Too Soon for Ping?

I was pretty excited to update to iTunes 10 after seeing some new UI updates and features. Aside from some interface changes (I’ll save that for another post), I wanted to get started on Ping, Apple’s “social network for music.” And then I started catching up my Twitter feed to see a few running posts by @Scobleizer pointing out one significant flaw with Ping: Artist discovery. I couldn’t believe the names he was tweeting: Black Eyed Peas, Daft Punk, Madonna… So I gave it a try as well, searching around 15 headline-caliber artists, and what do you know? “Your search had no results.”

Was it too early to release Ping? Should Apple have waited a while to get more artists onboard? Definitely. After registration, Ping recommended only 12 artists to me, and I only chose 2 or 3 to follow. On top of that, I’ve been reading Facebook Connect has been axed (for now) due to “onerous terms.” On the contrary, there are features that are pretty useful – concert tickets, especially. I’ve read reports that Apple was working on a partnership with LiveNation, but after clicking on the tickets link for a Jack Johnson concert, I was redirected to Ticketmaster.com. If in-app ticket purchasing is in the horizon, I could see it being a useful tool. We’ll see what happens in a few months, but for now, Facebook Pages, with a larger database of artists and essentially offering the same content, is shining.

Update: Just read on Engadget

Facebook’s friend-finding API is generally open access, but anyone that wants to hit it an extreme number of times has to sign a deal agreeing to protect Facebook user data and limit network impact. Given the sheer size of the iTunes customer base, it’s no surprise that Facebook wanted such a deal, but apparently negotiations broke down — possibly over what Steve Jobs referred to as “onerous terms” — and Apple decided to just go ahead and use the API anyway.

TeuxDeux Lists

I just started to use a new browser-based app called TeuxDeux (pronounced “to-do”). It’s the most beautifully designed to-do list I’ve seen, and the most dead simple to use. What I like most about it is that it doesn’t overwhelm the user with an excessive amount of distracting features. You type in your tasks, hit enter, and you’re done. You can drag and drop tasks on different days, and marking a task as complete is as easy as clicking on it. If you don’t complete a task, it automatically gets pushed to the next day. A nifty feature is the “Someday” list which you can enter in tasks that have no set date yet, for instance, “visit all 7 continents,” or you can get a little creative and add “own my own island.” Their new iPhone app is equally as awesome, featuring some pretty ingenious gestures (watch video below). With the exception of not being able to create repeating tasks, TeuxDeux is simple and to the point, and beats the other to-do apps I’ve used before.

Audience Participation

Last night my friends Wong Fu Productions held their 1st east coast installment of International Secret Agents. The final headliner was recently signed artists Far*East Movement, but what stood out to me was the little bit of audience participation they had before they went on (watch video below). The gist is: you call a number shown and appear as a blob on the screen with your phone number. The louder you scream into your phone, the larger your blob would get. At the end, they gave out prizes to whoever won. I’ve seen plenty of audience participation at events before, but never like this. Usually they would be texting to receive additional info, or getting a message shown on the jumbo-tron. I have no idea what this service is called, but I would definitely like to know, so if you or anyone knows, please leave a reply.

Update: Thanks to D.M., found out the system is called Big Screams by Elie Zananiri

Lessn Your URL

Just ran across a pretty awesome personal url shortener (Lessn) that you can use on your own site. These services are great for sharing links, especially on Twitter to reduce character count. For instance, this posts link is (http://www.jeffsoo.com/blog/2010/08/lessn-your-url/), but shortened to (http://jeffsoo.com/s/3). It is extremely easy to install and use. After I set up a database and changed some settings in the .php file, I was good to go. The only thing that I would prefer is that it would create a url without the extra folder (http://wwww.website.com/x/), but I would assume that it could work if I threw all the files into my root folder. Though it doesn’t provide any metrics like bit.ly, it’s definitely worth a try on your own site, especially if you have your own shorter vanity url.

Why I Returned the iPhone 4

It was nearly a month ago when I got the email “Your iPhone is waiting at the Apple Store” from the Apple Store. My friend and I quickly took the train down to SoHo so I could finally become a proud iPhone 4 owner. From the issues I kept running into on my iPhone 3g running iOS4 I couldn’t be any happier with new hardware that could handle the new features in the OS. The retina display and the speed alone completely obliterated my 2nd generation iPhone. With the exception of changing the word “Delete” to “Archive” in emails, Apple has really mastered the UX of the touch interface to the point where even babies can use it.

Even though the iPhone 4 is a 4th generation iPhone, the complete redesign of the hardware technically makes it the 1st generation of its respective form factor. And I guess that’s what puts early adopters in such a risky position. I’ve had my fair share of 1st gen issues, especially on the 1st gen iPod Touch and it’s “negative black” effect. But I got it replaced, and had no more issues. From yellow screens to the now infamous “antennagate,” it’s pretty obvious that iPhone 4 hardware design is flawed.

The first day I got the phone, I noticed something was already wrong with the unit. When we got out the subway station, the phone would not connect back to the network, and would read “No Signal.” I was confused, asking my friend if she had signal on her phone and wondering if it was just because we were in a spot with terrible reception. No, in fact she had full bars. I restarted the phone and was back on the network, so I shrugged that issue off. Then it happened again, and again, and again, every time I was coming out of subway stations.

I brought the issue up with a Genius at the Genius Bar and he decided to reset the network settings and told me to restore the phone if it was still happening, but he noticed that the reception on the phone was acting a little more strange than other iPhones. I found it extremely amusing that he was testing reception issues and showing me how other iPhone 4s should act by holding it in the “death grip.” He took note of the issue and told me that if the problem still persisted, to come back and to get it swapped.

Low and behold, still got the problem, even after a restore, so I took it in for a swap. Another Genius read the notes that the first one left and after hesitating and making me seem like I was just trying anything to get a new device, decided to give me a “1-time courtesy replacement” as if he was doing me a favor. So I was on my 2nd device now, and extremely happy I didn’t have this “No Signal” issue anymore. However, I did notice that the battery life was much more terrible than my 1st device. Then I started making phone calls and as if the phone was a zombie, started dropping calls or switching to speakerphone during conversation. Another widespread issue, proximity sensor.

And then the reoccurring rumors of the fabled CDMA iPhone started flying again. I never had issues with the carrier, but as I was reading a particular article, this particular excerpt stood out:

Sources with knowledge of this entire situation have assured me that Apple has submitted orders for millions of units of Qualcomm CDMA chipsets for a Verizon iPhone run due in December. This production run would likely be for a January launch, and I’d bet the phone is nearly 100% consistent with the current iPhone 4 (with a fixed internal insulator on the antenna).

Could it be that Apple was revising the hardware design? I quickly became optimistic and decided that maybe it was time to return my iPhone before my 30-days was up, and wait it out for a few months to see if they really do come out with a fix. So I packed everything back up in the box, headed down to SoHo and returned the iPhone 4.

So I’m back using the iPhone 3g, enduring the sluggishness of iOS4, and staying optimistic that I’ll have an iPhone 4 again in the future.

Update: Erik just told me that you can change “Archive” back to “Delete” in the mail settings. Apparently “Archive” would move emails from your inbox into another folder for “All Mail.” Here’s the tutorial I found on how to revert back to the “Delete” process: http://www.gilsmethod.com/delete-gmail-emails-ios4