Another attempt at HDR photography; free hand shot, iPhone 4 using Pro HDR.

Shot this out the car window after seeing this amazing rainbow. If you look closely you’ll notice there was almost a double rainbow there but it never fully realized.

Lighter Contrast Shot:

Darker Contrast Shot:

Resulting HDR Shot:

OK so call me a sucker for paying for some darn iphone app for a jailbroken iphone.  I finally broke down and jailbroke my iphone 3g.  Shortly after doing that I installed a video recorder application and really liked it.  I went to the site to pay and supporter the developer of this application and discovered they made an audio recorder app as well.  I decided that since the video recorder was pretty nice and I like being able to support those that invest their time and energy creating good apps that I would buy the audio application as well through their special offer.  Well… big mistake it turns out.  Cannot get the audio recorder app to install.  And all my attempts to communicate with the developer has been ignored.

So take it from me, don’t make the same mistake I did and waste your money.

Avoid – Do Not Buy any DreamCatcher software:

http://www.iphone-recorder.com

http://www.iphonevideorecorder.com

Anyone who knows me knows just how much I have come to love the iPhone.  I patiently waited for the 3G version to come out and did not buy the first gen despite desperately wanting too.  Yes the iPhone 3G is the greatest piece of consumer electronics ever made to date but its not without its share of problems.

What problems you ask?  Well battery is the number one.  Actually the battery isn’t too bad considering all it does but if you have push email enabled your gonna burn through battery in no time.  With 3G on, and push enabled you will be luckily to have the phone make it through the day.

Thats where the Mophie iPhone 3G Juice Pack comes in.  This is the first battery accessory that is certified by Apple for the iPhone 3G.  It effectively doubles the battery life of the iPhone 3G.

The form factor is pretty nice, little thick pretty much doubles the iphones thickness but still fits nicely in ones pocket.  One of the nicest things about it in my opinion is the fact that it uses miniUSB and you can charge and sync your iPhone using miniUSB with this thing.  I like this alot because now I am not as dependent on keeping the Apple sync cable with me all the time.  It’s easier to find a miniUSB cable lying around some where then it is to find the Apple cable.

So far I am very pleased with this thing.  Next to the iPhone its one of my best purchases to date.  I highly recommend this device to anyone with an iPhone 3G who travels or uses the iPhone as a blackberry replacement with push email enabled.

Believe it or not but AT&T sucks.  Yup, they really do.  And even more shocking is that they don’t care.  Hard to believe I know, but its sadly very true.

You may ask, ‘How do you know this Dane?’ well I know from first hand personal experience as a customer of their cell service and in my talks with their customer support.  I wouldn’t call them “customer support” since they really don’t offer any support or care about your issues, rather I think they are simply just “phone agents”.  Primary goal appears to be to get you off the phone as quickly as possible so that their calls answered measurement goes up.

AT&T doesn’t have to care right?  They are too big and they know it.  The reality is they are MaBell but with a new name and image.  Not to mention when it comes to cell / wireless you get to blame everything else when its not working since there is no physical line to test or trace.

Too bad there isn’t an ATTCARES like there is a ComcastCares that I could speak with.

The latest round of issues started when they rushed out 3G service here in Lafayette, Louisiana.  They did a week or two before the iPhone 3G launched as to not disappoint those buyers.  Yes I am one of those buyers.

The 3G service here is obviously broken and they don’t seem to care.  Not a day goes by that I and my wife doesn’t experience the inability to call someone or dropped calls.  It’s kinda funny to be in the middle of a conversation with someone and then all of a sudden hear “Were sorry but the number you dialed is not a working number”.  Huh?  Umm funny it was working about oh one second ago when I was talking to them!

And no this isn’t just happening to my wife and I.  It’s everyone I know on AT&T in this area.  Which makes no sense to me as to how they could allow this to continue.

Hell just turn 3G off so that we can actually use our phones for phone calls again.  The nice thing about the iPhone is you can turn off 3G which I do when I am in Lafayette.  When I work in Baton Rouge I turn it back on with NO issues.

Have called in to customer service numerous times about this and the responses are absolutely hysterical.  When I call in about my phone (iPhone) and explain things the solution is turn 3G off.  Umm… ok, so I spent this much money on this phone and service that doesn’t work?  And you don’t feel there is a bigger problem here that should be addressed?

When I have called in for my wife who has a Motorola V3 Razr something or other the answers really get fun.  So far the answers to this problem have been:

1.  They are working on the tower in your area and it should be fixed tonight.   (Seriously?  like I am the first to report this and they are gonna rush out and fix it for me tonight?  Wow thats service.  Of course its still an issue so they must not have made it out to the tower yet)

2.  You need a new SIM card.  (humm… this SIM card is only a few months old, this issue happens to every other AT&T customer I know, my iPhone works when I turn off 3G, but my wifes phone needs a new SIM card and its going to magically solve everyones issues in this area?)

3.  You need a new phone.  (yes I need to go buy a new phone because they turned on 3G, not even a offer to replace her phone but I need to go buy a new phone to replace her phone which is a few months old.  I can’t even begin to state all that is wrong with this)

4.  Well Sir it is wireless, its not going to be perfect.  (This was actually the most honest answer I got, and I agree with it completely.  I got this answer by going to an AT&T store and speaking to someone face to face.  They admitted there are lots of problems with the service and they have been complaining as well, and he believed the service was rushed through for the iPhone launch.  He stated that on his own and I almost wanted to hug him for being honest like that)

At no point in all of this has anyone offered to assist in any way.  Nothing that wouldn’t cost me more money that is.  And no one has muttered the words “credit” at all.  Dropped calls?, thats normal.  Can’t make a call?, thats normal.  Credit your service any for all your troubles?, thats not normal.

So I either need to find a phone for her that is edge only, or buy her an iPhone 3G so she can turn off 3G.

Thanks for nothing AT&T!

Yeah.. I woke up and got in line at 4am on Friday July 11th at the local AT&T store.  Had to get the iPhone 3G, everyone knows I have wanted the iPhone since it came out but felt it was inadequate for a couple of reasons.  I splurged a bit and got the 16Gb model, and yeah I love it and am totally addicted to this thing.  Its both one of the most beautiful phones made one of the most functional UI’s I have come across.

It is absolutely going to change the enterprise phone / handheld landscape in the next couple of years.  RIM has nothing on these guys, well except for the fact that companies have invested tons of money into RIM’s inferior service.  I have always disliked RIM due to so many points of failure within the Blackberry structure.

Windows mobiles were in my opinion way better then Blackberry, however the devices were very unstable.  The UI just sucked.  But still I would take a windows mobile device over a blackberry any day.

Apple has blown them all away.  Stability, UI, exchange active sync, cisco vpn client, applications (finally) and the absolute best thing of all, HTML email support!  I hate HTML emails, but I love the fact that I can view them now when people send them.

Thank you Apple for creating THE most amazing handheld device ever.  10 years ago I had discussions with people on the future of handheld PDA’s and phones, and what I envisioned.  It’s like you guys heard me and built exactly what I dreamed of, but even better of course.