Now that I’m back in Kuwait, I thought that it’s worth posting about my experience of using an iPhone while traveling-especially in the US. The first thing I did when I reached the US was that I got myself a prepaid line with data(internet) from T-mobile. The reason why I bought it from T-mobile and not from another carrier is because non of the other carriers (AT&T, Verizon, & Sprint) offer data(internet) with their prepaid lines. The line that I bought was quite cheap. I got it for around $75 and it came with credit and unlimited data for 1 month. Anyway, the thing that I loved about using the iPhone abroad was that it literally simplifies everything. How? Well there are so many useful apps in the app store that makes your life easier. For example the Yelp app.. Yelp was my favorite app during my vacation. Say you want to go to a restaurant and you don’t know the location of the place or you want to read some reviews about it.. All you have to do is open Yelp and look for it. The app will display people’s reviews and recommendations as well as some photos of the place. In addition, Yelp can also provide you with the directions to your desired place through google maps. This applies to almost everything.. Shops, Restaurants, Cinemas, etc.. The second app that I liked was TomTom which is a navigation app. We rented a car in LA and I used the iPhone as a navigator. I was amazed how TomTom was very reliable. I bought the TomTom car kit so I can charge the iPhone while driving and the outcome was perfect. Don’t forget that you can still make phone calls and enjoy your music while the navigation is on. Now since I’ve booked my tickets through expedia, I used the expedia app to get full details about my flights. The app will notify you about any changes that might occur. It will also provide you with all the required information such as the terminal number, gate number, and also the baggage claim number. Finally, the iPhone can also find the Qibla through the find mecca app and it also provides you with all of the prayer times. Honestly, the iPhone was very useful in the US.
Here are some screenshots of my favorite apps.
Update:
A reader had asked me to demonstrate how to adjust a normal SIM card to a micro SIM. In Kuwait, most carriers offer the micro SIM so you can easily replace your existing SIM card for around 2 KD. However, you can also trim your existing SIM card at home and it works perfectly. Here are the tools that you need for this process:
Pen
Scissors
Micro SIM or a Micro SIM card tray.
SIM Ejector tool
The first thing you need to do is place the micro SIM on top of your normal SIM card. Make sure that the edges of both cards are facing the same direction. In addition, you have to cover the entire metal part in the SIM card. Now take your pen and trace your Micro SIM. Once you are done tracing, begin cutting your SIM card, but again make sure you don’t cut the metal part on your SIM. That’s it, your SIM card should fit properly into your Micro SIM card tray.
I’m sure many of you have already heard or read about the iPhone 4 reception issues. The reason I didn’t post about the reception in my previous post is because I needed more time to test it. I also needed more time to test the battery life as well. I have been using the iPhone 4 for two full days now so by the end of this post you will get to know more about the reception issues and the battery life of the new iPhone.
So, what’s going on with the reception?
The new iPhone is designed in a way that the antenna is part of the phone’s exterior structure. In other words, the antenna is no longer hidden inside the phone.. The new antenna is what you see on the side of the phone(the lines on the side). Why did they do that? Because they wanted to enhance the reception of the phone, but the problem here is when you cover both antennas with your hand the reception of the phone will be affected. Remember, you have to cover both antennas with your hand in order for the reception to be affected! Believe it or not, when you cover your phone with a case or a bumper nothing will be affected.. Why? Well it turns out that the problem is with our skin! When we cover the antenna with our hand, there is something in our skin that blocks the reception, whereas nothing will happen when you have the case on. As I mentioned above, I used the iPhone for 2 full days. I had it covered with a bumper on the first day, and I removed the bumper on the second day. Here are the results.
Day 1- the iPhone covered with a bumper:
The phone was working properly with no reception issues at all. I had an iPhone 3Gs with me to compare the reception and in most of the time I got the same results, in fact the iPhone 4 had a better wifi reception.
Day 2- the iPhone without the bumper:
Let me first admit that the iPhone looks even better without the bumper! Anyway, I removed the bumper on the second day and again I didn’t face any issues with the reception. I made phone calls, browsed the internet and I also had my friend test it and see if he can discover any issues with the reception.. Nothing, everything seemed fine and that’s because we rarely cover both antennas at the same time.
So just to sum up here. I don’t think anyone should be worried about the reception issue. I don’t feel that it’s a major issue since there are several ways to avoid it.
Let’s go to the battery
Yes the battery of the new iPhone is better. From my tests, the new iPhone gives you around 2 additional hours of battery life.
update:
I shot this video to show you that the reception issues with the iPhone 4 isn’t as bad as you think. I am holding the iPhone with my left hand ‘the wrong way’ and as you can see I am browsing the internet and nothing had happened to the reception. Note that the internet is a bit slow and that’s because I’m connected to T-Mobile’s Edge network.
Although I am currently in the US, I got my iPhone 4 from the UK and that’s simply because the iPhone in the US is locked to At&t. As I mentioned in my previous post, the iPhone 4 is thinner than the 3Gs and it also looks much better. The first thing you will recognize is the quality of the new retina display. I also felt that the phone is even faster now. It has a way better camera with LED flash, but for some reason I couldn’t handle the flash properly. I felt that the flash was so strong, the photos that I took using flash were so white.. I still need more time to test the performance of the battery so I’ll update you with the battery results. The iPhone in the UK is selling at £499 for the 16 GB model and £599 for the 32 GB
One more thing I liked is the black bumper that I ordered with the iPhone. I’m not sure if this thing really protects the iPhone, but it actually feels good.
update : I shot this video from my iPhone 4 and I have also added some transitions and audio using the iMovie app. The quality of the video is quite good, for best results watch the video in HD.
