iPhone Competitors, You Have 4 Months

This might be my next phone…

In about June or July my iPhone contract expires. Looking at the new 4.0 software that won’t run on my 3G phone, and knowing that the next model will be out about then with (hopefully) the newer faster processor and better battery life, I’ll probably be looking to upgrade. The problem is despite loving my iPhone, and what is to come, I abhor that what my iPhone can run is subject to the whims of Apple, and I hate that I’m tied to iTunes in any way.

So this is my wish for all the makers of Android handsets and iPhone/iPad competitors:

Get your shit together by July. Get a decent range of Android competitors out here to Australia by then. Bring your Dell Pads and Smartphones, provide me with some choice! Everyone will get a fair viewing - I’m prepared to sacrifice the money I’ve invested in my iPhone apps if you’ll provide something compelling! The Dell Tablet sounds great - I’d like a bigger screen, but I want only one device to make calls from - so make a bluetooth headset standard kit and I might get one. Or I’ll get a Nexus One, or one of the HTC range. I’m not fussy so much on brands, but I am fussy that the experience be as fun and intuitive as the iPhone. I’m fussy that it not lock me in to software that makes me fume. I’m fussy that it not be a step backwards - that I can surf the net, that I can get some great apps, and that it remains the hub of my communication.

Please think of Australia. You have 4 months max to make this decision difficult for me. If the next iPhone gets here before you get it together, you’ll have blown it for at least another two years. The next iPhone promises to be a cracker. Make yours a cracker too!

Create free ringtones for your iPhone directly from iTunes

My mate Andrew thought my last post was a bit technical for him, and fair enough - it was something of limited value to some of my readers. So this post is for him.

Andrew asked how he could create a ringtone for his new iPhone. He knew it was possible, but it’s really not straight forward (in Australia at least, elsewhere iTunes has this functionality built in). So I’ve whipped up this little tutorial for him to remind him how to do it.

Some rules:

  • You need to have the right to use the music you’re using. The music should be DRM (Digital rights management) free. Technically I don’t have the right to use the song in my example.

  • The ringtone has to be 30 seconds long, and no longer. It’s worth spending time finding exactly the section you want

  • You can use music you have created yourself. You can create and export it as AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), or you could just drag it into iTunes and follow my instructions

{{< vimeo 1778106 >}}

Creating iPhone Ringtones

I hope this tutorial is helpful. I know there are a ton of pages that go through this process, but Andrew reads this site. I’m also not sure if it will work on Windows, maybe someone can try it and tell me.

Thank you for watching.

Some Things My iPhone Needs

A tiny image of Steve Jobs on stage with a much larger picture of the iPhone beside him

by Image by Getty Images

The iPhone is awesome. Lets just get that out there. You can deny it, or call me a fanboy, but let’s be honest - Apple has made a very good (and attractive) product that has stomped on the competition. It’s easy to use, powerful and extensible. And it’s done something the competition hasn’t been able to - captured the imagination of content providers like nothing else. The Windows Mobile platform has been around for years with a handfull of tools for it, but it took only six months for half the web (I’m exaggerating[^probably]) to make iPhone compatible websites and tools. I’ve got to believe that’s due to having a decent platform, rather than rampant fanboyism.

But the iPhone isn’t perfect[^duh]. What follows is a list of a few things I would like to see for and on my iPhone. Before I start, can I just clarify so I don’t get interrupted in my flow: Anything I ask for I’d like as a native iPhone app, through the App Store - not some Jailbroken app that’s going to require me to tinker.

  • Cool new apps. I’m waiting on a native Remember the Milk app. It’s imminent. There are alternatives, but I’d love one that’s off-line and fully integrated. I love the idea that missing iPhone features are just a clever app away. Over time, my iPhone will just get more and more useful. They’re coming, and I can’t wait.

    Update 2008-09-16 I caved and bought Todo by Appigo. RTM was taking to long, and would give no indication of timeframe, and I wasn’t using my iPhone properly without it! IceTV, Tumble, Showtimes, Passgen, LinkedIn, Instapaper, ReaddleDocs, Evernote, VoiceRecord and Zenbe are all fantastic apps that fill a bunch of holes for me too.

  • A way to switch off battery hogs quickly and painlessly. Currently there’s an easy “Airplane Mode” that switches off the phone, but I’d like a switch for 3G and Wifi too. Then if I’m struggling for juice I don’t have to crawl through three sub menus to switch them off. Maybe a third party can make this.

  • Better battery life. I’m not complaining with this one. I knew what I was getting into when I bought the thing[^battery]. But by the time my battery dies, and I have to take it into the store to have it replaced, Apple better have a stronger, longer lasting battery to replace it with.

    Update 2008-09-16 This is slightly improved with the 2.1 update.

  • Give me iTunes on Linux. I know Apple make their money on sales of OSX. But I also know they bowed to the awesome market of Windows users who needed iTunes on their Windows boxes - so it’s not impossible. I hear Steve Jobs now: “Call me when Ubuntu is as popular as Windows… Heck, call me if it’s ever as popular as OSX, we’ll do lunch.”

  • Let me synchronise my Google Calendar directly with the source, not through my desktop but wirelessly. And proper push email direct from my Gmail account. Seriously. Yahoo did it, how hard could it be? And while we’re wishing, direct contact synchronising. You get the idea - I hate having to sit down at my Mac desktop more than once a month this should all just happen without my involvement.

    Update: 2009-07-14 Done and done. No push gmail yet though.

  • A way to connect to my work’s WiFi network. This isn’t really a problem with the iPhone, but an issue with my network. It’s all locked down and difficult to connect to at the best of times. Trying to connect my iPhone involved downloading the enterprise deployment tool and installing that on my workstation, then configuring it all as best I could and emailing the configuration to my iPhone. When it didn’t work: lather, rinse, repeat. I downloaded about ten different configurations, and I still don’t have it working. Again, this is not apple’s fault but this is my wishlist though, so I wish for an easier way to do this.

    Update 2008-08-19 OK, got it connected. Turns out I was trying to connect with WPA, when I should have used WEP[^wep]. But my point still stands - this process could be made simpler. Further, every time my iPhone locks, it drops my connection and tells me I have entered an “incorrect wi-fi password”, even though it was just connected, and can connect again from the settings screen without trouble. This ModMyiFone forum thread suggests others are having the same trouble. Why?

  • A media centre app to rival the Apple TV, iTunes, iPhone Remote app combo. This sort of setup sounds pretty sweet. But I’m using Linux, and I’m not paying $500 (Australian) to buy a device who’s content is a handful of TV shows I can’t get for less than three dollars a pop. What would be nice is a polished app that runs twin tuners, a DVD player, plays my music, fetches my email and has a nifty iPhone application to do my bidding from the comfort of my couch. And runs on Linux. Of course there’s MythTV and Freevo, or even MediaPortal on Windows, but so far I don’t think there’s iPhone integration.

  • A Wordpress application that is as flexible and useful as the web-based admin panel. To create the magic of nunnone.com, I use a lot of useful plugins like Flickr Photo Gallery to pull in my Flickr photos and Zemanta for quick relevant photos, links and tags. I like to use the “code” view when I write to better wrangle my custom classes. The Wordpress app is terrific, but in translating to the iPhone, it’s small and light and almost useless to me. About all I can do with it is start a post and finish it off later when I’m at a proper computer. Since the app is open source it might eventually get some of this stuff, but so many webmasters use so many different plugins and tools, this would be very tricky to do. Still want it though.

  • Location-based reminders. I’m driving along, and I’m passing the library, and my phone says, “you have a library book to return”. Or I’m passing a shopping centre and I’m reminded that I need to pick up laundry detergent. This is not so impossible, but still some way off yet as the iPhone isn’t permanently pinging it’s location. Perhaps in future iterations, when battery life is better and people are less concerned about the privacy implications of having a device capable of sending data aware of your location at all times… Maybe this is something I don’t need.

  • My iPhone will make me more sexually attractive to the ladies. By now you’ve realised that I’m wishing beyond my iPhone’s reach here. So far, nothing I’ve asked for is beyond the realms of possibility, but some are so unlikely, and so like magic, that I might as well wish for the one thing that I really bought the iPhone for in the first place - sex appeal. Let’s face it, if a developer can make an app that can remind me to get milk as I pass the store or manage my entertainment centre from my couch, then why not magically make me even more awesome? An app that makes M&Ms and coke would be nice too.

    Update 2008-08-26 Extra peeve: leave my apps where they are when I update them!

    Update 2008-09-16 I hear this is fixed in the 2.1 software update.

Bonus list - a few things my iPhone doesn’t need:

  • Cut and paste. I might eventually want this, but I haven’t needed it yet.
  • Flash. As above. I really haven’t noticed its absence.
  • Background apps. I love the idea of a computer in my pocket, but I’m happy to accept that the iPhone isn’t quite it. I can’t afford to sacrifice more battery power just to be in constant contact with my twitter friends. And the coming push service sounds like an acceptable compromise to me.
  • Turn by turn navigation. What? Who cares!?

What do you think? What are features you’re missing from your iPhone?

[^wep]:I know [^battery]:Although you don’t truly get it until that first time the 20% battery alarm sounds

BEST EVER!

Ok, I’m sitting at home, feeling pretty tired, run down and fairly unhappy. A blog I’m reading mentions iTunes, and I fire it up to listen to some cheery music. While I’m there I try for the millionth time to find a copy of “Come On a My House” a remix of a Rosemary Clooney song by Nasty Tales which I first heard on Triple J radio.

I searched a bit, and the Nasty Tales web site I found had a sample that didn’t sound right. I thought it might have been the version on the Ursadelica - Ursula 1000 album, but wasn’t certain.

Anyway, I LOVED it when I heard it, but I couldn’t purchase it on iTunes, which is my preferred method. For weeks I’ve tried, but to no avail. But then today - a miracle - it’s there. Not quite the version I was looking for, as I think I was looking for the wrong one, but I think it might actually be the one that Triple J played those weeks ago. SO YAY! I’m a lot happier now.

<a title=“Link to Come on a My House on the iTunes music store” href=“http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=135448213&s=143460&i=135448318”>Download it NOW if you have iTunes. I promise that the 1.69AUD that you’ll pay will be worth it. It’s noisy and fun and happy. Cheer yourself up. Tell me what you thought.