The Other Drummer

Friend and all-around brilliant guy, Paul Mayne, has developed a simple, beautiful journaling app for OS X and iPhone/iPod Touch called Day One.

The premise of the app is to be a dead-simple (and beautiful) way to capture thoughts throughout the day – and keep them to yourself.

In a world of tweets and status updates, it was refreshing to hear that there aren’t any publication tools built-in. Nothing pushes out to Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr – what you enter into Day One stays in Day One.

If Day One app becomes as popular as I think it’s going to be (Apple featured it in the Mac OS App Store the day it launched) maybe there will be fewer banal and obnoxious tweets and status updates out there. One can hope.

Features

Aside from functioning as a journal, Day One also has:

• Reminders – Set how often you’d like to make an entry for unobtrusive reminders which you can easily snooze or skip.
• Quick Entry – An applet in the menu bar allows for quick entries.
• Backup & sync – Entries are synced (and therefore, backed up) across your desktop and iDevice using a free Dropbox account. If you don’t have Dropbox yet, 1. How do you function? 2. Get a free account here.
• Prompts – Inspiring little notes to help you figure out what to write. Much appreciated.
• Coming soon – Export, password protection and search.

In addition to the “coming soon” features, I do wish it had a universal shortcut to bring up the menu bar applet since I hate taking my hands off the keyboard to use the mouse. Nitpicky? Sure. But speed counts when you’re trying to get a thought down.

Conclusion

I’ve been beta testing Day One for some time now and while Paul is a friend, I can honestly say these apps are wonderful. Day One is a great way to capture those thoughts you’d otherwise forget. I’ve quickly entered stuff my kids have said that’s cracked me up, vented into it when I didn’t want to broadcast it to the world, and recorded some of the little things that seem mundane but offer insight into how I live my life. It’s a great tool everyone should have at their fingertips.

Giveaway Contest

Paul has been kind enough to provide free download codes for you, dear readers. I have one desktop code (worth $9.99) and three iPhone/iPod Touch codes ($.99 each). So here’s what I’m going to do:

The Grand Prize Winner gets The Ultimate Day One Bundle Pack: the desktop app and the iPhone app, both autographed by Paul himself.

Second- and third-place winners each get the app for their iDevice.

You can enter to win in three ways:

1. Give a shout-out to @theotherdrummer and @dayoneapp on Twitter
2. Link to this post on Facebook (and me, so I can see you did it) on Facebook
3. Leave a comment here with an inspirational thought about writing/journaling

You get your name put in a hat for each thing you do. Leave a comment or email me if you have any questions. I’ll draw the names at the end of the week.

Note: I haven’t received any compensation for this review – I paid for the app myself.

Oh, the rumors! They wash to and fro amongst a frenzy of bloggers and tech journalists, devouring them like piranhas on a baby calf. One of the latest is that Apple is going to release an “iPhone Nano” – a phone a third to half the size of the current iPhone (whatever that means). And they’re going to sell it for $199 with no contract! Sources cite the need for a less expensive phone to lure in the low-end market who might want an iPhone, but can’t afford it.

Newsflash: the iPhone already costs $199. And it’s the full-sized iPhone 4 with all the bells and whistles.

Monthly pains

The reason the iPhone isn’t being adopted by price-conscious consumers isn’t the $199 price point – it’s the cell phone plans that require a $30/month data plan which means your minimum monthly bill is $60 with only 450 minutes and no text messages included.

And if you purchase an “iPhone Mini” you’re still going to have to activate it with a carrier who is still going to charge you the same, high monthly rates. So you’ve gained exactly…nothing.

Except that you have a smaller, less functional phone with fewer features.

So the only real benefit is no contract. But that has nothing to do with price. And the people who care about not having contracts so they can switch to the latest and greatest gadget probably don’t want a low-end version of an iPhone.

Not to mention the headache it would cause developers to have to worry about slower processors and different screen resolutions/dimensions.

Besides, if you want a budget iPhone, Apple doesn’t need to mass produce a separate model – you can pick up a brand new 3GS right now from AT&T for $49.

Don’t eat your young

Putting an iPhone Mini with no contract at $199 cannibalizes their iPod Touch sales. Currently, the lowest priced iPod Touch has 8 GB storage and sells for $229. I don’t think Apple is going to kill that cash cow.

By the way

I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but Apple doesn’t do low-end.

Streaming Only Version

There is also the idea floating around that the iPhone Mini/Nano/Unicorn will be streaming only – all your music, videos, pictures and contacts will stream over the cell network to/from your MobileMe repository in the sky. This would mean minimal on-board storage which would cut the cost of producing the phone and allow Apple to hit the $199 price point.

While I think this could be the future, I don’t think the future is now. For one thing, it would suck your battery life faster than you can say “Boom”. Second, carriers are starting to impose caps on data usage. What was once an unlimited data plan, AT&T now caps at 2 GB per month. Take a lot of pictures and videos of your kids? With no on-board storage every 5 mpx picture and 720p video would be uploaded instantly, blowing through your data in no time at all. Overages, I believe, are $20/GB. Ouch.

Time will tell

I could be completely wrong on this. Bloomberg thinks I’m wrong. The Wall Street Journal thinks I’m wrong. But I’m going to stick to my guns on this one. Unless El Jobso (may he recover quickly and fully) has some crazy black magic up his turtleneck’s sleeves I don’t think we’re going to see the iPhone Nano anytime soon.

Thoughts?

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, it’s officially official: Verizon is going to start carrying the iPhone 4 starting the February 10th (you folks who are already on Verizon and qualify for an upgrade can preorder on February 3rd).

Here’s what you need to know:

• It’s not the iPhone 5. It’s the iPhone 4 with a different chip in it that makes it work on Verizon’s network.
• The price of the phone is the same: $199 for 16 GB and $299 for 32 GB.
• Verizon is mum on the details of their data plans. I’ve heard it’s going to be $30/mo (same as AT&T) for truly unlimited (not 5 GB “unlimited”) data. On the other hand, they aren’t saying. One speculation about why that is: the plans are going to be worse and they don’t want that to cloud the joyous news of them getting their shiny new handset. Time will tell.
• Verizon’s theoretical 3G speeds are slower than AT&T’s. Take this with a grain of salt as it will all depend on the reception in your given area.
• Can Verizon’s network handle the traffic? Will AT&T’s network become better if everyone floods to Verizon? Stay tuned.
• If you’re streaming a YouTube video or downloading an email attachment and you decide to take or make a call, it will kill your download – you can’t do data and voice simultaneously on Verizon’s network. Sorry.

While I’m excited to be able to use the iPhone on a carrier other than AT&T (without unlocking it…I heart you T-Mobile), keep in mind that if you buy one, you’re buying tech that’s already six months old and half way through its lifecycle. And by that, I mean Apple has released a new iPhone each summer since the original came out. The iPhone 5 is most likely going to be released in June and will be available on Verizon. So if you get one now, it’s going to be outdated in six months and you’re going to be using it for two years.

Me? I’m holding off until iPhone 5. (And iPad 2, but that’s a different story.)

But if your phone is on its last legs and you’ve been waiting for this moment for four years, the iPhone 4 isn’t anything to turn your nose up at.

There you have it. Questions? Hit me up in the comments or visit our kindred spirits over at Engadget who have comprehensive iPhone coverage and involuntarily donated the above photo for my own sinister uses.

Image courtesy of Engadget.

I’m back on my iPhone 3GS.

Kinda.

For a while.

The Droid 2 I got from work is…how shall I say it…unreliable. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve run into some recurring problems including, but not limited to:

• The lock screen freezing requiring a restart (even after restarting)
• Not being able to hear callers
• Callers not being able to hear me
• Unresponsive key on the physical keyboard

I can deal with the last one but the first three are kinda deal breakers. That, and I admit it, using the Droid 2 is starting to grate on my nerves a bit.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about experiences (as a general concept as well as how it applies to advertising) and I’ve decided my iPhone/Android battle comes down to this:

I can experience fewer things, better. Or I can experience more things in a worse way.

The iPhone has limited functionality and customization when compared to the Droid 2. But, as was recently said, using Android is like death by a thousand paper cuts – it can do a bunch of cool stuff but much of it is in a rather painful way.

The definition of “back”

Just one example: There’s a dedicated “back” button on all Android devices. Unfortunately, there’s no uniformity on what “back” means. Does it mean back to the previous screen? Yes. And sometimes that works. But does it go to the previous screen within the same app, or the previous screen even if it means switching to a different app? So is the back button the way you switch between apps? You can. Sometimes. (Although there’s separate app-switching functionality). Or, if you’re at the “beginning” does it back you out to the home screen? It varies wildly and is a terrible experience.

Reflecting on the last two months

As I said when I posted my thoughts on switching from iPhone to Android, from a user experience standpoint the current version of Android feels like what must have been an early beta of iOS: demonstrates basic functionality but in a rough-hewn way.

Here are a few additional thoughts in no particular order:

• The camera/video camera on the Droid 2 sucks.
• I’m already missing how easy it is to share information between apps: on the iPhone there’s no easy way to take something from Google Reader, for example, and push it to Read it Later or Delicious.
• iPhone keyboard…my finger candy…daddy’s home now.
• Can’t believe now sleek and solid the 3GS feels when compared to the Droid 2.
• iPhone notifications…(grumble, grumble).
• Tumblr is a much better app on iOS than Android.
• With the Droid 2 there’s a 2-3 “lines of text lag” when scrolling. That is to say, if I’m reading something in the browser and slowly start scrolling my finger up, the screen doesn’t “catch” and start moving until I’ve moved over 2-3 lines of text. With the iPhone, it’s instantaneous.
• I’ll miss the dedicated Google Reader app on Android.
• I’ll really miss having 3G speeds. But that’s what I get for unlocking it and only paying $6/mo for data. ;)
• Loving the iPhone + Apple TV integration. Although Android and my new Blu-Ray player both have DNLA so it could be sixes.
• Hate having to turn on my laptop to sync everything to my iPhone.

In Limbo

So here’s the deal. On January 6th HTC is revealing the Thunderbolt (stupid name). It’s supposed to be the equivalent of HTC Desire HD for Verizon and have the HTC Sense I was so excited about. If anybody can polish the rough edges off Android, HTC can. So I’ll put an order in for that and use my iPhone until then. When the Thunderbolt (still a stupid name) arrives I’ll use it for the trial period and then make my final decision.

Besides, I have a hard time believing Apple won’t rectify some of my issues with iOS come February.

So much for me not being a phone slut.

Image courtesy of earcos.

There are a lot of calorie counter apps out there that are supposed to help you monitor and track what you eat with the goal of helping you be healthier. But from what I can tell, they all have the same hurdle: you have to scroll through tons of lists to find exactly what you’re eating, or if you don’t have enough choices you may not be able to find what you’re eating and have to pick the next closest thing.

Either way, it’s a pain in the butt and not very accurate.

Enter NFC

Near Field Communication is the technology that uses RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags to transmit information between objects over short distances. Ever held your credit card over a payment machine at the grocery store instead of swiping the magnetic strip? That’s NFC and RFID at work.

Add a phone. Ditch the credit card.

Using your cell phone as a wallet isn’t a crazy idea. Definitely not to those in Japan who have been doing it for years. But it may be hitting mainstream USA sooner than you think. Google’s latest Nexus S phone, just launched this week, has both the hardware and the software built in to enable such swapping of information.

First payments, then the world!

Returning to the issue of tracking what you eat to better your health. Here’s what I see happening:

Let’s say you’re naughty and stopped for lunch at McDonalds. When you swipe your phone to pay for your processed meat and cheese squished between two stale buns and a milkshake, the register knows exactly what you ordered. It could transmit the nutritional information of all the food purchased back to the phone as you swipe and into your calorie counter application. Heck, if the phone recognizes you’re making a payment at a restaurant it could automatically launch the app and you could watch in real time as your caloric intake for the day skyrockets.

Feeling guilty when you get home that night, your app pulsing red indicating a heart attack is imminent, you have a bowl of cereal for dinner. Hold your phone over the nutritional information on the side of the box and your calorie counter app will ask for a quantity. Tell your phone how much you had (1 cup, 5 cups), and the app takes care of the rest.

An aside: QR Codes

Now that I think about it, you could accomplish the same thing (at least at the restaurant) by printing out a QR code on the receipt. Take a picture of the barcode with your calorie counter app and ta-da… your meal is entered into the app – no special hardware required on either end.

Meh. That’s fine and all and would work for now. But it would only be an intermediary step between now and ubiquitous RFID.

One more thing

What else could we do with NFC? Picture the option for it everywhere: in the clothes you buy, the pen you write with, the pack of gum you buy at the store. Each has a potential to transmit information of one kind or another – either to it or from it.

What could we do?