Simplify Media: So close to being a good thing

I was ready for this to be a home run.  Simplify Media loads on your computer and on your iPhone/iPod Touch.  On the computer, the application serves up media files stored on that computer, such as your iTunes library.  On the iPhone/iPod, the client application surfs your music collection and streams music from your computer to the device.  Cool!  You can apparently share your music with multiple friends too, but I didn't try that.  I misread the FAQ. At first, I thought I could stream music purchased on iTunes to my iPhone.  I looked more closely when I couldn't seem to find that new Third Day album on my iPhone since I forgot to sync before I left the office.  It wasn't there.  I re-read the FAQ again and thought I should be able to.  Then, it hit me.  Simplify will stream iTunes songs to other "computers" logged in to the host computer (so long as the client computer is authorized by iTunes to play that song), but it won't stream DRM-protected tunes to your iPhone.  Bummer!  

Simplify Media is still a great download if you unprotect all your music, but I wanted so much for it to work with my iTunes music.  I'm a really lazy syncer.  

For more info on Simplify Media, click here

Mercedes Benz is the new iPhone Accessory

Mercedes Benz has come up with this custom cradle integrated into their cars as an option which is specially designed for the iPhone.  So, should we line up at the local Mercedes dealership to buy a car to go with our iPhones?

I've been expecting new audio accessories for iPhone...

but not this. [mobilitytoday.com]

iPhone Update Ate My iPhone?

Okay, the phone itself still works, but I've got no Wi-Fi. I know that i have "no Wi-Fi" because the iPhone tells me that I have "no Wi-Fi" when I go to the settings panel. The Wi-Fi setting is completely greyed out with no ability to turn anything on or off. I spent about 90 minutes on the phone with Apple Support this morning resetting and restoring, but no matter what I tried, I still have "no Wi-Fi". Apple is sending me a loaner phone and a box to return my iPhone for repair. The really odd thing is that my wi-fi actually worked immediately after installing the update because I bought a song from ITMS on the iPhone. It was only this morning that I was denied access. Go figure! So, you might want to be wary about installing the iPhone update even if you haven't hacked your iPhone.

Update: Just to be clear. I did not install any 3rd party apps or hack my iPhone in any way.

Update: Fed Ex just arrived with my official AppleCare Service edition iPhone that will be staying with me while the special "no Wi-Fi" edition returns to the mothership to restore that childlike sense of wonder that comes from being able to connect to the Internet. Hopefully, my $600 (less $100 credit) baby will get a hide buff or maybe total replacement will she's there. Apple service is definitely prompt and efficient.

Update: Got the loaner iPhone on Saturday. I dropped the iBrick off at the Fed Ex Kinkos not thinking it would move from there until Monday, but lo and behold they shipped it to arrive at the repair facility on Monday. By Monday afternoon, I got notice that they decided to replace, not repair, my iPhone and the new one will arrive tomorrow by Fed Ex. Every experience I've had with AppleCare thus far has been a positive one.

A sad sight indeed...

What you get when you push the purple button while connected via Edge. Sorry, it's so blurry!

There's gotta be 3 more apps coming!

I'm looking at this photo from Rodfather Mobile and I'm thinking, "surely, Jonathan Ive wouldn't let them ship a product with an uneven row of icons!" There's gotta be 3 more apps coming, I think.

update: Starbucks gets one of the empty slots. What about the other 2?

"Perfect" iphone email setup

Thanks to The Unoffical Apple Weblog for pointing me to this post about the perfect email setup for my iPhone. I haven't decided whether it's perfect or not but it does look promising. The idea orignates with catcubed.com. Thanks for making my iPhone life better!

Numbers spreadsheet meets iPhone...

Can I open a simple Numbers spreadsheet as an e-mail attachment on my iPhone? No. I created a simple spreadsheet and saved it as a normal Numbers file. I opened Apple mail and sent a message to my Gmail account with the spreadsheet attached. I receive the message and the attachment is shown to be a zip file. I am not able to open it. This is an Apple spreadsheet and an Apple phone, yes? Please let me know if you get a different result.

I can't leave myself a voicemail!

So, I was reading an article on the The Unofficial Apple Weblog about tricking your voicemail into using voice recording data that one has hacked onto the iPhone. It occurs to me, "do I really need to do all this hackery? Can't I just call my phone number and leave myself a message?" Apparently, not! When I call my own number, I go directly to voicemail but as a user instead of as a caller. No leaving myself little reminders that way! Bizarre, eh? Anybody know a way around this that doesn't involve SSH or terminal or other black arts?

Why I Like the iPhone

By now you've read lots of reviews about the Apple iPhone. Yes, I'm a Fanboy and I'll tell you that up front, but here's why I like it:

1. Design matters. Someone once described an elephant as a horse designed by a committee. The committee comes up with all the features that they want a horse to have, assembles them in some fashion, and BAM! the horse looks like an elephant when the committee is done. While that's sort of how I compare Windows Mobile to the iPhone. Sure, WM has more features and it is very functional, but really it's more "ctional" because, what's missing? The "fun" that's what! The "child-like sense of wonder" that Fake Steve Jobs is always talking about. iPhone has put the "fun" back into functional.

2. Do I really need a swiss army knife? It's easy to look at a new device and say it does or doesn't have certain features. Is that really relevant to what we use on a daily basis? Maybe it is a deal-killer if a key feature is missing. For some, the lack of native Microsoft Exchange support will be a deal killer for use in the Enterprise. That's not my issue, so as far as I'm concerned, it's not a problem. I suspect it's also not an issue for millions of other people either. Still, a pretty big market even if I leave out all the Enterprise people. But, the Enterprise also used to shun Palms and Ipaqs and other PDA's. You will notice more than a few of those devices around the Enterprise today. Heck, big companies only recently moved to XP in many cases. Do I want to model my buying habits after people that don't like change? I think not.

3. People like the iPhone! People ask to play with my iPhone all the time and do I ever have to tell anybody what to do? No, it's intuitive! Customer satisfaction surveys back up that iPhone is liked by people who have them and people who don't.

4. Exciting things are happening with the iPhone. Developers are hacking the darn thing right and left. Every day, new websites are popping up to add iPhone-specific features. This is an exciting device to have from this standpoint and it get's more exciting all the time. Even people who don't like the iPhone can't bear to be left out of the conversation about it. You may or may not like it, but you aren't ignoring it. If everybody is talking about a device, I usually end up wanting to try it to see what all the conversation is about.

5. It's the screen!!!!! It's beautiful! I have so much fun surfing the net when I'm waiting in line or at the mall with the family or whenever. It's sooo much better then WM devices I have owned.

6. Cover Flow. I went out and added artwork to all my music just because it is so fun to play with cover flow.

7. Activesync blows! Any device that doesn't need Activesync to talk to my computer is a device worth looking at. The iTunes interface is sooooo easy!

8. The touchscreen rocks! I can see the darn thing outside - try that with a Blackjack or Cingular 8125. I can dial the phone with the onscreen buttons. I used to hate using the Cingular 8125 as a phone because it usually took me multiple tries to dial a number.

9. No stylus required. Use the finger! Any finger will do. You can even use the middle finger if you want to send a message to Apple while you're using the phone.

10. It's an Apple. Okay! There, I said it. I am, after all, a Fanboy.

Bejeweled rocks!

So yesterday, I'm waiting at Rockfish for a table with my wife and they have free wifi. Cool! So, while we chat, I pull out the iPhone and connect to Pop Cap Games for a quick game of Bejeweled. My wife happens to also love that game, so when I'm done she expresses the first interest she's ever shown in the iPhone to play around too. This game is SOOO addicting. It's great on the iPhone too. Give it a try!

Chris Pirillo "gets" the iPhone

Chris Pirillo threw down his 20 reasons that he wasn't going to get an iPhone around the time of the June 29 launch, but then he was surprised when wife Ponzi gave him one for his birthday. At first, it was "Argh! not an iPhone!" but because it was a gift from his beloved he gave it a try. Now, he's seen the light and given us 20 reasons why he's happy with the iPhone. Like Chris suggests, let the hype lure you to try out the iPhone and then let the experience convince you to buy one. It's that good!

Link to Chris's 20 Reasons