I love my iPhone. In fact, I’ve loved every iPhone Apple has launched since the first model was unveiled in 2007. Slowly but surely, Apple has introduced new features and eliminated upon almost every major gripe people had with iOS to push the limits of what we expect from a modern smartphone, and also to keep the platform on par with or even ahead of the competition. Copy and paste, MMS, background apps, multitasking, notifications, folders and much more have been added over time. There is one thing that makes me hate my iPhone every single day though, and I hope Apple is going to address it soon. I need more control over my alerts.

I really wish Apple would create an area in settings, or even add on to the notifications options, to allow users to set custom alert settings for different things. For instance, I’d love it if I could have different profile modes with settings for vibrate, ring, volume and ringtone much like how RIM’s BlackBerry phones have worked for ages. And there’s plenty of room for improvement beyond what RIM is doing in its BlackBerry OS… just look at how great Motorola’s Smart Actions feature is. Apple could totally take this one step further and allow location-based profiles for alerts, system settings, and more. When I get home, I want Bluetooth to turn off automatically, and I want my alert profile to change, for instance.

I might want my phone to vibrate for almost all alerts, and sometimes I want my phone ring as well. Sometimes I want everything to be on silent and have my phone ring only if it’s a certain person calling or messaging me. I just want more control over how my phone acts in this respect — it’s something that is half-assed in its current state. Sure, you can set custom alert tones for SMS and iMessage, and you can set custom ringers for specific contacts as well, but this is all being fed through a very rudimentary ”your phone is either on ring or vibrate, you idiot” switch.

If Apple does decide to introduce some sort of profile control, it will fix one of the most glaring holes still in iOS, in my view. We’ll get there eventually, I believe.

It looks like RIM is finally taking a big step toward making its on-device app portal a reality. The developer site, blackberry.com/appworld, is set to go live at 10:00 pm EST and end-users will also be able to sign up for alerts at that time. As for the official name… App World. Yep, it’s fairly obvious that the App Store model works and competitors aren’t even bothering with trying to distinguish their offerings from the godfather. In fact by shamelessly copying the name of Apple’s portal, RIM is likely (and wisely) hoping potential customers immediately make the connection with the successful Apple shop and dive right in. So there you have it folks — the on-device App World portal will likely launch to users fairly soon so get those credit cards ready, recession be damned.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Radiohead was the first band to gain recognition for applying a ‘pay what you want’ distribution model to an album and despite its resounding success, not many bands have followed suit. Perhaps it was the hype that made their little experiment a success. A handful of bands have given it a shot since then but they hardly gained the media blitz enjoyed by Radiohead and results have been mixed. Surely this distribution model has its place somewhere however, right? RCP Tones, a ringtone maker we’ve covered before here on BGR when discussing our deep unrelenting hatred of lame ringtones, is giving ‘pay what you want’ a go with one of its recent ringtone album releases, Electronic Ringtones Volume 1. The album consists of 45 original studio-quality ringtones (in iPhone and standard MP3 format), none of which will cause people to give you the stink eye when your phone goes off in line at the supermarket. RCP allows you to sample several tones in the pack and if you like what you hear, the album is yours at any price you see fit – even if that price is $0. Unlike the typical ‘pay what you want’ model however, RCP caps the price at $8.99 so even if your father is the Monopoly guy and you wipe caviar from the corners of your mouth with $100 bills, the most you can pay is $8.99. What do you guys think? Does ‘pay what you want’ have a home in ringtone sales? We think Sony should give it a try with the PS3… Its revenue can’t get much worse, can it?

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So the iPhone was first released about 15 months ago. We’re now on the second generation of the handset and we can pretty much all agree that the iPhone 3G is still lacking in many of the areas where the original fell short. Yes, thankfully the iPhone 3G received some much needed love from third-party developers, UMTS, GPS and Exchange support but areas that are seemingly minor details are still lacking. Where is the MMS support? Where is the copy / paste? Forget all that. Perhaps the most easily remedied of all minor flaws in the iPhone and iPhone 3G is the ringtone selection. Since the iPhone began supporting Exchange, there has been a lot of talk with regards to the iPhone as a “business device”. Sorry fellas, but it’s going to be hard for people to take someone seriously when bongo drums or submarine alarms begin erupting from a suit pocket. Sure you can dig around through your iTunes library and pay a conversion fee but are Sir Mixalot and Justin Timberlake really any better? Thankfully your buddies at BGR have done all the hard work for you. You can spend a couple of hours digging through the iTunes Store – or you can check out a handful of professional-quality “normal” ringtones put together especially for the iPhone by RCP Tones. Some are experimental and unique, some are traditional and professional and some are mellow and calming. All of them however, are leaps and bounds better than blues riffs and air horns. Our advice? Check out their tones and take your calls in public with some dignity. You can always switch it up and jam to Baby Got Back on the weekends. Hit the read link to check out the entire catalog along with a handful of free ringtones only for BGR readers.

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