The Brooks Review

Year: 2010

  • iPhone 4 Reception Issues

    As many of you may know already iPhone 4 users are reporting reception issues when the phone is held in the left hand with the hand bridging two of the antennas. I have had my iPhone for two days know, my wife has one as well, and I have tried to replicate this issue on my phone.

    It might be my iPhone, or my hands – but I have yet to be able to replicate the problem. I have no doubt that it exists and is a real problem. It would seem however that it does not effect everyone – perhaps just those with sweaty hands. Drop me a note if you are not able to replicate it as well.

  • Right of Passage (iPhone 4 Launch Day)

    Today I went through and Apple right of passage – I stood in line for 9.5 hours to get my wife her iPhone 4. I was in the non-reserved line at the Bellevue, WA Apple store from 5:30a to 3:00p. A lot of people wondered why I did this for my Wife, given that I already had mine.

    The bottom line is that a lot of screw ups led to me getting an iPhone a day before it launched and my wife not getting hers at all. I decided that since I had never stood in line for one of these launches, and that I am a diehard Apple fanboy, and I love my wife – that I would go stand in line for her.

    I honestly thought that I would be done by 10-10:30a at the latest. When noon came and went I was really hungry, but at no point was I on the verge of leaving. I think I set a record for the number of tweets I have ever made in any 9-hour period, so if you follow me I am sorry.

    The Experience

    What an experience this was, interestingly there were quite a few people in line next to me that were first time iPhone buyers. Nobody that I was next to really knew a lot about the iPhone – all they knew is that it was the best phone you could get. There were a couple of people that I talked who were finally getting one because they were tired of waiting for a Verizon model.

    Starbucks and Specialty’s Bakery were handing out drinks and snacks to everyone the entire time I was there – courtesy of Apple. This was absolutely great, had they not been there I probably would not have made it past hour 5. Apple employees also came around with water (Smart Water) and there were two employees just circulating to answer questions. The most common question I heard was: “Will there be enough?”, to which the response was a very cheery “We think we are doing really well and you are looking really good where you are in line!”. Yep.

    In the end I would gladly do it again – only this time I would bring a chair and wear tennis shoes. 9.5 hours in dress shoes, and standing was not all that great.

    Thanks to all those around me in line for being awesome.

    Here is a shot of the line just before the Mall opened (sales had started about 2.5 hours before I snapped this).

  • Google uses remote kill switch to uninstall Android apps

    Andrew Kameka:

    Google has announced that the company has used its little-known remote kill function that allows it to uninstall apps from Android devices. On the Google developer blog, Rich Cannings explained that Google has removed two applications by a research team that “intentionally misrepresented their purpose in order to encourage user downloads.” The app was not malicious and did not have access to private user data.

    This was great for them to do, but you better believe that if Apple did this they would be slaughtered by bloggers.

  • Apple Bellevue Update 12:37p

    I have been in line since 5:30a looks like we are getting close probably another hour or two. Oh god.

  • Apple store Bellevue

    As of an hour ago.

  • Dropbox Adds Ability to Create a Shareable Link to Any File in Your Account

    Simon Mackie:

    File sharing and syncing service Dropbox has just released a great new feature: The ability to create a link to any file or folder in your Dropbox account. People following the link will be taken to a specially designed landing page that allows them to view or play your shared files right from their browser, and the links are ready-shortened; perfect for sharing via Twitter — here’s an example: http://db.tt/6LZQjh.

    Sweet.

  • Line Update

    Store just opened i am in spot 130 in the non-reserved line. Not feeling too confident I will get one.

  • Ars reviews the HTC EVO 4G

    Ryan Paul:

    It’s clear that smartphone makers still haven’t found the sweet spot for large form-factor handheld devices. Simply increasing the size of the screen is not a recipe for building a better phone. The handset makers need to adopt higher resolutions for large displays so that the additional physical space consumed by the screen will actually translate into extra viewable area.

    Battery life still sucks – FYI.

  • iMovie for iPhone 4 is now available

    I will be downloading that shortly.

  • In line at Apple Store Bellevue, WA

    Got here at 5:30a line is long. Don’t think I’ll get the phone for my wife. Going rate for front of the line spots is $100 right now.

  • Watch Verizon Squash Attempts to Film the Droid X Next to the iPhone 4

    This is pretty funny. I don’t blame them for stopping the direct comparison, but they could atleast give a clear explanation. Instead of coming up with random stuff off the top of her head she could have just said, “Given the event that we are at we would like the focus to remain on the Droid X and not on the iPhone – we would appreciate it if you did not do a side by side comparison here. You are welcome to do that once you get a Droid X from your office.” Instead of the crap lines that were given.

  • Droid X vs. iPhone 4 (In Pictures)

    Just look at the size difference, then tell me which one you want in your pocket.

  • Initial iPhone 4 Thoughts

    I got my iPhone 4 at Noon on 6/23/10 since then here is what I am thinking about Apple’s latest gadget.

    • The form factor, being squared instead of round, is very different. Personally I love it, but it won’t be for everyone. The size is also significantly smaller than the iPhone 3G S and it really shows. I have noticed it is impossible for me to squeeze the phone between my shoulder and ear when on a call (I am able to with the 3G S) when I am wearing a collared shirt. This size change is most noticeable when you put the iPhone in your pocket, which is a welcome change for all smartphone users.
    • The flash is nice, but is limited in its usefulness. I have found that it is great so far for macro shots of text, they come out much sharper than without the flash.
    • The video and camera are far superior, and will prove to be one of the best reasons to upgrade to this phone.
    • That screen, wow it really is amazing. The text is so damn sharp – it seriously looks amazing, if you don’t believe me go to an Apple store or find a friend with an iPhone 4 and take a look at it for yourself. Open up the text messages or email and look at the text, bar none.
    • Reception is spotty in my office and a regular AT&T dropped call zone (not very cool). In the limited time I have had with the iPhone 4 I have noticed that it gets far more bars at my desk (previously got 1-2 bars now gets 3-4 bars), this is most likely a 3G versus EDGE decision it is making – but I’ll take it.
    • Call sound quality thus far is much different from the 3G S. To me it sounds cleaner, and deeper than it did before. My wife tells me that I sound like I am in an isolation booth (when I am sitting in my office), almost like I am in a bathroom – which I am not sure if that is good or bad. Time will tell what the difference really is – but for now there is a difference.
    • App installations seem much quicker. I installed a few new apps after getting the phone up and running and the installation part (not the downloading part) seems very fast in comparison.
    • Non-optimized iPhone Apps are clear as day – not in a good way. The icons for apps that have not been readied for the higher resolution screen look fuzzy and really are annoying to use. The text is still sharp, as are the Apple UI elements, stray from those and you get a fuzzy view reminiscent of the 3G S’ screen.
    • All I can say about the battery life thus far is that it has a battery. Reports say it is amazing, stay tuned on that front.
    • The iPhone 4 feels about 10 times stronger the my old 3G S that has several cracks in the plastic casing.
    • The fact that there is no light to let me know when the front facing camera is on bugs me, if I am in an app and that front camera turns on, I want to know about it. It isn;t like I can flip the phone over and know that no camera can see what is going on – cameras on both sides prevent this. Don’t get me wrong I love the front facing camera, up until a hacker figures out how to activate it.

  • FaceTime and the iPod Touch

    John Gruber:

    More importantly, you don’t need to initiate a FaceTime call using a voice call. You can start the call using FaceTime directly, in which case the entire process takes place over IP networking. The advantage to starting with a voice call is that you’ll get a voice connection even if the recipient isn’t on Wi-Fi at the moment.

    Read the whole piece, this is really interesting.

  • Braving the crowd: Getting an iPhone 4 without a reservation

    Check – see you guys there tomorrow.

  • Verizon Pushes 10 Gbps Through Fiber Network

    Wow, that is awesome.

  • iPhone 4 Has Arrived

    After a lot of waiting this morning I came back to my office and found a new iPhone 4 sitting on my desk. I have it all setup and expect more thoughts tomorrow.

    Also I will be waiting in the Bellevue, WA Apple Store line tomorrow starting around 5:30a to try and get one for my wife – be sure to stop by and say hi.

  • The Kindle won

    John Biggs:

    The Kindle App has made the Kindle “device” a obsolete for many early adopters.

    I can tell you that for me, if there was no Kindle app for the iPad I would not have given my Wife my Kindle. It is not the device for me, I just don’t want to lose the books I already purchased.

  • Over-the-Air vs Wi-Fi Syncing: Looking at Things & OmniFocus for iPhone

    One of the biggest requirements I also have for iPhone apps is to make sure the app provides some way of Over-the-Air Syncing (OTA). For the past year I have been settled on using OmniFocus for task management because it synced using MobileMe OTA to my Mac. When I found out about SimpleNote that also had OTA syncing I immediately switched from Evernote to it. ((Evernote does sync OTA, but I hate the look of the app both on the Mac and iPhone))

    Recently I made the switch from OmniFocus to Things – the primary reason being that there has been no OmniFocus for the iPad. ((This is something I find to be unacceptable and has really pissed me off. They even missed their tentative ship deadline of this month.)) Things syncs between the Mac and iPhone/iPad clients using Wi-Fi only ((you have to be on the same Wi-Fi network to get this to work. You also can’t sync between iPhone and iPad without a Mac involved.)) which had been one of my major points of contention with the app.

    I have been using Things now for about 3 weeks and could not be happier. There is maybe one time during the week when I miss OTA syncing – the rest of the time it is never an issue. Especially when I take into account the speed that Things syncs with my Mac, in just a few seconds it is synced – where most OTA syncs take 10-30 seconds each. ((based on my experience in using OmniFocus and Simplenote on Wi-Fi or 3G networks.))

    That Got Me Thinking

    This past weekend I began asking myself just how important OTA syncing is compared to Wi-Fi syncing. My conclusion: it depends. ((weak I know)) What it really depends on is what type of data you are syncing – how you are using that data. For things like task management apps the only reason to want it to sync OTA is so that you can sync if you forgot to before you leave your main computer. Other than the occasional forgetfullness there really is no difference between OTA and Wi-Fi syncing with task management apps.

    This line of thinking lead me to the conclusion thatOTA syncing only becomes crucial on stuff that you rarely use – or that you don’t use on one device when you are using it on another. Think about how lame it would be if the Dropbox iPhone/iPad app only did Wi-Fi syncing – that would make it a useless program. ((No one wants to keep all that data on their mobile device if they don’t have to.)) Think about notes applications where you type a new note on your Mac and grab your phone to leave our office – rarely do you prefer to type in a note on your iPhone when you have a computer at hand. This is not the case I have with task management apps (perhaps I am in the minority) – I find that I use the device closest to me to enter a new task regardless of where I am.

    Given that I spend a lot of time in task management apps on all three of my devices ((iPad, iPhone, Macbook Pro)) I rarely leave my main computer without an up to date copy of Things on my devices. It also helps that if I just leave Things open on each device they sync automatically, thus staying up to date with little involvement from me.

    The Future

    This is all inconsequential to most people, but moving forward I would suspect that most app developers use the cloud in some form to make OTA syncing the default – as it should be. For now though don’t be shy to use a program that only offers Wi-Fi syncing, there are a lot of great ones out there – you don’t want to miss out. ((Things for example))

  • iPhone 4 Arriving A Day Early: Apple’s Way Of Messing With New Droid Launch?

    Dan Frommer:

    Is this Apple’s way of messing with Verizon Wireless’s, Motorola’s, and Google’s new Droid launch event, scheduled for Wednesday in New York?

    It is uncharacteristic move on Apple’s part to let people get the iPhone’s a day early. I am not saying this is the reason why they are doing it, but I can hope.