Insuring Your iPhone

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Because I am weak, I upgraded my iPhone over the weekend. I’ve always insured my laptops but never found good, reasonable policies for the iPhone. Today I discovered Square Trade. I was able to buy a 2 year policy on a 32gb iPhone 3g s for $115. This covers drops and spills, which AppleCare does not. If I upgrade the phone (say NEXT June), I can get a refund for the unused time on the policy. It seems like a good idea considering if I break the phone, It will be $500 to replace.
I’ve never made a claim to Square Trade and can’t vouch for them but if you decide to give it a try and feel generous, list me as a referral (david @ macsparky . com – without spam-busting spaces). I have no idea what referrals do for me but it can’t hurt.
If you’ve got any better ideas about insuring your iPhone (I know some homeowner’s policies cover them – mine doesn’t), sound off in the comments.

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iTunes Sync and the Palm Pre

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Mac Rumors and Daring Fireball point out Apple is explicitly stating they will not worry about supporting third party devices with future iTunes updates.
Apple is aware that some third-parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players.
The “read between the lines” interpretation of the above goes something like this.
“Dear Pre Owners,
While you may be currently enjoying iTunes Sync with your shiny new Pre’s (designed by former Apple employees), don’t count on it for long.”

I’m not sure Apple really is all that upset about this. The Pre doesn’t sync very well with iTunes and the fact that it does at all could actually help shut down all of the complaints of an iTunes monopoly.
I think the Apple message could be taken at face value. It is not that Apple is going to actively try and cut the Pre out but Apple isn’t going to waste any time making sure it works either. If future upgrades kill the Pre sync, then so be it. I’ve always felt that unless there is some agreement with Apple in place, Palm is foolish to tout this ability anyway. If Apple does break the sync, in the words of Ricky Ricardo, Palm is going to need to do a lot of ‘splainin’.

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MMS Messaging and Black Eyes

Today AT&T explained there would be no additional charge for MMS on the iPhone (assuming they get around to activating this seven year old technology on the iPhone.) People seem to be happy about this but it is a strange sort of happy. It is similar to the feeling you get when a bully, after taking your lunch money and giving you a black eye, opts not to punch the you in the other eye.

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Documents to Go for iPhone

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Dataviz announced the availability of its mobile applications, Documents to Go for the iPhone with $5 and $10 (to add enterprise friendliness) versions. I’m pleased with the price. I used to buy this for my Palm Pilot for around $50. The current version edits MS Word documents and the promised next version will edit Excel sheets. However, I’m still not sure how useful this is without a portable keyboard. To be honest, I rarely used it in my Palm days and may not bother now. Ultimately, the $5 price point will probably pull me in.

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Humpty Dumpty Presentation

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It is June, which means time for my annual presentation at the elementary school about how laws are made and the role of the courts and lawyers. It is a lot of fun and the kids seem to enjoy it. After I finish my presentation, the kids have their own mini-trial where they all play roles like the judge, attorneys, witnesses, and jury. The trial is about Humpty Dumpty. We all know he fell, but why? Was it an accident? Or was it Murder! The kids conduct their own trial and the jury returns a verdict.
The presentation is built in Keynote. I use all sorts of flashy word effects and transitions. It is much more glitzy than my normal jury presentations. I think all the motion seems to keep the kids interested. I find the entire experience very enjoyable. If you would like the presentation and Humpty Dumpty materials, drop me an e-mail and I will get it to you. I even have a quicktime clickable version for those of you stuck with Windows laptops. I’ve been distributing this for a few years now and enjoy hearing about it getting used.

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