Got an Apple 3G but what the heck is mobileme?
Posted by testcrunch on July 18th, 2008
I finally managed to get an iPhone 3G yesterday for the great price of £99. I would have preferred the 16gb version but there just were none around.
First thoughts: not that different to my previous version. Our 3G coverage where we live is pretty non-existent so I will only get a chance to play with that when I am out. That also kaputs me playing around with the GPS functionality when at home. I was able to install all of my email account setup stuff from iTunes rather than hand rolling it, very painfully, from the iPhone which I did with the previous iPhone. These are both push and pull email accounts so now I just have to figure out how this Fetch New Dara/Push functionality works and whether I need to sign up for the mobileme service.
I have downloaded some of the apps from the App Store and some of them are decidedly underwhelming but then they were free. I got Mandelbrot which is OK but somehow reminds me of software designed to demo a graphics card in 1991. The Apple Remote application though is great. It turns the iPhone into a remote control for playing back music on iTunes on your PC using wireless. You get to see playlists, artists, podcasts but does lose connection sometimes. More testing needed on this by me in case it’s something I can help with.
Then there is Tanjas SOS Flashlight which is supposed to do what it says but all I can see that it does is display a white screen. Maybe that is a flashlight. I coughed up for the Super Monkey Ball by Sega and that works OK. Facebook took a while to get going and is not that great but no doubt will get better. Last.fm seems to work, though the last time I tried it it rebooted the iPhone. That’s more like it, now we are entering Windows Mobile territory.
Most of these apps I’ll get rid of sooner or later. It was more just a case of seeing what the initial tranche of apps was like. In the following months I’m sure there are going to be some great apps released specially using GPS and the iPhone knowing exactly where you are at any time. Creepy.