Some of my concerns when taking mass transit are the schedules, station locations and travel times between stations.  This is where iBART comes into play.  iBART is an iPhone application. 

Its purpose is to be helpful to anyone who is using the BART system.  iBART is also a one-stop reference source to help passengers locate nearby stations, provide contact information for BART, station maps, BART advisories and a Trip Planner.  It also tells you how much your trip will cost you.

I am surprised by the functionality and intuitive user interface of this sofware.  There is also a paid version, which includes more features like up-to-the-minute information related to the BART trains.

iBART is definitely a keeper in my book.  To read more about it visit www.pandav.us

Related posts:

1. iPhone app Stick It – helps with goals
2. iPhone App keepers
3. Keeping track of time

iBART helps you get there is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

User Interface: I am very impressed with the user interface.  It is very easy & intuitive.  I intentionally left the manual inside the 2″ x 3″ x 5.5″ box.  I wanted to see how much of the features I could access without any hints.

Display: My experience watching the high resolution 3.5″ diagonal widescreen display was great.  The screen was viewable from many different angles.

Multi-touch screen: It took a little getting used to.  But I’ve seen other people use it before, so it wasn’t too difficult to figure out. 

Sound:  The sound is very good.  I’ve listened to it with & without headphones.

Phone Service: So far, I have no complaints.  The phone is usable as a phone   I haven’t had any interruptions in service.

Connectivity Networking: The 3G network and WiFi have been reliable and easy to use.

Connectivity BLUETOOTH: I paired the iPhone with a BLUETOOTH Car Kit – Jabra Cruiser  SP710.  The pairing was flawless.  I didn’t need a manual to do this.  Of course prior knowledge of how to pair BLUETOOTH devices with phones helped.

Connectivity USB: I’m currently using it with a Windows XP computer and iTunes for updating information.  So, far so good.

GPS: I tried out the maps using the built-in GPS.  This is very cool.  Especially when you’re trying to figure out where to eat in close proximity.

Camera:  it was very easy to use.  When it launches, it asks if you want to record the location information.  Geotagging, what a great concept.

Slide Unlock: I have one issue so far.  The slide to unlock feature is inconvenient.  It’s not so easy to do it as a one handed operation.  Is it calibratable?  It would be nice if you could do a throw slider button gesture across the slider so it would be a simple operation.  This is my only complaint right now.

App Store: I have downloaded a few free apps.  So far the experience has been painless.

iTunes: I have watched some of the education videos available from Stanford University.  The audio & video quality has been excellent.

iPod: I own a lot of my CD’s.  After I figured out how to download the Albums into the iPhone they’ve been working fine.

Summary:  In a word, “WOW!!!”  My first impression of the iPhone has been an excellent experience.  I love the User Interface.  I’m still learning of course, so my opinion might change.  As I explore the features and applications, I’m sure I’ll have more to say about the experience.

To see all the details about the iPhone 3GS visit Apple iPhone Technical Specifications

Related posts:

1. Review: Insignia NS-WBRDVD Connected Blu-Ray Disc Player
2. Magellan Roadmate 1412 review
3. iPhone App keepers

iPhone 3GS review is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

No USB FlashDrive

Most of us take for granted how important USB flash drives have become in our lives.  We use flash drives for storage and transportation of everything digital in our lives.  We store all kinds of documents on them; presentations, resumes, spreadsheets, eBooks, pictures, music, etc.

Recently, public computers have been infected by flash drives that had viruses on them.  The IT departments have modified their security policies by removing access to USB flash drives.  So, how does this effect you and your digital life?  What do you do, if you need to use a public computer in an environment that does not permit access to flash drives or FLOPPY drives? Hopefully, your IT department will allow an Online Storage solution to be used.

FREE Online Storage Options:

Over the next few posts I will be testing out and reviewing the FREE Online Storage Solutions.  Hopefully, one of these will meet your needs for online storage.

Did I miss any that you would like for me to include?

Related posts:

1. More reasons for online storage
2. Where’s your data?
3. USB flash drives are getting really affordable

No more USB access to public computers is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

At first, I thought the USB port was just going used as a simple audio player option.  However, as I looked into it further, I was pleasantly surprised with all the functionality the USB port feature brings to the table.

Audio

If there are audio files present on the USB drive when plugged into the unit, you will see an Audio menu option.  I tried out MP3 files and WMA files.  Both formats played just great.  The menu allows you to create a playlist to listen to or play a song individually.  The audio file played very nicely through my home theatre system.

Image

If there are image files present on the USB drive when plugged into the unit, you will see a Pictures menu option.  I had JPG and PNG files on my drive.  You can create a slide show, by adding images to a play list.

Video

If there are video files present on the USB drive when plugged into the unit, you will see a Video menu option.  I had MPG and WMV files on my drive.  These are playable on the Windows Media Player.

Notes:

The focus of this post is about the USB feature for the Insignia NS-WBRDVD.  I am very happy to report that the Player performed very well.  I never expected to see so much functionality packed into the USB feature.  If you want to see more details on the supported file formats.  This information is located in the Specifications section of the manual.  Around page 23 of the manual that came with my unit.

Related posts:

1. Review: Insignia NS-WBRDVD Connected Blu-Ray Disc Player
2. No more USB access to public computers
3. 8 Steps to avoid feature creep

Insignia NS-WBRDVD (USB feature) is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.

• Below $150
  • closer to $100 would be even better
• NOT brand X or brand Y
  • When it comes to customer loyalty, some customers will not forgive a slow user interface
• User Interface
  • No Flaps or doors (control cover)
    • They’re too easy to break
  • Start video without the remote control

Believe it or not many of the issues the Blu-Ray Player vendors think are issues are non-issues.

Some non-issues:

• Don’t need composite video, I can use component video or HDMI
• Don’t need NetFlix, I currently use TiVo for my NetFlix needs.  At some point in the future I may compare the performance/user interface.
• Don’t need wireless, I have wired access
• Wasn’t planning on using USB, although I might try out that feature

Connectors:

• Video Out (Yellow)
• Audio Out (Red, White)
• Componenet Video Out (Red, Green, Blue)
• HDMI
• Ethernet
• Optical Digital Out
• Coaxial Digital Out
• USB port
• WiFi antenna

What comes in the box:

• Blu-Ray Disc Player
• Standard Audio/Video cable (Yellow, Red, White)
• Remote Controller & Batteries
• Manual

What’s missing from the box:

• HDMI cable
  • I understand leaving the HDMI cable out, maybe the user has component video
  • It’s better to not charge for it & have the customer decide what type of video or audio connectors to get

Features, I’ve checked out so far:

• Standard DVD 1080p upscaling
• HDMI interface
• Component Video
• Digital Audio
• Blu-Ray playback

Features I plan to check out in the future:

• USB
• Audio CDs
• NetFlix

Out of the Box experience

• Power-up – fast
• Power-down -fast
• Connection to Ethernet – easy
• Connection to Display – easy
• Connection to Power – easy
• Connection to Audo – easy
• Software upgrade – easy
• Play standard DVD – easy
• Play Blu-Ray DVD – easy
• Drive Door open – fast
• Drive Door close – fast
• Disc recognition – fast
• Drive noise
  •  made loud noise during SEEK operations
  • noise not detected during PLAY operation

 Recommendation:

If you’re looking for a very functional well connected entry level Blu-Ray player this is it.  It is ready to connect to upper end systems as well as lower end TVs.  The only feature, it lacks is S-Video.  I would have used S-Video instead of composite video.  It’s definitely a great buy in my eyes.

Related posts:

1. Blu-ray Disc Player for Christmas, around $100
2. What is a Blu-ray Disc Player and why should I care?
3. Insignia NS-WBRDVD (USB feature)

Review: Insignia NS-WBRDVD Connected Blu-Ray Disc Player is a post from: Words of Wisdom by MrWes thank you for reading my blog.