Ballistic HC Case for iPhone 4 - Review

Just hot the Ballistic HC Case for the iPhone 4. The case is okay, but the rubber outer layer already broke:




-- Post From My iPhone

UPDATE: I sent the company an email, and apparently they're sending me a free replacement. Cool!

iPhone 4 "Bumper" case refunds

Apple recently announced that since the iPhone 4's antenna design appears to be the cause of signal loss, they're refunding money to anyone who purchased a "bumper" case.

I just got the following, twice, since I bought two:


Dear Apple Customer,

Apple recently announced that iPhone 4 customers who purchased an iPhone 4 Bumper are eligible for a full refund.

As of today, we have automatically processed your refund.

Thank you for choosing Apple.

Sincerely,
Apple Online Store Support

Dead iPhone 4.

I dropped my iPhone 4 from a height of less than 1 meter onto a "soft" linoleum floor.  It (the phone) was wearing a bumper case.  When I picked it up, it was OFF.  And it stayed off.  There was zero visible damage of any kind.  It just refused to light up.  I know the battery was well over 50%, so that wasn't it.  Could it really be that a short drop like that killed my iPhone 4?  Apparently so.

Needless to say, I was upset.  I went to the nearest Apple Store (Pasadena) and got on the "standby" list at the Genius Bar.  After about 40 minutes, someone called my name.  About 10 minutes after that, I had a new iPhone 4 at no cost to me.  I last synchronized this morning and am in the process of restoring from that backup as I type.  Of course, I'll still lose any pictures/videos I made since this morning, and have to re-enter a bunch of stuff on the phone (at least 30 usernames & passwords, several wireless keys, merchant id's, etc.)

While Apple's support and service is world-class, I'm beginning to worry that the iPhone 4 is not.  Is it wrong to expect a phone to survive a drop of less than 1 meter?

WinAntivirus - Mac users falling for it?

I received two calls today from clients who "fell for" a "winantivirus" popup, AKA smitfraud. For those who don't know, that's a scam popup that often results in a "drive-by download" - a virus that installs itself on your machine without you clicking anything.

It varies all the time but may look something like this:



It alerts you to several viruses that it says are currently on your machine, then directs you to download their antivirus software that will fix everything. Of course, it doesn't fix anything, and in many cases it is the thing that is infecting your computer. It is sometimes very hard to remove.

I get calls about such scams almost every day, but what makes today interesting is that these aren't Windows users. It's two clients who switched to Mac over two years ago.

Thankfully, these types of scam software doesn't even work on Macs. But the website that the popup directs you to asks for credit card and other personal information as they process your "order" for this crap. That, of course means they're stealing your money and likely worse.

WHOO HOO!!! iPhone 3GS!!!

I wanted to buy the new iPhone 3GS, but initially AT&T wanted me to either pay $700 now, or wait until November to pay $300. Obviously, this cooled my enthusiasm.

A lot of people were bothered by AT&T's upgrade pricing. There were around 2,000 people who joined a complaint group on Twitter, and many news outlets covered the public outcry.

Long story short, AT&T caved.

I was able to order the iPhone 3GS online, and pay only $300. Even better, I won't have to go to the store and wait in any lines. It'll be delivered to my door within a week.

iomega's customer support is CRAP

A client of mine has an iomega NAS 150d RAID box. He bought it to use as a network storage device, and since it was advertised as a redundant RAID, he felt that it was a sort of "built-in" backup. I questioned the strategy, and suggested that a different approach might be better, as well as provide faster access to his files. He rebuffed my suggestion, probably because he paid nearly $1,000 for the device, and truly believed that it was adequate for his needs. I didn't push the issue further, and figured I'd address it again at a later time.

A few months later, he moved his office, which necessitated a change the IP addressing of his network. Since it's configured using a built-in webserver, the directions clearly say the device must be reset to factory settings. Okay...

The device was configured by the client to have four named folders, each with their own permissions. Again, according to iomega, when you reset such a device to the factory settings, all you have to do is "re-create" the folders and you'll be able to access them.

Unfortunately, the firmware on the device was 4x.xx, and the current firmware is somewhere around 8X.XX. This is significant. With the older firmware, when you try to "re-create" the folders, you have to click "browse" to get to them. When you click browse, the subsequent window never populates. So normally, the answer would be to update the firmware so that it functions properly. However, to go from 4X.XX to 8X.XX would erase all data on the device. In order to keep your data when doing a fimware update, iomega recommends using the device's built-in backup function. You hook up an external USB hard disk to the box, and use another "browse" button to tell the box what folders you wish to back up. That function doesn't work either.

Iomega's telephone support took days before even getting a return phone call to me, and by that point they told me there was nothing that their tech support could do. However, they also were quick to inform me that they have their own in-house DATA RECOVERY SERVICE. Hmmm... Let's build a device that's horribly flawed and overpriced considering those flaws. We can then charge THOUSANDS of dollars to recover data from a device we built - data that is only inaccessible due to OUR OWN DESIGN FLAWS.

During the whole process of contacting iomega for the client, I gave one of the phone reps my email address. I got various boilerplate/automated messages from the support department, but none of them were helpful. The client also mentioned that he dutifully registered the device, but never heard anything from iomega about updating the firmware. He and I both, however, have been receiving plenty of advertising emails from iomega.

In the end, rather than sending the box via fedex to iomega and spending at least $3,000 to have the data retrieved, I personally took the device to a local data recovery service that I had used in the past. The owner of the lab (with over 30 years experience in the field) described NAS devices in general as a "bad idea". He and his staff spent several days hacking into the Linux-based device, and eventually were able to recover the client's data. The final cost for that service was $1,000. It's a significant discount over iomega's data recovery service, but it's still a bitter pill to swallow.

What's worse from my perspective is that because it happened on "my watch", I felt partially responsible, despite the fact that I followed iomega's instructions and did nothing wrong. I "ate" a significant portion of my fees, and did a lot for the client without charging him. I also believe the client feels that it's my fault that he had to spend $1,000 to recover his data.

In short, I will never buy or recommend another iomega device. Their device (and apparently all similar iomega NAS devices in the product line) shipped with such serious flaws, and rather than HELPING me, they added my email to their marketing list.

Can you tell I'm upset by this??? ;)

Nuttin' But Stringz

I ordered a CD from Nuttin' But Stringz via their website (www.nuttinbutstringz.com) - well over 6 weeks ago.

No email confirming the order. And still NO CD.

It's only $15, but it's the principle that's important.

They're talented guys, but apparently I'm not the only one they DEFRAUDED:

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/nuttin-but-stringz-c115419.html

UPDATE: I FINALLY RECEIVED THE CD ABOUT TWO DAYS AFTER THIS POST. The disc itself was very professional looking, but the outer packaging felt cheap - no jewel case, just a sleeve.

I gave the disc away, since I already had it via bittorrent. It's now on my iPod and my iPhone - and it's good, but their crappy follow-up may hinder their growth. It's a shame, because they're very talented.

WOW!

Went to the Apple Store today to get the iPhone fixed. They didn't even send it in.
THEY GAVE ME A NEW ONE!!! WHOO HOO!!