A day in the life of a smart phone.

It’s 5 AM and the iPhone on my night stand chirps to life encouraging me to vacate the warmth of my bed and face the world.  The phone has been tethered to the charger all night so it is ready to join me for another adventure.  As I walk to the shower, I open my Pandora App and listen to a bit of Brubeck to get me moving.

Following the morning ablutions, I look at the day’s events on my online calendar app so I can decide if this is a suit day or I if can get away with something more casual.   Ah, good news, no important meetings requiring a suit, but what will Mother Nature require?  No worries, a quick inquiry to Siri indicates no rain and mild temps.  A perfect day for jeans and a light shirt.

When I looked at my calendar earlier I was reminded that I was to meet a friend for breakfast but I can’t remember if that Starbucks is on Hamilton Avenue or Colerain.  I get them mixed up as advanced age creeps up on me.  A quick Google search shows that it is on Hamilton and reviewing the Artimis camera app I see it is smooth sailing on I-74 and I-275.

Arriving at the coffee shop, I am a few minutes early so I have time to catch up on the online version of the morning paper and even watch a few minutes of the morning TV news using my Aereo app.  My friend arrives and we have a great conversation and share some family photos and video stored on our phones.  Since it was my turn to treat, I wave my phone and my Starbucks tab is paid complete with tip.

On my way to the office, I am able to listen to some voice mails using the Bluetooth system in my car. While waiting for a train I make a few phone calls and even have time to FaceTime with my wife who is out of the country.  The train passes and I am on my way to the office.

My office computer is synched with all my mobile devices so all of the files I need are available no matter where I am.  I put some finishing touches on a Power Point for use later in the week and send it on to a colleague for review.

Throughout the day I use my phone for calls and several instant messages.  A look again at the calendar shows that I promised to meet for dinner at the new eatery but forgot to make reservations.  A quick search on line provides a link and reservations are confirmed.   This is a new place so I enter the address into my phone and begin my drive following the iPhone’s directions.

I am a bit early so I have time to catch up on some personal email and review some Facebook postings.  My Power Point revisions have been sent back so I review them over a glass of merlot. My friends arrive and we have a great meal and some fantastic bottle of wine that was new to all of us.  Using Google, we were able to get some information on the vintner and even order some to be shipped home.

It's been a long day and on my way home I use my home automation system app to turn on the AC and outside lights.  Arriving home, I find the house comfortable and settle into my easy chair to read a new Kindle book I loaded on to the phone.  It is getting late so I tell Siri to set the alarm for 6 AM so I can sleep in tomorrow.

Now it is time for me and my phone to get recharged for another day.

Tell me again why I would want to have a smart phone?

Smart Phone Execs Seek Lighter Apps

The explosion in the sale and use of smart phones has spawned a new cottage industry among computer programmers. The slogan, “There’s an App for that!” has never been more true. Whether you use a Blackberry, an iPhone, or a Palm Pre, the list of programs (or apps) that will run on your new phone grows daily.

There are apps that allow you to surf the web, check the weather and book reservations at a local eatery. You can use you iPhone as a carpenter’s level, a geographer’s compass, musical instruments of all stripes and even a video camera.

Most of these applications are free or cost less than two bucks each and can be downloaded to your smart phone using the 3G network. The cost of the purchased apps is added to your phone bill, or in the case of iPhone apps, charged to your iTunes account.

While the proliferation of these apps is welcome news to the folks at Apple and the other smart phone manufacturers, there is one concern being raised by almost all of the major players in this smart phone game.

On Wednesday of this week, Apple executives are inviting application software developers to a special meeting at the sprawling Apple Corporate Headquarters in Cupertino, CA. The meeting is open to all smart phone application developers, not just those writing software for the iPhone. Executives from Apple will be sharing the results of some new market research that shows that the interest in new apps and in new phones is beginning to dwindle and if that trend continues the brisk sales of smart phones may dwindle as well.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, will report that the increased number and complexity of the apps installed on the average smart phone are having serious negative unintended consequences. The phones are getting heavier and heavier with the installation of each new app. Jobs will urge programmers to use more efficient coding in order to keep of the files lighter.

In a recent press release, Jobs points out that a fully loaded iPhone with 100 Apps can weigh eight ounces, or a half a pound, more than the same iPhone weighs in without
the apps. “The software developers need to be more attentive to how many bits and bytes are really required for each app,” said Jobs. “If we don’t do something to address these overweight apps, before long the iPhone will feel like a brick in your pocket.”

You can read the summary of the discussions on the Apple.com web page. It will be released on Thursday, April 1st.

More on "Gs" and Smart Phones

This is the second installment of our discussion about cellular data networks and smart phones. Last week we discussed the development of the high speed wireless data networks expanding the applications available on today’s smart phones. The smart phone is not only a mobile telephone but can handle many of the tasks once requiring a computer.

Smart phones began to hit the market in the late 1990s and were essentially a mobile phone with a few applications like a personal calendar and address book built in. The explosion in popularity came with the release of the Blackberry in 2002. The Blackberry was one of the first devices that were designed to take advantage of the new high speed mobile networks. That particular device was so popular, for many the name “Blackberry” has become the moniker used for any brand of smart phone. In less than 6 years the user base for Blackberries has topped 32 million. In 2007 Apple released the first iPhone and like so many Apple products, its design (both physical and technical) and applications changed the industry.

Smart phones now can do a host of tasks from the ridiculous (there is an app that turns your iPhone into a harmonica) to mind blowing (Shazam, a smart phone app can recognize music being played on the radio informing the user of the name of the song, the artist performing the song and how one can purchase a copy of the song.) There are apps that turn your smart phone into a GPS. Others will find a good restaurant close by and even make reservations.

Most now have very good digital cameras built in as well as video recorders. You can capture Billy’s dance recital on video and email it to Aunt Esmerelda. Or you can download the pictures or video to your computer and edit a masterpiece to upload to YouTube for the whole world to see. In some countries, smart phones are replacing the credit or debit card. Waving your phone in front of a soft drink machine replaces the need for cash.

With more and more of us using these devices, the 3G networks are getting overloaded. There are already instances in some of the larger metropolitan areas of the country when the networks are so overloaded that none of the subscribers can get service. While these outages last only a short time, for those truly addicted to their smart phones, a few seconds being off the net seems like an eternity.