In a very visible, transparent, and elucidative email to their current customers, AT&T is making a blatant plea to current subscribers to stay on board at AT&T.  Touting their well publicized advantage of web browsing while on the phone, AT&T has sent emails to their customer base (and even dedicated portions of their website)  to building a sandbag dike against the flood of Verizon-bound customers.

The ad says it all (look right dude).

On a scale from 1to10, this smacks of desperation. Nevertheless, if you got it, flaunt it.  It’s an advantage, albeit a fleeting one, and they need to keep all the subscribers they can.  Go get ‘em. Er, keep ‘em.

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One other enjoyable side-benefit of all the competition between Google and Apple, as well as their various fanbois is all the fun art that comes out of it.  I decided to make this post not just a re-hash of the differences between Android and Apple, but a celebration of the fun pictures.  So enjoy.  If you have a good one youreslf, post a link in the comments.

This is not really an Android-related pic, but this t-shirt made me smile.  Poor Adobe.

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This is our 5th CES in a row, and it’s our annual tradition to drive.  We stopped for some lunch and Sol lost his phone, which is normally a panic-inducing nightmare of an experience.  But Sol stayed pretty zen about it (he’s in a good place right now.)  As it turned it out, it wasn’t really lost, and because I’m a genius we found it in about 20 minutes. But by then the Nexus One was ordered, and it only seems right to have one. After all, we’re at CES and we love shiny new phones the way little kids love puppies, or the way gravediggers like a good exhumation.

Below is the video of our unboxing. Ours is non-exclusive, non-exhaustive, and only mildly interesting. You can find much more professional (and informative) unboxings on Into Mobile, on Engadget, and on Ubergizmo (among others.) But Sol is better looking that anyone at those other pubs, so we’ll add ours to the mix anyway.

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Today 12seconds launched a new app in the iTunes app store. It’s called 12mail, and you can download it from iTunes here.

I know that I’m biased, being that I work with the company and all, but I do believe that this app has incredible potential – it offers a new medium for communication. It’s like video visual voicemail.  It leverages all of your friends in Twitter and Facebook to build your list of “contacts.”   You can then send short videos (twelve seconds long) to those people.  If they also have the 12mail app, they’ll be able to watch the video right there on the phone.  If not, they’ll either a.) receive a DM on Twitter with a link to the video (private) or b.) a wall post on their Facebook profile (public)

Combining the ability to record and send video with the social networks you’ve built up on services like Twitter and Facebook is an excellent move.  And the twelve second limitation on the length of videos works to your advantage on a mobile device.  It’s quick to upload when you’re sending, even over clunky old EDGE.  And it’s very fast to buffer and stream when you’re on the receiving end.

Sol, Jakey, Ethan and the rest of the team have worked really hard to put this app together, and I think the effort was well spent.  A number of different folks in the press and blogosphere have covered the app today, including Cult of Mac, AppleTell, Techcrunch, ReadWriteWeb, Download Squad, and a bunch of others. I have no qualms giving this app a 10 out of 10.  If you think I’m biased, well, you’re right.  Don’t care.

A sample video I shot is below, as is a SRIBD doc that walks through the entire app.  Check ‘em out.

You should get 12mail for your iPhone. on 12seconds.tv

12mail Overview

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LG makes a lot of different devices, from Netbook computers to stove tops to televisions and blueray players. Today I’m reviewing one of their smaller gadgets, a pair of bluetooth stereo headphones.  This is a pretty straightforward hardware review, not some kitchy byplay full of personal commentary on the state of our civilazation and the degradation of our social milieu.  Mostly.

No, seriously, let’s cut straight to the chase.  What’s the point of having bluetooth headphones?  You don’t want wire draped all over your body, getting caught on chairs, keyboards, elbows, and the other myriad detritus of urban living.  Ideally, you’d also like good stereo sound, decent bass, comfort, and a microphone so you can use them on your mobile handset or bluetooth-enabled PC with Skype.  The HBS-250 delivered.

Comfort: The headphones are comfortable.  Even though they have foam padding against the ear, my ears don’t get hot and sweaty.  And since they’re not in-ear, there’s no gradual pain or discomfort from having something stuck in your ear all day.  The behind the ear clips are easy to use and totally innocuous.

Sound: The sound is great.  There’s an EQ button for switching between sound settings (more bass, live settings, etc.)  They frankly sound very good.

Ease-of-use: Setup on the iPhone and the computer was excellent.  Simple, straightforward and easy to do.  Just turn on the “discovery” feature on the handset / computer, turn on the headphones, and then you get a “would you like to synch the HBS-250?” message.  Done.  Now, operating the headphones is slightly more challenging.  The buttons are small and a little finicky – you have to get used to which ones are located where, and gently feel around.  Also, and this is actually pretty lame, the skip /reverse track feature doesn’t work with my iPhone.  The headphones are built with LG mobile handsets specifically in mind, but I think this is a pretty key feature, and I’d like to be able to skip tracks without having to go directly to the device.  Volume seems to work fine though, as does pause / play.  So that’s something at least.  But the tricky buttons and failed skip issues are the weakest points for me.

Phone calls: I was happy to see that these headphones come with a microphone, making them perfectly usable as a hands-free calling headset.  The sound quality is good.  It’s isn’t great, but it’s good.  I can hear the other person’s conversation perfectly.  Folks on the other end of the call say I sound a little like I’m in a tunnel, but perfectly understandable.  I did have one call (out of 3 test calls over a period of 2 days, in a variety settings) that was a total fail.  Solly couldn’t hear me at all, and I had to switch to just the phone itself, where I was then totally undersatandable.  Still, all bluetooth headsets I’ve used have occassional failed calls, so this wasn’t too distressing.  Maybe I should be more finicky, but for the most part I think these are pretty good.

Still and all, I think the headphones / music part is the big win for these.  I was bummed initially that they aren’t a little more “sports” oriented – I don’t think I’d want to use these to run with for instance.  Sweaty foam bums me out.  But, then again, I always exercise with a shuffle, and those don’t do bluetooth, so the point becomes pretty moot.

If I were forced to give the LG HBS-250 a numeric rating between 1 and 10, I’d cal it an 8.  Usability issues notwithstanding, this is a good looking, effective gadget that delivers a lot of value.  (Speaking of value, these aren’t super cheap at $80.  But if you’re in the market for bluetooth headphones and you have the cash to spend, I’d pick some up.) Nicole Lee at CNET has an excellent review with additional specs and info.

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It’s no secret that I’ve had an iPhone for a long time.  Sol and I waited in line at the Capitola Mall when the first iPhone launched in June of 2007.  We were even featured in the Santa Cruz Sentinel because we were wacky enough to do so (and we projected Star Wars onto the ceiling of the mall while we waited.)  I’ve enjoyed the iPhone tremendously for almost 2 years straight.  As I am notoriously hard on my gadgets, this is a minor miracle.  When the 3G iPhone came out, I decided that I would stick it out with my old-school Gen. 1 iPhone.  It works great.  Until a couple of weeks ago.

In Vegas for a soccer tournament, my iPhone spontaneously developed a huge issue: the top half of the touch screen stopped working.   It’s pretty hard to use a touch-screen phone when the screen won’t respond to touching.  This left me without a way to communicate for several hours, and more importantly, left me with a device void.

As much as I enjoy the design, form factor, and user experience of the iPhone, there have always been some things that bother me.  For instance, the email function.  The push and pull are slow and sometimes unreliable (at least in my experience.)  Sometimes emails don’t make it out at all, or they come in much later than they should.  Before I got my iPhone, I had a Blackberry 8700c, the last one with the scroll wheel on the side. It worked great.  RIM has it nailed when it comes to mobile email, and I’ve missed the steady reliability of Blackberry email.

Ever since it came out 4 or 5 months ago, the Blackberry Bold (the 9000) has caught my eye.  With a defunct iPhone, and an AT&T account already setup, I thought this was a good chance to try it out.  Worst case, I always have 30 days to return it.  So Monday morning I went to the AT&T store here in SF to check out the Bold.

First thing I discovered, the thing is expensive.  Even with a 2 year re-commitment, I still had to shell out $400 with a $100 mail-in rebate.  Second thing I noticed?  It’s probably worth it.  It is a beautiful device from the gorgeous screen to the cool leather backing.  Drool.

The keyboard is crisp and easy to use, and even though I’ve never liked the nipple / nubbin / pearl / trackball thingy, I found that’s not that hard to get used to.  Email setup and functionality are easy and work like a dream.  One thing I was concerned about was my address book – the iPhone syncs so darn well with my Mac Address Book (and everything else on my Mac.)  I read a bunch of different blog posts, and found very mixed reviews on all the software product.  Luca Filigheddu.com had the best solution I could find: Google Sync.  I exported my Mac Address Book, uploaded it to my Gmail, downloaded Google Sync for Blackberry, and voila everything is where it should be.  Now I have a phone, an amazing mobile email device, and something that is functional for media playback (video, music, etc.)  It’s not as good as the iPhone, but it’s functional.

Now, there’ve been hundreds of reviews of the Bold already, and I don’t need to add yet more detritus to the review world in that sense.  So I’m sticking to the theme of replacing my iPhone with a Blackberry Bold, as opposed to an outright review of an already thoroughly reviewed device.

Unsurprisingly, there are some things I seriously miss about the iPhone.  Media playback is one.  It’s not clean or intuitive on the Bold.  The memory card (I got an 8GB Micros SD for $20 at Buy.com) was easy to insert and load, a lot of the file types supported by the iPhone won’t play on the Bold.  The screen is crisp and beautiful, but it’s a little smaller than the iPhone, and I’ve had a hard time finding things that will play.  This is annoying when I have multiple 1/2 hour commutes on the Caltrain that cry out for entertainment.

In general, I’d say that the overall user experience (form factor, software aesthetics, heft and polish, etc.) are just not as good on the Blackberry.  My wife put it well – the Blackberry is a performance device, it gets the job done.  The Bold is a beautiful phone, but it’s just not an iPhone.

Having used the Blackberry Bold for 3 weeks straight, I’ve come to a decision.  I like having an iPhone.  I love Blackberries – but it just ain’t the same.  Conveniently for me, Apple announced the iPhone 3Gs just this past Tuesday, well within my 30 days tryout period.  So I’ve returned the Bold.  I am waiting it out with my old-skool 8700c for another 8 days, and then it’s back to the iPhone.

If I were forced to give the Blackberry Bold (as a replacement for my iPhone) a numeric rating between 1 and 10, I’d call it a 6.  It’s an amazing device, and if I were going to keep with the Blackberry, I would’t own any other.  But it doesn’t replace the iPhone.  It really doesn’t come close.

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Wow.  That sounds harsh.  I actually think the Mophie Juicepack is a really cool gadget.  Basically it’s an external battery for your iPhone.  The product design is fantastic – it’s got a black, slightly rubberized, really high quality feeling to it.  The colors (black outside, green inside) look sharp, and it has a neat light-up battery meter.  Sol got one for his 3G iPhone and loves it.  Loves it. (I sent a message to Mophie prior to publishing this review, but they’ve declined to comment.  )

Once I saw his, I knew I wanted one also.  When your phone is starting to run down mid-day, just pop it into the Juice Pack and boom – you get at least another 3 hours or so out of your phone, and you’re still totally mobile.  Sounds great right?  Well, it is great.  When it works.

My first Mophie Juicepack was a dud.   A lemon.  It didn’t work.  I charged it up over night (using a regular 10 pin iPod cable) and the following day, after my phone was about half dead, I popped it into the Juicepack.  Immediately I heard the little upbeat “ping” noise that means the phone is charging.  Sweet.  Until 4 seconds later, I heard the downbeat “pong” noise that means you’ve just unplugged your iPhone.  Weak sauce.

Basically, the iPhone would find the power source, ping the connection, show the “charging” icon with the lightning bolt, and then lose the connection and stop charging.  Naturally I called tech support, and they were honestly great.  The guy I spoke with had me run through some crazy diagnostics, including sticking a butter knife in the connector (it was pretty sweet) to test whether it just needed a reset.  But the test and  reset did not fix the problem, so the Mophie guys sent me out a replacement.  It came in two days.  I have no complaints on tech support, they were stellar. 

Sadly, the new one didn’t do a whole lot better.  It has a slightly less severe, but even more annoying version, of the same exact problem. What happens is this: I plug in the iPhone.  “Ping” goes the connection and BOOM! we’re charging.  Awesome.  Until 30 seconds or so goes by, and the phone “pongs” because it lost the connection.  For 5 seconds.  Then “ping” we’re charging again.  In the 3 hours I had my iPhone plugged into the Mophie Juicepack, it connected, disconnected, and then reconnected no less than 81 times.  I kept count for a while, but got bored.  Do you have any idea how distracting it is to hear your phone going “ping,” “pong,” “ping” in your pocket over and over again?  “Gee David, why not just turn it on silent?”  Nice try.  Vibrating in your pocket ever 15-20 seconds is, if anything, even worse than pinging and ponging.  I had the one of the most annoying, distracting, frustrating dinners of all time on Friday with my damn iPhone buzzing on and off every quarter minute.

Now, as I said, Sol has one of these for the 3G and loves it. And the new “Air” Juicepack for 3G’s looks sweet as well. So maybe just the Gen. 1 version has quality control issues.  The look, style, and feel of this device is so cool, but the performance on two in a row was awful.  And at $99 (a damn hefty price for an accessory) I’d expect solid, reliable performance.  I was prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt on the first failure.  But two in a row is two too many for me.  If I were forced to give the Mophie Juicepack for gen. 1 iPhones a numeric rating between 1 and 10, it’s a 3 for me.  Outstanding marks for design, dismal scores for quality assurance and performance.  Below is a 12second video of the Juicepack in action. 

Mophie Juicepack for Gen. 1 iPhone on 12seconds.tv

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Apple made landscape work in Safari; if you’re in the browser and have to type (in the URL, or in a form) the keyboard pops up in landscape mode.  This means the keys are bigger, more widely spaced, and significantly easier to tap.  This is good usability.  In either SMS or email mode, I can only use the portrait keyboard.  This is poor usability.  Given the fact that the capability exists, I can’t see any reason not to make the functionality universally available.

Lots of people told me that I’d get used to the keyboard if I gave it enough time.  They were wrong.  It sucks.  It sucked a year and a half ago, and it sucks now too.  Hence my joy, my excitement, my joie de iPhone that Firemail exists.  Firemail is an application available in the App store that lets a user type emails with a landscape keyboard.  Lawdy lawdy, I thought the day would never come.  The folks at Conceited Software are to thank for this handy piece of code.  Let me do so now.  Thank you Conceited Software. Try not to let it go to your head. Pun intended.

Firemail demo on 12seconds.tv

Now, the mechanics of the thing are not entirely ideal.  In order to write these blessedly quick and easy to type emails, you have to load Firemail from your homescreen, not the email app.  When the app opens you will be able to compose a subject and message.  Once done with your composition you can save a draft (called a bookmark) or send to email.  This is great for writing a new email.  But what about replying to old emails?  That too is possible, here’s how:

• Open your email app
• Open an email
• Hit reply
• Hit the home button
• Open Firemail
• Draft your response
• Select “Send to Mobile Mail”
• Boom shaka laka.  Your email is now a reply to the email you were reading before.

I didn’t even know you could do this till I read a couple other reviews of this app.  iPhone Hacks put a great one together, and so did Ben Boychuck at Macworld.   Personally, I think it’s a very strong app, and it has a place on my homescreen.  I do wish it integrated a little more seamlessly with the iPhone email, but it’s a very solid app and allows me to do something that’s frustrated me since my very first week with the iPhone.

The app used to be free – it was free when I downloaded it a couple months ago.  Now they charge 99 cents for it, and I think it’s definitely worth that fee.   It turns iPhone email from something frustrating and terrible into something that’s reasonably not sucky.  If I were forced to give Firemail a numeric rating between 1 and 10, I’d call it a 7.

This post is also available at LIVEdigitally.

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I’ve been thinking about a bluetooth headset for a long time.  Since I got my iPhone, I’ve almost exclusively used the included iPod headphones / speakerphone to talk with other people.  But it tangles often and it’s starting to get worn out – the rubber on the earpieces has rubbed off completely.  :(  That combined with the California headset law (and the joy of playing with new toys) convinced me to try to go blue.  Eric Benderoff’s review of several top bluetooth headsets gave me a little background, and the pure sex appeal of the Jawbone II gave me a starting place.

There are a lot of different possible categories from which to assess a gadget like this: form factor, simplicity of use, pairing ability, sound quality, battery life, durability, cost…  I don’t often write really analytical reviews which numerically asses and assign rankings to devices, but this time I plan to for the sake time and conveneience.  Elsewise this review will ramble, extensively.  Long.

I will rank each of the above categories with a numeric ranking between 1 and 10 (naturally) and then average out the scores.  By doing this I am essentially saying 1.) that each of the chosen categories have equal weighting, and 2.) that other possible categories (say, color) do not factor into my assessment.  Those are both true things, so take my review with the appropriate grains of sodium hydrochloride.

Form Factor: 10 (this is a sexy looking gadget, slim, black, ribbed and fancy)

Simplicity of Use: 7 (as bluetooths go, it’s pretty easy to start, pair, adjust and figure out what’s happening)

Pairing Ability: 7 (turn it on and turn on bluetooth on your phone – they just seem to find each other)

Sound Quality: 6 (I can hear people OK.  When I need to turn the volume up high, it seems to get a little fuzzy.  People can hear me OK. Not great, but OK.  This might be due to poor pairing, or simply the quality of the device. )

Battery Life: 6 (battery life seems to be about what you’d expect, or just a hair better.  I seem to get about 2-3 hours of active talk time.  If it sits idle on a full charge for a couple days, I can still use it.  If it sits idle after a full charge for 5 or 6 days, not so good. )

Durability: 4 (the device body seems to be fairly compact and well made, I expect it will last as well as anything else out there.  The ear pieces are another issue.  As you’ll see in the pictures, one of my stems broke.  Jawbone is kind enough to package multiple stems [for differently sized and shaped heads  and ears] so I had a backup, even though it’s a suboptimal size.  I did NOT mishandle nor manhandle the ear piece – just rotated it as it’s designed to be rotated, and the little sucker just snapped.  Boy was I irritated. )

Cost: 4 (this is a pricey little sucker.  I’ve seen it at the T-Mobile store for as little as $99, and at a Verizon store for $129.  If you shop around you’ll find it for somewhere over $100.

If we assume that each of the above categories carrie an equal weighting, then the score on the Jawbone II bluetooth headset comes out to 6.29 (10+7+7+6+6+4+4=6.2857147)

I like this device’s style and simplicity.  It’s elegant, pretty, fairly easy to use, and the it sounds good.  Not “oh my god holy crap” amazing, but it sounds good.  The cost of the unit, and the fact that the stem broke in the manner it did are both very offputting for me though, and they are the biggest limiting factors in my estimation.  That particular pair of issues (high cost with questionable durability) is expecially disagreeable.  I’ll be interested to see if/how the company responds to my customer service request.  If they do, I will update this post.

Forced to give a numeric rating between 1 and 10, this device averaged out to a 6.29.

This review is also available at LIVEdigitally.

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