Pocket Informant for iPhone - Initial Thoughts After Update 1.60

Pocket informant finally added iOS calendar support.  It uses the built in data from my iPhone.    This was huge for me.  My Exchange calendar (which syncs automatically with my iPhone 4) is now kept up to date while using this program.  I originally purchased this app several months ago.  I was interested in other calendar applications.  The built in calendar app with the iPhone was marginally functional, but leaved much to be desired.  My Exchange Tasks were never synced to my phone and this prevented me from using them.  If it can't be pushed to my phone, I could not use them effectively.  

Some may consider $12.99 a high price to pay for a calendar application.  However, the additional features you gain may very well make the purchase worthy!  Well done!  More details to come later...

From Webis.net

Pocket Informant is a fully redesigned from the ground up calendaring and GTD®-based tasks solution for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Our purpose is to integrate best-of-class calendaring with best-of-class tasks together into one great solution.
Features Include

General NEW iOS 4 Local Alarms - all alarms will now fire locally and will not require network access NEW Calendars and Tags support icons iOS 4 Background support - now allows for Google/Toodledo sync to complete after going into the background iOS 4 Improvements for Retina Display Icons - Events and Tasks now can have icons associated with them iOS OS 3.13 and up Required A calendar built the way an iPhone Calendar should be Push Alarms for Events and Todos (requires net connectivity) Filter your events and todos by Calendar in Today, Calendar, or Todo views Today, Month, Day, Week, Agenda, task, and Search views Franklin Covey and Getting Things Done (GTD) based task Full Search of Contacts, tasks, and Calendar items Today View shows today's events, today's task, and Next Action task for GTD Over the air sync with Google Calendar & ToodleDo Shared Google Calendar support, Select Calendars to Sync, Select time periods to sync User customizable calendar colors Tappable Phone Links in notes Shake to Sync Automatic syncing up of changes as you work (and full two way sync every user customizable number of minutes)

Calendar NEW: iOS 4 Day View can now show up to 10 days NEW: iOS 4 Direct Access to iPhone Calendar iOS 4 Tap/Hold in Month/Week Views brings up menu to create event or task Icons - Month View can now show Icon Cell Style Event Location Mapping Email Events to others Tasks in your Calendar list with multiple settings including In Progress, display completed, and more Month View can now have time-bars, mini-text, or numbers only Today View to show your current appointments, tasks and meeting attendees Timebars to show your free/busy time at a glance Swipe between Months, Days, and Weeks Support for 7 Day Split (traditional) and 7 Day PI Week View Styles Easily jump to any date in Day and Month views Expanded detail view to see events and tasks on any day Tasks integrated in the Calendar Views Create and Edit Recurring appointments Support for all Recurring types including "First-Last Weekday/end/day" Set your first day of week and work hours Set a default alarm Show up to 3 lines of text per row Send Meeting Requests ISO Week Number support

Iphone 4 vs Blackberry Torch 9800

I was currently evaluating which cellular device would best serve my needs. I'm a power user of mobile devices. Here is a brief history of the devices I have owned and used over the past several years.

Palm Treo 700 - Verizon

Blackberry 8800 - Verizon

Blackberry Curve - Verizon

Blackberry Curve - Sprint

iPhone 3g - AT&T

Blackberry Bold 9000 AT&T

Blackberry Tour - Verizon

iPhone 3gs - AT&T

iPhone 4 - AT&T

Blackberry Torch 9800 - AT&T

iPhone 4 - AT&T

As you can see, I have owned my fair share of devices for business use. I use my mobile device primarily for email. Recently I was looking for a reason not to keep my iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 is a powerful device. I had no issues with it... not even with reception. However, I missed the physical keyboard that my previous blackberry devices had. The physical keyboard is far more convenient for me to message with. I recently went to the AT&T store to test the new(er) Blackberry 9800 (Torch). I thought it would be the best of both worlds. A high end touch screen with a physical keyboard to boot. I purchased the phone hoping it would serve my needs better than the iPhone 4. I was quickly disappointed for the following reasons:

• Blackberry (in their efforts to make money with their BES) does not support Microsoft ActiveSync. There are various software programs available to accomplish this (ActiveSync). However, they are not included in the BB OS 6 system.
• The screen resolution is poor in comparison to the iPhone 4
• The touch screen is not responsive and does not compete with any of the iPhone models
• Applications - There are not a plethora of applications that are available like you will find in the App Store.
• Weak Media Support.
• The physical build is unstable. Feels loose.

I quickly returned the Torch and reactivated my iPhone 4. Sorry RIM, the Torch is no comparison to the iPhone 4. The advantage of having a physical keyboard is no match for the abundance of features and applications the iPhone 4 has!

Random Thoughts - The Beginning

Here we go. Random thoughts. If anyone and everyone can blog... Why not me? I have a variety of random interests. I plan on sharing my random thoughts to anyone who is bored enough to read them. I don't plan on or even expect anyone to read them. However, everything needs a a beginning and that is what this is.