iPhone Docked

Otterbox’s recent follow up to the Defender line of cases is the Commuter series. Think of it as a scaled down version of the Defender but not as specialized in purpose. It’s more designed for the everyday “commuter” who wants a case that protects their device yet remains understated. If you’ve been looking for something like this for your iPhone 3G/3GS then read on as this just might be the perfect case for you.

In typical Defender series fashion the Commuter case is a 3-part system that acts as one. First, is the included screen protector. A simple plastic film that helps to keep the iPhone’s screen from being scratched and marred. It’s not as high-end as individually purchased screen protectors but it does the job it’s built for. Next, up is the case itself which is divided into two parts. Starting with the rubber casing which doesn’t immediately appear like anything more than a seemingly flimsly rubber case cut to fit the iPhone 3G/3GS. A closer examination though, reveals that the cutouts and molding seem very precise and well made. Once you put it on the iPhone, you begin to see the amount of thought that went into designing this case. Besides the front face there are 4 always open areas for easy access to the ringer switch, speaker, mic, camera, and a cutout to show off that Apple logo. The headphone jack and dock connector are both covered by flaps that are precision cut which fit perfectly into position when closed sealing out dust, dirt and grime. The power and volume buttons are both permenantly protected by well designed moldings that look just like the actual iPhone buttons. The second part is the ridgid plastic shell that fits on top of the rubber casing. Also engineered with precision to fit snuggly into the molded area of the rubber case without adding more bulk to the overall package. Applying the shell takes some manipulation of both pieces as it is an exact fit. But once on, it’s in no danger of accidentally coming off. With all the pieces in place you now have a complete protective system that allows full use of the iPhone while still maintaining a low profile.

I have found no flaws in the design or anything not to like about the Commuter case. It offers protection that is on par to the Defender considering the open face design and thinner form factor. It’s excellently crafted to fit the iPhone 3G/3GS perfectly without developing buldges or gaps around the bezel unlike some rubber cases I’ve used and seen. Although this is an open face design dust protection is still very good. This is in part due to the tight fit and the well crafted protective flaps which stay in place at all times and remaining invisible to the user until needed. The open access points of the case are not over done either. They are designed to be just large enough for easy access and use and nothing more. This reduces the possibility of dirt getting between the the case and the iPhone and reduces the risk of that area being damaged in an accident. This is something very welcome which many case designers still don’t get. Add in the pemenantly covered molded button design which not only protects those moving parts but allows you to forget about the case entirely and use the iPhone as if it wasn’t ina case and you’ve got a excellent user experience.

After several months of use I find myself very impressed with this case. The attention to detail is outstanding and the craftsmanship is exceptional. Everyday use has been fantastic as I don’t even think about the case at all. It feels good in the the hand without restricting one-handed use while still offereing good protection under most circumstances. A big plus to this form fitting case is that it works with my Zagg full-body InvisibleShield without any problems which actually gives this case an even tighter fit. As with most cases some adapters may not work if they are larger than the one that comes with the iPhone. I highly recommend the Commuter case to anyone who wants their iPhone 3G/3GS well protected and still have full access to all it’s functions as if there was not a case on it to begin with. You can get it for $34.95 (direct from Otterbox) which is an excellent value that will do nothing but pay for itself over time.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I’m sure all of you reading this site faithfully love your iPhone and can’t imagine anything better. I find it is definitely integral to my day and I use it for all it can do, from games, remote access, email, calendar, contacts, surfing, GPS, music and podcasts, texting to actually phoning people.

With the 3.0 software and the new hardware, Apple bridged the gulf between other more standard features on competitor phones that they were lacking, such as video, MMS, voice dialing, etc. I think they are going to find it harder to throw more things into this device and keep it slick, simple and easy to use. I do however feel they have a bit of a ways to go before they get there.

Here are 5 features I would like to see up and coming on the future version of the iPhone (in no particular order).

1. Camera on the Front of the iPhone

Type: Hardware and Software

Having a camera on the iPhone is an obvious feature. Having one on the front would enable video calls between camera enabled phones. The first practical use for this would be Skype so that you can [do] video chats. I would see this coming from Apple in an iChat style native app. The burden will be the cell network. Video uses a lot of bandwidth so it would be doubtful with the current infrastructure that cell companies can handle a lot of video calls plus maintain the reliability for phones based apps. Something like this could launch over wi-fi only (like Skype is now) and then expand as the carrier can support it. Probably something like a premium charged service would likely happen. This would be live video chats by the way, not video like messages delivered like voice mail.

2. More Sound Options

Type: Software

I would like to see more native support for changing the ringtones for email especially. I find the dull tone very difficult to hear sometimes and I rely mainly on the vibration to know when I get email. It would be nice if a more audible sound like when you get a text message could be used. On that note, the options for text messages are limited, not sure why.

3. “Single App” Multi-Tasking

Type: Software

How many times have you been playing a game, writing an email or doing something on the phone and get a text message. From a programming point of view, in the iPhone SDK a message is sent to the app that halts it and gives it a chance to do things such as save state or progress so that after leaving the app to answer the text, you can resume from where you left off when you come back in. This is just good design for the iPhone to do this. But often I don’t want to stop to answer the text, I like seeing it but if I hit reply, I have to then go back to where I was, if I hit close I then have to remember to go answer the text, because hitting close removes the “new” and the badge counter on the Messages app. What I would love to see is another option to throw the currently running app into the background. Change the top bar to look the same as it does when you leave a phone call to go to the Home screen. When you do that it flashes green and says “tap to return to the call”. What if something like that can be done for a single app? Apple prohibits background processes because it degrades user experience, but something like this would only allow 1 app to be running. Perhaps it is on a termination timer. But theoretically I could throw the app into the background and launch the Messages app, answer the text, then tap the top bar to jump right back into the app I was running on.

4. Always List the Messages View First When Messaging

Type: Software

I don’t know about you, but how many times have you not noticed the name at the top of the messages app and simply sent something to the wrong person? You can’t blame Apple’s design for this, since it is very clear right up at the top who you are sending the text too, but a lot of the time if you are jumping between messages with different people, or leave the Messages app and go back in, don’t realize the person that is currently selected and send something confusing the wrong person. What I would like is a simple option to always launch Messages in the List view so that you have to pick who you want to type to. If there is only 1 I’m OK with it going to that thread.

5. Recording iPhone Screen Output

Type: Software, Hardware?

We all know Apple can do this because at all the keynotes they demo and have vendors demo their products right up on the big screen. Having the API built to handle this and maybe some kind of hook through iTunes or the Mac OS X itself (or even iTunes) to get video output of the screen would open the door for very high quality product demo videos and tutorials. App reviews will explode and maybe push some more sales. No more would you have to have a dimly lit room and a decent camera focussed on the screen and have to worry about manicures and all of that. There must be some kind of special dev build of the iPhone OS that allows this, making it a core API feature and then providing a product to do this would be a win.

That’s my list for now. I may have more to add later on. I would love to read comments on your thoughts on these features or if you have any yourself.

David Storms is a part time contributor to iPhoneDocked and can be reached at www.davidrstorms.com

Popularity: 9% [?]

In case no one noticed, the battery on the 3G S could be better. While it does seem to be lasting longer for me after a breaking-in period, it still is hard for me to make it through the day without rationing how much I use it or recharging through the day.

I got the Just Mobile Gum Pro from Amazon along with two extra iPhone charging cables for around $75 total with shipping. It retails for about $60.

The packaging was only notable for the picture of this guy. It was really strange and I got a laugh from him.

The battery pack is about the size of a pager or a large pack of chewing gum (think , and relatively heavy. That being said, once you connect it to the phone, you can put it in your pocket and not really notice it. There is an On/Off switch used for switching between the charging of the battery pack and charging of the phone, three LEDs that tell you the approximate charge of the Gum Pro, and two places to plug in various cables. There is the standard female USB port, and a female mini-USB port for charging the unit.

Here are the notes that I took while using the Gum Pro-

First charge of the Gum Pro-
8/10-2.10-4.30 USB from computer
4.40-5.15 charged from Apple wall charger

8/10-10.30 pm plugged phone in with 23% left 12.00am 100% charged
8/12-11.05pm plugged phone in with 29% left
8/13- 3.01am plugged phone in with 29% left

Second Gum Pro Charge-
8/14- 6:50pm plugged phone in with 33% left 100% by 8:30
8/15 1:00am plugged in with 23% left 100% by 3:00am
8/17 2.22pm plugged in with 31% left

So for the first charge, I got about 2.2 full charges from the Gum Pro, while I got about 2.1 full charges. Both times, the battery was drained to under 5% judging by the fact that no LEDs were lit on the battery pack. I should be getting closer to 4 charges, but it is important to remember that modern batteries need a break-in period. Overall, I got 3 extra days of charge of 6 hour/day usage. I didn’t plug the phone into anything except the Gum Pro for a week while charging the battery pack once.

Overall, if you are a heavy user of your phone or just want the extra juice I would recommend this unequivocally. It has a much larger capacity than all battery/case combinations and I have only found one battery pack that stores more than 4400mAh. Personally, I won’t be using it everyday but it will be great for flights, subway trips, and any sort of travel where you can sit down for a while. If you need something to charge on the go I would go with something along the lines of the Mophie Juice Pack Air, because the Gum Pro does not really lend itself to being carried around in the pocket while walking around because of the need for an extra cable. Public transport commuters, frequent fliers, and people who have access to electricity only rarely should pick this up immediately!

Popularity: 8% [?]

What would be an awesome addition to any App store, sadly has been reduced to a glorified movie uploader. Qik  has been for around for jailbroken iPhones for around a year now and is a really neat app. It lets you stream live video from your iPhone to Qik’s website. So you could start up a video and others could tune in and watch live while you streamed over 3G or over WiFi. Awesome right? Well the “official” app only lets you upload videos you have already taken with your iPhone 3Gs. The other kicker is you can only upload over Wifi. So no live streaming, no iPhone 3G support, and no upload on 3G only Wifi. So whats the point of this app again?

Qik App Store Link

Popularity: 9% [?]

I covered in a 2 part series the new MMS and tethering capabilities built into iPhone 3.0. You can find them here:

iPhone 3.0 MMS & Tethering: Part 1

iPhone 3.0 MMS & Tethering: Part 2

In this article I wanted to get more specific and focus on my experience tethering my 3.0 enabled iPhone 3G (note not the 3G S) with my recently purchased iMac (running OS 10 Leopard).

First thing I had to do was turn on Bluetooth on the iPhone. I normally don’t deal with Bluetooth devices so I leave the radio off. Plus it’s a good idea to save on battery life by turning it off. The iMac (which wonderfully has Bluetooth available) wasn’t listed on the devices list, even after I made it discoverable (the iMac that is).

I decided then to go through the device setup wizard available through the Bluetooth configuration icon in the status bar.

On the second page of the wizard there was an option for “Mobile Phone”. I chose that to proceed.

A search page then appeared as it tried to locate (from 2 feet away mind you) my iPhone. It took a moment but it showed up and I was able to select the device to continue. The iMac said that it needed to gather some bits of data about my device (no idea what) but after that I had a code popup on my iPhone which matched a code appearing the iMac screen.

The popup display on the iPhone indicated that a paring was occurring and I had to click OK to permit this. I did. However the pairing came up unsuccessful.

I tried a couple combinations of turning off Bluetooth and back on, switching the discover mode on the iMac to restarting the wizard but I wasn’t having much luck.

I eventually stumbled on the solution (no stopping for directions for this guy!). I had to be on the Bluetooth settings page on the iPhone with it scanning for devices. I then let the wizard attempt to pair with the phone. When the wizard came up with the code, I clicked the OK to permit prompt on the iPhone and then went back to the wizard to click continue.

Success! I could then setup a network connection through the iPhone.

In the Bluetooth settings page (use the Open Bluetooth Preferences from the status bar icon) you will see your paired device and details about it:

All you have to do is click the device and connect! (click the little settings cog wheel next to the minus sign).

So really this is a simple process, and a wireless one at that, much better solution that having to carry around a dock connector.

I did a few connection speed tests to measure the performance (excuse my lousy net speed!)

This is my broadband DSL connection (above)

And here is the tethered test.

About 100 kb/s off on the download, but significantly bad on the download. That is OK with me, since if I was using my iPhone for net access, I would likely really only care about the download speed.

This post originally appeared on DavidRStorms.com on August 10th, 2009

Popularity: 9% [?]

Rumors a starting to gather that Apple will be holding a media event September 7th to announce a bevy of new things. We have seen alot of rumors pointing to a new iPod Touch with a camera and this would be the time and place for Apple to unveil such a product. “Back to school time” has historically been when Apple launches new iPods, so this should not come as a surprise to anyone. What is a piece of something new, is that Apple may also be releasing their album art enhancements which will, I am sure, make it’s way to the iPhone as well. This could also be a perfect time for them to let iTunes 9 out of the gate, but we’ll have to wait and see on that one.

Via: iPhone Alley

Popularity: 9% [?]

A post over at The Boy Genious Report states that Apple may be taking social networking further than just adding support for it in iTunes. Apparently Apple is creating its own application that will tie in too iTunes and possibly other Apple products and services. Here is a snippet from the BGR post of what might coming:

What does this mean for iPhione users? Hopefully we will see a official version of this app for the desktop transition over to the iPhone platform. I can see Apple doing a Mobile Me style sync where your desktop social network app stays in sync with the iPhone app as well. Of course all of this is 100% speculation at this point, but it would be pretty cool right? 

Via: The Boy Genious Report

Popularity: 9% [?]

Sling media, the guys behind the application SlingPlayer, have submitted the latest version of their application to Apple. Sadly this new version does NOT include 3G support, but does offer 16×9 viewing and some overall speed increases.

To add insult to injury, they have submitted a 3G capable version for use outside the United States. Only time will tell if it will get approved or not, but for us in the good ol’ US of A, were strictly WiFi only.

Via: Engadget

Popularity: 9% [?]

On my last post I talked about the new MMS features with regards to sending pictures in the iPhone 3.0 software update. In this article, I will document my experience trying out the tethering capabilities built right into the iPhone. Now like MMS, tethering technologies have been available on other platforms for years, and without jail-breaking your iPhone, you couldn’t do it previously.

The iPhone is only available on 2 carriers in Canada: Fido and Rogers. I am with Rogers and at launch of the 3.0 update they were one of the carriers that were ready to support tethering. I had to dig a bit to find out what were the conditions of tethering, can I do it now? Will I be charged a ton of money to do it? Do I need some kind of tethering enabled plan?

I managed to find this blurb on the Rogers web site:

So lucky me I already have a 1 GB data plan so I wasn’t worried about incurring charges. And it seems that I have until the end of the year to enjoy this. I haven’t seen anything yet as to what happens in 2010, but I’ll keep digging. A good resource for this is the forums at iphoneincanada.ca where they have a thread on iPhone plans that people can post.

Tethering

This is incredibly easy to do. My first test was with connecting the iPhone to my Windows Vista PC using the dock connector cable that comes with the phone. I made sure wireless was off and the ethernet cable was unplugged and that I had no internet access.

First up is you go to Settings, General and then Network to see this screen:

Click into Internet Tethering to get this screen:

You toggle the ON/OFF and almost immediately are are setup, when you go back to the home screen a nice little blue bar indicates that tethering is enabled:

It’s very similar to when you exit a call to go to the home screen, only not green but blue. When you think about it, it makes sense and is handy to know so that you don’t leave it on and suck up all the bandwidth on your account.

When charging and the phone is locked, you still get the blue indicator:

When I went back to my Vista PC, a new prompt came up:

I choose Home just to get rid of this screen and that was it. I fired up my browser and hit my first web page on tethering:

On the final part I will show the Bluetooth connection with my new iMac and visit a speed testing web site.

Note: this article originally appeared on DavidRStorms.com on August 3rd.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Given the amount of adverse news this week out of the Steve Jobs camp (or in some cases lack of thereof), I wanted to post up a few of my favorite images from around the web in reference to the iPod to “lighten the mood” if you will, remind us all why we purchased this thing because we are sheep.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Popularity: 11% [?]