The number one thing that makes the iPhone such a winner is all those apps. Apps let a smartphone become smarter, and granted all the major players in the smartphone world offer apps. You should note that Apple has more apps. for you to download then Blackberry, Android (Google), Palm/HP (WebOS), Nokia combined. One thing you need to know if you don’t already own an iPhone is that the majority of apps. are free. This fact is one that often shocks people who look at my iPhone and comment on all the apps on the phone and makes the remark “You must have spent a lot of money on apps.”
Here is a list of a few of my favorite apps.
Facebook, does this app. even need an explanation? I think not.
Dropbox is a web (cloud) based file storage system that gives you full access to files and allows you to access them anywhere you go.
SoundHound, a great app that will figure out the music that is playing and give you info like artist, title, and album. It will also link you to YouTube to watch the video as well as the iTunes music store to buy the song. Very cool, very powerful.
PhotoShop Express will allow you to do quick and impressive edits to photos. From changing colors to cropping, to adding boarders and more. It is one of the simplest apps out their, plus it is free!
Another free app is Urban Spoon, a Vegas style slot machine that helps you choose local restaurants with a spin of the wheel. It uses the iPhone GPS to locate where you are and then points you to restaurants in your area that meet your requirements. Whether it is Food type, Price, or locations. Trust the spoon to point you to a great place to eat.
Echofon / TweetDeck / Twittelator – Best Twitter apps out today. All feature full and rich interface and make sending out “tweets” simple.
Last is a very addictive game called “Plants vs. Zombies” it is not easy to describe in a few words. You are planting plants to fight zombies as they try to attack your house. Simple game but tons of fun. Great for everyone!
When it comes to accessories I will not be so specific to give out brands and such, rather the accessory types.
The number one thing is a speaker system, regardless of you listening to the music you moved from your computer or the music that can be heard from streaming music apps, it is a pain to listen to on the iPhone’s speaker. So get a good sounding set of speakers and if you find a pair that have the iPod dock built in then you can recharge the phone at the same time. Staying on the topic of sound, a good pair of headphone would be a very nice add on. Yes you do get a pair of Apple headphones in the box, but after a month with them they will go from a white color to a off-white and full of dirt. Plus sound of a better headphone can really help you enjoy the iPhone. The last accessory is a case, although I don’t use one, many people do love to trick out their iPhone with a cool case. A case will also help protect the iPhone from bumps or drops.
Their you have it, 4 Days of the iPhone 4. In conclusion I will state if you are going to buy a smartphone then the iPhone is the best choice for most people. If you currently own the iPhone, iPhone 3 then this upgrade to the iPhone 4 will be a welcomed change. But if you are like me and had the iPhone 3GS, you may not be so sure if you should upgrade. The benefits listed in the past three days of posts lead me to believe it is well worth the upgrade. I do realize it is not for everyone, and to spend the money to change a year old phone. Thus I leave it to you to make the decision.
For day three I decided the battery would be the first think I tested. Before I went to bed I set up the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4. Both started with full batteries and Wifi was on for both. Data was turned off on the older 3GS, but not for the iPhone 4. I thought by doing this would balance the scale since the new iPhone has a better battery. I hypothesized that I would find both phones with similar battery levels by morning. Also, I left the same 3 apps open on both phones, and after a refreshing 8 hour sleep I woke to find the iPhone 3GS’s battery was down to 72% and the iPhone 4 was at 84%. Through the night I did get 10 emails and a lot of “tweets” which both phones displayed in the morning. I knew the iPhone 4 had a bigger battery, but I suppose I didn’t realize how weak the older 3GS’s battery was.
I moved on to the HD Video next. On the phone the video looks sharp and is very clear. I was able to do basic edits directly on the phone as well iMovie is an Apple app. that allows for more rich features so if you want to edit and add titles, music, etc. it would be a great app. to get. I found myself wondering what it would look like once I looked at it on the computer screen. One of the nice parts of the iPhone is how it seamlessly integrates with social media. With the ability to upload to YouTube from the camera app. and how simple it is to post a video to Facebook or Twitter. The downside is that HD video can not be uploaded directly from the phone. You’ll need to use a computer to upload the HD footage. Below I have posted a short video I took from the phone and uploaded directly to YouTube.
As mentioned yesterday the software bug that I have noticed, it is not the much spoken about antenna or the proximity sensor, but the ambient light sensor. This sensor dims the screen when you are in a dark space (like a movie theater or outside at night). From what I can see, the sensor does not work well when compared to the older 3GS version. On the iPhone 3GS the sensor would dim the screen within seconds, on the iPhone 4 it does not dim at all. A small issue for me, but still a pain in the butt when sitting at the movies and checking my email.
Tomorrow I look at some of my favorite apps. on the iPhone, as well highlighting a few popular accessories that can help enhance your iPhone experience. After all you’ll want the iPhone to fit in with your lifestyle and accessories are a great way to do that.
I have recently been ask my many people my thoughts on external hard drives. Not speaking about brands or models but more about the concept of buying a ready made or building your own.
In one case you need not have any tech savviness, while in the other you need to know the basics.. very basic. But why choose one over the other? Price is a big factor for most people, in fact it is the number one factor for most people. When looking at price point it is clear that you will get your best bang for the buck with building your own. The prices for OEM hard drives get cheaper each week and you can find 1TB drives today for prices below $70.00. Pair that with external enclosure that go for $20.00 plus about 12 mins to install it and you’ve got a nice 1TB external backup drive for under $100.00. Great right? Well yes and no, yes it is a great price but you need to watch out for the trap that most consumers fall into, that would be buying too small or too big. You don’t want to end up wishing you would have bought a larger size a month after. Cause then you will either go out and buy an additional OEM drive or you will buy another kit. Thus ending up with two external drives rather then just one, one which you needed originally. It is hard to figure out what the right size drive is for your needs because lets face it we keep creating more data. From digital pictures to movies, and documents too we are faced with a never ending, continuously growing collection of data. Data that continues to become more and more important to you as it grows. Most people underestimate the amount of data they have to backup. So this best rule to keep in mind is that if you can afford to go to the next capacity up (so from 1TB to 1.5TB) it is worth it. So, do it right the first time and keep backing your data up.