Let me know if this fixes the slow sync and neverending backup problems with iPhone 2.0. I’m also curious about Bluetooth compatibility in Visual Voicemail. My Plantronics headset quit working with VVM. 

As always I’ll post my own experience and notes here. Share yours with a comment below.

(thanks to Jon Lee for alerting me of this news just moments ago)

Update: The download is 242.3 MB

Update (again): the install took <10 min. I The iPhone seems a little more responsive especially in the contacts and keyboard. I updated WordPress, and played with a handful of app, before attempting a sync. The backup seemed to take <5 min, although I had already completed a 2+hour backup earlier today. I think the verdict is still out on this. As for my bluetooth, it’s a no go. My Plantronics 520 reamins unavailable in Visual Voicemail.

Update (again, again): I have since synced my iPhone 3 times, once after updating/installing 5 applications over the air (not through iTunes). Each sync has completed a backup in just a few minutes. For now, I’m thinking the iPhone 2.0.1 update has greatly improved the slow backup on sync issue.

Palringo for the iPhone supports AOL’s AIM, iChat, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Gadu Gadu, ICQ, Jabber and Windows Live Messenger. Setup requires registration and I’m guessing that is in order to support photo messaging. Oh, I didn’t mention that yet? You can send photos from our albums or directly from the camera. Palringo saves the photo on their servers and send a link to your recipient. 

Palringo is FREE and available via this iTunes Link.

I would like to see Comment moderation in a future release. Also improve the inclusion of URLs. Entering HTML code on the iPhone isn’t quick and easy.

You can get WordPress for your iPhone from http://snurl.com/32uhi [--> iTunes Link]

Screenshots attatched. This entire post was created, previewed and published with WordPress on the iPhone.

Having trouble, or have something to add? Please leave a comment!

1. I restored my iPhone using the iPhone1,1_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw – I originally updated my iPhone using the leaked iPhone1,2_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw before it was released via iTunes. There’s been some debate over wether or not there’s any difference in the two builds. I’m not going to debate that here. 
2. As a result of restore, my iPhone was forced to use one of my backups after reloading. I believe it then recreated a new backup folder. If the act of rebuilding my backup folder alone, is the solution then you could simply rename the folder in /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup to something else. I’m certain iTunes will recreate a fresh Backup, this may take sometime, but subsequent backups should be incremental and much faster (mine are). Obviously if you run into problems you still have your original backup available. 

If number 2 alone doesn’t solve the problem, then a system restore may be necessary. Warning, please proceed at your own risk. Always maintain backups. Your milage may vary. No warranties expressed, implied, or given. Leave a comment with your experiences. 

Myself an others are reporting about iPhone 2.0 Backup and Sync frustrations over on Apple’s discussion boards. The gist of the problem is iPhone 2.0 software attempts to do a full back up every time you sync. According to the Apple User’s Guide:

Once iPhone has been configured to sync with a particular computer, iTunes automatically makes a backup of iPhone on that computer when you sync. iTunes won’t automatically back up an iPhone that is not configured to sync with that computer. If you have configured iPhone to automatically sync with iTunes on a specific computer, iTunes will back up iPhone every time you connect it to that computer. Automatic syncing is turned on by default. iTunes only makes one backup each time you connect, even if you sync multiple times before disconnecting.

OK so there’s nothing really wrong with a backup right? There is when it takes 20-40 min each time. I’m sure this differs based on the amount of data you have on your phone. If you are in a hurry and in need of syncing some data sans a full backup, you can hit the “X” to skip the backup. iTunes should then proceed to sync your data and media. 

If I find out any further details, I’ll post an update here. Feel free to add a comment below.

The Facebook application is missing Wall posts. You will have to use the web interface for that. Also the photo integration won’t allow you to select an existing photo from your album. You are limited to  a realtime photo which is seldom the case for me. Twice now Facebook has rebooted my iPhone. Not nice!

Twitterrific has some photo orientation problems. I send a note to Iconfactory and this was their response: 

Some images uploaded to TwitPic are not rotated correctly. Again, this is a bug with the EXIF data that Apple is putting into the JPEG image. We are working on a workaround now, but didn’t have it ready in time for the launch. We’ve also heard from TwitPic that they are working on some AJAX code that will rotate the images directly in the browser, so that may help in the short term.

A totally useless useful application is PhoneSaber. I can see this coming in handy during boring meetings. Basically your phone becomes a Light Saber from Star Wars making the all familiar sound with each flip of your hand. Just don’t let go of your iPhone. I’m reminded of the Wii remote warnings and safety straps. I wonder when the first iPhone accident will be chalked up to PhoneSaber. –>iTunes Link

I still can’t stop raving over Shazam (audible song identification, see prior post). Here’s a few screen shots to follow up with. 

I finally got MobileMe working. Now my Work and Personal calendars are displayed nicely on my iPhone while maintaining their independence on respective systems. Contacts are also manage much the same way. Here’s a couple of shots:

Screenshots on the iPhone? How you might ask? Well, it’s easy, just press the Home button and the Power button at the same time. Your screen will blink and the shot will be added to your Camera Roll.

Registration Servers - Much like launch day last year, I’m hearing that AT&T is having problems again with their registration servers. This can put a crimp in anyone trying to upgrade to 2.0 or activating a new 3G phone. Be patient, it’s worth the wait. Guess I’m lucky to have completed my upgrade before the rush…

Did you get a 3G, have you upgraded to 2.0? Leave a comment with you thoughts!

First off, I have never been found of Microsoft, aside from Xbox 360, but I will say Exchange on the iPhone is incredible. Within minutes of setting up my account, I already had a meeting request pop-up and accepted. 

Passwords across the board, now show you the last character typed. This is handy for me as I’m a fan of long pass phrases. 

Shazam is one of the most impressive free apps. Have you ever wonder what song was playing on the radio? With Shazam you just let your iPhone listen and within moments it will return Album, Artist, Song Title and more. In my test it identified 10 for 10 songs. 3 on the home stereo, 3 in the car, 1 from another iPhone and 3 from MacBook speakers. –>iTunes link

Super Monkey Ball, Texas Hold’em and Ms. Pacman are all great. 

Don’t waste your money on Crazy Eye. It might be worth $0.25 akin to a prize in a gumball machine. Who knows maybe it will get some play in a meeting or two at work. 

Pandora on the iPhone is another godsend. Not usable on Edge but for you soon to be 3G’ers I think you could augment your playlist and FM tuning durring rush hour. –>iTunes Link

MobileMe has been a PITA for me today. But, on my iPhone it worked as expected. My mail account started pushing automatically, and turning on Calendar and Contacts with the flip of a switch was as simple as Steve Jobs wardrobe. The calendar app does a great job keeping my personal and business schedule separately-together. 

For guitar players like me, GuitarToolkit is a must have. Tones, Tuner, Metronome and a Chord chart round it out. I spent much more on my Sabine digital tuner. –>iTunes Link

Facebook and Twitterrific take the cake in the social networking arena. Twitterrific has a great UI, a built-in browser and Camera to TwitPic integration. –>iTunes Link – Facebook’s application also brings photos and the recently popular Facebook chat to the iphone. As expected they too have an excellent UX. –>iTunes Link

NetNewsWire is one of my favorite OS X apps and I was excited to see it in the AppStore. After a quick test drive though, I must say their iPhone web app (NewsGator) seems better and faster. I plan to give it more time but I very well might stick with NewsGator/Safari. 

BUGS? As expected with a product introduction there’s bound to be glitches and bugs (MobileMe?). I have had a handful of crashes and unexpected data errors in the “free” apps. I haven’t had a single problem with a premium app (not counting MobileMe). I expect these bugs to be worked out in due time. 

Honestly I feel like I have only scratched the surface here. So sound off in the comments and share your thoughts on the new apps for iPhone 2.0!

Make sure you have fully syncd your iPhone before you upgrade. After you download you can select the firmware file manually by holding the [OPTION] key and pressing Update button. This will let you select the .ipsw file. (UPDATE: rename the file from .zip to .ipsw, no need to uncompress it)

Don’t use this for iPod touch, only iPhone. Windows users hold [SHIFT] key when pressing update. Leave a comment and let me know what you think of 2.0.

Use at your own risk. Your milage may vary. Results are not always typical. Don’t shoot the messenger. 

So here’s my technology list for the family vacation at the beach:

• Nikon Digital SLR, extra battery, charger, case and lenses.
• Wife’s Casio Exilim EX-S10 point and shoot, w/charger
• 2 old point and shoot cameras – good for beach and kid’s usage
• Sony Digital DV camcorder, charger, DV tapes and bag (probably don’t need since point and shoots will do good enough)
• Bagful of rechargeable AA and AAA batteries with chargers
• iPhone wall chargers
• 2 MacBook Pros, with chargers
• Portable backup of home/business data (WD MyBook Studio) – just for safety not likely to use 
• Firewire cable (hard drive, or linking the MacBooks for fast data transfers)
• Spare D-Link Wireless router (condo has ethernet we can blast wifi to the pool from our balcony)
• Extra ethernet cable to config router
• Work’s external hard drive (I’m certain I will be working through vacation need to edit some videos)
• Video iPods and (can use iPhone charging cables)
• Video cable for iPods
• Re-encode 25+ kid’s movies from media server for iPod (thanks VisualHub)
• Charge & replace batteries for wireless headphones (we use the iPod as a mobile media server for the in-car LCD panel)
• Get portable iHome (water resistant, beach ready version)
• Sync old iPod Nanos with current music for use with portable iHome (better to lose/damage old nano then Video iPod or iPhone while on the beach)
• Remind kid’s to pack chargers, headphones and games for their Nintendo DSs
• Grab the latest Netflix DVDs (hope it’s something good)
• Find s-video cable/adapter for MacBook Pro (can always serve a makeshift DVD player)
• Find audio cable (headphone to RCA) to use with MacBook Pro and/or iPods
• USB SDHC card reader (for all the cameras – no need to bring 3 different USB cables)

What I’m I forgetting? Let me know with a comment…

I’m not a new comer to the blogosphere or social media. My past includes authoring to the now vanished EarthLink Protection blog (2005), and I recently helped cofound Skribit, Inc., a community engagement tool for blogger. In recent months, I helped setup my Wife’s company blog. Actually 10+ years ago (1998 to be exact) I started my first “web log”. Yeah, I’m no Dave Winer, but I did maintain a webpage that logged the pregnancy and arrival of my first child Cameron.

Today I work for a video-centric social media company called Vitrue, (for the record: the views and opinions on this site are my own and not those of my employer). I have 12+ years working with software, web, and internet technologies and there’s bound to be some overlap between my blog and career. But if you are interested in Vitrue’s position check our their blog.

What to expect from me? Well that’s going to evolve over time. My passions include technology, gadgets, anything Apple, UGC video (YouTube & .Mac Gallery), and music (guitar). I’m not an avid gamer, but own the major consoles, RockBand is hot right now. I wired my home with gigabit ether to stream video to 5+ set-top boxes, audio too. I setup a homegrown NAS with 3+TB of storage. I use Macs, and love my iPhone. Given my recent employment, I imagine I will be spending more time in the social side of the net, videos in particular. In the end, I hope this blog will engage a readership, promote healthy conversations and impress some friends and family.

In addition to the personal interest above… I have two boys Cameron and Ryan, a beautiful wife Michelle, and her two kids Nick and Kara. We’re a modern day Brady Bunch minus Alice, although Michelle really wants to hire Alice. This summer we will celebrate our 2nd anniversary. My wife created this family web site with iWeb and a .Mac account (I think it’s a little outdated).

So if you made it this far, drop me a comment and say so. If nothing else say hello. Until next time…