Snapped a few more photos with my iPhone this weekend. The camera's actually quite impressive. You know, for an iPod. I mean cell phone. I mean iPhone...

Another meeting in my kitchen.


Fleeing from the beach traffic...


Leaving Edward's Airforce Base

Tags: Apple, Next New Networks, Cell Phones, iPhone

I'm hearing all sorts of rumours about AT&T causing iPhone woes. This does not really surprise me. All mobile companies are evil and generally hate their customers. But AT&T... they take the hate to full-on-rage. And, as the saying goes: AT&T's not unhappy until you're unhappy.

While the Apple part of the iPhone experience has been widely reported as typical Apple goodness, The AT&T experience has been widely reported as typical AT&T bullshit. Uninformed store clerks. Uninformed telephone support staff. Forced bundling at retail (ie: You MUST buy accessories or you cannot buy an iPhone). Price gouging of wireless plans. You get the idea.

Then there's the heinous delay in activation and porting of numbers. Again, the rumours are swirling. AT&T systems were down for 12 hours on Saturday. AT&T porting center office was closed on Saturday and Sunday. Other carriers are "slow to release" old numbers, etc. I'm not sure why anyone expected it to go smooth. Afterall, why would a telegraph company be able to deal with this kind of high technology? (That second 'T' in AT&T stands for Telegraph)

Both Engadget and Gizmodo have articles on the activation woes. And apparently, less than half of readers polled by Engadget have had a pleasant, Apple-like experience with their service and activation:

Don't worry, friends. If you're still having activation problems, I've got some hints and tips for you. Get your order number from iTunes and let your fingers do the walking:

• First of all, the iPhone activation hotline is +1 (877) 800 3701. Don't call that number. You're likely to be on hold for a VERY long time before anyone ever answers. And they won't tell you anything except to "Keep waiting."
• 
  
• To check the status of the transfer of a phone number using the automated system, call +1 (888) 898 7685 punch in the number you're waiting on. It'll tell you in almost plain English where your number is in the transfer process.
• 
  
• AT&T's got a semi-secret 1-Ring-to-Answer customer service number. That number is +1 (877) 419 4500. They're very friendly. But not hugely informative.
• 
  
• The mother-lode is the Synchronos Center. These are the people that know what's going on. Has your old carrier released the number? Has the activation hit the network? Has there been some snafu along the way? They know it all. +1 (877) 800 3701. Then hit option 3.

Trust me. That synchronos center is THE BOMB. Like, seriously. My source tells me he waited on hold for 30 minutes. Got someone on the phone. Told her he was waiting over 36 hours for some activations... BAM! Done.

Tags: Apple, Next New Networks, Cell Phones, AT&T, iPhone Activation, iPhone

Well, I've had my Jesus Phone for about 3 minutes and it's already changed my life. I've lost 5 pounds, resolved the $3,700 discrepancy that's been in my check book for the last 3 years (Thanks, Richard, for that by the way) and finally gotten through to Roy using the built in lawyer-to-reality converstion tool. It's a great device. Light weight. Slim. Arguably pretty. Well balanced. I've got my key stock portfolio synced to the stocks widget so that when my craptacular portfolio continues to slide, the phone can call the poor house for me. Automatically. I've got the secret RSS reader setup to download episodes of VOD Cars. I've got my horoscope all wired in. (Thanks, Mark) and I'm pretty sure I can use it to call my dad (on his cell, because I'm not allowed to dial the house). I'm even blogging with it.

Yes, that's right, fair reader. Jesus Phone can blog. I'm blogging with it right now. See how easy that virtual keyboard is to use? Feels like I'm typing nothing at all! Also, inserting images using the built in camera is a snap. Here. Take a look at this action shot from a meeting I had in my kitchen a few minutes ago:


You may think that calling the iPhone "Jesus Phone" may be marginally, if not completely, sacrilegious. Well, let me assure you that I've thought long and hard about this and include some helpful comparisons for you between these sons of gods.

	Jesus	Jesus Phone
Birth Place	Nazareth (Dry, Hot)	Cupertino (Dry, Hot)
Mother	Mary (Mother of God)	Steve (God of Geeks)
Occupation	Builder (Carpentry/Religion)	Builder of Hype
Best Miracle	Resurrection (From Death)	Resurrection of the Mobile Industry
Legacy	Christianity	Mac Users
Claim to Fame	Son of God	Son of God (Orphan)

As you can see, it's very easy to confuse these Earth charged deities. While respect and admiration for the two is obviously deserved... worship, on the other hand, should be reserved for one of them.

In conclusion, Libya is a land of contrast.

Tags: Apple, Next New Networks, Cell Phones, iPhone

On the eve of the arrival of my Jesus phone, I cannot help but feel a certain nostalgia for Motorola. Back when I was a wee lad, I recall my grandpa having a motorola radio in his car and office and all the trucks. Then, at some point in the early 1980s, the radio was replaced with a Motorola cell phone in his car. (The lock code was 4820 -- and it took less than 1 trip to the boat to decrypt it.)

When it came time for me to start purchasing cell phones, I went the Motorola route. I had a Motorola flip phone. A MicroTAC. A MicroTAC Elite (one of my favourites). A StarTAC (with LED display). A StarTAC (with LCD display). A Razor. A black Razor. A blue Razor V3i. A red Razor V3i. A gold Razor V3i. A blue Krzr. A black Krzr. (There may have been a short lived Nokia and Sony Ericsson flirtation somewhere between
StarTAC LCD and the first Razor...)

As time went on, cell phone revisions came more quickly and my desire to hack the phones to, you know, make them suck less, rose. My current phone, the black Krzr has a HEAVILY modified firmware courtesy of: Yours truly.

Tomorrow, a new dawn begins on the mobile phone landscape globally. Yes, the iPhone. Not because the phone is such a revolutionary game changing piece of hardware (although, that is part of it) but because it will, for the first time, open the Internet on hand held devices to entrepreneurs that will be unrestricted by mobile carriers. Thank you, Apple. But, with every dawn, there's a sunset. This sunset ends my brand loyalty to Motorola. Sorry, grandpa

.

Without further pontification, from the home office in West Hempstead NY, the Top Ten things I will NOT miss from the days of my Motorola Razors...

10: Always being asked if it's "ok" to go online.

9: Always being informed, with great delay, how many bytes were transferred after going online.

8: Slow to respond number entry when trying to dial. How hard is this to make work right?

7: Having to press the center button 6 times to get to my inbox.

6: Waiting for Java. (Memo to Sun: Give it up.)

5: "Message Too Long! Message Truncated!" Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait...

4: WAP Decks controlled by "the man".

3: Expensive replacement cartridges (Oh wait, that's what I'll NOT miss about Gilette Razor...)

2: iTap. iHate you.

1: Unbearably slow call waiting controls.

Tags: Gadgets, Cell Phones, Motorola, Next New Networks