My mission of the day was to find a decent case to protect my new 32GB iPhone 3GS.
I've been carrying the phone around with no case, being as careful as possible not to scratch, drop or lose my new phone just hours after purchasing it. My search started at the Ala Moana Apple Store where, to my surprise, stood a line of people spanning fifty long waiting to get their hands on the new smartphone.
To make matters worse, the temp. guage in my car read 87 degrees in the parking garage... it must have been in the low to mid 90s in the direct sun! Once again, Apple Store staff handed out umbrellas to shield their precious customers from the blazing sun.
Same umbrellas that we used yesterday in the rain! I suddenly feel much better about waking up and being an early adopter. Totally worth it. I strolled through the doors and headed to the back of the store to the case section.
Crowded and stuffed, I was surprised to see so many people purchasing and activating on the second day since release of the new phone. Here's some video of the store and the crowd gathering around activation computers:
After browsing up and down the shelf, a slick looking shiny black case caught my eye. Maybe it was the bright yellow inner lining, or the glossy finish, but I grabbed it and took a closer look.
I usually buy cases that allow me to strap my phone to my belt. I have a tendancy to lose my phone and leave it on counters, so strapping it to my body prevents that.
On the same token, "strappable" cases arent always the best looking in the bunch, which brought me to my next criteria: protection. I've had all three iPhones and each one got dropped, dented and scratched.
This was mostly attributed to the fact that parts of my phone were exposed when dropping. I wanted to find a case that would provide me with protection on all sides, minimizing damage in the event that I fumble.
Enter the Speck CandyShell case. It has a hard outer shell, a rubberized inner lining and covers all corners of it's contents. Made by Speck, the CandyShell was the 2009 ilounge.com Best in Show winner and carried a price tag of $34.95.
All ports are accessible and it looks pretty sweet, so I got it!
Soon after purchase, I took the opportunity to shoot a video review with my iPhone 3GS. Shot and uploaded in three minutes flat, it's the perfect example of what this gadget is used best for:
Here's my new phone in it's new gear:
I'll keep you folks posted on how it holds up with the first drop. Keep in mind that that test isnt scheduled nor is it guaranteed to come.
Okay, so it's been a full day since we've had the iPhone 3GS and let me tell you, the more I play with it, the more I love it! My favorite feature by far is the video to YouTube feature which allows you to quickly and easily shoot anything you want and upload it to your YouTube account.
My longest video test was a clip shot last night at Pearl Nightclub and Lounge in Ala Moana Center. With a total running time of just under two minutes, uploading to YouTube through the built in iPhone 3GS interface took about nine minutes.
Once your video is uploaded, the YouTube servers take over and crunch the video down to size and publish it to the masses. Publish times vary depending on video size and length and can be as quick as a couple minutes to well over ten minutes to show up live.
Probably my only gripe about this entire process is the lack of "promotion" of said video after being published to YouTube. You're only given the option to e-mail a friend about your video, which may not be the best way to reach lots of people.
I'm experimenting a few YouTube to twitter delivery options such as feeing my channel's RSS through twitterfeed and setting up to 2 posts every thirty minutes. My feed hasn't tweeted on my behalf yet, so guess i'll have to post more videos!
Here are a few examples shot on the iPhone 3GS:
Newsroom test
Girlfriend filming while I drive up Ward Ave. (serious!)
Lei Melket live at Pearl Nightclub and Lounge
So as you can see, the iPhone 3GS is more than able to capture memories from your next family reunion or post quick and easy video reviews of products (check the next blog post!).
I feel that the iPhone 3GS will revolutionize the news gathering process as we know it. Both reporters AND the everyday citizens have the ability to capture spot news video and upload it to a viewable/embeddable source within minutes of the event. It'll be interesting to see how people embrace this device and the new technology.
It's been about an hour since Scott and I have had the new iPhone 3GS in our grubby little paws and it's about time you folks see what this thing can do!
Check back shortly for a review on the new iPhone features which include the built in compass, 3mp photo and videos samples.
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@honadv
@scottmorifuji
@johngarcia
Special thanks to Sandee Oshiro for letting us hijack her blogspace! Follow her @sandybeach!
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Sandee says:
John, anytime! Here's the @honadv iPhone story with @jgarcia pics. Enjoy!
