The Great iPhone Blog

Filed under: Cellphones

While we first got wind of a EDGE Evolution rollout from Ericsson, Nokia Siemens isn't about to let one of those young upstart carrier equipment manufacturers steal its top-of-the-heap EDGE thunder, and has just announced the "launch" of its Dual Carrier EDGE software solution, marking the first steps of rolling out EDGE Evolution to the company's radio portfolio. The software upgrade doubles current EDGE speeds to 592kbps, and will be available from Q3 2008 onwards. Nokia Siemens won't stop there, though, EDGE is going to get another bump not too long after that to EGPRS 2, with download speeds of 1.2Mbps and uplink speeds up to 473kpbs. What's unclear at the moment is what existing phones (iPhone, we're looking at you) will be able to manage this with a firmware update, and which ones are going to be stuck in the past, but we're hoping for a good bit of the former.

[Via GigaOM]

 

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written by iPhone Fan

The standard rule of Apple patents applies: Just because it's on file, doesn't mean they're going to put it out. But I hope they do, America's fat ass needs this. It's an advanced fitness suite, like Nike + iPod cranked up to 1100. There's hardware that keeps tabs on your heart rate and other vitals, a rewards tracker, and a component for syncing up groups. All of it's connected by an iTunes-like app that tracks your current fitness level, goals, schedule and a whole mess of other stats—it'll even make a workout for you—which it syncs to your iPod or iPhone to follow at the gym.
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When you fire it up for the first time, it interviews you to get a sense of your health, even asking about your financial and social status (if they suck, you're stressed, and that does impact health). Then it spits out a regiment, based on how unhealthy you are and how healthy you wanna get. Then you just follow the routine on your iPod at the gym, with the hardware sensors providing real-time feedback on how hard you're getting your ass kicked.

Apple definitely has an interest in fitness gear, and with Nike branching out, this might just happen. Oh, and first person to make a horrible iBod pun gets banned. [AppleInsider]

written by iPhone Fan

Nokia Siemens Networks announced today that they have successfully doubled the speed of EDGE (to 592 kbps) using a software-based solution that is feasible for existing networks. Expected in the third quarter of 2008, Nokia will follow up with EGPRS 2, offering 1.2 Mbps and uploads reaching 473 kbps.

It's not the fastest tech on th block by any means, but it's potentially very good news to a slew of iPhone owners, as well as any manufacturer who'd like to compromise a bit of speed in the interest of battery life. [press release via gigaom]

written by iPhone Fan

There's a story in Wired about your favorite gadget blog. It's a feature and as you can see, on top of the writing the photography is bad ass.

Joe Pugliese, the same guy who shot El Jobso minutes after his iPhone announcement, shot me, Adrian and Chris in my apartment. I love this place, but as you can see in the not too different from real life shot, it makes for cramped conditions and I'm moving today. Ya, I'm still packing too, because someone broke the embargo on the Dash GPS and Wilson and I had to hustle to get a review together. Anyhow, I am digressing like mad because I've been up 20 hours so far, and the day is not close to being over.

This piece is kind of strange and meta because before I worked at Giz, I worked at Wired, where I was low man on the totem pole. I really learned a lot from the 15 or so senior editors there, but I didn't ever get to do any real work. So to be honored in the pages of my still favorite magazine, well, I never thought I'd see the day. Some people were concerned about bias, but I'm pretty sure they got both the praise and hits in pretty square.

For instance, there is such heavy emphasis on the admittedly interesting and bizarre CES prank. Meanwhile, there isn't one mention of the Gates interview. First time the guy admitted on record that Vista was not so good. I mean, come on, thats's interesting. And ok, Blu-ray coverage at Giz was second to none, but of course, that's too boring to mention. All we get described as is juvenile. Well there's a reason why I insist on Gizmodo being lighthearted, and it makes a lot of sense. First of all, we don't write about cancer. This is not a serious topic, even if the work is taken seriously. If you can't enjoy yourself writing about what are essentially man toys, well, I feel like that is utter lack of perspective on life.

Secondly, there's that great William Gibson quote hanging over the wall at Wired—"The future is here, its just unevenly distributed." That may be the case when it comes to purchasing technology or having access to it, but when it comes to media, especially free media, there's no reason to keep technology in the hands and minds of only the nerds or the rich. So we write for the common people. There are plenty of Giz readers that aren't hardcore geeks but love technology. I'm happy to dress up the tech in humor to get the point to more people, and the let the medicine go down smoother. Not everyone gets that.

(BTW, this is why I love Pogue videos. Funny thing, in the story, the man who sings songs about TiVo is quoted in the story as saying that gadget bloggers have to figure out what they want to be when we grow up. For me, when I grow up, I want to do exactly what Pogue does, but I am not musically gifted. I wouldn't call that growing up, though, Dave. I'd call it staying young. A good thing.)

On the other hand, Dan Lyons, Fake Steve, who is like some sort of Giz big brother at this point, totally gets what we do. Or he flatters me with his faith. Either way, I trust in his insight, so to be understood by him and misunderstood by so many others, well, I'd rather have Dan on my side than a bunch of commentards. (Not you guys, the guys we already banned and other twits in the press.)

But I'm nit picking. I don't think anyone can call the story anything but fair, generous and fun. And again, I'm pretty flattered and grateful anyone would think to write a feature on our little corner of the internet, let alone my favorite magazine where all my old mentors work.

OK, I gotta pack. Moving van is here in 3 hours and I have like a dozen boxes to go.

Did I mention I'm going on vacation next week, too? Can't come soon enough. I need to recharge the batteries!

Rambling is a late phase of exhaustion. [Wired]

written by iPhone Fan

Normally the headphones you use with your cellphone for music and chatting are small, looking something like the RadTech ones we posted earlier. These Boosted Mobile ones, however, go the complete opposite route and make it seem like you're some sort of cool urban dude or DJ while you're answering the phone. Not only do the four headphone styles look nice, they've got a built-in mic a little bit down the cord with a built-in switch as well. You can get your own at Urban Outfitter.

written by iPhone Fan

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

 

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written by iPhone Fan

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

 

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written by iPhone Fan

Another day, another analyst making crazy predictions about Apple products that most likely aren't true. Today it's Ken Dulaney of Gartner saying the second generation iPhone will have an OLED display instead of the current LCD display. Where did Ken get this wacky idea? "'Rumors' overheard in Asia." Here's our take on it.

1) OLED in a display the size of an iPhone is expensive. EXPENSIVE.
2) OLED sucks under sunlight right now. The iPhone is awesome under sunlight. They're not going to trade in for a crappier technology.
3) Apple doesn't use unproven technology. Until lots of phones have OLED, count on Apple sticking with cheaper (and very usable) LCDs.

[Apple Insider]

written by iPhone Fan

Another day, another analyst making crazy predictions about Apple products that most likely aren't true. Today it's Ken Dulaney of Gartner saying the second generation iPhone will have an OLED display instead of the current LCD display. Where did Ken get this wacky idea? "'Rumors' overheard in Asia." Oh, Ken. Here's why we don't think this is true.

1) OLED in a display the size of an iPhone is expensive. EXPENSIVE.
2) OLED sucks under sunlight right now. The iPhone is awesome under sunlight. They're not going to trade in for a crappier technology.
3) Apple doesn't use unproven technology. Until lots of phones have OLED, count on Apple sticking with cheaper (and very usable) LCDs.

[Apple Insider]

written by iPhone Fan

If the $100ish V-Moda iPhone headphones are slightly out of your price range, RadTech's got a cheaper alternative for your iPhone listening and talking needs. It's essentially the same as the V-Modas or the default iPhone headphones: a pair of earbuds with a microphone on board so you can take a call. For $24.95, we don't expect great quality audio, but they look similar enough to the V-Modas in appearance and much more comfortable than Apple's standard ones. So what's our recommendation? As long as this doesn't suck in terms of audio quality (wait for a review), you should probably pick one up. [RadTech]

written by iPhone Fan