Update 2: I’d like to thank Elena for finding the address to add contact birthdays: https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/%23contacts@group.v.calendar.google.com/user

With iPhone OS 3.0, Apple introduced new functionality for calendar synchronization. No longer is this ability limited to Exchange and MobileMe; with CalDAV and ICS support, you can sync or subscribe to many calendars. This is a boon for those of us that use Exchange for work, as previously we were unable to sync any other personal calendars and instead, had to rely on a desktop program.

The two most prominent supporters of CalDAV for calendar bidirectional synchronization is Yahoo! and Google. Below, I’ll show you how to sync your main Google Calendar with CalDAV and also subscribe to additional calendars via ICS files.

CalDAV Calendar

1. Open up Settings from the home screen
   

   Settings

2. Swipe down and select “Mail, Contacts, Calendars”. At the bottom of the account list, touch “Add Account…”
   
3. We’re not adding any of the built-in accounts, so select “Other”
   

   Add Account...

4. At the bottom, select “Add CalDAV Account”
   

   Select Account Type

5. Now, enter the credentials. For Google Calendar, use the following information. According to Yahoo!’s documentation, you would instead use “caldav.calendar.yahoo.com” for Server.
   • Server: www.google.com
   • Username: <user@domain.com>
   • Password: <yourpassword>
   • Description: <Calendar Description>
   

   CalDAV Settings

6. The iPhone should now verify your account and auto-discover the rest of the settings. Really, that’s it!

Subscribed Calendar (ICS)

For Subscribed Calendars, the process is much easier due to some magic on Apple’s part. Simply email yourself a link to the ICS file and click it to open! Where do you get the URL for a calendar? I’ve got a couple of screenshots to guide you through that process:

1. Click the down arrow next to the calendar you want to subscribe to and click “Calendar settings”.
   

   Google Calendar Settings

2. At the bottom of this page, you’ll see several buttons to access XML, ICAL, or HTML versions of a calendar. To avoid sharing your calendar, simply click the ICAL button listed under “Private Address”.
   

   Calendar Private Address

3. A modal dialog box will pop up with the URL. Simply copy and paste this to yourself in an email.
   

Update: Commenters have pointed out, that you only need to open the link directly from the email, and the iPhone will take care of the rest… Genius!

Multiple CalDAV Calendars

It’s possible to sync secondary calendars from Google (i.e. those that are not the “main” calendar). This is simple, but you need a special ID similar to the ICS URL. Go back to you calendar settings page where the Private Address is listed. Above there is a section labeled Calendar Address. To the very right is a Calendar ID. Copy this ID into an email and compose a URL like the following:

• https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/ [ your Google Calendar ID ] /user

This URL is different than what the Google Calendar Help page suggests. Email this URL to yourself, copy it, then paste it into the “Server” field from above. The rest of the settings should copy itself into the Advanced Settings.

Miscellaneous

A couple notes:

• You can definitely set the CalDAV calendar as a default calendar, but I had problems making the change until I first went into the calendar app and let it populate. Afterward, I was able to drill back down to the “Default Calendar” setting in “Mail, Contacts, Calendars”.
• While CalDav is a bidirectional synchronization, it does not support Push like Exchange and MobileMe. Synchronization will happen just like like mail does: At every Fetch interval and also “on-demand”, which is whenever you open the app.

Installation

• Performed full backup and sync in iTunes 8.2 before restoring 3.0 new firmware
• Update process is very smooth and doesn’t take too long

Springboard

• Some first-party icons have been refreshed. Messages, iPod, Phone now have a slight diagonal stripe pattern in the background.
• New Voice Memos App

Spotlight

• Search is the left of the Home screen as expected
• Works well, launching apps as necessary
• Once in Spotlight, ways to exit out is swipe back or press home key

General

• OMG COPY PASTE!!!!!
• Works exactly as demo’d. I can die in peace now
• Spy glass to set cursor appears to be larger now. A welcome change
• Horizontal keyboards everywhere… well, almost. Third party apps (i.e. Facebook) haven’t implemented it

Phone

• Recents lists now shows which number was called (i.e. mobile, work) or location (i.e. IL, USA)
• Additionally, outbound calls have a small icon to distinguish them from inbound
• Viewing recent call details shows more information including timestamp and length
• Number Keypad looks updated, though I can’t specifically detail what changed
• Visual Voicemail shows which number (i.e. work, mobile)

iPod

• App requires the library be “updated”. Didn’t take very long
• Nothing new here except search at the top of the index, as with many apps

Messages

• Vertical keyboard keys looks slightly smaller to accommodate more space between them
• Rotating to landscape keyboard works well. Very nice to have bigger keys!
• No MMS on AT&T, as expected

Camera

• Icon to view Camera Roll is initially blank
• After taking a picture, it will always show the last picture taken
• Camera seems more choppy than before

Settings

• “General?Home?Double-click the Home button for:?Search” is new
• “General?Home?Search Results” is new: to configure which items are indexed
• “Safari?AutoFill” is new. Must manually turn on to auto-fill forms and remembers logins

Safari

• Browser seems a bit more responsive, especially when accessing search or URL fields
• Typing seems quicker, less laggy

Calendar

• Availability setting now present (Busy, Free, Tentative, Out of office)

Stocks

• Hold Stocks app horizontal for larger stock chart
• Can scroll through new charts “around the world”. i.e. last wraps to first and vice versa

Mail

• Touch & Hold a URL to copy it

I’m still trying to pin down exactly how it works, but I noticed that when using the ESPN ScoreCenter app, I can select entire blocks of text to copy. More later.

Design

The most glaring question about this product is probably in respect to its size. Let me say plainly that there is some bulk on the back, but it could be far worse. As for the width and length increase, it’s hardly noticeable. I typically keep my iPhone in my jeans pocket, so I was highly concerned about the thickness at first.

Aside from how it feels in my pocket, the “hand feel” is actually quite nice – better than a naked iPhone. My hands aren’t especially large, so people with big hands will probably appreciate the added depth. I liken the change to PSP vs PSP Slim or the changeover that happened with the Xbox 1 controllers. If you hold your phone in your hand for extended periods for any reason, the added depth of the case is a welcome feature. Furthermore, the form of the accessory is generally much more ergonomic than the phone sans cover.

In addition to the main features of this accessory, the mophie designers definitely put some thought into the case as a whole. Initially, I noticed some strange scoops near the bottom of the phone, which I thought were completely ridiculous looking. After reading the manual, I realized they’re actually there because of the speaker and microphone. Without them, sound input and output would be useless. Additionally, they seem to live up to the claim that they in fact amplify sound. At the very least, they do not hinder anything. However useful, I was slightly concerned about the accumulation of dust in these ports. After a full week of use, I can confirm that dust from my pockets does indeed gather in each and every crevice. This is no worse than any other case, but should be noted nonetheless.

Unlike battery addons, the Juice Pack air is a full body case as well. However, there isn’t much of a lip up over the sides of the phone. And while this missing piece won’t protect the face directly, it helps to keep the Juice Pack air relatively slim. One great benefit to this type of design is that it won’t interfere with screen protectors. The case itself is molded from hard plastic.

Power & Sync

On initial inspection, you should notice a small switch on the bottom of the case which allows you to control when the battery provides power.  As far as the iPhone is concerned, the battery is simply a normal power source. Therefore, when turned “on”, the Juice Pack air is drained while the iPhone begins to charge. If you toggle the switch to “off”, the iPhone receives no external juice and is powered as normal. According to the included manual, leaving the Juice Pack air on constantly, letting the iPhone continually “top off” is much less efficient than utilizing the iPhone battery primarily and switching the external accessory on only to charge the phone. To help you monitor the accessory, the Juice Pack air sports a 4 LED battery indicator on the back to indicate current levels and charge status. A simple click of a button and they light up, indicate its status.

Another immediate feature that stands out is the complete lack of dock connector. Because the phone must be charged through this port, one wonders if you have to remove the case to do so. However, the fine folks at mophie thought of this and provided a fairly seamless workaround. Although the dock connector is obscured, a Micro USB power replaces it, allowing you to not only charge the iPhone, but also synchronize it through the provided USB cable. How does it work in comparison to the traditional iPod cable? Exactly the same. Plug the USB cable into a USB port either in a computer or power adapter (such as the iPhone travel adapter) as normal. This is a brilliant and seamless solution.

Despite the good implementation, I’m a bit torn on the Micro USB format. Given the status quo in mobile phone chargers, I think it might the be wrong decision to use Micro instead of Mini USB, mostly because while there is a push for Micro USB to be the standard charging port for mobile phones in the future, they’re not terribly common right now. While this might be fine for long-term products – generally speaking – cellphones have a shelf life of 2 years in the United States. At which point, most consumers purchase a new model. Considering that the iPhone 3G is already a year old, many people will begin replacing their iPhone 3G with a new one in a measly 15 months, at which time the form factor will very likely no longer fit in the Juice Pack air. I would have much preferred for mophie to provide a Mini USB port for now, and switch to Micro USB on a later revision of the product if the standard is more ubiquitous. Fortunately, USB to micro USB cables are cheap, making it inexpensive to furnish them anywhere you might go.

As for actually charging the Juice Pack air, mophie claims the battery is good for 500 full cycles and that partial cycles (i.e. 10%) only count for that portion of a charge, not a full charge. Unless you’re fully draining the external accessory daily, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be good for a solid 2 years. In my practical use of it, I recommend letting the iPhone  drop to 10% remaining battery and perform a full charge of the battery from the Juice Pack air. I tested flipping it on/off at various levels of iPhone battery to keep closer to full, but there’s really no point. It seems that the accessory basically has enough energy stored at full to charge the phone to 100%.

As for the claim of double the battery time? I would say this claim is true  in practicality, but don’t be fooled to think that this will allow you to go two full days without charging. This is of course due to sitting in standby overnight. On day 2, I was able to make it to early evening before I started panicking about a low battery. At the point when you need to plug-in to charge, the iPhone charges before the Juice Pack air. I think most will find this is the preferred behavior.

Conclusion

Overall, I think the mophie Juice Pack air is a worthwhile investment if you’re constantly in need of an additional battery for your iPhone 3G. At $80 USD, the cost should make you stop and thing if you really need this. The pocket feel can be a bit distracting, but it’s a small disadvantage for doubling your iPhone battery life. Overall, I recommend the mophie Juice Pack air if you’re willing to put up with the size increase and hefty price tag in exchange for the increased battery life.

In general, the application is small and quick, loading in a reasonable 3 seconds and the map displaying only a single second later. I paid an “introductory” price of only $0.99, which – based on application notes – will increase to $4.99. iTrans CTA also started out at 5 bucks, but has since dropped to only a single greenback. Is CRT worthy of a higher price?

Map

Chicago Rapid Transit includes an official CTA map, which is more geographically accurate than other maps and highly familiar to any Chicagoan; but this seems to have drawbacks. My guess is that the map is stored rastorized rather than in vector, limiting the ability to zoom farther in. I would like the ability to zoom in farther specifically for street names and more granular block numbers. In addition, the ability to zoom out all the way seems limited. I can’t think of a technical reason behind this, and it causes some navigation issues. For example, the Loop details would be more useful if I could see it in its entirety.

Why can't I see the whole inset at once?

Aside from zoom, the map is completely static – as in not interactive. You can’t click a station on map to access rail details. You can’t tap on “See Loop Detail” to actually see it. Instead, you must know that the Loop inset resides in the far left-middle, which you wouldn’t easily find because you can’t zoom all-the-way out to see entire map. The legend suffers a similar fate. All the symbols are explained in detail, but it’s hard to locate this information. That said, once you’re familiar with the icons, I’m glad to see the map includes handicap-accessible and parking symbols, but for some reason “under construction” symbol have been neglected. For example, Wellington is currently closed due to construction, but as a visitor, you would never know this. This is a major oversight.

An additional feature I’d like to see is tighter integration with bookmarks, by leaving them highlighted on the map.

Lines

Service advisories is pulled as a live list directly from transitchicago.com, which is nice, but being able to sync from the Rail Alerts RSS Feed (with last updated timestamp) would be even better for underground access. Additionally, having feeds grouped by rail line and color-coded would make things easier to browse. This could be implemented with a grouping and heading by color, or a simple vertical line to the left of the alert. Technically-speaking, this may be a bit harder to accomplish, since the alerts are not marked in any particular way to indicate which rail.

Aside from this functionality, the Lines tab seems pretty useless; it’s merely a searchable list of each train route. Why can’t I click for details, including scheduled stops like iTrans CTA implements?

Stations

Stations tab is also questionably useful. It contains a searchable list of stations, sorted alphabetically, but drilling down from the station reveals the same list of non-clickable lines. However, from this Line sub-list, you can use it in several other ways. For example, “On the map” will display it on the built-in map, highlighted in red. This is fairly useful, except when you try to view anything between Belmont-Red and Grand-Red, partly because of the size of the highlight and partly because of the color. Both need strong evaluation.

The highlighted station is difficult to see

Additionally, the “On the map” view is not zoomable, and if I tried to, the map would often jump the the upper-right, presumably trying to scroll when detecting my pointer finger after my thumb has lifted.

Another option is the “On Google Map”, which is also quite nice, however, it simply centers on the location in the Maps app. It would make it even better if a pin were dropped, so the user can get a street view or directions with one tap.

Lastly, the “Route to” should actually named “Route from”, as selecting this option sets the current station as the origin in the Route tab, prompting you to select a destination. The visual cues for this are also lacking. I think it would be more consistent if the Route tab was highlighted, as if you entered it directly, like below.

Route "To" Selection

Instead, “Stations” remains highlighted. More details on the Routes shortly.

Locate

The Locate tab serves a single purpose in two different ways. Initially, it displays the closes rail station to your current location. You can instead type in an address and find the closest station to that. My problem is that you are presented with a list capable of holding 7 items but are only given a single result back, presumably due to the localization setting. I tried to increase the value using a slide in the Settings, but it wasn’t immediately apparent that anything changed. The distance displayed above the slider shows the minimum and maximum values rather than current value; this was not obvious at first, and a current value would be much more appreciated.

Settings

There is no way to view historical searches, and once you’ve searched, I couldn’t figure out a way to find the closest station to your current location. An extra button or bookmarked value (similar to how the Maps app works) would be great. Of course, this presumes that the search even finds the address. For some reason, 435 N Michigan Ave revealed a “We could not locate any station” error message, but providing the zipcode (435 N Michigan Ave 60611) helps. Once a nearby station is located, you can drill down to the actual rail lines serviced by the station and view it in 3 different ways, just like in the [questionably useful] Stations tab.

Route

The route planner is actually a useful tool to those less familiar with all the L lines and stations. You are prompted for a “From” and “To” station, which are selected from a sorted, searchable list. Additionally, you can choose from your bookmarks, though the selection is a bit confusing, since the interface never reminds you that you’re viewing bookmarks rather than a filtered list. A simple highlight of the bookmarks button would suffice. Once the route has been selected, the application provides routing directions and an estimated travel time. Some of my comments still stand: you should be able to tap a rail/station and get the departure times. Additionally, this screen could use some compacting. For a simple route requiring a single transfer, the directions are too long to be displayed on the screen. A simple solution would be to move the directions into a definition/term layout. For example:

Route Directions: Current

Could be changed to:

Route Directions: Proposed

Another drawback is the lack of directional information. For example, “Loop-bound” or “Kimball-bound”. A feature I do like, however, is displaying the route on the map. instead of an overlay, each station is highlighted along the way, but it suffers from the same highlighting and lack of zooming problems notated in the Stations tab.

Overall

For 99 cents, CRT has potential, but will need lots of polish to command $5. There are a lot of good ideas that are poorly implemented. Some things unintuitive, others just plain missing. I have high hopes for this application, as iTrans CTA updates only trickle in, and largely without new functionality. This gives other applications a chance to move in, but they’ll need to outperform to steal the show.

A common example of this would be IM services: A user logs into the application, whose state is stored on the provider’s server. If the user closes the application, they can remain logged in through the server. If a message is received, the provider server notifies Apple, which notifies the mobile service company, and a notification is sent to the user indicating that a message from the instant messaging application is waiting.

It sounds simple enough, but Apple has yet to deliver on this promise and is far beyond their self-imposed deadline. Something I would like to see as a compliment to this service, actually works in exact reverse order and relies on the fact that  first-party applications already run in the background (such as Mail, Phone, SMS, and iPod).The tool I’d like to see added to this arsenal is Core Location – the software framework for detecting the phone’s location. If Core Location ran as a daemon in the background, along with existing Apple applications, the phone could provide location information to Apple, who can replicate that information to user-selected application providers.

Privacy advocates might balk at the idea as big brother-ish, but as long as the user has complete control over which applications can access the location data (as is currently the case), they need not worry about a change in the status quo. Furthermore, cell tower triangulation - while not as accurate as GPS – is already available to the service provider and services like E911.

What’s the upshoot to this possibility? One of the awesome potential capabilities of the phone is to deliver location-sensitive information, such as nearby friends or a favorite sandwich shop. Unfortunately, these uses are simply not possible unless the application remains opened in the foreground, requiring the user to take specific action, and restricting them from performing any other.

Instead, imagine that you could subscribe to that favorite sandwich chain with a coupon application. If you approve Core Location to send that information to the coupon server, they could detect when you are within a near distance of the store, and send a notification to your phone that a coupon is available if you stop by in the next hour.

The implementation is even more obvious if you consider the functionality of Loopt: You go out downtown with a few friends, but it turns out some other friends are also out. If an application could detect this, a message could be dispatched to everyone, notifying of the close proximity.

In general, this of course, still relies on a notification mechanism that Apple has made no recent mention of providing. A simple workaround, immediately available, is to utilize SMS. Although its capabilities are very limited, just prompting the user to open an application is better than no notification at all. With this situation, the only component to implement is exactly the feature this article recommends: a configurable, always-on Core Location service.

So Apple, where’s it at?

1. Turn off syncing on your iPhone (Settings→Mail, Contacts, Calendars→NuevaSync→Contacts→OFF)
2. Connect iPhone to computer
3. Open iTunes
4. Select your iPhone from the Devices list
5. Click the Info tab
6. Set Contacts syncing to Google Contacts
7. Apply (bottom right)
8. Sync (bottom right)