Spore Origins for the iPhone/iTouch, a beautiful game
It’s nice to see the list of big name games growing for the iPhone/iTouch, not that the independent games aren’t sometimes just as good. Game industry leaders like John Carmack have already said that the device is a very powerful hand held device for gaming.
Today I caved and bought Spore for my iPhone. I almost didn’t want to, given the outrage over the PC version of Spore and it’s draconian DRM protection, it’s just unacceptable and that’s no way to treat your paying customers. Again the legitimate users lose and the pirates get a DRM free version. Anyway, back to Spore for the iPhone.
Create a custom iPhone icon for your website
If you own an iPhone you may have noticed that you can bookmark websites and add them to your home screen. These are called Webclip Icons and they are either a snapshot of the website or an actual website icon similar to a favicon that shows up in a desktop browsers address field. If you want to add an iPhone icon to your site it’s very easy to do.
Rogers 3G iPhone network is one of the fastest in the world?
In a survey by Wired, Canadians may have one of the fastest 3G iPhone experiences in the world. There’s even a cool interactive map of the world showing the results. I guess in the case of Rogers expensive does mean better. That said, it always makes me chuckle when I see the extremely high download claims followed by ridiculous limitations, although the iPhone has admittedly made Canadian options better. Basically we have great speeds that allow you to instantly use up your bandwidth allocation and pay the telecoms big overage fees.
I have to admit that with the smallest 400 MB package I can easily surf, read email and chat every day without worrying about going over my limit. I could however easily surpass this limit if I did not stay away from YouTube and streaming radio, something that I don’t really need but none the less would be nice to have. Luckily for me, Toronto has a lot of WiFi hotspots. That said, I still look forward to the day that the big three have more competition, and that day is approaching quickly.
Another interesting tidbit is that many of the 3G connection issues iPhone users are facing are now being reported on the Blackberry Bold. This shows that the issues may be with the carriers and not the handsets themselves. As much as I and others love to blast Rogers, my Fido (Fido is owned by Rogers) connection has been fantastic, and I have only experienced one dropped call in the three weeks I’ve owned an iPhone. With the price I pay I would expect nothing less.
Your iPhone bill in Canada
The blog sphere has really beat up the Canadian cell carriers over the past few months and rightly so, but I and many others still gave in and bought into pricey long term iPhone plans with loads of hidden charges. At the end of the day it just seems like the Canadian carriers only goal is to confuse their customers into spending more money than they actually want too and further destroy their brand. One can only hope that the new national carrier Globalive will make a difference. Right now they run yakMobile which seems to have honest pricing. By honest pricing I don’t mean cheap (although they do have cheap pricing), I mean I want to pay what they say I will pay on the plan I have chosen. Why can’t all these useless fees just be part of the total fee, because that’s what they are. They aren’t special fees to the government or taxes, they are just carrier fees that are part of your plan but are not listed in the total price of your plan so it looks more attractive than it is. It’s dishonest advertising.
A Google Android Phone is on the way: HTC Dream
Over the past few days the web has been awash with rumours of the HTC Dream, a Google Android phone. Well it looks official now, HTC will be releasing the phone very soon and it may be available as soon as September. It has received F.C.C. certification and T-Mobile the US carrier will be first to have it. No word yet on which Canadian carrier will have it or when.
Even though I have an iPhone now I am eagerly awaiting the reviews for the first Android phones. Competition can only be good for everyone. Apple gave the smartphone industry the kick it needed to start innovating and now things are about to be kicked up a notch with Android entering the scene. HTC also seems really serious about releasing great phones as they have proven with the HTC Touch Diamond which was based on Windows mobile. The UI of the Touch Diamond was nicely designed, but only skin deep, hopefully Android gives them the flexability to really flex their muscle and serve up an even better UI.
Google has also finally released an updated Android SDK today.
The wait is over, decision made, a shiney new iPhone
So my long debate over what phone to get is finally over. Yesterday morning I picked up an iPhone at the Fido store. I had already played with the first iPhone and the second iPhone along with the iPod Touch so I knew what it was all about. Even though I had played with them, I was still blown away at the ease of use and so far I’m extremely pleased with my iPhone.
My first iPhone street car ride home was spent catching up on my Google Reader feeds. People have asked me why I need to be connected all the time, so I tell them it’s really not much different than reading a newspaper in the morning only my preferred method is digital and the content I want to read for the most part won’t show up in the morning newspaper. Couple that with the fact that I hate how a newspaper feels, lets face it, they have a horrible user interface.
Canadian iPhones in short supply
Today I finally took the plunge and decided to buy an iPhone. I figured that I had waited out the rush, done my research and decided on a plan, all that was left was to pick a colour and go pick it up. I’m one of those people that take forever to make a decision on purchases and having so many choices makes it even harder. The HTC reviews didn’t impress me, Android is too far away, and the Blackberry Bold, well it sounds like a pretty cool phone but the iPhone won me over. Since being connected to the web is my number one goal with a smart phone I figured the iPhone was probably my best bet. The decision was a big one for me, but once I started heading to the Fido store I was on a mission.
Google Android, HTC, and custom user interfaces
Reports around the web are claiming that HTC is still on target for a Google Android based phone by Q4 of this year. It may however take some time for the carriers to get them out once they become available as they will likely want to add their own ugly branding blemishes to whatever cool interface the phones come with. HTC is said to have its own UI which will be different from the Google default UI. They did a great job on the HTC Touch Diamond interface, unfortunately reviews have stated that it is slow and only skin deep. With Android they have full access to the UI and the ability to make any changes they like.
Blackberry Bold in Canada soon
A bit of an update on the Blackberry Bold in Canada. The more I search about this phone for a release date the more illusive it becomes. Some sources said today, at least for business customers and then August 8th for regular clients. I’ve also read other reports saying it may not come out until late August or even September, so the official release date is when Rogers tells us. Maybe some other cool phones will be announced by Rogers in the mean time. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Samsung i900 Omnia offered, this is another smartphone that’s looking nice, but I’m already having enough trouble deciding as it is.
Blackberry Bold in Canada July 29?
Well, the new Blackberry Bold was supposed to be released on July 25. That didn’t happen, but Blackberry News has reported that it should be available at Rogers by the 29th. The Rogers Blackberry Bold web teaser has not been updated yet, but I’m sure it will be soon.
I’m still deciding which smartphone will be my first. Stories of a not so great battery life on the iPhone have held me back, of course having a good data plane here in Canada would have helped sway me. You can also find other country release dates on the Blackberry News website, but it looks as though Rogers will be the first to get it.
So many options just around the corner
The Blackberry Bold is one sweet looking phone, but then so is the iPhone and even Openmoko Neo FreeRunner has a lot of potential. Lets not forget RIM’s touch phone, the Blackberry Thunder which could really shake things up. Then there’s the new Android OS by Google which may show up on HTC phones later this year or early next year.
Update: Blackberry Bold in Canada soon
