Saturday, June 30, 2007

And now the rest of the story

And after 90 mins of wait on hold for apple support we found that the
com.apple.iTunes.plist (iTunes settings stuff) was corrupted. We
quite iTunes, moved that file aside and restarted and now I could sync.

Some observations:

1) iPhone is useless until you get it activated which currently can
take MANY hours as AT&T wasnt up to the task
2) If you have sync issues try blowing away com.apple.iTunes.plist
3) Nested contact lists in AddressBook don't sync to iPhone. I had
created nested lists since the Razr only let me sync one list so I
used AddressBook nesting to do it. Now with iPhone you can choose
multiple lists so its not a big deal.
4) The mail stuff needs some real TLC from apple. No spam control, no
bulk operations. I set it up for my gmail account and it wants me to
re-read 400+ messages on there and there's no bulk operations. Come
on apple.
5) The touch screen works good, its going to take getting used to the
typing but its faster than I thought already.
6) My face oil makes a nasty mess of the phone. Im no pimply teenager
any more (40...) but i'm making a work of art look ugly just by using
it.

And of course there are the things i'd like to see that they skipped:
1) Instant messaging/chat - AIM/iChat/Yahoo/Gtalk
2) Music for ringtones (although i'm partial to my Quacks now)

But beyond the above my initial impression is that its an amazing
device.

iPhone continued

Well its been about 12 hours. My number dials into the phone and I
can dial out. I can sync music, movies, pictures and podcasts. What I
can't do is sync contacts, calendar, email accounts, or bookmarks. It
just hangs when I try to sync any of those even with a very small
selection within them chosen.

No word on the net and the hold times with Apple appear infinite (I
think their customer service, not their address, should be called 1
infinite loop).

Friday, June 29, 2007

iPhone

Ok, so the phone is amazing. My Verizon number now rings into the
iPhone and it quacks when it rings (my choice). I found my house on
google satelite and got it paired with my motorola bluetooth headset
and my local secure wifi spot.

Ah...

The apple iPhone user guide (http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iPhone_User_Guide.pdf) contradicts the email from AT&T:

Apple: "Before you can use any of iPhone's features, you must activate iPhone by signing up for an AT&T service plan and registering iPhone with the network."

AT&T: "After you activate your iPhone and before your phone number is transferred from your current provider you will continue to receive calls on your current phone. Your iPhone will be able to make outgoing calls but will not receive calls until the transfer is complete."

It seems it was the activation, not the phone # transfer, that took 2 hours. 

And of course someone already took it all apart:http://stream.ifixit.com/ (just breaks my heart)

iTunes/iPhone

iTunes hung with 100% CPU on first sync. It seems that the incoming
activation at the same time as the sync killed it. Restarting itunes
fixed it and now its syncing stuff.

iPhone take 2

After sitting on hold for 2 hours, an email popped up and said my
number was moving over to the phone. Now iTunes can sync things with
the phone and my data is on its way.

You can choose what gets sync'd but before you sync its hard to tell
how much space it will all take up.

iPhone

Its been a long time since I blogged. The company I worked for got bought by a bigger company and we had a product release to get out. Thats all fairly settled now.
So the new thing for me is the iPhone. Yes, I stood in line in Providence, RI for 2 hours and bought one. I was #77 in the line. They had plenty and I got the 8GB model. The Apple people were nice to the waiters and gave us water and coupons for discounts on coffee in the mall.
Buying the phone was uneventful, choose one of 2 models then check out. Despite the stuff online, there were no bluetooth headsets available. The best cases were sold out by the time I got my phone (6:30pm EDT). I drove right home to register it.
Thats where the wheels came off the bus. Im transferring my line from Verizon. I knew it would take up to 6 hours to transfer but all the press (and you'll see current information) says you can use the phone until the transfer is complete you just cant receive calls. Well thats not true. The phone can do nothing but make 911 calls until its activated and they claim activation will take up to 24 hours:
"Phone service is scheduled to be disconnected on your current phone at or after 7:25 PM EDT on June 30. Please check your email and be prepared to reconnect and activate your iPhone before that time. Please call 877-800-3701 if you'd like to make other arrangements.


You will receive an email to xxx@mac.com as soon as your iPhone is ready to be activated. After you activate your iPhone and before your phone number is transferred from your current provider you will continue to receive calls on your current phone. Your iPhone will be able to make outgoing calls but will not receive calls until the transfer is complete."
Both the FAQ and this confirmation email make it clear you can use the product before activation is complete. This is not the case. I called and spoke to 3 people at AT&T and they didnt have a clue except to tell me to wait. I called Apple. It said there was a 5 minute wait time. Its been 1 hour 10 mins and i'm still waiting with no idea how long i'll be on hold. Perhaps 24 hours?
I understand the phone activation may take time, but the iPod, Video, Pictures, Calendar and other things should be able to work without phone activation.
Apple, figure this out and quick if you dont want to fall on your face!