Product Review: iPhone 3.0 Software Upgrade

When I heard about all that new features and enhancements Apple was going to make to their iPhone platform, I jumped for joy over the possibilities. Innovations such as push notifications and Spotlight search can make even smart use of all the technology they’ve crammed into this small form factor.

So I wanted with baited breath to download the update until the release date of June 17th. I waited patiently for the upload to be available first thing in the morning. “Nope, sorry,” said iTunes. I’d have to wait until later to download the software. And later it was. And later. And later…

A sum total of 2 hours later and only after a barrage of EULAs, iTunes User Agreements and signing into the iTunes Store, I finally managed to complete the download sucessfully. First, let me say that due to Apple’s archaic Agreement system in the Store, I wound up getting all the way though it the first time and having to start over. Not normally a painful process on the face of it. However, when you combine it with the fact that The folks in Cupertino must have been hosting the file on something with an equivalent speed of and Apple II, it made for an extremely painful use experience.

After the download was complete, upon installation onto my iPod Touch, it managed to force my iMac to kernel panic and in turn brick my iPod. Needless to say I was cursing the powers that be in Cupertino by that time. After a quick (20 minute) backup restore, I finally had it.

I had the opportunity to test the automatic wi-fi log in at a local Starbucks this morning. I launched my mail app and a screen popped up asking for my network ID and password.  Within a matter of seconds I could connect to the network.  It’s nice not to have to launch a new browser window each time to connect to the network, the bain of my existance if all I want to do is check email or send a tweet (things that don’t require an active browser session to be running).  The landscape keyboard is nice if I want to gamer-type instead of chicken-peck my way through a sentence.

Speaking of keyboard functionality, let’s stop the presses here with a simple phrase: Cut. Copy. Paste.  With those three words my life has become a whole lot simpler.  Yeah, I know that other smartphones may have had this functionality in the past, but this article isn’t about those phones.  With a simple tap-and-hold, a triple menu pops up displaying the three functions.  With a few strokes on my screen, I can now move text snippets or whole paragraphs between applications from Safari to Notes to Mail and back again.  The functionality doesn’t stop there; it’s easily compatible with any application you can type in.  Speaking of the Notes application, Notes Sync has now come and is a long-awaited feature for me.  The notes you have in OS X Mail now sync directly to your iPod or iPhone with this function and makes a real challenge for me to keep using Evernote.  For me it would be an exercise in futility (other than the Windows side of things) since I don’t have a camera on the iPod like the iPhone does.  Spotlight searching is a godsend on this device as well.  You can now search your whole iPod for emails, music, contacts, iCal appointments and anything in between.

There are some features that iPod Touch owners won’t receive.  Features like MMS and Internet Tethering are noticably missing from the iPod’s list of applications, due their requirement of a cell phone network.  As of this writing, I am not sure about the Voice Memos application, since I do not have an 2nd generation iPod Touch.  I would hope this feature works for iTunes control and for voice memo usage, but I haven’t heard any reports as of yet.  I’ll do some additional testing and post an update soon with this issue.

That’s pretty much my take on the new fuctionality in iPhone 3.0.  As always, I appreciate your comments and questions via commenting on this post or via email at john@techyuppie.com.

Apple serves Xserve update

Apple announced a major update to the Xserve line on Tuesday with a rev of Intel processors, Using the new Nehalem Xeon processors, it puts increased power efficiency and a option for a solid-state hard drive in the hands of enterprise and educational customers. Speeds of the Nehalem processor have been clocked to 2.93GHz with an increase of memory bandwidth of up to 2.4 times the current standard. All of this is achieved with an 19% reduction in idle power use.

The option of a solid-state boot drive uses a fraction of the power of traditional hard disks. With increased data pipelines, it delivers data 48 times faster on average without occupying a drive bay

Currently, Xserve units ship with an unlimited client edition of Leopard Server, which offers support for Mac OS X, Linux and Windows at no extra cost to the client. The Xserve standard configuration carries a suggested retail price of $2,999 (System specs | Standard configuration).

I wish you well, Steve.

Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve