Saturday, September 15, 2007

Time for Some Reflection

As you can no doubt surmise I have abandon my 9 month quest for the iPhone. The quest does not end easily. If Apple announced within 3 months that the iPhone would appear in Canada I would surely wait for its arrival. But that will not happen. I believe the iPhone will not reach these maple leaf shores for at least a year if not more...or God forbid....never. Despite Rogers protestations to the contrary.
So when Apple announced the new iPod Touch, I jumped at the chance. Here was a device that I have been looking for. This will be a surprised to many of you but I do not own a cell phone. For various reasons I have not wanted to be at the beck and call of anyone and also been deterred by the prohibited pricing. So I have turned my back on the cell phone. Now, you may ask, why have I coveted the iPhone......For one reason. I have always wanted to have the Internet and email in the palm of my hand. Ever since watching Star Trek original series I have always wanted a "Tricorder" that would give me the world's knowledge at my finger tips. When the iPod Touch was announced I thought my wish was fulfilled.....But as always with dream fulfilment there are prat falls. The first reviews of the iPod Touch are good but with one craveat....Something is terrible wrong with the screen!? It seems that the first round of iPod Touch releases have a problem with "white to black" gradient . The Touch has a very dark portfolio. Meaning it is very hard to distinguish features in a photo or video that is in a dark setting. I was flabbergasted when I heard the reviews...I would have never expected Apple to release their best iPod with the not so best video display. I began to imagine the scenario in China -the iPhone was on the assembly line and there must have been many screens being tested that did not pass the high quality expected to be among the inaugural screens on the iPhone. If you remember the first reviews about the iPhone, it had amazingly sharp contrast . Did Apple set aside the not so amazing screens, that did not pass the mustered for the iPhone, but may have been reserved for the inevitable release of the up coming iPod Touch....I hope not.

Friday, September 7, 2007

I Pre-Ordered The iPod Touch!

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Screw The iPhone!




Steve Jobs: This is a worldwide product, the first touch product Apple's going to ship outside the US, it's going to be shipping all around the world.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

You Can Buy An Unlocked iPhone!....For A Price.

Well technically Canadians can now buy an unlocked iPhone....But for a price. Puremobile  is now selling unlocked 8 gig iPhones (personally made by that 17 year old kid), on their web site. It costs US$1081...plus US$20 shipping...It also comes with a voided warranty because each of the phones have been opened up and soldered....and a warning not to ever update or restore the phone..."There are absolutely no returns or refunds on this product"...and then there's a video of an iPhone using a Fido SIM card...so ends the sales pitch.

Good luck. Let me know how it turns out when you buy one. I for one will not bite. Too expensive, too many pitfalls. The iPhone is a very complex gizmo. A year without a warranty is a long way to go without a safety net. And the no return policy of Puremobile's should make one pause before leaping into the abyss. You could spend a large amount of money only to open the box and find a dead iPhone and there would be nothing you could do about it. Also the "No Restore" is a deal killer. I know for a fact that many iPhones out there get kinda of wonky after a couple of weeks and need a restore to get itself back to normal. No Thanks. I'll wait to see what the software unlock has to offer. And so far those companies offering the software hack have become ominously silent.