Archive for July 2008
Phanfare iPhone App Rebuilt – Better, Stronger, Faster
We released a new version of the Phanfare iPhone app to the iPhone App Store. This new release offers several new features and other improvements.
- See your published albums from within the app. This embeds a web view that will show you your own published content and published content from friends, family and groups. The web view does not show your private content, except that if you take photos on the phone, we do link to a private web view of that album for your convenience.
- Import from existing camera albums, limited to 640×480 resolution, which is what the Apple-approved interfaces give us today. We are hoping Apple addresses this in a future release.
- Faster image capture. We shaved 7 seconds off the shot to shot time.
- Power management features: You can set the app to only upload when on WiFi, greatly increasing your battery life.
This is the view you see after the photo is taken. If you caption it and use it, it is sent in the background to your account. You can change which album it is uploaded to, or add a new album.
Here we are composing a new image while another image uploads in the background.
This is the web view of your albums, embedded within the app. You can get to the photos of your friends and family as well.
We need feedback on the app! Let us know what you think and what you want it to do. We have our own agenda but we want to hear your ideas.
You don’t need a 3G iPhone to use the Phanfare app. Update any original iPhone to Apple’s 2.0 phone software and you are on your way.
Once you start using your iPhone to take photos and automatically upload in the background, you won’t go back.
Surviving an Amazon S3 outage
We use Amazon S3 to store our 80 terabytes of photos and videos. We like the service and it works well. Yesterday, it went down for nearly 8 hours. And during that time, we were mostly up. Cloud computing is all the rage, but sometimes, the weather is really bad and you can’t see the clouds. We planned for that rainy day. Hence, on a day when Amazon S3 was entirely down, I was at the pool, literally. I will tell you about how we did it.
When users upload photos and videos, we first move them to our own servers. In the background, we send the data to S3. If Amazon S3 goes down, we can buffer data for up to two days before we notice. By buffering, we remove the real time requirements of Amazon S3 being up for our users to upload data. We can’t buffer indefinitely, but we are betting than an Amazon S3 outage longer than 2 days is very rare. We always believed short outages would occur. In fact this, is is not the first one.
For serving photos and videos, we act as our own content distribution network (CDN) and cache the hot data. That means that users can view most recent photos and videos, including what was recently uploaded.
All this caching and buffering is done outside of Amazon. We don’t use Amazon’s compute cloud (EC2) for that. We have considered moving more of our system to Amazon Web Services. It is unfortunate that EC2 was built to require S3 to be up in order for to it run. New instances are loaded from S3. So an S3 outage is correlated with an EC2 outage.
Photo and video sharing services that did not plan for S3 outages were completely down yesterday. We estimate that most of the cost savings for our business comes from outsourcing the storage. While we could save some additional money by using EC2, it is not as dramatic as the S3 savings. Hence, we will have to carefully consider before we put all our eggs in that basket.
Why the iPhone Matters
My co-founder Mark Heinrich and I have long wondered why consumers buy personal computers. It’s not like they are particularly well designed or easy to use. They are complicated to configure, hard to maintain and a source of great frustration. As products, they are poorly designed and remind me of the early automobiles, which required the owner to know how to perform rudimentary repairs to be sufficiently reliable. In 2 minutes, my child could render a personal computer unbootable by removing important system files. Try doing that to an iPhone. Not possible, it is an appliance.
The reason consumers buy personal computers is that there was nothing better. All devices intended to replace the personal computer, up to now, have been underpowered toys. What self-respecting geek wants a webtv as their computer at home?
Enter the iPhone, and by the iPhone, I don’t really mean the current device phone, but instead the touch based platform and embedded OS that runs on the iPhone. In that, we can see the seeds of the future. A 12 inch tablet-sized version of the iPhone would be a fantastic family computer.
I keep an on old laptop as a kitchen counter. We use it to read mail, keep a calendar, shop, lookup movies, resolve disputes (who was in that movie? ask IMDB) and surf the web. A 12 inch tablet iPhone would be much better for that. We would primarily use it as touch computer, but if we wanted to send a long email, we could use a bluetooth keyboard. And if we wanted to relax on the couch, we would pick it up and use it in our lap.
General purpose computers will continue to be sold of course. But they are most appropriate as engineering workstations, or the power tools of knowledge workers, not for mainstream computing. It was only a matter of time before something replaced the personal computer, and that something is going to be the tablet iPhone (yet to be released).
Will Apple take it all here? I don’t know. Apple has traditionally catered to the high end of the market. My guess is that Microsoft will do a similar device based on their surface computing efforts that will hit a lower price points and might become the mainstream alternative.
To me, it is remarkable that at the exact moment developers have given up writing downloadable apps for Macs and PCs, preferring instead to target the browser, that those same developers are clamoring to write for the iPhone. This proves in my mind that it was never about the web being a superior programming platform. Instead, it was about the web browser creating a walled garden within your frustrating computer that was well behaved and predictable.
And so the pendulum swings back. Personally, I am tremendously excited because I have long thought that while I may need/want a full featured Mac with the ability to bring up a process list and run “ifconfig” on the ethernet interface, my mom does not.
In the iPhone we are witnessing the launch of a new consumer computing platform that will be extended by developers all over the world. Let the fun begin.
iPhone vs. Blackberry, Part II
Just about a year go, I wrote about whether my first generation iPhone could replace my Blackberry. My conclusion at the time was no. Now one year later, I have taken the plunge and moved my 11-year Verizon number to my new 3G iPhone. I did it because I love photography and the new Phanfare app for the iPhone allows me to finally build a wireless camera i can live with.
In the year since I wrote the last article, Apple also fixed a lot about what was broken with the first generation iPhone. They added 3G, they added GPS, they included Exchange integration and they allow you to search your contacts. I have been using the new 3G iPhone in Exchange mode for 3 days. here are the pros and cons relative to a Verizon Blackberry.
The good:
- I can delete and file email messages in folders much more efficiently with the iPhone than the Blackberry.
- The UI on the iPhone is light years ahead of the Blackberry.
- The Apple Remote program that lets you control iTunes is a dream when combined with an Airport express and and amp. Finally, whole house sound that makes sense for parties and won’t break the bank. Thank you Apple!
- iPhone does push email in the background, not quite as well as a Blackberry, but competently.
- You can respond to email on your iPhone when there is no network present. It queues for later delivery like a Blackberry.
- Third party apps are awesome. My personal favorites are the Phanfare app (of course) and the light saber app.
- GPS is fast and reliable.
The bad:
- You can’t delete or file email when there is no network coverage.
- The Blackberry is faster to go from “holster or pocket” to reading email. Blackberry loads faster (but with no animations)
- The keyboard for me is still much slower and less accurate than a Blackberry. When I touch type, I look at the display, not the keys. With an iPhone, I must look at the keys because there is no tactile way to feel the keys.
- If you respond to email on the iPhone, it does not show as replied within Outlook.
- App’s can’t run in the background, so for example, the Phanfare app can’t push photos when you are doing other stuff.
- GSM phones cause other electronics to buzz (speakers, for example). Now I have the classic GSM phone buzz coming from my computer speakers when sitting at my desk. CDMA phones don’t have this problem.
- No wireless synch of exchange Notes or Tasks. Not a huge thing, but I do use these features.
The ugly:
- The iPhone battery life is a total disaster. If you keep 3G on, even if you don’t use a lot of 3G and are out and about, send some email, read a few web pages and make a 10 min phone call, your battery will be dead, dead, dead by 4pm.
- The ATT network is horribly under built compared to Verizon in the tri-state area. There are many places where you get no service or a 1 bar, which contributes to battery life problems.
- Even in a major metro area like NYC, if you explore a bit (We took i80 out to the Delaware water gap today), you will quickly find that 3G basically only exists up the Turnpike.
Conclusion
So what is the verdict? I am sticking with my iPhone, but it simply can’t by my only phone. No way I can travel into the city and only bring my iPhone. I wound deplete the battery and be very frustrated.
When traveling I find myself stuffing my old Verizon Blackberry into my bag. It has a phone number that nobody knows, but it also has my email, and email is super reliable on the Blackberry.
I used to travel on airplanes with 2 Verizon phones; the Blackberry is horrible in a noisy place. I had a cheapo family share phone I used for those situations. Now I will simply take my Blackberry and my iPhone, but that is a very expensive solution.
The iPhone battery life and the lousy ATT network are the two biggest things holding back the iPhone, especially for serious business use. Remember, the battery on the iPhone can’t be removed. Originally, I thought “big deal.” I never carry a second battery for my Blackberry. But you see, my Verizon Blackberry can easily go 30 hours on a charge, meaning I can get through the day with it.
Cell phones use more power when cell reception is weak, so the bad ATT network certainly contributes to the poor battery life on the iPhone. But i am guessing that if there was a CDMA version of the iPhone running on the Verizon network, it would still be challenged to last a full work day.
A Verizon Blackberry remains the gold standard for reliable wireless email in the United States.
Nevertheless, the iPhone is nothing less than revolutionary. At the exact moment when SW developers have pretty much given up creating downloadable software for Macs and PCs, those same developers are clamoring to write downloadable apps for the iPhone. This is no accident. The iPhone is a new consumer computing platform, one that will enormously successful up and down the food chain.
iPhones for Everyone! (ok, just Phanfare Employees)
We braved the masses of Apple fanboys today to get new 3G iPhones for all Phanfare employees. We don’t normally participate in mass hysteria events but we were so excited about the release of the Phanfare app for the iPhone that we could not help ourselves.
We arrived at 7am at the Menlo Park Mall in Edison, NJ. The experience did not disappoint. We got there at 7am to find more than 100 people already waiting outside the store.
Most people were waiting for the Apple store versus the ATT store next door. The ATT manager came out and berated the crowd that both his store and the Apple store had the same product. Yeah right. No way we were going to the ATT store when we could go the super-cool Apple store. The Apple employees were handing out Smart Water. The ATT folks were scrambling to find paper cups to hand out tap water.
By 10am somebody had cut in line in front of us. We reported the person to the Mall Police and after a minor confrontation where nobody raised their voice and no force was used, the geek left the line.
Once inside Mecca, we were quickly attended to by a shiny Apple employee wielding a PocketPC based portable Point of Sale device. Oh the irony! It was just around 11am that we got to the point of trying to provision our phones. At that moment, the west coast started selling phones, bringing ATT and Apple’s servers to their knees. It would be another HOUR before we got working phones, all the while waiting for the Pocket PC devices to take our orders.
The final step is to activate via iTunes, something you are supposed to be able to do instore. No dice. iTunes store servers were hopelessly unresponsive. We gave up and went to lunch, devices in hand. Once back at the office we tried repeatedly until the phones activated. Ahhhh.
These photos were taken with the Phanfare app running on a first generation iPhone. And one last thing, the ATT store did run out inventory around 11am as expected.
About 100 people ahead of us at 7am
The first lucky customers to get the phones.
Eureka!
The team gets their phones..slowly.
No joy activating the phone in the store via iTunes. We needed to finish the process back at the office.
Phanfare iPhone app is now available
I am happy to announce that the Phanfare iPhone app is now available. The Phanfare iPhone app turns your iPhone into a wireless camera. The convenience of being able to shoot photos with a device that is nearly always in your pocket and have them incorporated seamlessly into your permanent online photos albums is hard to beat. The camera on the iPhone won’t be confused with a digital SLR, but as the saying goes, the camera you have with you is always better than the camera you don’t. See a demo of the app in action.
We have focused, initially, on making the Phanfare app a great digital camera with wireless upload. But expect to see updates and improvements as we are strong believers in the importance of the iPhone as a new consumer computing platform. Getting the PC out of the loop in digital photography is the way to go.
We also continue to improve our iPhone web-based viewing experience. It is quite fast and efficient. You can get to it directly from the Phanfare iPhone camera app or browse to http://www.phanfare.com on your phone. It does not support video yet, but that is coming soon.
To get the new Phanfare iPhone app, just browse to the App store on your iPhone or you can download it directly to iTunes and sync it.
A cautionary tale about maintaining data at home
It should come as no surprise to anyone that I rely on Phanfare to safeguard my photos and videos. They live happily in the cloud, in their original sizes and quality and I access them from wherever I need. I strongly believe in cloud computing. I think personal computers (Windows and Mac OS) are difficult to maintain, overly complicated devices that expose too much complexity to the user.
A personal computer is best as an internet terminal, replaceable with a different computer as needed, provided you install the necessary software. And I believe in the long run most consumers won’t buy general purpose computers. But we live in the here and now.
I am not 100% converted to cloud computing in my personal life yet. There is lots of legacy stuff I setup years ago. At home I have a Mac Pro desktop with 3 drives running the latest version of Leopard. Two of the drives were purchased about 3 years ago at the exact same time: 450 GB Western Digital SATA drives. I installed them in my Mac Pro (the Pro has 4 bays) and setup a software RAID 1 (full mirror).
On my personal RAID I keep my iPhoto library (I sometimes use iPhoto as part of my workflow), my iTunes collection, in progress iMovie projects and a VMWare Windows XP instance.
Well, I got back from a business trip to find that I had basically lost the whole RAID. The RAID was not mounted. I rebooted and it mounted. I checked on it in Disk Utility and found that one of the drives were marked FAILED and the other was marked S.M.A.R.T. failure, which is a early warning system built into drives telling you it is about to fail. The RAID was marked “degraded,” which means not providing redundancy, and some information in the Disk Utility interface recommended that I replace the one drive that was hanging on and move the data ASAP. I tried, but got errors when copying the files.
So I lost all the data. No big deal. The music is on an iPod, although a few months of ITMS purchases are not synched. The photos I care about are all on Phanfare and the VMWare instance is just a standard XP config with MS Office and some other files.
But I was really trying to NOT to lose that data. I had a RAID, the drives were fairly new, the home office is climate controlled, the computer is rarely moved, we have smoke alarms and heat sensors and the computer is on a UPS to protect it from vagaries in the power grid. And yet I lost it all.
Morale of the story: Keep your stuff in the cloud. I am going to find a service that will keep my iTunes collection (anyone have experience with mp3tunes.com?) in the cloud. And I am going to finally pull the trigger and stop maintaining personal files like tax records on home servers (that is not my only RAID- the other one is a DELL HW RAID in the basement waiting for a flood).
I tried Jungle Disk and it looks pretty good. Jungle disk is a SW layer that sits atop Amazon S3 and lets you store your files on S3 and pay only Amazon’s rates for storage and bandwidth. (Note that I don’t think the average consumer needs the complexity of Jungle Disk and personal S3 accounts, but some of the underlying applications I use don’t yet have good enough online services).
If I can’t manage to keep my data intact at home, I suspect you can’t either and frankly, why try? There is simply no comparison with the type of monitoring, redundancy and security you can get from an online service versus rolling your own in your basement.
An Engineer 