MacNoob

I know Apple knows what I want and need better than I do.  Let me rephrase that.  I know Apple thinks it knows what I want and need better than I do.  In their infinite wisdom, the decision-makers in Cupertino have decided video of any kind won’t be allowed on the iPhone.  Maybe they think the toll on precious battery life will be too great.  Maybe it’s because they know the tiny ARM processor can’t process more than 15 frames per second and they don’t want people to gripe about poor quality…and you know they would!  Maybe it’s a combination of the two, who knows?  In any case, Apple makes its product decisions based on what they think will make the largest group of consumers pleased enough to shell out [usually a premium] for their goods.  For the more geeky of us, that usually means some features we’d like get left out for the greater good.  One can’t argue with Apple’s success.  They’re obviously doing something a lot of things right.

Everybody knows cell phone video is basically crap, right?  The old LG 8100 I bought four years ago recorded video and it was crap, but I’m not Steven Speilberg either.  I just enjoyed having the feature to capture small, impromptu clips of my kids doing silly things or of my drunken friends making asses out of themselves.  The point is, the iPhone’s lack of video is what sent me down the jailbreak path in the first place.  Having a phone that does so many other things well, yet can’t capture even crappy video seems like a huge omission on Apple’s part, but then I’m one of the “more geeky” outliers.  Enter the iPhone dev team.  Within an hour of downloading QuickPwn, my iPhone 3G was jailbroken, synced and loaded with the Cycorder app.  Viola!  Crappy video!  That’s all I wanted and all I expected.

Qik and Ustream have taken cell phone video to the next level by providing the infrastructure for live streaming, and it’s FREE!  Qik was the first and when I heard of them I thought it was cool, but didn’t immediately get why someone would want to stream crappy video to the internet.  A few days later, I was watching the news on TV and there it was!  A reporter in some war zone streaming crappy video.  Not via a cell phone, but crap none the less.  The whole point of this capability is the same as any other phone application, portability.  Now, anywhere I can get a 3G or wi-fi connection, I have the capability to stream.  Robert Scoble was one of the first tech notables to utilize the Qik technology when he shoved his Nokia in the faces of numerous dignitaries at last year’s G8 conference.  I watched a couple of his “interviews” on YouTube and while I admired the technology, the interviewees looked at Robert like he had a screw loose which gave the whole activity a comical flavor.  I think the idea was far too “leading edge” for the old codgers who make up the dignitaries attending the G8.  My uses for this tech aren’t nearly so ambitious.

Downloading the Qik and USTREAM apps from Cydia was a snap, and both let you sign up for their free service right on the phone, even though I didn’t.  Both sites also provide the embed code for your stream, so adding them to the MacNoob.net web site TV page was a snap.  On the iPhone, both apps automatically log you in, so streaming is as simple as launching the app and touching the “broadcast” button.  You can tell Qik is the more mature of the two apps.  It provides quite a few more setup options than USTREAM and even lets you monitor real-time stream data like frame rate and resolution.  One really neat feature of the USTREAM app is its’ ability to conduct a simple YES/NO poll while you stream and then their web service e-mails you the results.  I haven’t done any sort of deep analysis of the video for either app, but I’m guessing the [320 x 240] frame rate is somewhere around 10 and the sound is surprisingly good on both.  It seems to be the same on wi-fi and 3G.  Neither app will let you stream with an EDGE connection.  I’ve streamed (and recorded) a couple of videos of our daughter and me while the wife watched on her laptop some 2500 miles away on a business trip.  For her it was much more enjoyable than the usual phone call, even though the quality was less than great.  I also plan to live stream from some upcoming events I’m planning to attend.  WWDC will probably be the first.  I may use it to augment the MacNoob podcast once it’s launched.  One thing is for sure: My iPhone will stay jailbroken as long as Apple rejects video apps like Qik and USTREAM.  But I’m a geek.

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Joseph Kelley Apple Minutiae, Media, Technology, Web, iPhone iPhone, Qik, USTREAM, video

I’m PISSED! I schlepped around for over 8 months with a squeaky-clean 3G iPhone, playing by all the Apple rules. The App Store kept me entertained with a constant stream of new games, utilities, various and sundry time-wasters and productivity tools. I was quite content for the most part (especially after the 2.1 firmware release made the device usable). What a dope I was.  Since jailbreaking, I feel like I own a brand-new phone.  Similar to the original Apple product I gave $299 for, but now with the capability to do so much more. I can now use my 3G iPhone as a router, take videos (and stream them live to Qik), display alerts, the weather and new e-mail on my lock screen, toggle nearly all the phone’s functions (3G, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.) with a single touch and tailor the GUI to look almost any way I want. And the list of coolness just keeps getting longer.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “This tastes so good I could slap my momma!”? The inference being that momma raised me without teaching me about how good something could be. Transfer that sentiment to the iPhone and Mr. Jobs has a bitch-slap coming his way. Everything he did with the iPhone was right. He just stopped short of the mark.

I’m sure there are good business reasons (three in fact, A, T, and T) for not letting me share the iPhone’s 3G data connection with my Mac. I’m also sure that, for reasons of stability, Apple doesn’t want users tinkering with the device’s lower-level hardware functions. After all, they have to guarantee the thing works as advertised. On the other hand, I can’t think of one good reason why I can’t select the wallpaper of my choosing, CUT-AND-PASTE or use a different system font with an out-of-the-box iPhone. The general consensus is, “Steve doesn’t want you to and HE knows best!”. I’m reminded of the original Macintosh ad with the hammer flying through the screen, waking up the hypnotized PC drones. For a company founded on principles of individuality and creativity, Apple doesn’t seem to apply that credo to the iPhone.

Thank God for the dev-team!  Thanks to their tools, virtually anyone can jailbreak an iPhone in less than ten minutes.  I won’t go into the particulars here, there are plenty of sites for that.  I would emphasize, however, the importance of using ONLY the real iphone-dev.org blog for instructions and to NEVER, EVER, PAY FOR A JAILBREAK APP!  Anyone asking for money is a phony.  The dev-team members are the real authorities on the subject of jailbreaking and they won’t even accept donations.  Again, God bless them.

I understand how many of you might have reservations about monkeying around with your iPhone’s operating system.  I must admit to a little apprehension before I jailbroke my phone the first time.  After all, if Apple finds out you can kiss your warranty good-bye.  But jailbreaking doesn’t do anything to the iPhone that can’t be undone with a simple iTunes restore.  I guess it all comes down to a “risk vs. reward” decision on your part.  I can’t help you there.  I can tell you that Apple is going to have to come up with something extremely cool to persuade me to undo my jailbreak.

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Joseph Kelley Apple Minutiae, iPhone iPhone, jailbreak, pwn

After suffering through several freezes, application crashes and restores, I’ve managed to string together two full weeks of stable iPhone operation.  After searching and researching multiple blogs (and a lot of trial and error) I’ve come up with what I think is a recipe for operational success.  It’s not that 14 contiguous days without a phone crash is anything to brag about [especially to Blackberry owners], but it’s the longest “winning string” I’ve experienced so far.  Here’s how I did it:

#1.  Completely wipe & reload the phone.
To be succinct, start over.  I don’t know if some remnants of firmware version 2.0.0, 2.0.1 or some early application contaminated my phone, but nothing I tried prior to this action cured my iPhone’s ills.

#2.  Load the latest firmware but DONT restore from a backup.
This is a painful step.  Doing this will trash your camera roll, SMS history, Safari history and application configurations, just to name a few.  Believe me, I tried restoring from several different backups without success before finally succumbing to this drastic measure.

#3.  Disable automatic syncing.
On three separate occasions my iPhone froze during a sync with iTunes and never rebooted again until I restored it.  I’m not certain what happened but I read several theories about the phone having problems syncing while some other process had it busy doing other things.  The only implication of this action is you’ll have to manually click the sync button in iTunes when you’re reasonably sure the phone isn’t busy fetching e-mail, updating your location or something else that might interfere with the sync process.  Since there’s no Activity Monitor to actually see what your phone is doing, you’ll have to use your best judgement.  To disable automatic syncing, in iTunes click “iTunes”, “Preferences” and select the “Sync” section.  Click this checkbox near the bottom of the window.

#4.  Forget the iPhone’s “App Store” icon.
Two of my “restore sessions” were triggered when I attempted to update or install applications over the air.  Once I tried to update three applications and once I did some shopping and bought iRetroPhone.  Do you remember the old joke about the man who goes to the doctor complaining “It hurts when I do this.” while wiggling his arm and the doctor says, “Well, don’t do that!”?  Same principle.  I only use iTunes on my laptop to download and install apps.

#5.  Be judicious with applications.
Like lots of iPhone owners, I was very excited when the App Store finally launched.  So much so that I probably wasn’t careful enough about what I installed.  I think I downloaded over twenty on the first day.  Judging by the number of updates that followed, at least some of them were obviously not quite finished.  Now, I don’t download version 1.0 of anything.  Instead, I give applications some time to “season”, read some reviews and generally practice “due diligence” before putting someone’s code on my phone.

#6.  Uninstall flaky apps.
Even the most well-written application can crash from time to time.  On one occasion, one of my apps crashed and threw my phone back to the home screen three times in as many hours.  It had worked fine for a couple of days before that so I figured it was an anomaly.  The next time it aborted it bricked my phone.  Four hours later, after restoring my phone, I made sure that application didn’t go back on.  I also wished I’d uninstalled it before it rendered my phone useless.

#7.  Reboot often.
Being a Windows system engineer, I know a bit about coddling a machine.  Does the term “Microsoft maneuver” mean anything to you?  Something you learn quickly as an IT person is that a reboot is almost always your first line of defense against wonky computer behavior.  Troubleshooting a Windows computer without rebooting first is like putting on your shoes before your socks.  It’s a shame to have to treat an Apple product this way.  I now reboot my iPhone (by holding down the “Display” and “Home” buttons together for a few seconds, sliding the red “Slide to power off…” slider, waiting a few more seconds and powering the phone back on) at least once per day.  I reboot before every sync and after any application freezes or throws the phone back to the home screen.  Am I being overly cautious?  Maybe.  The fact is, rebooting is relatively painless, taking less than a minute in total.

I’m not certain which of the above practices was the “silver bullet” that killed the restore monster (if it was indeed just one).  Maybe it was some combination of a few of them.  All I know is I used to restore my iPhone every other day or so on average. Now, that has ended.  I’m sure Apple will release a bulletproof firmware version eventually.  Unfortunately, we all need our cool phones in the meantime. Good luck!

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Joseph Kelley iPhone iPhone

I’m almost hesitant to write this, but as of now I haven’t experienced a single lockup or crash in the seven days since installing the 2.0.1 update.  I’m a superstitious person and can’t help feeling I might be jinxing myself by reporting this good news.  I hope I don’t wake up tomorrow to find my iPhone smoking and my Macbook on fire.  If I have one character flaw equal to my surreptitiousness, its impatience.  As much as I love my iPhone I have to admit to fleeting thoughts of giving it the “Wild Hogs” heave-ho a few days ago.  As cool as the device is performing the role of pocket internet connection, GPS and application platform it is still first and foremost a mobile phone.  When the damned thing decided to have one of its’ epileptic seizures, cureable only by a three-hour restore, it left me without a phone.  That’s something that never happend to me in all my years (15) of owning cell phones.  I even caught my self being reluctant to suggest someone reach me on my cell.  WTF?

Hopefully, all that’s in the past.  Since the update I have used every feature the iPhone has to offer without problem.  I’ve installed and updated apps from both iTunes and the phone’s app store, used the GPS, played multiple games and the worst I’ve suffered is a low battery.  There must have been some real nuggets in the 2.0.1 release.  I hope to soon return to the normal Apple mindset.  The one where I take for granted that everything just works.  The one where I never have to pray to the phone gods.  Not there yet, but I’m cautiously optimistic.

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Joseph Kelley iPhone iPhone

Apple released firmware version 2.0.1 for the iPhone & iPod Touch Monday afternoon.  As you know [if you've read any of my recent posts] I’ve had terrible luck with my iPhone 3G and I was very anxious to install the update.  Apple, in its’ usually cryptic manor described the 2.0.1 update as “Bug fixes” but gave no details whatsoever.  I didn’t care.  I would have installed a virtual shrunken head and zen chant if I thought it would correct the crashing issues I’ve experienced with my new phone.  The update was 246 MB so, like usual, it was a complete firmware load.

So far, so good.  Although it’s still early, my iPhone seems to be performing better.  I have especially noticed the “Contacts” app is quite a bit more responsive and I have sucessfully updated applications [using iTunes and over Wi-fi] without incident.  As recently as Monday morning I had to do a complete restore after attempting to update three applications through iTunes.  The “Silver Apple of Death” is all the phone would display no matter how many times I tried to reboot the device.  Also, the iPhone would get very warm on the upper-back side like the CPU [based on my knowledge of the iPhone's main board configuration] was looping out of control.  I haven’t experienced any problems since applying the 2.0.1 update.  I’m a long way from declaring my phone “fixed” but I’m optimistic.

Speaking of updating applications, one thing I’m baffled about is the extremely long time it takes to update these tiny apps.  I don’t know what iTunes is doing to take four or five minutes to update a tiny 57 KB application.  I remember when my iPod Touch was jailbroken I could download and install a 5 MB application in a fraction of the time using “installer.app”.  From what I’ve read elsewhere, my experience is no anomaly.  I’m also a bit put off by the lengthy backups iTunes wants to perform every time I connect my iPhone.  There are a few ways to disable this function, but given my device’s poor track record, a recent backup has been a handy thing to have.

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Joseph Kelley iPhone iPhone

Leo [LaPorte] says it, Veronica [Belmont] says it and I say it.  THE NEW iPhone 2.0 SOFTWARE IS VERY UNSTABLE! I had been the proud owner of my new 16 GB iPhone 3G for less than a week when it locked up for the first time.  I took it out of its case to make a call and the little silver apple was all that was on the screen and the phone was completely unresponsive.  After trying several reboots [by holding the "Home" and "Display" buttons simultaneously], it would not get past that same screen.  I finally had to follow the restore procedure (holdong the “Home” button while connecting to my Mac via the USB cable) to get the phone working again.  This procedure completely wipes the phone and any data on it, restoring the iPhone to its “out of the box” state.  Fortunately, Apple has seen fit to include a rather complete backup procedure for the iPhone within iTunes so a restored phone is somewhat complete and current.  The bad news is the restoration process can take over two hours depending on how many applications you have installed and how much media you keep on the device.  The really bad news is the iPhone can seize at any time and, for me, seems to do it when I need the phone the most and can afford a lengthy restore process the least.

So far, I’ve had to restore my iPhone FOUR TIMES in less than THREE WEEKS!  I’m working on the fourth as I write this post.  With exception of the first crash, I can say definitly that the lockups occurred while trying to update applications.  It may have been the cause of that crash also, but I can’t say for sure.  The second and third crashes happened when I tried updating applications over my Wi-fi network.  Shortly after the second crash I heard Leo Laporte relay a similar story on his “Macbreak Weekly” podcast.  He added that if he only updated or added iPhone applications through iTunes and then synced the phone, he had no problems with crashes.  I decided to follow his advice and got the longest contiguous run without a crash, seven days.  I thought Leo had clued me in to an acceptable workaround.  Until today.

Before connecting my iPhone to my Mac today I started iTunes, checked for and updated all the applications that had new versions available.  There were seven.  I connected my iPhone and the sync process started normally.  I left the room for about ten minutes only to return to the little silver apple on my iPhone’s screen and a spinning beach ball in iTunes.  So not to act too hastily, I gave the sync another ten minutes to see if I had just caught the phone in the middle of a reboot.  No such luck.  The iPhone and iTunes were hung up like a couple of chihuahuas.  It left me with no options except disconnecting the phone, rebooting the Mac and starting the [now 2:34 and counting] restore process.

I’ve been parusing the iPhone forums and blogs in recent weeks and know that my case isn’t an isolated one.  Apple has managed to stick its thumb into my eye a couple of times in the last two weeks and I’m not alone by the looks of things.  Between the MobileMe e-mail fiasco and this flakey iPhone experience getting more and more press, Apple may need to hire a good PR person for damage control.  The “I’m a PC” guy may yet get the last laugh.

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Joseph Kelley iPhone 2.0, iPhone