Informal Brain

UPDATE: Version 2.0 is now out. Read my review here.

Phantom Fish just released version 1.0.1 of their offline Google Reader iPhone application called Byline.

There is lots to like about this new version. Google Reader does a nice job of feeding you relevant news from your collection of feeds using its automatic ordering algorithms. This continuous river of news works great for the iPhone where you don’t have lots of time to drill into each feed. I hear tag based filtering is coming. Not a big feature for me because I trust googles ordering algorithm seems to keep the fresh, relevant items near the top of the list.

The first big change you see when you scroll to the bottom of the new items like you get a handy “Mark All Items As Read” link. This was probably my biggest complaint about the first release. You can also now, swipe any item to mark it as read. I nice quick action to push it off the list.

Once you tap an item you get an enhanced menu at the top. The first thing you see is a new “share” button. Let’s hope in a future release they will add the ability to tag a small note just like in Google Reader to the item.

All in all, if you are looking for a great RSS reader for the iPhone and you are a Google Reader fan, I can now recommend ByLine as a great purchase.

So how long until I just point all my links to my friendfeed page rather then my blog?

Is this what friendfeed is counting on? Should I just post my content there? Forget, blogging?

Interested parties want to know…

http://mobileforensics.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/iphone_passcode_workaround.pdf

This type of information shows the iPhone is not ready for enterprise use where critical information may be stored on the iPhone device.

I continue to call for a strong encryption solution.

See below:

Earlier this week, the iPhone Dev Team released WinPwn 2.0, a tool that allows Windows users to jailbreak iPhone 3G units. However the initial release was affected by an issue that caused the Ipwner component to crash. A new version, 2.0.0.3, has now been released, resolving this and other issues.

Jailbreaking allows full read/write filesystem access and the installation of unofficial third party applications.

[From WinPwn 2.0.0.3 successfully jailbreaks iPhone 3G for Windows]

Notice the full read/write access to the filesystem. In fact that is the biggest risk item to an organization deploying iPhones for corporate use. If one of these devices falls into the wrong hands it is probable that someone could jailbreak the device and access the data stored there.

We are even questioning if webmail is a good enough solution. What happens if sensitive materials are stored in the browser cache?!

I really suggest organizations think twice before deploying the iPhone as a corporate device. Know the risks to the email, calendar or browser data that could be stored on the device’s flash memory; then make an informed decision.

Encryption is the answer, I call upon Apple to deliver it.

Look at this forum post:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1602608&tstart=0

Look at the statistics on the forum post below!

Wow, that is one large number of views, and comments.

What do you think?

Sometimes when you are goofing around and your kids have the camera you get some if the best photos.

Enjoy!

So, my original iPhone 3g headphone jack failed today. So it was off to the apple store to visit the genius bar. I left with a new phone in hand. Let’s hope i I have better luck with this one.

A little more research today. Appears like the applications are chewing up the battery. When the phone is put into sleep mode it doesn’t appear the applications are closing down their IP threads. Potential related 3g connectivity problems would then force the radio to power up while in your pocket, on your desk etc. Many people on the net saying their usage time is extremely high compared to standby when they had the phone locked most of the day.

Appears applications that poll for new messages (NetNewswire, Twitterific, Facebook, etc) are key culprits.

Try a test. Leave an application which polls for new data active, and sleep the phone. You may just notice your battery runs down very, very quickly.

Thoughts?

Well, 7 days later.

Call me unimpressed so far.

1. Battery life with the 2.0 firmware is horrible. 3g Phone can’t make it a single day even if I turn off 3g. My older iPhone would last all day with no problems. I am hearing from friends at work with original iPhone updated with 2.0 firmware and are having serious battery life issues. I have a theory that the battery life and the reception problems are linked. I suspect that the phone is powering up the radio excessively sometimes to boost signal and this is chewing up the battery. I notice sometimes that the phone gets hot in my pocket at random times. A reset fixes the problems. See these threads: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1610483&tstart=0 and http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1609372&tstart=0

2. Stability with the UI. Lots of lag. The unlock slider is frequently not smooth, the contact list lags and the search box is horrible. See these threads: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7636899 and http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1603058&tstart=0

3. 3G signal reception. 3G is unusable. Frequent 1 bar, dropped calls, dead calls. See this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1602608&tstart=0

4. Location services problems. Frequently when i got to the maps application and attempt to use the GPS to locate me the UI spins, I get a cellular triangulation and then nothing. Pressing the locate button then does nothing until I restart the phone. See this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1615206&tstart=0

Let’s hope Apple can get this fixed!?

June Trends no longer show up in the trending tool. This has been broken since June 1st. According to the forums this is a known problem to engineering but we are not 1 month without a fix in place. Engineering notes that they are aware of the issue but it is difficult to fix? Hmm, if they can’t get the trending data to work then how secure is my data?

Is Mint.com failing? I really love the idea, but it seems like the luster is quickly wearing off. Please don’t make me go back to Quicken on the Mac….. please!