Posts Tagged ‘car charger’

What a difference a day makes….

Apps

Well, not really. I am still happy with my purchase. Last night I spent some time working out some of the settings. I also have been getting apps for the phone. The Bug Spray app was not that great. Was really razzing people with the iHandgun app. Drum Kit Lite to rock out and of course Pandora for music.  Can’t forget Stitcher for downloading podcasts (BTW – PODCASTERS – you need to make sure you are on Stitcher). Oh yeah – Peanut Butter Jelly Time.

Just so you know, I haven’t paid for any apps yet. I want to get a handle on the store before I started getting the Beer app.

Batterrrrrrryyyy…..

In 6 hours, I pretty much had to put it back on the charger. I haven’t found a car charger yet – I want a retractable cord charger. I have the Griffin FM transmitter which is doubling as the charger.

I saw the “Extra battery” case at the Apple store but wasn’t too impressed. If it was Solar powered, I would have gotten it. Is the Solar powered case still around? Might have to look into it.

I ended up going to Wal-Mart and getting a lower priced case and screen protector. I saved about $15-20 in doing that. And it’s not like the case itself is cheap, just the price.

The recharge is quick, though. That helps.

Brightkite Makes More Sense

I think I used Brightkite more than I ever have. Little concerned over people knowing where I am and – more to the point – where I am not at.

Now I know why Facebook is Beating MySpace

I didn’t have any apps for my 8125 for MySpace and Facebook. So far I have uploaded a few pics and status updates right there, right now. I don’t have the MySpace App, but the Facebook app is really impressive. Add the better camera and I was uploading a few things before lunch.

Tweetdeck

That is my Twitter App. I know there are a couple others out there, but this one I have worked with before and enjoy using. Also using Twitter more.

Where’s the Phone?

I tried making a call today. Not really intuitive; I had to run up to it a couple times. Once I got up to speed, I was making calls quick and easy. Like I said – not very intuitive for someone who hasn’t used an iPhone.

iTunes Transfer

I had a lot of iTunes songs on a previous computer. I backed it up years ago – I should find it and get the songs transferred. Nonetheless I have not been able to transfer over a song that I didn’t get from the library. Once again – not obsessed with getting music over, but it should be a simple drag and drop method.

*UPDATE*I got it to work.

I See Where Flash is Needed

It’s surprising how much we rely on Flash. Now that I am part of that limitation, I am finding sites I cannot use simply because of the flash content. The biggest problem with this is weather radars. My favorite local news page looses out, too.

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Will be more playing over the Weekend. I am still impressed with this device.

The next few weeks are going to be do or die for the Palm Pre. With it’s release of June 6th, we will see if this new phone from Palm is going to be able to stand up to the Apple iPhone. Especially when the new 3.0 version comes out by the end of the month.

iPhone has had a very strong showing. It knocked down Motorola’s RAZR and brought the world of Smartphones to the forefront of mobile technology. You can pretty much do anything you need on the phone from take photos, to record and listen to music, check mail and even turn your life over to this amazing device. That is, if you can afford the mobile plan.

Palm has been around for over 10 years in handheld organizers. There have been some reorganizations of the company – changing to PalmOne, for example. Nonetheless, Palm has some technologies and patents they can update and re-use to model this new competitor.

Both have Application stores. Both run 3G and have GPS capabilities. Both will have a 3.0 megapixel camera, WiFi 802.11g and Bluetooth.

Palm will have the advantage for the few who like the Tactile response with a built in QWERTY keyboard. Palm will also have a standard USB port; hopefully I can hook up my standard USB car charger to. iPhone will have the memory advantage with 16 and 32GB of memory where the Pre will only have 8 (7 GB in all reality because the OS will need a part to run).

Both will be expected to have a $199 price tag – if you get a 2 year plan with it. It’s just a question of whether you want Sprint, AT&T or if you know how to unlock the phone to use on your favorite carrier.

Of course we would be remiss if we didn’t also talk about the Windows Mobile phones, the Blackberry phones and Android. However, in the last 3 years, only Blackberry has been able to really dent the iPhone market, but they skew the numbers with their 8 versions of phones.

I already hear people talking about how they are going to make the switch. The biggest complaint for the iPhone is the AT&T exclusive contract. I know that in some parts of Wisconsin, I can’t even get service from the AT&T phone. What good is a smartphone if it’s not smart enough to connect to another tower?

I am going to weigh the options in many ways. First of all, we’ll see what happens with the Pre in the first couple weeks – if there is a major problem, it will surface quickly. Second, we’ll watch the financial reports. Palm was on the verge of bankruptcy not more than 9 months ago. They have a lot riding on the Pre. If that fails, they might be up the proverbial creek.

The Palm Pre also has another battle to worry about. That is the Sprint factor. Sprint has not been doing that well itself and they are riding on this phone to make people switch. We’ve seen companies turn around before and this could tip the scales in Sprints’ favor, but you have to remember that this could also topple like a house of cards.

Next, we’ll watch the App stores. One thing that seems to be good business is having a App store with good programs in it. Apple claims they have earned 20-25 million for the Apps alone. That is a good infusion of cash to keep things going. This will be a good infusion in the Palm company.

End result – There will be a good challenge to see who can prevail. Of course I believe that both can survive. The true tests is when Android comes out with their next phone and when Windows Mobile 7 gets released.

In the meantime, enjoy this weeks’ Bitstrips. Then answer the QOTW – Will you get a iPhone or a Pre?