3 Stupid-Simple Things Keeping Me From The iPhone

THE 3 SLAP-YOUR-HEAD SIMPLE THINGS APPLE REFUSES TO GIVE ME

It has been a year and a quarter since I defected from the Walled Garden of Apple. I traded in my iPhone 4 to get a Samsung Galaxy S2, which I'm still using.

I've got a backup iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 4th Gen for WiFi use, but Android is my main operating environment experience.

If I counted everything, there would be quite a laundry list of things that Apple seems to refuse to give me to make me happy (it's all about me).

But looking back, I would have stayed if I could just get three stupid-simple things. I'll share them with you now.

Thing 1 - A Back Button

When running an app that doesn't have an on-screen back button, the only thing you can do to go back a step is to hit the home button and re-enter the app. To me, that is a huge waste of time, even though it only takes a moment. But how simple is the solution?

I love my back button on my Android device, and now I can't live without it. I constantly use the back button to backtrack though my screen taps, especially on Facebook. No on-screen back button on the app? No problem. I have my Android soft button always there waiting for me to give the command to "back that thang up".

Thing 2 - Text Reflow

This is the most maddening of all things that Apple had deprived me of. It's quite possibly one of my most favorite features of Android devies. But for whatever reason, Apple prefers to remain hard-headed about this, turning a deaf ear to the many inquiries about adding this capability to the Safari browser.

When I'm using Opera on my Android device, I can zoon in on text to make it bigger. My browser will re-flow the text, wrapping it downward so all I have to do is scroll down to read. With my old trusty iPhone, I get to pan sideways to read sentences that fly off the right side when you zoom in. I'd rather bang my head up against a brick wall than pan side to side trying to read an article on a smartphone.

Thing 3 - Keyboard Choices

Even though I absolutely love the perfect layout of the iPhone's keyboard, I want variety. Apple has no plans to provide that, when it comes to text input. Don't hold your breath waiting for cool things like Swype for an iPhone. Because it ain't gonna happen.

When I'm on my Android device, I switch from my iPhone Clone keyboard to Swype, then Swiftkey, and more. Once I burn out on a particular keyboard and layout, I  can move to a completely different keyboard that allows me to keep my mind fresh.

I have found my time period to get sick of a particular keyboard is about a week. After that, I have to move to a different style of keyboard to freshen my mind and cut down on typos. It's completely a mental thing, but I seriously enjoy the choices for text entry on Android devices.

So there you have it. Sure, there are 10 or 15 more things I could drone on about. But these three stupid simple things would have been enough for me to tolerate the balance of other things I would have had to give up hope on.

How do you feel about your iDevice? Have you ever thought about these issues? Are you secretly desiring these things, hoping that Apple will some day bend? Or does it not cause you to lose a single minute of sleep? Toss your opinion into the hat in the Disqus comments section!

Carlton Flowers
Spurned/Burned Apple Fanboy

First iPhone 5 Found In The Wilderness

IPHONE 5 SURPRISINGLY SIMILAR, SLIGHTLY SLIMMER

Here it is, folks! The first iPhone 5 that I have spotted in the wild! This one belongs to one of my cohorts, fellow blogger Tim Largent.

When I first saw it, I didn't know I was looking at an iPhone 5. He had it sitting on his desk, downloading his apps from iCloud. When I saw his iPhone 4 sitting on the other side of his desk, I was confused, thinking the iPhone 4 was an iPod or something.

I asked him what the heck he was doing, and he told me he was loading his new phone. That's when it dawned on me (I'm not that bright) that the device I was looking at was in fact his iPhone 5.

Picking it up, it was noticeably thin. He had it in a cheaper rubber case, but even with the case on the device, you could tell that it had a couple of millimeters shaved off. Otherwise, it looked exactly like the iPhone 4, only stretched out a bit.

If someone had plopped that phone in front of me on a table and asked me to identify it, I would have guessed it was an iPhone 4. But after you pick it up and try to access the top left corner of the screen, and can't reach it with your thumb, you reaize it has increased in height.

The new data connector is quite a bit of a switch, about 1/4th the size of the older standard connector. But it's not the magnetic type that you see on the Macbook Air. This has a few iPhone fans a little disappointed, but the new connector is an improvement at least.

The display looks about the same, but with the added pixel height. The new aspect ratio of 16:9 is set up for optimal movie viewing. It looks like the standard iPhone display with an extra row of icons added. That might help for jamming more favorites onto the home screen.

So the bottom line is, for me, that the iPhone 5 is shockingly similar to the iPhone 4/4S form factor. It is a great-looking phone with the newly designed thinness and slightly taller display, but it's more of the same. Apple did not take chances on shaking up the entire design.

The iPhone 5 is not something that would draw me back from Android devices, but I do see this out-selling all previous iPhone models. I think Apple is smartly sticking to what they know works best, and we may not see a radical shift in design for quite some time.

Do you have an iPhone 5, or are you considering getting an upgrade? If so, what carrier is your choice host? Let me know in the comments section below!

Carlton Flowers
iPhone Watcher

iPhone 5 Revealed - Breakthrough iPhone Or Catch-Up Smartphone?

IPHONE 5 IS MORE OF THE SAME, YET MOST ADVANCED

The iPhone 5 has been officially announced! Finally, all the hoopla, waiting, and rumors come to a close. The yearly Apple dog-and-pony-show has been quite an experience. But how will the iPhone 5 be viewed? Is it a breakthrough device, or a catch-up to Android?

My prediction did come true. I blogged that it would make no sense for Apple to release a new generation iPhone without a 16:9 aspect ratio. As I indicated, the screen is 4" x roughly 2.2" wide. That's a perfect 16:9 aspect, which will make this a great device to watch movies and television shows on.

The iPhone 5 is slightly thinner, and claims to be the thinnest smartphone in the world at 7.6 millimeters. Plus it is 20% lighter, weighing in at a slim 112 grams. The display packs 1136x640 pixels, and it is an LTE-capable device with a new A6 processor.

Those are the basic big changes. Everything else is really not earth shattering news. For Apple iPhone owners, I would say that this is a significant upgrade that most people would want to jump on for $199 and a new 2-year contract. If I had an iPhone 4, I would most definitely be buying the iPhone 5 on my next available upgrade.

But for Android users, a lot of what we are seeing would be old news. I don't tend to believe the prognosticators that are saying Android users will leave in droves thanks to all the new features of the iPhone 5. I don't see it surpassing cutting edge Android devices. Instead, it's more of a game of "catch-up".

One thing that CZ Blog Administrator and Crack Reporter Jim "Postal Jim" Stuckey reported to me as he was watching the streaming live event was the excitement over being able to upload from the iOS Facebook app. I wasn't even aware that you couldn't do this. I've had this capability for the past year with my Samsung Galaxy S2 with Android Gingerbread (and now Ice Cream Sandwich).

The front and rear cameras of the iPhone 5 are the same as the cutting edge standards of Android devices. The rear camera is still at 8 megapixels, and the front facing camera comes in with 720p capability. They claim the rear camera is smaller, but I don't see that making any difference in usability.

You can take photos in the middle of shooting video footage with an iPhone 5. That's a really cool feature, but didn't we already see this with the HTC One X smartphone a couple of months ago? I think we did. Again, this is great for Apple users, but not a big deal for Android owners.

One feature of the iPhone 5 that I am excited about is the new lightning connector. No more big fat 1" wide power/data connector plug. Now it is 80% smaller, and you can reverse it. They've cut it down to Android Micro USB size, but you don't have to plug it in with the right side facing up. So that is an advantage over current cutting-edge Android devices.

Another huge improvement of the iPhone 5 that I give Apple credit for is the new aluminum backing. My biggest beef with the iPhone 4/4S was the fragile design. It can't be dropped from a height more than 2' without shattering the display, or cracking the back glass. Hopefully the aluminum design will help it absorb the impact of a drop, and redirect the energy instead of shattering the display.

iOS6 has officially been announced along with the iPhone 5. I'm not sure when the next edition of Apple's operating system will be available for download on the iPhone 4/4S, but it will come pre-loaded on the iPhone 5. There are new features with iOS6, but nothing that has given me a case of Apple envy.

That's about all I've got. To wrap it up, I would highly recommend the iPhone 5 to anyone in the market for a new Apple smartphone. I'm sure the price on the iPhone 4S will drop, but why take the older technology when the cost of the newest device is only about 1/20th of what you'll be paying on that lovely 2-year contract for service? I say go for the gusto.

For Android users, this doesn't look like a device that would draw you back or make you switch. Some will, of course, but former iPhone owners/enthusiasts like myself aren't going to give up the higher capabilities of Android devices to float back to a smaller handset.

What are your thoughts about the iPhone 5? Are you going to be pre-ordering one, or purchasing as soon as you have an available upgrade? Are you an Android user that will be making the switch? Does any of this excite you? I wanna know! Comment away!

Carlton Flowers
iPhone Yawner

CZ Tech Talk Preview - An Unplugged Geek Fest

CZ TECH TALK FRIDAY EDITION INTRODUCES NEW RANDOM FORMAT

Hi folks. The CZ Blog Man is in a rare mood. I'm gonna try something new, so don't expect normal. If you are reading this, you agree to the terms and conditions of this post, which are as follows:

• This post shall ramble on, possibly without end
• Reader is aware that I may not ever make a point or have a purpose
• Writer reserves the right to change the topic of discussion every 3rd sentence without warning
• Post could end abruptly without warning
• Reader agrees to the terms of payment for the post (this is explained at the end)

Now that you have read and agreed to the terms and conditions of this post, I will be able to continue with what it is that I did not plan to do. And that is ramble on about whatever comes to my mind, kind of like a brainstorming session. So here we go! It's the Unplugged Friday Edition of CZ Tech Talk!

IPHONE 5 DESIGN

It's bunk. Crap. All these blogs out here posting about this bogus new design that makes the screen only 1/2" taller but the same width are really disappointing me. Come on, geek writers, do you really thing they are going to change the aspect ratio of the iPhone 5?

I talked to my partner, CEO Jake Seeman, of our company CoMo Coding LLC last night. We have an app development company, of which I am the Vice President handling all marketing. I asked CEO Jake if Chief Programmer Stephen Lindhauer had an opinion about these rumors, and if it was causing him any worry. He said yes.

Here's the thing... people like our Chief Programmer Stephen will have a complete psychotic fit if Apple changes the aspect ratio of the next iPhone, because that means all of the current apps would have to be re-written to run on the new weirdly shaped screen.

If they increase the width from 2" to 2.29", that would fit the aspect ratio of the new vertical dimension of 4". That is, IF the new display even ends up with the extra half inch on top. Wait a minute... strike those figures. The current dimension is 3.5" diagonally measured. So adding a 1/2" extra amount to the top would make a greater diagonal distance.

Whatever the case, you get the point. If you make it taller, and not wider, you screw up the aspect ratio. That's why I think all you big boy blog sites are sitting with your heads jammed in a warm moist place for believing this stuff.

Next topic...

IPHONES IN KOREA

I don't know who it is that started this rumor, but as the story is told, they claim that the people of South Korea love the iPhone and are found carrying it much more often than their native Samsung products.

These people also claim that the South Koreans see the iPhone as a status symbol, and they don't give the same respect or value to their own brand.

Well I am glad to report to you that this story is 100% garbage, and I know this for fact. My previously-mentioned partner, CEO Jake Seeman, was actually in South Korea for an entire 2 weeks. He said that EVERYONE in South Korea is walking around carrying phablets. They are all over the place.

He told me that this idea that the countrymen (and women) are carrying iPhones is a complete fabrication. He never saw a single iPhone 3GS while there, and only 2 iPhone 4S's (one of which was his own). So I hand the Turd Trophy to all of you who seem to find it necessary to promote this craptastic rumor.

PHABLET PHRENZY

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is coming! We have just a few days until the announcement. Soon after, we should hear about the HTC Phablet that is coming. I am gonna bet that the Samsung version will be better. I love HTC smartphones, but they are too heavy and bulky. I need light and unbreakable.

I cannot wait to get my hands on a phablet. Unless something life-changing and monumental comes out in between today and October when I can upgrade, it's gonna be Phablet Time for me

---------------------------------

That's all I have for the moment. that doesn't mean that I won't post another one of these unplugged ramblings in the next 5 minutes though. It just depends on the current state of my ADD/HD. But from now on, when you see the new "CZ Tech Talk" logo, you'll know this is an unplugged post.

But before you go, we have to talk about payment. Yes, that's right, this isn't free. You agreed to the terms and conditions of this post when you started. If you made it this far, it's time to pay up. I don't allow stealing.

To avoid possible prosecution and punitive damages, you must pay for reading this post by dropping a comment in the fantastic Disqus commenting section below. Tell me what you think of the rambling topics, share a new topic, or tell me what your favorite flavor of ice cream is.

Whatever the case, make your payment now or you will receive a citation and fine in your email inbox for violating my terms.

Thanks a bagillion.

Carlton Flowers
CZ Unplugged

iPhone 4 Stuck Power Button - What You Need To Know

THE TRUTH ABOUT IPHONE 4/4S STICKING POWER BUTTON ISSUE

I have torn up 2 iPhones in my past. From tearing them up after attempting to fix them, I became quite proficient in the art of fixing them. But today, I uncovered what I believe to be a common issue with the iPhone 4 (4S) - the stuck or sticking power button.

A young friend of mine asked me if I could repair his iPhone 4 that had a mushy power button that no longer clicks. To turn his phone on or wake it back up, he would have to use tremendous force on the sticking power button. I decided to take it on.

I discovered a quick-fix and a real fix for this issue. The quick fix only requires taking the back off of the phone. Apparently, someone was lucky enough to shove a small folded piece of paper in-between the power button and ribbon to give it something to press against in order to activate. This does not work.

It can be a dangerous pseudo repair. If you break the ribbon from putting pressure in the wrong place, you can FUBAR your iPhone power button completely.

The only real repair for this is to compeltely tear down the phone and replace the entire ribbon and button assembly. Unfortunately, this is more time consuming than replacing the LCD/digitizer screen. Everything has to come out. And the replacement ribbon/button assembly is tiny.

The labor for this fix might not be worth the trouble you have to go through. In my opinion, this is a problem that should be taken straight to Apple whether or not the phone is still under warranty. From my research, I'm finding out that this is not a malfunction that comes from abnormal wear.

If you want to see the process you must go through to accomplish the replacement of the ribbon and button, check out www.imore.com and their step-by-step process. You can also check out my favorite iPhone repair site at www.ifixit.com for a great guide. However, if you have never disassembled an iPhone 4/4S, I do not recommend attempting this.

I believe the instances of this issue numbers in the 200,000-plus range. That's proof enough of a manufacturer's defect at worst case, and poor design at least case. I don't think it's a defect, but just a common problem that can occur due to the tight space the button and ribbon assembly have to be squished into.

My recommendation is to find a workaround. You can jailbreak your iPhone and reassign some of the buttons to simulate the power button's functionality. I did this with my iPhone 4 when my home button had the same problem. Instead of hitting the home button when the phone was off, I would depress the volume up + volume down buttons at the same time to turn it on.

If this is not something you want to do, you can call Apple directly and bug the crap out of them until they agree that it is not your fault that they designed the phone this way, and make them repair it for free.

This is just one of a nice list I have of serious Apple iPhone issues that the company doesn't seem to want to deal with. Judging from the response to the original "Antennagate" issue, I am of the belief that they don't want to deal with the headache.

I hate to be critical of Apple's devices, but this is just an unacceptable problem that I think a significant number of people are having. Physical buttons on the iPhone 4, including the home button, power button, volume button, and silence button are all prone to sticking in this same manner.

I'm hoping that Apple resolves this with the iPhone 5, along with the ridiculously fragile cracking screen issue. The iPhone is a solid, heavy "quality-feeling" device, but that obviously comes with a price.

Critics tend to take jabs at manufacturers like Samsung and Pantech for having "plasticky" light-weight devices, but you can't take a blind eye to the fact that they are much much more durable and don't have these common button malfunctions.

Take note of this, Apple, and please save the frustration of countless future customers of yours by resolving these issues on the next breakthrough version of your flagship device!

Carlton Flowers
Defender of Poor Souls Who Own Phaulty iPhones