iPhoneUser.ca

Our site is located at http://www.iphoneuser.ca

This is just a test site and not all posts are located here.

Changing hosts

Hi everyone. I’m in the process of changing webhosts so the site may be down temporarily some time later today or tomorrow. Please check back later if we are down as I hope to have everything set up ASAP. The mirror address for the site is – http://iphoneuserca.blogspot.com.
Visit us there in the meantime if the main address isn’t working. We will have a nice new set up and hopefully you will find it more user friendly – much like the iPhone is.

Thanks.

iPhone Video Recorder

I found an interesting app today in installer. I’m not sure when it came out but once I saw it, I had to try it out. It’s the iPhone video recorder. It’s available in the featured section right when you open up installer.

The video quality actually seems quite decent. The one you download is basically a trial version and will let you record up to 30 second clips and will let you record 30 times. You have to buy a registration code to do more than that. I guess the 30 tries will last me a little while. To buy the full version it costs $19.95. Just a little expensive for an iPhone app. I wonder how much apps will be in the official Apple App Store once it opens.

Overall, this is a good program. But I wouldn’t pay 20 bucks to use it. I’m not going to be recording stuff everyday so that doesn’t really seem worth it to me. Enjoy your free trial version.

Old people use the iPhone too

One thing that I’ve noticed over the past couple of months is that the iPhone is not just for us younger generation. Lots of older people have iPhones too.

I’ve met a guy who is over 50 who has an iPhone and I asked him a few things about it. He said he loves his iPhone and that it is the best phone he has ever had. He also said that his son who is only 10 taught him how to use everything on it. He also said that he had bought a lot of Apple products like a mac and Apple TV and his son set it all up too. He said that he loves the technology of the iPhone and is glad he got it. His son unlocked it for him.

About two months ago I saw a lady in her 40’s who had an iPhone. I also asked her about it. She too said it was the best phone she’s ever had, maybe even the best thing she’s ever owned. A couple weeks ago I also saw an older man taking photos with his iPhone. Today even, I heard the signature Apple iPhone ringtone, I knew it was an iPhone, but guess who answered, a man who is at least 50, maybe even 60.

This just goes to show that anyone can get excited about the iPhone and cool gadgets in particular. The iPhone really bridges the generation gap. Once the iPhone is available in Canada, I’m sure I will see ever more older folks using an iPhone. I bet not all older people know the ins and outs of unlocking and hacking some of the younger tech savvy generation. Do you know anyone over the age of 40 with an iPhone? Do your parents have one? Let me know!

How to really get SNES roms on your iPhone

I finally got the Super Nintendo roms working on my iPhone. It is pretty cool actually. I guess the graphics are a little better than the regular Nintendo roms. The games tend to lag a bit once in a while but I found that they are still playable.

Here’s how I did it.

1. The programs you need on your iPhone from installer are as follows:
- snes4iPhone
- zottd required library
- bsd subsystem
- openssh

2. Download the roms you want from http://www.theoldcomputer.com

3. Use cyberduck on mac or winscp to transfer the roms onto your iPhone to the directory
private/var/mobile/Media/ROMs/SNES

4. Right click the rom and click ‘info’, now change the permissions to 644.

5. Now it will work

For info on how to ssh into the iPhone click here
For info on installer source of snes4iphone click here

I actually made my first youtube video of this process. The video isn’t great but will show you what I’m doing to get the roms going on your iPhone (or iPod touch). Hopefully you like it. I plan to make more in the future on other iPhone related stuff and hopefully my video making skills will improve over time. Check it out.

Will there ever be a CDMA iPhone?

I know there is a lot of people with Telus and Bell or even Verizon and Sprint that want to get their hands on the iPhone. The main thing holding them back is the early cancellation fee or special retention plans or other plans that are keep them tied or loyal to their current carriers. I wasn’t afraid of being charged the ECF and I got lucky in my situation but to pay anywhere from $100-700 plus tax just to switch carriers seems unacceptable.

The answer is probably no. There will never be a CDMA iPhone. One reason is that it is just not enough of a popular technology to make it worthwhile. CDMA holds about 50% of North American market share but less than 1% worldwide. That probably just isn’t good enough according to Apple standards. The other reason that we wont see a CDMA iPhone is that Apple signed a 5 year exclusive deal with AT&T for the iPhone in the USA. Apple is not going to make a CDMA version just for Telus or Bell. The agreement prevents them for making one for the only viable carriers of Verizon or Sprint.

I know you guys on Telus and Bell want to join us in iPhone-land. My recommendation is to jump ship once your contract expires, and if you really can’t wait, pay your ECF and jump ship once the iPhone is released here in Canada by Rogers. At this point, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to switch until Rogers does have the iPhone.

3G iPhone physically present in Canada or delayed globally?

There have been conflicting reports over the past couple days on whether or not the 3G iPhone is physically present in North America and Canada specifically or if it is delayed globally.

First of all Import Genius claims that Apple received a shipment of 188 ocean containers of potentially the 3G iPhone. The customs declaration declared the items as ‘electric computers’. This is something that Apple has never declared to customs before. Additonally 44 containers were destined for Vancouver, BC. Yay! That’s exciting stuff. I wish I knew someone working at the port who had access to these types of things or could collect that box that fell off the truck.

On the flip side, there are now rumors that the 3G iPhone could be delayed? Oh no! Why? Analysts are saying so because the supposed maker of the 3G iPhone chip has forecasted a decline in profits due to less than anticipated HSDPA chip sales. People determined that maker Infineon would supply the 3G iPhone chip because a code for their chip was buried deep with the iPhone SDK coding. If the 3G iPhone is in fact delayed, it will be a little disappointing as we are all excited and very anxious to see what we will be able to officially get our hands on here in Canada. However, it may not make much difference because I don’t think Rogers will be releasing it right away as it becomes available. I think Rogers is going to wait a couple months.

I’m almost getting tired of hearing so many rumors. June 9th isn’t that far away but it seems like an eternity where there is a new rumor everyday.

The joy of free wifi

One of the great things about the iPhone is that can connect to wifi networks. This was generally unheard of on cells phones until recently. The iPhone is the leader in cell phones that can connect to wifi. The iPhone’s ease of use with safari and other applications make the wifi ability really stand out.

One of the problems of currently not having an adequate data plan on my iPhone is that I have to use wifi more. Now using wifi isn’t the problem, just finding free wifi seems to be the problem. In all Starbucks locations they have hotspots. One problem, they aren’t free. They aren’t even reasonably priced. I’m not going to pay 10 bucks to connect to a wifi network for an hour. I’m also not going to pay 25 bucks a month to get hotspot access all the time because I’m not usually at a hotspot.

One of the funniest things is finding peoples private wifi networks which are open. Come on, who doesn’t encrypt their home wifi or business network? It’s actually surprising that there are tons of open networks everywhere. I can’t believe people actually leave them open but I’m not complaining. At my work, I can get free wifi in a few of the corners. I have to be close to the window but at least I can connect and use the internet. I usually only have 1 wifi bar but it still works. There is about 1 out of 10 wifi networks that are open. I’m sure if you just walk down the street you will find them everywhere. Take advantage of it!

More wishes for the 3G iPhone

The list keeps growing and growing. It’s not that I’m unhappy with the iPhone, I just believe there is some features they could add that would basically kill all other phones.

1. A better camera
A 5 mega pixel camera would be great. The Nokia N95 and the Sony Ericsson K850i both have 5mp cameras. Lets put one in the iPhone with zoom, that way you can basically get rid of your camera that you already have.

2. Decent video recording
Even my Moto Razr could record video. It wasn’t that good but it still had it. I probably wouldn’t use it that much but I would once in a while. The only thing I recorded on my Moto Razr was parts of a concert but it was still fun. You never know when you want to take a video of something.

3. iTunes store access over 3G
You can’t access the Wifi iTunes store now over Edge, well basically because you aren’t on wifi. Plus Edge would be to slow to download songs from the iTunes store. Once in a while I hear a song on the radio that I want right away. By the time I get home, I have forgotten it. It happens.

Here’s my other wishes for the 3G iPhone

Canadian wireless spectrum auction

What will the Canadian wireless spectrum auction mean for Canadian iPhone users? I actually think it wont mean much. It may mean something for unlocked iPhone users in the future but really I don’t think it will have much effect.

Why? Well it has been reported that the iPhone when released on Rogers may be a Rogers vision phone so that it could be used with the $7 unlimited data plan. How can it get any cheaper than that? Not by much. The basic iPhone plan on AT&T is $59.99. That is not miles cheaper than plans here in Canada.

Telus and Bell are offering real $30 unlimited data plans for Blackerry’s/Smartphones. The current trend seems to be that rates are dropping anyway. Koodo Mobile is offering plans for $25 without the system access fee. How much cheaper can it get?

Hopefully the spectrum auction forces Rogers and the others to rethink the system access fee and real data rates. But if you do get an iPhone from Rogers, I doubt this will end up having any impact.

If you are still using an unlocked iPhone on Fido or some new carrier next year, then their may be better data rates in the future for those people. I doubt that a new major wireless countrywide GSM carrier will set up shop and make any significant impact.