Triangle Trip

If you are upgrading to a new iPhone, don’t forget to unlock your old one for an easier and higher resell of your old iPhone.

I’m on AT&T and totally forgot about this.  I ordered the new iPhone 5 to replace my AT&T iPhone 4.  AT&T actually has a page spelling out the eligibility of unlocking your iphone here.  I put my request in a few days before I got my iPhone 5.  However, I received and activated my iphone 5 before AT&T replied back to my unlock inquiry.

The sad news from AT&T, they only unlock your eligible iPhone ONLY if it’s still active.  After calling and trying at local AT&T stores, AT&T refused to unlock my old iPhone 4 because it is no longer “active” on the AT&T network.

Reminder, unlock your old iPhone 4 or 4S first before activating your new iPhone 5!

Luckily, you can go to eBay and buy an iPhone unlock service as low as $15!  All you need is to give them your IMEI number, and they set you up.  You restore your phone on itunes and there it is unlocked.  Feel free to use your phone internationally, sell it for $50-$100 more, or give it to friend or family to use on any carrier.

For the past couple of weeks, I have seen Apple’s iPhone ads touting the iPhone and the OS 3.0’s new features — which aren’t really new to the mobile world. Apple has been touting its new iPhone can do:

1.  cut and paste
2.  voice dialing
3.  video recording

These marketed features have been available to me since February 2007 when I got my first Blackberry Pearl. With my previous Blackberries, I have been able to cut and paste since 2005. With my Blackberry Pearl in 2007, I had voice dialing features. With a push of a button (left hand side by default on the Pearl), I could tell my Blackberry to “Call John Smith Mobile.” The voice recognition software was reliable.

As for multimedia recording and playback… With my Pearl and even older Blackberries (i.e., the 8800), you can record video, download MP3/MP4 and it has a removable mini SD slot. You can probably get a 4GB mini SD cards on sale for under $10. What is the size of the Apple iPhone’s hard drive?

Finally… I can even watch live TV via my Blackberry.  Something Apple nor AT&T could do today.

So… What the innovation behind the new iPhone and its new features?  I am still trying to figure that out. What’s so fast about it when its running on AT&T, its (lack of) service partner. Apple is getting too comfortable as a market leader and falling into the Microsoft trap. Instead of inventing new products, it is trying to market its way to profitability. Ironically this is the version 3 of Apple’s iPhone OS or is this Windows 3.0 🙂   Didn’t Apple management say something about Microsoft’s lack of innovation back in 1990?

Captain G is contemplating if he should write a letter the Steve Jobs and warn him about this issue. Alternatively, I could also write a letter to RIM’s Board of Directors blasting management’s lackluster marketing efforts in 2007. RIM has also been too comfortable with its corporate accounts and still does not have a real answer to the iPhone (the Storm is not quite there).

For everyone’s reference, here are three screenshots from my Blackberry Pearl:

The iPhone has been out for a couple of years now and with it’s elegant touchscreen, GPS feature, amazing interface and 3G speed, I can’t rave enough about it. I have it next to my laptop as indispensable items for my travels. My goodness, how did us road warriors ever survive during flight delays? Long check in lines?

You may have seen lists of “Must Have iPhone applications” on many sites. However, I find them lacking in one true road warrior perspective. For us true road warriors, we all know that connectivity (and battery life) is king. What happens when you’re without connection 35,000 ft in the sky, for five long hours? Or in the middle of the lake on the ferry? Forget about it! And not to mentioned AT&T’s spottiness (in the US)?

Here are our top “offline” capable iPhone apps. But before we dive in, check out our rating criteria:

• Must work offline:  no duh, huh? But really, if it doesn’t work in airplane mode, forget about it!
• Must be free:  free is good. (check back for our paid apps ranking)
• Can’t look foolish:  Wii is fun. But you really want to bust out your wii moves in front of sleep deprive, uncaring, and impatient road warriors? Yeah, no good. Thus any app that attraction unwanted attention is out.
• Entertaining:  it’s got to keep your attention for at least a bus stop. What good does a flashing light do? (for you epilepsy inducers, that’s just disturbing…)

And without further ado:

1.  Stanza – OK, so you can download all sorts of books on the Kindle. But who the heck wants another bulk in the laptop bag? (think, thin is in!!) Plus why drop another three bills? Download Stanza! Stanza is the ebook for your iPhone. You can buy the latest best sellers, or better yet, download from over 50,000 free classic titles. I’ve downloaded all the books I ‘cliff noted’ in high school. Hey, better now than never!

2.  Sol Free – it’s was a toss up between Solitaire and Minesweeper. Remember passing the time on your old NT with these two games? Sol Free does this and more. I tip the scale to Sol Free because not only can you play Klondike Deal 3, there are also Klondike Deal 1, Baker’s Game, Demon, and Spiderette. This is sure to keep you numb for hours.

3.  iChess – if Solitaire is just too brain numbing, Chess can always spark that intellectual juice! It was also a toss up between Chess and Sudoku, but since Sudoku didn’t allow me to easily notate each square I kicked it down a notch. iChess is a nice chess game for you chess gamers. By no means am I ranked in any fiction or non fiction chess world, so I find that the level 3 (there are 5) quite challenging. Maybe some of you chessmasters might object to this app but for the normal folks, it was quite rewarding beating the computer at level 2 and moving myself to level 3. To date, I’ve still not won at level 3, but that should change with time…

4.  21 Pro – for you gamblers, this is your game! Not only does it feed the gambling need, it also helps you count cards with either the hi-lo or knockout strategy. The game is fast moving but it’s only you vs the computer. Still great for passing the time.

5.  Tap Tap Revenge – I debated putting this app here. It’s borderline foolish. Tap tap is akin to guitar hero on your phone. You tap to the music on a set of buttons like guitar hero. With headphones on and ‘easy’ tapping, I figured one can be discreet on this app. Just remember to download enough songs so you don’t run out during your offline play!

As iPhone applications are consistently changing and released, this list is by no means final. Check back here for our latest updates!

Coach