The mbta finally gave us a pay by iPhone app parking thing. It's pretty awesome.
Strangely my normal morning train is packed so tight. Every seat. People in the aisle from front to back. This never happens. At least I got a seat.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
"T" Observations: MBTA Launches "Park Mobile" Pay by phone app
"T" Observations: MBTA Launches "Park Mobile" Pay by phone app
This is awesome. No more cash needed for all the places I park.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
iPhone 4 - Hit or Miss
I'm a bad blogger. Been a while since I updated, but here goes.
iPhone4.
Do you like your current iPhone? If so, you'll like the new one.
Reasons why it's better:
The screen. The screen reminds you of the crystal clear screens of a bygone era at Apple. When your PC was running 800x600, the Apple monitors were up into the 1024+ range. Online pictures don't do it justice. Holding an iPhone 3GS next to the 4 really shows the major difference.
The Processor: if you've got a 3G, this is a HUGE step up. It's a pretty good step up from the 3GS as well
The Camera: Better quality photos, a flash, frontside camera for self portrats and facetime. HD videos!
The Design: It's pretty... real real pretty. It feels good in your hand and it's shiny.
Reasons why I hate it:
Hate is a strong word here, but here's the problems I have with it (one is an iOS4 issues, the rest are iPhone4 specific)
Email - After the iOS4 update, my exchange mailbox will suddenly just stop working. I installed a patch that was supposed to fix it, but it didn't. Anytime it stops working, I have to reboot it. I've been told iOS4.1 will fix this. Good QA before a roll out, Apple.
The Design- Ahem:
The design of the outer band while pretty, is poor in terms of reception.
Now, according to Apple, this is just a poor algorithm in the antennae strength display. In reality, it's a flaw. I've "DEATH GRIPPED" a few phone calls so far (round about 3). That's a lot considering I don't talk on my phone a lot. Now, the Apple defense is this: Even though you SEE 5 bars, you're really only getting 2 or 3 in some areas... so the phone TRICKS you into thinking you have good reception and you take your calls and then they die when you put your hand over that death corner... either way. If I hold it wrong, the phone drops immediately. At least with the 3GS you could sense the call was going to die by either an audio breakup or a few seconds of odd silence.
So, the fix? put a case on it... yeah... take that beautiful design and slap a piece of plastic or rubber over it... now it'll look just like your old iPhone with a case on it... yay.
The DESIGN!!! - Ok, I mentioned how pretty and shiny it is... but the problem there is that it's glass on BOTH SIDES. This causes two problems: you drop it, you have a 100% chance of it landing glass side down now... and a PRETTY good chance of it shattering. The second problem? it's slippery. I've never felt so TERRIFIED of taking a phone out of my pocket as I have with this phone. Again, a case will alleviate this fear, but you lose the design.
The camera: Still sucks in low light, even with the flash. If your subject is moving even a LITTLE bit, it's going to be blurry. I have yet to capture a good photo of my kid at night or inside.
Also, I noticed the other day while trying to film some festivities that after 2 minutes of having the video camera on (but not recording) the camera area on the band got VERY hot to the touch. It also ate my battery at a rate of about 1% every 2 minutes.
I'm also never sure if I'm getting good sound with the video. I haven't mastered the grip where I'm NOT blocking the microphone yet.
However, none of the things I've mentioned KILL the phone for me. They're just annoyances.
Take into account the cost of the plans (this is my work phone, so I only really care about the device itself) and the cost of the phone and figure if it's right for you.
I would PERSONALLY not buy one for myself based on the cost of the plans and the carrier. I'm a T-mobile fan (if you can believe that). I'd buy one if I could get it on T-mobile with one of their plans.
Overall Rating - Annoyingly awesome
iPhone4.
Do you like your current iPhone? If so, you'll like the new one.
Reasons why it's better:
The screen. The screen reminds you of the crystal clear screens of a bygone era at Apple. When your PC was running 800x600, the Apple monitors were up into the 1024+ range. Online pictures don't do it justice. Holding an iPhone 3GS next to the 4 really shows the major difference.
The Processor: if you've got a 3G, this is a HUGE step up. It's a pretty good step up from the 3GS as well
The Camera: Better quality photos, a flash, frontside camera for self portrats and facetime. HD videos!
The Design: It's pretty... real real pretty. It feels good in your hand and it's shiny.
Reasons why I hate it:
Hate is a strong word here, but here's the problems I have with it (one is an iOS4 issues, the rest are iPhone4 specific)
Email - After the iOS4 update, my exchange mailbox will suddenly just stop working. I installed a patch that was supposed to fix it, but it didn't. Anytime it stops working, I have to reboot it. I've been told iOS4.1 will fix this. Good QA before a roll out, Apple.
The Design- Ahem:
The design of the outer band while pretty, is poor in terms of reception.
Now, according to Apple, this is just a poor algorithm in the antennae strength display. In reality, it's a flaw. I've "DEATH GRIPPED" a few phone calls so far (round about 3). That's a lot considering I don't talk on my phone a lot. Now, the Apple defense is this: Even though you SEE 5 bars, you're really only getting 2 or 3 in some areas... so the phone TRICKS you into thinking you have good reception and you take your calls and then they die when you put your hand over that death corner... either way. If I hold it wrong, the phone drops immediately. At least with the 3GS you could sense the call was going to die by either an audio breakup or a few seconds of odd silence.
So, the fix? put a case on it... yeah... take that beautiful design and slap a piece of plastic or rubber over it... now it'll look just like your old iPhone with a case on it... yay.
The DESIGN!!! - Ok, I mentioned how pretty and shiny it is... but the problem there is that it's glass on BOTH SIDES. This causes two problems: you drop it, you have a 100% chance of it landing glass side down now... and a PRETTY good chance of it shattering. The second problem? it's slippery. I've never felt so TERRIFIED of taking a phone out of my pocket as I have with this phone. Again, a case will alleviate this fear, but you lose the design.
The camera: Still sucks in low light, even with the flash. If your subject is moving even a LITTLE bit, it's going to be blurry. I have yet to capture a good photo of my kid at night or inside.
Also, I noticed the other day while trying to film some festivities that after 2 minutes of having the video camera on (but not recording) the camera area on the band got VERY hot to the touch. It also ate my battery at a rate of about 1% every 2 minutes.
I'm also never sure if I'm getting good sound with the video. I haven't mastered the grip where I'm NOT blocking the microphone yet.
However, none of the things I've mentioned KILL the phone for me. They're just annoyances.
Take into account the cost of the plans (this is my work phone, so I only really care about the device itself) and the cost of the phone and figure if it's right for you.
I would PERSONALLY not buy one for myself based on the cost of the plans and the carrier. I'm a T-mobile fan (if you can believe that). I'd buy one if I could get it on T-mobile with one of their plans.
Overall Rating - Annoyingly awesome
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