Freebird Posted December 1, 2011 #51 Posted December 1, 2011 Thanks. I'll likely do it the same as I do my Blackberry. I use the USB cord to my computer to charge it about 95% of the time. I have my computer beside me pretty much all the time. It is mounted on a RAM mount in my company Caravan so I can keep the phone plugged in as much as I need to.
BradT Posted December 1, 2011 #52 Posted December 1, 2011 It is mounted on a RAM mount in my company Caravan so I can keep the phone plugged in as much as I need to. They do have phone chargers that plug into the cigerette lighter. I know the lighters were an option on Dodge's but ............ Brad
Freebird Posted December 3, 2011 #53 Posted December 3, 2011 Well, when I got home yesterday the fancy new Iphone was here waiting. I didn't mess with it yesterday but this morning got my contacts all transferred, got the email set up and all that mess. So....this is what all the fuss is about huh? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........ I will probably get used to it but you know what....it's just another phone. My son was showing me all the cool features...pinch, expand, drag and blah blah blah blah.......... It's just another phone. At least when I open the dial pad, the buttons are a lot bigger than those tiny button on the Blackberry. That's a good thing. On the other hand...the Blackberry DID come with a nice leather case...I had to go buy one for the Iphone. I also still have one of my email addresses going to both phones just to see how they compare. I'm seeing that I get the emails on the Blackberry almost instantly but it takes usually 5 to 10 minutes before I get it on the Iphone. That's not a problem for me...just an observance.
Guest tx2sturgis Posted December 4, 2011 #54 Posted December 4, 2011 It's just another phone........ I'm seeing that I get the emails on the Blackberry almost instantly but it takes usually 5 to 10 minutes before I get it on the Iphone. That's not a problem for me...just an observance. When you personalize it with screens and ringtones and pictures and videos and music and apps, it won't be just 'another phone' ....it will be YOUR iPhone and that's a very different thing. I never have liked doing email on my iPhones...(the small screens and buttons just don't make me happy.) But I suspect it's a server issue there... I don't know for sure.
Freebird Posted December 4, 2011 #55 Posted December 4, 2011 Yes, but I can do that with pretty much any phone. I know that Apple has more apps but I really don't use a lot of apps and have always been able to find what I want for my other phones. One thing that I don't like about the Iphone is that they force you to go through their app store to get what you want. There is one app that I use a lot on the Blackberry that Apple will not allow in their app store so the only way to get it is to jailbreak the phone and then install it. That program is PDANet. It allows me to tether my Blackberry or an Android to my laptop to have an internet connection. Without it, you have to pay your carrier for that right. Verizon charges something like $20.00 extra per month if you want to tether a phone or turn on the "hotspot" feature of a phone. To me, that is a total ripoff. You are already paying for a data plan. Basically it is the same as if you were required by your ISP to pay extra money to use a docking station for your laptop at home. When I tether my Blackberry to my laptop, it's basically the same thing as if I were plugging my laptop into a larger monitor and external keyboard. I'm using the same amount of data as I would be otherwise, just utilizing a bigger screen and keyboard. Same thing with my phone. If I tether it, I'm using the same amount of data but just with a bigger screen and keyboard....but the cellular companies want too charge you extra for that feature. For that reason alone, there is a very good chance that I will not replace the Blackberry with an Iphone for my other line. If I do, I will have to jailbreak it so that I can use it the way I need to. All because Apple controls what I apps I can and can't download.
Guest tx2sturgis Posted December 4, 2011 #56 Posted December 4, 2011 . One thing that I don't like about the Iphone is that they force you to go through their app store to get what you want. There is one app that I use a lot on the Blackberry that Apple will not allow in their app store so the only way to get it is to jailbreak the phone and then install it. That program is PDANet. It allows me to tether my Blackberry or an Android to my laptop to have an internet connection..... For that reason alone, there is a very good chance that I will not replace the Blackberry with an Iphone for my other line. If I do, I will have to jailbreak it so that I can use it the way I need to. All because Apple controls what I apps I can and can't download. Welcome to the 'dark side'! Bahahahaha..... (evil grin) You can blame that hot spot requirement on the carriers. Apple has to agree to let them charge for hotspotting. So they have to provide a carrier-activated hotspot in the iOS. Think about it. Apple doesn't care about the data. But data for your laptop is a revenue source for the carriers. And no doubt about it. When you pocket an iPhone, you are now a part of the 'walled garden' of the Apple ecosystem. (forced? most people willingly power up that iphone and agree to its terms) Your apps will work, your phone will work, free updates, lots of free apps, plenty of aftermarket support, great camera, no viruses. It's all good. Enjoy!
Freebird Posted December 4, 2011 #57 Posted December 4, 2011 Well, I didn't power it up and activate it. It came to me pre-activated from my company. I understand what you are saying about it being the carriers that require the data plan, but it is APPLE who controls what programs are available through their app store. It is THEIR fault that I am unable to download and install PDANet on the Iphone. I'm sorry but I just don't get it. Apple, they used to be the "anti-establishment"...etc. They are the only one though that try to completely control what you can and can't download and install on their phone. Amazing. The phone is fine, I just really didn't need a big brother with it.
Guest tx2sturgis Posted December 4, 2011 #58 Posted December 4, 2011 (edited) Well, I didn't power it up and activate it. It came to me pre-activated from my company. I understand what you are saying about it being the carriers that require the data plan, but it is APPLE who controls what programs are available through their app store. It is THEIR fault that I am unable to download and install PDANet on the Iphone. I'm sorry but I just don't get it. Apple, they used to be the "anti-establishment"...etc. They are the only one though that try to completely control what you can and can't download and install on their phone. Amazing. The phone is fine, I just really didn't need a big brother with it. Yes, Apple went from being an underdog in second place, (or even last place depending on who you ask) to now being the number one tech company, and really, a type of Big Brother. But yeah, they cant provide an app in the app store that will circumvent the carriers from making some extra revenue. Again, the carriers and Apple huddled up in a corporate boardroom and said, yeah, we'll do this, if you do that, and if you give us this, we will give you that. Its all about money, and revenue. It HAS to be. Now jail-breaking...well thats another thing altogether. If an owner just INSISTS on having a 'free' data hotspot, then go for it. I have never needed it. I have a data plan on my iPad and it works good for me, and yeah, I actually PREFER that the experts check each and every app to make sure it wont crash my iPhone. I LIKE it that way. But some owners circumvent that protection, they jailbreak the iPhone, then go downloading the apps from Cydia or wherever. I have no problem with that. There are hotspot apps in the Cydia store, but OTOH, if an app there locks up your phone, well...dont go into an Apple store with a bricked iPhone and claim you want a free replacement. If you have not heard of Cydia, dont feel bad, your newly assimilated in the Apple World. But remember, resistance is FUTILE. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cydia_(application) http://cydia.saurik.com/ http://www.intelliborn.com/mywi.html Edited December 4, 2011 by tx2sturgis
Bvinson Posted December 4, 2011 #59 Posted December 4, 2011 Just a word of caution on the car chargers. My son worked for AT&T and was always warning me about cheap aftermarket car chargers. He always said stick with the OEM stuff. Well I never really put much thought in it until about a month ago. A house in our subdivision burned down in the middle of the night. It was a cheap car charger caught fire in the car which was parked in the garage. Luckly the family made it out OK. I have replaced all of my car chargers.
Freebird Posted December 4, 2011 #60 Posted December 4, 2011 I know that this is going to really surprise you....but you and I are just going to have to agree to disagree on this one single issue. You may be correct...maybe Apple and the carriers huddled up and made that decision but the carriers didn't huddle up with LG, Motorola, Samsung or any of the other manufactures. The only issue is that Apple demands that you use ONLY software from their app store. They want complete control and from the reviews that I've read, some of those apps have caused some major problems so I really don't think that Apple does such a fantastic job vetting those programs. The many reviews that I've read are full of reports about some of those programs causing some major problems and crashes. Yes, they check them well for content but not necessarily for proper coding. Yes, it is the carriers who are greedy. I have data plans on the Iphone and on my Blackberry. I have an unlimited data plan on the Blackberry because it is grand fathered in. I'm not sure what plan the company bought for the Iphone. The fact that the carrier wants to charge you $20.00 or more per month for you to tether a phone to your computer should be illegal and I think that it eventually will be. As long as you don't exceed the data that you have contracted for, they should have no say as to whether you are doing it directly from the phone or tethered to a computer. You are already paying for the data. Apple is the ONLY one that doesn't allow you to install a program that allows you to get around that. I do agree with you that it's all about the money. The carriers want to rip us off by demanding more money to use something that we are already paying for. Apple is greedy as heck because they want a cut of any apps that a user buys and installs. Can you even start to imagine all the lawsuits if Microsoft demanded that only software downloaded from Microsoft.com could be run on a computer with Windows? Yes, I have heard of Cydia. My son used it to jailbreak his previous IPhone. They don't yet have a jailbreak for the Iphone 4s though. Hopefully it is coming soon. I'm going to replace the Blackberry in the near future but it likely will not be with another Iphone. If Cydia comes up with something, I may reconsider but at this point, it will likely be a Droid. There are some things that I like about the Iphone. Right now it is docked to my Bose Soundock, connected to my Wifi and streaming some good music from Pandora. I can also do that with my Blackberry. I can't dock it but I can connect it through the back of the Soundock to the auxiliary port. I'm sorry but so far, this Iphone has just driven me further away from being a fan of Apple. They control what software I can use, no micro SD card slot to expand the memory and some other things that I miss also. I'm sure that I will get used to it and may even come to really like it but so far..........it's just another phone.
Midrsv Posted December 5, 2011 #61 Posted December 5, 2011 Don, I agree with you regarding the data usage that you pay for should be available regardless of how you use it. However, with AT&T it's not an Apple issue preventing you from tethering. You can't tether your Android phone either. There was an app on the app store a few days ago that allowed you to tether your laptop but it was pulled from the app store within a few hours. I've read that people that have jailbroken phones that are tethered have received notices from AT&T that because they sensed the tethering that their plans were automatically changed to the tethered plan and they lost thier grandfathered unlimited plan. I don't agree with it. I think Verizon terms are similar. Give the Iphone a chance. I think you'll find it is a very valuable tool to have around that just happens to be a phone. Dennis
Guest tx2sturgis Posted December 5, 2011 #62 Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) Apple is greedy as heck because they want a cut of any apps that a user buys and installs. Can you even start to imagine all the lawsuits if Microsoft demanded that only software downloaded from Microsoft.com could be run on a computer with Windows? Not ANY apps.....free ones are excluded. The developer sets a price, and on paid apps, Apple gets 30% for vetting it, advertising it, selling it in the store, and collecting the money. Dont ya just HATE capitalism? Apple created a way to make money...gosh-darnit! They have paid billions to developers...large software teams and also independent app-writers hunched over a single computer in their kitchen. And Apple does not limit the software I can download on my Mac...your mixing two different markets to make a point. And BTW, the Android market IS a more open system, but they have had a lot of problems there too. .... but so far..........it's just another phone. Thats like sayin the Ford Mustang was just another car, that Bill Gates is just another computer guy, that Sturgis is just another rally, or that WalMart is just another store. The iPhone created a market, and was the first 'smartphone' to capture the global market in the way that it has. You can go buy 'just another phone' for $30 (or free) and it will make phone calls and do texting, but thats about it. Edited December 5, 2011 by tx2sturgis
Freebird Posted December 5, 2011 #63 Posted December 5, 2011 Don, I agree with you regarding the data usage that you pay for should be available regardless of how you use it. However, with AT&T it's not an Apple issue preventing you from tethering. You can't tether your Android phone either. There was an app on the app store a few days ago that allowed you to tether your laptop but it was pulled from the app store within a few hours. I've read that people that have jailbroken phones that are tethered have received notices from AT&T that because they sensed the tethering that their plans were automatically changed to the tethered plan and they lost thier grandfathered unlimited plan. I don't agree with it. I think Verizon terms are similar. Give the Iphone a chance. I think you'll find it is a very valuable tool to have around that just happens to be a phone. Dennis Dennis, I don't know if you still have or ever had an Android but if so or for anybody else looking, you can use PDAnet. Yes, I heard that AT&T was warning and penalizing users but the new version supposedly hides the fact that you are tethering. I use it on my Blackberry and it works very well. I don't use much data because I basically just use it when I'm traveling and find myself in some remote area a and need to look up something like an address that my GPS or Microsoft Streets is hlaving difficulty finding. I can often enter the address and use Googe Maps to find them or find their website for more information. Sometimes I will check my email. Most of the time, I can find WiFi access somewhere. McDonald's, Starbucks, some Burger Kings...many places have free WiFi and all the hotels where I stay have WiFi or hard wired internet in the rooms. So tethering is not something I need a LOT...but when I need it...I really need it. For now, I'll just keep the Blackberry on my personal account for such times. I just have to think about what I will upgrade to at some point. http://junefabrics.com/android/index.php
Midrsv Posted December 5, 2011 #64 Posted December 5, 2011 I don't use much data because I basically just use it when I'm traveling and find myself in some remote area a and need to look up something like an address that my GPS or Microsoft Streets is hlaving difficulty finding. I can often enter the address and use Googe Maps to find them or find their website for more information. Sometimes I will check my email. But Don, the Iphone has a great mapping program that is standard on the phone which is just like google.maps. It may be using the google maps for all I know. You can enter the address search and it will pop to it and give you the opportunity create a route from your location. I find it much easier than entering the address in my gps. Android phones have the same feature I believe. The map will show a standard view or a satellite view just as google maps does. Dennis
Freebird Posted December 5, 2011 #65 Posted December 5, 2011 I agree that the maps work pretty well. The maps on the Blackberry are actually pretty good also. It's just that I have a bit of difficulty seeing them. My laptop is always mounted right beside me on a RAM mount in the company car. It's much easier for me to see the maps on the 17.3" laptop screen. My eyesight isn't what it once was. Especially since losing sight in my right eye. Some of the addresses don't even come up on Google, my GPS or my Streets program. I can often find something close though and then find crossroads and etc. to help me find what I'm looking for.
Guest tx2sturgis Posted December 5, 2011 #66 Posted December 5, 2011 There are a couple of good gps turn-by-turn apps that I use. Neither one is free. Navigon. This one is around $30 to $60 depending on which version you need, and includes voice guidance. You can pre-download only the areas you need to cover, so you save space on the iphone, and it is able to provide directions even in areas with zero cell data coverage. It can do routing and save favorites. Motion X GPS-Drive. $1 plus $10/yr for voice guidance. This is a really good GPS app. It uses live data to download map 'sections' as-you-need-them. You can pre-download a route if you're on wifi to save on 3g data usage. The real beauty of this app is that it uses its data connection to find just about anything you enter, including industrial locations, since its not limited to whats in the built-in database, like most gps units. Think of it as "Google meets turn-by-turn". This one loses some functionality if you are in the sticks, but the best use for this app is in urban environments where it is very accurate. Built-in ipod (music, audiobooks, or podcasts) integration makes it easy to have the iPhone playing music over your car stereo and then when the gps wants to provide voice direction it can either fade the music or pause the music during the voice guidance. It can even work in background mode so that you can be using the iphone for streaming radio, or phone calls, or whatever, and it will talk to you when it needs you to make a turn. I still prefer a standalone Garmin gps unit for most of my gps uses. But now and then the live-data of the gps apps is hard to beat.
Guest tx2sturgis Posted December 5, 2011 #67 Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) Microsoft has decided to do it the Apple way. They will be opening on online app store for their future OS, Windows 8. Revenue sharing? With app developers? Whooda thunk it. http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/12/05/microsoft-finalizes-windows-app-store-plans/ Edited December 5, 2011 by tx2sturgis
Freebird Posted December 5, 2011 #68 Posted December 5, 2011 I replied to your duplicate post in the other thread. I'll leave it there. We don't need another thread debating how great Steve Jobs was or wasn't.
dray Posted December 6, 2011 #69 Posted December 6, 2011 Well, the contract is finally up on my Blackberry and I'm going to be moving on to something else soon. The company made me get the Blackberry and I have hated it since the first day. The buttons are just too small for my club fingers. The company decided about 3 months after making us all get them that maybe it wasn't such a great idea after all. Soooo...I have been looking and trying to decide what to try next. My son loves his IPhone but I am just not a huge fan of it. I haven't spend much time playing with his though...maybe it would grow on me. At any rate, it will either be the Iphone or one of the Androids. Maybe the new Motorola Razr. Don Im on the Bionic now and this is the best thing sence sliced bread give one a try even my fat fingers do allright on it Dray
Guest tx2sturgis Posted December 6, 2011 #70 Posted December 6, 2011 We missed it. The 'text' message turned 19 years old a couple of days ago, the 3rd. The very first SMS (text) message was sent on 3 December 1992. No wonder some teenagers cant remember a day when we didnt have text messaging. Wow! http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2011/12/03/the-text-message-turns-19-years-old-today/ And I completely forgot to buy the SMS message a birthday present.
Freebird Posted December 6, 2011 #71 Posted December 6, 2011 Now that is amazing to me. I had no idea that it had been that long. I've had a cell phone for probably 20 years but I just started texting, reluctantly, a couple of years ago.
Guest tx2sturgis Posted December 6, 2011 #72 Posted December 6, 2011 BTW...a great free app for the iPhone is called Dropbox. If you also load up Dropbox on your desktop or laptop, then you can easily synchronize files and documents between your iPhone/iPad and your home computer. http://www.dropbox.com
Dragonslayer Posted December 6, 2011 Author #73 Posted December 6, 2011 I'm starting to SLOWLY figure this thing out. I can now down load MP3 music and am looking for just the right ring tones. While downloading music from Rhapsody and being a practicing Karoake novice, I was thinking that there must be an app that downloads Karoake versions of music that shows the lyrics of the music. Does anyone know of such an app. Also list any other cool apps that will work with with Android phones.
Guest tx2sturgis Posted December 6, 2011 #74 Posted December 6, 2011 (edited) Bob, I use SoundHound on the iPhone, and I looked it up and there is an Android version. I assume it works as well on the Androids as it does the iOS phones. You tap the 'listen' button and it listens to whatever is playing and then identifies the song, and will even display lyrics when you touch the lyrics button. Its really cool. This allows you to sing along with your car or home stereo, since it will show the song lyrics. I assume it will also take you to an order panel so you can actually order the song, as it does on the iPhone. Try it. https://market.android.com/details?id=com.melodis.midomiMusicIdentifier.freemium Edited December 6, 2011 by tx2sturgis
Freebird Posted December 6, 2011 #75 Posted December 6, 2011 Is Soundhound an actual Karaoke app? I haven't tried I thought it was more for searching for songs. What I mean by a true Karaoke app is that you don't sing along with the artist, it just plays the track with no voice added. If you do a Google search for Android Karaoke there will be a few come up. Unfortunately, most of them have pretty poor reviews. There is one for the Iphone called Karaoke Anywhere and it gets good reviews for the Iphone. It is not yet available for the Android but their website says "coming soon". http://www.karaokeanywhere.net/android/
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