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Another Killer App

While writing the previous post, I thought that Remote Desktop would be the killer iPhone app, but now I've changed my mind. The new killer app is SSHD. Why would an SSH server on a phone be a killer app? Who cares about remotely logging in to their phone's command line?

The answer is that SSHD can apparently run a full SOCKS proxy server with the -D command. Using that, it's possible to use the phone's cellular internet connection on your computer. The setup looks like this:

Yesterday my Comcast connection went down (stupid Comcast), so I had to try it out in order to get back online and get my Dancing Matt fix. It worked surprisingly well - it wasn't really obvious that I was using a phone connection, except that the speeds were pretty slow.

I ran a speed test on the bandwidth, and these were the results:

208 kbps is not that bad by modern standards, and it definitely works if your main ISP connection goes down, or if you're stuck at a wedding with no WiFi.

If coverage is good, a 3G iPhone would probably be significantly better. If you need to save cash it might even be fast enough to use as your main home ISP. Hmm..

iPhone camera test

Today at a wedding reception in Queen Anne I finally got the chance to test out the iPhone's camera in a well-lit outside environment. The results were OK, but not all that great. Mt. Rainier was clearly visible in the background to the eye, but it barely registers on the iPhone pic. The thumbnail below is linked to the full-res version:

iPhone

So if you're at all familiar with my cellphone purchasing habits, you know that the question posed in my previous post was more rhetorical than anything: of course I had to get an iPhone. Yesterday my boss convinced me to ditch work early and go stand in line for an iPhone with him, so we did (and I obviously didn't have to worry about what the boss would think about leaving in the middle of the day). We were about #25 in line at the AT&T store (the Apple store already had 100+ people), and we had no problem getting 8GB models. Fortunately I had my DS and was able to play through a couple dungeons in Final Fantasy V while we waited, so it wasn't that bad. On the unfortunate side of things, once it was all done the stores did not sell out and had plenty of stock left over, so it was a waste of time to wait in line. Oh well.

Now that I have been playing with it for a while, I am glad that it appears to have been worth it (money-wise, if not time-wise). I expect to make heavy use of a lot of the features, so it might not be worth it for somebody who wouldn't. Since there are plenty of iPhones to go around, you might want to try out a friend's before getting your own if you're on the fence.

Here's my Good vs Bad list so far:

Good:

• It really is as smooth and as fast as in the ads - they were using the real thing.
• The EDGE data rate is not as bad as I expected. Google Maps is pretty usable, and I was even able to stream a YouTube video of David Hasselhof singing and dancing with almost no lag time for buffering. Safari can load yahoo.com from scratch in about 30 seconds, though repeat visits should improve a lot due to image caching.
• The Google maps application absolutely rules. The turn-by-turn driving directions are particularly sweet. I will never have to print out directions to anything ever again.
• Calendar & Contact syncing to Outlook works without problems - now I can check where & when my next meeting is at work without needing to go back to my computer.
• Safari works as advertised - it really is a full-fledged web browser on the phone (minus Flash). This will get lots of use whenever I have to take the bus somewhere or am waiting in a restaurant.

Bad:

• It took 45 minutes to activate the phone using iTunes, which bluescreened my computer once (it was probably an interaction with my sound card driver).
• Transferring my phone number from T-Mobile pre-paid was a huge pain because I did not have a billing address for the old number (since there's no bill). Fortunately after calling AT&T a few times it eventually got worked out. (Though I never provided any identifying information other than my old phone number and the zip code where I bought the phone - apparently that's all it takes to steal a T-Mobile number from somebody..)
• Exchange email syncing only works if the Exchange administrator has enabled IMAP over SSL, which no security-conscious IT administrator will do. No reading work email on the phone (this may be a blessing in disguise though)
• The IMAP mail client does not recognize any of my IMAP folders other than Inbox (such as Sent, Spam, Drafts, etc.). I think I can fix this though.
• I cannot use my good headphones in the iPod jack because it is too small. David Pogue noted this in his column but it was unclear what he meant. Here's a picture:

Finally, here's a YouTube video of me using a few of the features (Google Maps, YouTube, Mail, Safari, iPod) if you want to get a feel for how they work (note that the phone was using WiFi in this video):

To iPhone or not to iPhone

That is the question for today - namely, should I go stand in line at the Bellevue Apple store for an iPhone tomorrow afternoon with some co-workers?

It's very very tempting, but there are some big downsides as well. Here's my pro/con list as of right now:

Pros:

• Browse the internet anywhere - this the big one for me. Just today I was stuck in traffic with a friend and we could have used an iPhone twice - once to check the traffic on the highway, and once to check the weather forecast for the weekend. It would also be very handy to have Wikipedia access at any time, in order to look up random things during lunchtime arguments (such as the benefits of acrylic glass vs real glass in restaurant tabletops - that was yesterday's discussion).
• Email access anywhere - this sounds like it would be nice, but I'm not sure it would actually be useful
• It's well designed and usable - I have a very expensive Windows Mobile "smart" phone that I never use because the software is aggravating and nearly unusable. The iPhone software appears to solve all of the problems I currently have with my phone (at least Apple's fancy videos make it appear so).

Cons:

• $600
• $60 per month and a 2-year contract (currently I pay about $12 per month with no contract since I don't make very many calls). This is potentially the deal-killer.
• EDGE data plan - very slow and not 3G. I can imagine this being annoying, but most places where I usually am will have WiFi available (of course they will usually also have full-sized computers too..)

I'll have to decide by tomorrow afternoon since I expect they will sell out for weeks or months and standing in line will be the only way to get one (it's pathetic, but this is how I got a Wii and an XBox 360 months before any of my friends could get theirs).

Arghh.. it's a tough choice.