An ordinary blog about all sorts of cosmopolitan topics.
Have you ever wondered whether you would be able to take screenshots with your new iPhone 3G or the early iPhone updated to firmware 2.0? Well, here you go with a simple solution:
Press the sleep/wake and the home button at the same time for about a second. The screen shortly flashes, this is the sign that the screenshot has been created. It now lies in your camera roll folder in the Photos app.
Happy shooting!
Here is a very simple solution to a problem I’ve recently had with my brand new iPhone 3G. I tried to use Visual Voicemail but nothing seemed to really work. Even important services like declining a call and sending it to Voicemail weren’t enabled.
I began doing some research on the internet, called a service hotline but nothing helped. I reset the iPhone to exclude every trouble caused by a non-standard setting but even this didn’t solve the problem. Then I visited the carrier’s support page and was helped by a friendly forum user who said that it could be just the network settings, which might be corrupted. I would have to reset them. This I did and – surprise – it finally worked!
So before you restore your iPhone or ANYTHING, just try this solution, it worked for me:
Go to Settings (on your home screen) -> General -> Reset and push the button Reset Network Settings, then confirm. Done.
0:00 p.m. This is the time when the first iPhones will be sold in a Swisscom store in Zurich. I did not want to get in queue so early as there are plenty of other opportunities to buy one of the brand-new 3G iPhones in Switzerland. But I will certainly arrive punctual at one of the many Swisscom stores at 6:30 a.m. to belong to the first ones possessing this new device. I am very excited because I think that this is going to be a great phone with so many new features compared to the first version of the iPhone that I already bought last year.
I hope there won’t be too many people around so that I can get one before sun sets again. I guess that here in Switzerland many people are really looking forward to buying it. I have just watched a TV report about the iPhone sale and they showed a huge crowd of people waiting in front of the only Swisscom store that will sell it at midnight.
Furthermore, there is much news around on Swiss Apple sites, as on macprime.ch They have changed their normal interface to a special iPhone report page where people can send in texts and photos about their experiences.
I think I should turn in soon in order to be fully awake next morning and to enjoy the shiny new iPhone without the wish to sleep. Wish me luck… 
See this Flickr group with photos of the crowd waiting in Zurich: http://www.flickr.com/groups/iphone-day/pool/
UPDATE:
There was really a huge crowd waiting in front of the store. And the worst was that they had very few iPhones in stock. For example, there were only 8 (!) black 16 gig iPhones around. I had to wait about less than 2 hours after they opened the store for the first customers. The activation, which had be done in-store prolonged time for shoppers waiting. I was very lucky to belong to one of the first standing in queue because when I left the shop again there were about a hundred people waiting!
The iPhone Software Development Kit is revolutionary for Apple. When the company put its device on the market a year ago, they forbade anyone to develop third-party software for it. Maybe they had too much all the security issues in mind or they wanted to prevent competition with their carrier partners. Many users regarded this aspect of the iPhone as a drawback and not helpful to make it a truly unique and advanced mobile device.
Now Apple has finally listened to customers’ demands and dared to bring out an intuitive, easy-as-usual, software kit for developers around the world. But what is its need?
Some arguments speak against it: Too many restrictions, monopoly situation with the App Store, etc.
Of course there are also many positive aspects: OS layers are fully usable now, clear guidelines for programming, there is no need to hack the device anymore (except for those who live in “non-iPhone countries” like me or those who don’t want a data plan)
Now if you are a developer you certainly want to code something as revolutionary as the iPhone. Nevertheless you should stay in between the defined restrictions, that means: No download of the software from your own server; some apps may not get approved for the App Store because of guideline violations, content problems may arise, e.g. VoIP (restricted for the use with the provider network) and the like.
Will developers accept the App Store as their channel of distribution? Or will they go on hacking the device by using the SDK on the one hand and hacking the device on the other hand (of course they will)?
Asking myself these questions, I am seriously anxious that the whole project could eventually get out of hand. What if developers won’t follow the guidelines and use carrier networks for huge data transfers and therefore force the breakdown of it? Also, viruses or trojan horses could find a quick way to spread out in the iPhone world and harm stability and security of a network. Apple really has to set the security aspect as their number one on the priority list. If not, they risk a loss of their image and a decrease in iPhone sales.
I am not pessimistic at all, because I see a huge chance in this SDK: There will certainly be many qualified developers who know what they’re doing and create fun apps. I wouldn’t go that far to say that it is a hit but Apple is on the right track to something powerful on the mobile market.
The future will show where the hick-ups and advantages of this SDK and the new iPhone firmware 2.0 are.
In that sense: Let’s be pirates and dive in…
Apple is known for its innovative products and revolutions on the market. The iPhone is one of its marvels and has already gained a great impact on the market of mobile phones. The degree of popularity is high, 3 of 4 customers in Britain have stated to have heard at least once of the device. Great preconditions would describe the situation best. For a fresh and dynamic market as it is the European one, Apple should actually be able to sell its product easily. But there is another aspect that plays a great role on all the different markets: It’s the question of how a specific market is composed and what people are willing to pay for a certain product. In this case, it’s all about a cell phone and if someone knows the mobile phone industry in Europe then it should be clear that nobody wants to pay 999 € (for an unlocked iPhone in Germany) for a “simple” (business) phone without the functionalities as UMTS (3G) or the ability to create documents on the device itself. Although the big mass doesn’t care about “details” like 3G or so, everyone can see the high price. And that is definitely too high. In the price area of a business phone, many things can be expected. 3G is on of those things and it’s not yet built in.
Another factor is the linking of the device to a carrier without the ability to use other SIM cards. “Normal” people just can’t afford the monthly fees and would love to use their prepaid SIMs without any interference by Apple.
It’s sad to see a great company like Apple miss a complete market and destroy a very good product that deserves a better existence.
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