My iPhone photo comparison

Let's see how much better the iPhone 3G S camera is vs. the year-old iPhone 3G, shall we?

All these pictures were shot immediately following one another and I don't think you'll have any trouble guessing which camera took each photograph...

The quality of the 3G S photographs are astounding in my opinion. They are sharper (due to the higher quality megapixel camera), and the colors are more bright and vibrant.

I hate to say it... but I recommend upgrading to the 3G S for the camera alone. Especially if you can score the $199 pricing from AT&T.

In other news:

- My iPhone 3G just sold on eBay for $385. What?!

My Apple Store

I have never had a bad experience with the Apple Store. Until now...

No, just kidding. Today's experience was just as great as every other time I've gone in to get a brand new iPhone or Macbook courtesy of the 1 year limited warrenty.

• iPhone #1: It had a gray pixel which was bothering me.
• iPhone #2: It wouldn't boot (jailbreak mishap, my bad).
• Macbook Air #1: It melted. Seriously. See below for pictures.
• iPhone #3: It had air bubbles under the screen.

The only time things didn't go my way was right after the latest Macbook Air price drop & processor upgrade. I asked if I could exchange my 45 day old Air for a new model, but the manager said no. I haven't given up hope as I plan on calling that handy 1-800-APPLE number tomorrow.

See? It melted. I wasn't kidding...

I may or may not have left the Macbook Air in a hot room all day in direct view of the sun. Bygones. Whatever the cause for the "meltdown", the Apple Store asked no questions and simply replaced the computer at no cost.

As my friend Kristen said today... one would think they would have a tally by now of how many free iPhones they've given me in the past 11 months. No worries, my new iPhone 3G S is arriving on Friday.

I received this email from AT&T earlier today:

Good news about your iPhone 3G S early upgrade pre-order! We realize that many of our customers who bought iPhone 3G last July, would now like to have the most recent iPhone technology as soon as it’s available, at the lowest upgrade price. Since you have already placed your online pre-order, we will credit you for the difference between the standard upgrade price - $199 (16 GB) or $299 (32 GB) - and the price that you paid online.

Um... score? I guess waiting in line last year for 9 hours finally paid off! Or maybe it was all the negative press AT&T got on Twitter that did the trick. One will never know...

In Other News:

- You have one more day to buy my BRAND NEW iPhone 3G on eBay. That is all.

My Google Voice revelation

I won a contest a few months back for an elusive Google Voice number. See, Google purchased a company called Grand Central (similar to Skype) a few years back and has been quite stingy about who gets an invite to beta test the service.

At first, I wasn't that excited. I already had a phone number, why did I need another? I sent a few TXT messages to a friend who was also in the beta, but then I just forgot about the whole thing... until a few weeks ago when I had a revelation and finally figured out why I was starting to LOVE Google Voice. But let's start at the beginning, here are the Top 8 reasons to use Google Voice:

1. You get to pick your own phone number. In Atlanta, we have 3 major area codes... 404, 770, and 678. 404 was the original... if you live in the heart of Atlanta, you get a 404 number. 770 is for everyone who lives outside of Atlanta in the suburbs. 678 is what we came up with when we ran out of 770 numbers. Point being, 404 is more trendy than either of the other two area codes. I picked a 404 GV number.
2. You can set up multiple voicemail messages. Then, you can direct different people to different messages:
   - Crazy ex who won't stop calling you? "This number is no longer in service."
   - Family members? "I'm on my way, Mom. Sheesh!"
   - Close friends? "Wazzzzup?!"
3. Google Voice will transcribe all your voicemails. You get an email with the actual content of the message. See? Genius!:
   
   
4. Free TXT messages! I can sit at home surrounded by hills with no AT&T iPhone coverage and TXT to my heart's content. Which leads me to...
5. Every contact in your phone has a unique 406 area code number which Google provides. When John sends you a TXT it comes from a 406 number you've never seen before. But when I respond to that number, John sees my TXT as coming from my GV number! Oh yeah, and...
6. That 406 number also works for outgoing phone calls. I can dial the 406 number uniquely assigned to John and his phone Ring-Rings from my GV number. This provides...
7. A 100% mask in which I can hide my true phone number. Meet a girl in the frozen food isle of the grocery store? She's getting my GV number. Bump into Kevin Rose at SXSW? GV number. New business cards for 2010? GV number.
8. Call. Recording. Sure, it notifies both callers that what you are about to say MAY be used against you in the court of law... but it makes for a great (and easy) method to record a new podcast! Have a listen:
   
   
   
   We discuss:
   - The Ethics, Laws, and Utter Coolness of Recording Calls.
   - How to Scam a Cheap Version of Adobe Photoshop using Photoshop. (example)
   - College Crew Book Recommendations: Tolkien, Williams, Gaiman, Weis.
   - The iPhone 3GS vs. the Palm Pre vs. those Amazing Nokia Phones with 5MP Cameras!

So there you have it. But seriously, all your friends will be green with envy. The only downside I've noticed is once you start using Google Voice as your primary form of communication, you lose all those "mobile to mobile" minutes provided by your carrier. But it will take more time and research to see if that really matters in the long run.

Enjoy the podcast and do leave us a voicemail if you have any comments!

My Spotify work-around

Maybe you've heard of the new peer-to-peer steaming music service Spotify? Maybe not, since it originated in the UK and is not currently available in the US -- unless you use this simple work-around.

1. Edit your Firefox/IE settings to use a Proxy. [instructions] Use this IP: 213.175.207.199, and this Port: 80
2. Go to this URL: https://www.spotify.com/en/get-started/ If you see an invitation code page, the proxy is not working correctly, and you'll need to find another UK proxy.
3. Fill out the form, selecting a username, password, etc. Select UNITED KINGDOM as your Country and use this as your Postal Code: EH15 2JJ
4. Once the account is created, you can download the client to stream & search for just about any music or artist you want. Oh, and it works for Mac & PC.

Here are some screenshots of the lightweight client in action: