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Apple iPhone 3gs iOS4 upgrade experience

Savan Thongvanh — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:15:20 +0000

I just wanted to do a quick hit on my upgrade experience for my iPhone 3gs.

I came home for lunch today so I could do my upgrade. I hit up iTunes PRAYING that I wouldn’t get queued up for download like last time. Also in my prayers was that after going through the trouble of downloading that I wouldn’t get the dreaded “cannot contact activation server” error.

Well, it looks like this time I lucked out. My iOS4 download only took 17 minutes. I’m seeing people tweet now that the download is taking upwards of half an hour. No problemo there.

After I got the download iTunes started to backup my iPhone. Thank you. The backup status bar seemed to sit on 2%ish for EVER. After about 15 minutes of looking like it was doing nothing it jumped to about 25%.

The rest of the install included expanding the download and restoring my data from before. All in all it took me about 50 minutes to upload 17 for the download and about 35 for the backup and install.

Now on to playing around iOS4 and seeing how gimped it is on my iPhone 3gs.

More to come on the features and limitations on the 3gs.

UPDATE: This article is actually about updating a 3G, not 3gs but all info is still applicable.

UPDATE:After trying to update a second iPhone 3G I got all the way through the install process and got the activation problem that seems to be common. Servers are evidently swamped now. I’ll try later tonight to upgrade the 2nd phone.

HTC Fires off a statement rebuking Apples lawsuits

Savan Thongvanh — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:44:27 +0000

Today HTC Fired off a statement rebuking Apples lawsuits and pointing out all the ways in the last ten years that they’ve brought innovation to the mobile arena. Here’s the statement from HTC.

Seattle – March 17, 2010 – HTC Corporation today outlined its disagreement with Apple’s legal actions and reiterated its commitment to creating a portfolio of innovative smartphones that gives consumers a variety of choices. Founded in 1997 with a passion for innovation and a vision for how smartphones would change people’s lives, HTC has continually driven this vision by consistently introducing award-winning smartphones with U.S. mobile operators.

“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation. “From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDAi and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Editionii, our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.”

The industry has recognized HTC’s contributions through a variety of awards including Fast Company’s 2010 Top 50 Most Innovative Companies and MIT Technology Review’s 2010 50 Most Innovative Companies. The GSMA also recently awarded the HTC Hero as the “Best Phone of 2009.” Some of HTC’s technology firsts include:

* First Windows PDA (1998)
* First Windows Phone (June 2002)
* First 3G CDMA EVDO smartphone (October 2005)
* First gesture-based smartphone (June 2007)
* First Google Android smartphone (October 2008)
* First 4G WIMAX smartphone (November 2008)

In 2009, HTC launched its branded user experience, HTC Sense. HTC Sense is focused on putting people at the center by making phones work in a more simple and natural way. This experience was fundamentally based on listening and observing how people live and communicate.

“HTC has always taken a partnership-oriented, collaborative approach to business. This has led to long-standing strategic partnerships with the top software, Internet and wireless technology companies in the industry as well as the top U.S., European and Asian mobile operators,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “It is through these relationships that we have been able to deliver the world’s most diverse series of smartphones to an even more diverse group of people around the world, recognizing that customers have very different needs.”

For more information on HTC’s history of innovation, please visit: www.htc.com/history.

About HTC
HTC Corporation (HTC) is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile phone industry. By putting people at the center of everything it does, HTC creates innovative smartphones that better serve the lives and needs of individuals. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.

HTC Public Relations
htcpr@waggeneredstrom.com
(425) 638-7000

i The O2 XDA by HTC was the first 3.5-inch color touch screen smartphone in the world in 2002.

ii The T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition by HTC was the first 3.5-inch color touch screen smartphone in the United States in 2002.
Source

iPad Battery Replacement Service means replacing iPad, not battery

Savan Thongvanh — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:18:34 +0000

The iPad is not the first Apple Device that has a battery that consumer’s can’t replace (iPhone or Macbook Air anyone?). Buried deep in the iPad support documentation (http://www.apple.com/support/ipad/service/battery/) you can find out how to get your iPad battery replaced.

So is is the battery replacement service for the iPad interesting? Well here’s the first sentence from the FAQ:

If your iPad requires service due to the battery’s diminished ability to hold an electrical charge, Apple will replace your iPad for a service fee.

That’s right, unless your iPad has been dropped, dunked, or disassembled, when you send your iPad in for battery repair they’ll give you a new iPad. Yes, there is a fee of $100 and of course the service charge makes it $105.95.

In order to get the service all you have to do is call Apple or take your iPad to an Apple Store. They’ll send it in for your and a week later you’ll have a new iPad.

Good? Bad? You decide. I along with many other people have had iPhones (and other devices) replaced and got a lemon in return.

See the FAQ at http://www.apple.com/support/ipad/service/battery/ for links to details battery replacement service

Microsoft security bulletin: Security Bugs in Producer, Excel, and SharePoint

Savan Thongvanh — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:07:38 +0000

Microsoft announced yesterday that they’ve found more bugs. Surprise. Microsoft annouced via security bulletin on the TechNet site that vulnerabilities were found and patched in various versions of Office, SharePoint, and it’s movie making software Producer. All of the vulnerabilities found allow what microsoft calls “Remote Code Execution”, which means that malicious code can be planted and run on your computer. This is not a new thing for Microsoft and they fix them as the find them but, the just keep finding them.

Here’s a rundown of the affected software:

2007 Microsoft Office System Service Pack 1
2007 Microsoft Office System Service Pack 2
Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac
Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats Service Pack 1 and Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats Service Pack 2
Microsoft Office Excel 2002 Service Pack 3
Microsoft Office Excel 2003 Service Pack 3
Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Service Pack 1[1]
Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Service Pack 2[1]
Microsoft Office Excel Viewer Service Pack 1 and Microsoft Office Excel Viewer Service Pack 2
Microsoft Office for Mac
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions)[2]
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions)[2]
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (32-bit editions)[2]
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (64-bit editions)[2]
Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems
Windows 7 for x64-based Systems
Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3

Note that all currently supported versions of windows are affected and that Windows and Mac versions of Office are affected. From the links below you can download the patches or they can be downloaded through Windows.

See the Producer Bulletin for more
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms10-016.mspx?pubDate=2010-03-09

And the Office and SharePoint Bulletin
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms10-017.mspx?pubDate=2010-03-09

iPad release date April 3rd, Pre-orders March 12th

Savan Thongvanh — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:27:44 +0000

Apple announces today that the long awaited iPad can be ordered starting March 12th. The actual release date will be April 3rd. There have been rumors of production until late summer but this, at least for now, negates those.

Beginning a week from today, on March 12, US customers can pre-order both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models from Apple’s online store (www.apple.com) or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.

The pricing we heard earlier still stands: $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G models will still be $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB.

International pricing will differ but is not yet known.

Mac Hack: Intel-base startup keys

Savan Thongvanh — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:48:50 +0000

If you’ve ever had problems starting up your intel based mac you’ll want to bookmark this article. Apple released a support article today with a load of great keyboard shortcuts to subvert the startup of Intel based Macs.

And without further adeiu…(oh and here’s freebie, don’t make the bookmark on your mac)
If you’ve ever had problems starting up your intel based mac you’ll want to bookmark this article. Apple released a support article today with a load of great keyboard shortcuts to subvert the startup of Intel based Macs.

And without further adeiu…

Keystroke	Description
C during startup	Start up from a bootable CD or DVD, such as the Mac OS X Install disc that came with the computer.
D during startup	Start up in Apple Hardware Test (AHT), if the Install DVD 1 is in the computer.
Option-Command-P-R until you hear two beeps.	Reset NVRAM
Option during startup	Starts into Startup Manager, where you can select a Mac OS X volume to start from. Note: Press N to make the the first bootable Network volume appear as well.
Eject, F12, or hold the mouse (/trackpad) button	Ejects any removable media, such as an optical disc.
N during startup	Attempt to start up from a compatible network server (NetBoot).
T during startup	Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode.
Shift during startup	Start up in Safe Boot mode and temporarily disable login items.
Command-V during startup	Start up in Verbose mode.
Command-S during startup	Start up in Single-User mode.
Option-N during startup	Start from a NetBoot server using the default boot image.

See the Apple article for more on which models these are good for.

Could this be the iPad and iPhone’s long awaited camera?

Savan Thongvanh — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:55:18 +0000

I think we’ve all realized that the mobile device race is not about size anymore. Today’s race is about feature density and Toshiba has leapt past all of it competition in the mobile camera department.

Today Toshiba announced a TWELVE megapixel camera and chip for mobile. With most a US domestic cameras using cameras at or below 5 megapixels this is a chip that really pushes Moore’s law.

The device offers support for up to two cameras, with the primary camera using a MIPI link and the secondary camera using a MIPI link or parallel port. The bridge enables high-speed serial interfaces on both the Host via MDDI and camera side via MIPI CSI-2 allowing support for up to 12 megapixel primary camera and up to 2 megapixel secondary camera in one handset. It is compatible with systems using Qualcomm® baseband processors with an MDDI interface.

There has long been talk of a relationship between Apple and Qualcomm. If that were the case this this just might be the thing that gets a forward facing camera in the iPad and iPhone.

See the release from Toshiba

More on iPad/iPhone/iTouch specs

Apple Support Article Outlines How to Back Up Your Music

Savan Thongvanh — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:42:59 +0000

Apple is turning back the clock and encouraging people to back their music up on CD. If you REALLY REALLY want to keep your music on CD Apple will tell you how to get your music out of AAC and into MP3.

Apple released a support article today outlining how to burn protected AAC music to an MP3 CD. Although it would be horribly tedious and a waste of time and resources, if you must have your music on something you can touch and you’re having problems check out Apple’s article on how to back up music from itunes.

Songs purchased from the iTunes Store may either be in AAC format or AAC Protected format depending on when they were purchased (older songs used AAC Protected format). You can convert AAC songs to MP3 format allowing them to be burned to an MP3 format CD, however AAC Protected songs can not be converted. You can, however, back them up to a data CD or DVD, or you can burn them to an audio CD (which can be played in a CD player).

Read the knowledgebase article for a full explanation

Is the New York Times Skimmer the newspaper format made for iPad?

Savan Thongvanh — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:50:05 +0000

People have been wondering how Apples release of the iPad will “change the game” and what “game” it will change. One of the mediums that will definitely be affected is the newspaper.

The New York Times has a feature now called the New York Times skimmer. There were two features that jumped out at me immediately when I tried it.

One was that Fire Fox got pushed full screen in a widescreen format. This is the way people are used to reading newspapers and now used to consuming anything on a screen so it makes lots of sense.

The other standout was the navigation. The skimmer has a gutter around the main content where the previous and next buttons sit. Also, the main navigation is on the right. The sections in a iPhoney, swipey, smooth sort of way. I completely understand that people are predominately right handed so the right hand navigation makes sense. Even though it’s contrary to how surf and use websites, moving a mouse around a screen is easier then reaching here and there.

All in all I think it’s a very cool way for newspapers to go and wouldn’t be surprised if this was the new paradigm for online newspapers.

Check it out for yourself at http://www.nyt.com

Apple Releases Aperture 3

Savan Thongvanh — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:00:36 +0000

We’ll the post earlier today about the 28 support articles of course was timed for today’s release of Apple’s Aperture 3. Photographers everywhere will be delighted. The new version is loaded with new features and fixes from Aperture 2.

From the release:

Aperture 3 allows you to organize large photo libraries with even more flexibility using Projects and the new Faces and Places. Faces uses face detection and recognition to find and organize your photos by the people in them. You can view faces across your entire photo library or view just the faces that appear in selected projects. In a new view that speeds up the organization process, Aperture 3 displays faces that have been detected but haven’t yet been named. Places lets you explore your photos based on where they were taken, and like in iPhoto, Places automatically reverse geocodes GPS data into user-friendly locations. In Aperture 3, you can assign locations by dragging-and-dropping photos onto a map or by using location information from GPS enabled cameras, tracking devices or your iPhone® photos.

Retail on the the new software will be $199. Owners of Aperture will be able to upgrade for $99 and new users can download a 30-day trial.

“Millions of people love using iPhoto to organize, edit and share their digital photos,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Aperture 3 is designed for both professionals who edit and manage massive libraries of photos and iPhoto users who want to take their photos further with easy-to-use tools such as Brushes and Adjustment Presets.”

“Aperture 3 gets it right,” said National Geographic photographer, Jim Richardson. “The image editing tools are exactly what I have been asking for, they’re so easy to use and give me a level of control that I never even thought possible.”