Tag: iphone

  • Navigon iPhone GPS App Review

    People living in Silicon Valley are spoiled. With 3G data speeds, I’ve been able to rely on Google Maps for most trips outside the daily commute. However, as the Arizona trip approached, I knew that one lousy data connection and I was going to be lost. With that in mind, I purchased the Navigon GPS app for the iPhone.

    Fortunately, I did not wait until the last minute because downloading the app and its associated maps took a long, long time. Besides the map, there is an additional 194.8 MB of required files. I pretty much had to leave the iPhone alone and let it pull down maps overnight for all the states I was going to be traveling in–California, Nevada and Arizona. If you discover that you were missing maps, like I did, then pray that the hotel you are staying in offers a fast Wi-Fi connection. The Courtyard Page at Lake Powell really saved me when I discovered the night before I was heading out that I was missing the Utah map.

    For the most part, the Navigon app is somewhat straightforward. However, if you are accustomed to entering free-form addresses into Google, then Navigon’s approach of requiring the user to select a state, then a city, then a destination may feel archaic. I experienced a slight learning curve in terms of getting acclimated to the voice directions. Took a couple tries at first to get on the highway, but once I achieved that milestone, I didn’t experience any further problems. The issue was that I was not used to thinking in terms of feet, so I had some difficulty at first in gauging how far away the next turn was coming.

    At the Grand Canyon, the Navigon app was indispensable. Since the Grand Canyon Village does not have a traditional urban grid layout, figuring out which direction I was heading was not obvious, especially at night. The Navigon app took me from the highway to the hotel entrance without problems. The only hiccup I encountered was when heading out along the Desert View Drive. I always ended up at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center without the Navigon app telling me to turn right before the parking lot.

    Two other problems I encountered were entering GPS coordinates for The View Hotel in Monument Valley and finding a place to eat in Page, Arizona. To learn how to enter GPS coordinates, I had to depend on Google. Google told me that More > Coordinates would lead to the form for entering GPS coordinates. Not the Addresses or POI button, but the unintuitive More button. The POI button is for selecting a hotel or restaurant nearby or in a city. If the establishment is not in the Navigon database, you can perform a local search using Google. Using the local search option lead me to the wrong place while I was in Page, Arizona. If the Navigon app was integrated with Yelp or TripAdvisor, I would have like it even better.

    As it turned out, the Navigon app was absolutely indispensable. I’m not sure that I ever saw the 3G icon show up during the trek. I was mostly on EDGE, which is not much better than no connection at all. And, of course, don’t forget to bring a phone charger.

  • Apple TV

    I’m perfectly happy viewing videos on a MacBook Pro, iPad or iPhone (and probably in that order). However, sometimes, the TV really is the best device. In this instance, I wanted the kids to be able to watch video from their dance class so that they could follow along and practice daily. Obviously, this situation called for some hands-free viewing and the iPad and iPhone were easily disqualified. As glorious as the 17″ screen on the MacBook Pro can be, it is still too small for some pint sized kids.

    So, the face-off was between an Apple TV or an Apple Digital AV Adapter. Since the Apple Digital AV Adapter only works with the iPad, and not the iPhone 3GS or MacBook Pro, the Apple TV prevailed.

    While the Apple TV comes with a remote, you really need the free Remote app. If you want to search for YouTube videos via Apple TV, the virtual keyboard from the Remote app will make life remarkable easier. Using the standard remote to scroll through the alphabet to enter search terms or passwords is maddening.

    What Works, What Does Not

    Overall, I like the Apple TV, but it is not perfect. You may have a different experience depending on your network set-up. I have an Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station at one end of the house and an Apple AirPort Express Base Station at the other end for wall-to-wall Wi-Fi. The MacBook Pro usually sits in the same room as the Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station, while the Apple TV is closer to the Apple AirPort Express Base Station. If the iPad, iPhone or MacBook Pro is in the same room as the Apple TV, the video streaming works really fast. I don’t mind toting an iPad or iPhone around the house, so that isn’t a problem. However, I certainly do not have all my video and audio files stored on the iPad or iPhone. If I’m trying to stream video off the MacBook Pro, I end up seeing the spinning cursor if Apple TV has to pass through the AirPort Express and the AirPort Extreme to reach the computer. And, by spinning cursor, I mean minutes (instead of seconds) of white lines looping in a circle while the kids grow increasingly restless.

    As a long-time Mac user, I certainly did not anticipate this, particularly since I’m using Mac products from the Apple TV to the various AirPort devices to reach the MacBook Pro. Most things just work. Unfortunately, in this case, there are a few hiccups.

  • iPhone Video Panorama App

    The Video Panorama application for the iPhone offers a simple method for generating panoramic photos. First, use the app to take a video across a panorama. The app then generates a panoramic photo presumably by stitching together still images from the video.

    When Video Panorama works, it generates a decent panoramic photo, such as the intersection, Suzhou garden and stone gate photo. However, the process is not entirely bug-free, as evidenced by the uneven horizon of the Shanghai Bund, the shifted exposure in the Nanjing bridge photo, as well as the curved roof line at the Yonghe Temple.

    Loved the simplicity of the app, but I need a way to work around the limitations.



  • Cathay Pacific EmPower Laptop Charger

    Traveling across the Pacific Ocean used to be a grueling experience. However, the long flight can be made more tolerable with an iPhone or an iPad in hand. However, what if you run out of juice half way across the ocean? From the Cathay Pacific website, I thought I needed an EmPower charger, so I ordered a Kensington K38037US Auto/Air Power Inverter with Two USB Ports for Mac or PC. But, once I was aboard the plane, I realized that I had made a mistake because I didn’t need a separate EmPower charger. Right above the EmPower outlet was a standard two-prong outlet. I didn’t need to recharge the iPad for the Trans-Pacific flight, but I was able to recharge the iPhone whenever the battery ran low using the regular wall outlet charger.

  • Loss of Supermajority – There’s an App for That

    On the day that Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat went to the Republicans, the White House launched its new The White House iPhone app. However, parents beware. The White House is not safe for children because it may display “infrequent/mild realistic violence” and “infrequent/mild alcohol, tobacco or drug use or references.”

  • California Road Conditions

    The California Department of Transportation offers a fast-loading page for looking up road conditions. If you plan on making a ski run to Lake Tahoe this winter, you could select “Add to Home Screen” to create a button for that page on your iPhone. For example, I-80, which runs from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe, currently shows the following alerts:

    This highway information is the latest reported as of Sunday, December 13, 2009 at 23:35 .
    
    
    
    
    I 80  
        [IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA] 
        A HIGH WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT AT THE SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE  
    /IN SAN FRANCISCO/ (SAN FRANCISCO,ALAMEDA CO) - TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED  
    FOR CAMPERS, TRAILERS OR PERMIT LOADS  
    
        [IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA & THE SIERRA NEVADA] 
    **FOR EASTBOUND TRAFFIC: 
        CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON ALL VEHICLES EXCEPT 4-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLES WITH SNOW 
    TIRES ON ALL 4 WHEELS FROM 1 MI EAST OF BAXTER (PLACER CO) TO THE  
    DONNER LAKE INTERCHANGE (NEVADA CO) 
    
        EASTBOUND TRUCKS ARE BEING SCREENED AT APPLEGATE (PLACER CO) - DRIVERS MUST  
    HAVE MINIMUM CHAINS IN THEIR POSSESSION IN ORDER TO PROCEED - PERMIT LOADS ARE 
    PROHIBITED 
    
    **FOR WESTBOUND TRAFFIC: 
        CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON ALL VEHICLES EXCEPT 4-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLES WITH SNOW 
    TIRES ON ALL 4 WHEELS FROM TO THE DONNER LAKE INTERCHANGE (NEVADA CO) WHITMORE  
    (PLACER CO)  
    
        WESTBOUND TRUCKS ARE BEING SCREENED 5 MI WEST OF RENO (WASHOE CO) - DRIVERS  
    MUST HAVE MINIMUM CHAINS IN THEIR POSSESSION IN ORDER TO PROCEED - PERMIT LOADS 
    ARE PROHIBITED 
    

    Unfortunately, after you search for a particular highway, the website displays the results without changing the URL. So, how can you bookmark a particular highway?

    http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roadscell.cgi?roadnumber=80,280,680,101,580,680

    This covers all the major routes from the San Francisco Bay Area to Lake Tahoe. You can manually enter any highway numbers into the URL string and bookmark that page. Better than typing in a bunch of highway numbers into the search field every time.

  • iPhone Camera Quality

    I’ve been using the iPhone 3GS for a few months now. This past weekend was the first time that the quality of the iPhone camera has impressed me. So, what opened my eyes to the possibilities of this handy camera?

    Well, I finally took a photo worth printing. Chase Jarvis is absolutely correct that The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You. And, while the Nikon D50 remains my primary camera, I only have it with me when I plan on taking photos. On the other hand, the iPhone is the camera that is always by my side. So, for my favorite photo, the kids were dressed and seated next to a small pumpkin on the front porch. The lighting was naturally and wonderfully diffuse with no hot spots. When I saw the kids naturally posed, I grabbed the closest camera available to capture the moment. If I ran inside the house to get the Nikon, the kids would have probably dispersed. Anyways, fortunately, the kids remained perfectly still. From looking at the 5×7 print, I would not guess that photo came from the iPhone. It’s that good.

  • iPhone RunKeeper App

    I recently installed the RunKeeper Free application on my iPhone 3GS. I’ve used it a couple times to track my walks around the neighborhood, as well as a few short cycling trips. Generally, the application has worked pretty well. It tracks the time and distance of each workout. Afterwards, I can view my exercise log on the RunKeeper website, which offers route maps, calories expended and other wonderful data. Last weekend, RunKeeper recorded my best workout ever.

    runkeeper

    In a feat that Lance Armstrong would have a difficult time replicating, I biked 63 miles in 23 minutes with an average speed of 161 miles per hour. Or, that’s what RunKeeper reported. The strange thing is that I’ve biked this route before and RunKeeper had given more reasonable numbers previously. I wonder if the overcast skies left RunKeeper all confused.

  • iPhone 3GS

    I recently upgraded from an iPhone (2G) to an iPhone 3GS. Wow! I heard nothing but bad news about AT&T after the iPhone 3G launch and was really concerned that I would be stuck with a 3G phone on an EDGE connection. So far, I have not experienced any major problems. I have been able to pick up a 3G signal whenever I am outside the house, which is basically when I need it most. Inside, if I turn off Wi-Fi, I am still stuck on EDGE, so no improvement there.

    First, the iPhone 3GS is significantly faster than the iPhone 2G. Applications launch faster and games appear to run smoother. However, I blame some of the lag on the iPhone 3.0 software. After I installed the iPhone 3.0 software on the original iPhone, I discovered a noticeable lag whenever I selected the iPod button. However, I was not about to revert back to 2.x. So, I will say that the iPhone 3GS is perceptibly faster than the iPhone 2G.

    However, the real improvement is in the data speeds. When I am out on the road and really need a piece of information, EDGE is better than nothing. Google, with its spartan interface, runs pretty fast on EDGE. So, I can still run some basic queries. Plus, I had grown accustomed to the limitations of EDGE and knew better than to give it more than it could handle. With 3G, the gloves are off. I can now exploit the full potential of the iPhone. For example, I needed to lookup the Apple Store on a map earlier today. I knew that I was only 1-2 blocks away, but was uncertain as to the direction. I think the iPhone 3GS was able to display a map of my location and stick a pin on the Apple Store in seconds. I was totally amazed because the iPhone 2G would have taken 20-30 seconds to download the map. I’ve been through more than my fair share of waiting for maps to download in the past two years. 3GS. Totally worth it.

  • iPhone Design

    iphone-bento

    Looks like a bento box. Yum.