The Good Computer Guy Blog

Tags: iPhone
Yesterday news came out that Apple was going to release a patch to fix the latest jailbreak, a web-based jailbreak at jailbreakme.com.  I have been holding off upgrading, even though I am eligible to get the subsidized price plus $18 but this was the final straw.  Obviously if you've read this blog you know that I jailbreak my iPhone (and hack just about everything I have) so that was important to me.  It looks like I can sell my 3GS on eBay for about $400 so I'll be making almost $200 by going to an iPhone 4.  So I swung by the Apple Store on the way back to my office yesterday and picked one up.

The iPhone 4 has a brilliant, beautiful screen.  It looks brighter and sharper than my 3GS and is a little easier to read.  Everything feels just a little faster and pinching and zooming feel a bit better, a bit more accurate.  I like the ease of setting up new folders, although I like the unlimited apps you can put in the jailbreak app Categories (which still works on iOS4.)  That's about all the good stuff I can think of on the iPhone 4.  But...

The case isn't rounded in the back like the 3GS so it's not quite as comfortable, but obviously not a big deal.  A bigger deal to me are the killer jailbreak apps I used to use that just don't work any more:
5-Row QWERTY Keyboard (I LOVED this!)
AutoSilent
Notifier
Battery Control Premium
MyWi
QuickLock
Orbit
Safari Download Manager
Weathericon

On top of the missing apps, email isn't getting pushed regularly like it used to (I use Lotus Traveler to get my Lotus Notes email.)  And I've dropped about half of my calls (this thing is still a phone, right?)  Just sudden, random drops unrelated to "antennagate" which hasn't been a problem for me yet.

Really, it feels like a huge, disappointing downgrade.  I guess that's what happens when you get $200 back for something.  But I'm taking such a hit on apps and functionality that I use EVERY DAY that I think I'm going to have to return the 4.  I'll give it a few more days, though, just to make sure.

Posted by Bill Greenberg At 7:10 AM | Digg This | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tags: iPhone
Anyone who has been around me when a call has come into my iPhone has heard the old fashioned "brrrring!" sound I've been using as a ringtone for many years now (long before I had an iPhone actually.)  Well, now I have the dialer to go with it, complete with full sound and motion.  Why do I like this weird, retro dialer?  Who knows... It's not like I actually use the iPhone for phone calls (much) anyway.  And next time my Dad needs to borrow my phone maybe he won't look at it with a blank stare, wondering how to use it.  iRetroPhone is available on iTunes for $0.99.

Posted by Bill Greenberg At 10:52 AM | Digg This | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: iPhone
I can admit it now - I actually do sleep with my iPhone.  I didn't in the beginning, but my wife once caught us in bed together.  I was just reading a book with Stanza, that's all.  Then, while we don't watch TV in bed very often, we started having trouble with our TiVo remote in the bedroom controlling the TiVo downstairs so I bought DVR Remote so I could control the TiVo with my iPhone via my wireless network.  So that was another excuse for my iPhone and me to spend more time together.

The final straw, though, was this week when I loaded up the Sleep Cycle alarm clock.  I generally don't need an alarm clock but this thing tracks your sleep cycles and displays them in a very cool graph so you can see how well you've slept (a bit more accurately than just how you feel the next day.)  It has been fascinating to watch the effects of the stress of some major home renovations, client issues, and the occasional glass of wine.  Sleep Cycle works by sensing motion in the bed with the very sensitive iPhone accelerometer.  Of course in order for it to work the iPhone has to sit on the corner of your mattress by your pillow.  It is amazing how accurate it seems to be.

So yes, I have been sleeping with my iPhone.  And I'm not going to stop!

Posted by Bill Greenberg At 7:29 PM | Digg This | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: iPhone
I could have sworn that I tried to do this when I first got my iPhone and failed for part of it.  Sure, iPhone Visual Voicemail is great an all, but it's not useful for me as I want all my voicemail in the same place.  My voicemail is recorded on my Asterisk server, then delivered to me via e-mail.  You may also want to use this if you have Google Voice and want to have your voicemail end up there (transcribed) instead.  So anyway, the missing links:

To Activate Call Forwarding...
...If Busy (this is when you are dialing, etc, not when you are actually talking on the phone, if you have call waiting): *67*hone number to forward to, then hit "Call."
...If Not Answered: *61*hone number to forward to, then hit "Call."
...If Unreachable: *62*hone number to forward to, then hit "Call."

To Deactivate Call Forwarding...
...If Busy : #67#
...If Not Answered: #61#
...If Unreachable: #62#

Posted by Bill Greenberg At 4:19 PM | Digg This | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: iPhone

I wasn't going to write this post but every time I turn around I see someone else who "accidentally" upgraded their jailbroken iPhone to the latest firmware version, 3.1.  I'll be yet another blog saying: don't do it.  Unless you don't want a jailbroken phone any more.  And unless you may NEVER want an unlocked phone to use off of AT&T's network in the future (the latest firmware also includes a baseband update that may not be cracked.)  I really don't understand people who are technically savvy enough to jailbreak but just illiterate enough not to see all the warnings about not upgrading to the latest firmware.

Oh, and another thing - stop pestering the Dev Team!  They're working on the latest jailbreak and will release it when it's ready.  They won't release it before it's ready and they won't tell you when it's going to be ready.  So just wait and watch and leave 'em alone.

You have been warned...

Posted by Bill Greenberg At 3:42 PM | Digg This | Permalink | Comments (0)