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Having a cell phone is great, that is, until you get your bill. If you have every opened up a bill and found a ridiculous text messaging or minutes overage charge, you are probably looking for a way to avoid this! Rogers and Bjango have recently released two iPhone apps to help you keep an eye on these things.

Rogers My Account is an iPhone application for Rogers iPhone users (there is a Fido version too) to track their monthly data, text messaging, and voice minutes usage.The app also lets you view your statement balance and pay with a credit card. It is incredibly useful, however it is not the quickest or prettiest app.

Rogers My Account – Usage Screens

Rogers My Account – Balance, Payment, and the oh so slow Loading screen

However do not worry, there is a better solution! Thanks to the Australian iPhone development firm Bjango and their beautiful app Consume. Consume logs into your Rogers account and download usage statistics for you, displaying them in a wonderfully designed user interface. In addition to tracking your iPhone’s (or any phone account) data, text messages, and voice usage – it also displays your home broadband cable usage. If you have an iPhone and home internet with Rogers, this is a must-have app!

Consume – Internet Usage, Updating, and Mobile Usage screens

Consume – Settings and Add Account screens

Go get Consume now! If it saves you from a big Rogers bill, with many extra charges, it will have paid for itself in just one month!

Rogers My Account (iTunes Link)

Consume (iTunes Link)

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Real Racing GTI is a demo version of Firemint’s game Real Racing, an incredibly fun racing game for the iPhone. However this is not your ordinary game demo. Nope. Volkswagen has sponsored the demo, featuring the new 2010 GTI as the only playable car.

This game is, as Michael Scott from The Office once said, a win-win-win situation. Firemint gets to upsell the full version, while likely making a pretty good amount off of the demo itself. Volkswagen gets to promote their cars with a really good game – compared to most sponsored games, and we all get to experience how great Real Racing is without paying for it (unless you get hooked like I did and need the full version).

BTW I wrote this post about a month ago, but every time I loaded it up to take some screenshots, I ended up getting sucked into a few races – that’s how fun this game is.

Screenshots don’t do it justice, watch this neat Volkswagen Commercial featuring the game!

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Since I got my iPhone two years ago, I can’t remember the last time I was bored. Time that was once wasted — waiting on line at the DMV, riding the subway, even waiting out a rain delay at a ball game — is now once again usable.

- Steven Rubel on AdAge

This quote sums up one of the greatest benefits of owning an iPhone, or most smartphones for that matter. Anytime I am stuck in a situation waiting on something, such as the bus to/from work, my iPhone makes that wasted time into something productive or entertaining.

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I recently got to play with the two Android phones that Rogers is currently selling, HTC’s Dream and Magic. From my experience with them, I would say they were far from being a “dream” or “magic” or anything close to usable. Cheap hardware in addition to confusing and inconsistent controls has left me severely disappointed with Android. They were nowhere close to as good as the iPhone, and pale in comparrison to the current BlackBerry models out right now.

Today John Gruber wrote that the iPhone needs a strong competitor:

I’ve said it before and will say it again, the best thing that could happen for Apple and iPhone owners would be for at least one strong rival to appear. Two [Palm] would be even better. A monoculture benefits no one in the long run, because it’s competition that drives innovation.

A “monoculture” this is not. He points to Android and Palm as the iPhone’s potential competition. He overlooks that fact that Apple’s real competition is RIM and the BlackBerry. In May, the BlackBerry Curve outsold the iPhone in NPD’s analysis of Smartphone Sales. The Curve is only one of RIM’s phones. In that same list, RIM occupied three of the top four spots:

1. RIM BlackBerry Curve (all 83XX models)
2. Apple iPhone 3G (all models)
3. RIM BlackBerry Storm
4. RIM BlackBerry Pearl (all models, except flip)

I do not have the specific numbers, but I would bet all of RIM’s phones together would equal many times the number of Apple’s phones sold in a given month.

Overlooking RIM as Apple’s real competition in the Smartphone market is a mistake. Even though the BlackBerry is the established giant, it has not stopped them from innovating. With the Storm 2 coming out, and RIM releasing a new BlackBerry at a rate of what feels like every month, I expect the BlackBerry will continue to dominate the market in North America – and continue growing overseas.

My next phone is doubtful to be anything but the next iPhone, but that is definitely is not the same for most people.

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All over the Internet is talk of Apple releasing a touch screen computer. Everyone has their own theory on what the product will actually be:

• a tablet computer running OS X
• a jumbo iPod touch running iPhone OS
• or something in the middle

I believe that the device Apple ultimately releases will be closer to the second option, an oversized iPod touch with a modified version of iPhone OS. Let’s call it the iPod pro.

Bringing tablets to the mainstream

Tablet PCs in their current incarnation are a relatively niche product. They have yet to break into the mainstream in a big way. I highly doubt a tablet running OS X would change this. The iPhone and iPod touch popularized touch screen devices with the general everyday consumer, and these devices have brought touch screens to the masses like never before. Touch interfaces on full-blown computers can’t compare to the experience on the iPhone, as the original operating system  has been hacked around to support touch, instead of being designed for it from the ground up.

Portability and ease of use

The iPhone has been so successful because it is dead simple to use and highly portable. Tablet computers have been unsuccessful in the mainstream because their input methods and user experience is poor. Apple could modify OS X for touch input, but why bother when they already have the best touch OS in the market, the iPhone OS For the iPod pro to be successful, it should be highly mobile and easy to use, making iPhone OS the obvious choice.

One virtual keyboard to rule them all

Many criticise the iPhone’s keyboard, but it is simply the best virtual keyboard on the market. I would argue it is the best smartphone keyboard period.This keyboard works really well on a small device like the iPhone, because you can type with your two thumbs easily. Any larger than the current iPhone’s landscape keyboard and it would become unusable, due to being unable to reach all keys with your two thumbs.

Wide as the iPhone is tall

The size limitation of the keyboard leads me to believe the device Apple will introduce will have a screen that is as wide as the iPhone is tall, and with the same aspect ratio, 1.5:1. Two thumbs can only reach so far, and this is the only way to efficiently type on a mobile device. This form factor will enable Apple to use the iPhone’s landscape keyboard as the portrait keyboard on the iPod pro. The iPod pro would have a resolution of 720×480 pixels if the screen has the same DPI as the iPhone, and could even be 1080×720 pixels with if it had a higher DPI. (720P HD video anyone?)

Building on success

The iPhone has been a tremendous success for Apple, and it makes sense to keep building on that platform. Sticking with the same aspect ratio would avoid adding complications for App Developers that want to support both the iPhone and the iPod pro. Using the same keyboard and a slightly modified iPhone OS would avoid splintering the platform and would further strengthen the iPhone, just as the iPod touch has.

Conclusion

The iPod pro will utilize the already touch-centric iPhone OS to continue establishing the platform as the premier touch operating system. The design of the iPhone’s keyboard and the maximum reach of thumb-typing lead me to believe the most likely form factor for the device will be the width of the iPhone, and the same aspect ratio to maintain consistency among the iPhone OS devices. Apple has a chance to establish the iPhone OS the the premier mobile operating system with the iPhone as the central device supported by the iPod touch and iPod pro. They  have already designed a successful device in the iPod touch. The iPod pro should simply be an evolution of that design that will bring the iPhone experience to a whole new market.

Blogger John Gruber, of Daring Fireball, raised five questions that Apple will likely solve with this device. Here is a quote from him with my suggested solutions added in:

His mistake is assuming that Apple would ship a tablet without having solved these very real problems. How do you type? [iPhone landscape keyboard] How do you carry it around? [smaller than a netbook] How do you protect the screen from getting scratched? [my two iPhones and iPod touch never scratched] If you’re supposed to watch video on it, how do you prop it up? [I will let them be creative with that one] If you already have an iPhone and a MacBook, what would you need this for? [you don't, but there is a huge market that doesn't have an iPhone or MacBook]

I think my proposed iPod pro fits in nicely between the iPhone and an actual computer. I see my iPhone as a computer – and use it as such – save for a few cases (serious document preparation, Photoshop, and web development) – so a bigger version would be even mote suitable as a computer replacement.

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UPDATE FEB 15, 2010: It has landed, check out Meebo for iPhone!

Meebo was quick to release a webapp for the iPhone before native iPhone apps were allowed. Now that the App Store has been open for over a year, why is Meebo still a no show?

They demoed the app at the iPhone 3.0 presentation months ago (YouTube video embedded below), but have yet to release it. Meanwhile, apps like eBuddy and Nimbuzz are beating Meebo to the market with acceptable, but not great, free multi network IM applications that support push notifications.

I have been waiting over a year for this app. As a diehard user of Meebo on my PC and Mac, I really want to continue holding out for Meebo to finally release the Meebo iPhone app, but how long do they expect us to wait? At this point I am sure most iPhone users have dropped $5-$10 on an app like BeeJive or IM+ or are using the free ones like eBuddy. Either way, will there be anyone left when Meebo finally hits the App Store?

Seth Sternberg, Meebo’s CEO, said they were waiting for push notifications because they did not want to release a less than satisfactory app. Push notificaitons are here, so what is the hold up? My hope is that Meebo has recognized they are horribly late to the game and are putting in a big effort to include some innovative features that the competition are lacking.

If they don’t impress everyone when they finally release, I can’t see many people switching over to Meebo (unless they are already using Meebo on their computers like I do).

UPDATE: TheAppleBlog posted a review of a number of iPhone IM apps, although they left off my two favourites – Nimbuzz and eBuddy

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I was going to write a post on typing on the iPhone and why people who say you can’t are very wrong, but DaringFireball has summed it up well.

I have owned a BlackBerry but still prefer to type on my iPhone – not that the BlackBerry was bad. The iPhone is just easier and faster to type on.

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Scrolling through all of the contact I have on my iPhone is a bit of a pain. When the App Store first launched I was patiently waiting for FriendBook, however after Mike Lee left Tapulous the app didn’t live up to my expectations. It took me until now to finally find one to fill the void: Groups by Guilded Ways Technologies.

Groups is an iPhone app for managing your contacts. I initially put off buying this app until I could get a chance to try it out . I wanted verify there was more to it than just a fancy interface. They don’t offer a “Lite” version of it, however another app by the company, Faces Visual Dialer (App Store Link), does have a free version. I tried it out and it actually functions, unlike many other apps out there, so I decided to take the plunge on Groups.

The app allows me to easily drag-and-drop my contacts into as many groups as I want. In no time at all I managed to get all of my contacts filed away into five groups. The nice thing is a contact can be in multiple groups, so my buddy Bryden can be in my “Ottawa” and “Toronto” groups. These groupings synchronize across the Phone and Contacts apps, as well as to your computer as usual. I am often sending out e-mails to my whole family. This app makes that a breeze, providing the ability to send e-mails to everyone in a group.

Another nice feature of this app is the interface. This developer seems to really care about the aesthetics of the UI, something I really look for when considering an app.

What I Liked: Looks great, works great, and saves a lot of time when searching for contacts. Quick sending of group e-mails is very convenient.

What I Didn’t Like: Everytime it launches it flashes an empty view of your contacts/groups then shows the real list. Not a big deal, but kind of annoying. See what I mean in the screenshots below.

Groups by Guided Ways Technologies Ltd. – $2.99 on the App Store

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I won't be paying $1 for a rocket launcher! (Source: Engadget)

With the 3.0 iPhone and iPod touch software update, Apple added many new features for the user and new APIs for developers. In App Purchases, or Store Kit as Apple’s developer resources call it, allows apps to offer additional features or content to users for an additional fee.

These purchases could include new levels in a game, furniture in the Sims, or books in an e-book reader. There are many applications for this new functionality that may help developers fund their development efforts.

One thing that concerns me is the price points that Apple is going to enforce. I cannot find this documented anywhere, but I heard that the in app purchases are limited by Apple’s same price points on the App Store itself. This means that the lowest price a developer could charge is $0.99 (Canadian/US).

In today’s online world, microtransactions are becoming a big business. On the App Store, people already scoff at paying for apps, let alone paying a $1 for a feature in an app. In my opinion, if Apple really wanted to make a killing with in app purchases, they should lower the minimum price to $0.50, if not all the way down to $0.15. This way developers can actually sell very small content in a game. I know that I will not be willing to pay a whole $1 for a stereo in the Sims, while I could instead use that $1 to buy a new full-featured game.

Tapulous, the maker of the hit iPhone game Tap Tap Revenge, recently announced a partnership with Universal Music to sell individual songs within Tap Tap Revenge 2. They said they would sell these songs at $0.50, a price that makes sense considering the song will only be accessible within the game (does not transfer to iTunes).  Given Apple’s minimum price, Tapulous will not be able to sell them at this price, and I seriously doubt people will be willing to pay $1 for a song they can’t freely use. This means Tapulous will instead have to sell multiple songs at once, which makes these purchases much less of an impulse buy.

Apple is making a huge mistake with their minimum price for these purchases. Developers are going to have to really make these in app purchases worth it to convince me to purchase them. However, if apps had tiny upgrades for less than a dollar, I’m sure they could get quite a few nickels and dimes out of me. Just like the App Store itself, I think developers are unfortunately going to have to aim for volume sales of these purchases – something this minimum price will not help.

UPDATE: I found a podcast from Monday on this topic from Mobile Orchard. It is an interview with Urban Airship, a startup providing services for App Developers to outsource the infrastucture for push notifications and in app purchases. You can find listen to the podcast on Mobile Orchard’s page.

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After installing the iPhone 3.0 OS upgrade my original Edge iPhone feels like a whole new phone! While it is no where close to being as fast as the iPhone 3G S, many things are feeling quicker.

A prime example of this is the Camera app. It used to be that when I saw something I wanted to take a picture of quickly, I wouldn’t even bother because the camera would launch embarassingly slow. With 3.0, the camera opens almost instantly and processes each picture I take way quicker. I would estimate the launch time has gone from 10s to 1-2s and each picture from 5s to 1s. An amazing improvement!

Like the camera, most things just seem to work faster. The new software upgrade may have given some new life to my aging phone.

Now if only I could disable landscape mode systemwide (except for games)…

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