Size still doesn't matter: Nokia paves the way for an explosion of apps
0 Comments Published by bill hilton on Wednesday, April 04, 2007 at 11:32 AM.
Nokia today announced that it was releasing an Open C plugin to complement its software development kit (SDK) for S60-based Smartphones.
From now on, it's going to be much, much easier for developers to produce Smartphone applications - and Nokia is particularly expecting that a number of Linux-based open source programs will be ported to the S60 platform and Symbian OS. For Smartphone users, the application marketplace is going to get bigger and more competitive, which should more and better apps at lower prices.
Nokia is particularly keen to point out the potential for growth in the business software market, with open source desktop applications growing in diversity and usability.
The problem is, the desktop is still only an inch or two wide. Exactly how far the business community will embrace phone applications that go beyond simple communications remains to be seen: to most users, the term "desktop" suggests wordprocessing and spreadsheet power. It seems the ceiling for mobile desktop computing hasn't been reached yet - but it can't be far away.
Digg : ma.gnolia : Newsvine : reddit : Spurl : StumbleUpon : Wink
tags: Nokia, S60, SymbianOS
From now on, it's going to be much, much easier for developers to produce Smartphone applications - and Nokia is particularly expecting that a number of Linux-based open source programs will be ported to the S60 platform and Symbian OS. For Smartphone users, the application marketplace is going to get bigger and more competitive, which should more and better apps at lower prices.
Nokia is particularly keen to point out the potential for growth in the business software market, with open source desktop applications growing in diversity and usability.
The problem is, the desktop is still only an inch or two wide. Exactly how far the business community will embrace phone applications that go beyond simple communications remains to be seen: to most users, the term "desktop" suggests wordprocessing and spreadsheet power. It seems the ceiling for mobile desktop computing hasn't been reached yet - but it can't be far away.
Digg : ma.gnolia : Newsvine : reddit : Spurl : StumbleUpon : Wink
tags: Nokia, S60, SymbianOS
Howto: use a hands-free kit without seeming insane
0 Comments Published by bill hilton on at 4:36 AM.
Even in today's liberal climate, it's socially important not to be perceived as a unstable schizoid maniac. Walking down a busy street using a hands-free kit with your mobile phone may be convenient, but it's not helpful when projecting an image of sanity to the world. You may be talking to your friend Jim who lives in Beaver Crossing, Nebraska, but it appears to other people that you are having an animated conversation with yourself. Five key strategies for dealing with this problem:
1. As you walk past other people, smile and point at the side of your head so they can see the bluetooth earpiece you're wearing. This is fine in quiet surroundings, but on a busy street it begins to become impractical and tiring.
2. Push your finger against the hands-free earpiece. This is a very good solution, as it draws the attention of passers-by to the fact you're on the phone to somebody. Unfortunately, it kind of negates the point of using hands-free in the first place. Also, if you have long hair that conceals the earpiece, you'll look a guy who is walking along muttering to himself, with his finger in his ear.
3. Buy two hands-free kits and wear one in each ear. Not only do you get stereo sound, but people on both sides can see you're wearing an earpiece. You look kind of strange from behind, though. At least you won't be able to hear the taunts from the line of teenagers following you, laughing, pointing and throwing stones.
4. Techies only: enlarge and customize your hands-free kit, rerouting the microphone and speakers through a pilot's headset. Complete the look with a pair of aviator shades, a shirt, braided epaulettes and a tie. Everyone will think you are simply a pilot who has taken the wrong exit out of the airport restroom in a strange city and is seeking assistance from Air Traffic Control. For added effect, intersperse your conversation with phrases like "roger that, control" and "this is charlie alpha eight three niner, approaching checkout at TK Maxx - request nav guidance".
5. Dress as an orthodox Jewish rabbi, complete with yarmulke and long side-locks. These will conceal your hands-free kit, and passers-by will simply think you are reciting extracts from the Talmud under your breath. For added realism, offer to perform circumcisions on passing infants.
Alternatively, you could leave your hands free in the car and use your handset like the rest of us.
tags: hands-free, bluetooth, phones
1. As you walk past other people, smile and point at the side of your head so they can see the bluetooth earpiece you're wearing. This is fine in quiet surroundings, but on a busy street it begins to become impractical and tiring.
2. Push your finger against the hands-free earpiece. This is a very good solution, as it draws the attention of passers-by to the fact you're on the phone to somebody. Unfortunately, it kind of negates the point of using hands-free in the first place. Also, if you have long hair that conceals the earpiece, you'll look a guy who is walking along muttering to himself, with his finger in his ear.
3. Buy two hands-free kits and wear one in each ear. Not only do you get stereo sound, but people on both sides can see you're wearing an earpiece. You look kind of strange from behind, though. At least you won't be able to hear the taunts from the line of teenagers following you, laughing, pointing and throwing stones.
4. Techies only: enlarge and customize your hands-free kit, rerouting the microphone and speakers through a pilot's headset. Complete the look with a pair of aviator shades, a shirt, braided epaulettes and a tie. Everyone will think you are simply a pilot who has taken the wrong exit out of the airport restroom in a strange city and is seeking assistance from Air Traffic Control. For added effect, intersperse your conversation with phrases like "roger that, control" and "this is charlie alpha eight three niner, approaching checkout at TK Maxx - request nav guidance".
5. Dress as an orthodox Jewish rabbi, complete with yarmulke and long side-locks. These will conceal your hands-free kit, and passers-by will simply think you are reciting extracts from the Talmud under your breath. For added realism, offer to perform circumcisions on passing infants.
Alternatively, you could leave your hands free in the car and use your handset like the rest of us.
tags: hands-free, bluetooth, phones
Vodafone Mobile Connect USB modem: not exactly great
0 Comments Published by bill hilton on Monday, April 02, 2007 at 6:12 AM.
£45 a month is rather a lot to pay for access to the Internet, even if that access is high speed and available more or less anywhere you can get a mobile signal. Even so, in my line oF work being able to get web access anywhere without having to hunt around for a wifi hotspot (which usually means sitting in Starbucks drinking crappy coffee for an hour) is very useful. So I decided to sign up to Vodafone's Mobile Connect service. Rather than the old style plugin card, you get a dinky little lozenge-shaped modem that connects to your laptop's USB port. The modem automatically checks for a signal, connecting at 56Kps by default but achieving megabit speeds if a 3G network is available.
I added the billing to my Vodafone business account and gleefully scuttled home with my new toy.
The disappointment began five minutes later. First off, I discovered that what is advertised as an "unlimited" plan isn't exactly unlimited. Vodafone's small print informed me that, for the purposes of the Mobile Connect USB Modem, the word "unlimited" means "1 gig of downloads per month". A single gig isn't very much even by standard business use, so calling an account with a 1 gig practical limit "unlimited" is, frankly, taking the piss.
Second, the Mobile Connect does not like Macs. After an hour messing around trying to make it work, I phoned the helpline. The guy at the other end told me that it doesn't really work very well with Macs, and offered me my money back. This apparently, was old news at Vodafone HQ - but it seems they chose to advertise it as being Mac-compatible, oh, just for the hell of it. After a lot of messing about, reinstalling the driver software twice and doing some seriously kinky messing about at the command prompt, I got the thing working.
A month down the line, I've got a new laptop. Now I discover that if Vodafone Mobile Connect doesn't like Macs, it just doesn't understand Windows Vista at all. According to Vodafone, the right drivers will be available next month. Or the month after. Even though the Vista API was released to developers in January 2006. So right now I'm paying £45 per month for a connection I can't even use with my main work laptop, which is running Microsoft's now-mainstream OS. When I bought the bloody thing, there was nothing in the documentation to indicate that Vista compatibility might be a problem.
So what we have here is a product that could be quite good but actually sucks quite hard, probably because it was pushed through and released too early. It's also fecking expensive. Conclusion: don't bother.
tags: Vodafone, wireless, 3G
I added the billing to my Vodafone business account and gleefully scuttled home with my new toy.
The disappointment began five minutes later. First off, I discovered that what is advertised as an "unlimited" plan isn't exactly unlimited. Vodafone's small print informed me that, for the purposes of the Mobile Connect USB Modem, the word "unlimited" means "1 gig of downloads per month". A single gig isn't very much even by standard business use, so calling an account with a 1 gig practical limit "unlimited" is, frankly, taking the piss.
Second, the Mobile Connect does not like Macs. After an hour messing around trying to make it work, I phoned the helpline. The guy at the other end told me that it doesn't really work very well with Macs, and offered me my money back. This apparently, was old news at Vodafone HQ - but it seems they chose to advertise it as being Mac-compatible, oh, just for the hell of it. After a lot of messing about, reinstalling the driver software twice and doing some seriously kinky messing about at the command prompt, I got the thing working.
A month down the line, I've got a new laptop. Now I discover that if Vodafone Mobile Connect doesn't like Macs, it just doesn't understand Windows Vista at all. According to Vodafone, the right drivers will be available next month. Or the month after. Even though the Vista API was released to developers in January 2006. So right now I'm paying £45 per month for a connection I can't even use with my main work laptop, which is running Microsoft's now-mainstream OS. When I bought the bloody thing, there was nothing in the documentation to indicate that Vista compatibility might be a problem.
So what we have here is a product that could be quite good but actually sucks quite hard, probably because it was pushed through and released too early. It's also fecking expensive. Conclusion: don't bother.
tags: Vodafone, wireless, 3G
