The economy is in the tank and we'll all be living in Hoovervilles like wannabe Slumdog Millionaires by April Fools Day. Naturally, now seemed like the perfect time to run down to the Apple Store at Bridgeport Village and buy an iPhone.

I'll spare you the internet's 50 billionth blog post scribbled by a recent adopter hypnotized by the devices' applications, games, visual voicemail, GPS system and..zzzzz... Instead, here's a video of me chasing two cats around an apartment with the "Force Unleashed Lightsaber App."

Labels: Technology

I was talking to a colleague last night about the iPhone and his plans to snag one when they hit stores on Friday. Over the past few weeks, he's gone back and forth on whether or not to go through with it. On one hand they're pricey, first generation and bound to be plagued by bugs. On the other, have you seen this?

Just like the iPod, the iPhone seems like a giant leap forward in its field. I'd love to get my hands on one myself but I'm not about to pay upwards of $499 for a cell phone, even if it can do just about everything my laptop can with an interface straight out of Minority Report.

As a fairly-fervent Apple fan, he's been following rumors surrounding the iPhone from the day it was announced. From what he told me, there’s already around a 100 of them currently in use in the states. Supposedly Steve Jobs personally approved the release of each one as part of an effort to test the network AT&T will be running them on. I’m not willing to separate fact from fiction but, at the very least, it looks like this guy is running around with one.

Labels: Technology

A few months ago I wrote about problems I was having with an iPod I received for Christmas. After a few hours of arguing with Apple's phone support team they finally agreed to let me ship it back for a replacement. Three weeks later, my new iPod arrived and now it's chock full of music and Podcasts, all of which I planned to listen to during my evening commute.

But now there's another problem. My car's stereo doesn't have a tape deck or an AUX port I can plug the iPod into. This means I have to use a small FM transmitter I purchased for a road trip last summer. It works great while bombing down US 26 or in the Montana outback but it's almost completely worthless within city limits. In the past few years, nearly every nook of Portland's airwaves have become clogged with religious programming. No less than six Christian stations now litter the local FM dial.

I suppose they'll all come in handy if I ever find myself in need of patronizing homilies or endless donation drives. Still, to be honest, I'd much rather listen to "Grammar Girl" or "Morning Becomes Eclectic" podcasts as I fight my way out of Beaverton every Monday through Friday night. It's pretty difficult to improve my ability to conjugate verbs when a firebrand cuts through GG's lessons to extol the virtues of, er, virtue...and writing over one's Social Security check to his organization.

I'd happily trade Jammin' 95.5 or OPB Radio's tedious pledge drives for a clear signal but at least their genres are covered by a mere station or two. The Christians are hogging more than their fair share of the city's FM band and my iPod and I are sick of it. Right now, 96.1 works pretty well for the Beaverton area but the second I hit Raleigh Hills the reception gives way to static-filed sermonizing. I'm still hunting for a chunk of the dial that's clear enough to pull in something while driving around the eastside.

Or I guess I could always tear out the current stereo and replace it with an old-school tape deck and a adapter, if anyone still sells them.

Labels: ipods, Technology

This email about a contest MetroFi is hosting turned up in my inbox this morning:

Dear MetroFi User:

Thank you for those who have submitted your success story to MetroFi. This is a reminder to send in an interesting story about your use of MetroFi's Wi-Fi service before February 19th, 2007! We are looking for the most unique stories so tell us yours!

MetroFi will be giving away 5 Ruckus MetroFlex™ Modems (a $149 value) to the persons with the best stories. The Ruckus will improve signal strength and your overall experience when connected to MetroFi. Please e-mail your story, your name, contact information and what city you are in to success@metrofi.com. Reminder! The deadline is February 19th 2007 to be eligible.

I'm sure a good number of users will enter but I wonder how many of their anecdotes will be grounded in reality. Back in December I took my laptop downtown to take a spin on the city's free wireless network. I parked my car on 4th Avenue, a block away from one of MetroFi's access points. The laptop tracked down a weak signal, I tried to connect a few times but couldn't pick up anything. After moving the car to a spot roughly ten yards from an access point outside of the Lotus, Google finally loaded.

The signal was strong and pages loaded fairly quickly. Still, as users have complained about for months, the service is still unreliable and impractical unless they're packing a high-powered wireless modem (or willing to camp out under one of MetroFi's stoplight-mounted antennas). Even then, only a certain number of users can log on at one time. If MetroFi's signal range improved in recent weeks, I haven't heard a peep about it.

So am I currently trying to come up with a fake success story so I can score one of those $149 modems? Nope. Why? Because I don't want to become an involuntary spokesman for MetroFi's lackluster service. Check out this easy-to-miss disclaimer in the contest rules:

4. By claiming the prize, the winner authorizes the use, without additional compensation of his or her name and/or likeness and/or voice/photograph and municipality of residence for promotion and/or advertising purposes in any manner and in any medium (including without limitation, radio broadcasts, newspapers and other publications and television), which MetroFi may deem appropriate.

But would a modem AND a free cookie be enough to entice me into becoming a potential shill? Maybe...

Labels: Portland, Technology