MobileViews Blog

Category: Apple

  • iPhone 3G/iPod touch Scientific Calculator

    Sigh, here’s another example of Apple showing Microsoft “how to do it right.” The new iPhone 3G (and updated iPhone and iPod touch) got an enhancement to the original simple 4 function calculator. If you hold the iPhone/iPod touch in portrait mode, you see the simple calculator.

    However, if you turn it to landscape orientation, you see the new scientific calculator.

    Meanwhile, the calculator on Windows Mobile Pocket PCs has not changed since 1996 (see below).

    The freeware version of Calc98 looks ok in portrait mode (see below). However, it does not rescale for landscape view. Apparently, the for-fee version does this correctly. Microsoft should just buy the rights to Calc98 and use it to replace the outdated calculator in Windows Mobile.

  • Why is Windows Mobile WiFi so Sucky?

    I’ve been using my iPod touch (upgraded to the 2.0 firmware) at a number of hotspots during the past week. I’ve also been carrying a variety of Windows Mobile WiFi enabled devices. One of the things that has become very clear to me is that the iPod touch acquires access points much much faster than any WiMo device I’ve tried. I’d say that that the iPod touch is generally ready to roll in under 10 seconds. WiMo devices seem to take 30 to 60 seconds just to acquire an access point and then be ready to use (browse, email, etc.). That, of course, is when a WiMo device acquires any signal at all. I’ve run into several public access points where the WiMo Pocket PC (Professional Edition) could not even lock into the WAP. The iPod touch, on the other hand, was working within seconds.

    Since the Safari web-browser on the iPod touch is so much better than Internet Explorer on the Pocket PC or Smartphone, it is a no-brainer decision to use the iPod touch when wandering about hot spot areas.

  • Vote iPhone Apps Up or Down at Lockergnome

    If you head over to a LockerGnome web page at…

    http://iphone.lockergnome.com/

    …you can (after registering) vote iPhone apps up or down Digg-style.

  • NBC Videos for iPhone and Windows Mobile


    NBC’s mobile portal provides streaming video (including full episodes of some shows) on both Windows Mobile devices and the iPhone (and iPod touch). Head over to…

    m.nbc.com

    …to see the site and videos. If you use an iPhone or iPod touch, you’ll be redirected to a site specific for them (see the screenshot above). You need to be patient with the video streams even when using a wireless LAN. It took about 30 seconds for it to buffer on my HTC Advantage. Then, the audio stream started without video for another 10 seconds or so.

  • Upgraded my iPod touch to 2.0


    I updated my iPod touch to 2.0 this morning. The process (which cost $9.95 + applicable taxes) was relatively smooth though it took a long time because of the steps to restore the touch to factory conditions before flashing it to 2.0. This was all automated, however. So, the process was not painful except for watching all this happen. The update file was a 222.6MB download.

    You can see from the screencap above that I’ve already added a few of the free apps from the iTunes App Store. BTW, the screen capture procedure (press and hold Home button, then press the Power/Sleep button procedure courtesy of Gizmodo) works on the iPod touch as well as the iPhone 3G.

    All my media files (podcasts, etc.) were wiped out during the upgrade process. But, various settings like my WiFi and mail setting were preserved. So, I was back in the wireless LAN as soon the upgrade finished. Moving media back to the iPod touch took a while. So, make sure you have 30 to 60 free for the process of buying/performing the upgrade.

  • iPod touch 2.0 Upgrade Available (But, I’m Not Biting Yet)

    According to various blog posts, the iPod touch 2.0 upgrade is finally available for purchase (US$9.95) and download. But, I learned my lesson from the first iPod touch 1st day download fiasco when the site balked, charged me twice, and didn’t actually update anything for a while. I’m going to sit and wait for a little while before updating my touch this time.