What's it all About: iPhone file storage

Welcome to 'what's it all about', the newest section of FerretTech. In these posts, I will attempt to be a bit more detailed than any of myother usual ranting gibberish posts and help you, my dear readers,with something. This week, I've been working on something personally,and it's annoying me, so I thought I'd save you the trouble that I've gone through to his point. That something is this: iPhone filestorage. By the way, a lot of this will be at least a bit applicablefor other applications in your dreary, probably geeky lives.

Most owners will know that Apple has disabled the Enable Disk Useoption in iTunes, or I'm pretty sure they have. So as a workaround,how else can one carry files around on their iPhone. Also note, thebiggest criteria: it's gotta be free...

I'm stingy. Anyone who knows me, knows it. So I don't want to have tofork out my cash for something that my first-gen Nano can do. If I've got a 32GB iPhone, I should be able to use it's space for FREE.

So, there are a couple of options still in the free domain. There aretwo main options: one is to have files on the iPhone accessible by acomputer. The other to have files on the cloud, accessible by the iPhone.

To the first of these, the local files. I have found two very goodapps that make a good solution. The first is Discover. Discover isavailable for the iPhone but also for Android as aFile. It involves afairly simple interface with viewing capabilities for all the major iPhone compatible file types, and a quality feel. Connection is byWebDAV, a relatively new protocol, much better than FTP or manyothers. Simply ensure that you are connected to the same network asyour iPhone, then enter the given IP address into any browser and youget another quality interface with many options and capabilities,right within your browser. This is one of those really good iPhoneapps that everyone should get.(Special Note to fellow BGS attendees: WebDAV doesn't work on schoolcomputers...)

The other good one is FileAid. This app has a slightly differentinterface with separate screens for computer connections, and for fileviewing which can be annoying. But the major difference is that thisone uses FTP for file connections. It has a separate sharing screenfor compute connections, and detailed instructions for connecting toFTP, which is probably a but superfluous consdering that anyone who islooking at this kind of app probably knows their USB from their PCI,and thei IP from their TWAIN… Anyway, this would be great except thatFTP is such an outdated protocol. I tried backing up my venerable USBflash drive and gave up after it gave me so many error messages andthen stopped that I considered punching a hole through my laptop screen. Of course, you can't simply replace a file already on thedrive because you get Error: File exists, or you'll receive an Error:File name too long, or any of a number of other problematic problemsuntil you inevitably become so annoyed you will do what I did and putsuch a curse upon the designer of FTP that he will never restpeacefully again. If it wasn't for this, FileAid would be a great app.You can view documents, sort them by folder, name, type, colour of theflying elephant who wrote it, whatever. But it's FTP, and FTP is crap,so FileAid is a case of 'missed by that much'.

There is, as I've mentioned before, also the Web-based solution. I'llbe quick with this, because I've only managed to make one work, andits quite good. Zumodrive is a cloud-based storage service, with 1GBfor free. You can access it from the Internet and you can access it from the iPhone, but since it's on the Internet, you need an Internetconnection, only here you can probably use 3G data. Not that I would,but you probably can.I've tried to make MyDisk.se work, and it does from the web, but notby using an app like Disks. Using MyDisk, you get 2GB free, as opposedto Zumodrive's 1GB. Still, if anyone can make MyDisk's WebDAV work with anything, that would be useful...

Okay, so now for the bit where I pull it all together and tell youwhat you should use. Unfortunately for you, I'm not going to do that.You make up your own mind. I, personally have all three, just so I'mready for any occasion, but I'm personally favouring Zumodrive at the moment.

So, the biggest things that we can take from this is two things: one,there aren't any really good solutions to this problem. The other: I am way too stingy...

The (Apple) Empire Strikes Back...

Apple has had their developer conference, and has delivered what everyone was expecting (which was a fair bit), plus a bit more to compensate for the over-zealous early advertising.

And so, i hear you ask, (No, I'm not standing at your door, listening to you mutter to yourself because you think this particular ferret may have finally 'lost it'. I'm just guessing. Legal Note: You may not in fact actually ask this question at all. The Publisher waives all liability to any losses, physical or otherwise that may have occurred due to misinterpretation of the abovementioned statement.) (to continue from above) what happened?

In a few short words, quite a lot. Just not all of it would be particularly interesting to you. The biggest thing that everyone was looking for was the new June 26 iPhone 3GS. It is not quite an overhaul, but more an answer to what users have been demanding for ages. Things like:

• Autofocus camera
• At last, real photos, kind of. It's now also 3 megapixel
• Video Recording
• Also useful, and something my old Motorazr V6 has been doing for a long time...
• It's faster
• Useful. As always, there is no such thing as a too fast processor. And the iPhone's was getting pretty far from that imaginary boundary, if you get my drift
• It's battery lasts longer
• Not just useful, it's about bloody time. The battery wasn't pathetic, but as with everything else about the iPhone, it wasn't as good as some of it's competitors
• Voice Control
• Useful. Sort of. I've never run into a situation when i thought "I wish i had set up Voice Control". And i don't think i'm going to yet. Still, the voice control even extends into the iPod functions and everything. Cool.
• A Compass
• A Compass? You mean one of those spinny things. Yes, the iPhone has a compass, but it's not just about telling which way north is, (which you can do with any analog watch), but enabling far better Google Maps, and thanks to TomTom, turn-by-turn satnav. Yay!
• Lower prices
• Always good, especially when they cut old model prices too!

As always, there is still a considerable list of stuff that isn't there. Anything from user-replaceable batteries (when Hell freezes over) to USB Storage support is still missing. Oh well, it's still good.


Now to less important news, and because i'm lazy i'm going to let my good friends over at Crave do the work for this bit:

• MacBook range revamped
• iPhone 3.0 software
• OS X update
• Safari 4
• and some other useless stuff
• see here: http://tinyurl.com/Crave-WWDC

Anyway, that's it for my WWDC coverage, but have a look around Crave for more info (they are disturbingly interested in the WWDC coverage game)...

Portable World: Comms: The top-end phones battle it out

The iPhone is huge and i mean absolutely, disturbingly huge. And I don't mean physically. Almost everyone seems to have one, everyone else badly wants one, but i'm not one of them. Apple's OS is pretty good, but overly proprietary. The lack of certain functions irk me, and the Apple-only world the iPhone needs, is just a bit too restrictive. Call me non-conformist, but i'll go for the Android OS everytime.

But, for the time being, there are virtually no Android phones and not many more Android apps (even if some of them are soooooo cool) and so we look the other camp, the Windows Mobile Smartphones. There are plenty of good ones and CNET ran a small comparo a while ago, but it had some notable rivals missing. One of the MIA's was my personal favourite the HTC Touch HD.

Physically, their dimensions are all similar within about a half a centimetre, so not much to distinguish them there. Visually, they are similar, with screens of about 3.5" on a nice gloss black finish, with the odd hard button here and there.

The Touch HD's biggest feature and its namesake, is that screen. Just to set the benchmark, the iPhone has a 3.5" screen running 480x320 pixels. The HD uses a 3.8-inch screen with a whopping 800x480! This actually has a slightly different aspect ratio, the iPhone with a standard 1.5:1, the HD running a tall 1.666:1.

Now to cameras. The HD runs the proper 3G set-up: VGA cam on the front, 5-megapixel on the back. The iPhone? Just the one 2.0 megapixel jobbie.

The touch HD still runs WinMob 6.1, but with HTC's much acclaimed touchFLO system, which is (as i've said before) one of the best ones around, while the iPhone's is quite good, but not to my personal tastes.

Here are some of the more interesting tidbits. The iPhone gets the amazing Apps Store, but the Touch HD? Any app ever written for mobile Windows since the old CE days!

The Touch HD gets real bluetooth, not just basic connection management. The Touch HD has an external memory slot, removing the need for internal flash memory. It has WiFi, and 3.5G internet. It has a 3.5mm jack (about time) and normal USB connections. No proprietary crap here.

And here is one of the big killers for the iPhone. The HTC is sexy, no doubt about it, and anyone who knows their chips can see it's a very similar, if not better machine. But one of the Touch HD's best features. It's not an iPhone...

It doesn't come pre-packed with a superiority complex. People won't earmark you as a non-conformist, a conformist, a geek, an idiot or just about anything else they can think of every time you whip out your HD.

It's not trying to save the world from themselves, and I love it for that if nothing else.

And so i announce the Touch HD becomes recipient of a world first:

PS. It also has a proper virtual keyboard. Hurrah!

Portable World : Part 1

Announcing a new (and hopefully recurring) segment to FerretTech : Portable World
I will (somewhat) regularly report on what's happening in Portable Gaming, Computing and Communications.

First up is today's topic: Portable Gaming.

Portable Gaming has positively exploded in a few short years. With the release of ever better and smaller GameBoys, then the DS, Apple's App Attack, and of course, Sony's heavenly PSP.

It is no secret that I think the PSP is the best by far, especially in its latest PSP-3000 guise. Nintendo has also been improving on their success with the new DSi (which has controversially dumped the old Gameboy cartridge slot!)

But there is one thing i want to focus on and that is the Apple products : The iPod touch and iPhone (which i can't be bothered typing out twenty times, so if you see iPhone, chances are i'm talking about both...)

Everyone has been talking about how it is the new king of portable gaming. But, as i see it, it's not even part of portable gaming. About as advanced as gaming gets on the iPhone is Air Traffic Control (legendary!), as opposed to the PSP's headliners like Resistance:Retribution (even more legendary!) and MGS Portable Ops etc etc.
Sure, an iPhone is a good enough all-rounder when it comes to portable gaming, communications, connectivity etc. But saying it is a good Gaming machine is absolute crap. A PSP is a gaming machine, a DSi is a gaming machine, but an iPhone is not!

And that brings my first Portable World post to an end.

Now that is out of the way, let me explain why a PSP will always be better than anything Nintendo can throw at the DS.
1. PSP's are powerful. 333MHz in a device that fits in your pocket! That's pretty impressive. Up until recently, most PSP games (which are technological masterpieces in their own way) have only usually used 222 MHz. I don't actually know the exact figure for a DS, but i know it is less.

2. PSP's can do anything. They play video, they play music, they show photos, they play games, they browse the internet, and given some eggs, and a whisk, i'm sure they could whip up a damn fine omelette, too!
Yes, there are better ways of watching videos, there are better ways of listening to music, there are (probably) better ways of looking at photos (someone once described the PSP as the modern-day 6x4 print), but there is nothing else that can do all of these, and definitely nothing that can do all of these as well as the PSP...

3. PSP's are supported. Apart from Sony's brilliant team sitting in a dungeon somewhere constantly making little tiny variations to improve the PSP, third parties everywhere are jumping on the PSP. From hacking and downgrading to themes and downloadable wallpapers, you can make a PSP do whatever you feel like with a little digging on the Net, which you can do straight from the PSP.

There are plenty of other reasons, but that would run the risk of RSI from the furious rage-typing so i'm gonna leave it at that...

Smartphones Nirvana

To continue on my theme of commercial overkill, i've decided to have a rant on the subject of phones. The burgeoning new segment of smartphones such as the iPhone, the htc, and some of the new Samsungs have taken off and climbed to saturation point.

Trawling through the web, you can see almost million of choices on phones such as these. Think about it, the iPhone is today's techno hero, but the other manufacturers aren't far behind.
Fringe brand 'HTC' have already worked from the original entry-level Touch model to the touch Pro, to the Touch Diamond, and now the Touch HD (being hailed as one of the greatest phones around).
Then LG has released about 4 new phones (at least one of which looks uncannily like the bastard lovechild of the LG Shine and the Apple iPhone)
Then Samsung has begun giving teasers about their new range of good phones.

If you ask me for my (semi-) professional opinion, i tend to lean toward the HTC models. They look attractive, they've got decent stats in performance, and the interface is surprisingly weildy.

One of the things that will really change people's minds when they go to spend their hard-earned will be the interface...
the HTC TouchFLO interface is my personal favourite, Samsung's also seem pretty intuitive, but I found the LG system to be the phone equivalent of IE4 -- Slow, Clunky, Ugly and outdated.

This may all seem pretty confusing and worrying but don't be fooled. This is great news for buyers. All the while there is plenty of choice, there is also plenty of devlopment and plenty of competition which all adds up to... Smartphone Nirvana