Google Translate for iPhone

It's Tuesday and on the heels of Google's Shopper App comes Google Translate for iPhone.  With all the recent native Google Applications being released for iOS, you'd think that Apple and Google are best buds again.  Maybe it has to do with Eric Schmidt being ousted...I don't know.

The biggest awesome is that you can speak the text and Google will try it's best to translate your phrase or word in 15 different languages.  Then, if you desire, one can play back and hear the desired translation!  Granted it hasn't been setup up for my parents native language, Tagalog, but hey, I'm sure that voice support will come soon.  In the mean time, have at it!

I'll admit that when I speak a certain English sentence, it doesn't capture the exact phrase but it's better than nothing when lost in a foreign land!  What do you plan to use the app for?  Translating that Spanish paper you have to write or ordering sushi?

Description

Translate words and phrases between more than 50 languages using Google Translate for iOS. For most languages, you can speak your phrases and hear the corresponding translations.

With Google Translate you can:

* Translate text between 57 languages * Translate by speaking the text instead of typing it (15 languages) * Listen to your translations spoken aloud (23 languages) * Display translations in full screen mode to make it easier for others nearby to read * Star your favorite translations for quick access even when you’re offline * Access your translation history even when you’re offline * Spell out the translation of non-Latin script languages (e.g. Chinese, Japanese, etc..) in Latin characters to read it phonetically (e.g. Pinyin, Romaji) * View additional dictionary results for single words or short phrases

Translations between the following languages are supported:

Afrikaans, Albanian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Arabic, Basque, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish

Digital Books as Apps = Physics Heaven

If you're in the game of writing, authoring and releasing a book within the next year, don't go all 1.0 and turn to iBooks, Amazon or the onslaught of various publishers for some ebook / hardcover / paperback setup.  Check out Push Pop Press! Launching their teaser  site yesterday, Push Pop Press is starting their campaign to transform your book into an experience!  Started by the talented designer, Mike Matas of Apple iOS fame as well as the Delicious Library, and engineers Kimon Tsinteris and Austin Sarner, Push Pop Press is poised the game and is definitely off to a running head start.

Books that let you explore photos, videos, music, maps, and interactive graphics, all through a new physics-based multi-touch user interface.

As you can see from the teaser site and /or image below, the possibilities are amazing with pinch to zoom and in app video rendering.  For a more in depth look and commentary, check out John Gruber and his early testing! // Daring Fireball: Push Pop Press //

Summary of the Verizon iPhone Announcement

Biggest news is that the Verizon iPhone 4 will double as a WiFi hotspot allowing for 5 devices to connect and use up the 3G CDMA data.  Other than that, normal pricing coming in at $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB all coming out on February 10th.  Let the madness begin!

Oh yeah, by the way, if you are already a Verizon Wireless customer, you can pre-order on February 3rd.  No signs of the white iPhone but apparently it will have VZ Navigator and VCast pre-installed.

Migrating from AT&T to Verizon? What it'll take...

To start, it just so happens that Adelle had her iPhone 4 ripped off from her while walking through the Atlanta Airport. Since then, she has reverted back to a hand me down / kindly donated Blackberry Curve suffering various withdrawls from using an aged handheld. It hasn't been pretty and it hurts me to see her not be able to play Words with Friends or check Facebook and Twitter every moment she gets. Being a "valued customer," AT&T is offering us the lower price of $399 to replace the stolen iPhone the stolen iPhone 4 but I keep on coercing her to wait until Verizon's unveiling. Hesitantly, she has agreed and now the question comes to, "Will it be worth it...what it will take and why?" Back in July, when AT&T and Apple announced the iPhone 4, many owners of the Apple iPhone 3G found themselves at a crossroad. Do I upgrade to Apple's new God phone and deal with the crappy service for 2 more years praying that it will improve or just wait till next year when Verizon and Apple announce they've copulated. I made the decision to just dive in and stick it out because honestly, the iPhone 3G experience was just getting to be awful, irritating and frustrating. Buying everything in twos, one for me and one for my significant other, I bought two new iPhone 4s online, renewed our awesome unlimited data contract which by the way still costs an arm and a leg, sold the previous models at a price that paid off the upgrade and have been feeling good ever since. Win-win right?

The experience with the phone was tremendously better but the overall network experience was still (is) lacking. With the looming prospect of a better network, I set out thinking of the economic costs. Currently, we both have unlimited data plans under AT&T which is worth the figurative bird in the hand. If I were to terminate in next February (that's about 8 months proration at $13.54/mo = $108 from the $325 gets me to about $217 for each contract), I'm guessing I can sell my iPhone 4 32GB for around $400 canceling the ETF and then I'm out of pocket another $199 x 2 plus whatever Verizon offers on their plans. Simple math, not much of a hassle and I'd assume that I'd be happier on the new network.

But what will it take? If Verizon has an unlimited data plan for iPhones, I'm in. If they are somewhat more affordable / cheaper and unlimited...I'm in. Shoot, if they pay my ETF, I'm in. I'm willing to forgo the crappy AT&T service and will even help others switch, scouts honors, but for now, we haven't seen any changes or any kind of caving in from the big V. Instead, all we have seen is their continued arrogance in being the the best and now the Rules the Airwaves Campaign? Pure crap I say. Trust me. No Droid phone or campaign you have released has wanted me to change. Its all been for naught when trying to lure others away.

If Verizon wants to capitalize on this earthquake announcement and take in the massive tsunami wave of customers who are eagerly willing to sign away their lives and wallets for two years, they can take advantage of it but the time is NOW! If I was a shareholder, I'd be bothering Mr. CEO and texting him non-stop. The bottom line is, by offering something that current unhappy AT&T iPhone customers want, we will migrate! SO DO IT ALREADY!

Just my usual rant, but hey, I'm just saying. Happy weekend!

Review: Contour Showcase for the iPhone 4

Nearly six months has passed since the debut of the iPhone 4 and up until two days ago, I've been forced to either go naked or use Incipio's Silicrylic Hard Shell Case with Silicone Core which, by the way, didn't even prevent the front glass from spiderwebbing from a 3" drop! Lucky for me, Apple has been there time and time again. In case you didn't get it yet, adellelijah is an Apple fanboy/girl but then again, we love anything we can get our hands on to review! Two years ago, I reviewed the Contour Showcase for the iPhone 3G which was the best and only case that I recommended for the iPhone 3G/S.   It wasn't until the day that I took mine off that my iPhone 3G suffered a devastating front glass crack after being dropped.  It was within a 24 hours of taking off the case that I dropped it hat making a $75 mistake.

Onto the review.  Packaging as always remains the same as previous generations and if you don't take a close look at the name of the specific case you are purchasing from Contour, you might just end up with a something else besides the Contour Showcase iPhone 4 offering Premium Protection.  Priced as one of the most expensive offerings, it comes with a holster that doubles as a flip out stand for enjoying movies or FaceTime moments and of course, the case itself.  Made of a light weight polycarbonate, and bordered in a rubberized finish, Contour boasts that its case is shock absorbing.  You can clip it into the holster face out of face in for some privacy vertically or horizontally and whatever your choice, you can't go wrong as this is the best of the best.  Appropriate holes for all necessary access and covers for the sleep / wake button and volume buttons offer superb tactile feedback.

The Showcase protects every edge of the iPhone 4 as well as offering a full clear cover for the back.  Without the White iPhone 4, I guess it doesn't matter whether or not its clear, but it still gives hope to showing the world that you have the latest and greatest mobile phone. Gone is the top quarter plastic layer from the previous generation leaving unobstructed views when using the front facing camera. When plugging in the Apple charger or USB cord, the case doesn't come in the way of the connector although, other connectors might have issue with the spacing available.

One of the biggest differences from the previous generation Showcase is placement of a side latch which effectively does a great job of keeping the device in the case.  The case snaps in closing from right to left which is a little backward but I'm guessing Contour did that so you can properly get snug to the volume buttons. Holding it in your hand actually makes for a comfortable fit and doesn't get in the way. Occupying the space in your pocket, the case doesn't feel too bulky.

A negative change is the absence of a thumb latch which helps you take the phone out of the holster.  This makes it a little harder to remove the device in case and with the holster doubling as a stand, Contour degraded the actual utility of the clip itself.  Since day 1, I've already had the entire phone in holster come off of my belt in the car, on the aircraft while sitting down and even when wearing a jacket bending down to pick up a pen.  Good thing the jacket kept it from falling to the pavement.  I've taken pictures of the clip and if you look closely, it's rounded off which doesn't provide much of a grab to the belt.  I have to admit that this is really bothering me lately as it always feels like the holster + phone can be easily snatched away.  I actually don't like it one bit.  The holster makes for a perfect stand but then again, it might as well not be called a "holster."

Conclusion: Even with the short comings of the holster causing a little frustration, I'm giving the latest Contour Showcase my personal recommendation as the case to protect your Apple iPhone 4. This is my 3rd case housing my iPhone 4 and you can bet your dollar that this is my last. I've included a barrage of photographs below. Click on any of them for a larger shot. Because of the holster not living up to 100% of functionality, I am forced to give it a 9/10.

Apple's Mac OS App Store Opening January 6th!

Opening up on the 6th of January (which, surprisingly is a Thursday) is Apple's new portal for downloading the latest and greatest desktop applications. Come one, come all, come develop for $99/yr and have Apple take away 30% of your revenue. The bigger questions lay ahead in that will current developers actually want to take part in the store or continue the traditional means of sales? I'm not necessarily focusing on the big box software makers that sell at brick and mortar shops but the way independents have thrived. The truth is, I've always just downloaded software right off of the web when installing a Mac OS X application. This accounts for just about 90% of my current applications that I run on my MacBook Pro as well as Adelle's MacBook Air. Granted a lot of the free apps will now reside and get a "store" front hence free marketing, but those that will cost? Why give Apple 30%?! Please post your opinions below.

This "store" will be able to be downloaded for Mac OS X Snow Leopard users only through a free software update. Just be at peace that it was able to evade the huge monster that iTunes now is. Hopefully this is a way for iTunes and the iOS App Store to begin their divorce.

Press Release

Bing 2.0 + iPhone = Bliss

If you haven't checked out the latest app from Microsoft to hit the iPhone, do so now. It offers multiple app check in goodness but that's not all! First is that it includes Facebook integration but the kicker is Bing Streetside. Straight from the Press Release:

Familiarize yourself with a location before you go, using Bing Streetside. Streetside, a new mapping feature, gives you a multi-street level panorama of a location so you can take a virtual walk through the streets with a view of a location and its landmarks. Slide the street level imagery sideways, and the view of the sidewalk is seamlessly constructed, including an overlay of business listings, street names and store fronts.

Watch the video and try it out for yourself!

Adelle Opens the Box of her Brand New Apple 13" MacBook Air

After a week of contemplating, calling various San Diego Apple stores and actually leaving a few stores with disappointment, then waiting another 12 hours, Adelle eagerly opens up her brand new Apple 13" MacBook Air. One of our first video blogs, check it out here on adellelijah.com or visit our youtube channel.

Back To The Mac in 104 Seconds...

If you are in need of a live thesaurus for the awesomeness that Apple is proving to be, check out this video which summarizes the "Back To The Mac" Apple Event last week introducing Mac OS X Lion, iLife '11 and MacBook Air. In other words,"...amazing, jaw-dropping, incredible!"

Friday Funday w/ Atomic Tom on their iPhones

Who needs instruments (particularly when they just got ripped off from ya) to play a song or two from your own lead single? Check out Brooklyn based band Atomic Tom perform "Take Me Out" on the NYC Subway for a bunch of passengers. +1 iPhone +100 to Atomic Tom

Just Announced: Google TV

Come one, come all, here comes Google's answer to the living room. Aptly named Google TV, the geeks at Mountain View have just recently launched their new portal with videos, demos and FAQs forging the way for this autumn season's cluster of new television consumption devices. Featuring Search, Google Chrome and Adobe Flash 10.1, apps like Netflix, Twitter, CNBC, Pandora, NBA Game Time, Amazon's VOD and Gallery and even HBO, Google aggressively catapulting themselves as the God box for your living room. Eclipsing what Apple TV represents, Google is launching with just about every other company providing them content and support. Other features include, using your mobile telephone as a remote, "Fling" (the ability to send the website or show you are watching on your mobile phone with a press of a button), YouTube in full screen HD, watch and simultaneously browse and even create TV Playlists!

With my recent crashing of our Samsung UN46C8000 46-Inch 1080p 3D 240 Hz LED HDTV, I'm all for letting Google into my living room and letting the programmers do their thing. Now only if I can find a way of wiping the Samsung OS off of my television and loading up some Google TV goodness...there's an idea! Get it this fall on a Sony Internet equipped television or the new Internet Top Box by Logitech dubbed as Revue. Check out the video below!

Introducing the new iPad...err...Samsung Galaxy Tab

What are your takes on the Samsung's Galaxy Tab??? Worthy foe against Apple's iPad or just a copy cat failure? Since we sold our iPad, we're definitely missing it's handiness.

Using a 7" screen, running Google's Android 2.2, weighing in at 13.8 ounces and being marketable as back pocket portable (don't sit on it), it looks pretty bad ass.

Review: iTunes Ping

So i downloaded iTunes 10 last night to play with the social networking component Ping. I didn't listen to the Apple Press Event yesterday so I didn't know what to think. I had this grand idea that it would integrate with all the other social networking sites that I frequent (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.). I also though that it was kind of weird since there are existing online music sites that have integrated social networking and have a very mature model, like LastFM. I also thought to myself that this could be something huge with the 100 Million worldwide users of iTunes. That's a huge user base to start with! With that being said, there is a very high bar for Ping to at least get close to. In the few hours that I've had to play with Ping I have to say, I don't get it. What is the point to Ping? Upon activating Ping to my iTunes account the options are very rudimentary. Basic stuff about you and what picture you want to use as your avatar is available to you. If you have an acccount, you've been asked this a Million times over.

You are then asked a simple set of questions to gauge your musical tastes. Strike 1: I can only choose 3 genres of music I like.  I"m very eclectic with my choice in music. This does not set well with me.  Strike 2: When asked what albums to represent the music I like, I'm limited to 10 items. This DOES allow me to get past the 3 genres failure, but I'm going to need more than a couple minutes to define myself with 10 albums. To some audiophiles, this is going to take more than a couple minutes.

Getting past the account creation part, I'm still confused by the use. In my opinion there aren't enough people that are registered on the site to get any value. I THINK the point is to find like minded people who are making reviews on the music they purchase via iTunes and befriend them because they have similar musical tastes as I do. Since the release last night, none of my Real Life friends are not on. I value their input 1st before some random person I met on the interwebs.

Getting past the Friend finder, I attempt to register for a couple artists that I want to follow. I start off with their suggestion for Dave Mathews Band. Hey, Under The Table Dreaming, was like the anthem to my 1995. My knee-jerk response is, this has potential. I can see some simple posts by the band about Tours, Music, and Videos from the band and comments from their fans. Honestly, most of the posts are pictures from their current tour. OK, this is starting to look like all the other social networking sites now.  It even has it's own comment bombers that want to peddle their get-rich-quick schemes. I followed Jack Johnson as Ping suggested and I see several comments to his posts about how to get a free iPhone.

In my few hours of exposure to this feature of iTunes, I'm at a lose of how they are going to bring something new to the social networking environment. As I mentioned before there are several existing behemoths that do this job well. I'm reminded of LastFM and their format. They allow their users to discover new music, follow the artists tour schedules and even has a wiki like interface for fans to dump their knowledge about the band. LastFM also allows the users to listen for free. Apple, why didn't you just partner with them? There's an existing user base with lots of content?

That brings me to my point; this experiment into social networking via iTunes brings no value add for me. I've already spent the time on other sites like Facebook's Liked pages, MySpace Music, and LastFM to want to recreate in Ping. The current Ping user base is not very helpful and the artists that are using it are few. I think Ping might have some growing up to do before it becomes useful. I think I"ll let it sit for a month and come back to it and see what it's become.

Additional Links:

iTunes Ping: http://www.apple.com/itunes/ping/

LastFM: http://www.last.fm/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/

MySpace Music: http://www.myspace.com/music

Twitter: http://twitter.com/

Dave Mathews Band: http://www.davematthewsband.com/

Jack Johnson: http://jackjohnsonmusic.com/

Apple Magic Trackpad + Inertial Scrolling for most MacBooks/Pros!

I just downloaded, updated and installed Magic Trackpad and Multi-Touch Trackpad Update 1.0 and BOOM...I have inertial scrolling on my Apple MacBook Pro 5,1 (late 2008)!  I've been dreaming of this moment for quite a while since using my colleague's newer MacBook Pro that touted this feature.  Thanks Apple for looking after the older guys with the first-gen trackpads. =) If you have any of these models below, update away and be impressed!  Supported gestures include a three-finger drag and inertial scroll for MacBook and MacBook Pro systems.

MacBook

MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009)

MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009)

MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008)

MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010)

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53 GHz, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009)

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2008)

In other normal tech news, just in case you haven't already heard, Apple released the "Magic Trackpad" to accompany the newer updated iMacs and Mac Pros. Paving the way for a complete mouse-less computing experience, the glass is here to stay!

Thoughts on Apple's Impromptu Press Conference re: iPhone 4 FAILtenna / Antennagate

People are forgetting that next Tuesday is going to be HUGE!  Why do you think that Apple decided to have a press conference the week before this event?  Since the ongoing issue and media coverage of the iPhone 4's FAILtenna Antennagate, class action lawsuits have been filed, Consumer Reports has gone back and forth in recommending the device and even a Senator had time to write a letter to Steve Jobs addressing the issue (antenne-gate). Free cases for everyone!!! Not just Apple's Bumper but any case that you want from from a list of approved partners. (updated from Mr. Steve G's comment for a more accurate quote....Thanks Steve!) Apply on Apple's Website starting next week.  What are your reactions to how Apple has addressed this issue?    Is that going to quench everyone's thirst?

Here's the video that Steve Jobs and Apple played at the beginning of their press conference. Awesome!!!

Apple knew this but we didn't care either

When did people ever care more about functionality than design; is your iPhone 4 completely useless because of it?  No.  The consumer public has been aware of this issue the last few weeks but are still flocking to Apple stores in droves to purchase the new iPhone 4.  Some of us (females) wear the most ridiculous and uncomfortable shoes sometimes just to look good so that's the same idea right?  We have seen people complaining left and right about the loss of reception under the "Death Grip" but I can't say that I've actually experienced it myself nor have I encountered an individual that is holding out for this very reason.  My fiance hasn't complained much about reception issues greater than her negative AT&T coverage on the previous iPhone 3G, but then again, we both have Apple's Bumpers as our solution to protection.  We're enjoying FaceTime moments and it couldn't have been done without Apple's new iPhone 4.  It also became law this past year that you need a handsfree device to talk in the car, and in other states, you cannot text while driving which might cover browsing the internet and reading up on your tweets.  So what's the big deal?  Put the phone down already while talking. This post is a response to this morning's Bloomberg's article which unleashed a storm startling us out of bed with the inside scoop that one of Apple's senior antenna experts, Ruben Caballero, warned Steve Jobs about how the innovative antenna design might lead to dropped calls.  We all know what the final outcome led to; one of the most beautiful devices on the planet hands-down. Now it's under fire.  Apple's image is under fire being compared to Toyota's recall debacle.  Apple's stock has taken a 9% dive since it's record breaking all time high of $274 and the world doesn't know what to do.  So Apple is finally dealing with this issue.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's event at 10am Pacific Time.  Will Steve Jobs be around?

In the meantime, how do you hold your phone?  Here's how I hold mine

Update: Apple's online store is showing shipping times of 3 weeks from today.  Does this mean a hardware change is in place in their China factories?

The Question: To Buy or Not To Buy, the iPhone 4 - Part 1: Hardware

Here's the article about my internal debate with trying to buy into the Apple's new iPhone 4.  Elijah has been pestering me for a while to start writing for his site; I guess persistence is the key, because here I am writing my first article. Readers: please be gentle with me, it's my first time.

I have a few hesitations with just going to the store and demanding the new iPhone 4, ignoring the fact that I wouldn't be able to do that with the inventory shortages.  So here we go with Part 1: Hardware.

#1: Hardware

I've read enough articles on Gizmodo, Engadget and various other Tech Blogs to know that that the guts of the new iPhone are better than the 3Gs, but I'm still not impressed by it.

-Camera -

Lets start with the 5.0 mega-pixel camera. I know that I should be excited about this, but it feels like we're adding something to the iPhone that probably should of be replaced by some better devices features. When I think of the all the additional mega-pixels that I can add to my sub-par photography skills, it seems like a waste because these pictures will be posted to  Facebook in all its glorious 530x660 maximum resolution. See, with Facebook albums, you are only looking at that small picture. At that resolution, I can't tell the difference if the picture was taken with a 5.0 Mega-pixel iPhone 4 or a 3.0 Mega-pixel 3Gs. Moving away from Facebook, what would I do with those high resolution pictures? Nothing. When I get an urge to look back at pictures of all the fun times I've had, I look at the pictures online to never print them out on a photo printer or edit it in Photoshop. Again, what would I need all those mega-pixels for?

I'm a normal every day user. It seems to me that an internal projector or an actual zoom lenses should of been added to it. Think of the implications of having a projector available to you. Imagine that you are in a meeting and you have a PowerPoint that you want to show the return on investments for your project. Awesome, you just made your company a ton of money using your iPhone. Getting back to the camera, if you have a physical zoom lenses then those pictures would make more sense to me. I hate trying to pinch-zoom for a software zoom on your picture. It seems like cheating and not a good idea in the long run.

-Antenna-

There are a lot of articles and videos documenting the iPhone 4 FAILtenna.  Documenting my frustrations with this would be like shooting fish in a barrel, therefore, I'm not going to get into details about it.  I like the idea of integrating the antenna into the chassis of the device thus adding more space to implement more tech particularly the larger battery.  I just don't get how it made it through QA without someone noticing the "Death Grip feature."  Maybe that's exactly what it is, an undocumented feature.  This could be a new game that was installed with the phone so you don't have to purchase anything though the iTunes Apps Store.  Just knowing that this is still a known issue that's probably software related, creates doubt in my mind about buying a new iPhone.  In the videos that I've seen, that's exactly how I normally grip my phone if I'm looking up something on the go. So this brings me to my next subject, chassis because the workaround for the FAILtenna is put a rubber band around your iPhone so you don't complete the circuit between the WiFi and Cell antennas.

-Chassis-

I like the look of the new iPhone 4, but I'm pretty rough on my phones so an all glass enclosure scares me.  I normally carry my phone in my back pocket because I've grown out of wanting to clip my phone to my belt like it was a Peace Maker and I'm about to get into a gunfight at the O.K. Coral.  I know that I could buy a case to protect it, but isn't that deterring from all the time the designers and engineers spent on developing such a nice looking chassis?  That would be like saying the Venus de Milo is a great piece of art, but since it's no longer structurally sound, we're going to spray it with a layer of rubber around it so that it doesn't further deteriorate.  It's just cheating.  I'll admit, I have a case for my 3GS so, I'm not stranger to cases but that's to cover a metal backing that get scratched up, not a "unbreakable" glass backing.

Bottom line, I still have hesitations about the Apple's new iPhone 4.  I probably will buy one, eventually, but these are some of the things that I think about.  Sorry about the random string of thoughts but it's my first blog.  More to come so stay tuned and keep reading adellelijah!

Hello adellelijah and Hello apple

Greetings readers! This is my first post on adellelijah so I thought that I would kick it off with the fact that Apple is going to address their "FAILtenna" this Friday, June 16th, at 10:00am Pacific Time.

I can't say that I know what they will have to say but I'm leaning towards the fact that iOS 4.1 is addressing the over exaggeration of reception bars and maybe...just maybe...FREE BUMPERS FOR EVERYONE!!!  Since this is my first post and the news isn't really anything more than just an announcement, I'll leave it at that.  Stay tuned for my ongoing internal debate with trying to buy into Apple's new iPhone 4.

The Current State of Apple's iPhone 4

Warning: I get blunt near the end.

Since the release of the iPhone 4, there has been a plethora of praise and negativity culminating in today's repeal of Consumer Reports recommendation of Apple's latest device due to possible interference and degradation of reception.  On July 2nd, Apple released a Press Report addressing this issue found here upon multiple complaints and initial reports of loss of reception.  Consumer Reports demonstrates the loss of reception when the iPhone 4 is held a particular way in this video below.  Mind you, there are multiple YouTube videos that also demonstrate this but there are also fellow tech bloggers that aren't reporting this issue.

During the first week of the iPhone 4's release, Techworld posted an article how an early adopter figured out a way to "improve" and prevent interference with the addition of scotch tape to the bottom left side of the the critically flawed device.  Since then, multiple lawsuits have been filed, a class action suit has been submitted, and random people and friends are inquiring me asking if I'm experiencing the issue.  (list of lawsuits via @Gizmodo)

Bottom line:  AT&T has always been terrible.  I was always using my iPhone 3G on Edge to save battery coupled with the face that the 3G service was horrible.  I've always had Apple's Bumper on my iPhone 4 since day 2 of ownership and cannot specifically admit that I've experienced this issue.  Sincerely, it's not any worse than my two year ownership of the iPhone 3G.  In fact, I'm loving my iPhone 4 which allows me to do SO much more.  Yes, I'm an early adopter, I love Apple Products but I'm not going to be a little bitch and complain about something that a simple a fix can't solve.  Everyone needs to get over the flawed American Mentality of suing companies for "flawed" products and just don't buy the damn thing.  It's not flawed!  How can it be when 1.7 million people bought the damn thing in the first 3 days! (Apple's PR)

Grow a pair, leave AT&T, dump the iPhone 4 and get an Evo already.  Because of the Apple and the success of their iPhones, I was able to sell my two previous versions (1 black iPhone 3G 8GB and 1 white iPhone 3G 16GB) almost paying for the new phones!  It's ingenious that their hold a certain value on the used market which makes me a happy consumer.  Yeah there might be an asterisk and for some unknown reason when Apple was beta testing the design they missed this detail, but come on, the iPhone 4 is awesome!

Pre-Ordering the iPhone 4 = BIG ONLINE APPLE STORE FAIL

Waking up to a phone call from my fiance in San Diego while I was sound asleep in a hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, she informed me that her friend had successfully pre-ordered the newest Apple iPhone; the iPhone 4. I got out of bed admittedly a little excited but fretting the next few minutes (what would turn out to be hours) anticipating the horror and onslaught that the process would be. I was right to suspect that many others would be trying to do the same and lock in an iPhone but now, not only do I despise Apple more so but AT&T as well including this "pre-ordering" process. To make my story short, three hours later, I successfully added an iPhone 4 to my cart, then went back to add another one for the 2nd line on my account. Of course, I was told, when ready to check out, that my shopping cart had too many iPhones! I only had two freaking iPhones! Why didn't you tell me two hours ago that I could only order one?! So basically, after all that, I was no where. Two hours later, I get back to my cart, removed one of the iPhones, placed the order and was forced to repeat the same excruciating experience!

Refresh after refresh, checking eligibility after eligibility, processing on AT&T's servers inundated with multiple failures, I'm going to say that this experience was the biggest failure in online pre-ordering history. If you're going to make an annoucement that pre-orders will begin on the 15th of June, then man **** up and expand your services in anticipation! I better not see some stupid Press Release announcing that they servers were over loaded and they did not anticipate the overwhelming response. That's just going to be another crappy PR Stunt.

Condensed time line:

6:00AM - get up and start trying to pre-order the Apple iPhone 4 (excitement)

6:01AM - the store is down (excited still)

6:20AM - I've been refreshing the screen on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox noticing that Google's Chrome is giving me faster results.

6:30AM - I see that I'm able to actually click the shiny blue pre-order button.

7:30AM - frustrated after multiple attempts to proceed to the next step, I lay back down

7:42AM - I get up again and start the process over

7:50AM - trying to get AT&T the verify that I qualify for the "discounted" price by inputting my phone number, billing zip code and social security number then hit continue.

7:51AM - I think I'm there....but the process fails while authenticating on AT&T side.

7:52AM - I have to start the stupid process again.

8:30AM - I'm pissed!!!

8:45AM - the last freaking thing I want to see a website display is "Oops?!" WTH

8:51AM - You tell me that I can't have it shipping and I have to pick it up!? Do not pass go and try again.

9:15AM - I was successful in pre-ordering 1 iPhone 4 but still have 1 to go

9:50AM - I decide to write this post and vent my frustration! And, no I still have not been able to get pass the processing part.

Throughout this whole time, I'm seeing the Apple Online Store go up then down then up again while noticing that the store address is changing / continually evolving.

First from: http://store.apple.com/us/go/iphone4 then: https://buyiphone.apple.com Good for apple but just a little too late!

Final Thoughts: Standing in line at the Apple store isn't nearly as frustrating but actually fun!?