iPhone | Home Office Warrior

Third Party Applications on the iPhone

Oct 17, 2007

The following was taken word for word from Apple Hotnews.

Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers’ hands in February. We are excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users. With our revolutionary multi-touch interface, powerful hardware and advanced software architecture, we believe we have created the best mobile platform ever for developers.

It will take until February to release an SDK because we’re trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once—provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc. This is no easy task. Some claim that viruses and malware are not a problem on mobile phones—this is simply not true. There have been serious viruses on other mobile phones already, including some that silently spread from phone to phone over the cell network. As our phones become more powerful, these malicious programs will become more dangerous. And since the iPhone is the most advanced phone ever, it will be a highly visible target.

Some companies are already taking action. Nokia, for example, is not allowing any applications to be loaded onto some of their newest phones unless they have a digital signature that can be traced back to a known developer. While this makes such a phone less than “totally open,” we believe it is a step in the right direction. We are working on an advanced system which will offer developers broad access to natively program the iPhone’s amazing software platform while at the same time protecting users from malicious programs.

We think a few months of patience now will be rewarded by many years of great third party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones.

Steve

I have been telling people for sometime that it was only a matter of time before Apple would do just this. But, best of all, it will be done right. I use the iPhone and love it. I will be posting soon about how it great for the business user.

Apple, Technology, iPhone Written By Grant Griffiths Comments (0)

Treo user switches to the iPhone

Sep 29, 2007

Recently, I received a comment on my post about the iPhone. The comment was such a great description of this person experience with his new iPhone, I asked if I could use it as a guest post.

Brooke Riggio gave me the following.

I had a Treo, and upgraded to an iPhone. I love it. I used both for about 2 weeks, to make sure it would work out, and found myself hating having to use the Treo for anything. It feels clunky, slow, ugly, and bad for my eyes. Just the other day, I went to a business meeting downtown. I left my house, checking bus schedules on the web as I went (parking is expen$$ive!).

On the bus, I monitored traffic with the Google maps app to make sure I was on schedule. I zoomed in the map to pick the perfect place to get off the bus. I got an email from the guy I was meeting with a last minute Word doc for me to review for the meeting. To his surprise, I was familiar with the contents when the meeting started, since I was able to read the attachment in the iPhone mail program.

While at the meeting, we used iPhone to check a few potential domain names for our product. I made some calls for another client (all synced from address book) on my way home, responded to some other emails, and listened to a podcast. I never touched my treo, and preferred it that way! The only thing I thought I would miss was the dial-up networking feature of my treo (so I could use internet from laptop over bluetooth). But with full web browsing on the iPhone, I don’t miss it at all… EDGE is actually faster than the BT transfer rates anyway!

My recommendation: Don’t wait for version 2. That just means lost time enjoying the greatest cell phone interface ever created. My treo was like a 10th generation product, and was buggy and crashy as heck. Apple did better in it’s first try than all the other manufactures have been able to do with revision after revision.

To add credibility to this comment, Brooke is a tech consultant for small business, including a law firm in Seattle. He is also working on a very interesting web based application called CaseHawk. Humm, web based case management!!! Can you say, case management web based application running on the iPhone?

Brooke also told me that he wrote his comment on his iPhone, with his right thumb, holding his 5 month old. He stated he is already faster with one hand on the iPhone than he was with two on his “old” Treo.

Technorati Tags:
Mac, Apple, iPhone

Apple, PDA, iPhone Written By Grant Griffiths Comments (0)

Jawbone : The Best Bluetooth Headset

Sep 29, 2007

Finis Price of TechnoEsq has a review today of The Best Bluetooth Headset, the Jawbone. And I could not agree more.

I have used and tried at least 4 other BT headsets, and this one is by far the best one I have used. It works great with my iPhone too. I would recommend you visit Finis’ review and also take a look at the demo he suggest. And he is right, the demo is not exaggerating anything. This thing is just wonderful.

Technology, iPhone Written By Grant Griffiths Comments (0)

iPhone after using it now for over a month

Sep 29, 2007

I still love it!!!!

For those of you who don’t have one, it really is a wonderful piece of technology. And, the Edge network actually works faster for me than my Treo did on Alltel. And best of all, it does not do a self-reset, does not lock up and actually works all the time. Unlike the Treo. And I took very good care of my Treo using all the recommended utility programs to make sure it runs. But in the end, the Treo is too much like a windoze box. Why use technology if you have to use programs to keep them running right. Why not use technology that you can use right out of the box and not have to add anything to do make them “just work.”

And, IMHO the iPhone is just as good for a business person or professional as the Treo and from what I can tell from other crackberry users, the Blackberry too. I can do everything and actually more on my iPhone than I could on my Treo. And yes, perhaps I can’t edit a word document on my iPhone without adding a third party program, but that is why I have my MacBook with me 24/7. And, you can’t edit a word document on the Treo without a third party either.

The built in Safari browser is really very good. And a lot of sites are now using the iPhone plug-in to make their sites even better on the iPhone. How many are doing that for the Blackberry or Treo? None that I can find.

And, as to the price change Jobs did. So what!!!! I got a credit from AT&T for $200.00 and even if I didn’t, I knew as most did that Jobs would do just as he did. The iPhone is going to do just what we all thought it would . It will change the way people look at cell phones and PDA’s. Once again, Apple is going to change the way people look at technology and the others will be let trying to play catch up. After all, look at all the iPhone want-to-be’s now that are coming out. It is laughable.

There are those who say, what if Apple comes out with a next generation iPhone. I hope they do. And the best thing about the iPhone, I can update its firmware by just plugging it into my MacBook and letting iTunes do an update. Updating and improving existing iPhones will be as easy as sending out a “windows” update. But, unlike a windows update, the update for the iPhone will actually work. Each time the firmware has been updated on the iPhone now, ,there have been little improvements. And there will be more to come when our new operating system comes out in October. I look for there to be some changes for the iPhone too.

So, for those who don’t have an iPhone, take a hard look at one. It really is a great tool. And please, please don’t cut it down unless you actually spend some time actually using one. You owe yourself that much.

iPhone Written By Grant Griffiths Comments (0)