Bob’s Blog

I’d like to preface this by saying that I am not an Apple fanboy. I don’t own a Mac (I have a homemade PC with Vista on it) and I’ve never owned an iPod (I have a Zune and before that, a Dell DJ), so the concept of buying an Apple cell phone is a bit odd for me. However, I don’t have any allegiance to any specific cellphone makers – I just want the best cell phone for me.

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I’ve been quiet the last month because I started a new job at Big Fish Games in Seattle and, to be honest, there’s really not much to say. Let’s see…

The iPhone 3G model is coming out in 12 days and I’m totally buying into the hype, but I’m desperately trying to stick to the Bold side of things.

This morning, for example, I was PISSED that the Javelin (T-Mo’s 9000 that looks like a Curve that’ll be released sometime next year)  is going to have an OS update that will allow users to boot their Berry into Safe Mode, to be able to uninstall bad themes or programs.

Are you kidding me?

I was kidding with myself last week that the Bold vs iPhone 3G debate is like the Mac vs PC debate, but that joke just became a reality: Apple wants you to use the iPhone in a specific way and they DO NOT want you to stray from that at all. They’re even doing in-store activations to try and thwart jailbreaking, but I’m sure that someone will find a way around that. Then we have the Bold that, while not as pretty looking as the iPhone, is a workhorse and will do exactly what you need it to do, and fast. You can download whatever the f- you want to, but if you brick your phone, well, you can always reinstall the OS.

I’ve been giving it a lot of thought today and after a lunchtime chat with a friend, I’ve decided I’m going to stick with the Bold. I’d rather brick my unit and have to reinstall the OS than have a phone that won’t allow me to do anything else to it except maybe download some decent apps from the not-yet-proven-but-sounds-good-on-paper theory iPhone.

I’m writing all this stuff down now so that when September 4th comes and I’m standing in an AT&T store, debating about which phone I’m going to get, I can surf to this page and remind myself that I AM GOING TO GET A BLACKBERRY BOLD BECAUSE IT’S MORE OPEN THAN AN IPHONE, DESPITE WHAT ANYONE SAYS.

Oh, and if that’s not enough:

• Status light
• Hardware keyboard
• Removable memory
• Removable battery
• MMS (even though I don’t use it now, I might!)
• PIN Messenger (I’ve got TWO friends that have BB’s now!)
• Multitasking
• IM
• Proven OS and hardware by a company making them for years longer than the iPhone

The list goes on.

One cannot deny the gorgeous screen, UI and simplicity of the iPhone, but that’s where it ends with me. I want a phone that can do e-mail and texting and light web with ease. I don’t need an mp3 player that can surf the web… I need a phone that can receive and send e-mails and texts as easily as humanly possible and has the ability to look at sites like IMDB or Wikipedia for quick knowledge goodness, plus full Google (mail, calendar, etc) integration. The Bold can do that and more.

I really should buy a 4gb microSD card now, just so I have one and can “seal the deal” that I’m gonna get a Bold, but the truth of the matter is that I’m not going to use the Bold for media (I have my Zune 80 for that) and the Bold already has 1gb of onboard memory which will be PLENTY for my custom mp3 ringtones.

Speaking of ringtones, I need to get cracking soon on making my new ones for my Bold; I don’t have the original ringtones I uploaded to my Samsung A900. So much for thinking ahead back then.

It was officially announced yesterday, but I’m posting about it today. Deal.

http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrybold/features/#experience

I must admit: That’s one sexy machine right there and it’s made me waver back towards the BB camp yet again.

I went to AT&T’s website today and checked out the data plans. It’s $20 for iPhone’s data plan and it’s $30 for the BlackBerry Personal plan. Why, you ask? Because AT&T tethers the Enterprise e-mail onto the plan and you have NO choice in the matter – that’s how it works. So, basically, if I want a BlackBerry instead of the iPhone, I’m going to spend an extra $10 a month or $240 over my total 2 year period. I’m not sure how I feel about that at this time. I was talking with my friend James about it (who’s getting a BB Pearl this weekend) and he basically says that $10 is nothing (3 latte’s a week, but I don’t drink coffee that much anymore) if I really want one. He’s got a point.

Still, the iPhone 2’s release is imminent and the WWDC event is next month in San Francisco, so I’m still trying to figure out the best phone before September.

Another thing to consider is release dates. I’m sure the iPhone 2 will be out before the end of June, but no one is sure about when the BB Bold is coming out. There’s going to be an engine version 4.5 for the current BB’s released “this summer” and then the Bold will be released shortly thereafter with a completely overhauled engine version 4.6 and I’m sure they want adequate release time in-between. Kevin from Crackberry.com thinks that the Bold MIGHT be released in September. That kinda sucks because I REALLY didn’t want to be with Sprint one second longer than I had to, but I want to wait and see what the reviews are for the Bold. Again, Kevin at Crackberry.com already reviewed the Bold with very, very positive remarks, but he’s a huge BB crackhead and I want to see reviews from more sites, like CNET, Yahoo!, Engadget, Gizmodo and any others I can find. The pickier the better, like Boy Genius. He’s ruthless and totally honest and I love it… a blogger after my own heart.

Time will tell. I’m too ADD for this crap. Oh well… this is my blog about being unhealthily obsessed with gadgets. So far, so good.

Speaking of gadgets, I got my Zune80 all up and running pretty good and I must say, I’m pretty impressed. The screen quality is great, as is the sound quality and the Zune software isn’t nearly as much of a POS as the earlier releases were. Thank you, government economic relief checks! Speaking of that, the rest of that money is going towards my future cell phone, so thanks times 2!

Leaks are abound on the internet about the new iPhone 2 and the new Blackberry 9000, making my decision even tougher about which one to choose. I know I sound like a broken record, but as a self-proclaimed tech geek, I’ve never found it this hard to choose one over the other, especially with regards to a cellphone. I guess that’s a sign of the times, eh? The BB9000 specs were leaked yesterday and the new dimensions and other assorted things about the iPhone 2 have been leaked, along with a possible price cut only at AT&T stores. Since that’s where I’d be getting it in September anyway, this is definitely a good thing. I’m totally torn and it’s really pissing me off!

Every day I go back and forth on which to choose. The BB9000 will have a removable battery, external MicroSD storage, QWERTY keyboard, but is mainly for “push” e-mail for business-class people, which I won’t be using it for. The iPhone has that kickass screen, full web browser, OTA (Over The Air) downloading of not only iTunes songs (which then sync back to your PC when you sync), but of 3rd party applications in one safe easy place. It’ll have Microsoft Exchange support (“push” e-mail like the BB) come June, but it’s touchscreen-based which is a bit worrysome and I won’t be using the iPod portion much. Maybe the video portion, but I’ve got my own mp3 player for audio related stuff. I feel like I’d be paying for features I’m never going to use. I’m mainly going to text, e-mail and surf the web. Both of the phones do that in spades, so it’s REALLY frustrating.

I know I’ve got 30 days to decide what to do after I purchase one, but I really don’t want to go through an exchange hassle just to re-learn another phone… I’d rather make up my mind before that happens. I know 3 people that have iPhones and they all love them and I know 3 people that have Blackberries, but they’re all my co-workers and mainly only use it for work, so that doesn’t really help me.

I’m also not sure that I like the rollerball on the Blackberry vs touchscreen navigation. I do like just tapping an icon to run a program versus having to scroll the trackball and click down to start a program. When it comes to typing, I’m not sure I’ll totally dig the touchscreen over a dedicated QWERTY keyboard. I read an interesting take on that this morning though… that the BB keyboard is always there, even when you don’t need it, whereas the iPhone touchscreen keyboard is only there when you need it and the rest of the time it’s a screen for viewing goodness. That’s a damned good way of looking at it that I never thought of.

The obsessing continues!

I posted this to my blog on LJ, but since my blog here is more techy (read: obsession) based on my next cellphone and mp3 player, I thought I’d repost it here. That way, in a few months when I forget what I did last night, or somehow get jaded to another device, I can read back and remember what I did “oh so long ago”:

I had to go to Bellevue Square to get my sunglasses fixed, get some cash for tomorrow and check out Gamestop. While I was at the mall, I decided to hit the Apple Store and check out the iPhone for the second time, but this time, give it a real run-through.

I walked in the front door, was greeted by some teenager kid that was very nice, then looked immediately to my right and there they were… 6 iPhones, waiting to be abused. I walked around the table to the corner iPhone (out of the way of everyone, basically) and began mucking around with it.

I now see why everyone loves it. It is so easy to navigate any menu, setting or program and just as easy to exit out (the only button on the face of the iPhone is the Home button) and pop into another. I checked out the internet, the phone settings, mail, texting, the iPod stuff, plus the Notes, Weather and Time applications. I can see why everyone wants to mimic it, yet no one can get it right. I know that the OS inside it is basically a mini version of Leopard (close enough), which explains a lot, but still! It just works well.

It does have its drawbacks though. The CPU is slow to sometimes recognize when I turned it on its side for Cover Flow or the internet. It has issues in certain programs, just “waking up” or activating. I’m hoping that’s just because it’s a display unit that’s been messed with for months by everyone in Bellevue. The thing is a fingerprint magnet and a half. I definitely need to get a protective plastic sheet and a case anyway. There’s no way my $400+ phone is going to get damaged in any way that I can prevent ahead of time.

Oh! That’s another drawback: No phone insurance. You can’t get monthly insurance through AT&T, but Apple does have AppleCare, but it’s very limited in what it covers and if my phone breaks I have to send it to them and use a loaner for up to 2 weeks. Not very good. Hopefully that won’t happen to me, but knowing my luck with electronics, it will. I’d definitely get AppleCare along with my case and protective shield.

The thing was fairly solid though… that’s a good thing. It didn’t feel like it was going to break by me mashing my fingers into its face.

The touchscreen wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it’d be. It’s got this cool feature where if you press down on a key, a little bubble comes up with that letter in it, but if you slide your finger to the next one, it changes to that one, so if you tap and hold the wrong letter, you can just slide to the right one, then let go to type that letter. Snazzy. There’s a few other things that impressed me with the typing, too, but I won’t go into those here. This thing has been out almost a year so I’m sure the people that know about the iPhone already know this shit. Just know that I was impressed.

Locking the phone is as easy as pressing the Sleep button on the top of the unit. Touching the screen or the side buttons while it’s asleep does nothing – only a press of the Sleep button again, then a slide across the unlock button will wake it. You can receive phone calls and listen to music while it’s asleep though. That’s very cool. I liked that a lot.

I’m definitely considering getting the V2 version of the iPhone when my contract is up in September. I’ve been hearing rumors that it’s going to have the same CPU inside, which bums me out a little bit due to the performance issues I listed earlier, unless they’ll be using the same CPU, but actually run it at the default clock speed it’s supposed to. Right now it is de-clocked to 412mhz from 620mhz, which I’m sure is to extend battery life, but if they’re planning on adding 3G, they’re going to have to address battery life issues anyway… maybe they’ll up the CPU speed. That’s my only major complaint with the iPhone. As a hardcore PC user that’s always scoffed at anything Apple, that’s damned impressive.

I was thinking on Monday and Tuesday that the Blackberry might be more suited for me, but then I flip-flopped as usual back and forth between the two. CTIA is also going on right now and Sprint is releasing a phone called the Instinct that’s basically an iPhone clone, with a few added goodies like removable battery, microSD card, haptic feedback, two included batteries, more button customization and EV-DO Rev A technology. The phone is slated for release in June for around $300, according to several sites.

I was trying to find any and all information I could about it and the things I gleaned were the HTML browser sucks ass, it doesn’t have any landscape/portrait sensor in it (stuck in portrait for menus; landscape for internet) and the touchscreen stuff kinda sucks. Fair enough… why buy the clone when the original is tons better?

I then went to AT&T last night and was looking at the data plans. The iPhone plans are $20 a month for 200 texts and unlimited e-mail and internet. A Blackberry plan is $35. That’s an extra $15 to have push mail. Mail automatically pushed to me every second of the day.

I don’t need that feature for an extra $15 a month. I am NOT that worried about my e-mail.

So, for now, I’m back in the iPhone (version 2, natch!) camp. I’m going to see my Dad this Saturday. I think afterwards, I’m going to hit Bellevue Square and check out the iPhone. For all the research I’ve been doing on it, I still have yet to touch one. That needs to change.

1. I told myself that I wasn’t going to buy an iPod as a primary music listening device, but if I got an iPhone, I wouldn’t have to spend another $250 on a different mp3 player and carry two devices around. That saves money, time and that saves me from carrying two gadgets around. Also, the iPhone/iPod does Gapless Playback, so I don’t have to worry about that feature.

(JR is SO going to say I told you so – we fought about this very point for hours)

For example… If I had it plugged in to my stereo and a call came through, I’ve got a Bluetooth headset… all I’d have to do is take the call. The music is automatically muted, I take the call, end the call, then the music fades back in and I didn’t do a damned thing. That’s hard to argue.

Battery life is a worry, but I’d have the USB charger with me, as well as a car charger, so is it THAT big of a deal? About the only scary thing is if I had to send it to Apple for repair, then I’m out a cell phone and an mp3 player for a week.

This will take thought. The obsession continues!

2. Cases. I was looking on Amazon and on Apple’s site for cases and here are the 3 that I like the most, in descending order. The only potential problem I see is that if there’s a V2 version of the iPhone released this year (if they release a V2 at all and I’m not just talking out my ass), the size of the unit may change, so consider this a “If I got an iPhone right now, these are the cases I’d choose from”.

Griffin Reflect

Speck ToughSkin

Speck SeeThru

The good news is that apparently the Apple store in the local mall has these cases, so when/if we get iPhones, I can hit the Apple store and check them out.

The obsession continues. Deal.

I spent a majority of the weekend starting a huge project. I’m transferring all of our camcorder DV tapes to WMV files via Windows Movie Maker, then eventually I’ll burn them all to DVD. In between capturings, I did a ton of housecleaning, played some Guitar Hero 3 on the Wii and did a few other random things.

On Sunday, I transferred 2 more tapes, did more laundry, went to the driving range, then went to Fry’s to look at AT&T’s cell phones. This time, I specifically spent about 20 minutes with the Blackberry Curve. There’s something about that trackball that just doesn’t sit well with me. I also spent about 30 minutes on Apple’s website, looking at all the iPhone videos again. I’ve told Michelle that it seems, to me, like the Blackberry is an advanced corporate e-mailing phone, where the iPhone is the general consumers e-mail phone. The only thing that the iPhone doesn’t have that the BB does is real-time push e-mail. It seems that the iPhone can be set to manual check, or 15/30/1 hour intervals. Really, that’s MORE than enough. I don’t need to sit and hit refresh on my e-mail. When it comes, it comes. Usually if I’m out and about, I’m not holding my phone in my hand hitting refresh until a new mail comes. Usually it’s when I have downtime that I get a minute or so to check to see if I have mail. Having the iPhone set to every 15 minutes (or even every 30 minutes) seems more than enough.

I dunno… the more and more I think about it, the more I think the iPhone may win out.

Full web browser
Full HTML e-mails
Fully functioning iPod (I’d use it for videos so I don’t have to lug my PSP around all the time)
Save webpages to the home screen.
One touch to every app on the machine.

Hopefully by the time we upgrade in September, there will be a 3G version out. That’s pretty much the only thing that’s holding me back from being 100% behind the iPhone. Then again, would EDGE be that bad? My current phone through Sprint has EVDO and AT&T’s EDGE is slower than EVDO. Does that REALLY matter? Does taking an extra 10 seconds to load something really make a difference? At least I’m still on the internet! ON MY PHONE!

The other thing is that touchscreen. Typing on that thing, in my head, seems difficult, but after watching a keyboard video on Apple’s site, they really did their phonework (see what I did there?) on how to make it as painless as possible.

I really like the way the iPhone handles contacts and the quick call list. Genius.

I think I’m back to the iPhone camp… this week. Stay tuned to see what happens next week.

Honestly, it comes down to what’s available in September. Until then, I’m just doing as much research as possible. The June iPhone update will be damned interesting.