So how’s iOS 4 Active Sync working for you? iOS 4 allows multiple ActiveSync accounts, meaning iPhone users can finally have their work Exchange setup alongside Google Sync, for example.

I’ve got both Exchange (2003) and Google Sync (Google Accounts) set up on both an iPhone 4 and an iPhone 3GS, and both mail and calendar are working fine (I don’t sync Exchange contacts, never mind the mess that is Google contacts — I use MobileMe for that).

Some users over on the Apple Support forums aren’t having as much luck. Calendars in particular seem to be giving them problems where they weren’t under iOS 3.x.

I did notice that, on my iPhone 3GS, the first time I added the second ActiveSync account the phone got hot and the battery started to drain so I deleted it, rebooted, and added it back and it hasn’t happened again — battery life has been surprisingly good.

What’s your experience with ActiveSync under iOS 4?

[discussions.apple.com, thanks Sagar!]

How’s iOS 4 ActiveSync (Exchange/Google Sync) working for you? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Though it got completely buried under the hype and hysteria of the iPhone 4 launch, Apple also released another “new” smartphone last week — the $99 iPhone 3GS 8GB running iOS 4.

Sure it’s “last year’s model” in many ways, but a week ago it was still the best iPhone on the planet, holding up extremely well to much newer devices running other operating systems on other carriers. Now it packs iOS 4 punch with multitasking, folders, unified and threaded email, and all the other bells and whistles, and it’s $99.

It makes absolutely no sense when you consider the costs of the accompanying voice and data plans under a 2-year contract run into the thousands of dollars, but getting below the magical $99 price point smashes a huge psychological barrier.

It also means Apple has something beyond competitive again in the budget $49-$149 smartphone space. For new entrants into the market wanting to upgrade from a feature phone (and quite possibly an iPod touch) to non-geeks of all kinds who just want a music, internet, and app phone, its going to be hugely appealing.

Since the iPhone 3GS shares the same basic design as iPhone 3G, accessory makers get a 3rd year on the market for their skins, cases, molded docks and chargers, and other accessories — unprecedented in the modern smartphone space. More and more accessories will no doubt start targeting iPhone 4, just like a handful of apps are iPhone 4 only now, but a new iPhone 3GS owner will still find 225,000 apps and a mountain of gear available to them. Ad to that the integration into the rest of Apple’s ecosystem, everything from iTunes media to Apple Store customer service, and appealing rapidly becomes compelling at the $99 price point.

And here’s the one more thing — unlike the iPhone 4 right now, it’s available in many, many countries internationally, and unlocked in most of them outside the US. So, while a cheap, carrier subsidized iPhone 3GS is an option, so is a CAN$549.00, AUS$719, £419.00, €519.00 officially SIM-free, unlocked iPhone 3GS. It’s an expensive option to be sure, but for those who hate contracts or love to travel, its cheaper than an iPhone 4 and around the same price as an unlocked Nexus One. That might also appeal to developers who want a second iOS phone but not the contract to go with it.

Apple launched two new smartphones last week and even though iPhone 4 sucked all the air out of the coverage, the $99 iPhone 3GS 8GB is just as important in its own right.

YouTube link

$99 iPhone 3GS – Apple’s other huge smartphone launch is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

At WWDC 2010 I had the chance to sit down with designer Graham Clarke and developer Nick Takayama Glasshouse Apps, makers of the Early Edition RSS reader for iPad, to talk about their latest app, and their impressions of iPhone 4.

Glasshouse had previously made Barista and Cellar, fine coffee and wine-enthusiast apps for the iPhone, so an RSS reader wasn’t obvious until you realize Clarke needed something to read while sipping his favorite beverages.

Takayama thought the visualization of RSS as a newspaper was a natural fit and he was surprised it hadn’t been done before on iOS. Clarke was excited with the extra screen real estate offered on the iPad, not having to flow screens but just using the canvas.

With a background in print, and previous experience in web design, dealing with the challenge of flowing text — whose content they don’t know in advance — into an attractive column-based layout was somewhat mitigated by having a single platform to work with (as opposed to several browsers across multiple OS to worry about).

Little functional gems like being able to scroll the content in the column-based preview before you tap into the whole article was a balance Takayama wanted to strike. Likewise, the decision to import Google Reader feeds as opposed to syncing them gave the Early Edition the advantage of speed and independence.

Moving forward, they’ve just released version 1.2.0 which greatly increases fetch speeds and responsiveness, and adds forward and back arrows for better browsing.

The Early Edition for iPad is $4.99 [iTunes link]

[Glasshouse Apps]

Glasshouse Apps talks the Early Edition RSS for iPad – TiPb at WWDC 2010 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Want to tether your iPad to your BlackBerry? Bla1ze over at CrackBerry.com found himself in just that situation, so he put together a quick how-to:

The process requires you to download a cydia app called iBluever and a BlackBerry application called PDANet. After a few setting adjustments you technically should be up and running using your BlackBerry data plan with your WiFi enabled iPad. That said, you should keep in mind that anytime something is interacting with your carrier data, you could incur extra charges. if you decide to set this up, you do so at your own risk.

Have you tried tethering your iPad to your BlackBerry? If so, let us know how it worked for you.

[CrackBerry.com]

How to tether your iPad to your BlackBerry is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

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iOS 4 release, iPhone 4 hits the streets, features we like most, bugs with both, apps that have been updated and iPhone 3G… belated. Listen in!

…because we’re done. Week over. That’s it. That’s all. We need some sleep!

(Feel free to chat away while we’re unconscious though, pick any topic above or just talk the night away. We’ll be zzzzzzz–)

Credits

Thanks to the TiPb iPhone accessory store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

iPhone live podcast #105: Special delivery is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

We’ve been covering some of the new and notable iOS 4 updates as we find them going live in the App Store, but Apple’s new Awesome iOS 4 Apps section in the iTunes App Store has just made that task a little easier.

Check them out to see Apple’s favorites, and hit the jump to see some more of ours…

[iTunes via TechCrunch]

Bejeweled 2

I think Bejeweled 2 was one of the first games I downloaded (ok that’s probably an exaggeration), but it’s one of the ones that sticks in my head as an all time favorite. It’s extremely addicting and links up with Bejeweled Blitz so if you have Facebook, you can show off your scores on Facebook as well. Bejeweled 2 has added fast app switching support as of now.

[iTunes Link]

Instapaper

An incredibly useful app just got even more useful. Instapaper has added multitasking support as of now and say they’ll have more updates to come. For those of you not familiar with Instapaper, it allows you to save web pages for offline reading at your convenience. So if you’re bored in class or at work and you happen to be somewhere with sucky service, Instapaper is awesome.

[iTunes Link]

iTeleport

iTeleport is an amazing app that allows you to access your desktop computer from anywhere. It is compatible with Mac and PC. Have a file you forgot to send before you left home? Use iTeleport to log in to your home computer and send it to yourself. Easy as that!

[iTunes Link]

Articles

Articles is definitely one of the better Wikipedia sources out there. If you’re looking for a good reference app that’s got an awesome layout and pleasing to the eye, you won’t get any better. Especially since it’s now completely compatible with iOS4 and adds not only multitasking support but optimization for the retina display for iPhone 4.

[iTunes Link]

Twitterrific

The grand daddy of iPhone Twitter apps has once again gone back to the drawing board for version 3.0, this time drawing inspiration from the simplicity and focus forced by their iPad re-design. That’s right — it’s a universal binary so you only need to buy it once. It’s free but you can co ad-free and multi-account with an in-app purchase (which applies to both iPad and iPhone version).

[iTunes link]

Like always, if you see any that are your favorites, send us a tip or a comment!

iOS 4 updated: Bejeweled 2, Instapaper, iTeleport, Articles, Twitterrific, and Apple’s Awesome iOS 4 apps is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

How to make the switch from RIM’s BlackBerry to Apple’s iPhone 4

iPhone 4 with its 960×640 retina display, easy-peasy FaceTime video calling, high quality 5 megapixel, back-illuminated camera that shoots 720p 30fps video, and the silky smoothness of iOS 4 convincing you to switch from RIM’s BlackBerry to Apple’s newest handset? Worried about moving over your personal data like contacts, finding apps, getting used to the differences? Wondering where to get help?

Stop. Smile. We’re here to help. Follow along after the break for everything you need to know (more properly, everything the iPhone Forums have taught us) about switching from BlackBerry to iPhone 4 and iOS 4.

(And yes, we’ve done Android, webOSWindows Mobile switcher guides as well).

RIM to iPhone – Yin and Yang

Perhaps you’ve used an iPhone before but work or hard core messaging needs demanded you back on the BlackBerry? Perhaps the missing mail and multitasking kept you from trying an iPhone at all until now? It’s all good. The past is the past and this is about the future — your future with iPhone 4 and iOS 4. This is about getting you from BlackBerry to iPhone as fast as possible.

And here’s the good news — of all the smartphone platforms, no two complement each other more than BlackBerry and iPhone. Ultimate communicator to paramount web and app platform. So even if you’re not really switching but just lining up a little iPhone action on the side — we got you covered. Dual wielders most definitely welcome.

Moving over contacts, calendars, and email

If you’re on an Exchange server at work, you can just plug your credentials into iPhone and ActiveSync will do the rest. No BES required. That is if IT allows it — they can get super-controlling with all the super-functionality BES provides. If they won’t let you give up the Berry, you can still sneak the iPhone in on your own time. (And if you have or can get the direct Exchange info, you can probably still access your data on the down low).

For personal email, Gmail (and Hotmail soon as well) can also be added via ActiveSync. iOS 4 supports multiple ActiveSync accounts. Just tap the Settings icon on the Home Screen, tap Mail, Contacts, and Calendars, choose Exchange, and enter your info.

If you don’t like ActiveSynch, you can setup MobileMe (Apple’s expensive push service), Exchange, or pretty much any POP3 or IMAP service you have via the Other button.

Since the iPhone already has a WebKit browser — the leading WebKit browser — you can load up gmail.com and most other web mail sites right in Safari.

What to do about BlackBerry Messenger (BBM)

Ah, there’s the lock-in. RIM operates their own, industry leading, completely proprietary messaging service and since there’s not much chance they’ll announced BlackBerry Connect for iPhone any time soon, leaving BlackBerry means leaving BBM.

Don’t panic! (Crash cart ready!. It’s for the best, really. Communication protocols shouldn’t be proprietary and if they are (like Twitter) they should at least be supported on every platform — especially the web. That way you can log out of one machine and in to another and all your stuff is just there. Like email. Like IM. Like Twitter. Like pretty much everything popular aside from BBM.

You’re moving on and if your friends are real friends, they’ll move with you. (Ha, sorry, couldn’t resist!).

Now there are iPhone apps that try to mimic the BBM experience, even cross-platform, but we’re not going to recommend them because they tend to be just as proprietary as Twitter without the mass adoption… so just use Twitter. Or AIM. Or Windows Live Messenger. There are tons of great iPhone app clients for all of those. Here are the official — and free — Twitter [iTunes link], AIM [iTunes link], and WLM [iTunes link] clients for iPhone. You can find several premium, multi-protocol apps as well, including BeeJive [iTunes link] and IM+ [iTunes link]

Finding other apps (and games).

Truth time — Apple doesn’t have a creaky old J2ME operating system awkwardly opening APIs and offering fractured support for technologies like WebKit and OpenGL. (They save partial support for messaging and multitasking! Zing!)

Okay, so Apple may not have invented mobile apps but they’ve revolutionized them sure as BlackBerry revolutionized mobile communications. What this means to you is 225,000 apps ready and waiting, and surprisingly most have nothing to do with farts. You’ll find cutting edge productivity, amazing entertainment, top of the line social networking, and scores and scores of other amazing apps. And sorry Brick Breaker, but the iPhone also owns (and pwns) on games, from the casual farmers to full-on 3D shooters. TiPb reviews several a week and we’ve got a whole iPhone Apps and Games Forum ready to help you out as well.

Jailbreak

Jailbreak and Cydia are two words you might here come up around these parts. Okay, iPhone 4 probably won’t be Jailbroken (root jail broken open to allow side-loading of unsigned apps — if you don’t know what that means, skip this section) on launch day but it probably will eventually, maybe even soon. If you’re a diehard tweaker and customizer, you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled to our Jailbreak coverage, and more importantly — our Jailbreak Help Forum, and Jailbreak Apps, Games, and Themes Forum.

Say farewell to fracture

Seriously, you don’t have to worry much if at all about versions and hardware compatibility any more. With very few exception, iPhone apps past, present, and future will just work on your iPhone 4. Sure the screen is bigger but it’s exactly 4 times bigger at the same physical size so existing (pre-iOS 4) apps will look the same and new (post iOS 4) apps will, frankly, blow your eyeballs out the back of your head.

There’s no Pearl vs Curve vs Storm vs Bold, keyboard vs no keyboard, flip vs no flip, SureType vs SurePress vs full QWERTY.

Apple is all about user experience and they’re doing a lot of abstraction behind the scenes to make sure things look great in front of them.

Say hello to iTunes

A mixed blessing if ever there was one, iTunes runs okay on Mac, kludgy on Windows, but is the local sync client required to activate your iPhone 4 and to transfer large media and document files from your computer to your phone. But why are we telling you this, you’ve probably used BlackBerry’s desktop app, maybe even Outlook. You know how to handle pain.

You can do a lot of things OTA (over the air), including syncing all your personal data via ActiveSync (including Google Sync) or MobileMe, download apps, and buy or rent iTunes music, TV shows, movies, podcasts, etc. (20MB or under over 3G, any size over Wi-Fi). You can find apps that let you access your Google Docs, DropBox, Box.net, and other online storage. You can even convert and stream content on the fly with apps like AirSharing [iTunes]. But at some point, be it to install a software update like iOS 4.1 (probably due this fall) or backup your data, you’re going to need to plug in to iTunes. So 2007, we know. If it’s any consolation, Apple should release iTunes.com at some point…

Say WTH to weak, interruptive notifications

For all the huge usability advantages iOS 4 has over BlackBerry — and make no mistake they really are huge — notifications are sorely lacking.

You get one notification popup at a time that you have to view or close before you can resume what you were doing (or about to do) and once you close it — or another notification pops up on top of it — it’s gone forever.

There’s also no notification light — not even a big glowing Apple logo. Nothing.

Hopefully Apple will fix these omissions in a future update. (Because we know RIM’s getting a better browser.)

No. More. Keyboard. Or. Stylus.

No front facing QWERTY, no SureType. No physical hardware keyboards of any kind. Apple hates buttons and keyboards are nothing if not homes for dozens of buttons. If you’re coming from a Storm this won’t be as big a deal. If you’re coming from the Bold…

Okay, here’s the thing. Apple prefers the flexibility of a virtual keyboard, and they do flexible keyboards better than anyone in the business. Seriously. Despite what Big Mike says, multitouch capacitive interface of any kind on glass can be a transformative experience.

Apple likes their keys virtual so they go away when you don’t need them (without creaking, oreo’ing, popping batteries, or coming to the rescue when virtual keyboards just won’t do). On the plus side, if you’re multilingual or international, the iPhone keyboard can easily be switched to any alphabet, script, stroke, or pictographic symbol you want to use. It can also become optimized for numbers, games, or pretty much anything you (technically, a developer) can think of.

Best of all, if you really miss your physical keyboard, with iOS 4, you can tether up a Bluetooth one and knock email — and yourself — out.

More BlackBerry to iPhone help and information

If you haven’t already, check out our complete iOS 4 feature walkthrough. There’s an incredible amount of stuff in iOS 4 and you can save yourself some serious time cribbing off of us.

If you need help, or have a story to share, check out TiPb’s iPhone forum — we’ve got a special switching from BlackBerry to iPhone 4 thread going just for you!

And if we forgot anything or just plain got something wrong, let us know and we’ll add it or fix it.

Switching from BlackBerry to iPhone 4? Here’s what you need to know is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog