That Left Turn in Albuquerque

I plotted a course to the restaurant.

Getting driving directions may be the least intuitive thing to do on the iPhone. Add your own address to your Contacts first. It will make things much easier later.

With some help from Google it is easy to find and call a place of business. I opened up Safari and searched for the name of the restaurant and the city. There it was, with the phone number first and it was hyperlinked. I tapped on the phone number and it offered to dial it for me. Who wouldn't love that? As I was making our reservations, I resisted the impulse to say "Yes, table for 6 and I am calling from an iPhone"

After the call, I went to Phone, Recents and added the restaurant to my Contacts list. (When we get there tomorrow I need to remember to include a photo of it. Hey, if you're not going to have fun, why buy an iPhone?)

Adding it to the Contacts along with the address turned out to be a good idea. I found out next that the easiest way to explain a location to the Maps application is to select it from the bookmarked locations. The easiest way to bookmark a location is to select it from the list of Contacts. Got it?

Here is the sequence:

First add the address of the location in Phone, Contacts. Be sure you've added your own address as a Contact, too, as it is much easier to select it as the Start of your trip.

Second, open the Maps application, click the up/down arrows icon in the bottom left corner of the screen.

Third, select the Start and End locations from your Contacts or your Map Bookmarks, or if you like to suffer, try searching for each of them using those really tiny input areas.

Bookmarking Locations the Easy Way: The Maps application pins a label of the location you've found on the map for you and the label includes a blue right arrow. Tap it to see an Info screen which includes an 'Add to Bookmarks' button. Tap it. That was the hard part. Once you've bookmarked both your destination and your starting point things get a lot easier. If you have tried, tried again to establish the location of a place by searching you might also find it in your list of Recents.

Third, tap the Route button. The route is highlighted for you from pin to pin on the map. There is also a List button that spells out the directions for the topographically impaired.

Now the fun begins. Tap the Start button. You will be treated to a visually appealing animated version of your trip right on the surface of the map with the directions spelled out at the top of the screen. If current traffic conditions are available for your area, you can see them by tapping the little car icon on the bottom right of the screen. Even Michael Knight would be envious.

Remember, iPhoning and driving don't mix.

We Have Service

The Apple repair center sent me a new iPhone.

Just to review the sequence of events:

1. Friday evening - I bought a new iPhone, activated it and it worked.
   
2. Saturday morning - The "No Service" message appeared. I spent several hours hobnobbing with the intelligentsia working the support lines at Apple and AT&T.
3. Saturday afternoon - Returned to the AT&T store for a new SIM card.
4. Saturday evening - Support call to Apple. I was assigned a repair order number.
5. Tuesday morning - Received a temporary replacement iPhone
6. Wednesday morning - Fed Ex'ed my original iPhone back to Apple
7. Friday morning - Received a new iPhone from the Repair Center (It has a different serial number now)

I am impressed again. The new iPhone works but I am going to hang on to the replacement through the weekend just in case there is another failure.

Before taking the SIM card out of the temporary iPhone I sync'ed it with iTunes one last time. When I connected the new iPhone, iTunes offered to restore my settings from backup. Except for the pictures in the Camera Roll, the wireless connection passwords and my email account password, everything seems to be in order, even down to weather forecasts for the 6 different cities I watch.

Congratulations, Apple. My iPhone works.

Testing 1 2 3

Just making sure I can update the blog from the iPhone. I need to
remember to make a witty comment about some of the words offered as I
type.

Does Anyone Have a Pencil I Can Borrow?

I made a note for myself.

Unlike many of friends I can't recall off the top my head the 10 digit hexadecimal keys needed to connect to the various wireless hotspots at work so I typed them into the Notes application.

Thus I considered myself prepared for the next time I entered a new hotspot and the iPhone offered to connect to it for me. Instead that's when I realized a painful truth. The iPhone doesn't have a 'clipboard' memory area that we can use to copy and paste text between applications. At first I thought of flipping back and forth between the Notes and WiFi setup but I ended up just writing the key on a piece of paper. It was easier. (I should probably put a small paper clip on that paper in case I have to change the SIM again.)

I am not really happy with the font used in Notes either. While it does have a pleasant sort of jaunty look about it - maybe it's a cousin to something in the italics family - it's just not legible at a glance. I really have to concentrate on the individual letters to read it.

Be Honest with me Doc. Is it bad?

This is a copy of the email generated when Apple noticed that my iPhone had arrived for repair. My status is currently "Diagnosing Product."

AppleCare Dear Misahl, Repair ID: D####### Your IPHONE reached our repair center on 2007-08-30. We will notify you by email when the repair is complete. Visit Repair Staus to view the current details of your service request. Regards, The AppleCare Team

Today in History for the iPhone

Did you know there is a mobile version of Today in History for the iPhone? Just give the Safari browser this address: http://chronita.com/m/todh.php

The iPhone Takes Pictures But Won't Give Them Back

I took a picture with my iPhone.

It wasn't that great but it was good enough that I wanted to work with it a little bit. So far, most of the photos I've taken with my iPhone have shared two things in common. They tend to be a little bit dark and a little bit blurry. I've had some success by arranging the subject to face the light and when I can get myself to hold it very, very still I've had some good results. There's no flash of course, so there should at least be a gamma or brightness adjustment built into the photo editor which is currently limited to resize and crop.

The default method for getting a photo from an untethered iPhone to another computer is to email it. It didn't work the first time I tried it. The message was apparently placed in the outgoing queue as evidenced by the 'Sending' status bar at the very bottom of the email screen. It was in the Sending mode for over three hours. During that time I passed through and connected with two different wireless networks and the EDGE network. No joy. I also tethered it to my laptop and requested synchronization - ok, that had a low probablity of success but until we try how will we know?

I sent a few other messages in the meantime and they didn't seem to be impeded by the stuck outgoing message. That's a good sign.

So I finally gave up on that message. It was still listed in the Outbox so I deleted it from there but that didn't clear it from the outgoing queue. I know UNIX (the basis of OS X) is extremely insistent about outgoing email and I am not sure what would have happened if I had the patience to let it continue. Instead of waiting indefinitely I did a complete power down. Hold down the on/off button at the top right corner while pressing the home button, bottom center. When I powered back up, the message was no longer in the queue. If it does happens again (and why wouldn't it?) I will try cycling the power without deleting it from the Outbox first. Maybe in that case it would have queued up again instead of simply going away. I emailed the photo again and on the second try it was delivered within seconds.

I noticed one pitfall while editing a contact's photo. There is a 'Take Photo' option and although it's there at a convenient moment which I think is great, if you do supply the photo this way, then you can't do anything else with it. There's no email option associated with it, nor does it appear in the Camera Roll.

The iPhone's camera is really good at taking pictures of business cards. Place the card face up on a well lit surface - hold very, very still - and snap, you have a permanent record of all the information on the card in a second.

Postscript: It happened again, an outbound message got stuck in the "Sending" mode. After a few minutes an error message popped up and it placed a copy of the message in the Outbox for me. This time I did not delete it from the Outbox but instead only cycled the power. When the iPhone came back on, the message went out successfully. The root cause may have to do with the outbound SMTP connection failing the first time. There appears to be no retry.

Rescue 611

Tuesday morning my temporary replacement iPhone arrived and it worked.

I'm impressed. After seeing the email notification late Monday evening that the package had been shipped I didn't expect to receive it until Wednesday. Yet Tuesday morning there it was. The replacement phone arrived in a small, sturdy returnable box which also contained an official SIM extraction device - a small paper clip.

Being an old hand at it now, I confidently slipped in the second SIM card. Lo and behold, I had service with a good strong signal. Congratulations, Apple. :-)

Previously I had thought it was more likely to be something in the AT&T network and the replacement iPhone would have the same problem as the original. I am glad to be wrong. I do recall in the previous call the Apple technician mentioning "a rare problem but there could a failure in the iPhone's SIM card reader."

The next hurdle was to get my old cell phone number assigned to the new SIM card. First I found out what sort of things would be required. It boils down to knowing or being the person authorized to permit the change, and knowing the billing account number, billing address and the amount of the last bill. With all that in hand, I did a little more searching and found out about 611, a toll free call for AT&T wireless service, aka 800-331-0500.

The first time after navigating the usual voice menu 611 dropped my call but the second time I got to a live person who routed my call to the "porting department." I explained to a patient, helpful lady my situation and within about 20 minutes she had everything needed for the transfer. I knew the change had taken effect about three hours later - someone from work called me and my iPhone rang instead of my old phone. Success!

Now all I have to do is return the first iPhone but that's going to be easy. They thoughtfully provided neat little strips of tape to seal the returnable container. (But I did write down the tracking number just in case something goes awry after dropping it off in Fed-Ex box. For some reason, I'm not feeling all that lucky right now) More later.

Postscript: Got a follow up call from AT&T tech support. They said they just wanted to check up on me and see if I finally got connected. Now I am really impressed.

No Service and No Delivery Either

Ah, well. Monday has come and gone. I did not receive the replacement iPhone as the Apple tech predicted, but I did get a friendly email late in the evening:

AppleCare

Dear Misahl,

Repair ID: D########

The AppleCare Service Phone you requested shipped on 2007-08-27. Please allow two business days for delivery.

Your AppleCare Service Phone shipped via FedEx Air using tracking number ###########, which should be active within 24 hours.

Shipping address:
MY PLACE OF BUSINESS
BUSINESS ADDRESS
BUSINESS ADDRESS
CITY, STATE ZIP
UNITED STATES

The AppleCare Service Phone will come with instructions for transferring the SIM card from your product to the service phone. You'll also receive instructions for sending your product to Apple using the same shipping box. Please don't use any other box, because if the product is damaged in shipping as a result of improper packaging, it will not be eligible for service and will be returned to you unrepaired. Unless otherwise instructed by an Apple representative, do not include any other items in the box, as they will not be returned to you.

Visit Repair Status to view the current details of your service request.

Regards,
The AppleCare Team

iPhone Activation "Searching... Searching... No service"

At home with a second SIM card neatly tucked away in my iPhone I launch the now familiar iTunes application and try yet again to activate my iPhone.

At this point I have to say I was not even hopeful. I have a lot of experience troubleshooting and a different SIM card seemed one of the least likely possiblities. (Although there is no way to know at the time I write this if I am correct, my guess is an issue with the AT&T network itself)

I followed the by now well worn iTunes path leading to iPhone activation. (Was that another credit check? Geez) Within a few minutes I was back at the crucial point. "Searching... Searching... No service" Ah, well.

I called 800 697-4663 (800 My iPhone) and within less than a minute I was speaking to a friendly Apple representative. As he "retrieved my record" I filled the time by filling him in on the series of unfortunate events that had preceded this call. By the time I finished he sounded shaken. He spoke to me as if to someone who could have him called on the carpet or worse. On the other hand maybe by this point I just sounded like someone capable of going postal and tracking people down.

He explained that since a different SIM card didn't work we would proceed to the next step, returning the iPhone to Apple for repairs. Although by now I was used to disappointment I began to feel a glimmer of hope again. It didn't sound too bad. This was to be a free repair, I would receive a temporary replacement phone on Monday. Since I had the phone less 24 hours he also volunteered to waive the usual $29 fee for the loaner phone.

I have to use my (second) SIM card in the temporary phone. Hey, it could work. I'll find out Monday.

iPhone activation - AT&T Signs On

A service rep, a technician and an AT&T representative try to activate an iPhone...

I wish it really was a joke. The nice lady from AT&T wanted to know the serial number on my SIM card. Luckily I still had my SIM extraction device ( a safety pin ) and was quite accomplished by now, having already successfully extracted it once. With my number in hand, she was able to find me in the system immediately. This was a most encouraging sign, and I was confident that all would be well again in just a few moments. (At this point my call to tech support had just passed the 90 minute mark.)

She tested my voice mail. "The account has to be active, I can see it the system, and the voice mail works." Good to know that if anyone tries to call me they can at least leave a message. "It must be the SIM card. Can you try it in another phone?"

Now I was stumped. I could the sense the mood of the call turning somber as I explained that I was out of extra phones, and that if I took the SIM card out of the one of I was using now we wouldn't be able to keep talking. The fact that it was a phone using an incompatible service cast an even darker pall on our party. Even if I had been able to figure how to do it, there was no way it could work.

This is when things turned ugly. They asked me to take my iPhone back to the store.

The idea being that once I was there, they could take the suspect SIM out of my phone and try it in a different one. If the problem followed the SIM card, then they should give me another one. If the problem stayed with the phone, I could return it to be repaired. The nice AT&T lady said she would amend my record so the store could see the results of our deliberations. She even took my cell phone number - the other phone, of course - and assured me that she would call to check on me on Monday.

So, they sent me out again on my own with an 8 digit case number and a new number to call in case I needed help again. 800 697-4663 (yes, and that spells 800 My iPhone. Clever.)

There was nothing else for it. A short while later I was walking back into the AT&T store with my new iPhone in the box tucked under my arm. Everything was different this time. The sales people were trying to avoid my eyes. A few of them scurried into the back. I took up a position next to the cash register where several people had lined up to make purchases and just started telling my story. One of the sales people reappeared from the back and waved me over to a quiet corner.

He quietly assured me that all he could do was give me another SIM card to try. I had to take it home to activate it. He didn't seem interested in my 8 digit case number or any remarks that might have been appended to a store record. I headed for home again, sadder but wiser. Hope springs eternal. More later.

How many techs does it take to activate an iPhone?

I still was on the conference call with the friendly customer representative and a tech specialist trying to figure out why my iPhone would not activate. At this point we were approaching the 30 minute mark.

After verifying there was no service outage in my area the tech decided that the next thing to do was reseat the SIM card. They had me there. I'd never done anything of the sort before, being of the opinion that probing too deeply into the bowels of any FCC approved electronic device would promptly void the warranty and possibly start it transmitting a secret electronic signal to the Department of Homeland Security.

They assured me it wasn't difficult. All I needed to do was press the wire of a paper clip into the tiny hole along the top edge of my shiny new iPhone and the SIM card would pop out. Another hurdle and I wondered if there actually was a paper clip in my house. There certainly wasn't one in the box my iPhone came in. They waited patiently for me to procure my SIM card extraction device.

Surprisingly, there was a paper clip in the kitchen drawer but it was the large size and the wire wouldn't fit in the tiny hole. I learned that standard wooden tooth picks are too big and the wire inside a wire tie is small enough but too flimsy. The tech sagely advised me that I would need something "more substantial."

They continued waiting patiently as I rummaged around in the garage. I knocked over a garbage can. ("No. No, that wasn't the iPhone") I found a wire braid of the sort used to hang pictures and established that wouldn't work either. Maybe upstairs? Yes, there on the dresser was my salvation, a safety pin. I returned to the table, pressed the point of the pin into the tiny hole and yes, the SIM card did pop out. What looked like a piece of paper fluttered a bit as it dropped to the floor. It seemed unharmed. I carefully placed back in its holder and reseated the SIM.

We repeated the power up sequence. "Searching... Searching..." No service.

They decided the next thing to try was to take the iPhone down to bare metal and reinstall the operating system. I obediently followed their instructions and soon iTunes was dowloading a fresh copy of the iPhone operating system from its mysterious hiding place on the net. I responded with confident ease to the now familiar iTunes prompts (was that another credit check? I think so. Ah, well.)

It looked like we had reached a turning point. The iPhone happily chirped as it booted up and again we held our collective breath. "Searching... Searching..." No service. Ok, now I am scared.

The Apple tech decided this must be an AT&T problem and remarkably within just a few minutes managed to arrange for a nice lady from AT&T to join the three of us on the call. More later.

iPhone Activation, Part II - No Service Strikes Back

It worked! Yes, it worked for about 14 hours.


I downloaded and ran iTunes on my friend's computer, docked the phone and followed the prompts. The choices were clear and simple. Once iTunes detected the iPhone, it downloaded the required software and installed it. The only glitch during the installation was the credit check reference number they gave me at the store didn't really work during the activation sequence. Oh, well, two credit checks in less than two hours was a small price to pay for an activated iPhone.

It worked and I was ecstatic. I added my fiances' number to the contact list and called her first. "Yes, I am calling you on the iPhone. It's very cool"

We met with another couple for dinner that night. There we were, the four of us happily passing my new iPhone around, checking out websites, email, a music video. It was great. When we got home that night I set up the alarm schedule, plugged it into the charger and dreamt happily of how impressed my coworkers would be Monday as they gazed in awe at my latest technological triumph - activating an iPhone.

Saturday morning I began fiddling with it in earnest. I set up the world clock for the various cities I work in. I tweaked the email settings so any messages I received would be only the sort of thing I would want to know about immediately. I even set up the local weather. Life was good.

Then around 10:00AM it happened. At the top left corner, where I had been seeing all those neat little bars were the words 'No service' At first I suspected a wayward cloud had settled directly over the house. After a bit I walked into a different room, then upstairs, then outside. No service there either. I went back inside and checked the iPhone coverage map. There I was comfortably in the middle of a patch of dark orange. Hmm.

A bit more searching and I ran across the number for the iPhone Activation hotline: 877 800-3701

I called the number, navigated the usual voice menu and within 3 minutes I was speaking with a live person. Not too bad for a new product launch. He said he was in Idaho.

He began walking me through the standard procedure. Power off the iPhone completely by simultaneously holding down the on/off switch on the top right edge and the home button located bottom center. Slide to Power off. So far, so good, that worked. Now press the on/off switch again. First the friendly little Apple logo appeared, then the busy twiddler, then the amazing iPhone interface itself. We waited holding our breath while I watched the top left corner of the display, "Searching... Searching..." No service.

He walked me through the settings but we didn't find any issues. He had me toggle the Airplane mode a few times. This is one way to force it into the "Searching" mode. No service. At this point he decided to escalate the issue and within a few minutes a friendly tech support specialist joined us on the call. Stay tuned.

Yay! I've got an iPhone! Well, sort of...

iPhone - the device that finally pushed me over the edge.

Until yesterday I had resisted every PDA the high tech industry could dream up. I was not even remotely tempted by any of those clunky gray boxes, all of them looking like calculators with too many keys. The thought of scraping around on one with a plastic stylus seemed even sillier. Besides, I would have lost the little thing in less than a day. And handwriting recognition? From people whose software does well to achieve eight consecutive hours of uptime without crashing? I don't think so.

The first computer I ever used professionally was a Mac. It was friendly, reliable and the user interface it boasted back then was better than 90% of the UI designs we see today. So with that kind of heritage behind it, I was sure it would be intuitive and everything would just work. A phone with text messages, email, camera, internet browser, notepad, calculator, my calendar, music, videos and even the local weather wrapped up in a sleek, slim, chrome and black case that would have been at home in the Arthur Clarkes's 2001: A Space Odyssey. I knew I couldn't lose. It was time.

On Friday after work I rushed to the local AT&T store, a crowded little place but the sales people seemed friendly, even eager to please. I selected the 8Gigabyte model, passed the required credit check, then 20 minutes and $650 later was the proud owner of a new iPhone.

At this point I reached the first hurdle. The iPhone was not actually working yet. At the store they explained to me that "I have to go home to activate it." It sounded like an entertaining notion but I explained that I would prefer not to leave until everything was working, thank you.

"No, we can't do that here, you have to take it home to do it." That got me wondering, "Does it have to be in any certain room in my home? Only in the dining room? The living room?" It turns out any room will do, but in order to activate the iPhone you will need to use a computer. I could see a number of devices in the store that appeared to be computers. How about using one of those? "No, we can't do that." Can't? Really, you can't? And this is the iPhone store? I began to wonder if I would be able to do it.

It turns out they could, but they won't. It is against the rules. So, a little crestfallen but still hopeful I left the store with my shiny new, inactive iPhone. An idea struck me, I pass right by a Kinko's on the way home. I will activate it there.

Another hurdle. It is not simply a computer that's needed to activate an iPhone but actually a computer running iTunes. Did you know those computers they have for people to use at Kinko's don't have iTunes installed on them? Nor will they let you download and install anything of the sort. This was becoming a bit of a challenge.

In a situations like these you have to be resourceful. I called a friend who lived nearby who was glad to let me come over and use her computer to activate my new iPhone. Once there I searched for "activate iPhone" and found the link to the page that would explain it all, the golden gateway to the activated iPhone. Well, sort of... it turned out to be a 71 plus megabyte quicktime video of ad copy explaining just how easy it was to do. Too bad I am not the sort of person likely to wait around long enough to download a multimedia extravaganza illustrating what I hope will turn out to be less than 10 easy steps.

More searching, more, just a bit more, ah, there it was, a simple list of iPhone activation instructions. Download iTunes, dock the phone, follow the prompts. That I can do. Or can I? More later.

What you need to activate an inPhone:

• An Internet connection
• An existing iTunes Store account or a new iTunes Store account (major credit card may be required)
• A valid Social Security number and a U.S. billing address (Your social security number is required for both AT&T credit checking as well as to allow AT&T to move your wireless number from your previous carrier to your new account).
• iTunes 7.3 or later, available at www.itunes.com. Apple recommends using the latest version.
• A Mac or a PC with a USB 2.0 port and one of the following operating systems:
  • Mac OS X version 10.4.10 or later
  • Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later
  • Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate edition

iPhone Suggestion Box

This is where we collect suggestions for improvements to the iPhone. Add your own ideas by replying to this post.

• In the Maps application the up/down arrow in the bottom left corner is a toggle and it needs to change in appearance to reflect the currently selected mode.
  
• In the Maps application the car icon in the bottom right corner should be grayed out unless there really is traffic information for the currently selected area.
  
• Include a clipboard area for copying and pasting text between applications
  
• Make the Notes font more legible or give us more options and let us change the size
  
• When a photo is taken while editing a contact include it in the Camera Roll
  
• Add brightness / gamma / contrast adjustments to the photo editing area
  
• Put iPhone activation kiosks in the AT&T stores
  
• Include a paper clip in the iPhone box.