2012 My Year in a mini - review

2012 has now gone and we are officially in 2013 narrowly avoiding the end if the world on the 21st of December - End of the world – as it didn't happen | Science | guardian.co.uk I wrote this piece a month ago and thought I'd better post it.

• For technology in the Apple world we have seen the iPhone 5, IPad 4th generation and iPad mini and I expect to see Apple release the same products again with minor iterations in 2013. They will be billed with the usual hype that its the best thing ever, you need it and like sheep I will notably follow and but them.
• I tried the Galaxy note last year and it was a good experiment and whilst android had moved on with the number of applications available. I still found there were bugs with Bluetooth car kits, I needed to root the phone to use it to its full potential with Tasker and it was plagued with battery life issues. Whilst certain people sweat they can get a full day on a Note; I cannot and need two batteries.
• The iPhone 5 turned up only to find IOS 6 is plagued with the same Bluetooth bugs as android when connecting to a car kit. The battery life isn't remarkable but iOS 6.02 killed it, thus required a downgrade.
• The iPad 4th generation was a shock and unexpected and has totally rebooted how quick I will now update this device.
• The Nexus 7 whist a great form factor and tablet still lacked tablet based applications and was sold when the iPad mini turned up.
• The iPad mini was a shocker as it use it daily instead of my iPad 3. I will certainly be looking out for one with beefier specs in the future.
• The Mac mini server was a disappointment requiring a new monitor to work correctly on thunderbolt and Mountain Lion Server is just unreliable, bloated and a comparison to Vista.
• The Nokia Lumia 800 was a surprise as I have really enjoyed using Windows 7. However after it was effectively killed off Microsoft casts out loyal Nokia Lumia customers - Computer Business Review

In 2012 I renewed my interest in photography again and have decided to take part in the Project i365 and post a new picture a day using my iPhone. I also purchased an excellent course on using Snapseed -The Magic of Snapseed by Justin Balog This has shown me how powerful the product is as now my go to product for any photo editing on my iPad or iPhone.

 

Kickstarter had also been another interest where I have invested in the following projects

• Pebble watch
• Cookoo watch
• Mobiclip
• Bridge
• Wacca Wicca battery
• Storm fly
• Iexpandr case
• iPhone Led notifications
• Hilo lens
• Zopro case

To name a few....

 

I expect 2013 to be another year like 2012 with a new ipad and iPhone but am really looking forward to the kickstarter projects when they arrive. But I envisage getting rid of the larger ipad and sticking with the mini.

 

So we are well into 2013 now in February so lets see how the year pans out.

 

 

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The Return

It was June 24th 2010 I had enough of Android due to lack of application and poor handset choice, symbian was a non starter due to lack of handset choice and longevity of the os, mameo; now meego hand disappointed with the n900-again due to lack of applications, Web os whilst a new and exciting os had poor device build quality, blackberry was never a contender and windows mobile had really died.

On this day iphone 4 was launched where for myself the handset on offer had caught up with other devices in terms of specification and was finally an option for me to look at. My last venture in apple devices was when the original iphone launched in the UK in 2007. This was very short lived as the device was only 2g and there was little that could be done with it other than jail breaking. At the time I got rid of it apple has started their application store, but the specification of the iPhone didn't win me over as Nokia was still releasing decent devices that were 3g, so using a 2g device was like going back in time.

By the time the iphone 4 was released the app store had matured and the phone spec was reasonable even of it was on a par with a n95 a few years older in terms of camera, gps and 3g. Albeit some would still argue the n95 surpasses the iphone 4.

Since June I have bought into the apple ethos aka reality distortion field and now have Macs,IPads and apple routing equipment at home. The iPhone started this all off as IOs works better with Mac os; here starts the snowball.

Fast forward to today where a few weeks ago my 4s had to be returned to apple to be repaired. This left me without a device. My nexus S just didn't cut it as a phone for daily use as the battery didn't last too long and I found it very slow especially running ics (ice cream sandwich).

This gave me an opportunity to delve into what else was available where I picked up a Lumia 800 running windows phone 7 and a Samsung Galaxy Note. The Lumia whilst a device with a short life span is interesting as the build quality is great and I have found the application choice whilst small on windows to have most of the main applications I use, except a decent Podcast client. But as a long term device for me it is the next step up from a feature phone.

The note was an interesting choice as I had wanted to get a Dell Streak another 5" device at the time I got the iphone 4. If it wasn't for the local O2 shop refusing to sell me a streak, this journey would have ended up somewhere differently. I had heard a lot about the note but thought that the size was too cumbersome and actively poked fun both at the phone and its owners.

There were a number of people on twitter on podcasts who I follow kept going back to the note so I thought why don't I give it a try.

I ended up ordering the phone though Amazon Germany as it was a cheaper than buying it the UK even with postage. You can find the specification of the device at the following link

www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxynote/mobile/spec.html?type=find

To my surprise I have now being using it for over the past two weeks as the screen has just been a delight. The usage has been that fantastic that my 4s is still switched off and I don't think I can go back to a smaller screen. The device is large, the battery lasts about a day but I have spare batteries something I have not been able to change for over 2 years :-)

I was previously a Nokia communication user and loved the E90. Alas both Nokia and symbian was no more for me so I have been looking for alternatives. I find that the note captures the good experience of using a large screen device without comprise. The touch wiz skin on ICS is fluid and I have not experienced any significant slowdowns that I've had on previous android devices. To the extent the device is not even rooted.

Samsung recently released the S3 again very similar size to the note but a brilliant internal specification. There are rumours that tomorrow at the IFA opening that Samsung will be announcing the note 2 with the same internal specs.

I will be watching this closely as this may be my next purchase and not the next iphone even though it is rumoured to have a larger screen.

I have bought a lot of accessories for the 4s and am not happy that the next generation may mean that these accessories will not work.

One could argue the same with any device that there are always changes but at least Samsung has standardised on the micro usb port so my cables will still work.

I have found android to have matured over the past two years on the application side. It still does not offer the to pickings as IOs but it's getting there. It is now at a juncture where I am confident to move over full time as the past two weeks have show.

Applications such as tasker, swift keyboard and juice defender daily keep my phone usage automated and in power. Swift keyboard is as good as the iphone keyboard and it's actually scary how swift keyboard learns your writing style.

So I've finally made the jump again or return whichever way you view it. I may have been an apple fanboi in some eyes but I was just at a point where I needed something that was stable and worked.

For me now-android and the note are my choice until the wind blows again and something else catches my eye.

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Lovefilm for iPad

I have been a subscriber to the Lovefilm DVD rental service since the beginning of the year and have thoroughly enjoyed getting the films and watching them. Another addition to the service has been their streaming service of which I originally ran via a mac mini under my TV but am now watching it via a Sony blueray player. The choice is limited and it's rare you will see a blockbuster that is recent but with over 5000 films to choose from there is always something to watch.

Today, their iPad application has been released that leverages the streaming service but direct to your tablet. Being as the iPad doesn't use flash this is a welcome addition and means I can now drop my cloud browse application service of which I was using with an iPad app to attempt to stream films but didn't works as the servers are based in the USA.

The restrictions to the service is only 2 devices so my Sony DVD player and my iPad are the only 2 devices I can have registered. It would have been nice to register more devices such as my partner's iPad and an iPhone should they ever bring out an iPhone application.

The other caveat is it only works over wifi but using the 3 ayce 30 day sim only plan for my iPhone and tethering to the iPhone I can stream the films and around this restriction.

It's early days but this is a welcome addition to IPad where I have been suspecting if they would release an application for a long time after an update to their main application and calling Lovefilm by Post.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My new electric car AKA iPad 2

My ipad2 finally arrived one week earlier than expected but really didn't have the opportunity to put it through its paces until the weekend that has just gone. A lot of people have said the iPad 2 is just an incremental upgrade with cameras, a5 processor and extra ram and would just miss this iteration for iPad3.

The only issue I had with the original iPad was it was limited when using it's multitasking when wanting to switch between several applications. With only 256mb of ram there would be occasions when an application would just close and you would need to reopen it. Applications such as flipboard were notorious for this where i am assuming it was due to the fact it was using a lot of graphics.

I have found the ipad2 to work a lot more smoothly and even switching between applications such as zite or flipboard whilst web browsing have been more responsive and not prone to closing as on the first generation. Even when connecting to Citrix server using the Citrix receiver was a lot smoother than on the iPad 1.

For me the upgrade was both necessary and worthwhile due to the above where I can now begin the prospect of leaving my mac book pro at home in favour for the iPad 2.

The only thing that ruins the whole experience for the iPad is the tethering to iTunes to activate, backup and sync. Until this chain is severed the iPad remains me of an electric car. You can't really travel on a long journey without having to plug back in to fuel up. Android has already severed this link and has been like this ever since android 1.5 if not earlier. Whilst there is a lot of people saying that iOS needs to upgrade it's UI and notification system, I honestly believe as a priority I needs to severe the cable tethering first. Even if apple were to allow wireless syncing next I don't believe that this is enough. If I go to a shop and purchase an android tablet I can take it out of the box, power it on, connect to the internet and begin setting it up. With iOS devices this doesn't happen until activation using iTunes and a cable.

In summary I am happy overall with my choice of upgrade but am still bound by not being able travel far with it and the need to be near a PC or MAC in a post Pc era so I can re-activate should I run into problems that require this.

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?




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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.



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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.

The Pharmaceutical Race

My first tablet computer was an Archos 5 Internet Tablet 5 towards the end of 2009  which ran android 1.5 and also played a variety of media due to the Archos's extensive codec library.  It was during the short time of me having this tablet that I could see the potential of having a hand held computer that was not windows based, could be instantly powered on, had a large screen and could take the place of laptop, desktop or even smart phone for my daily internet activities.  This story was short lived when the Archos 5 decided to die on me, reset itself and lose all of my files and settings.  This left a sour taste in my mouth if I  could rely on this device when at any minute it could potentially do this again.

In January 2010 I saw the Ipad, laughed like other people at Apple's arrogance that they just invented the world again but still thought that it would be an android based table that I would end up with.   I purchased a cheap table from Hong Kong via Ebay for about £130 called an Eken M001 which was 7", ran Android 1.6 and had a resistive screen.  The technical specifications were similar to other tablets that are coming from the far east and are now available for about £100 over here.  Although this tablet was okay for ebook reading, minor browsing or reading your emails, again this was short lived because the keyboard was terrible for typing on.

It was after these two instances and after  recently purchasing an Iphone that I decided to purchase the Ipad.  The purchasing itself was not easy after being nearly ripped off on Ebay and after reserving one in PC World to only turn up and find out it was not in stock that I nearly gave up.  Although at the  end of January Apple showed the world that they had invented Tablet computing, my perception was they just brought a device to the market that worked, was well specced and had lots of applications that would differentiate it from calling it a large iphone.

Towards the end of 2010 we have seen the release of the Samsung Galaxy Tab at around £450, many have called an Ipad competitor and more recently the Advent Vega at £250.  I got hold of the Vega from Pc World because the specification was good, it was running Android 2.2 and had a capacitive screen.  My conclucisons on this device are it is a steal for £250 compared to the £100 tablets mentioned ealrler.  But you really need to apply the Performance Pack supplied by modaco to extend the device to include the Google Market and other services.  I would have kept the device if it wasn't for a bad episode with a 16gb SD Card which would not just work in the device.  After 3 formats and and rebuilds of the Vega I had enough, it was wiped, photographed and boxed to be sold on Ebay.  It sold within 12 hours.  Although this would could have been conisdered a bad memory card issue, it was very similar to my Nokia 5800 problem again with a 16gb SD card back in January 2008 of which I concluded was a hardware issue.  After dealing with this problem for several months I got shut of the 5800 and likewise I thought I am not being a slave to this problem with the Vega so subsequently sold this.

I was considering the Samsung Galaxy Tab and saw the device in the flesh, briefly used a colleagues and liked the keyboard but I settled on a second Ipad due to a video I saw on youtube of the Google Mail application on the Tab.  Unlike the Ipad, the Tab, like the vega, like the Eken and the Archos 5 do not use the screen real estate where ultimately the applications available for Android are all geared towards 800x400 or smaller.  You can argue the Ipad which can use IPhone applications at 2x the resolution looks terrible but there are more Ipad applications available that make use of the higher  resolution.

So , since December 2009 Android hasn't really developed on tablets and even google had said that until version 3 of Android it will not really be ready.  Whilst Samsung have done a sterling job with the TAB,  with a 1024x600 resolution the size of text on the screen in poroporiton to the screen size make it look like a childrens book with large writing.  Also the price of £450 approx is ridiculous and personally I wanted a product I know that will work for me, has a plether of applicaitons that are tablet aware and offers a welll rounded package.

The next version of Android needs to be an evolution, not lose its phone roots but show a distinct difference between a tablet os and phone os.  Google need to remove the restrictions of not allowing manufacturers  to use the market place because a tablet with Google is about as functional  as an etch a sketch.  Whilst "WIth Google" is an important trademark, it shows consuimers that this is a virgin device with no manufacturer tweaks, it needs to be freely available for any tablet that is to be launched.

Applications, applications and more applications need to be released that can take advantage of the screen real estate and offer more funcitonality than theiir smartphone os based versions. Sadly I dont believe this will happen until mid 2011 until the new version of Android is released that will allow higher resolutions and allow more diversity in devices so that they can make use of the Google services.

The hardware of the Advent Vega is the beginning of this evolution  but the OS desperately needs to catch up.  The Samsung Galaxy TAB shows what can be achieved with the right mix of hardware and Software, but it could be better as it is  shameful that you have to rely on Samsung to enhance the OS with a skin to supply a well rounded product.  This is  reminiscent of the HTC Sense on WIndows Mobile 6.5 where a skin was required to provide additional functionality.  This also the starting point of where Windows Mobile started to go wrong with manufacturers skinning the core OS, trying to hide the ugliness and lack of features which would always fall foul of when the OS was upgraded as it would mean  you need to either purchase the new model of hardware to get the new OS or wait endlessly for the manufacturer to update their skin.

In 2011 I dont know what devices I will have, but wouldn't have said in January 2010 that I would be typing up this blog on a macbook, use an iphone and own 2 ipads.  Whilst Android was and is still a market leader in mobile OS, Apple with have caught up on the hardware and OS and have certainly overtaken on the tablet front.

CES 2011 will be happening soon and this will set the scene for the rest of the year where one does not have to think hard that there will be a plethora of tablets on show.  However I do believe that unless Google changes the way they are developing  Android, restricting the minimum specification that allows manufacturers to use the whole Google package or begin to encourage developers to create a tablet version of their software; that android  could over time certainly go the way that Microsoft WIndows Mobile went; if they are not already heading down that path.

As with all races this is not just a two horse dash, there is the Blackberry and Palm offerings where I believe the Blackerry Pad will be business focused and the Palm We OS offering whilst technically fantastic will  also fall foul of here being no applications due to lack of developers and low uptake of the Palm Web OS just like the Pre now.

But as with any race we will not know until the end of the year to see who has won and who has fallen by the way side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snow, snow and more snow

Two weeks ago I started Italian lessons which was organised via work and an external tutor. For the course we were following a book called Talk Italian by BBC Active. I found a very good deal on the book from Amazon for £7.44 which included the book and the 2 course CDs and free delivery.

3 lessons on and 2 weeks later I am still waiting on delivery for item which was expected to arrive on 16 December. I know that eventually it will be delivered and this blog post is not a rant about the UK, lack of infrastructure and being unable to cope with snow.

But it got me thinking. I own several electronic devices such as an iPhone, iPad and MacBook and previously had an ebook reader. However I could not find for the life of me either a digital version of the course book or an mp3 download of the CDs as a legal purchase or torrent which I could have used on the course as I have all of the peripherals put them on.

I can see christmas 2011 being different from this year as 2010 has shown one thing about online shopping. You are still at the mercy of the weather and local delivery companies. For one thing next year I will prepare a lot earlier when purchasing presents or elect to purchase gifts that don't rely on local infrastructure for delivery.

As we move to a more connected world with devices to enjoy media such as the kindle for books, ipad for media consumption and the ipod for music. The major companies who control the actual content need to drastically change and not hold back and allow it to be used on all of these devices. Prices need to become more realistic to reflect that there is no physical item for example ebooks costing more than their paper counterparts. They also need to ensure that older content is available digitally. People will always want the physical content as it feels like they have purchased something that they can hold. Whereas if it was digitally available it could be delivered even in adverse weather conditions and at times like now when I really need it and can really benefit from using it whilst on my course.

I now get all of my magazine subscriptions via zinio, use google reader for my news catchup and twitter for news alerts. I cannot remember the last time when I purchased a magazine to read and am already contemplating another iPad as my other half uses the one we currently have.

There's nothing special about the iPad, it is a large iPhone but as a package I just works. There will be many more tablets next year such as the palm pad, the blackberry pad and numerous android tablets. Irrespective which side of the fence you are on, one thing that will happen is they will change the way we consume media but only and I stress only if we can get hold of it.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

There's an app for that but it will cost again

Over the past year I have jumped between mobile devices and various operating systems and have purchased a lot of software as I like to ensure consistency between my devices that I have the same if not similar applications on each one.

One thing that I am doing more is using my device more for data and media consumption rather than making phone calls. This is why I am now looking for a data only tariff that will allow me to use voip for making outgoing calls but also allow incoming as I will have a sim in the device.

Having being predominately a symbian user in the past using both s60, s80 and uiq in its former days I found that any application that I purchased could not easily be transferred to another device without having to make the purchase again. Whilst I can understand this for pc based os such as windows and Mac os x when I upgraded from s60v3 to s60v5 I found the same rule being applied by many software houses. More recently I have found this with meego/maemo with an application such as docstogo or sygic maps both of which I have owned on previous os such as s60.

Like s60 you will find the same restrictions with android and ios where If you purchased one application on android you will sometimes need to purchase the same one on ios to continue using it. However there has been one difference with these devices, should I own more than one device such as an iphone 3G and 4 and a nexus and htc desire, you are able to install the paid applications onto both devices. Now with ios I believe this is part of the license agreement although you may find applications that you need to purchase twice to get full functionality. Whereas with android you will need to refer to the license agreement with the software.

I will add where I have two or more devices and want the same applications on them then if the license dictates that I must purchase separately then I will do this, for example i do this with the ipad and iPhone as there are usually differences between the two applications.

On thing that has become apparent to me is that when upgrading either an android or ios device how easier it is than symbian as there is no messing with license keys when reinstalling the software. After spending many hours setting these devices up this has been a godsend and made the enjoyment of owning them a lot more pleasurable.

Now Nokia have announced two exciting devices this week the n8 and e7 where it is the latter I would love to purchase but it is on symbian ^3. However I am being held back by my previous experiences with symbian and applications as I would expect to have to make another purchase in order to upgrade. Whereas htc announced the desire HD and desire z today and I know if I bought them or if a new iPad/iphone was released tomorrow then I would be able to use the applications I had already purchased and not have to spend my money again.

The hardware features of both the n8 and e7 are excellent but for now usability and the application store experience is becoming a more key attribute when selecting my next device in addition to specifications.

I have found the Ovi store to be a kludge and very unusable, slow and painful when either trying to install or purchase applications So unless Nokia can ensure that the Ovi App store experience improves to the standard of android or iPhone then I will not be rushing to get a new symbian device.



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In my fathers house there are many rooms

It was good to see a recent jailbreak of the iphone 4 where all you had to do was go to a website, click on the jailbreak me switch and within a few minutes it was all done. However there are serious security implications of this jailbreak as all it required was to download a pay loaded pdf file which then allowed remote code to be executed which effectively compromised the phones security within seconds. Whilst apple believe a controlled environment can always ensure a more secure safer experience this is a prime example that this philosophy is not always true.

I also believe that because apple cannot easily roll out an over the air update to fix this issue if there were several hundred iphones within an enterprise to update then hooking up to itunes via USB is just not practical.

There are two distinct types of iphone users now the jailbreak has come along, Consumers and customisers. A consumer will use a phone how it has been designed and will not venture far from doing stock processes on it. Whereas a customiser is usually someone who has had another phone and knows how much apple have locked it down and what jail breaking can do to release it.

Whilst in church many years ago I can always remember the verse "in my father's house there are many rooms". I believe in the iphone church that the two distinct types of users above are in two rooms - consumer and customiser. Since jail breaking my iphone and showing my colleagues who are living in the other room as a consumer, I have shown them the phone is capable of becoming a mobile hotspot, I can filter calls and SMS automatically, I have access to my calendar on the lock screen, I can multitask with any application, I can receive notifications on the status bar instead of the annoying messages that are pushed and I can also control my ip connection with the firewall application.

Whilst some of the applications I run are specialised such as the firewall and mobile hotspot; from demonstrating the cosmetic changes to the notifications and lock screen summaries using intelliscreen and notified, my colleagues are beginning to see how much of a blinkered life they have led.

Recently I have also purchased the wifi sync app which removes the need for a USB cable and again mouths have just dropped in belief as they thought this was impossible.

Apple are a marketing goliath and whilst they have been successful In the marketing of the iphone and iPad they should be looking to the jail breaking scene and embrace it like palm did Through banning applications such as the wifi sync, camera+ from using the volume button as a camera button and tethering applications they have really limited the device. Although their domineering approach to approving applications is known as being ruthless, even if they allowed these applications into the app store they could still ensure rules are not being broken or that consumers are being set up to fall.

My iphone is a great device with decent hardware and battery life. Now it is jail broken it is a more useful device that I am more akin to with android, maemo and symbian.

It may never happen but I am excited to spread the good word that jail breaking is beneficial other than what is perceived and being marketed.

Iphone 4 wifi issues

I have had the iphone 4 since the launch on June 25 and have been happy with its performance overall. The only niggling thing that has been annoying me has been the poor performance over wifi.

As I download a lot of podcasts over a month as I follow 16 separate shows this can usually mean over 2gb in downloads. Originally I used to do this over 3G but since getting broadband at home and wifi I have been attempting to use this instead and preserve my 3G data usage.

Originally I was using podcaster and then drivecast to download the podcasts but was swapping forwards and backwards between the applications due to the poor performance of each application crashing or slowly downloading over wifi. It even got bad with some podcasts in that I elected to switch back to 3G which was totally defeating the object.

Recently I have purchased an iPad. Again using the same drivecast application via the same access point I am getting expected download speeds over wifi. This in my eyes proves the issue is with the iphone 4. I have also observed using the good reader application to access my google documents accounts that the ipad is quicker than the iphone 4.

Although I am aware of the death grip issues and am happy to receive a free case I haven't really experienced any issues of this nature. However the wifi on the iphone especially since the 4.01 upgrade has seriously degraded the phone. There was mention that the wifi on the ipad used to be terrible but I never saw this first hand as I upgraded to the new ios on the same day I got my iPad.

I do hope Apple like the issues with the death grip also get the wifi issues sorted soon as it's just plane useless for downloading my media direct to the device. Further I believe it tarnishes my usage because with this phone at the moment I have no other major complaints.

Follow the ISheep

I have decided to put my nexus, n900 and android tablet on EBay to buy some new kit but to also remove the pain these devices are giving me at the moment.

The Nexus with Froyo doesn't work for me because all of my apps aren't available in the App Store or just don't work.

The N900 is still too rough around the edges 6 months on and I believe Nokia alately seem to be distancing themselves from it thus making it a niche product.

The android table whilst cheap needs a higher specification to be of any use.

@gerrymoth on twitter asked well what phone next?

To be honest the HTC Desire looks interesting but I am waiting to see what Apple delivers in the Iphone 4G. I am expecting my gadget sale to be able to fund an Ipad but I am still wary of Iphone OS. Maemo, Symbian and Android have meant I have been PC free for 2 years but the Iphone since the 2G doesn't seem to have moved on because it requires Itunes.

So I am challenging anyone reading this to convert me to Iphone OS and find me applications that allow me to still be independent:

Podcatcher - an application to download podcasts over 3G and be able to play them locally without ever seeing an itunes installation

SMB/WIFI network browser - To allow me to side load files through SMB network browsing that I can use locally on the phone in applications again without the need of a PC and off device conversion

USB Disk Mounting - the ability to mount the local phone storage as a USB disk on a PC without the need for Itunes

I know a simple form of multitasking is coming and I know that Cydia store is available if I jail broke, but out of the box using the stock rom can IPhone OS do this?

The bells and whistles of the UI are great but when you start peeling back can it work how I want rather than having to convert myself back to a PC dependent world.

My fear if I was to revisit IPhone OS again after getting a 2G phone several years ago is whilst it has lots of applications and great hardware I will be expected to conform again rather than the device confirming to what I want.

Knowing that I have expectations of which I don't think are our too extravagant can the IPhone OS do what I want or do I have to become another clone?