Tag: iPhone

Let’s see iPhone propagandist Luke Wilson spin this

AT&T has suddenly stopped selling iPhones to people living in New York City. If you go to the AT&T website and try to purchase the iPhone, upon entering a New York City zipcode you will be instructed to “Please shop for another phone.”

Supposedly this is because the high-speed data network in New York City is overburdened. I’m not sure why this would stop AT&T from selling more iPhones. I know from personal experience that they make people pay for the high-speed data network whether you can use it or not.

1 Comment by Rick  /  December 28, 2009  /  Posted in: Technology
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I guess nobody at the Chicago Tribune listens to Sirius XM on the iPhone

The Chicago Tribune has an article concerning Howard Stern and his chances of resigning with Sirius XM radio. His five year, $500 million, four-days-a-week contract is set to expire at the end of the next year. That means now is the time for Howard Stern and Sirius XM to begin negotiating a new contract.

About the only thing that is clear at this point is that there is no way he will get another $500 million contract.

Back when he scored the original $500 million contract, Sirius and XM were locked into a satellite radio war. Sirius needed Stern because they needed a big name to add to their lineup. Now Sirius and XM are the same company. At least they are supposed to be. They are still run as though they are two separate entities.

The point is, Sirius and XM aren’t about to get into a bidding war for the services of Howard Stern. So what does this mean for Howard Stern? According to the Chicago Tribune, maybe he will become a podcaster:

Stern could leave to start a new venture, perhaps a subscription service that sends his show to PCs and mobile devices. Sirius already streams Stern’s shows online and through the iPhone. Or he could explore more options in cable TV, where his first pay-per-view special, “Howard Stern’s Negligee and Underpants Party,” was offered in 1988.

Contrary to the Chicago Tribune, Howard Stern is not available on the iPhone. His show is about the only things you cannot listen to via the Sirius XM iPhone app. What’s funny about this is that he was pushing for a Sirius XM iPhone app for some time. Evidently his $500 million contract did not allow Sirius XM to stream his show over the iPhone. You can listen to his show on the computer, just not the iPhone.

by Rick  /  December 22, 2009  /  Posted in: Radio
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I guess Luke Wilson has never been to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

AT&T, in response to some Verizon ads that trash AT&T’s minuscule 3G coverage, have hired actor Luke Wilson to make commercials touting how great AT&T is. instead of actually improving their 3G coverage, they spend millions of dollars telling people that how great they are.

Isn’t that just fantastic?

I have an iPhone which means that I can only use AT&T as my provider. No matter what Luke Wilson says, I know that AT&T’s 3G coverage sucks. Without 3G, the iPhone is just a pretty iPod that you can talk to people on. When you find yourself in one of the many areas the AT&T doesn’t have 3G coverage, a lot of the apps that make the iPhone great are unusable.

When I worked in Pennsylvania, my iPhone’s 3G coverage died the minute I crossed from Maryland into Pennsylvania. Because of this fact, I had to listen to XM radio on the actual XM radio instead of the Sirius-XM iPhone app on my iPhone. This would not have been necessary if AT&T’s 3G coverage wasn’t such a big bucket of suck.

2 Comments by Rick  /  November 24, 2009  /  Posted in: Technology
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Comic Collector iPhone App: Clz Comics

clzcomics-seriesThe iPhone App for Comic Collector 4 is now out. If you use the Comic Collector software to keep track of your comics collection and you have an iPhone, buying this app is really a no-brainer.

I was more than a little surprised to see at least one person actually complain about the $9.99 price.  Ten bucks seems like a small price to pay for the ability to take a complete record of your comic book collection with you everywhere you go.

Before this app, the only way you could take a record of your collection with you on your iPod was if you exported collection as a text file and used a notes program on your iPod to access it.  I did just that a few years ago when I went to the Pittsburgh Comic-Con and it turned out to be more cumbersome than I thought it would be.

I don’t think that will be a problem with this app.  It looks extremely easy to use.

by Rick  /  June 30, 2009  /  Posted in: Comic Books
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I have joined the iPhone revolution

white-iphone-3g

Sheri and I stopped by our local neighborhood AT&T store and purchased iPhones. Instead of getting the fancy brand new 3G S iPhones, we purchased the regular old 3G iPhones. Even if we wanted the newest model, AT&T were all sold out. I heard them telling someone else that they only initially received 18 of the newest models and they sold out the first day. They didn’t think they would get any more for at least a month.

I didn’t see how the newer 3G S iPhones were that much of an improvement. Essentially the biggest difference was that it was capable of shooting video. I couldn’t care less about that.

I picked up a white 16 gig model and Sheri chose a black 8 gig model.

I’ve got to admit that I’m even more impressed with the iPhone than I thought I was going to be. Having constant access to the World Wide Internet Web is a life changer. While sitting on the sofa yesterday at my mother-in-law’s house, I was able to read my email and delete a spam comment here on my blog.

Speaking of my blog, I installed a special WordPress theme made specifically for iPhones or other smartphones, Carrington Mobile 1.0.2. Visitors reading this from a computer see the regular theme, visitors from an iPhone see a different theme all together that’s much easier to read on a tiny screen.

So far my favorite App is the Sirius XM App. It allows me to listen to Sirius XM directly from my iPhone either over the 3G network or any WiFi network. This is huge. This means that I can listen to Sirius XM anywhere I go. Oddly enough, just about everything that I listen to on Sirius XM is available on the iPhone except Howard Stern. His show is strangely absent from the lineup. What’s weird about this is he’s been speaking about a Sirius XM iPhone app for months. One finally comes out and his show is not on it? That’s weird. I guess he wants more money.

Evidently $500 million isn’t enough.

Opie and Anthony and Ron and Fez are on it, so it’s not that big of a deal. The thing that gets me is that I pay extra to for a Best of Sirius package that allows me to listen to Howard Stern (and the NFL). I also pay extra to be able to listen to Sirius XM over the Internet. I can listen to Howard Stern over the Internet on a computer, but not from my iPhone.

That’s really weird.

1 Comment by Rick  /  June 21, 2009  /  Posted in: Technology
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Sirius XM to roll out iPhone and iPod Touch app

xm-siriusSoon Sirius XM subscribers will be able to listen to Sirius XM content on either their Apple iPhone or their Apple iPod Touch through a free app that will be available in the iTunes store. Apple iPhone users will be able to stream content over the AT&T 3G network. Apple iPod Touch users will be able to stream content over a Wi-Fi Internet network.

Currently Sirius XM has over 19 million subscribers and Apple has over 7 million iPhone users.

I think this signals a shift in strategy for Sirius XM. For a while now it seemed as though they were concentrating their efforts on gaining new subscribers by getting automakers to install their radios in new vehicles. The problem with that of course is that people are not buying new cars. Another problem is that Circuit City is no longer in business. Circuit City sold a lot of satellite radios. In fact, every satellite radio I have ever owned was bought at a Circuit City.

I think this means I will have to break down and buy an iPod Touch.

by Rick  /  March 13, 2009  /  Posted in: Radio
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