alerted by AppleInsider to potentially new images of the soon to be released, industry changing iPhone, I rushed over to check it out. we have these, and these and probably more - including those in the PowerPoint presentation I received from a Chinese manufacturer of iPhone cases, hocking their ability to have cases ready to go!
so, how come these guys have enough time to photograph them from all angles with relatively good light, but none of them have time to make sure the photos are sharp and in focus, well framed and the like? this reminds me of the video of ufo’s - it’s like the aliens know to avoid the guys with the high-def video cameras.
seriously. my iPhone can take better photos of the new, secret 3G iPhone.
someone let me know when it’s available to buy, then i’ll get excited to see it.
and i’ll probably buy it.
saw this come across twitter this morning.
just the first sentence is good enough:
American Airlines will start charging $15 for the first checked bag, cut domestic flights and lay off workers as it grapples with record-high fuel prices.
now don’t get me wrong, i realize all the airlines are freaking out because of the cost of fuel and they’ve got to do whatever they can to get money in the bank. but it would seem to me that charging for the first checked bag may not be the most creative thing they’ve come up with. it makes sense to me to charge for food or to raise ticket prices because of the fuel costs. but when we’re encouraged to check our bags because we can’t possibly carry it on (thanks TSA for your liquid rules) and the cabin storage is minimal and a painful experience if you’re in that last boarding group - this comes across as a penalty for flying with American.
on their site they list a ton of exceptions. the three that affect most of us are these:
Customers traveling on an international itinerary to destinations beyond the U.S., the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, or Canada
Customers who purchase full-fare tickets in Economy Class
Customers who purchase Business or First Class tickets
so basically if you’re a budget traveler you probably aren’t going to fly American. then again, if you are, why are you flying American?
let’s hope other carriers can be more creative then this as they deal with fuel costs.
a buddy of mine over at http://techinflight.com posted this:
Hey, seat 8B…wanna chat?
One of the features consistently mentioned as a feature on the next generation IFE systems is In-Seat Chat (also sometimes referred to as Seat-to-Seat Text Messaging
What I find most interesting about the idea of inflight chat, is similar to his, that anyone would even want it. We both agree that just up and chatting with someone may work on a limited basis, but what’s the chance that you have the patience to inquire of everyone on the plane if they want to chat? While rebuffing other inquiries at the same time!
So let’s do a chat room. This may be a better solution. People are already playing trivia in groups, why not wrap that concept around something like a movie? Sort of the Joost of sky. Let them discover each other over a built in shared commonality (even if they hate the movie) and give them the opportunity to move to seat-to-seat, or some kind of private chat room to continue talking. Business class lay-flat seats take on a whole new meaning now. :)
It seems like they’re trying too hard to shoehorn in some social networking by grabbing something that doesn’t feel like a social network, but has that cool IM/SMS vibe that all the kids are going nuts over. Make it part of something - lowering the barrier to entry so everyone may get into it, maintain the ability to retain some of your personal space on the plane - default opt-out, and above all make it fun.
Constantly telling seat 8B that I don’t want to chat doesn’t strike me as a feature I’d want to pay for…
still working on getting the look locked down, but who could pass up a star wars-esque theme? i mean really?
until we get everything put together and massaged the way we like, we’ll start here.