Canadian iPhone User - iPhoneUser.ca

We are back and working again at http://www.iphoneuser.ca. I finally got the site up and running. Still working on a few minor details but everything looks good. This site here will remain for the time being and as a test site. Thanks for checking us out.

Hi everyone. I'm in the process of changing webhosts so the site may be down temporarily some time later today or tomorrow. Please check back later if we are down as I hope to have everything set up ASAP. The mirror address for the site is - http://iphoneuserca.blogspot.com.
Visit us there in the meantime if the main address isn't working. We will have a nice new set up and hopefully you will find it more user friendly - much like the iPhone is.

Thanks.

I found an interesting app today in installer. I'm not sure when it came out but once I saw it, I had to try it out. It's the iPhone video recorder. It's available in the featured section right when you open up installer.

The video quality actually seems quite decent. The one you download is basically a trial version and will let you record up to 30 second clips and will let you record 30 times. You have to buy a registration code to do more than that. I guess the 30 tries will last me a little while. To buy the full version it costs $19.95. Just a little expensive for an iPhone app. I wonder how much apps will be in the official Apple App Store once it opens.

Overall, this is a good program. But I wouldn't pay 20 bucks to use it. I'm not going to be recording stuff everyday so that doesn't really seem worth it to me. Enjoy your free trial version.

One thing that I've noticed over the past couple of months is that the iPhone is not just for us younger generation. Lots of older people have iPhones too.

I've met a guy who is over 50 who has an iPhone and I asked him a few things about it. He said he loves his iPhone and that it is the best phone he has ever had. He also said that his son who is only 10 taught him how to use everything on it. He also said that he had bought a lot of Apple products like a mac and Apple TV and his son set it all up too. He said that he loves the technology of the iPhone and is glad he got it. His son unlocked it for him.

About two months ago I saw a lady in her 40's who had an iPhone. I also asked her about it. She too said it was the best phone she's ever had, maybe even the best thing she's ever owned. A couple weeks ago I also saw an older man taking photos with his iPhone. Today even, I heard the signature Apple iPhone ringtone, I knew it was an iPhone, but guess who answered, a man who is at least 50, maybe even 60.

This just goes to show that anyone can get excited about the iPhone and cool gadgets in particular. The iPhone really bridges the generation gap. Once the iPhone is available in Canada, I'm sure I will see ever more older folks using an iPhone. I bet not all older people know the ins and outs of unlocking and hacking some of the younger tech savvy generation. Do you know anyone over the age of 40 with an iPhone? Do your parents have one? Let me know!

I finally got the Super Nintendo roms working on my iPhone. It is pretty cool actually. I guess the graphics are a little better than the regular Nintendo roms. The games tend to lag a bit once in a while but I found that they are still playable.

Here's how I did it.

1. The programs you need on your iPhone from installer are as follows:
- snes4iPhone
- zottd required library
- bsd subsystem
- openssh

2. Download the roms you want from http://www.theoldcomputer.com

3. Use cyberduck on mac or winscp to transfer the roms onto your iPhone to the directory
private/var/mobile/Media/ROMs/SNES

4. Right click the rom and click 'info', now change the permissions to 644.

5. Now it will work

For info on how to ssh into the iPhone click here
For info on installer source of snes4iphone click here

I actually made my first youtube video of this process. The video isn't great but will show you what I'm doing to get the roms going on your iPhone (or iPod touch). Hopefully you like it. I plan to make more in the future on other iPhone related stuff and hopefully my video making skills will improve over time. Check it out.

I know there is a lot of people with Telus and Bell or even Verizon and Sprint that want to get their hands on the iPhone. The main thing holding them back is the early cancellation fee or special retention plans or other plans that are keep them tied or loyal to their current carriers. I wasn't afraid of being charged the ECF and I got lucky in my situation but to pay anywhere from $100-700 plus tax just to switch carriers seems unacceptable.

The answer is probably no. There will never be a CDMA iPhone. One reason is that it is just not enough of a popular technology to make it worthwhile. CDMA holds about 50% of North American market share but less than 1% worldwide. That probably just isn't good enough according to Apple standards. The other reason that we wont see a CDMA iPhone is that Apple signed a 5 year exclusive deal with AT&T for the iPhone in the USA. Apple is not going to make a CDMA version just for Telus or Bell. The agreement prevents them for making one for the only viable carriers of Verizon or Sprint.

I know you guys on Telus and Bell want to join us in iPhone-land. My recommendation is to jump ship once your contract expires, and if you really can't wait, pay your ECF and jump ship once the iPhone is released here in Canada by Rogers. At this point, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to switch until Rogers does have the iPhone.

There have been conflicting reports over the past couple days on whether or not the 3G iPhone is physically present in North America and Canada specifically or if it is delayed globally.

First of all Import Genius claims that Apple received a shipment of 188 ocean containers of potentially the 3G iPhone. The customs declaration declared the items as 'electric computers'. This is something that Apple has never declared to customs before. Additonally 44 containers were destined for Vancouver, BC. Yay! That's exciting stuff. I wish I knew someone working at the port who had access to these types of things or could collect that box that fell off the truck.

On the flip side, there are now rumors that the 3G iPhone could be delayed? Oh no! Why? Analysts are saying so because the supposed maker of the 3G iPhone chip has forecasted a decline in profits due to less than anticipated HSDPA chip sales. People determined that maker Infineon would supply the 3G iPhone chip because a code for their chip was buried deep with the iPhone SDK coding. If the 3G iPhone is in fact delayed, it will be a little disappointing as we are all excited and very anxious to see what we will be able to officially get our hands on here in Canada. However, it may not make much difference because I don't think Rogers will be releasing it right away as it becomes available. I think Rogers is going to wait a couple months.

I'm almost getting tired of hearing so many rumors. June 9th isn't that far away but it seems like an eternity where there is a new rumor everyday.

One of the great things about the iPhone is that can connect to wifi networks. This was generally unheard of on cells phones until recently. The iPhone is the leader in cell phones that can connect to wifi. The iPhone's ease of use with safari and other applications make the wifi ability really stand out.

One of the problems of currently not having an adequate data plan on my iPhone is that I have to use wifi more. Now using wifi isn't the problem, just finding free wifi seems to be the problem. In all Starbucks locations they have hotspots. One problem, they aren't free. They aren't even reasonably priced. I'm not going to pay 10 bucks to connect to a wifi network for an hour. I'm also not going to pay 25 bucks a month to get hotspot access all the time because I'm not usually at a hotspot.

One of the funniest things is finding peoples private wifi networks which are open. Come on, who doesn't encrypt their home wifi or business network? It's actually surprising that there are tons of open networks everywhere. I can't believe people actually leave them open but I'm not complaining. At my work, I can get free wifi in a few of the corners. I have to be close to the window but at least I can connect and use the internet. I usually only have 1 wifi bar but it still works. There is about 1 out of 10 wifi networks that are open. I'm sure if you just walk down the street you will find them everywhere. Take advantage of it!

The list keeps growing and growing. It's not that I'm unhappy with the iPhone, I just believe there is some features they could add that would basically kill all other phones.

1. A better camera
A 5 mega pixel camera would be great. The Nokia N95 and the Sony Ericsson K850i both have 5mp cameras. Lets put one in the iPhone with zoom, that way you can basically get rid of your camera that you already have.



2. Decent video recording
Even my Moto Razr could record video. It wasn't that good but it still had it. I probably wouldn't use it that much but I would once in a while. The only thing I recorded on my Moto Razr was parts of a concert but it was still fun. You never know when you want to take a video of something.


3. iTunes store access over 3G
You can't access the Wifi iTunes store now over Edge, well basically because you aren't on wifi. Plus Edge would be to slow to download songs from the iTunes store. Once in a while I hear a song on the radio that I want right away. By the time I get home, I have forgotten it. It happens.

Here's my other wishes for the 3G iPhone

What will the Canadian wireless spectrum auction mean for Canadian iPhone users? I actually think it wont mean much. It may mean something for unlocked iPhone users in the future but really I don't think it will have much effect.

Why? Well it has been reported that the iPhone when released on Rogers may be a Rogers vision phone so that it could be used with the $7 unlimited data plan. How can it get any cheaper than that? Not by much. The basic iPhone plan on AT&T is $59.99. That is not miles cheaper than plans here in Canada.

Telus and Bell are offering real $30 unlimited data plans for Blackerry's/Smartphones. The current trend seems to be that rates are dropping anyway. Koodo Mobile is offering plans for $25 without the system access fee. How much cheaper can it get?

Hopefully the spectrum auction forces Rogers and the others to rethink the system access fee and real data rates. But if you do get an iPhone from Rogers, I doubt this will end up having any impact.

If you are still using an unlocked iPhone on Fido or some new carrier next year, then their may be better data rates in the future for those people. I doubt that a new major wireless countrywide GSM carrier will set up shop and make any significant impact.

I've had the InvisibleShield on my iPhone now for about 3 months. How has it stood up? Well it is actually performing just like it is supposed to. I don't have any scratches on my iPhone. It maintains the great look of the iPhone.

I have noticed a couple problems though:

- It has started to discolor a bit.
The back of the iPhone is a sharp looking metallic grey. The back of the InvisibleShield has taken on a very slight beige color. It's not noticeable unless you look very closely but it has gotten a little dirty. I guess I will try and clean it. Not sure what I will use but I will give it a try.


- It is getting a little rough around the edges.
I guess this comes with normal use. There is a little bit of dust gathering around the edges and getting underneath. I guess it is attaching itself to the sticky underside. You also can only notice this when you look closely.


Overall the InvisibleShield is working just fine. I decided not to put the top and bottom bezel pieces on because it seemed like too much of a hassle so the exposed metal portion at the top and bottom is getting a little scratched up. This is from the iPhone being in my pocket all the time.


I think I'm getting a little tired of having the InvisibleShield on my iPhone but I think I will just leave it on for now. I was thinking of getting the white Incase slider to replace the InvisibleShield but it wouldn't fit with it on. I don't really feel like peeling it off right now because I don't want to potentially damage the paint and I don't want to pay another $25 bucks for a new one if I decide I want it again. I will just leave it as is right now and then make a decision when the next iPhone comes out.

With the anticipated release of the iPhone coming up so soon, there has been a lot of speculation as to what the new iPhone will look like. The trend for Apple seems to be that they release the first generation of a product that comes in one color. When they move on to the second generation, they usually add color. This is true with the iPod. The first generation of the iPod came out in 2001, second gen in 2002, third gen in 2003, then the iPod mini was finally released in 2004. These were available in 4 colors. In 2005, the iPod nano was released and came in black and white. In 2006, the second gen of the iPod nano was released and was available in 6 colors. It seems very likely that the second gen iPhone (also knows as 3G iPhone - not 3rd gen) will come in more than one color. The color variety of Apple products have been very popular.

Here was the first potential look of the 3G iPhone. However this rumor was quashed a while ago as just being a case.

The newest 'rumored look' of the 3G iPhone comes from iphonehellas.gr. These pics are supposed to be leaked 3G iPhone photos. They actually look like Apple ads. I looked at the pics extremely close up and they did not look retouched. If they are fakes, whoever made them has to be a photoshop pro. I really like the look of the white iPhone. If there is a white one, I'm definitely getting that one. The red one looks a little odd. You would think though that Apple would release a blue or green iPhone if they were in fact going to do colors.



What do you think of these colors? Are these just more fakes?

The Apple Store opened at Pacific Centre in Vancouver yesterday. I was one of the lucky ones to make it there. I was even one of the first 1000 people to get a free t-shirt. It's not the best of t-shirts, but it was free, you can't complain. I wanted to make it there for the 10am opening, but I tend to sleep in usually. I ended up making it down there at 10:45 and there was still a massive line up. I took some photos at first and then jumped in the line which was outside the door more than 100 metres away. About 20 minutes later I finally got it.

What was it like? Well, not much different compared to other Apple stores I've been to. I usually frequent the one in Bellevue, Washington and this one wasn't much different. There was on major thing missing from it though, the iPhone. There was nothing iPhone related in the store. When I asked one of the clerks if they sold iPhone cases, the response was, "We don't support the iPhone here". Nice response. I was hoping for some enthusiasm like "It's coming soon!" or something like that. Oh well. But it was pretty cool to be there anyway.

It seemed like most people were just there to look and get the free shirt but I saw a couple Macbook, Macbook Air, and Apple TV boxes leaving the store. Since I have everything Apple that I could possibly need right now, I didn't buy anything. Another good thing about the Apple store is that it is right next to the new H&M store which just opened a couple days ago. They have great clothes at low prices.

I am really looking forward to lining up at the new Apple store overnight when the iPhone is released here. That should be an adventure. The last time I lined up overnight for something was on boxing day a couple years ago at best buy when I bought a TV.

Here is the line up:






Here is the free Apple t-shirt:


Here are some random shots of the store:

It was only a matter of time before the huge bills started to come in for people using the $7 unlimited browsing plan on their iPhones and other non-fido phones. They haven't been charging since February until now. Tons of people are on this plan are were saying how it works just fine and that everyone should get it. Well I'm glad I didn't because I don't want to take out a loan or re-mortgage my house to pay my cell phone bill. I have no idea whats going to happen to some of these people. It aint pretty. Hopefully Fido will credit them some if not all of their money back and maybe just give them a slap on the wrist. Getting a bill like these would be devastating. These big bills have been confirm on Fido, I haven't heard of any on Rogers yet. Glad I'm not on this plan.

1. The biggest of them all. Someone using a non-fido phone, not an iPhone. Grand total - $22,256.05. Thats sick. Don't have a picture of this one

2. $20,551.73 - this was also not on an iPhone but a non-fido phone with 3rd party apps being used. Here's proof:
3. $3000 - This one was on an iPhone. In the pic you can see there is 4 digits to the total. Hard to see but it's there.
That's not all. There is more. Someone has a bill for $580. Someone has one for $1900. Someone who works for fido said he saw one that is over $50,000. This is nuts man. Call in and see if you have any overage charges immediately. Unfortunately, the saying is - told you so!

You can read more about the discussion here

Anyone here get a huge bill?

It seems as if owners of the Rogers Nokia N95 8gb phone are running into some difficulty and confusion. Apparently Rogers can't even decide if and how you can use the unlimited browsing vision pack on this phone. People are saying that you have to use the Rogers built in browser and not the built in Nokia S60 browser. CSR's are telling people that you can only view wap sites and not html sites.

We better not have these kinds of problems when they have to start answering questions about the iPhone. First of all, it better not have restrictions. No data cap would be nice, but more importantly, there better be no app restriction. For example, you can use safari and mail all you want but if you use youtube, it's 5 cents per kb. That would be ridiculous.

Next, the CSR's need to learn the difference between wap and html. Html is just a normal website. Wap is a site optimized for mobile phones basically. Now you can view both types of sites thorugh the wap portal (goam.com and wap.fido.ca) but it just depends on how well you phone can display html sites. The iPhone probably wont be using the wap portal anyway on rogers.

Everytime Rogers gets a decent phone, they don't seem to know how to handle it. I wish they would train their CSR's properly. If they can't release a phone and let it be used the way it's meant, don't pretend to release it by limiting it. People will just continue to complain. What the point of having an awesome phone but then worrying about it all day and whether or not you will be charged for doing basic things. Loading one web page is not worth $10, I'm not sure how Rogers can justify that.

You can read more about this N95 problem here

We know the 3G iPhone is coming soon. We aren't quite sure what kind of features it's going to have though. The most important feature will be the 3Gness so we can surf the internet on it at speeds we are used to. I don't know of any confirmed new features for it but I've made a small list of features I would like to see.

1. iChat for the iPhone - It would be cool to have a program where you could chat back and forth with someone or a few people that included video as iChat does. Fido and Rogers do have video calling on some 3G phones already which I've never tested. As long as it doesn't cost extra to use, I think it would be something that I would use often.

2. Copy and paste - Now I'm not sure what I would use this for and when exactly, but it seems like a good tool to have if needed.

3. Saving images from the internet - I wish we could do this now. I would not use it all the time but once in a while I want to save pictures I find on websites. If only I could save them to my iPhone photos and then email them and stuff.

4. GPS - it would be nice to have a full GPS system in the iPhone. Well I don't think we would get one that talks. The google maps feature is pretty cool with the directions now, but a live GPS would be great.

5. If I can think of more I'll update this.

Now the iPhone 2.0 firmware that should come out at the same time as the 3G iPhone seems like a step up with the exchange support and the app store. Maybe there will be a few new features which we haven't heard about already. I'm not sure if my wishes could just be implemented into a firmware update or would be built into the 3G iPhone.

What features do you want?

It's about time. Vancouver finally gets an Apple Store. The grand opening is set for Saturday May 24th at 10am. It's located in the Pacific Centre Mall downtown. I can't wait for this to open. To bad they won't be launching the iPhone in Canada there just yet. Every time I travel, I make a point to go to the Apple Store in whatever city I'm in that has it. In the past month I've been to the Apple Store in San Francisco and Bellevue. Every time I go to one, I usually walk out with something.

The first 1000 customers in the door on Saturday get a free T-Shirt. I still haven't decided if I'm gonna make it there for that. 10am is pretty early for me. However, I think I will try and get down there sometime on Saturday. There will probably be a huge crowd and it will be buzzing. I don't think there is anything I really need to buy right now but I will go anyway. I doubt that they will be selling any iPhone accessories. The iPhone isn't officially available in Canada yet so they probably aren't allowed to even there are thousands of iPhone owners here. You can't buy anything iPhone from the Apple.ca store. Futureshop and Best Buy do sell iPhone cases though.

I can't wait till the day the iPhone is officially released in Canada because I will definitely be lined up there. I will probably line up overnight as if it was boxing day. Who else is heading down there on Saturday?

Address:
Apple Store, Pacific Centre
701 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia V7Y 1G5
(778) 373-1800

Hours:
Mon - Tues: 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Wed - Fri: 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sat: 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sun: 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

View Larger Map

The iTunes store for US residents is 10 times better than the Canada one. The US one has a huge selection of TV shows and you can't rent movies from it. They aren't available in Canada due to some licensing issues. I don't think I really want to rent movies on my iPhone, but storing some TV shows on it to watch on it or my Apple TV would be cool.

Here is how you get an US iTunes account:
1. Buy an iTunes gift card in the USA or buy a code from ebay
I bought a $15 card at a gas station in the states. There is lots available on ebay though.

2. Open iTunes. Sign out of your current account if you are logged in. You will have to create a new iTunes store account with a different email address.
3. Enter the gift card redemption code.
4. Make up an address. I made up an address in Oregon since they have no state tax there and the US iTunes store will charge you state tax. At the bottom where it says optional then lists different credit card types, select none as you wont be able to use a credit card. You will have to refill your account with gift cards.
5. You are done. Enjoy. The TV shows are usually $1.99 and include shows like The Office, Lost, CSI, CSI Miami, etc. All of my favorite shows. It's a big step up from the Canadian store which only sells Degrassi and Corner Gas bascially.

Update - I've posted on how to get the SNES roms working properly here. Instructions and video included.

Since the NES roms are so easy to add your iPhone (or iPod touch) I was excited to learn that there is a Super Nintendo (SNES) emulator available for the iPhone. Super Nintendo was awesome and it would be fun to play again. I installed the Super Nintendo emulator on my mac and it's great. Now I wanted to play the roms on my iPhone.

Here's how to get the emulator on your iPhone

1. In installer, go to sources, edit, add, and add this source
http://zodttd.com/repo/

2. Press the home button, then go back into installer, then games, then install snes4iphone.

There was a source to add the roms automatically but that doesn't seem to work anymore. It was s.apfelphone.net.

Looks like we will have to SSH the roms into the iPhone.

If you don't know how to SSH into your iPhone, go here.

The directory for the SNES roms is:
/var/mobile/Media/ROMs/SNES

You can download the roms from
http://www.theoldcomputer.com

Once you have added them to the iPhone through SSH, open the program snes4iphone and play the games. The roms that have the file extension of .smc are added to your game list. The roms with the extension of .fig aren't added to your game list.

I added the follwing games :
- NHL 98
- NBA Live 98
- Super Mario Kart
- Street Fighter 2 Turbo
- Aladdin

One problem:
None of them worked!

Every time I loaded one in the app, it said "loading rom, failed".
WTF.

I've read online that not all roms work, but I tried 5, none of them worked. Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone else have a better way of added SNES roms to your iPhone that actually works? I would like to know. Super Mario Kart is one of the best games and I would like to play it more, LOL. Please let me know.

Update: 2008/05/23
I tried putting the ROMs in this directory:
private/var/mobile/Media/ROMs/SNES
and I keep getting the..Loading Rom...Failed showing up. Who has gotten these to work and for what games?

Here's a cool accessory. It's the Incase white slider for the iPhone. It looks great on your iPhone. I find that it is a much better case than Agent 18 cases.

One of the best things about it is that it has little rubber bumpers on the inside to ensure it fits snug on the iPhone. This also prevents scratches. It fits your iPhone far better than the Agent 18 shield does. I like the bottom part and how it just slides out so you can easily dock your phone. I think my favorite part about it is that it looks like my favorite Colorware iPhone. The white is so sleek on the iPhone. If the new versions of the iPhone include a white one, thats the one I'm getting. It looks awesome next to my macbook. I even like the little indentation at the bottom of the back of the case to match how the iPhone looks normally.

The case does add bulk, but I think the style makes up for it. I tested it out on my sister in law's iPhone for a couple days. She really likes it. I really like it to. I went to the Apple store to pick one up, but I did try it out first before buying it. There was one problem which caused me not to buy it. Since I have the InvisibleShield on my iPhone right now, the Incase slider wouldn't fit. Damn. I didn't want to take the InvisibleShield off of my iPhone just to get this case. If I got tired of the case, then I would have no InvisibleShield and I love InvisibleShield. I decided that it was best to wait. It's a pricey item if I'm not going to use it. The case doesn't protect the screen so it's best to get a screen protector too if you don't already have one.

The Incase slider is sold in Apple stores and from the Apple Store online. You can also get it directly from the manufacturer. It costs $35. That is probably the major downside of it. $35 (plus tax) is a lot for a plastic case. I have an Incase sleeve for my Macbook and that was only $35 so it seems like a lot to pay.

Overall, it's a good case and I do recommend it. Canadians, you will have to get it at the Apple Store in the States or from ebay or somewhere else online. The Canada Apple online store doesn't sell it and Incase doesn't ship to Canada.

Here's the link to it on Apple's website
Here's the link to the manufacturers website