Galaxy Tab and its successor

I have tried a galaxy tab and immediately wrote it off after have three other android tablets and figured I could get an iPad for the same price that was a more complete product. The problem I have with the tab is the phone version of android on a tablet that looks like an oversized kiddies toy. The ipad might have its limitations but has always felt a more complete product.

I am still tempted by the galaxy as I like tinkering where this is something the ipad doesn't really allow me to do. However with the recent announcements of the galaxy tab 2 and the htc flyer combined with the price hike of £450 from a shop,o I figure the tab will either be reduced in price soon or will be left by the wayside.

I have had samsung products before and they do not support a product when they deem it as obsolete. There has not been any concrete announcements from mwc 2011 that the tab 7" will get honeycomb or if samsung will continue to support it. Samsung have announced there will be no more 7" devices and reading between the lines I am thinking an impulse purchase will be a bad decision.

The Ipad has worked 50/50 for me whilst away being flawless on battery life and good for consuming media but there is still the element that its not a full machine or something that I can switch on as a full machine when needed. I really wish that the tab could plug this gap but if my previous android tablet experiences are true, this device will also be a failure.

Which brings the topic around again- what is an appropriate device?

Any prospective iPad 2 will really need more ram as applications close too often on the ipad 1 due to low memory. On android there are really no rich applications when compared to IOS which use the tablet form. Nokia with the n900 was nearly there but again there wasq no applications that offer that real world PC experience. PsiXDA could be another prospect but then you have the problem of a PC in small form factor.

It really saddens me to say that the Psion range of machines have only ever fitted this gap and anything else is just a poor comparison. The latest devices may be ale to play media, do push mail, go online when required or route me around a city but they have never offered a complete solution out of the box. The n900 was nearly there but poor battery life and lack of rich applications made it a failure. Both Android has the interface and IOS has the applications but there is nothing available with a real mix

I know you have to move with the times and cannot dwell on the old but there is still a gap in the market that could be filled.

I can recall being able to get my email, browse the web, run full blown applications and still be able to restore my Psion without the need for a Pc. Android nearly gets there but falls down on the applications. IOS plugs the other gaps with the number of applications but is too locked down and requires a PC for restore.

Seeing nokia recently focus on windows 7 instead of symbian shows the market is becoming fashion driven as opposed to functionality. S60 was never as good as epoc or s80 but was good for multitasking and feature rich applications. Sadly if nokia had been quicker developing their UI or purchasing Palm for WEBOS I honestly believe symbian would still be a viable alternative.

However this is all water under the bridge and we are left with the blackberry, IOS, android and windows phone 7 leftovers. Android has the potential to become more rich where I believe honeycomb will decide this when the numerous tablets are released this year that have been announced. But I feel eventually they will all have the same functionality and it will be the hardware looks that will set them apart - if we are not there already?

But even after all of this I am still left with the dilemma if I should just impulse buy a tab? The issue of not having a laptop to hand is driving me crazy. But I don't want another net book and would still like to purchase the tab to try it. There has been many bloggers say it is the best thing since sliced bread and that it will replace their smartphone due its size and remove the need for a laptop or iPad. Ideally this is the device I wanted and had thought the n900 could have done this for me. I don't make many phone calls so VOIP is ideal for me and the 7" size would be suitable as the ipad is too large. But it means android again on 2.2 which hasn't really got any better since the nexus I imported from the USA whereas IOS seems to be gaining in strength.

My usual cavalier attitude is "fuck it" I will just buy the thing and get rid if I don't get on - the last contender for this was the advent vega only after one week. But then if I purchase the tab I have both and then need to decide which one to keep - the ipad or the tab.

So for the moment painful as it is I will stick with the iPad as I know what It can do. I will decide in the future that any device shouldn't really be an ipad replacement or have to prove itself that it is better in tests. This device should be able to hold its own without comparisons and just fill the niche that I want.

Previously Psion did this but who else is able to pick this challenge and just deliver?




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The portable firewall of China

I am currently away on training in London so made the drastic decision to travel light and only bring my Ipad and a mifi. Okay I did bring some more gadgets but settled that I only should require the Ipad. My thoughts will be blogged after the week is up.

The mifi itself has been a god send as I put it in my back pack attached to a battery extender which gives me wifi for 8 hours. More than enough to get me through the day with my devices.

I no longer subscribe to a contract for the mifi but have opted to purchase data sim cards from EBay or other outlets dependent on what best deal I can get. Recently I have been purchasing Vodafone sims from eBay at £8 for 3gb as the signal strength has been very good and the speeds acceptable.

There has been a few reports in the Press that vodafone has been blocking Voip and I reported recently that Cydia had been blocked on my Ipad

However I am finding that more sites are being blocked by vodafone content control for example Iplayer streaming, twitgo and yfrog and even Skype. Now all it takes is a phone call to customer services to remove the lock but because I am purchasing new sim cards this is too much of a pain as it requires registration each time. Now you could say why don't get a contract but the prices are poor for 3gb and I am saving through what I am doing.

To get around these restrictions so I can post to twitter with pictures or use Iplayer (I have paid for the bandwidth!) I am using a VPN. Through jail breaking my iPhone and ipad I am running a tool called Guizmovpn and for 4.99 € I can run an openvpn connection over SSL to an openvpn provider. Because this encrypts and tunnels my traffic I am able to do my tweeting with photos using a service called freedomvpn for 8€ per month. Unfortunately whilst cheap it does not allow me to connect all devices at once on the cheapest tariff. Therefore I am now trailing a VPN pro package with Hidemyass.com for £7.66 per month. This allows up to 3 devices to be connected and they offer openvpn, pptp and l2tp VPNs. I have yet to still try their openvpn offering but pptp works fine. I am looking at setting up a VPN at home and using my home broadband to save in the monthly subscription. The only technical issue I have is the iPhone disconnects automatically and doesn't reconnect when its not in use. Whereas Guizmovpn stays connected all the time and reconnects as and when required.

The VPN services are also useful in free wifi areas to hide my credentials from fire sheep wanna be kiddie script hackers so I can ensure I am secure.

What has surprised me is how much Vodafone is restricting especially sites such as yfrog, twit go and Cydia. None of these sites causes problems albeit they may argue Cydia means jail broken devices. Whilst I understand they want to protect their networks and consumers from bad things they seriously need to need to re-evaluate their filters. Ultimately I have paid for a connection to the internet and expect a level of service that allows me to use it. However I feel each time I pass wind there is someone over my shoulder saying you cannot do that.

I accept there are terms for using their network but this recent example feels like big brother gone mad or it's a preemptive trial for charging more for certain types of traffic.

Thankfully my technical skills helped me out here but what about your normal user in the street?

I believe as Vodafone and the other networks follow suit with this Orwellian approach to traffic management that VPN and other proxy based solutions will become more prevalent.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Backup and Restore

I am away next week in London on training and I want to travel light instead of taking my mac book, work laptop and iPad. I figured the iPad will do all of the functions I need on trip. It's preloaded with media, my course material and can certainly cope with my Internet activities. However one thought came to mind what ignite crashes. The same with my iPhone what if it crashes. I am stumped as I need a PC or mac with iTunes to restore.

Both devices are jailbroken and I use pkgbackup on both devices to backup and restore from Dropbox which works flawlessly. However if the devices die I cannot rejailbreak as I need a Pc or mac. I cannot restore as I need iTunes. I don't know what apps I have installed so I mentally need to keep a note.

Anyone who follows me on twitter I have been an android and Symbian fan.

Now I have found with psion, windows mobile, symbian on nokia and android I can take on device backups. This would either use built in functionality or a new application. I can then restore and all without the need of then Pc or mac.

So I have a dilemma, although I am enjoying iOS, have all the applications I want, can work without the Pc or mac that is until shit hits the fan.

It's as this point I get a reality check and am considering the Galaxy Tab or an android device as a backup.

Apple restores using iTunes work great but if you don't have the luxury of being able to tether or do online backups to the cloud.

You are stuffed until you can hook up again.