It’s been awhile since I’ve checked for updates for my iPhone 3GS. I had completely forgotten that a couple of months ago Apple released a brand new OS for my iPhone. So I let it do its thing, and waited to see what would happen…

I have to say that OS 4 is pretty slick. As I’m typing this, my iPhone is downloading a minor upgrade to OS 4.02, so hopefully it survives that with flying colours. There is an entire list of improvements in OS 4, but here are some of the things that I like.

• I can zoom with my camera phone now. I never understood why I couldn’t do that before, but with the new Operating System, zooming is as simple as the “spread your finger and thumb” movement on the screen.
• Character count in txt messaging. Maybe this doesn’t mean much to most people, but sometimes I send a tweet with my txt, rather than with a Twitter client. Before, I had a guess how many characters I had typed. Not anymore!
• Spell check in txt messaging. Gotta love those little red lines under my words.
• Unified inbox. This is a HUGE improvement for me. I’m used to having everything dumped into one Gmail address, which is fine for checking mail, but got to be cumbersome on the iPhone when it came time to replying. Now I can separate my email addresses and have the mail come into different inboxes, or into a single unified one. Believe me, it’s nice.
• Threaded email messages. I’m still getting used to this. I’m a little old fashioned when it comes to how I like my email displayed. Sometimes there is a single message within a thread that I want to keep… I still think I prefer non-threaded email, but I have to admit, I haven’t disabled this feature. I’m still working on getting used to it.
• Multitasking apps. From what I read this isn’t true multitasking, but it still feels like it. Double click the button and a little window appears where you can see what it running, like the task manager in Windows. You can even close applications that way.

There’s a bunch of stuff under the hood, but those are the things that I actually use. I will have to say… my iPhone did start to act a little weird in the days after I upgraded the OS. There was one point that I thought that it had locked up solid, and I really wasn’t sure how to unlock it, but after a couple of minutes it seemed to reboot itself.

One very annoying feature of the new OS… My phone no longer charges when I dock it with the nice little radio that I was given for Christmas! I know that Apple wants you to use their own hardware for charging, but this really pisses me off! It was working before in that radio (There was a second radio that it never did charge in, although my Nano would charge just fine), but after the OS upgrade… nope. It obviously still plays, but the charging function is disabled now. Thanks Apple… I appreciate that…

A few months ago I posted my thoughts on getting a new phone, and asked people their opinions on the Blackberry and iPhone.  At the time, I was using a Motorola Q, which is a fine-enough phone, except that it uses Windows Mobile and crashes frequently.  I had just about enough, and was eager to find a suitable replacement before I smashed the Q against a wall.

I was very happy with the reader interest in that post.  The poll and comments were pretty much evenly split, with half recommending a Blackberry, and most of the others recommending an iPhone.  While there was some initial interest in Google’s Android-powered phones, I wasn’t willing to explore that possibility quite yet.  Perhaps when the operating system becomes a little more entrenched.  As for Windows Mobile, I thought that the platform was dead, until I heard that there is a Windows Mobile 7 available.  After my experience with the Q, never again will I go anywhere near Windows Mobile.  I wouldn’t wish that pain upon my worst enemy.  (well, maybe one)

So after careful consideration of my handheld usage needs, I finally opted to go with the Apple iPhone 3GS.  And all I can really say is “What took me so long?”…

It’s not perfect by any means, but I think that it’s a near-perfect fit for me.  For the most part, I’ve been able to figure out how to type coherently on the flatscreen, although there are times when I repeatedly hit the wrong key and back up, only to hit the same wrong key, and back up, and again… you get the idea.  I get a little frustrated at times, but I’m getting better.  Not to mention, the phone seems to be learning what words I like to use most often, and correcting my spelling as I go along.  Generally, this is a good thing.. but there are times when I really DO mean to type an acronym, and don’t want the phone to automatically change it to something else.

But the positives far outweigh the negatives.  For music lovers like me, the integration with iTunes and the iTunes Store is remarkable.  This isn’t anything new.  It was one of the things that people told me that I would enjoy the most… and they were right.  Whether I’m connected to the Internet through my cell account, or a Wifi connection, I can easily download a new song and have it playing within minutes.  And my music videos look fantastic on it. I’m not at the point where I want to replace my iPod completely, but the iPhone is generally all I need most days.

But how is it as a phone?  I’ve seen some pretty bad things written about the overall phone quality of the iPhone 3GS, and I have to say that I don’t agree at all.  I’m not sure what all the fuss is about because I have never had any problems.  Maybe it’s the US carrier that is the problem, but here I talk regularly on my iPhone without any problems, and no one has ever mentioned not being able to understand me.  So I’d say that it works perfectly fine as a phone.

And of course, there’s the whole “App” discussion, but I think that I will leave that for another day.

So far, so good… very pleased!  Maybe my biggest concern is that Apple is expected to release the 4th generation of the iPhone this summer, so I may have purchased mine at the wrong time.

Well Apple’s much anticipated iPad tablet has finally shipped, and it’s about the only thing that people are talking about on tech blogs and podcasts.  I’ve never been an early adopter of hardware, much preferring to sit back and wait for someone else to buy it first, and then make my mind up.  And usually within that time, the price generally starts to come down a little.  So it’s a win-win.

But when it comes to the iPad, I’m not even close to being sold on the concept.  What the hell would I use it for?  It’s not a phone.  It’s not a music player.  It’s not a computer.  Although it does perform all of those functions, at least in one way or another.  Then what IS it?

I had this conversation with a good friend of mine.  He thinks that it will revolutionize the niche left under-served by existing tablets.  OK, fine.  I honestly can’t imagine it being any worse than Windows-powered tablet PCs.  I still never really saw the need for those, except in some highly-specific situations.  Apple seems to know how to create a perfect user experience (Apple TV may be the exception to the rule) but the idea of just having an iPad sitting on the coffee table to pick up and do some casual reading, web surfing, or whatever… I just don’t get it.  I can see Apple fan boys (and girls) going gaga for this, but not the average Joe.  I see it as a novelty item at best… a flop at worst.  Sure, they’ll sell a ton of these things initially, but will they be able to sustain the initial momentum?  I’m curious if anyone reading this has any plans to purchase one, or has had an opportunity to see first-hand what it’s capable of… and where it’s lacking.

Of course.. my track record with Apple hasn’t been good.  I was wrong with both the iPod and iPhone, but at least both of those devices had a clear purpose.  I didn’t argue that.  I simply wondered if they lived up to the myth created around their iNames.  And yes… I am fully prepared to admit that (in my opinion) they do.  But the iPad is a different beast altogether.  It aims to fill a void that honestly… I don’t think that most people feel they even possess.

It’ll be an interesting toy, and certainly a great conversation piece for those willing to shell out the money for one.  But for the rest of us?  I think we’ll survive just fine without one.

One of the little oddities of iTunes is that some of the music videos that I’ve purchased have been DRM-free, while others have not been. Essentially that means that I’ve been able to play most of my music videos through my XBox 360 onto my TV, while a couple have had the dreaded red circle of death next to them. Unplayable.

I’ve tried to figure out what the pattern is. Did I pay more for videos that were DRM-free? I don’t think so. The prices seemed pretty constant. Maybe it was a case of those videos simply not being available yet without DRM?

Well today I logged into iTunes and noticed that I had an upgrade option available for two of my videos. Mika – Happy Ending, and The Latency – Tonight I Love You. For $0.80 each, I could upgrade these videos to DRM-free status. Sweet!

Just a quick note… it’s really not unlocking the DRM. You have to download each file again, which isn’t a big deal. iTunes will ask you if you want to automatically delete the old DRM version or place it on your desktop (whereby you can move it to wherever you want, I guess).

Good riddance, DRM. I long for the day when you are simply a bad dream.

Oh, and there are at least three more videos in my collection that I know have DRM. Ironically, these are fairly recent releases from Canadian artists… Marianas Trench, and Carly Rae Jepsen. Not sure if that means anything or not.

It started off innocently enough. A stolen glance. The hint of a smile. A flutter deep within my core.

Oh, you like music too? I love music!

And then it just grew from there… hours spent together… listening intently… cataloging, organizing, renaming…  music, movies, podcasts.. and more! 

What’s this now?  You have your very own store!? 

I was in love!

Prepaid cards, I bought.  More music, I sought.

Sync me, love.          

I was fortunate enough that a couple of people realized that iTunes cards were a great gift idea for Christmas, and I’ve been able to go on a bit of a shopping spree.  Then I saw something that I hadn’t seen before… Walmart selling prepaid iTunes card for less than their face value?!  A $25 iTunes card for $20?  What’s up with that?  That must have been a sale, because I haven’t seen that since.  Too bad.  I need to stock up!

I never thought that I’d get as much use out of a piece of software as I have iTunes.  Is it perfect?  No… but what it does, it does extremely well. 

Tablet PCs have been around for a few  years.  Know anyone who actually owns one?  Me neither.  How about someone who’s even seen one?  Nope, pas moi.  I’ve never really been sure what they were intended for.  Sure, there might be some specialized uses for them.  I think that they’d be great for hospitals, maybe even certain factory situations.  But for everyone else… what’s the point?  Without a keyboard, data entry would be painful, right?

Well that was before the rise in popularity of Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, with their fancy touch screens.  Yeah, they didn’t come up with the touch screen, but they seem to be the ones who get credit for making it cool. 

So will Apple breathe life into a product that essentially has limited mass-appeal?  Will slapping an Apple logo on something that no one seemed to want when it ran Windows suddenly make people want to own one?  I’m not overly excited about it.  I’m even less excited by the name.  iPad?  Umm…  really?  Is that the best you could do, Apple?  Am I the only one who thinks that name is a more than a little silly?  It brings to mind an image that is anything but hi-tech.

Only time will tell whether the iPad takes off.  Someday I’d love to hear from someone who’s actually held one of these things in their hands.

It’s hard to read anything about Apple’s recent annual product showcase, without going through the part about Steve Jobs’ return from “the dead” (aka a liver transplant).  Obviously some people want to focus on that. 

Not me.  I want to ramble about the iPods.

It’s no secret.  I love my iPod.  I was a little late getting to the party, but when I finally arrived, I fell in love.  There’s always room for improvement, though, and what’s once new is soon old.  What I’m trying to say is that it’s about time for an upgrade.

So I’m looking at some of the highlights for the new iPod Nano.  I don’t see myself really interested in one of the larger Classics.  160GB just isn’t right for me.  I don’t need that much media on my person.  I have a hard drive hooked up to my TV for that.  Enough of the Classic.  Back to the Nano.

The new Nano goes for $149US for 8GB and $179US for 16GB, which hopefully means I’ll be paying pretty close to that, given the recent strength of the Loonie again.  It seems that Apple finally decided to add the illusive FM radio tuner to their popular player.  I never could understand why it wasn’t included already.  It just seemed to make sense, even if it wasn’t something that people would use all the time.  And now, you can even live-pause songs and tag them through iTunes.  Quite interesting!

They’ve also added a microphone and pedometer.  The pedometer is a no brainer.  I had never thought of it before (probably because I have no desire to know how many steps I’ve taken at any given point) but I can definitely see why some people would like this.  It even comes with software by Nike, which keeps track of your workouts.  Yeah, like I need that. The microphone is a little harder for some people to wrap their brain around, but I’m one of those people who has actually used their cellphone mic  to record quick notes and random thoughts.  And I’ve even looked into buying a digital voice recorder to keep with me for those rare flashes of brilliance where I can’t write the thought down for whatever reason.  They seem to be pretty expensive for some reason, so I haven’t taken it any further than that. 

But the most interesting item was the addition of a built-in video camera.  That certainly adds some power to this little device.  It doesn’t take still photos, though.  And I got to thinking… I seem to remember a sign posted at the gym that frowned upon cellphones, particularly in locker rooms.  How are they going to fare with iPods?  When I look around, I see iPods everywhere.  I’m sure that it won’t take long before I start seeing lawsuits in the news.

All in all, I’m pretty psyched to see the new line-up from Apple.  Try as I may, though, I can’t seem to kill my current one, and hate to spend the money on something new when I have a perfectly good one still. (that I am listening to as I type this)

Christmas is coming. I think I’ll tell Santa that I’ve been good this year…