Let’s start with the hardware first. The phone is solid, sleek and beautiful all at once, holding and looking at it gives you assurance that your coin was well spent. The glass front and back are absolutely  stunning! One complaint I have, which I had with 3Gs as well, is the way the phone slips off any surface you place it on. Of course a nice rubber case will solve the problem, but I hate cases, I can live with the problem. The “Retina” display is eye popping! Comparing my 3Gs to the 4 side by side it’s easy to see the improvement in screen quality. As a matter of fact some of my 3Gs wallpapers that looked great on my 3Gs  look grainy on the 4 because the resolution is so much better. Another improvement on the phone, a complaint I had on the 3Gs, is the volume control. I like the separate buttons for up and down volume better than the 3Gs’s rocker style volume control a small but great change.

Software isn’t really all different from the 3Gs with iOS4. You have folders, multi-tasking and zoom control on the camera. However some changes that are welcome and very useful are the front facing camera, HD rear camera and flash. Pictures on the iPhone 4 are much crisper than the 3Gs and video is simply amazing. The flash really works well for close ups at night, if you expect to take a picture half way across the room with the flash you will be disappointed. Facetime is a feature I have yet to test and will have to review at a later date.

Overall I love the iPhone 4. I think it’s the best smartphone on the market. Yesterday I sat to lunch with a friend who has an Android phone and he test drove my iPhone 4, he was much impressed. I know there have been recent issues in the news concerning the iPhone 4, namely the reception “death grip” issue. I can say that I have not had those issues with my iPhone 4 but I don’t doubt that some people have. I think your geographic location and networking traffic have a lot to do with any cell phone’s reception.

The iPhone get’s 4 out of 5 Noobs from yours truly. Why not 5 out of 5, simply put, every phone is going to have issues for someone. I have a few issues, though minor, with iPhone 4 which is why is doesn’t have a perfect score. In the end we as the users have to choose what issues we are willing to deal with and when to walk away to a different platform.

~TechnoNoob~

picture from Apple.com

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Copyright © 2010 The Babbling TechnoNoob

~TechnoNoob~

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By SPENCER E. ANTE via The Wall Street Journal

Some security experts believe Google’s Android Market is more vulnerable than other app stores since Google doesn’t examine all apps before they are available for users to download.

A Google spokesman said the company has put in place security measures, such as remotely disabling apps found to be malicious and requiring developers to register with its Checkout payment service, and argued there’s no evidence for claims that its store poses a greater risk than others.

.Apple vets applications before they appear in its App Store, but risks still exist. In July 2008, Apple pulled a popular game called Aurora Feint from its store after it was discovered to be uploading users’ contact lists to the game maker’s servers. More recently, it yanked hundreds of apps it said violated its policies, some out of security concerns.

“Consumers should be aware that iPhone security is far from perfect and that a piece of software downloaded from the App Store may still be harmful,” wrote software engineer Nicolas Seriot in a research paper detailing iPhone security holes that he presented at a computer security conference in February.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, speaking at the All Things D conference this week, said his company’s employees carefully curate the store. “We have a few rules: has to do what it’s advertised to do, it has to not crash, it can’t use private APIs,” or application programming interfaces, he said, adding that 95% of submissions are approved.

“Apple takes security very seriously,” a spokeswoman said. “We have a very thorough approval process and review every app. We also check the identities of every developer.”

Apple’s iPhone itself isn’t immune to mobile threats, either. Since 2008, security experts have identified at least 36 security holes in the phone’s software, according to a review of the National Vulnerability Database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security. One, identified in September 2009, could have allowed hackers to learn someone’s username and password from messages sent to servers when browsing the Web.

full story here

~TechnoNoob~

Videos on MacLife including commentary from Steve on Adobe.

~TechnoNoob~

The new AT&T plans provide large amounts of data to enable people to enjoy their favorite online activities:

• DataPlus. Provides 200 megabytes (MB) of data – for example, enough to send/receive 1,000 emails (no attachments), plus send/receive 150 emails with attachments, plus view 400 Web pages, plus post 50 photos on social media sites, plus watch 20 minutes of streaming video – for just $15 per month.**  This plan, which can save customers up to 50 percent off their wireless data charges, is designed for people who primarily like to surf the web, send email and use social networking apps. If customers exceed 200 MB in a monthly billing cycle, they will receive an additional 200 MB of data usage for $15 for use in the cycle.  Currently, 65 percent of AT&T smartphone customers use less than 200 MB of data per month on average.
• DataPro. Provides 2 gigabytes (GB) of data – for example, enough to send/receive 10,000 emails (no attachments), plus send/receive 1,500 emails with attachments, plus view 4,000 Web pages, plus post 500 photos to social media sites, plus watch 200 minutes of streaming video – for $25 per month.**  Should a customer exceed 2 GB during a billing cycle, they will receive an additional 1 GB of data for $10 for use in the cycle.  Currently, 98 percent of AT&T smartphone customers use less than 2 GB of data a month on average.
• Tethering. Smartphone customers – including iPhone customers – who choose the DataPro plan have the option to add tethering for an additional $20 per month.  Tethering lets customers use their smartphones as a modem to provide a broadband connection for laptop computers, netbooks or other computing devices. Tethering for iPhones will be available when Apple releases iPhone OS 4 this summer.

With the new wireless data plans, pricing for a smartphone voice and data bundle now starts at just $54.99 per month for an individual plan, or $24.99 per month for an additional line on a FamilyTalk plan, $15 per month less than the price of the previous entry level bundle.

For new iPad customers, the $25 per month 2 GB plan will replace the existing $29.99 unlimited plan. iPad customers will continue to pre-pay for their wireless data plan and no contract is required. Existing iPad customers who have the $29.99 per month unlimited plan can keep that plan or switch to the new $25 per month plan with 2 GB of data.

above information from AT&T press release find it HERE

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Copyright © 2010 The Babbling TechnoNoob

~TechnoNoob~

So it surprised me when I ran across Homerun Battle 3D by Com2Us. I was not expecting much of anything when I saw the ratings on the game so I simply downloaded the free version. And to my amazement, I found the graphics and gameplay fun and simple (and fast).

I highly recommend the free version, it’s fun and you can play against opponents online. The only speed bump Homerun Battle 3D hits is its full version price of $4.99. Angry Birds is a rich and highly fun game and does it all for .99 cents. I’m not sure why the developers think this is worth $4.99 but I reason that the ratings would go up quickly if this app were .99 cents.

Homerun Battle 3D

~TechnoNoob~

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Copyright © 2010 The Babbling TechnoNoob

by Boy Genius on June 1st, 2010 at 12:01pm via BGR

One of our AT&T sources let us know of a couple new handsets due to arrive on AT&T’s shelves. First up is the HTC Aria. Supposedly the smallest Android handset from HTC, we’re looking at a rumored 3″ display, HTC Sense, 3G, Wi-Fi, a 5 megapixel camera, and EVO-like styling. The last two we have practically no information on, other than them being Samsung units, obviously. We do have the full model numbers — Samsung Captivate (i897) and Samsung Eternity II (a597) – but we’ll keep digging for more information on those.

~TechnoNoob~