iPhone Lessons Learned and Loopholes Found
By Marcus on Sunday, July 5 2009, 22:49 - iPhone - Permalink
My tips for those that are contemplating going down the iPhone path..or already have one and need some coaching.
1) Don't waste your time standing in line or calling day after day at a Rogers or Fido outlet/counter. They barely get four phones every ten days and tell a whole host of stories about when they will have stock. After the 7th visit I was suddenly put on a waiting list that went no where. Rogers/Fido also said that you had to come to them if you wanted to keep your number....and they always babbled on about bundles that in the end you see is just fluff. Better to just head to an Apple Store. They have stock because they make the damn things.
1) Don't waste your time standing in line or calling day after day at a Rogers or Fido outlet/counter. They barely get four phones every ten days and tell a whole host of stories about when they will have stock. After the 7th visit I was suddenly put on a waiting list that went no where. Rogers/Fido also said that you had to come to them if you wanted to keep your number....and they always babbled on about bundles that in the end you see is just fluff. Better to just head to an Apple Store. They have stock because they make the damn things.
2) Apple can sign you up to either carrier in a few minutes. The process is mainly straight forward. However, if there are hiccups, Apple will call the carrier from the store. If you get a CSR that is saying dumb stuff ( I think ours was in Bangalore)..just hang up and call back. You'll eventually get someone that knows what they are talking about and is actually helpful.
3) However, be savvy - do not sign up for the bundles that Rogers or Fido are offering. It is better if you choose a voice plan that suits your needs and then just add the 6 GB data special offer - why? Well the 6 GB plan costs the same as the regular 1 GB plan...and you don't want any restrictions/limits on data. I'll explain more in a second. Anyway, by customizing the voice plan you will knock your bill down by at least $20-$40 per month and actually end up with more stuff. Even if you were silly enough to sign up for a whack voice plan pay the downgrade fee and downgrade!
4) Ok - Continuing the theme of misinformation from the carriers. It says that in your data plan you will have access to all Rogers and Fido hotspots without extra charge....HOTSPOTS (not to be confused with a single hotspot) is a company across Canada that all four carriers (Rogers, Fido, Bell and Telus) have linked their own network hotspots to. (Go to Starbucks and try to connect to WiFi and you'll be asked which carrier is yours and if you want to have your internet charges appear on your wireless bill...I got burned with this in Whistler once by not using up my credits fast enough and then losing them but that is another story). The deal with the iPhone is you can only use the hotspots for free that are the ones in the network supplied only by your carrier. Sooooooo why is this a problem? Well BC is mostly Telus territory and Starbucks uses Bell as their corporate supplier...so good luck finding a free hotspot in BC. If you check the grid Rogers/Fido has 50 hotspots in Ottawa (mostly at Second Cup)....but only 2 in Vancouver! 2??? Ummmm...rinky dink towns have more hotspots than a major metropolitan area like Vancouver. There is also NO/NO advantage to having 8 Starbucks within a 2 minute walk. Sorry vacouverites....pick up and move to Winnipeg or Ottawa.
Thanks for nothing......so now you see why you want the 6 GB data plan. Though seriously if you burn through 6GB of data that will be amazing....I get hundreds of messages a day at work with attachments and I don't think I even hit 6 GB in data in a month.
5) Technically you can have the iPhone without signing up for a dataplan...you could in theory just use the free WiFi at Blenz or you could just use you own WiFi at home. If they tell you otherwise they be lying.
6) Gmail is awesome..but to get it to work properly do not use the Gmail button in Mail setup but instead follow the Gmail setup instructions at Google's Gmail help site. Though I find Hotmail works a lot faster than Gmail but both are trumped by Apple's Mobile Me service (me.com)
7) ME.COM costs money but is so much better than any other mail..so would suggest it is actually worth it, especially if you like having your mail on your phone sync up with you computer - much like your blackberry at work. Also syncs your calendar, your browser book marks, photos etc. So it carries out that back-up function nicely. The other reason I would push me.com on anyone considering an iPhone is the helpful feature "Locate my Phone". If you think you have misplaced your phone just login in to your me.com account with Firefox/Safari and push the "Locate my iPhone" button....it makes your phone beep like mad so you can find it....kind of like the annoying car alarm in the parking lot when someone breaths on the expensive car.
8) To seriously enjoy a technology like the iPhone (and Tivo, Amazon Unbox, Netflix, etc) and get access to all the great content not available in Canada (movies, TV shows, games, pre-release albums) you need to be an American...or at least be able to pretend you are an American. You don't need a green card but just a passable US address and a US payment method. A number of cool apps are only available in the US iTunes Store (US iTS) to only US residents. Wouldn't you want Skype so you could make free VoIP calls on your massive data plan? Guess what..it is not available in Canada...just the USA.
9) Well you can sign up for a US iTS account. Just use a different (but valid) email address (you need this so you can get the activation link) and use a US mailing address with the right zipcode. Pick a family friend's house, a store in a mall, or a hotel address. As long as it is not pure BS it works great. When it comes to payment options you can even actually select "NONE". Voila you have a valid US iTS account where you can download FREE apps or songs from the US iTunes Store. tada!
10) Want to actually be able to buy content like movies or TV shows (from HBO or the WB) in the US iTunes even though you are Canadian? Well you can do that too. Simply get some iTunes gift cards in the US the next time you are there and use them with your US iTunes account. Or...and this is awesome go buy a Mastercard gift card at Shoppers. Drop that card number into your US iTunes account and ..haha...you are able to buy episodes of the Sopranos....the iTunes gift card option is cheaper though by a few dollars.
That is my first 24 hours on the iPhone. What will I discover in day two?!
3) However, be savvy - do not sign up for the bundles that Rogers or Fido are offering. It is better if you choose a voice plan that suits your needs and then just add the 6 GB data special offer - why? Well the 6 GB plan costs the same as the regular 1 GB plan...and you don't want any restrictions/limits on data. I'll explain more in a second. Anyway, by customizing the voice plan you will knock your bill down by at least $20-$40 per month and actually end up with more stuff. Even if you were silly enough to sign up for a whack voice plan pay the downgrade fee and downgrade!
4) Ok - Continuing the theme of misinformation from the carriers. It says that in your data plan you will have access to all Rogers and Fido hotspots without extra charge....HOTSPOTS (not to be confused with a single hotspot) is a company across Canada that all four carriers (Rogers, Fido, Bell and Telus) have linked their own network hotspots to. (Go to Starbucks and try to connect to WiFi and you'll be asked which carrier is yours and if you want to have your internet charges appear on your wireless bill...I got burned with this in Whistler once by not using up my credits fast enough and then losing them but that is another story). The deal with the iPhone is you can only use the hotspots for free that are the ones in the network supplied only by your carrier. Sooooooo why is this a problem? Well BC is mostly Telus territory and Starbucks uses Bell as their corporate supplier...so good luck finding a free hotspot in BC. If you check the grid Rogers/Fido has 50 hotspots in Ottawa (mostly at Second Cup)....but only 2 in Vancouver! 2??? Ummmm...rinky dink towns have more hotspots than a major metropolitan area like Vancouver. There is also NO/NO advantage to having 8 Starbucks within a 2 minute walk. Sorry vacouverites....pick up and move to Winnipeg or Ottawa.
Thanks for nothing......so now you see why you want the 6 GB data plan. Though seriously if you burn through 6GB of data that will be amazing....I get hundreds of messages a day at work with attachments and I don't think I even hit 6 GB in data in a month.
5) Technically you can have the iPhone without signing up for a dataplan...you could in theory just use the free WiFi at Blenz or you could just use you own WiFi at home. If they tell you otherwise they be lying.
6) Gmail is awesome..but to get it to work properly do not use the Gmail button in Mail setup but instead follow the Gmail setup instructions at Google's Gmail help site. Though I find Hotmail works a lot faster than Gmail but both are trumped by Apple's Mobile Me service (me.com)
7) ME.COM costs money but is so much better than any other mail..so would suggest it is actually worth it, especially if you like having your mail on your phone sync up with you computer - much like your blackberry at work. Also syncs your calendar, your browser book marks, photos etc. So it carries out that back-up function nicely. The other reason I would push me.com on anyone considering an iPhone is the helpful feature "Locate my Phone". If you think you have misplaced your phone just login in to your me.com account with Firefox/Safari and push the "Locate my iPhone" button....it makes your phone beep like mad so you can find it....kind of like the annoying car alarm in the parking lot when someone breaths on the expensive car.
8) To seriously enjoy a technology like the iPhone (and Tivo, Amazon Unbox, Netflix, etc) and get access to all the great content not available in Canada (movies, TV shows, games, pre-release albums) you need to be an American...or at least be able to pretend you are an American. You don't need a green card but just a passable US address and a US payment method. A number of cool apps are only available in the US iTunes Store (US iTS) to only US residents. Wouldn't you want Skype so you could make free VoIP calls on your massive data plan? Guess what..it is not available in Canada...just the USA.
9) Well you can sign up for a US iTS account. Just use a different (but valid) email address (you need this so you can get the activation link) and use a US mailing address with the right zipcode. Pick a family friend's house, a store in a mall, or a hotel address. As long as it is not pure BS it works great. When it comes to payment options you can even actually select "NONE". Voila you have a valid US iTS account where you can download FREE apps or songs from the US iTunes Store. tada!
10) Want to actually be able to buy content like movies or TV shows (from HBO or the WB) in the US iTunes even though you are Canadian? Well you can do that too. Simply get some iTunes gift cards in the US the next time you are there and use them with your US iTunes account. Or...and this is awesome go buy a Mastercard gift card at Shoppers. Drop that card number into your US iTunes account and ..haha...you are able to buy episodes of the Sopranos....the iTunes gift card option is cheaper though by a few dollars.
That is my first 24 hours on the iPhone. What will I discover in day two?!
