My Mobile Life : The iPhone blog

Well, today I’m reviewing the Hybrid Woven Hard case which was sent to me by the guys at CaseOn. After seeing the pictures of the product on the website, I was pretty excited about this case as it looks mighty swish online. In real life though I have to say I’ve been somewhat disappointed with it.

Firstly, the case is a bit too big for my liking. Those of you who have read my blog will probably know I’m not really a fan of iPhone cases generally (I love the look of the phone on it’s own), so a case is going to have to be pretty special for me to want to cover my phone with it. I mean, a phone is something you carry with you everywhere, and you really want it to be as small as possible, so it lost a few points there. The quality of the manufacturing also leaves somewhat to be desired I’m afraid, as there already appears to be little rips on the inside seam.

On the plus side, the case is quite light, though this isn’t that surprising considering it apperars to be made from a substance that seems closely related to paper (hey, maybe it’s recycled paper and I should be giving it points for that – though I didn’t see that on the packaging).

The phone also fits very snuggly inside the case, which is good, cause you’d hate to have your phone slip out and go to pieces. On the other hand, it’s not so good if it fits so snugly that you can’t get it out (which has just happened to me with this case). It’s a balancing act, I’ll grant you.

If you are contemplating this case and you’re happy to ignore the rest of my review (and buy one), you will be faced with a choice of colours. In the unlikely event that you would like my opinion in that case, I’d suggest you go with the white or the silver, as the Navy case looks nothing like it does on the website. I had gone with the navy thinking that it might be good, being the closest colour to that of the phone, but to be honest, it sucks. Maybe try silver, then again…

I have been wanting to get my hands on the TomTom car kit ever since I purchased the TomTom app for the iPhone, several months ago. While in Melbourne last December driving in the CBD I was bitterly disappointed with the performance of the TomTom app (as buildings obscure the GPS signal). So I spent a couple of hours looking for a store that sold the TomTom car kit but there seemed to be a shortage of the units here in Australia.

Recently however the apple store began selling the kit, so I jumped online and purchased one for $159AUD. The product ships within 24 hours (for free) from the Apple store when in stock, so I had no qualms about ordering it thorough Apple.

As luck would have it this weekend has provided a perfect opportunity to test the new kit as my partner and I were attending a wedding on the south coast of NSW. We flew to Melbourne and made the trip in a rental car taking the scenic route through the countr, which we meant we had a good 1000 kms over which to test the device.

One of the reasons I purchased the kit was that I have been looking for a solution that would allow me to make phone calls while driving. I thought about buyng the Apple headphones with Mic/remote ($39AUD), or even the Apple in-ear headphones with mic/ remote ($119AUD). After testing a set of these for a week or so, I decided against using Headphones as the cord got in the way while driving.

I ended up deciding that the TomTom car kit which comes with a built in speaker and mic that enchances the audio for the phone would be the preferable solutions. After testing I have found that the sound is improved by the speaker in the car kit, particularly the voice instructions from the TomTom iPhone app. The speaker is small but is reasonable even when playing music and does enhances in-call conversation though unfortunately I have found that at times the audio is still too quiet to have a conversation with someone else who is also on a mobile while driving. Calls to landlines are better though and I’m told the clarity on the other end is quite good.

The GPS performance seems to be slightly improved by the built in chip, but my 3G iPhone is still slow when analysing and plotting a route (particularly over a long distance). The fact that the phone has no built in compass is also not helped by the in car kit and this is noticeable when turning corners and at low speed.

Probably the best thing about the in car kit is that it comes with a cable for charging the phone via the cigarette lighter. This is a significant benefit as it means that you can use TomTom on a longer trip, without worrying that your phone will run out of battery. Generally the phone seems to use quite a bit of battery when using the GPS chip, so don’t expect your phone to fully charge even if it is plugged into power on a long trip, but the charge you do get is a great deal better than nothing.

Another place the car kit scores points is on the quality of the phone holder. The attachment has a suction point which fits firmly to the windscreen or dash and a hinge mechanism allows you to adjust the angle of the phone once on the holder. This setup means that the kit should work well in most car configurations.

In thinking about how I would rate the car kit overall, I would probably say it gets a 3.5 out of 5 stars. On the one hand I have been slightly disappointed by the fact that I still can’t have a decent mobile phone conversation using it while driving and that the GPS performance is still a bit crap, but on the other I am impressed with the build quality of the unit and I love being able to charge my phone while driving. Depending on how fussy you are as a consumer, you may not want to spend $160 on the car kit when you get a perfectly reasonable in car holder for your phone for $20, however if you want the whole box and dice then by all means lash out on the TomTom car kit.

It’s well known that the iPhone battery life leaves somewhat to be desired and while I have heard that Apple have done a bit better with the 3GS, with the amount of usage a typical iPhone gets, it will always be at a premium. Yes, there are some things that you can do to improve the battery life on your iPhone (like turning off Wireless and Bluetooth when not in use), but generally there’s no substitute for having a charger with you all the time.

Of course a charger is only useful if you have a wall socket to plug it into, and for those of us who travel a fair bit, sometimes it’s hard to find enough places to charge your phone. This is an issue for those who spend a great deal of time in remote areas, or on outdoor adventures (bush walking, camping, dive trips) as well.

Once again, I’m happy to report that Proporta.com have come to the rescue with the USB Turbocharger 3400. I’ve been playing with this gizmo for a couple of weeks now and it’s pretty cool. Essentially it’s an battery pack, shaped like a very small external hard drive which comes with several different connection pieces that allow you to charge, not only your iPhone but most modern cameras, iPods, and other USB powered devices.

The first thing I noticed when unpacking the battery was that it’s extremely light. The pack that it comes in includes a small bag which keeps the battery and the various connectors all together when traveling.

The charger itself is equipped with a standard USB port for charging itself (this is done by connecting the device to your computer directly and generally takes 3-4 hours) and a mini USB port which acts as the outlet charge port. A bank of Leds on the device allow you to see the current level of the battery and also to see the progress of the charging process.

The kit comes with a retractable cable and a range of interchangeable connector heads including 1 x DS Lite, 1 x iPod, 1 x Nokia, 1 x Sony Ericsson, 1 x Micro USB and 1 x Mini USB. A PSP connector is also available from Proporta on request.

Other reviews of this device that I’ve read have reported that 7-8 charges are possible from a single charge of the mobile battery, but I guess this will very somewhat depending on the size of the battery in the device that you are charging. With my iPhone I have found I can get 3-4 charges out of a single  charge of the main (mobile) battery which would typically keep me going for 7-10 days, more than enough for most trips on the road.

In the end I have to say that this little gadget is extremely handy to have on hand for those trips where you may not have the luxury of plugging your phone into a power point every couple of days, but where you still need your phone or other device to remain charged and at approximately AUS$50 (excluding delivery) it’s quite conveniently priced.

Some time ago, around the time that I purchased my iPhone 3G in August 2008 I made the decision not to jail break my iPhone. For one, I think the term “jail break” scared me off. “No, I haven’t been to jail and I don’t need to break out. Neither does my iPhone” was roughly what went through my head.

In all seriousness though, while there are a number of apps that you can’t get through the app store (and which may tempt one to crack their iPhone), for me at least there seemed to be enough apps on the iTunes app store and I wasn’t going to push my luck by cracking it and risking loss of warranty and god knows what else. That and the fact that it took a bit of stuffing around (and technical know how) was quite enough to put me off.

Well, today I’m kinda glad I made that decision after seeing this article which reports that some crackers have had their Apple accounts disabled after jail breaking their iPhones. Okay, they were probably more active than most users/crackers who simply wanted to get another app or two onto their phone, but nonetheless, it is enough to make you worried if you have (cracked your phone). Yes, I’d imagine that you can just go and sign up for another Apple account if yours gets disabled, but it would be annoying.

Has this happened to any of you out there and were you able to get another Apple account. If so let us know.

Well, after months (years even) of putting off getting a case for my iPhone I have finally given in to reason and started using one. I’ve always liked the look of the phone on it’s own and argued that’s it’s solid enough to take a few knocks. And mine certainly has, in fact there’s a crack on the back which is now measured in inches rather than millimeters, so it seemed prudent to protect this valuable little device.

What is more, Proporta were nice enough to send me their anti-microbial silicone case to review and thus I wasted no time in slapping it on my little baby when it arrived.

The first thing I can say is it slides on easily. It’s not a super tight fit, but it is tight enough to do the job and this makes it a hassle free case to put on.The silicone has a nice texture as well, which is one of the other things I’d been concerned about when thinking about putting a case on the phone. I didn’t want to put some cheap plasticky looking thing on there and hide this gorgeous device that Apple spent so much time designing. What is more the case has holes in all the right places, meaning that you still have full access to the camera, re-charge port, ear-phone plug, etc… It’s even got a couple of extra holes at the back near the battery which I can only assume are there to dissipate heat and allow the phone to stay cool. Or maybe it makes it go faster. Who knows!

The silicone case itself only protects the back and sides of the phone, which still leaves the glass to worry about. So it’s just as well Proporta have included a glass protector as well. It’s just a slim piece of plastic that sticks to the glass and provides scratch protection and would probably prevent the thing shattering into a thousand pieces if you did manage to drop it on the wrong side. Getting it on to the phone sans air bubbles is harder then licking your own elbow, but hey it’s worth the effort.

Okay, so the case does what you’d expect, it protects the phone. What else is new? Ah, well did I mention the case is Anti-Microbial. “WTF? Why would I need that…” I hear you thinking. I’ll let Proporta explain:

“It’s an alarming, but not entirely surprising fact that the filthiest things we encounter on a regular basis are computer keyboards and our mobile phones. In fact, the average mobile has 25,127 germs per square inch, whilst the average toilet seat has just 49. So to help protect against any possible nasties you could pick up from your iPhone 3G, Proporta has developed the Antimicrobial Silicone Case with SteriTouch (Apple iPhone 3G).”

Think about that the next time you decide to clean your screen with your tongue.

So for all you clean freaks out there (yes, Nanda I’m thinking of u) this is the case for you. Well, if you have an iPhone 3G that is.

Okay, I know you’ve probably heard the news by now that yesterday Apple announced the device which bloggers and Apple fans (and even a fair few Apple haters) have been talking about for a while now. While I’m not sure how much useful info there is that I can add to all the blathering that’s already going on about this device, I thought this a momentous enough occasion to warrant at least a brief post.

It looks like some of the leaks about the product were virtually spot on. The device is similar to an iPhone/iPod, just a lot larger (about 10″ by 7.5″). It’s extremely light at 1.5 pounds (approx .7 kgs) and with it’s large screen will likely become a reasonable laptop replacement. Some people are saying it looks more like a TV than a laptop, to me it just looks bloody cool.

Apple have a great video on their site about it. Check it out at www.apple.com/ipad. So what have we learned, it looks like the iPad is going to have many of the same features and applications as the iPhone, but that the apps have been re-written to work on the new device. Okay, kinda cool. Certainly the calendar interface looks groovy, I like the idea of using Apple mail on a touch device (for a change) and the reverse pinch action for expanding photo albums looks awesome.

Also there’s going to be a modified SDK (development environment and library) for the developing apps on the iPad. Existing iPhone apps will all work but will have to be either run in the normal size or expanded (which will probably look shit).  Apple may also be releasing iPad based versions of Pages and Numbers (i.e. Word and Excel for 2 Windows peeps).

If you want to know more techy stuff and read another decent post (see what I did there) about the iPad you might want to check out David Pogue’s (from the NY Times) blog post on it. Oh and if you want to see what he’s talking about (with regard to negative press) you just have to take one look at google news where you see stuff low brow pieces like this. But seriously, don’t waste your time unless somehow you have room in your life for more negative bullshit.

Wow, he’s pretty passionate about this Apple stuff, I bet you’re thinking. Nah, it’s not so much that even. I just don’t have time for crap. Which means, I have more time for the good stuff, maybe even the iPad when it actually gets released.

Previously I reviewed an app for the iPhone which can be used to track/map your rides. Well, more recently I have found another app which covers the mapping that Map My Ride does and does so much more that it has blown my socks off.

Someone at work was actually telling me about Cyclemeter and mentioned that the export features of the app were very impressive. Indeed they are and given that this was something which I had real trouble with when using MapMyRide (not to mention the fact that I now have an iphone mount on my road bike), I thought it would be worth giving it a go.

Cyclemeter cost about $6 on the Australian app store when I purchased it a couple weeks ago, but I can honestly say I think it’s worth more than that. The app is made by a company called Abvio (but don’t let the slightly dodgy Italian sounding name put you off), their work speaks louder than their company name. The app’s website is also a rather off-putting shade of red, but again that can be overlooked when you start using Cyclemeter.

The primary interface that you see by default when you are using the app to track a ride is the Stopwatch view showing various meters which include ride speed, average speed, duration, distance traveled and calories burned. By default this screen lets you start recording a new route, though once you’ve ridden a route before you can reload that route and log the new ride against it, useful for comparing your progress as you improve your cycling or master a new ride.

The second screen lets you view the map of the ride so far. This is useful if you want to look at where you’re going or where you’ve been. Like Google Maps, you can zoom in or expand the map as required. You can also see it in street, satelite or hybrid mode. In this view you see your ride time and distance. While riding you can stop and start the stopwatch as needed. The app tracks ride time and also gives you total stopped time for the ride which is pretty impressive.

On the other screens you can see a calendar showing dates that have completed rides and on the routes screen, you can see a listing of all the routes you have saved. From the routes screen you can select specific rides by date and review the ride data for the selected ride. In order to do this, you need to mark the ride as done on the Stopwatch screen. The ride review screen shows an impressive array of data including the map of the ride, a graph showing speed changes and an elevation graph which tracks the elevation changes encountered on the ride.

From the ride review screen you can also export/email your data in various formats including a Google Map route, Google Earth data and numerous other formats. Here is an example of a Google Map Route (from a ride I did earlier today). What I love about this is that Cyclemeter periodically tags the route with average speed for that part of the ride. While I did notice that the average speed shown on the Stopwatch screen during the ride seemed to lag the wired speedo on the bike, unless you’re a real stickler for precision and accuracy, this probably isn’t going to bother most users.

Lastly there is a list of options with this app that will probably take me a good while longer to fully explore, but I think I can safely say this app is recommended. Hopefully you’ll download it yourself and give it a go while you hit the roads or even some single track. Happy trails!

For a while now I’ve been thinking about using an application to track my expenses with my iPhone. You see I used to use Microsoft Money with a Windows PDA phone (the dreadful O2 Xda Atom), and ever since I’ve switched to a Mac I haven’t been able to find a money management platform that I was happy with, which also provided a mobile solution for the phone.

Well, I’m happy to say that this is no longer the case. I was recently talking to a friend about it and he mentioned to me a website for this very purpose that had caught is eye. It’s called Wesabe. While the name initially does remind me of the Japanese spice, wisabi, the only thing way that this relates to the product in my mind is that it’s hot! So hot right now!

The application is based on a website: www.wesabe.com where you can set up a free account to manage your finances online. While I know there will be some technophobes who have reservations about putting the details of your finances online (and I’ve got one word for your people, SSL – okay, it’s an acronym, not a word, but get over it, truly), personally I have no such qualms.

The main virtue I was looking for in a money management application was that it didn’t cose the earth, and this one qualifies, in fact, it’s free. What more could you ask for. Yes, I realise that once they’ve got my data they may decide to charge me to access the service, and then I’ll be faced with a choice, determining whether the service they provide is worth the asking price, but that’s a choice I’m happy to make (when it comes to that).

In the meantime, I’m happy to explore the app and the iPhone application that comes with it (and it’s also free). What’s more I like the look and feel of both the site and the app. The site takes a non-judgemental approach to helping you manage your finances. While, the application still helps you to get a hold on the bottom line, however negative that may be, it makes things like budgeting extremely easy. Allowing users to set targets, instead of spending limits, for example is a nice way, I think of using semantics to help people to take a positive approach to managing their finances. What’s more the app actually appeals to people like me, who find the whole practice of managing their finances, somewhat, hmm, how should I put it… tedious!

While, it did take a little getting used to after being a Microsoft Money user, Wesabe has actually been quite easy to use. The web application tries to make it easy to upload data from your banking institution and I suspect most major Australian Banks are supported. That said, the lengths that my bank (Westpac) have gone to to make their site more secure, do mean that the automatic replay option for downloading banks statements really doesn’t work to get my statements into Wesabe on a day to day basis.

Other major bank users may have more luck. My NAB Visa card for example, seems to have no such issues. Hmm, why do I suddently regret switching banks. Oh well, they’re all bastards! But, luckily some of the developers of iPhone applications aren’t. Hopefully you find Wesabe as useful as I do!

Ever since I bought my iPhone3G in August 2008 I have stubbornly avoided putting it in a case, somehow to me a case would distract from the phone’s natural beauty. Given this it’s no wonder that my phone is now sporting an ever widening crack at the base, something that may eventually force me to upgrade to the new 3Gs iPhone (or whatever comes out next).

My partner who purchased an iPhone more recently also hadn’t been using a case and expressed concern about her beloved phone’s welfare after a couple of droppages. So I was pleasantly surprised when I received the new Shine Case from Proporta.com. Given that the case has a mirror on the inside, I gave it to her rather than use it myself, but I thought I’d relay her comments on the case for those who are in the market for something similar.

The first thing I have to say is my lovely lady isn’t the primping kind, so the mirror is probably somewhat wasted on her, but I’m sure some of you other ladies out there who carry a mirror in your handbag might appreciate the advantages of combining a mirror in your iPhone case. Hey, it’s one less thing to carry right?!

When you unpack the case, the other obvious thing that you notice is the little arms which serve to hold the phone in place. They’re not very large and at first you would be forgiven for wondering if they’re going to do their job, but Rachelle tells me that they not only hold the phone quite securely, it really doesn’t budge an inch once you’ve put it in there. The case also has a magnetic clasp that keeps the cover shut and works in conjunction with the arms that hold the phone in place, and this is something else that Rae tells me works well.

The outside of the case has a shiny patent leather look that insures your phone still looks bling, and the case includes other thoughtful design features such as a hole for the camera lens.

One amusing (and potentially annoying) aspect is that the flap on the case can be slightly awkward to position when you’re using the phone (while it’s in the case). The flap tends to sit up against your head if you’re on the phone (unless you fold it back inline with the case), which makes you look like you’re talking on a rather large flip phone (the sort of phone you’d imagine a broker using in a movie from the early 90’s).

Overall however, the case gets the tick of approval from my lovely partner who rates it at 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Well, there’s a good chance you’ve heard all the hubub on the tech front about Google releasing the Nexus-One in the last couple days. It’s certainly going to be interesting seeing how the phone shapes up against the iPhone. While the phone isn’t available here in Australia at present, it has come out in the US.

The phone runs Google’s own mobile Operating System known as Android and has a touch screen interface somewhat similar to the iPhone, though it doesn’t appear to support multi-touch for all it’s applications just yet.

Google are selling the phone via their website (from a very Apple looking page), rather than in retail stores. While we can’t actually purchase the phone, you can visit the site and get a better idea of what the phone looks like and some of the cool features that it has. Check it out at:  http://www.google.com/phone

Personally I think the phone looks quite presentable and some of the features like Voicemail transcription are nice additions (which we don’t yet have on the iPhone). Another thing that’s very cool is that the phone comes with a free GPS app, something that I’m sure TomTom and Navigon and some of other GPS providers out there aren’t too happy about.

Anyway, maybe we’ll get some of these cool new features in the next generation iPhone which is expected mid-year. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.