When it came time, after jailbreaking, to tell the new Neocell (iPhone 3GS 32GB) to “restore” data from the old Neocell (2G iPhone 16 GB), I had no idea how amazing the backup system from Apple was.

So here’s the deal, I had a backup from a first generation iPhone transfer over to a third generation iPhone. That’s a pretty big leap there. I figured it would try to reinstall apps (that are installed in iTunes) and all the content and settings of the apps would be blank. Nope… to my surprise, all the settings and files remained intact. Balance, for instance, contained all my balance data. Stanza not only still contained all my eBooks, it was still on the page of the eBook I was reading. The settings of all my gmail accounts stayed in there… it even brought over the hack I did to change the carrier name to “Neocell”.

I got a lotta’ respect for Apple… I don’t like their authorization (Nazi-like) system they got goin’ on, but the system of backuping up and transfering is great. Far better than anything Pocket PCs could have had.

Peace, J

I’ve been usin’ the free Balance app since I got the Neocell. It’s been great. For my Pocket PC, I used to use Microsoft’s Money program for the Pocket PC. It was a pretty good program… no, I’ll go ahead and say a great program. It was meant to work in sync with Microsoft Money for the PC, but I just used it for my Pocket PC and that’s it.

Although, bringing out my Pocket PC, sliding it from it’s leather case, turning it on, sliding out the stylus and then getting into the program to try and enter in what I was buying at the grocery store or at the pump was a real pain… and, because of using a stylus, it look a long time. And worst, because you always have to use both hands to use a Pocket PC (one to hold and the other to tap the screen with the stylus or your finger nails), you never seemed to have time to quickly enter in account information when you needed to the most. You either stood there, in line, entering your data while people are waiting for you to move, or you waited until later to enter it. Eventually you forget to enter something and your balance gets thrown off and you say “Ahh screw it…” and stop doing your balance on your Pocket PC. (Hellooo over draft fees…)

That’s why I love doin’ my balance on iPhones. They’re extremely easy and fast to operate, you can lay your iPhone down on a flat surface (such as a counter at a store) and enter in info, and best of all, you can use it with just one hand… so even if your walking out the door carrying a bag in one hand (or driving home), you can use your free hand to enter in data.

So onto the good stuff… how do you backup your account balance with the Balance app.

First you’ve gotta’ be on your own wifi network and gotta’ have access to a computer.

Touch the button at the bottom left hand corner.

Then touch “Export”.

Then follow the instructions. When you do all that, you’ll end up with a file you can save to your computer. And there ya go.

Peace, J

Over the weekend I headed out to an upscale resturant with a huge group of people. This place features bowling and a night club all built in and around the tables to eat. I figured this would be the ultimate test for the Neocell’s new unlimited Edge internet and new OS 3.0. I figured since I’ve got the Neocell decked out with all this crazy goodness, it was just matter of time before there would be a reason to whip it out. (“That’s what she said…”)

First up was the camera app, to take pics. Didn’t do the best job taking pics in low light… but otherwise was snappy and fast. I took pics of people there and all of us acttin’a fool.

Then came the email app. Got an email while I was there from a bud, so in replying to him I sent him a few of the pics I had already taken. I had already started the email, so normally I couldn’t send him pics in the email, but with OS 3.0 I was able to copy pics from the photo app and paste’em on in. Edge had trouble at first sendin’ te email out, but that was because my signal had dropped. Once it was back up a minute later, the pics and email didn’t take long to send out.

A little later, the DJ was playing a certain song and somebody was wondering who it was, but no one knew… So out came Shazam. Took Shazam a little while to send the audio signal out and to get results back over Edge… but it told us exactly who the song was by and showed the album art (it was a Rick James song, no wonder none of us knew). Everyone was really impressed by that.

There was a two hour wait to get on a lane to bowl, and they call your phone when it’s ready. Everyone said I should give them my number since it wouldn’t be missed if it came to my iPhone. That was a compliment…

Then when it came to ordering food, someone in our party wanted to order a burger called a “Juicy Lucy”. None of us knew what that was, so out came the Neocell again… Opened Safari and searched for “Juicy Lucy” on Google. Saw images of it and also the definition of it on Wikipedia. Everyone was interested in what it was, so the Neocell was passed around from table to table (normally I wouldn’t have the Neocell so far from my watchful eye, but this was ok).

Then, when ordering our dish, my girl and I wanted to know what “cilantro” was that came on a BBQ chicken pizza. Safari and Google Image search to the rescue. Edge did a great job, and so did Safari.

Later, the topic of “What song is this?” came up from somebody, so they called my name to find out what it was. Shazam worked out great. In total, we used Shazam four times that night.

At 10 PM the lights were turned down in the area we were in. Some people who arrived late were still ordering. It was so dark in the area we were in (close to the night club area) that it people couldn’t read their menus. What the freak? So people were trying to use their flip phones or Blackberry’s to shine light, but it wasn’t bright enough. I said “Here…”, I increased the brightness to max, opened a blank Safari page (so that the screen would be pure white) and handed the Neocell to the people ordering from menus. It was like a flashlight it was so bright. I couldn’t beleive how bright iPhones are compared to other phones and smartphones.

So the Neocell was chillin’ on the table with us later that night, a phone call came it from the resturant letting us know our two bowling lanes were open. They were right, we would know if a call came in if it came to my iPhone. When we went down to pay for our lanes, I used my debit card. I loaded up my password protected Balance app, which I used instantly whenever I use my card to keep balance of my account.

Once we started bowling, we were at it and bein’ crazy for over an hour during our game. Low lighting, so pics were out of the question from the Neocell. It’s cool ‘cuz someone else had a camera. But towards the end, I decided to open the jailbroken app Cycorder and took a barely-lite video of my girl almost makin’ a strike (9 out of 10). And for the record, she kicked my *** at bowling. But that’s because she’s a bad ***.

We were there eattin’, partyin’ bowlin’, havin’ a good time for five hours. The Neocell did a great job throughout the night when it was needed. T-mobile’s Edge more than paid for itself that night… I was impressed.

Peace, J

So, how’ta balance your checking in style. The answer? Your iPhone and the free money program, Balance.

There may be paid programs out there to balance your checking / savings… but you don’t need them if you need something simple.

Balance is free and up on the app store. It has a simple, un-cluttered but nice (not great) looking interface. It allows password protecting (a must), allows you to enter withdraws and deposits, allows you to add a title (“Wal-mart”) and note (“iPhone adapter jack”) for transactions, and allows you to set the date. It’s important to note it also allows you to edit (or delete) any transaction and change anything about it. Then it shows your balance, so you can know your what money you really have in the bank and not just what transactions have posted.

I haven’t found any other free app (or even paid apps) that do check balancing, so although Balance lacks more complex features, it works perfectly for me.

Peace, J