Grant's Space

Apple obviously cannot state the true reason for the much-hyped signal-strength reduction “flaw”.

The truth is, it’s not a flaw at all, but a life-saving feature. The media seems to have forgotten the research stating that cell phone radiation causes cancer. The iPhone 4 features a new sensor that detects how tightly you’re gripping the phone/antenna. If your hand is covering a sufficient enough portion of the phone/antenna, or most noticeably bridging the break between the two antennas, the phone automatically decreases the signal strength to protect you. If you release your gorilla-grip on the phone and hold it with safe, minimal contact, or add a buffer between you and the antennas, the phone can continue at standard strength.

Obviously Apple cannot advertise this feature to the public, as tag lines such as “kills you slower than the Droid” and “Now with less cancer!” perform poorly in focus groups. As a result, Apple must deal with unfair bad publicity. But, in the end, it’s a strategic business move, because the iPhone 4 customers will live longer than Apple’s competitors’ customers, allowing them to buy more phones in the future.

So, for some reason after returning from asia, I became obsessed with public transportation, and was determined to learn how to use Los Angeles’ obscenely difficult public transportation.

The net result of this is the location-aware, bookmarkable Metro Trip Planner mobile site, which, unlike Google Maps, includes ALL the LA area busses and trains, and calculates fares. Works on iPhone and Android phones (2.1 or higher). Should work on any phone with a decent JavaScript implementation and GeoLocation integrated into the browser. (Not sure if your phone has it? Try the link…). On the iPhone, click the “+” button at the bottom of your screen and “Save to Home Page” to make it accessible as an app. I think the Android has a similar capability.

The site is simply Metro.net’s mobile trip planner with a bunch of JavaScript that gets your current location and lets you add bookmarks (which are stored in your phone using a cookie – never sent anywhere).

I wrote it because I got tired of having to choose between the speed and convenience of Google Maps and the accuracy of the Metro Trip Planner. Now you can access the Metro Trip Planner fast, find out where you are, and how to get where you want to go in a few taps.

Hint: The trip planner accepts major landmarks, including “disneyland”, various shopping malls, etc. Try entering one as your destination.

Enjoy!