does". After a full day of e-mailing and texting I've got it down! Typing is very comfortable, more so than on my Blackberry and faster than traditional predictive text. I really like how it guesses my mistakes when I "fat-finger" a word. I thought I was going to be disappointed that I can't text page pictures but it is so easy to e-mail which is even better!

All in all, this is the greatest phone ever and I had a blast waiting in line with Emily and the other iPhone iPhans!

Time again to plug two great podcasts. If you have an iPhone (or just want to learn more about it) check out Today in iPhone. Rob does a great job covering the iPhone. Also, check out Victor's show and blog at Typical Mac User.

Check out the pictures here.

iPhone Anyone?

Yes, it's 2:00 am and Emily and I are camping out in front of the AT&T store to get the iPhone (for me... not her). We are 5th in line so I am all but certain that the greatest-phone-since-the-invention-of-the-phone will soon be mine.

Only 16 more hours to go!

Are you getting an iPhone? Then you have to check out two great podcasts, Typical Mac User and Today in iPhone.