Words With Friends – Free iPhone App

I’ve never been a Scrabble player in my life. I never got the game to begin with, but a couple of months ago I thought I would try Words With Friends Free iPhone App.  This game is a Scrabble like game where you play on your iPhone with other users.

I have yet to actually win a game with the friends I’m playing with as I think everyone is just that much smarter than I am. One day I’m sure I will be able to beat someone as I’m learning new words along the way and thus this game has become an addiction for me. I can’t get enough of it and trying to come up with words based on my letters is always a challenge.

I do think my weakness in the game is that most of my words are always 3 letters long and I need to strive to change that. I don’t have a technique yet, but I know some of friends always go for the huge word score counts or try to make sure that I’m not able to place any letters on the higher score areas.

Now since I am playing the free version of the game, it does get annoying to suffer through the ads after each and every move you make. If you can’t bare this, you can purchase the ad free game at $2.99.

So if we are not playing, hook me up. You can find me by searching for GusF.

iPhone 4 Launch and First Impressions

About a week ago, the day after the iPhone 4 was launched in Canada, I decided to line up outside the Apple Store to see if I could get my hands on the coveted smart phone. I got to the store at about 8:45am and there was already a line up of about 50 people and I thought I would stake my claim in line. Of course by this time I had already tweeted that I was in line and Lesley Chang came by to join me in line and get her own iPhone 4.

The Apple Store staff were amazing as we waited in line. They came by and offered us all drinks and some food to eat prior to the store opening. When the store finally opened they came by everyone in line to see if we wanted the 16 gb or the 32 gb version of the iPhone 4. When we asked the staff member if this meant they had iPhones in stock, they said it meant we were guaranteed one.

Of course the night before, on launch day, they couldn’t activate everyone’s phone that were in line, so they were given a card to use on the Saturday and were given priority access. Also if you were in line wanting to get yourself the unlocked version of the iPhone 4, you were allowed to skip the line and go directly into the store. That said after 4 hours of waiting, I finally got in and got my iPhone 4. Since I wasn’t changing anything on my plan, the process was quick and within 1/2 hour I was out the door the lovely phone.

First Impressions

I’ve only been playing with my iPhone for about a week now and only have the iPhone 3G to compare it to. With that said the difference is amazing.

The phone feels slightly heavier even though it is thinner than the iPhone 3G and 3GS. I’m not sure if it’s just because it’s flatter than its predecessors, or if it’s because of the new aluminosilicate glass. This also makes the phone feel so much slicker in my opinion.

The picture quality is outstanding. Everything is much crisper and brighter thanks due to the Retina Display. Websites are displayed amazingly.

The 5 megapixel camera with flash finally brings the iPhone up to standard. There is no longer a need for a point and shoot camera. The quality is great and the LED flash allows you to take photos in low light.

The front facing camera is also nice and even though I haven’t tried out the Face-to-Face feature, I have taken photos with the front camera. The quality isn’t anything great as it’s not 5 megapixel quality.

Having the ability to take 720 dpi video is also great. The only problem I’ve found with the video is that when you upload to YouTube directly from the iPhone, the HD quality is lost. Hopefully they will be able to fix this soon. In the interim I’ve been using the Flickr App as it allows you to upload the HD quality of the video.

The battery is also amazing. I can go 2 days without recharging my phone. I wouldn’t last 24 hours on my iPhone 3G recently and this is a welcome change to say the least.

As for Antennagate, I haven’t experienced any drop calls nor experienced loosing bars while holding the phone.

The only problem that I have experienced so far is during a speakerphone call. People seem to have a problem hearing me and I have to really put the mic very close to my mouth which I think defeats the purpose of the speakerphone. Granted I haven’t tried Face-to-Face yet to see if this is also a problem. Hopefully I can test that theory out soon with someone.

Sending Multiple Photos on the iPhone

Most days I don’t pay too much attention to TV commercials, but the other night while watching Fringe the iPhone commercial caught my eye. In the commercial they were clicking through multiple photos and sending them via email. That surprised me as I never knew you could send multiple photos through the iPhone.

To share you photos open up your photo album.

At the bottom left you will notice the share button, click this and start selecting your photos by touching the appropriate thumbnail and a check mark appears to let you know it has been selected.

Click on Share and you can send all the photos selected via Email or MMS.

There you have it. A great and simple way to share multiple photos in quickly and with easy instead of sending multiple emails with one photo attachment at a times.

My Rogers Saga Continues

As some of you have known, I had cancelled my Rogers contract a month ago to get my iPhone.  At the time it was the only way for a new and current client of Rogers to get an iPhone, before waiting for their “upgrade window” to come (usually 12 months).  A week after my cancellation and move over to Fido (to keep my current number), Rogers changed their policy to allow current clients with a good standing record after 3 months to upgrade their phone.

I wasn’t too pleased with them, yet again, and filed a complain with the Better Business Bureau.  I had thought nothing would come of this.

On Friday I received a call from Rogers regarding my complain. Rogers, being them, played dumb and asked me why I should get my money back when I “signed a contract”.  I quickly let “Rosie” know that the reason I was wanting my money back was because they changed the rules a week after I cancelled.  Rosie of course was saying that I had already a subsidized phone and thus was responsible for the $400 cancellation fee.  I told her Rogers themselves said the only way for me to get the iPhone was to cancel my contract. She asked me for proof of this. I wasn’t sure I had the email still from Rogers that told me to do just that, so she offered to return $200 back to me to satisfy the complaint.

I have found the email which stated:

In your recent email, you have informed us that you are disappointed
that you cannot upgrade your current cell phone to the new iPhone.

We do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

You would be able to upgrade to the iPhone after 12 months of your
current contract as we allow an upgrade once a year if needed.

The iPhone 3G pricing is competitive and as you’ve read, it’s a heavily
subsidized model:

The maximum early cancellation fee is $400, the 8GB model is $199,
that’s $600. To compare, that’s the original price of iPhone 2G and this
one is twice as fast.

$600 is also well within the range of a variety of our unsubsidized
smartphones today (BB Curve $549.99; Nokia N95 is $689.99).

Gotcha!

I think I’ll have my full $400 back please and thank you! I’ll be calling Rosie on Monday and send her the lovely email.

UPDATE:

Well it looks like now they don’t want to return any money to me and have said they will close off their files on this matter? WTF?!!!!  When speaking with Rosey, she claimed now that the fee stays. I wanted to speak to her supervisor, but of course she wasn’t there so I left a message and have yet to hear back from her after 1 day.

I’m still going to fight this.  Who’s with me?!

Rogers Screws Me Again

Today I was catching up on my RSS Feeds and I came across this interesting blog post by John Beihler.  It looks like Rogers has changed their rules on upgrading your phone.  As you are all probably aware I have been trying to get an iPhone from Rogers and they have refused to let me do so until my 12 months were up.  Last week I had said “screw you” and cancelled my contract (which they had suggested) and went over to Fido and picked up an iPhone.  But oh no Rogers has to say “no screw you” and throw this in my face.

What is a boy to do?

I’m not sure they will revert my cancellation fee back as I know they will say that I cancelled from Rogers and moved over to Fido.  Granted if I stayed with Rogers themselves they might have returned the fee back.

Should I be surprised at this.  I don’t think so.  I think Rogers finally realized that they have pissed off so many of their clients and they are fearing that people will just let their contracts run out and wait for the new players to come into the market.  I think this is their way to secure customers for another 3 years which will make it difficult for the new players to get customers.

Time will tell and see if Rogers will let my cancellation fee go, but I think hell will freeze over first before that happens.

I Has iPhone

Well I did it. I cancelled my Rogers contract and headed to Fido and got myself a brand new iPhone.

I have to say the process wasn’t as bad as I feared and they actually had some iPhones in stock. The whole process took about 20 minutes to complete. Granted the cancelation fee is going to hurt, but I feel sticking it out was going to hurt worse in the long run.

I have to say this is a sweet gadget that does just about everything I would wanted it to execpt record video.

So far I am enjoying so off the applications as well, including the WordPress application that I am using to type this post.

Here is looking at 3 wonderful years to come. 🙂

Rogers Crushes My iPhone Dreams

Well Rogers you did it! You have crushed my dreams of owning an iPhone.  How does that make you feel? What’s that? You don’t care? Yeah I figured as much.

I have been going back and forth with Rogers this past week trying to attempt to get an iPhone.

First they tell me I’m not able to upgrade until I have been with them for 12 months.  When I question this and let them know that they are treating their “new customers” like dirt, they return with another offer.  What is that offer? Cancel your contract and pay $400 and then get a new three year contract and start like a new customer.  I’m not at that point yet.

My hopes grew when a friend referred me to FIDO’s site and they have “something in the works” for people who don’t qualify for an upgrade and are new customers.

When I questioned Rogers on this, their response:

We are unsure of what FIDO is planning, however, be advised that the terms for obtaining the phone are the same between FIDO and Rogers. We do not have any information about anything planned in the future by FIDO and the IPhone, nor at the present time does Rogers. This product has been available for less than a week now and the terms are still applicable.

What? As a parent company you have *no* idea what is in the works?

I think my frustration is more on the “hush hush” that Rogers has. I think if they just open up and tell people that something is in the works that would be great!

I’m even willing to pay a premium to get the iPhone now, but just not willing to spend $400 and cancel and then renew again.

At this point my dreams have been crushed.  We’ll see how I feel in a few days, weeks or months.

As a new Rogers customer I feel like I’m in prison waiting for my parol hearing to come in 12 months to decide if I qualify for the phone.

I fully regret signing up with Rogers and I should have gone with FIDO long time ago!

iPhone Envy

Today is the official launch of the iPhone in Canada, but the 3G model no less and I have ot admit I’m feeling envious to all the people that currently lined up and will be purchasing this awesome looking device today. I had been waiting for this for over a year and I had even signed up with Rogers 4 months ago in anticipation for this.  Alas since doing this so early, I am on a "contract" and cannot get one for a year.  This just bites and it bites hard.

A good friend of mine says he knows a manager at one of the Rogers store and is getting one (even though he is currently on a contract himself).  If he does, I am going to try to get one myself next week since I will be going camping this weekend and this will get me away from the city and avoid seeing my fellow techies walking around with the phone I’d love to have!

A co-worker of mine had said that today will be a sad day for me and that I should have called in sick.  He did say to other co-workers that no one should talk about the iPhone today to help me out – What a nice guy 🙂

So to all how have gotten the iPhone, just know this guy here is envious.

Enjoy the iPhone everyone!!

Rogers iPhone Petition

I have signed it, you should too!

Update: Based on their Facebook page, this site has been blocked by Rogers (no surprise here), but you can still access the site via a webproxy. When I did and looked at their blog, it looks like the they have a new DNS and will need about 48 hours for it populate.

It also looks like Rogers might be caving in and saying you can use any data plans now and any voice plans. I wonder then if the $7/month unlimited websurfing would work then.

Link Love Edition

I have to admit I have never written a post just for the sake of writing something or for “Link Love”.

I thought I was well due to this.

As everyone knows, Apple announced their much anticipated 3G iPhone today, which will be available on July 11th through Rogers here in Canada. You can read more information on Duane’s and John’s blog.

Also over on Rebecca’s blog, she is giving away tickets to K.D. Lang this coming Friday, check it out and leave a comment to enter for your chance to win.

Raul has posted a nice birthday post for Tanya, aka Netchick and you can read his lovely post there.

Buzz Bishop is off to Disney for their Diabetes ride in January’09 and you can help him and his 95 Crave team meet their goal for this great fundraiser.

My old friend Antoni is adopting an elderly neighbourhood, where you can help out your elderly neighbours.

Have a great day everyone!