Have I ever mentioned that when it comes to utility apps for the iPhone, I just want the app to be simple and I want the app to work as described.  I really don’t like utility apps that try to do too much or try to be too fancy.  Today I was in search of a app that will help me keep track of my iPhone battery.  As I have mentioned in a previous post, I do not accept the theory that we should dumb down the iPhone to save the battery.  Because of that, I wanted to find an app that would help me predict how much longer I can surf the web or listen to music.  I opened up the search utility of the AppStore and I found MyBatteryLife from KVApps.  Here is a blurb from their marketing page on the AppStore:

myBatteryLife displays the current percentage of battery life left on your iPhone or iPod Touch.  With a large percentage and visual indicator you can quickly your remaining time.  ”myBatteryLife” will determine your hardware to calculate a the remaining hours and minutes for different uses.

What I really like about the display is that its clean, big, and easy to read.  You get an estimate on how much battery you have left for talking, listening to music, or watching videos.  The app also gives you an estimate on how much time you can spend on the internet and breaks it down based on your connection (3G, Edge, Wifi).  This could be helpful for when you are really running low, you can get an idea of what you have left if you did disable 3G.

The one thing this doesn’t take into consideration is how much battery you have wtih doing some of these activities simutaneously.  Obviously that would be a bit tricky for them to guess and you just need to make that judgement yourself.

I highly recommend that you check this app out.  Its a great little utility application that helps you keep track of your battery which is very important when it comes to the iPhone.

MyBatteryLife from KVApps [iTunes Link]
KVApps Website

Sometimes when you buy an iPhone app from the app store, you just want it to be simple and do what it says. MemoryInfo by Recession Apps is just that kind of app.  Here is part of the description from the app store:

The new iPhone 3G S has double the runtime memory of the previous iPhones and iPod Touch. The iPhone 3G S has 256MB of runtime memory. Therefore, most of the time, you will have more than 35 MB of runtime memory available and MemoryInfo only frees up memory if you have less than 35 MB of runtime memory.

However, if you use your iPhone 3G S extensively and open many web pages in Safari and read large email in the Mail app, your runtime memory can still drop below 35 MB. You will then need to use the Free Memory feature to free up memory on your iPhone 3G S.

MemoryInfo pretty much does one thing and that is it helps free up memory so your iPhone doesn’t crash. According to their site, your iPhone has 4 types of memory:

1. Free memory is available for use whenever applications or processes need them.
2. Inactive memory is memory that was used by applications or processes but do not need it right away.
3. Active memory is memory that is currently being used by applications or processes.
4. Wired memory is memory that is currently used by System processes. This memory is not available to applications.

It appears that MemoryInfo works by freeing up active and inactive memory by killing off non-system processes, all by the click of a single button.  The app also lists out all of the processes that are currently running as well as your current battery usage.

Since the app is only $.99 and memory is precious on the iPhone, it really is a no brainer when it comes to purchasing this app.

My only recommendation would be to add another column to the system process list that lists out how much memory each app uses.  This would be purely informationaly, but would be a good addition for tech nerds like myself.

MemoryInfo [iTunes Link]

[View with PicLens]

Joe posted an update over on the facebook iPhone fan page about a new version of the facebook app will be released soon.  Here are the details:

Facebook for iPhone 3.0 is coming very soon. I can’t predict an exact date when I will submit to Apple, but I can say that I am about 98% done. So what’s new in this update?

1. The “new” News Feed
2. Like
3. Events (including the ability to RSVP)
4. Notes
5. Pages
6. Create new photo albums
7. Upload photos to any album
8. Zoom into photos
9. Easier photo tagging
10. Profile Pictures albums
11. A new home screen for easy access to all your stuff, search, and notifications
12. Add your favorite profiles and pages to the home screen
13. Better Notifications (they link to the comments so you can reply)
14. Quickly call or text people right from the Friends page
15. Messages you are typing will be restored if you quit or are interrupted by a phone call

The one feature everyone is asking for, Push Notifications, is in development but it won’t make it into 3.0. You can expect it in a 3.1 update later this summer.

Here are two screen shots he posted:

[View with PicLens]

Today, I came across this article from CNET about how to preserve the battery life of the new iPhone. I typically just ignore these types of articles because they all offer the same old advice, which is pretty much to disable every feature on the iPhone, but I figured I would check it out to see if there is anything new related to the new iPhone 3GS.  The article started out a bit different than other articles and listed a few items that I would agree wtih, such as draining your battery completely and force quit applications.  After those, the article fell into the trap of every other article out there, including the ones from Apple Support which is disable every feature that made you want the iPhone in the first place.

It is suggested that you:

1. Minimize location services
2. Turn off push notifications
3. Fetch new data less frequently
4. Turn off push mail
5. Autocheck fewer accounts
6. Minimize 3rd party applications
7. Turn off Wi-fi
8. Turn off 3G
9. Turn off Bluetooth

Give me a break! Most of these options is why I bought the phone in the first place!  I typically get about 6 hours of usage and that is from using app, surfing, listening to music, texting, and making calls.  A full charge usually lasts me 2 days, unless I just get bored and play on my phone.  In that case, the phone will only last me a day.

Here are a few habits I have gotten into to help with my battery:

1. Turn off auto lock and get into a habit of locking the phone manually.  I don’t know how many times the phone would lock up while I am just reading stuff on the phone.  I thought about increasing the time on the autolock, but found out that I liked just locking the phone manually
2. Turn off “wifi ask to join networks”.  I would gest extra push notifications for having this on and found it annoying.  I also figured it would help with battery life since its sending out fewer notifications
3. Turn down the brightness on the phone.  Dont’ turn it down too much or else you won’t enjoy your apps very much, but the dimmer screen can help and is easier on the eyes.
4. When you do charge the battery, try your best to hold off as long as you can.  I try to make sure my battery if as low as possible before I charge it as it could help prolong the life of your battery.

As you can tell, my list is pretty weak and I am stretching it a bit, but that is because I don’t recommend removing all of the features that make the iPhone what it is.  I would recommend that you do play with some of the settings such as push and pull email, although when I played around with that I did not notice much of a difference at all, but your results may vary.  And if you are a power user, look at getting a rechargable battery case that can usually double your battery life.  I haven’t done this yet myself, but it is something I may consider if my needs ever increase

What do you find works the best to increase the life of your battery in your iPhone?

[CNET Article - Get the most out of your iPhone battery]

In case you missed it, Sprint recently started running an ad that was targeted at iPhone 2G users who are up for renewal on their contract. The ad is trying to point out some reasons as to why they would want to leave their iPhone and buy a Pre instead. While I am sure a few users may do just that for various reasons, I think it will be a while before people really start thinking about giving up their precious iPhone.  

Here are some things that I would think would need to happen before people start bailing on the iPhone for the Pre:

1. Device Maturity – this is a first generation device and based on the reviews and from my experiences with the device there is room for improvement. If you think about the changes from the original iPhone to the 3G iPhone, it was pretty drastic and I wouldn’t expect anything less from the Pre. The keyboard needs to be improved for sure, and the over all quality of the device needs to be improved. Visual Voicemail is missing, video capabilities, and what about the possibility of a virtual landscape keyboard? The good news is that most of these features, and many others will arrive through software and device updates.
2. Lack of SDK and App Store – so it appears that they followed the same model of the iPhone. The first iPhone was released without an official SDK and we know one will be coming from Palm. Palm knows the importance of this and once they release this they will have to then start a the process of trying to get developers on board. This is something that all the new smartphones are playing catch up on when it comes to try to tackle the iPhone. Because the iPhone was first to market with this, they were able to jump out in a huge way with their AppStore and this has given them a good advantage over the competition
3. Better Carrier – If people continue to bitch and moan about AT&T, people could be more open to looking at the Pre if it was on more carriers. It has already been confirmed by Verizon that the Pre will be coming to their network in 6 months, and once that happens there could be a chance that more people take a more serious look at the device. This will give a lot more exposure to the device and would rather choose a Pre than switch to a Blackberry or over to AT&T for the iPhone.
4. Need to innovate, not just copy – What also made the iPhone so successful is the innovation that was brought to the smartphone market. An awesome AppStore, full web browser support, gestures, touchscreen, a real OS and a real music player. Apple saw a lot of potential in the smartphone market that others like windows mobile and Palm have missed out on. The Pre has to come up with something that really makes it stand out rather than just playing catch up.

Out of all of the bullets listed above, I think number 2 is by far the biggest thing that sets the iPhone apart from the Pre and all of the other smartphones out there. The SDK and the AppStore is huge, and even with all of the complaints about how Apple micro manges the AppStore, people are still spending a lot of money there. I think for any smart phone to really compete with the iPhone, this is an area they need to target and develop quickly. They need to target the developers and provide an SDK thaty makes it easy to leverage the hardware in the device and help the developers create some really powerful apps for their device. Apps that are fun and comical, but also apps that will help the consumer be more productive by owning a smart phone.

What are your thoughts on what it will take to de-thrown the iPhone?

One of the first questions I get from people when they get an iPhone is to find out how to protect the iPhone screen.  They are usually shocked when I tell them that I do nothing.  When I first got my iPhone I looked into how I could protect my new toy but I have never been a fan of screen protectors since they usually make your phone look worse as they usually scratch easier than the screen on the device.

I then went on a search to see if anyone has done any scratch tests on the screen and here are some videos that I found that show the durability of the iPhone screen. Here are 3 videos that I found that show off the durability of the iPhone screen. The first 2 are from PCMag and really put the iPhone through a pretty good test.

So what is my recommendation to protect your iPhone? Invest in a good case to protect the shell of your phone, but I wouldn’t worry too much about protecting your screen. While I have never personally put my phone through a test like in any of the above videos, I have dropped my phone a few times, face first and the screen has survived unscratched.

What are your thoughts?

YouTube announced today that they have seen an increase of 1700% in mobile uploads over the last 6 months.  They also acknowledge that the iPhone 3GS has increased mobile uploads by 400% A DAY! Here are some quotes from the article:

“This growth represents three things coming together: new video-enabled phones on the market, improvements to the upload flow when you post a video to YouTube from your phone, and a new feature on YouTube that allows your videos to be quickly and effortlessly shared through your social networks. It takes just a minute to connect your YouTube account to your Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader accounts.”

So while the new iPhone and the easy YouTube integration has certainly helped with the increase, social networks have also helped spur the growth.

[YouTube Blog]

Apple support just posted a chart that outlines the differences that exist between the 3 iPhone models that exist out there.  Here is the chart:

iPhone Chart Options

Apple Article

Most people are suprised to find out that AT&T does NOT offer insurance for the iPhone.  Apple does offer a product called AppleCare that will provide some additional protection for your iPhone.  For $69 you extend your 90 day warranty to a fully 2 years of coverage.  This will extend your technical support on how to use the devices as well as your hardware warranty in case the device malfunctions.  You will also get some extended coverage on your battery and get a replacement as the battery starts to fade.  AppleCare does NOT cover you against accidental damage though, which is usually standard coverage when you get insurance on other phones from AT&T.

AppleCare Details
AppleCare FAQ

Would I buy AppleCare?  Not a chance.  I really don’t see much value in AppleCare.  Since AppleCare does not cover against accidential damage, I find the coverage pretty limiting.  The only selling point for me is the battery replacement, but I figured I would take my chances and see how well my battery holds up.

Your alternatives are pretty limiting though.  The only other way that I found that you can insure your iPhone is through a company called SquareTrade.  The coverage looks pretty decent as it extends the normal warranty and covers you against manufacturing defects, but it also covers you for accidental damage.  When making a claim for accidental damage, you will be charge a $50 deductiable, but this is pretty standard even with insurance provided by AT&T.  The pricing for SquareTrade is very reasonable, 8GB $76, 16GB $96, and 32GB $115.

Has anyone ever used SquareTrade?  Let me know by leaving a comment.

So now that the 3.0 verison of the OS is a few hours away from being released, lets start focusing on the next version.  Here is whats on my wish list for next major release of the OS

1. Local document storage – we get to store photos and email locally, but why not other things?  I would love to be able to save PDF’s and Word docs to a local storage area on my iPhone and be able to sync them through iTunes with my desktop
2. Over the air sync – I would love to be able to sync with my desktop either through bluetooth or over my wireless network.
3. Flash support – I know this is more on Adobe than Apple, but this needs to happen sooner than later.
4. Improved Push Notifications – modal dialogs suck!  The Pre seems to handle the push notifications more gracefully and it would be nice to see Apple follow with something similiar
5. Custom Home Page – why do I have to unlock the phone to do anything?  It would be nice if the home page (screen that is shown when the phone is locked) could give some info on latest texts, missed calls, voice mails…
6. Better Email Client – switching between 3 email accounts suck!  The breadcrumb navigation makes it cumbersome.  I saw the suggestion a while back about having a single inbox, which could help.  Also, what about a built in browser?  Another slow task is clicking on a link from an email and opening up Safari.
7. Better Calendar Management – What about multiple calendar support, the ability to create meetings, and how about a snooze button on that alert box?
8. Background Processing / App Multi-tasking – some native apps are able to run in the background and it would be nice to have some of the other apps run in the background.  Even if this is a drain on the battery, there are some apps where this could be helpful
9. Printer Support – how about support for wifi printing?

Whats on your list?