New Amazon App Identifies Stuff around you via Human Drones

In the midst of a recession, it is refreshing to see Amazon continues innovation with its Amazon App. The Amazon App has all that you expect from a online retailer mobile app. Product search, wish list, shopping cart, package tracking, account information, mobile online transaction are all there. There's more, the Amazon iPhone App allow users to identify any item in a picture taken with the iPhone, linking that picture to its mobile product page!

The full name for product identification part of the Amazon App is called Amazon Remembers. It is currently in experimental mode. The iPhone user take a image of an item. Then, hired Mechanical Turks will use their skilled identification and search skills to bring to the correct Mobile Amazon product page. The product page lets users read reviews, add to cart or wish lists, or buy that item.

That's right, image product identification is NOT done by a computerized system, but an actual human hired by Amazon Mechanical Turk division located somewhere on Earth to accomplish this complex task.



The results are surprisingly good. I took 3 picture of stuff around my bedroom. Within 5 minutes, Amazon came back with 2 accurate results for the NetGear WG Wireless Adapter and the Speed Stick Deodorant. Heh, they sell those on Amazon too. I would imagine these items are easy to identify because the item name is clearly marked in the photo. However the Logitech cordless mouse has less to go on. Surprisingly, after 30 minutes, the image only Logitech Cordless Plus Optical Mouse was correctly identified and linked to the correct product page.

This type of innovation can drive tech-savvy iPhone users to use the Amazon App more. It is really enjoyable to see how stuff around the house show up on Amazon. For Amazon this may mean better brand awareness and increased sales in the future.
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Google offers Triple Treats to iPhone Users in November [iPhone Love]

Everyone knows Google has a love affair with the iPhone. Just last month, Google Earth for the iPhone was released with great acclaim. But in November, Google has launched not one, but THREE iPhone specific enhancements to its products. Google first made changes to its search results to allow for better user experience, including one-touch dialing and default maps on local searches. Then they rolled out the Speech activated Search with the Google App update. Finally with the release of iPhone update 2.2, Google Maps gets Street View and Public Transportation Directions. All of these enhancements offer substantial improvements over the current iPhone and made major headlines in the iPhone community this month.

iPhone Google Search Optimization

With the user interface optimization on Google Search, search results are more efficiently displayed so that there is no need to scroll side to side. Local search results are also optimized. Results now include one-touch “Get Directions” and click-to-call links. Maps are easily accessible by the “show map” link or displayed by default if appropriate. Below is a video presentation of iPhone Google Search Optimization.



Google Voice Search



Next, Google rolled out Voice Search. It is a part of the Google Apps update. Thus, only with the updated Google App, iPhone user can try out this new feature. For this reason, Google Apps became one of the top apps downloads even though it has been released for a long time.

Voice search is surprisingly good. It can recognize most of the words I speak to the iPhone without much error. Say "Google iPhone products in November 2008," that's exactly what the voice search app came back with. Although I am still using the regular text-based search more than voice search, I can’t stop imaging the day when people use voice search instead of text-based search. With Google’s optimization of iPhone search results, the combination gets better. When you speak “18 percent of 33 dollars,” you get a calculated result almost instantly. Oh, the gratification!The app is even smart enough to differentiate between "bear market" and "bare ass" through contextual recognition, amazing!




Google Street View



Finally with the long awaited iPhone firmware update 2.2, iPhone users got Google Street View. At a first glance in Google Maps, Google Street View is nowhere to be found. It is only when you enter an address or search a direction will the Google Street View button show up beside the address bar. The Street View button is the Red Man on the left side of the address pin. Not a very intuitive usability design on Google’s part to place street view like this.


With Google Street View on the iPhone, you can stroll the streets of New York City, San Francisco, or your everyday neighborhood right from your iPhone. Street View allows the user to view a 360 degree view. Look at the sky, the ground, and the buildings like you are really there.

It is great for navigation too. It is convenient for getting a glimpse of your destination if you have never been there. It makes finding that company you are interviewing for that much easier.

Google Maps also added public transportation and walking directions. Great for those relying on public transportation, bikes, or their two feet.

The triple treat Google offered to iPhone users this month shows that Google is serious in building brand recognition with iPhone users. Their product launches even outpace those of their own Google Android phones.
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Apple lowers iPhone 3G Production. It's the Global Economy, Stupid

It looks like the financial crisis and the resulting global economic downturn is taking a toll on Apple's iPhone too. Although last month Apple recorded record breaking sales of iPhones in its fourth quarter, it does not look like the spectacular sales for iPhones may continue this Christmas season.

Financial Analyst Craig Berger stated that his checks of iPhone supply chain indicates that iPhone production is falling 40% in the coming quarter compared to previous period. That means the factories in China are pumping out less iPhones per day. The analyst also suggests this may not be an iPhone specific event. All smart phones may be subject to less production, and perhaps less sales as the world suffers from economic turmoil.

"We believe Apple is a good proxy for broader consumer demand given that it has the hottest, sleekest, most desirable products available today," he wrote. "That the firm's iPhone production plans are being revised lower suggests that the global macroecomomic weakness is impacting even high-end consumers, those that are more likely to buy Apple's expensive gadgets, and that no market segment will be spared in this global downturn."

Still, even with the economic hardship, Apple is quickly accumulate a large share of the smart phone market, becoming a real threat to RIM's blackberry. The smart phone market is also poised to grow as Techcrunch indicated that 19% of Americans uses a smartphone instead of a reagular cellphone. There have even been reports that those in the lower economic spectrum are buying the cool iPhone 3G instead of cheap o' cell phones. Perhaps during this downturn, Apple can grab as much marketshare as possible and squeeze out its competitors!
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Google Earth Crash Lands on the iPhone- Cheers and Gripes

Google Earth is not the first app to let iPhone users put the Earth in their pocket. That was Earthscape. However, having Google’s very own Google Earth on the iPhone is truly an achievement considering the limited computing and memory power of the iPhone. Expecting Google’s usual quality product delivery, iPhone users weren’t too disappointed with the iPhone incarnation of Google Earth. Google Earth allows for ultra detailed zooming. You can see your car parked in the driveway with amazing detail. That is something Earthscape can’t do. However, Google Earth also crashes a lot. Having the Earth that lives in your pocket crash doesn’t seem to be a good omen.

Applauses


3D Mountains
The terrain on Google Earth for the iPhone is what it is all about. Go to Mount Everest or any mountain to start exploring the stunning detailed 3D imagery.

Tilting can be fun
You can explore the gorgeous 3D terrain by Tilting your iPhone. Tilting it allows you to look at the terrain at an angle you tilt. Tilting can be fun when exploring the terrains around you.

Controlling our mother earth with Multi-touch finger Action
Imagine rotating the Earth at the whim of your fingers. It feels great! Go to anywhere you want in the world and check out what it is like from above. Touch the Location button on the lower left and you will be flown to your current location in seconds. The Multi-touch interaction is consistent with other iPhone Apps, so using Google Earth comes intuitively. You can move the map in the direction of choice with one finger movement. With two fingers, you can rotate the map or pinch the screen to zoom in. Double tapping the screen also allow you to zoom in. The compass icon on the top right keeps track of the direction you are facing. Touching the compass icon will align your map with the top of the screen facing north.

Detailed close images

The satellite images on Google Earth compare closely to those that appear on Google maps. The images are extremely detailed that you can see your own car. Unlike Google Maps, when you zoom extremely close, there is no annoying “No images” blank screen. This makes exploring the Earth much satisfying.

Panomramio and Wikis

The Panarama pictures are great. It allows you to see what it is like on the ground. Some of the photos are stunning, even if they are just displayed on iPhone’s tiny screen. The Wiki’s are also helpful to understanding more about the area being displayed. Together, these tools offers a satisfying experience for those who wish to visit Paris or Rome virtually with their iPhone.


Gripes

Crashes Wikis and Panoramio Crashes

Google Earth doesn’t come without Gripes. The most annoying thing when using Google Earth is the crashes. It often occurs when opening Wikis or Panoramio pages, although sometimes it just crashes when manipulating the terrains. This may be a similar phenomenon seen in iPhone mobile browser crashes. If you are getting constant crashes with Google Earth, try resetting the iPhone first by holding the home and sleep button.


Tilting system

In Google Earth for iPhone, you can view the terrains at an angle by tilting. This is cool. However, tilting is the only way to view at an angle. Sometimes it is awkward to view the terrain at a certain angle. Also fixing the view at a certain angle can be difficult as the iphone must stay tilted at that angle. Google should consider adding a manual terrain angle option by adding an icon similar to those in Earthscape.

Google maps had done that

When you think about it, many of what Google Earth can do has already been done in iPhone Google Maps. In Google Maps you can also explore foreign countries through search and zooming. You just can’t zoom out to outer space enough to show the spherical Earth on your iPhone to your friends. Google Earth doesn’t have the option to display street names. That would be handy if you are exploring a foreign city that you will visit on your next vacation.

No 3D buildings

Google Earth is all about exploring the Earth. Even though the Panoramio pictures and Wiki’s are there to help with this task, 3D buildings would make the experience much better. Google says that they are working at bringing 3D buildings to Google Earth iPhone. Hopefully this means we can see 3D building on Google Earth very soon.

No social interactions

Earthscape differentiates itself from Google Earth by offering social interactions with its application. It does so through allowing users to tag their own pictures on Earthscape. Hopefully, Google Earth for the iPhone will allow this feature in the future.

Difficult to find landmarks

It seemed difficult to find worthy landmarks on Google Earth iPhone. I tried to explore Kyoto, Japan to find the beautiful temples around there, but the Panoramio and Wiki icons on the map do not display their contents until they are opened. When they are opened, half the time the application crashed.

When do I really need to use it?

When you really think about it, when will you ever use Google Earth? May be you can use it when you are stuck in a line. Bored, traveling to Thailand virtually through Google Earth on the iPhone may be a great way to kill time. Other than that, I find it difficult to think of another use for Google Earth other than entertainment.


Hopes for the Future

It will be exciting when Google Street View is integrated with either Google maps or Google Earth for the iPhone. Exploring the Earth on the iPhone will be a much fuller experience. Hopefully 3D buildings will be available soon as well.
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iPhone VS Blackberry Q3 2008. iPhone Wins!

Today Apple unveiled its first iPhone 3G sales for fiscal 4th Quarter, 2008. The result totally blew everyone away. Apple sold 6.9 million iPhones, 2.9 million more units than the 4 million iPhone units industry experts have predicted.

Apple has already surpassed its 2008 goal of selling 10 million iPhones

Earlier in the year Apple promised that they will sell 10 million iPhones in 2008. Some have their doubts from the beginning. But as rumors of Apple iPhone factories milking out 800,000 units per week hit, many anticipate that Apple will achieve this lofty goal with ease. Now, with one more quarter left in the 2008 calendar year, it appears Apple had set its goals a bit too low.

Apple has surpassed Blackberry to take the lead in Smart Phone sales

Apple has only been in the smart phone business for a little over a year. However, Apple’s quarterly sales have already beaten RIM’s Blackberry sales. Apple’s 6.9 million iPhones sold this quarter have surpassed the 6.1 million Blackberry smart phones sold in the same quarter. Many of iPhone’s new owners are new iPhone users new to smart phones, while a majority of Blackberry’s sales came from existing Blackberry owners updating their smart phones. iPhone’s new leading position in the smart phone industry must be a shock to many industry and financial analysts. For those who said iPhone will not matter to Blackberry’s sale growth, they have been proven wrong. It appears smart phone shoppers prefer iPhone over Blackberry. There are some evidence that even business users who rely on Blackberry’s proprietary email services are now looking for iPhone as an alternative.

Apple has become the world’s third largest mobile phone supplier

After Nokia and Samsung, Apple is now the world’s third largest mobile phone supplier. This is an amazing achievement! The CEO’s and other executives of all major mobile phone suppliers must be scrambling to evaluate this situation and developing new strategies to deal with the iPhone threat.

Second Round Starts as more iPhone-like smart phones enter the fray

With the introduction of Android phone set to release this month, the smart phone war is more heated than ever. Every major smart phone companies are trying to copy the iPhone touch screen concept. Some are working hard to surpass the iPhone in the usability and functionality department. That is why the iPhone lead in the smart phones arena cannot be assured as competitors add those functions missing in their current smart phones.

Here's A word of advice for iPhone competitors.

• Include All of functions and usability of current iPhone
• Better Internet Browser with Flash and less crashes
• Copy and Paste
• Add other features missing in iPhone such as offering landscape email and SMS
  

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New Facebook 2.0 iPhone App Connects You to More Friends from Anywhere

Feeling lonely in a hospital, boring lecture, or even on a desert island with 3G connection? The new iPhone Facebook app can now help you make new friends, get reconnected with old friends, and enable more interactions with your pals on Facebook. With the new ability to search and add new friends on your iPhone, it is a great way to make use of extra time on the go.



Discovering old friends and making new friends who share your interests are part of the Facebook experience. Searching for old friends in high school or college on the go may be the most meaningful you can do when you are away from your computer. Who knows, you may even find a business partner from elementary school who share your interests, go on an Asian vacation with your new friends, or even get married with someone from your high school. In some ways, mobile Facebook is more convenient than Facebook on the computer because there are so many applications and other distractions on the full web Facebook that prevent you from discovering more friends. Now, when people have spare time, they can really make the most use of their mobile Facebook with the new 2.0 update by discovering new friends.




The new iPhone Facebook 2.0 also provides the full news Feed so you can know what your friends are up to AND comment on them. Your friends will appreciate how much you care about them with a nice comment.

Taking pictures on the iPhone camera? Now you can do photo tagging and photo captioning right on your iPhone so you don’t have to complete them at home from your desktop. This is a big convenience!

Your mini-feed is now combined with the Wall, so you’ll know what tracks you have left behind on Facebook. Your friends can also post pictures directly onto your
Wall.

The new Notification function will alert you if you really need to log on to the full Facebook internet version on desktop. When someone invites you to participate on a Facebook web app, you will know it’s time to temporarily disband your iPhone facebook.

Finally, message attachments are available on the iPhone Facebook. No longer will you NOT get the message attachments your friends sent you on the computer.

The new iPhone version of Facebook also promises to be faster and more stable, especially if you have large number of friends.

So, what’s next for Facebook? Location based services would be great. Enabling your friends whom you allow to pinpoint your location would be a great feature. Wouldn’t you love to “accidentally” meet your friends in the malls or in the same restaurants?

Facebook 2.0 on the iPhone added the missing features that were supposed to be there when it first launched. Now interactions between friends can be taken mobile. Waiting in a long line or waiting for a date? Connect with your friends with that spare time!
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Is Apple Playing Tricks with Battery and Wireless Signal Indicators?

The iPhone 2.1 firmware update is out! Two of the most talked about enhancements are the enhanced battery life and the enhanced signal boost. However some have cast doubts on the effectiveness and the credibility of Apple's latest claims. Did Apple really put an effort to improve these problems? Or did Apple just cosmetically tweak the indicators, making battery and signal seem longer and stronger than they really are?

Battery Indicator

Many have claimed that the battery indicator goes from near 100% to under 10% in just minutes. I have experience the same phenomenon as well. It was a thrill to see the battery stays at near 100% after 2 hours of continuous heavy mobile Safari use. However at about 6 hours after a full charge, the battery indicator suddenly showed that battery level is less than 10%! This has been reported by many other people. Some have suggested to completely let the battery drain off and then give it a full charge to solve this problem. This phenomenon may have also give people a false idea that the iPhone really does improve battery life by quite a bit as suggested by polls. There are some people who reported the 2.1 iphone software update actually made their battery drain faster and offered no relief. There are also many people who are rejoiced that the firmware boosted battery life for as much as 50%.

Wireless Signal Indicator

Apple has stated in their release that the new firmware update "improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display." The question is, did Apple add any enhancements to get better reception or did they simply enhance the signal bar cosmetically? Many people have reported that their signal bar went up 2-3 bars after the update. If solving the reception problem is as simple as adding more bars, changing the 3G, EDGE icons to blue, shouldn't all carriers learn from this?

Controlled Testing Needed

With so many claims of Apple not really fixing the battery life and wireless signal in the 2.1 firmware update. We really need a good controlled experiment to test battery life and wireless signal reception. Give us 10 NEW iPhone 3G's (Or iPhone 3G with new battery). Have people surf websites with heavy content until the battery is completely drained so we can test for true battery life.


Update 1: Gizmodo is reporting that battery life has 15% improved in a nonscientific way. There are also many people reporting their battery life increased from 20% to 100%. Still there are some that claims the firmware update did not do anything to improve battery life. Gizmodo also states that the signal reception has not only improved in terms of the level of bars on the phone, but the reception has actually gotten better, losing the periodic drop-outs and injected silence.
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iPhone 2.1 Software Update Available. Improved battery Life and Reduces Time to backup to iTunes

Today, Apple finally releases the long awaited iPhone 2.1 Software Update.

The following are improvements stated by Apple.

"iPhone version 2.1 contains many bug fixes and improvement, including the following:

• Decrease in call set-up failures and call drops
• Significantly improved battery life for most users
• Dramatically reduced time to backup to iTunes
• Improved email reliabilty, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
• Faster installation of 3rd party applications
• Fixed bugs casuing hangs and crashes if you have lots of 3rd party applications
• Improved performance in text messaging
• Faster loading and searching of contacts
• Improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display
• Repeat alert up to two additional times for incoming text messages
• Option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
• Genius playlist creation "

More to come after I've tested with the this new firmware update.

Update #1- I have been running safari on widget extensive websites for 2 hours now. So far it crashed twice. It is still impressive considering I have music running in the background. It crashed when I try to drag the pages down or zoom in on the webpage when the page was not done loading. It crashed on digg.com's add widget page when I was digging through some stories. It also crashed on the blogger sign-in page. By the way, this blogger update was done on the iPhone. Impressive, considering the iPhone browser used to crash when I try to enter text on blogger. Crashless safari seems closer to reality.

Update #2- After the 4th hour of intensive wireless internet use, the battery life suddenly went from 90% to under 10%. I will have to let it drain, then recharge fully to see if it is a one time fluke. Is Apple messing with the battery life indicator or did battery life really improve?

Update #3- Many people have reported Safari crashes. Some people had never had that problem before. Follow the link to resolve iPhone Safari crashing
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Will Apple Ever fix iPhone Safari Crashes?

With a major Apple event to take place tommorrow on September 9th, rumors of an iPhone software update to version 2.1 on the same day has surfaced. But will a new software update solve one of the major problem that has plagued the iPhone since its launch in 2007? The Problem: iPhone Safari crashes during web browsing.

Reports of iPhone Browser Crashing Daily

Ever since the original iPhone launch, there have been numerous reports of iPhone Safari crashing multiple times per day in Apple related forums and blogs, particularly when surfing non-iPhone optimized websites via Mobile Safari. Some users have even claimed Apple's phenomenal mobile browser crashes every time they use it. Since then, Apple has released many software updates, but none has completely solved the problem. Some updates such as software version 2.0 had actually made the crashes more frequent. In later version 2 updates, apple has fixed crashes and freezes when filling out forms and entering texts, but the iPhone browser still crashes from time to time.

Possible Events Triggering the Mobile Browser Crashes

It has been reported that the iPhone Safari are likely to crash when

1. Displaying website that has a large file size or embeds widgets.
   
2. Opening multiple websites within Safari
   
3. Using the iPhone browser in landscape mode
   
4. Changing between 3G and the EDGE network

RAM of 125 Megabytes is insufficient

Some have suggested that the 125 megbytes of RAM in the iPod Touch/iPhone is insufficient to carry out tasks in the modern world wide web. That is why as long as iPhone and iPod uses a 125 megabyte RAM, mobile Safari browser will always crash. Thus the only way to prevent crashes is to avoid using too many applications or opening to many memory intensive websites at once. It makes sense. Today's web site are for computers with 1 or 2 gigabytes of RAM. My Firefox as of now uses 157 megabytes of RAM. I am opening 6 webpages on 6 different tabs though. Since the iPhone has only 125 megabytes of RAM to allocate all its programs, any inadequate distribution of its memory can cause application crashes. Website with large embedded contents can potentially make Safari crash.

Could it be the Software?

Software could definitely have an effect on Mobile Safari crashes. Just look at the fix that was done on software update version 2.02. The software update fixed apps from crashing. They must have done something to allocate the memory more efficiently so that apps won't crash. They can do the same thing to mobile Safari. Also, the browser itself, if optimized to use minimal memory and bug free, can help lower its crash rate. Safari browsers have been known to have a tendency to crash more than the other browsers. May be it is time for Apple to look into optimizing Safari as a priority.

Solutions to prevent iPhone Safari crashes

So far, Apple and many other iPhone users have suggested few ways to prevent iphone mobile browser crashes.

• Power off the iPhone when your browsers start crashing. This can help reset some apps that may be running in the background.
• Try not to use too many functions at once, such as listening to music and surfing at the same time.
• Get the latest firmware. Usually they will help to improve stability of the iPhone browser.
• Surf a heavy content embedded website in portrait mode.
• Try resetting the cache. To reset cache, go to setting-> Safari-> Clear Cache. Also wait until the page finish loading before browsing with your fingers.
  

Big inconvenience and Reducing Productivity

The iPhone is a smart phone that is supposed to create conveniences and help us boost productivity. With the ability to access the full world wide web on your fingertips (except for flash content of course) as well as many other cool features such as GPS and thousands of applications, iPhone makes life more convenient and enables productivity anywhere that has an wireless signal. However, when the browser crashes constantly, the time it takes to reload the webpage can cause lots of precious time to be wasted. In the era of Web 2.0, the mobile iphone safari users could be utilizing a widget, making a comment on a blog or forum, or even writing a blog on safari. When iPhone browser crashes in the middle of these kind of tasks, it can be very annoying to do them over (and over) again!

iPhone Safari is taking shares of the overall internet browsers quickly

Apple's crash-prone mobile browser, although crashes unpredictively, is gaining the browser market share fast. With web market share near 0.5% and more iPhones flying off the shelves around the world. There is no doubt in my mind that Mobile Safari will quickly be an important way to access the internet for many people. Hopefully, its success and people's complaints will force Apple to pay more attention to its mobile browser, giving us a crash-free Mobile Safari complete with flash and other goodies .

Update 1: Firmware 2.1 had been released. Some are still reporting excessive Safari crashes. My advice would be to continue follow the above suggestions to prevent those pesky iPhone browser crashes.

Update 2:Firmware 2.2 has been released. It promised stability and bug fixes for the iPhone Safari. I've tested it on previously crash prone websites. The result: noticeable less crashes, but crashes nonetheless. If you are still having those annoying crashes, update now to get a more stable iPhone browser along with the new Google Street View for the iPhone!

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First AT&T 3G bill: $163.50. Almost the price of an iPhone 3G!

Do you still remember back in June on WWDC when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone 3G at $199.99? Everyone cheered as he made this momentous announcement and affirmed the iPhone price drop rumor. Now, over a month later after the iPhone 3G has finally launched, AT&T network customers are getting the bills. The first bill is a combination of July’s prorated charges plus August’s 3G network fees. And behold, the first bills come to at least $160 dollars, almost as much as the $199 iPhone.

This may come in as a surprise to customers new to the data plans. Many people new to the iPhone 3G were either paying a lower data fee or never had a data plan before. Getting their first bill may make them think twice about keeping the contract for 2 years, especially during a time when the US economy is not doing too well.

Even Verizon had published their own documents recently to give to their employees to spread the propaganda that AT&T plan makes the iPhone 3G expensive. The statement “They cut the device price by $200 but raised the service price by $240” is so true and shows how apple and AT&T is smart to market iPhone 3G as an inexpensive smart phone but ultimately collect the same amount of revenue for each phone.

First iPhone bill costs as much as a new 8 Gigabyte iPhone 3G because it contains the prorated July and the full August network fees. Let’s break down the bill in pieces. The following plan described is a new but very basic iPhone 3G network plan with AT&T. It consists of the 450 anytime minutes and does not include the SMS package. In this bill, AT&T starts the prorated charge on July 13th.

Data Plan: July-$19, August- $30

The Data Plan for the iPhone 3G is $30 dollars a month, $10 dollars more than the 2G phones and costs more than some landline broadband connections. Don’t forget, AT&T does not allow tethering their 3G connections to your computer via the iPhone.

Voice Plan: July-$25.33 August-$39.99

The lowest price voice package allows only 450 anytime minutes and 5000 nights and weekend minutes. What! No unlimited nights and weekends?

Activation: $40.32

Activation after all the fees and taxes amount to $40.32. Of course, if you are already with AT&T, you may not have to pay this fee.

SMS: N/A

This plan does not include the SMS package. So the user cannot use SMS. If you want SMS package, add $5 to your monthly plan. Hopefully, with new technology, SMS will be a thing of the past in the near future.

Taxes: $8.86

All these federal, state, and city taxes adds almost 9 bucks to the bill. If your state and city are nice to you, you may be able to pay less wireless government imposed taxes.

Total Bill: $163.50

You may have noticed that this plan uses the cheapest plan available. With only 450 anytime minutes available per month, one can easily go over the limit and start paying a preposterous rate. Luckily this user has another cellular plan so he doesn’t have to make all his calls on the iPhone. Too bad he can’t sign up for the AT&T hearing disabled data only plan which still costs $50 per month.

The iPhone 3G may seem cheap when compared to the original iPhone at $399. However many people may not be able to afford the monthly charges. Those that plan to get an iPhone should consider the total price they will pay over the life of the 2 year contract. After all, the $199 iPhone 3G price is just a marketing tactic to get more people to buy an iPhone without sacrificing the total payout for each phone.

But even with the high monthly bills, iPhone is still a superior phone. Web browsing, though not perfect is still much better than its competitors. The iPhone applications also make the iPhone a great phone. GPS and future apps that require GPS may be extremely useful for those on the go. Just don’t be surprised if your first AT&T Wireless bill costs as much as your iPhone!

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9 Ways iPhone 3G can make you more popular on Digg

This is an original post on the Ray's iPhone Life Blog on http://iphone3glife.blogspot.com

After my iPhone 3G launch day disaster, I finally got my hands on a black 16GB iphone 3G on Sunday, two days following the initial launch.

After playing around with the new apps and games from the iPhone Apps Store, I found myself mostly using the iPhone 3G for browsing and digging stories on digg.com

Like many people, I loved the iPhone because of its near perfect safari web browser. Even with the lack of flash support, iPhone safari browser is still way superior than any other mobile web browser on the market. Take Digg.com for example. Is there any mobile phone browser that can flawlessly navigate digg.com, submit stories, digg stories, and comment on interesting stories? I don't think so. Getting fed up with the blackberry browser is the main reason I got the iPhone.

After more than a week living the iPhone 3G life, I've found some benefits of the iPhone 3G for the avid digger. The following are some ways iPhone 3G will make you more popular at digg.

Responding to you friends' submissions FAST.

When an average digger submits an article, he/she hopes someone will digg his article as soon as it is submitted. With an iphone in your pocket at all times, you can digg your friends' submissions as soon as they are submitted. Your close friends and not so close friends on digg would be impressed and appreciate that you are always the first few people to avidly responding to their shouts and digging their stories. Your not so close friends will take notice of you and may watch your shouts and submissions more. Responding quickly is a great way of building good relationships on digg who may one day help you if you need an story made popular on digg!

Build your friend network through PUSH emails

It is important to build a friend network on digg that appreciates you. With the iPhone 3G you can make that happen by responding to your friends shouts within 15 minutes! Just make sure the shouts are emailed to you via push gmail or other push mail available to you on the iPhone 3G. With a push of a button on the emails, you can go your friends' stories quickly and conveniently.

More time to go through those hundreds of shouts

For some of you, 300+ shouts per day is a normal daily volume. With your push email notifying your shouts every 15 minutes, you will have more time to go through friends' shouts and actually spending quality time with their stories. Reading, Commenting, and actually digging it. The more sophisticated comment you input, the more diggers will take note of you, and the more popular you will become. Breaking down reading those shouts will make reading those hundreds of shouts a less daunting task.

Add friends who LOVE you!

You can also look for avid diggers who frequently digg their friend's stories and respond to their friends' shouts. Just go to a story that is not all that popular and add those that digg that story as friends. Most times they are avid diggers and good digg friends who respond well to friends' shouts because they want their friends to digg their submissions as well. If you do all this, I bet you will be a popular digger and many will become your fan in hope that you can digg for them too! You digg me, I digg you. That's how a wonderful friendship starts. The more diggers like you, the more likely they will also help you by shouting your submitted stories to their friends, sharing your submitted stories while creating a viral, tidal effect to make your story popular.

Be the first to submit Awesome story

Are you an avid digger who finds the story or url you are submitting have already been submitted by some one else? With an iPhone. You don't have to sit beside your computer to submit a digg. When you are on the go, use RSS feeds or emails on your iPhone to checkout the best new stories and submitting them before any other diggers. This way, you won't miss submitting cool stories even it you are not near a computer. After you submit the story, you can also send a shout to your friends to try to make it popular. The drawback with the iPhone 3G though is the LACK of CUT AND PASTE... How many times have we heard about this... and yes, it is very annoying to submit articles without cut and paste. Apple, firmware update please.

Send shouts multiple times per day away from your computer

Sometimes sending just one shout to your digg friends is not enough. Many diggers gets hundreds or even thousands of shouts per day and they may miss your shout. Thus it may be a good idea to send it 3 to 5 times a day for those friends who didn't see or digg your story. Just try not to send shouts to those that had already digged your story. It is freakin annoying to have the same shout by the same person 5 times a day when you already digged them. Doing that can jeopardize your friendship. To see who dugg your story, just go to your story and select " who dugg it."

iGoogle-Digg integration on the iphone

Check the most popular stories and your friends' activities all on iGoogle on your iphone 3G for convenience and know what's hot on digg, in true digg spirit.

Surf faster

Of course surfing on digg would be a slow, dying pain if you are not on the 3G network. iPhone 3G lets you surf faster and avoid the pain so you can engage in your favorite Digg activities.

Spend more time at digg digging

Ultimately, the iPhone 3G lets the digg fanatic spend more time on digg, at just about anywhere where they can get 3G signal (What a nightmare if you have not 3G signal browsing through Digg). More time on Digg means more diggs, more web knowledge, and becoming more popular. Now do you see how iphone 3G will make you more popular on Digg?




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My Iphone Launch Disaster. At least I got 50 dollars

Yesterday, (Friday, July 11th) was the long awaited Iphone launch day. It was also the day I need to travel from the Los Angeles area to the San Francisco Bay area to work on a graveyard shift. That morning, I watched the morning news to check the lines on the near by Apple stores. Wow, the line in Pasadena was long with a couple blocks around the Apple Store. So, I decided that Pasadena will be a bad place for me to TRY to get an Iphone. I also checked online at CNET to check on the Iphone launch news in the Bay Area. Thats when I found out there were server problems at the launch. At 9:30 AM, I left my home in Arcadia for the San Francisco Bay Area.

While I was driving, I kept on thinking if I should stop by the Emryville Apple Store in the East Bay before I reach my destination. Since my current phone does not have wireless internet, I don't know if the apple server problems were solved and if there's still a huge line at Apple Stores. But since the Emryville Apple store is on the way to my destination, I decided to take a look at the lines there. When I got there, the lines doesn't seem that long, about half a block. So at 3:30pm I jumped right in the line. Almost immediately after I jumped in the line, Apple employees stopped by to ask us if we have any question. They were also giving us " pep rally" by showing us the Iphone and allow us to test it while "keeping their finger on it all the time." People asked what the wait time from where we are. The Apple employees said the wait should be about 2 to 3 hours. I figured I will have enough time before my shift starting at 9:30pm plus a nap before starting work.

At first the line seemed going along as planned. In 2 hours, I was more than two-third toward the Apple Store from where I started. But then, the line crawled to a halt. I barely moved in 30 minutes. So I figured it must be another temporary server glitch, and it should be faster later. By this time some of the Apple employee that said they started since 6AM were going home.

It was now 9 pm, and I really needed to go to work. My line had barely moved several feet in the last 4 hours, but i had managed to get to the fifth position in the line to enter Apple store. During this time, people were very upset as they were very hungry, and it also got cold and windy. Luckily the folks near us allow us to save our spot so we can go to the restroom. People were also joking as they talked if they would sell their spot. They pointed out some sales going on on Caiglist. So far, no one that were in the line for 6 hours bailed. I think I just might make it in time for work.... Until I noticed, those that went in the apple store were in a line. The line inside is not moving. It occurred to me that I will not get an iphone by 11pm.

I've been in line for 6 hours... I don't want to just leave! Desperate, I asked my fellow iphone waiters in line if they allow me to sell my position. They said, if I can get someone, then, no problem. So I went to the end of the line and ask anyone if they want to the the fifth in line. After first I said, $200, $100 for my position. Then, people said I was crazy, but one girl pointed me to a person that would buy my spot. After negotiation, we agreed on $50. So I gave him my spot and I left for work. And also paying $7 for parking.

I made it in time for work. I have to be at work, otherwise the operation shuts down.

The last I've heard. People last night who made it in couldn't get a iphone because of a server crash. They were given a pass so they don't have to get in line today. But I bet they were really pissed. Getting in line for 6 hours in the cold and hunger, and without an iphone before they leave. What a Iphone Launch Disaster.
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