More iPhone Observations: A Not-Dead Pixel, QuickTime VR, and Praise for Leaflets

Posted Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Submitted for your approval: a random mix of iPhone observations.

He's dead, Jim. Or is he? A couple of days after getting my iPhone, I discovered what I thought was a stuck pixel -- one pixel always on. The Web's discussion forums have many tales of dead or stuck pixels in iPhones -- not so many as to indicate a systemic flaw in the iPhone's display, but enough to show that wasn't alone. Many buyers have exchanged their flawed phones at Apple stores without incident.

I was contemplating whether to exchange my phone on my next drive to the Bay Area, but I just studied its screen again, and the stuck pixel appears to be unstuck. I did power down the iPhone once over the last week -- it didn't need it, but I wanted to see how long it took to boot up. I wonder if that cleared the glitch. Anyone have a similar experience?

I want my QuickTime VR! I've loved QuickTime VR panoramas ever since I visited Apple's Advanced Technology Group in 1995 to interview Eric Chen, one of its inventors. I've shot many panoramas and explored many, many more.

And I want to do so on my iPhone, whose touch screen and multitouch interface are the perfect interface for navigating QuickTime VR panoramas and object movies. Imagine a museum creating an interactive guided tour site beamed through its galleries via WiFi: enter a gallery, spin around its panorama, tap a painting, and hear a description of it while you gaze.

For now, at least, you'll have to imagine that, because the iPhone can't play QuickTime VR movies. Indeed, the first time I tried, Safari crashed.

QuickTime VR has often been a second-class citizen in the QuickTime empire, but I hope Apple adds support for it in a future iPhone software update.

I love Leaflets. Have an iPhone? Sprint to Leaflets and get a look at what real iPhone Web development can be. Launched yesterday, Leaflets is a portal that puts an iPhone face on a variety of popular Web sites.

Kudos to the developers at Blue Flavor for giving us a look at just how elegant an iPhone Web application can be.

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