iOS 4 is very, very slow on the iPhone 3G

After a brief test period with iOS 4 on my iPhone 3G, I have reverted back to iPhone OS 3.1.3. Using iOS 4 on the 3G was utterly painful. Everything was laggy, and certain basic functionality like listening to music or even just answering the phone was problematic with iOS 4.

When I would listen to music and surf the net over 3G data at the same time, the music would sometimes skip. Completely unacceptable. Other applications would often have a few second lag too before I could interact with them. This even was true for answering the phone. If I was for example reading email and a call came in, the phone would go to the call screen, but wouldn't allow me to answer it right away. The swipe-to-answer finger gesture wouldn't work as the screen would be unresponsive for a few seconds. If the caller didn't stay on the line long enough I'd miss the call. Very irritating. This was never a problem on the 3G with previous versions of iPhone OS.

So, I downgraded back to OS 3, following these good instructions.



While reports of lag with the 3G are common, people have not been reporting it with the iPhone 3GS. While the iPhone 3GS has a faster CPU, I suspect it has more to do with memory. The 3G has 128 MB RAM, while the 3GS has twice that, at 256 MB. That's a huge difference, presumably saving on page-outs to flash memory. (The iPhone 4 has 512 MB RAM, which is actually twice as much as the iPad.)

I don't know if Apple will be able to address this performance issue on the 3G with future iOS 4 point updates. Hopefully they will, but no guarantees. At this point the iOS 4 features are not a big loss though, since multitasking of third party apps isn't offered on the 3G anyway, and folders as currently implemented in iOS 4 aren't something I will miss much. However, in the future, iOS 4 will be more of a necessity, as applications will eventually start requiring iOS 4 or higher to function.

iPhone 4 in Canada factory unlocked from Apple

My globetrotting friends are pleasantly surprised to see that in Canada, we will be able to get the iPhone 4 unlocked straight from Apple.



An iPhone 4 not subsidized by a carrier contract will be costly, but it still actually is cheaper for those who spend a lot of time out of the country. They will be getting the iPhone 4 sans contract, and will use local service in the countries they visit, either through a regular wireless account or through prepaid SIM cards. Well, if they can find local micro-SIM cards that is.

I personally will probably still sign a contract to get a subsidized iPhone 4. However, given Fido's annoying stacked contacts, I'm also considering going to a new carrier for my iPhone 4 after my current 3G's 3-year contract runs out, but only if they can offer decent voice and data plans. Fortunately, the big three in Canada - Rogers, Telus, and Bell - all offer the iPhone now.

Apple is bigger than Microsoft

Today, Apple has a higher market capitalization than Microsoft. Currently AAPL is just a shade over $227 billion, and MSFT is just a shade under.





[Update 2010-05-26]

AAPL closed at $244.11, for a market cap of $222.12 billion.
MSFT closed at $25.01, for a market cap of $219.18 billion.

The last time Apple was bigger than Microsoft was 20 years ago. At the low point about a dozen years ago, Apple was worth about 1/100th of Microsoft.

Rogers offers up $20 iPad data sharing deal... and then retracts it.

Apple and Rogers today seemed to announce an iPad data sharing plan, which was advertised on Apple.ca. That plan would have allowed iPad users to share their existing Rogers 3G smartphone data plans with their iPads for an add-on fee of $20. Although that added $20 was not a terribly good deal, at least it would avoid having to get an additional 5 GB $35 plan just for the iPad.

Oddly enough, that offer was quickly retracted, and there now only remain a 250 MB $15 plan and the 5 GB $35 plan.

As expected, the folks over at Howard Forums are rather disgusted with Rogers right now. I'm sure everyone is now looking to see what Bell and Telus will offer.

Rogers seems have to have an unusual knack for screwing up Apple 3G launches.

In the meantime, 3G data tethering continues to be a free add-on for those of us with the GB+ iPhone plans, so that's a pretty strong disincentive to get an iPad. The iPad cannot tether at any price since the machine is simply incapable of that functionality, but a laptop can "share" that data usage at no extra charge.

Clash of the iPad

This is a month old now, but I'm only getting around to posting it now. It's just an amusing chance placement by the Toronto Star of two pictures, for reports on the iPad launch and the Clash of the Titans movie.

27" iMac Core i7 as a monitor