More iPhone Cisco VPN Feedback

September 30th, 2008

So now that I’m back in University, I’ve had a chance to use the iPhone’s Cisco VPN client more regularly on a daily basis.

So far it’s worked great: The VPN connection is established within a few seconds and all applications are able to access services through the VPN tunnel immediately. 

Browsing speed over wifi doesn’t seem to be impacted at all, as I’d already mentioned in my first look.

My only gripe? An on/off switch for your default VPN connection that’s accessible from the top Settings menu (similar to the current “Airplane Mode” toggle) would be useful for users who frequently need to access the VPN client.

Posted in Opinions, iPhone | Comments »

MobileMe Push e-mail Speed Test

August 24th, 2008

There have been a number of complaints about MobileMe’s Push email speed. Some users seem to be experiencing “push” delays of up to 5 minutes.

I decided to time exactly how long it takes for a Gmail message to be pushed to the iPhone over Wifi and over GPRS / EDGE:

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A video says a 1000 words…

August 21st, 2008

Quite a revealing comparison by MobileComputer of browsing speeds on the iPhone 2G vs. the new BlackBerry Bold. Apparently the iPhone 2G even beats the Bold’s 3G connection using its much slower on paper EDGE connection.

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Nike+ iPhone app- first generation iPhone compatible?

August 20th, 2008

Well it looks as though us runners (well, wannabe runners at least) are in for a treat soon! Screenshots from a pretty authentic looking Nike+ iPhone app have surfaced on iPhon.fr. From the looks of things most of the core Nike+ website functionality is supported, as well as GPS route tracking, plus lots of snazzy stats and graphs. 

From the screenshots it looks as though this app will also take care of music playback, which makes sense given Apple’s policy on background applications:

What’s unclear is how the iPhone will track your run, but three options seem feasible:

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Jetplane Review: V-Moda Vibe Duo

August 17th, 2008

Introduction

As many iPhone owners may have noticed, the headset Apple includes with the device is pretty decent and very useful - but the sound quality is just not that great. Other headphones you have may sound better, but don’t offer the handy microphone / clicker functionality of the original.

Enter V-Moda. Despite being relatively new to the Apple accessory industry, their flagship Vibe Duo earbuds for the iPhone seem to be the ideal replacement for Apple’s stock ‘phones…

What’s in the box

The Duo’s are in-ear headphones that are designed to block outside noise and sit just inside your ear canal. They feature an attractive all-metal enclosure and a sturdy fabric-shielded cable. Apart from “Gunmetal Rouge” (pictured), V-Moda also offer black and chrome versions of the Duos. The main selling point for iPhone users is the built-in mic / clicker that lets you answer calls and skip tracks just like you can with Apple’s headset.

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First look: Wordpress for iPhone

July 22nd, 2008

This is my first post using the new Wordpress application for iPhone.

Overall I must admit I’m quite impressed! The app downloaded all of my existing posts easily and whilst there aren’t any comment, design or page management features, it’s ideal for posting a quick update whilst on the go.

You can easily add images from your photo roll or new pics taken with the
iPhone’s camera to new or existing posts - something which I imagine will appeal to a lot of bloggers. Minor gripe: there doesn’t seem to be a way to specify where the images should appear in the text.

There are also no formatting controls, something obviously made difficult by the lack of drag selection on the iPhone. I could imagine that could overcome by support for markdown-style formatting.

But for a 1.0 product I think Wordpress have done a stellar job.

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Three secret iPhone 2.0 tips

July 21st, 2008

So besides the more obvious new features, Apple has also added a fair bit of spit & polish in nooks and crannies you might not notice them. Here’s two changes and one “hack” I’ve found so far:

1. Banish Marker Felt from Notes with Chinese

Take care of Marker Felt Olympic style! It seems as though the iPhone automatically substitutes unsupported fonts when typing languages with glyphs. Simply add Chinese as an additional keyboard layout and type a single character to switch the current note’s font to Helvetica (at least I think it’s Helvetica!).

The downside? This trick needs to be done for every new note you create.

2. Improved auto-correction

The auto-correction feature now seems to work a bit better and first letter substitutions in particular seem a lot smoother: When only a single letter of a word is corrected, that change is made seamlessly, without the “drop-in” animation you get with more extensive corrections. It’s a minor detail, but it does make typing feel a lot easier.

3. Add / Edit contacts whilst on a call

You may be wondering why Apple has added a “dedicated” Contacts app, especially it offers the exact same functionality as the contacts list within the phone application. Well now you can easily lookup, add or edit contact information whilst on a call!

Posted in Hints, Opinions, iPhone | Comments »

First iPhone Cisco VPN client impressions

July 8th, 2008

I recently had the chance to play with an iPhone running the developer preview version of the iPhone 2.0 firmware. Aside from the AppStore, the feature I was most excited to try out was the built-in Cisco VPN client (my university’s Wifi access is restricted to clients connected to a Cisco VPN network).

Impressions and Issues

The first issue that caught my attention was the difficulty of entering your connection details manually: Don’t get me wrong: I have very few issues with the iPhone’s keyboard when entering normal words. But entering the 30 digit pre-shared key took me the best part of 10 minutes.

Luckily, according to this deployment scenario document (warning PDF link) the final release will be able to import a pre-defined, password protected connection file - just like VPN connection files can be deployed en-masse to Cisco desktop clients, so most users will probably never have to manually edit their connection details.

Once I had everything set up and running, the connection seemed to work just fine and browsing speeds seemed to be just as fast over VPN as they were on a regular Wifi connection.

Summary

Everything basically worked as advertised and I look forward to finally being able to really put my iPhone to use at University without having to rely on a slow GPRS/EDGE connection.

P.S. Conspiracy alert! Does anyone else remember that “iPhone” trademark spiff Apple and Cisco had last year? I wonder if that’s why Cisco is the only IPSec VPN gateway manufacturer to be supported on the device. At least the last sentence of the press release seems to imply some sort of closed-door deal:

In addition, Cisco and Apple will explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, and consumer and enterprise communications. Other terms of the agreement are confidential.

Posted in Reviews, iPhone | 3 Comments »

iPhone idea: “nike+” app without the nike bit…

June 23rd, 2008

So whilst out jogging today (I’ve just started trying to get back in shape), I was thinking about the lack of a nike+ adapter that’s compatible with the iPhone. That got me thinking how great it would be if they made a bluetooth version, so you didn’t need the adapter for your iPhone, just the sensor for your shoe.

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iPhone 3G: Mission Lockdown

June 12th, 2008

So the iPhone is now only $199 - huzzah!

But wait - the phone is cheaper, but the data plan is more expensive… and there’s no convenient home activation ”buy and sim unlock” option either.

“Would Sir like technical or legal shackles”?

Getting the 1st Gen. iPhone to work with a cheaper carrier (or just with a less comprehensive service plan) was primarily a technical challenge. This time around Apple is using a different tactic: Since locking down the phone’s software has proven to be nearly impossible, they’ll now require you to sign a contract before you can buy the phone instead.

That makes the carriers who have paid to be able to offer the iPhone happy and Apple can also claim to have reduced the price of the iPhone. But the cheapest AT&T voice & data plans combined now amount to $70 a month - a $10 hike over the plans for the previous generation.
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Apple Push Notification Service: Bad news for indie devs?

June 10th, 2008

So Apple took the wraps off of the iPhone 3G and the latest 2.0 firmware yesterday. But what I  found particularly interesting was Scott Forstall’s brief explanation of how Apple is going to tackle the issue of background applications. 

Basically Apple will rely on a data connection to their “Push Notification” servers to send messages to 3rd party applications with information that would normally be displayed by an app running in the background. For example: If you were to receive a new chat message whilst your IM client isn’t running, the IM service servers would notify Apple’s Push Notification servers, which would in turn send a message to the iPhone to add a “1″ icon to your IM apps home screen icon.

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Jetplane Review: Belkin Sport Armband for iPhone

May 22nd, 2008

I’ve recently taken up jogging and the iPhone has been a great tool in helping me to motivate myself to get out the door. I use the stopwatch to keep track of my running times and of course the iPod app to play music and podcasts to keep myself occupied.

After carrying the iPhone in its Artwizz Seejacket case for a few days (which honestly wasn’t that bad), I decided to purchase the Belkin Sport Armband. Here’s some impressions after using it for a few days.

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5 reasons the iPhone is a better iPod than an iPod

May 16th, 2008

Let me start off by making a qualifying statement:

Because I worked for a large german Apple retailer for a few years, I’ve owned nearly every iPod Apple made, starting with a 10GB 2nd Gen I bought myself all the way through to the 30GB iPod video (no, I’m not insane, most were work iPods we were given to demonstrate to customers. But we were allowed to keep them for private use as well).

So consider me a big fan of all the previous iPods.

But apart from the obvious new touch interface which is generally considered to be a huge leap forward, there are several practical improvements to the iPhone’s iPod that are less headline-grabbing, but make the device considerably more useable than its predecessors all the same.

Here are my top 5 subtle improvements that make the music listening experience on the iPhone better than on any iPod.
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Review: Artwizz Seejacket for iPhone

April 28th, 2008

After seeing all the interest in this case on all over the internet, I got in touch with Artwizz (who are based here in Germany) and asked them if it would be possible to review this case for Mac-Forums.com. But for the readers of this blog, I am also posting my review here…

So without further ado, here are my impressions of the Artwizz Seejack Crystal:

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MobileScrobbler: Last.fm on your iPhone

April 11th, 2008

Everyone knows Last.fm right? Y’know those crazy british guys that let you track the songs you’ve played in iTunes and find similar music for you… Well, unfortunately the music player on their website (last.fm radio) is flash based, so it (currently) won’t work on your iPhone.

Never fear! Thanks to “Sam” and his awesome iPhone app, MobileScrobbler, you can now enjoy some Last.fm love on your iPhone.  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Reviews, iPhone | 3 Comments »