(The Wordpress app added some artifacts to some of the images.)
I’ve been using a now-custom TomTom 910 in my gold Lexus SC400. I installed it so that it functions as much as a stock GPS, but much more of course. But it’s been damaged and I’ve repaired it, but it keeps messin’ up and all this junk. So right now I’ve called it… it’s beyond repair.
I’ll say that it’s always better having an actual separate GPS navigation device rather than use something like a smartphone, because if you get a phone call or wanna’ browse the web or check an email, you can’t do that while seeing what street to turn next.
Ok, now that’s outra’ the way… Since the GPS isn’t working and I need to use the Neocell 3GS both for audio (Pandora) and for GPS navigation (Navigon MyRegion East), I decided to install an iPhone 3G / 3GS dock on top of the AC / radio control housing area of the interior.
I did have the dock installed into the center console, hidden away. But if I’m gonna’ use the Neocell as GPS navigation for for a few months, there are two things that are required; being able to see and touch the screen while driving, and the Neocell needs to be directly under the sky for GPS to give an accurate signal (and no, I’m not interested in Tomtom’s crazy expensive GPS iPhone mount kit).
I was using a windshield mount, a really good one. Stylish and everything. In fact, one of the best mounts I’ve ever seen for an iPhone. Ever. But it was still ugly in the Lexus. Two wires running up to it. I had snap the Neocell into the mount, connect the power cable and then the audio cable.
Using a mount is so inconvenient. If I received a call, I had to unplug the audio, the power and unsnap from the dock and then talk. Then, once I’m off the phone, I have to reverse the process. ‘Freak that. A lot of times, I’d just not even answer it’s that much of a pain.
So installing an iPhone dock into the interior would solve the problem of not only the ugliness of a windshield mount, the problem of GPS signal reception, easily connecting and disconnecting, keeping it stock looking and also creating a much better way to dock an iPhone into the Lexus (for things like Pandora) even after I get a permanent GPS installed again. It looks almost like the car came with it it. Almost.
There is one tiny problem, but that fixes a big problem. One reason I do NOT want to use the Neocell as a GPS (or any lithium ion battery device) is that heat damages the life of your battery. Even though I’d never leave my iPhone in the car when I’m not there, when we’re talking about hours of possible exposure to the Florida sun during the summer, magnified by the windshield while driving, that heat can take it’s toll. It’s not the sun itself that damages the battery, but the heat.
So the tiny problem with the placement of the dock? It blocks about 10% the center AC’s vents. The good news is, that 10% of the AC that goes directly at the Neocell. That means it keeps it completely cool (almost cold). That now makes me feel completely comfortable with having any iPhone up there for long periods.
Now, what about stability? Is it stable? Does it ever fall out of the dock or lose its connection with the dock by moving slightly? Not at all. I got the dock secured rock solid and the iPhone is also rock solid in the dock (thank you Apple design team). I tried running over speed bumps at like 25 miles an hour and it wasn’t movin’. I did a doughnut (sports car after all) and it rock steady.
So this is a great, tight, awesome solution. Don’t know why I didn’t think about it before. Well I did, but I wasn’t how I was gonna’ mount it. But I found a great solution without having to modify or damage the interior at all. And painting the dock the tan color (I had to make sure the connector, speaker holes, and back connectors were completely covered before painting) really makes it look like it matches the interior. I was really concerned that the paint would scratch off each time an iPhone would dock in and out (or stain an iPhone), but it doesn’t to my surprise.
In closing… I’m lovin’ it.
Peace, JbB
Posted in Tips on 22. Jun, 2010
Here’s how to close multitasking programs (iPhone 3GS & iPhone 4 only) with iOS 4.0. Double click the home button to open the multitasking bar and tap and hold down on an icon until you see the image below. Then tap the red minus.
Here’s something interesting to note (that I suspect people won’t realize for a while). Each of those apps you see there, such as Skype and all third party apps, until they’re updated for multitasking like Pandora is, aren’t really running in the background. They’re like a 12 app history of what you’ve had open, but aren’t really open in the background. That’s a good thing though. But those apps aren’t running in the background and there’s no need to close them because they aren’t really open.
In fact, there shouldn’t be much need to close backgrounding apps either. Most of them that is.
The reason why is because, once you stop their backgrounding function (such as pausing audio), the background API’s stop working.
So we shouldn’t need to worry about closing programs. Most programs that is. Some programs, such as the GPS navigation app from Navigon, don’t have a real “stop” function. They use the GPS and have no reason to stop. That’s a program we’d want to stop by closing it. Even if doesn’t effect performance, it would drain the battery life.
In fact, most things don’t use the CPU of iPhone 3GS’s to its fullest. But that’s the point. To get the most battery life, iPhones don’t use the CPU to it’s fullest. But with multitasking, things change. You can leave a GPS running and still get great performance, but it’ll eat into your battery life.
So that’s why we wanna’ close /stop apps that do a lot of stuff from running in the background if we’re not using them.
Peace, JbB
So, AT&T is changing up it’s wireless data plans for smartphones (which means iPhones). They’re changing them come June 7th, 2010, the same time as the WWDC, when Apple announces the next new iPhone. So here’s what you need to know.
First, and this is important, AT&T is 86ing their unlimited data plan. You can no longer select an unlimited data plan. Now, that doesn’t they’re taking away unlimited data from existing iPhone users. They can’t because it’s grandfather-claused into our contracts. The only way they could take it away from us is if they canceled our contract, which of course they won’t do. So they can’t take unlimited data away from you.
So the way it works is that their data plans have changed and there is no unlimited data plan to choose from anymore. If you choose a new data plan, you can’t go back to unlimited data. The good news is that all plans are cheaper (sorta’) and they finally allow tethering, but it’s not all good news…
New AT&T Mobile Data Plans
$15 DataPlus: 200 MBs a month
So this plan is the cheapest and starting plan. It gives you 200 MBs a month. This doesn’t include text messaging. If you go over the amount, your charged another $15 and receive another 200 MBs.
$25 DataPro: 2 GBs a month
This is the final plan for iPhone users who are going to use data from their phone only. It gives you 2 GBs a month. It doesn’t include text messaging. If you go over the amount, your charged another $25 and receive another 2 GBs.
$45 DataPro plus tethering: 2 GBs a month
You get everything from the DataPro 2 GBs a month plan, but now your also able to tether data from your iPhone. That’s it. You get nothing extra. You hear me? Nothing.
No contract renewal
Do you gotta’ renew your contract? Nope. That’s good news right there. You still can’t turn off a data plan though. You still have to have one if you have an iPhone (boo). But the good news is that for those who don’t need mobile data (after all, wifi rocks), you can switch to the lowest data plan without renewing your contract.
What plan should you choose?
Ok, so remember what I said? They can’t take unlimited data away from you. So should you even switch to a plan to save some money? The answer is: yes. But which plans?
Ok, let’s break it down; how much data do you use? Well check your bill to see. It, at least now, shows how much data you use. Here’s how much data the Neocell 3GS used.
So last month, I used only 235 MBs a month. I can tell you that’s more than the average user. But last month was a little bit light on how much data I use, because I’m getting my GPS repaired in my Lexus so, every time I drive somewhere, I’d load up the Navigon MyRegion GPS navigation app. So that means I wasn’t using Pandora (which I normally always use when I drive), and I suspect my monthly data usage would be somewhere around 300 MBs to 500 MBs.
My girl’s been using her iPhone a lot this month, like more this month than she’s ever used her iPhone in the past. I asked her what her data usage was this month and she said it’s 235 MBs.
The average user should hover slightly under 200 MBs. Being so close to 200 MBs though, my advice is for people to get the 2 GB a month plan. No point to risk paying $15 for 200 MBs and an extra $15 for another 200 MBs, totally $30 a month when you could just spend $25 for 2 GBs and not worry about it.
Do I think 2 GBs is enough for a power iPhone user? ‘Freak yeah! I think the most I’ve ever used was 500 MBs, and that included Pandora everytime I hit the road, surfing while working, Youtube, app downloads, etc. I mean, this one month, we’re talkin’ bein’ on the Neocell 2G (didn’t have the Neocell 3GS yet) like 4-8 hours a day on 2G data that month. It still was only 500 MBs that month. So I honestly can’t see anybody goin’ over 2 GBs a month.
What’s the deal with tethering?
We finally got access to tethering, but it’s pretty… I don’t know, crappy. Here’s one thing that you need to know. You can’t use tethering (officially) with your existing unlimited data plan. If you go to AT&T and be like “Yo, hook me up with tethering!” they won’t just “add” it to your data plan. They’ll cancel (for good) your unlimited data plan and switch you to the “Datapro with tethering” plan. So that’s cleared up now.
But tethering, well… it’s a sucky ass plan. Here’s the deal; 2 GBs of data is more than good enough for iPhone users, even the most hardcore users (yo). But that’s for our iPhones, and we’re fine with that. But we can’t afford (data-wise) to share that data with a laptop. Using the same pool of data for a laptop is risky business. Now if AT&T allowed us to have tethering for no extra cost, shoot, I’d be sayin’ “yippy!”… but it ain’t like that. They want to CHARGE us $20 extra for… for what? Nothing! We get no extra data. None. Zip. Ziltch.
Bull ****. That’s what I call it. It’s wrong that they’re doing this. I can’t really give you much advice as whether or not you should get it. It’s up to you. Tethering is an amazing thing depending on what you need it for. I will say this… you can turn it on for your account for one month and turn it off without renewing your contract, so that’s the only good thing about it I can see.
My thoughts?
I think AT&T is preparing for the day when the iPhone is available on another carrier. They’re trying to make their service plans more attractive. I think they need to do more when that day comes, because their plans are still pretty high… not compared to Verizon (now), but definitely compared to T-mobile and Sprint.
Peace, JbB
Guess where I am? I’m at ‘freakin’ Ikea, baby! This place has gotta’ be my fav store. But gettin’ here was a *****. Let me explain…
Got some bad news… the Tomtom GPS unit in my Lexus died. Yep… after about three years of faithful service, she died. I had warning she was going… she started not playin’ nice with the dock mount in the Lexus, trying to shut down every five seconds (losing power connection) and also was giving crazy audio static and feedback with music and also voice. But yesterday she finally died… woke herself out of sleep, rebooted… then never woke up again.
So, until I get another Tomtom Go 910 and copy over the hacked software I created to a new unit, I’ve got no GPS navigation. That means I’ll have to rely on the Neocell for all navigation. And keep on mind the Neocell is a 2G iPhone, which means no GPS… only general cell phone location positioning.
So far navigating with the Neocell hasn’t been as bad as it’s been before. Used it yesterday to navigate around (I had a co-pilot to tell me what directions the Neocell gave). Today I had to find Ikea by myself. The cell tower locationing has been pretty acturate for most areas, being within only about three blocks of my position. Nice.
What I do when I need to navigate is I search the location on Maps. Then I go to directions, and as I always want directions from my current location, I simply touch route. Then I touch start. Usually I’ll have to advance a few steps to get on the street I actually need. Once I’m at the area I wanna’ be at, I reset the trip meter on the dash so that, when directions tell me I need to go 0.8 miles or 7.6 miles, the dash keeps track of that or me so I know exactly when I need to look for my street or exit… and when I need to have my iPhone out.
If I happen to take a wrong turn or who knows what… It’s not too hard getting my way back. I simply just do a new search again for where I want to go starting from my new location.
There’s times when this can get messed up. Yesterday, I went in the wrong direction that I was meant to go on the highway. I rerouted my path, but Maps thought I was on a side street next to the highway, instead of on it. So it planned a completely different path for me, avoiding the highway all together. So I had to wing it.
It’s been workin’ well enough, but I can’t wait to get GPS navigation back. If you have a 3G iPhone, I recommend getting a GPS navigation app, like the Tomtom app (although it costs $99). Any one of you out there have to use Maps like I’m usin’?
Peace, J
