Yet another OS X screen sharing app - this one for small displays

Telekinesis puts your Mac desktop onto your iPhone - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) is yet another OS X screen sharing application. I doubt it works with multi-user, but of course I'll try it once it's not alpha. I don't do alpha.

Ten minutes with an iPhone

Why would I bother adding to the millions of Apple - iPhone reviews based on a 10 minute trial at the Apple store?

Because I can. Also, what I have to say I've not read elsewhere. Lastly, I'll keep it very short.

1. If your computing platform is OS X you have no choice now. The iPhone is good enough that competitors will retreat to fighting from non-Apple ground. So I'll get an iPhone when my Sprint contract ends in October. No choice for us.
   
2. The aspect ratio appears to be close to that of a widescreen movie: "The iPhone hits the aspect ratio issue in two important ways: First, when held vertically, the 320×480 screen can reproduce a 4×3 television image that is as high a resolution as either the iPod or Zune’s 320×240 screen. Second, when you turn the iPhone sideways, you get a nice 3×2 aspect ratio 480×320 screen. The drawback here is that when watching content that is either 16:9 or 2.35:1, you will have to reduce the image size on the screen to fit the proper aspect ratio."
   The 1.5 ratio is a compromise between being HDTV ratio (1.8) and something that can barely fit in a man's front pocket (insert juvenile humor here) and something that can work with web pages (which assume a 1.3 ratio). It's a good choice but, not being a video person, I'd have preferred a less elongated shape. I'm not sure how pocketable the iPhone really is.
3. Speaking of pocketable, the thickness is probably ok (thicker than the idiotic RAZR of course), the width is just fine, the length might be over the limit and the weight is on the high side. We will likely have the technology to be an iPhone, be pocketable, and be semi-affordable by 2009. Not this year though.
4. I missed Flash more than I thought I would. I'm relieved to read plausible rumor sites claiming Flash is on the way.
5. The typing is not as fast or as useful for me as the combination of Graffiti One and CIC's old WordComplete, but there's not bloody stylus to lose. I'll take it. In a few minutes of use I got good results as long as I didn't look at the output but just typed as though it would all turn out ok. My hand ached a bit, but with use the intrinsic muscles will strengthen. The iPhone will produce new repetitive strain syndromes of the hand, it might not be a bad idea to start slow, work up, stretch muscles, and try alternating hands.
   
6. Performance in the Apple store was slow, I assume the WLAN was saturated.
   

Update 7/6/07: Another late review which says some new and interesting things. Incidentally, Cringely thinks Apple has a built-in capability to do a 3G update -- I doubt it.

Update 7/10/07: I've been thinking about Flash, and reading responses to its absence. I now think Apple will do their own .swf viewer, just as they did their own PDF viewer. Adobe has spent years providing how wise Apple was to have an OS X native PDF viewer; Apple is not going to rely on Adobe for anything important. Adobe lost Apple's trust a long time ago ...

Photosynth tour of the a Korean cultural landmark

We're Korean by adoption, and Photosynth is google-style cool (alas, sadly, not from Google), so I might give this virtual tour a try if I can get it to work with my older PC hardware ...

Microsoft Live Labs - Exploring Ancient Korea

One brisk Seoul winter month, over 4,000 photos were submitted by local Koreans to help construct this synth of Gyeongbok Palace, one of South Korea's finest national treasures. Originally built in 1394, it is the largest palace of the Joseon Dynasty. At its height in the mid 1800's, it covered 330 buildings and over 4 million square feet as the grand home for the royal family...

and there's a Firefox Plug-in too. (Alas, I think it requires a serious GPU, and my iBook has an Intel chip ... won't do ...)

Flash guide to the federal budget

You can navigate around the graph and then zoom in to actually read it: Death and Taxes: 2008. I couldn't get the shift/ctrl zoom to work, but the rmb brought up the Flash context menu with a zoom in and zoom out.

Pixilu: when you need to look pretty

How to Change the World: Reality Check: Pixilu and Guy 2.0

Photo retouching outsourcing. Worth a try if you want to give someone a gift photo.

Phoneless iPhone

The iPhone is supposed to require an AT&T contract to work. So, in theory, you can't pay $600 and just use it. Unless you cancel your AT&T service within 3 days of signing up - (alexking.org). For now the iPhone keeps working. This will be more interesting if/when Apple adds Skype/VOIP support and allows one to use it as an external drive.

Apple's contract with AT&T may require them to disable this trick, and one assumes they get money from the AT&T monthly fee too. So it wouldn't be surprising if a future update blocks it. If Apple doesn't block it, that would say something about where they want the iPhone to go. (Via Daring Fireball)

iPhone: SIM card works in cheap phone

This is a good:

Tada! The 6th Gen contract-free WiFi-enabled iPod - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Removed activated SIM and placed into a cheap disposable AT&T cell phone. Worked fine. Was able to place calls. Good way to save your iPhone from danger on ski or bike trips.

Or to survive while you're having the iPhone battery replaced by your local back alley battery guy. A cheap backup phone makes lots of sense.

Update 7/3/07: Looking at the iPhones calling plans, and given the lack of any subsidy for the iPhone, it seems like a reasonable strategy is to:

1. Switch to AT&T and get a subsidized cheapo phone.
2. Switch to an iPhone and keep the cheapo phone for backup.

Of course one would want to confirm this with AT&T first, since you'd probably want to switch to Apple's plans.

Update 7/3/07: TidBits explains Apple's alternative to the 2nd phone, an iPhone rental program:

... Most people can't be without a phone for three working days or perhaps five or six over a long weekend. Apple has a deal for you: the Apple Service Phone, a $29 rental that lasts until a few days after your iPhone is repaired.

The rental phone has to be returned 7 days after you receive a repaired phone back by shipping service, 5 days after your phone is ready for pickup at an Apple Store, or 10 days after its sent if you fail to sent your broken iPhone in at all. There's an extra $50 charge if you return it late, and a $600 reserve placed on your credit card that's turned into a charge if you fail to return it within 10 days of the end of the loan.

The SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) that's used to identify your account uniquely can be removed from the iPhone by poking a paperclip tip into a hole at the top of the iPhone. That SIM can be swapped into the rental phone before you send back your own model for repair. If you send the SIM card in when you return a rental phone, you have to contact AT&T to get a new one.

So you drop your phone off at the Apple Store and pick up a rental until it comes back. It's a significant nuisance and cost, but such is the price of a cell phone that doesn't suck.