True to form, I updated all our iOS devices to 4.3 (well 4.2 for the AppleTV 2) the day of release now almost 2 weeks ago. The changes are are almost imperceptible so far. Safari does feel a bit faster, but that’s about it. I’m looking forward to app updates that use the newly exposed AirPlay video feature. It’s already cool with the YouTube app, but having it with something like ABC Player would be nice. I haven’t tried using home sharing yet. I did try using IPv6 with Atomic Web Browser and it works now. I don’t know if that’s a 4.3 change or from an app update, though.

iOS 4.2(.1) has been out for a little while now and so far it’s been good.  We updated all our iOS devices to it and I say, AirPlay is really cool.  Mostly, for our purposes, it’s just bug fixes, but I think we’ll really be using AirPlay.  Also, it’s nice to have some of the organizational features of iOS 4 on the iPad finally (and the Thai keyboard).  I suppose the iPad has IPv6 support now, although I haven’t tested it.

Update:  I tested it and IPv6 works on the iPad, at least via Safari.

You ever have one of those moments where you see or notice something and you absolutely know that nobody you know would catch it?  I had one last week.  I was fast forwarding through commercials while watching a recorded show and I saw a quick blip of a rocket in flight.  So, naturally, I stopped to see what it was all about.  It turned out to be a commercial for the BlackBerry Torch and they changed between a lot of clips of the phone in action with some context around it.  The rockets and operation seemed familiar and then there it was, a quick flash of text where I made out “arma”.  I knew it had to be Armadillo Aerospace.  I rewatched it to be sure and I was absolutely positive.  Cool stuff.  I know not only will no one I know catch it (even if they see the commercial), but I’ll have a hard time explaining it to anyone.  Here’s a link to an article about it:

http://thelaunchpad.xprize.org/2010/10/ngllxc-winner-featured-in-blackberry.html

http://sharingmatrix.com/file/2326835/i-lost-my-cock-in-hillary-scott-scene3.avi

I work in eCommerce.  In the last year I’ve seen a number of presentations touting the push into mobile web.  I don’t doubt it.  I’ve seen some numbers showing significant growth in mobile web utilization in our own customers. My question has been about where and when to focus that energy.  I’m not anymore.  Do it now.  Do it for the iPhone (iOS really).  Keep Android in mind while doing it.

Maybe it’s bad to base my conclusion on anecdotal evidence of basically a single observation, but my gut is shouting loud here.  I was in Singapore on Friday.  It was a 12 hour layover, so we (the wife and I) took the free Singapore tour and then decided to see the sights some more.  We wound up wandering pretty far from the airport (Changi).  For the return we decided to try the subway.  At one point, while the train was pretty crowded, something dawned on me — everyone had an iPhone.  I mean everyone.  Even me.  More surprising — they were mostly iPhone 4′s.  Some were playing games, some surfing the web, some on calls, some listening to music, some were texting, and some just pulled them out to check the time.  This is on a subway at almost 23:00 packed with people (on a Friday night).  There was that much disposable income standing around.  I had noticed several people with iPhones and iPads in the various airports we had been in and out of, but that’s sort of expected.  Here we were on a subway with normal folks going about their lives, not just transiting the international terminals.  We passed through a good 15 stops including a transfer station and crossed a good portion of the city.  Very few people went all the way to the airport like we were, so it wasn’t just travellers happening to be on the train with us.  Lots of folks would flow in and out of the train at the stops and it was the same the whole time — tons of iPhones, and a significantly large portion being iPhone 4′s.

So, target mobile. Target iOS.  Keep Android in mind (I say that because I’ve met a number of folks that refuse to get iPhones and only see Android devices as their alternative).

We were in Malaysia recently (more on that later).  We brought along our iPhone 4′s intending to get some pre-paid sim cards so we could use them while travelling.  Well, the iPhone 4 and iPad both use micro-sims and not just plain sim cards.  I knew this already and started researching it before the trip.  From the press releases I saw, Maxis had them out and it was big news to iPad owners who’d brought them in on the grey market.  Users on some forums rejoiced.  So, I had little doubt we’d be fine.  After arriving, it was another story.  Cellphone shops are plentiful.  You can’t go anywhere without seeing a plethora of them.  Honestly, I don’t know how they all stay in business.  The market must be huge.  We went to several shops and we got a lot of blank stares when we asked about micro-sims.  We were told there were no such things.  We were told we were looking for SD cards.  We were told they weren’t in Malaysia yet.  I said I had read a Maxis press release and eventually was pointed to an official Maxis store.  They did have them, but would only sell for post-paid accounts.  There was no way I’d sign up for a 1 or 2 year contract to use for 3 weeks.  I recalled that you could cut down a regular sim to micro-sim specs, so I asked around about that as well.  Nobody had any idea.  It took 3 or 4 days, but my brother-in-law brought us a cut down pre-paid sim.  He’d found someone that had a cutting tool.  We were up and running — even with 3G data.

Now, that’s were my happiness wanes.  We were on DiGi.  I’m not sure if Maxis or Celcom were the same, but my DiGi service was less reliable than I’d have liked.  Hand-off between towers wasn’t too smooth.  3G data could be spotty.  By that I mean that despite having the 3G icon show up and even full signal bars (with iOS 4.0.2), data would stop working.  I found some consistency in the data issues depending on location.  Occasionally, though, I’d even get the ability to tether and that was wonderful.  Speeds when data worked was quite good.  Cost was reasonable too.

Near the end of our stay, the iPhone 4 was officially released by Maxis and DiGi, so I expected compatibility to be remarkable.  I think it improved slightly after the release, but not much.  Oh well, it was only 3 weeks.

I finally updated my iPhones to iOS 4.1.  Three things stuck out to me from the announcement that I’ve been dying to have:

• Proximity sensor issue fix (this one has really been affecting me)
• Bluetooth fixes (I didn’t know this was a known issue, but it has been affecting me)
• HDR photo option (cool new feature)

I’ve been running 4.1 for less than 24 hours now, but I can definitely say the proximity sensor and bluetooth issues seem to have abated.  I haven’t tried the HDR photo option yet.  Otherwise, the Game Center seems gimmicky.  The operational animation has smoothed out (especially on my work-issued 3GS).  I can’t quite tell about battery life changes yet.  I suspect it’s worse due to how low my 3GS’s battery was after a 4.5 hour conference call.

So, apparently I missed the memo — iOS 4 has IPv6 support.  I’ve been wanting IPv6 support for a while and I thought I checked around enough after the iOS 4 announcement, but I didn’t find anything at the time.  It turns out it doesn’t take anything extra.  With my current setup at home, our iPhones are already on IPv6.  After finding out that it should be working I checked and sure enough it is.  Magic.

I’ve now been living with an iPhone 4 for a month.  I’m sure few would be surprised for me to call it a great smartphone.  As I said in my previous post, the screen is the outstanding feature.  I am truly amazed at this “Retina display”.  I actually carry 2 iPhones (work-issued and personal).  My work phone is an iPhone 3GS.  So, I’m reading each on a daily basis.  When they were both 3GS I was a happy camper (except for having to carry 2 phones).  Now, every time I check e-mail on the 3GS I’m reminded how poor the screen is in comparison to the 4.  The difference is striking.  I’m a gadget freak, so I would have picked up this new version anyway, but the screen itself is totally worth the upgrade.  In fact, it almost makes me disappointed in the the iPad 3G, which is nearly as new.  I know — totally different beast.

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I waited in line to get the iPhone 4 today and came away successful. I don’t yet know if this is a great new phone, but it has an amazing screen. I am blown away by the clarity. It’s like going from an SDTV to an HDTV. Text looks like it’s back-lit print — just amazing.

The purchasing experience was great too. Note that today is the second day of their availability. My working theory was that there would be some reservations that weren’t picked up on day one and those go in the available-to-walk-ins pool. I was sure others would be thinking the same way. I’m not totally nuts, though, so I got in line at 7am (for a scheduled 8am early opening). I was about number 20 in line. I talked to the folks around me and it seems everyone had been there the day before. It sounds like that had been a real zoo. It took about 30 minutes for me to get inside once the doors opened. I spent another 30 minutes getting and activating the 2 I was after. Not too bad. Now what do I do with 2 iPhone 3GS?