The idea of a large tablet device is nothing new to me because I used to have a small 5" touch screen pc running windows XP home. For playing back videos it was okay but pretty useless as an internet tablet because it needed a usb wifi or 3g dongle to provide any connectivty.
I now have 2 android phones a HTC Magic and Hero. I really like android and feel its potential can grow beyond a phone either to a desktop or notebook computer. When I saw the Archos tablet I was interested because there was finally a large screen android device.
QVC had a deal on recently to try the tablet and return if not happy. Normally I am not bothered by such deals but as I was interested I took advantage of the offer.
Whilst waiting I looked online for reviews or any kind of hacking. Now some might say that this where my issue started but please read on. Gareth over at mobiletech addicts also got an archos where you can read his experience here. There is also the podcast here where you can hear his experience. Whilst Gareth didn't hack the tablet he did find it unstable with thr stock android.
Because the tablet isn't a google approved device you are automatically locked out of the applications marketplace and a google experience. However through following this simple guide.
Whilst this really opened up the device because I could install more applications and really experience the internet the onscreen keyboard was bad so had to be replaced. The device was very quick at multitasking and switching between applications. But you couldn't access paid applications so although applications like roadsyns could install, work and provide an exchange experience you couldn't buy them through the application marketplace and dataviz never responded to my email requesting assistance. Push email, contact and calendar sync are all a reality.
Reading pdfs in full screen and ebooks using fbreader would mean I no longer need my ebook reader. This coupled with the media player and dvr facility make this device a great convergence possibility. Lastly the large satnav screen with traffic updates it was all looking great.
Then it crashed, constant reboots and then I had to wipe it. The wipe removed all of my media. In the end I packed the device up and sent it back for a refund.
I have been here too many times in the past, recognised the same issues again and promptly walked away.
In summary its a great device with potential and really shows what an android tablet could do. But, archos need to iron out the bugs, get official google experience onto the device and bolt on a 3g modem.
Then it will be a killer device.
Monday, 28 December 2009
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Holding out for a HTC Hero
Excuse the lame title but this has really been a long wait. You may ask am I referring to the review or a phone that I can finally get on with? Well the answer is both.
I had always decided to avoid Android because I wasn't impressed with the lack installation space available and because you cannot install applications onto the SD card. After beginning to get numb over Nokia and their poor release of the n97 plus the boredom of the e75. I thought that I would take a punt at android and get a phone. As there was now more choice over the g1 I was looking at either the HTC magic or hero. Again because I didn't want to spend too much and because I thought a Google version of Android would be better than HTC's implementation I purchased the magic.
At first the experience was great because I wasn't running out of space for installation. The phone worked smoothly and I enjoyed having a central location for application installs just like on the iPhone. However what I did find over time is the magic lacked RAM and was prone to slowing down. Plus the more I was reading and listening to about the hero I should have really got this phone.
I had always enjoyed playing around with a palm pre emulator with the synergy integration and out of the box experience with exchange. To get this on the magic meant purchasing applications but it was built into the hero natively. I tried rooting the magic and ran into issues with cooked ROMs so left the stock Google Rom on. Plus this meant I could get ota updates to android without having to reflash the phone each time.
But I still missed the synergy experience and multitouch so I went out and bought the HTC hero sim free from carphone warehouse. The price was acceptable over the counter considering it would only be a little cheaper online.
Unboxing the hero it feels about the same weight as the magic but the actual feel of the phone is not smooth but like a rubber texture. Also I believe the screen has a special texture that doesn't retain the grease from your fingers. Before setting up the phone I flashed it with the latest Rom from HTC. Again this was quite painless but wasn't as easy as the magic which did an ota update. I really do enjoy not being tied to a pc to do things with smartphones. Unlike the iPhone where you need itunes I do at least get some independence with Google android albeit not as much with the HTC version.
Set up was less painless than I'd thought because as soon as I entered my Google credentials mail started syncing. Whereas with the magic I had to enter the o2 apn details for internet and mms with it being a Vodafone handset. On entering the app store I could see all of the apps that I had purchased. I then spent several hours installing over the 100 applications that were previously on my magic. I was very surprised that other than copilot the apps I had bought could install again to another handset without asking for codes.
Initial thoughts were how fluid the HTC sense UI is. I have some social networking integration similar to synergy on the palm. I was disappointed to see although the hero has more RAM and it ran smoother than the magic, that the application install space was less than the magic. I have yet to get to no free space. Whilst it was a barrier stopping me getting an android handset, it still needs fixing and like symbian allow installation to the sd card. Further android needs to allow root access out of the box without the need for cooked Roms which then gives me access to tethering and more configurable options.
The whole ethos of an open os is to allow openness in my mind and I hate the sandbox approach of closing the door in my face. By all means like the n810 and palm make it a special key access to switch to the mode but give me the option. When Google removed the option of dev g1 phones not being allowed access to the app store for fear of copying is just plain stupid, but I digress.
The hero keyboard works well and responds quickly in both landscape and portrait. Sometimes if there is an app hogging the CPU it will slow the phone and the keyboard entry. But I have found that if you use a task killer app you can manage this. Android manages the applications currently running like windows mobile. Should it need more RAM it just closes applications down. All very well but I want the choice and I would hope like symbian there was a mode to run an application as a system app which ensures it always stays resident. In theory each app within android runs in its own virtual machine. You can leave a background process running for example a pod catcher which downloads your podcasts. This process uses little memory and when you want to play the podcast it will load the full fat application. Whilst this model sounds good on memory usage I have found I am never confident an app stays resident and when the phone boots it loads up everything. An application like start-up auditor can help manage the boot time applications without the need for root access but again I am not confident it works after mixed results.
After one month of use I am still enjoying the phone. The ability to share media with Twitter, Facebook or email with a few clicks is a breeze. I use twidroid for Twitter the pro version which is about the best and will hopefully soon be on par with gravity on s60.
For Google news I use newsrob which allows me to read offline and share the news. This then is picked up by feedsproxy to send to my Twitter. I am using a free app called blogaway to blog and is what I am using to type this post on. Copilot is installed for navigation and whilst it is good it lacks traffic alerts. For email and calendar I use the native apps. For web I use the native browser as it has multitouch. I use gbackup to send my sms,mms and call information to my Google mail. I have recently purchased mybackup to backup my phone to sd.
Each day is like an adventure where there is always an upgrade that needs doing via the app store or I can tweak the phone a little more. Even with this flexibility I read somewhere that people see android just for techies. Yes this is partially true but even out of the box with no tweaking the phone is usable for normobs. A friend of my who after using my hero has just got one. He had a Nokia 5800 like me back in January but returned it due to the lag during use. He is not a power user but knows a fudge when he sees one. I paid the same amount of £400 for my 5800 (as my hero) because I imported it from Hong Kong. Compared to the hero for money or let's say the cheaper magic it is still bad. Although recent firmwares have fixed some issues it still lacks RAM. This, the n97 fiasco has moved me away from s60. I still have 4 nokias but they are now back up phones. Only my e63 issued daily as a work phone.
Again I want to try the n900 but don't want to pay for the privilege again to avoid expensive disappointment.
The weak points of the hero are the camera. You need to get an app such as fxcamera zoom or snap photo pro but the latter doesn't really work. These apps improve the camera when taking pictures but the hero could do with a flash because in poor light the pictures are bad. I use an app called scan2pdf to photograph documents and convert them to pdf for emailing. A flash would brighten the pages. I use dogcatcher as my pod catcher which has a facility to stop and bookmark my place in the podcast when I turn my car engine off whilst streaming.
The built-in speaker is moderately good but could be louder. But when using the Bluetooth over ad2p for streaming audio it is terrible, but not audio wise. The phone connects to my car stereo but still insists although connected playing the sound over the internal phone speaker. This results in havoc where I either have to reboot the phone or switch Bluetooth off and back on again. The Bluetooth stack is a pain and I am slowly getting to the point of using an audio lead.
I have just bought an extended battery which claims is 3000mah where the supplied one is 1350mah. The phone is a little thicker but as I use it each day as my internet tablet I kill the battery easily. I am mainly browsing over WiFi at home and hsdpa and find it responsive. But I have found the WiFi sometimes needs manually forcing to connect just as the Bluetooth through the recycling of the option.
The browser that is built in is very capable and the multitouch is excellent and a lot better than the magic's zoom buttons.
I have documents to go installed so there are full rich apps available and hopefully more will appear such as a proper banking solution like ms money. The built-in pdf reader will read a 100mb pdf for viewing.
The phone could do with an audio and video editor and a lot more media apps like the iPhone. But like the iPhone I like the simplicity of the app store, the cheap prices and choice of apps including free ones that are available. I have bought many symbian apps and have found good ones are available for android that are free or a lot cheaper. The gaming scene is quiet where there is nothing as flashy as the iPhone but then I only play simple addictive games such as solitaire of tetris.
In conclusion the hero has been a good choice. Sure its rough on some edges and can be improved hardware wise. Whilst some issues can be fixed in software such as missing functionality and installation space (or lack of). For now Android is the future for me and has certainly been a dark horse. I will definitely sing its praises to people. I have just ordered an Archos Android tablet to see how it works in this form factor so will post a review of this soon.
I had always decided to avoid Android because I wasn't impressed with the lack installation space available and because you cannot install applications onto the SD card. After beginning to get numb over Nokia and their poor release of the n97 plus the boredom of the e75. I thought that I would take a punt at android and get a phone. As there was now more choice over the g1 I was looking at either the HTC magic or hero. Again because I didn't want to spend too much and because I thought a Google version of Android would be better than HTC's implementation I purchased the magic.
At first the experience was great because I wasn't running out of space for installation. The phone worked smoothly and I enjoyed having a central location for application installs just like on the iPhone. However what I did find over time is the magic lacked RAM and was prone to slowing down. Plus the more I was reading and listening to about the hero I should have really got this phone.
I had always enjoyed playing around with a palm pre emulator with the synergy integration and out of the box experience with exchange. To get this on the magic meant purchasing applications but it was built into the hero natively. I tried rooting the magic and ran into issues with cooked ROMs so left the stock Google Rom on. Plus this meant I could get ota updates to android without having to reflash the phone each time.
But I still missed the synergy experience and multitouch so I went out and bought the HTC hero sim free from carphone warehouse. The price was acceptable over the counter considering it would only be a little cheaper online.
Unboxing the hero it feels about the same weight as the magic but the actual feel of the phone is not smooth but like a rubber texture. Also I believe the screen has a special texture that doesn't retain the grease from your fingers. Before setting up the phone I flashed it with the latest Rom from HTC. Again this was quite painless but wasn't as easy as the magic which did an ota update. I really do enjoy not being tied to a pc to do things with smartphones. Unlike the iPhone where you need itunes I do at least get some independence with Google android albeit not as much with the HTC version.
Set up was less painless than I'd thought because as soon as I entered my Google credentials mail started syncing. Whereas with the magic I had to enter the o2 apn details for internet and mms with it being a Vodafone handset. On entering the app store I could see all of the apps that I had purchased. I then spent several hours installing over the 100 applications that were previously on my magic. I was very surprised that other than copilot the apps I had bought could install again to another handset without asking for codes.
Initial thoughts were how fluid the HTC sense UI is. I have some social networking integration similar to synergy on the palm. I was disappointed to see although the hero has more RAM and it ran smoother than the magic, that the application install space was less than the magic. I have yet to get to no free space. Whilst it was a barrier stopping me getting an android handset, it still needs fixing and like symbian allow installation to the sd card. Further android needs to allow root access out of the box without the need for cooked Roms which then gives me access to tethering and more configurable options.
The whole ethos of an open os is to allow openness in my mind and I hate the sandbox approach of closing the door in my face. By all means like the n810 and palm make it a special key access to switch to the mode but give me the option. When Google removed the option of dev g1 phones not being allowed access to the app store for fear of copying is just plain stupid, but I digress.
The hero keyboard works well and responds quickly in both landscape and portrait. Sometimes if there is an app hogging the CPU it will slow the phone and the keyboard entry. But I have found that if you use a task killer app you can manage this. Android manages the applications currently running like windows mobile. Should it need more RAM it just closes applications down. All very well but I want the choice and I would hope like symbian there was a mode to run an application as a system app which ensures it always stays resident. In theory each app within android runs in its own virtual machine. You can leave a background process running for example a pod catcher which downloads your podcasts. This process uses little memory and when you want to play the podcast it will load the full fat application. Whilst this model sounds good on memory usage I have found I am never confident an app stays resident and when the phone boots it loads up everything. An application like start-up auditor can help manage the boot time applications without the need for root access but again I am not confident it works after mixed results.
After one month of use I am still enjoying the phone. The ability to share media with Twitter, Facebook or email with a few clicks is a breeze. I use twidroid for Twitter the pro version which is about the best and will hopefully soon be on par with gravity on s60.
For Google news I use newsrob which allows me to read offline and share the news. This then is picked up by feedsproxy to send to my Twitter. I am using a free app called blogaway to blog and is what I am using to type this post on. Copilot is installed for navigation and whilst it is good it lacks traffic alerts. For email and calendar I use the native apps. For web I use the native browser as it has multitouch. I use gbackup to send my sms,mms and call information to my Google mail. I have recently purchased mybackup to backup my phone to sd.
Each day is like an adventure where there is always an upgrade that needs doing via the app store or I can tweak the phone a little more. Even with this flexibility I read somewhere that people see android just for techies. Yes this is partially true but even out of the box with no tweaking the phone is usable for normobs. A friend of my who after using my hero has just got one. He had a Nokia 5800 like me back in January but returned it due to the lag during use. He is not a power user but knows a fudge when he sees one. I paid the same amount of £400 for my 5800 (as my hero) because I imported it from Hong Kong. Compared to the hero for money or let's say the cheaper magic it is still bad. Although recent firmwares have fixed some issues it still lacks RAM. This, the n97 fiasco has moved me away from s60. I still have 4 nokias but they are now back up phones. Only my e63 issued daily as a work phone.
Again I want to try the n900 but don't want to pay for the privilege again to avoid expensive disappointment.
The weak points of the hero are the camera. You need to get an app such as fxcamera zoom or snap photo pro but the latter doesn't really work. These apps improve the camera when taking pictures but the hero could do with a flash because in poor light the pictures are bad. I use an app called scan2pdf to photograph documents and convert them to pdf for emailing. A flash would brighten the pages. I use dogcatcher as my pod catcher which has a facility to stop and bookmark my place in the podcast when I turn my car engine off whilst streaming.
The built-in speaker is moderately good but could be louder. But when using the Bluetooth over ad2p for streaming audio it is terrible, but not audio wise. The phone connects to my car stereo but still insists although connected playing the sound over the internal phone speaker. This results in havoc where I either have to reboot the phone or switch Bluetooth off and back on again. The Bluetooth stack is a pain and I am slowly getting to the point of using an audio lead.
I have just bought an extended battery which claims is 3000mah where the supplied one is 1350mah. The phone is a little thicker but as I use it each day as my internet tablet I kill the battery easily. I am mainly browsing over WiFi at home and hsdpa and find it responsive. But I have found the WiFi sometimes needs manually forcing to connect just as the Bluetooth through the recycling of the option.
The browser that is built in is very capable and the multitouch is excellent and a lot better than the magic's zoom buttons.
I have documents to go installed so there are full rich apps available and hopefully more will appear such as a proper banking solution like ms money. The built-in pdf reader will read a 100mb pdf for viewing.
The phone could do with an audio and video editor and a lot more media apps like the iPhone. But like the iPhone I like the simplicity of the app store, the cheap prices and choice of apps including free ones that are available. I have bought many symbian apps and have found good ones are available for android that are free or a lot cheaper. The gaming scene is quiet where there is nothing as flashy as the iPhone but then I only play simple addictive games such as solitaire of tetris.
In conclusion the hero has been a good choice. Sure its rough on some edges and can be improved hardware wise. Whilst some issues can be fixed in software such as missing functionality and installation space (or lack of). For now Android is the future for me and has certainly been a dark horse. I will definitely sing its praises to people. I have just ordered an Archos Android tablet to see how it works in this form factor so will post a review of this soon.
Monday, 2 November 2009
O2 Unlimited again another example
Another story online about o2s inability to say how much unlimited web data really is. http://ping.fm/HrI7w
Friday, 23 October 2009
HTC Hero
Due to delays in the n900 and the lack of software both in this and the Palm Pre application catalog I decided to purchase a HTC Hero.
There was some hesitation wondering if I could easily transfer my original HTC Magic software over where kind soles on Twitter indicated this should be easy.
I opted to get the sim free version from carphone warehouse. Setting the phone up took a couple of hours as I had over 100 applications to reinstall. Thankfully from entering my Google credentials the app market recognised what I had purchased and allowed me to download and reinstall the apps again.
Overall I am happy with the phone and find it a lot more responsive than the magic. This is no doubt helped by the additional RAM available for the Hero.
The other difference is the application installation space is smaller than the magic.
However the changes that HTC have done to Android including built-in exchange support and the sense UI make this one hell of a phone. Also the multi touch on the browser is great and really should be standard on Google Android now
Whilst ota updates are not supported yet, the current rom seems stable and it is good to see what Android can do when you give Android some track with which to accelerate by not being restricted by Google.
Long term there is potential but the snap dragon based Android phones are looking more appealing over the pre and n900.
Compared to the Hero these will certainly have some catching up and overtaking to do now the Hero has set the pace on that track.
There was some hesitation wondering if I could easily transfer my original HTC Magic software over where kind soles on Twitter indicated this should be easy.
I opted to get the sim free version from carphone warehouse. Setting the phone up took a couple of hours as I had over 100 applications to reinstall. Thankfully from entering my Google credentials the app market recognised what I had purchased and allowed me to download and reinstall the apps again.
Overall I am happy with the phone and find it a lot more responsive than the magic. This is no doubt helped by the additional RAM available for the Hero.
The other difference is the application installation space is smaller than the magic.
However the changes that HTC have done to Android including built-in exchange support and the sense UI make this one hell of a phone. Also the multi touch on the browser is great and really should be standard on Google Android now
Whilst ota updates are not supported yet, the current rom seems stable and it is good to see what Android can do when you give Android some track with which to accelerate by not being restricted by Google.
Long term there is potential but the snap dragon based Android phones are looking more appealing over the pre and n900.
Compared to the Hero these will certainly have some catching up and overtaking to do now the Hero has set the pace on that track.
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Back to the Future - O2 Part II
As part of the excessive usage on unlimited web for O2 in addition to the text warning you get a letter. The letter was from the Credit and Risk department. I called them up to try and find out some more information and whilst it was a pleasant conversation the information again was conflicting to what I was told the previous week.
On this occasion I was told the make of phone was irrelevant and the fact that I was using my HTC Magic instead of the E75 I got on my new contract. The issue was still the amount of data that I had downloaded. If you can recall it had been 6gb the previous month where there was no issue. This month it was 1gb and this is what had triggered the cease and desist text and letter.
During my conversation I said I liked to manage my bill so I am not over using my allocated allowances. Bearing in mind the Internet is defined as unlimited web with an excessive policy where you cannot tether the phone to a PC, use VOIP or stream video/audio and download via P2P.
Before moving to unlimited web when I got a simplicity SIM I asked about download podcasts and was told it was okay to do this. Again I was encouraged to use the service even though I said I do use it a lot. Then, before I signed up for another 18 month contract to get the E75 I had the same conversation again and the answers were the same.
However, I am now being told that my downloading podcasts to listen at another constitutes streaming but they were not prepared to argue the technical differences between downloading and streaming. As you know streaming is either listening or watching a live broadcast. Whereas what I was doing was no different than downloading a file and using it a later date.
Also in the previous week I was told they had no high usage packages available where unlimited web was the highest they did. However now, they had 3gb for £15 and 10gb for £30.
Whilst I have changed my habits quite easily to reduce the load on their network from my usage by using other mobile broadband packages I have. For example I have just purchased a 3 Mifi with 5gb at £15 of which proves in itself O2 are not competitive.
I am of the opinion O2 need to wake up and realise they are selling smart phones of which can fully function and replace a PC. The Iphone, the Pre and many Nokias can do a lot more than the feature phones they are also selling. The customer care were surprised that I had managed 6gb on a phone without tethering and didn't appreciate what you can actually do on a phone.
Its a real shame as a network they have very good smart phones but neither understand what they are capable of, restrict what one can do with them on their network and then don't appreciate and really understand the technologies available. Since when did download an audio file to listened to a later date constitute streaming?
It makes me wonder if their network can actually cope with the influx of smart phones and as more people demand to be online all of the time.
When I hear podcasts (not streamed) of the USA where the networks either have all you can eat tariffs or you pay for 5gb and you can actually use this for video and audio streaming as long as you don't go over your allowance. I sometimes wonder if we in the UK are actually ahead of the pack or merely following.
For the interim I will abstain and not over use my allocation on the network as I do need access to the Internet. Its not that much of a problem as I used to do this before I moved onto web unlimited. But it really feels like a step back in time.
The day they offer a proper grown up tariff that is an all you can eat is when I will bite their hands off for it. However, as soon as my contract is up I will be shopping around for a sim only deal. I really only need data on my tariff because calls and sms can all be done over data. I also cannot wait for Google Voice to come to the UK.
But until this time comes I will wait to see if anything changes....
On this occasion I was told the make of phone was irrelevant and the fact that I was using my HTC Magic instead of the E75 I got on my new contract. The issue was still the amount of data that I had downloaded. If you can recall it had been 6gb the previous month where there was no issue. This month it was 1gb and this is what had triggered the cease and desist text and letter.
During my conversation I said I liked to manage my bill so I am not over using my allocated allowances. Bearing in mind the Internet is defined as unlimited web with an excessive policy where you cannot tether the phone to a PC, use VOIP or stream video/audio and download via P2P.
Before moving to unlimited web when I got a simplicity SIM I asked about download podcasts and was told it was okay to do this. Again I was encouraged to use the service even though I said I do use it a lot. Then, before I signed up for another 18 month contract to get the E75 I had the same conversation again and the answers were the same.
However, I am now being told that my downloading podcasts to listen at another constitutes streaming but they were not prepared to argue the technical differences between downloading and streaming. As you know streaming is either listening or watching a live broadcast. Whereas what I was doing was no different than downloading a file and using it a later date.
Also in the previous week I was told they had no high usage packages available where unlimited web was the highest they did. However now, they had 3gb for £15 and 10gb for £30.
Whilst I have changed my habits quite easily to reduce the load on their network from my usage by using other mobile broadband packages I have. For example I have just purchased a 3 Mifi with 5gb at £15 of which proves in itself O2 are not competitive.
I am of the opinion O2 need to wake up and realise they are selling smart phones of which can fully function and replace a PC. The Iphone, the Pre and many Nokias can do a lot more than the feature phones they are also selling. The customer care were surprised that I had managed 6gb on a phone without tethering and didn't appreciate what you can actually do on a phone.
Its a real shame as a network they have very good smart phones but neither understand what they are capable of, restrict what one can do with them on their network and then don't appreciate and really understand the technologies available. Since when did download an audio file to listened to a later date constitute streaming?
It makes me wonder if their network can actually cope with the influx of smart phones and as more people demand to be online all of the time.
When I hear podcasts (not streamed) of the USA where the networks either have all you can eat tariffs or you pay for 5gb and you can actually use this for video and audio streaming as long as you don't go over your allowance. I sometimes wonder if we in the UK are actually ahead of the pack or merely following.
For the interim I will abstain and not over use my allocation on the network as I do need access to the Internet. Its not that much of a problem as I used to do this before I moved onto web unlimited. But it really feels like a step back in time.
The day they offer a proper grown up tariff that is an all you can eat is when I will bite their hands off for it. However, as soon as my contract is up I will be shopping around for a sim only deal. I really only need data on my tariff because calls and sms can all be done over data. I also cannot wait for Google Voice to come to the UK.
But until this time comes I will wait to see if anything changes....
Monday, 21 September 2009
Ten Pence Mix
When I was young I can remember going to the newsagents and asking for a ten pence mix. The shop owner would count out ten sweets (or the equivalent) and I would hand over ten pence and then have a bag full of sweets. Back then you knew what you would you get when you paid the money and would be able to sort out any problems should there be a sweet missing.
Today shouldn't be too dissimilar in that you pay for service and you either get it or you don't. There are always issues with the quality of service thus you have to look at the terms and conditions.
Now take O2 where I have been a customer of theres' for a number of years. I pay so much a month I get 600 minutes and 500 texts. If I use them the usage decreases until it gets to zero then I start paying.
I used to pay for their data bolt on called data max at 3GB a month where I knew I had up to 3GB of data allowance. Through being made redundant and reducing costs I decided to go to O2 simplicity where I was told the web bolt on was "unlimited" but subject to either a fair usage or excessive usage policy. On enquiring with the O2 customer advisor I pressed the person to try and get an actual figure explaining I use my phone for web, email and podcasts where the latter does use a lot of bandwidth. I got told you will be okay sir there is no limit. So I used this tariff for several months downloading between 2 and 4GB per month. I upgraded in May and got an E75 and pressed them again on the limit as I had changed my tariff explaining why and was told again no issue sir. So the latter months I have been using the phone to download and listen to my podcasts. Bearing in mind that I try to download out of hours because there are 10 weekly podcasts that I follow, you can understand I use a lot of bandwidth. I don't use my phone for tethering as I can do everything I need to on my handset.
Three months ago I used 3GB, the month after I used 4GB and last month I used 6GB.
I have now been sent a text that I have gone over my data allowance where I need to either cut down or get a bigger Bolt On to keep using the Internet.
Now this is where my issues start, firstly the web unlimited bolt on I have been told today is the largest they have therefore they cannot offer me an alternative.
On asking for the actual max amount I can download I am not being told a figure only that it is unlimited. However, I was then told not to download too much as I will get another text and might have my service restricted. I iterated that this is like driving down a road where there is a speed camera and then you get caught for speeding. However no one can tell me how fast I should be going.
This is an absolute joke and how they can advertise an unlimited tariff even with an excessive or fair usage policy and they cannot tell me what this is, is beyond belief. They are happy to take my money and police what I am doing but give me no clear guidance or indication on what the limit is.
When I used to pay for 60MB per month a few years ago I managed my usage to ensure I did not encure any charges. I would like to do this again but they they cannot help me.
Further as the conversation progressed it turns out because I using an HTC magic this is not an approved O2 phone so for an other reason I have been told to curb my usage. If I had either used the original E75 or had an IPhone then this would not have been an issue as O2 are aware they can potentially use a large amount of data and as such would not have said anything. I explained I like technology and will change my phone several times a year. However on this basis they could not sell me an upgrade as I was not due. I find the latter argument rubbish because @gerrymoth is on O2 and was on their Sim only deal and I know he switches the handsets he is testing and he to got a warning.
Therefore reading between the lines on this are O2 only telling me I can use the handset I have bought on their network, or are they telling me I can only use approved phones.
They could not put me onto an IPhone tariff, they cannot tell me what the cap is or the reporting levels through the month so I can manage my usage, they can only tell me it is unlimited.
Whilst I can make changes to my usage as not to engage the wrath of O2, it is about time there was a shake up in the industry and they gave clear guidelines on what unlimited means rather than advertising complete hogwash.
The gadget show ran a campaign on home broadband that was successful in getting the major ISPs to change their T&Cs and actually come clean on what they mean.
A similar shake down needs to happen in the mobile industry to all of the networks including O2 and be clear on what I am buying or at least offer a true unlimited tariff for more money of which I would glady pay for.
Just like my ten pence bag of sweets I know when the bag is empty I can either buy another bag or wait until next month. Rather than being told halfway through the bag that I am eating too much.
Today shouldn't be too dissimilar in that you pay for service and you either get it or you don't. There are always issues with the quality of service thus you have to look at the terms and conditions.
Now take O2 where I have been a customer of theres' for a number of years. I pay so much a month I get 600 minutes and 500 texts. If I use them the usage decreases until it gets to zero then I start paying.
I used to pay for their data bolt on called data max at 3GB a month where I knew I had up to 3GB of data allowance. Through being made redundant and reducing costs I decided to go to O2 simplicity where I was told the web bolt on was "unlimited" but subject to either a fair usage or excessive usage policy. On enquiring with the O2 customer advisor I pressed the person to try and get an actual figure explaining I use my phone for web, email and podcasts where the latter does use a lot of bandwidth. I got told you will be okay sir there is no limit. So I used this tariff for several months downloading between 2 and 4GB per month. I upgraded in May and got an E75 and pressed them again on the limit as I had changed my tariff explaining why and was told again no issue sir. So the latter months I have been using the phone to download and listen to my podcasts. Bearing in mind that I try to download out of hours because there are 10 weekly podcasts that I follow, you can understand I use a lot of bandwidth. I don't use my phone for tethering as I can do everything I need to on my handset.
Three months ago I used 3GB, the month after I used 4GB and last month I used 6GB.
I have now been sent a text that I have gone over my data allowance where I need to either cut down or get a bigger Bolt On to keep using the Internet.
Now this is where my issues start, firstly the web unlimited bolt on I have been told today is the largest they have therefore they cannot offer me an alternative.
On asking for the actual max amount I can download I am not being told a figure only that it is unlimited. However, I was then told not to download too much as I will get another text and might have my service restricted. I iterated that this is like driving down a road where there is a speed camera and then you get caught for speeding. However no one can tell me how fast I should be going.
This is an absolute joke and how they can advertise an unlimited tariff even with an excessive or fair usage policy and they cannot tell me what this is, is beyond belief. They are happy to take my money and police what I am doing but give me no clear guidance or indication on what the limit is.
When I used to pay for 60MB per month a few years ago I managed my usage to ensure I did not encure any charges. I would like to do this again but they they cannot help me.
Further as the conversation progressed it turns out because I using an HTC magic this is not an approved O2 phone so for an other reason I have been told to curb my usage. If I had either used the original E75 or had an IPhone then this would not have been an issue as O2 are aware they can potentially use a large amount of data and as such would not have said anything. I explained I like technology and will change my phone several times a year. However on this basis they could not sell me an upgrade as I was not due. I find the latter argument rubbish because @gerrymoth is on O2 and was on their Sim only deal and I know he switches the handsets he is testing and he to got a warning.
Therefore reading between the lines on this are O2 only telling me I can use the handset I have bought on their network, or are they telling me I can only use approved phones.
They could not put me onto an IPhone tariff, they cannot tell me what the cap is or the reporting levels through the month so I can manage my usage, they can only tell me it is unlimited.
Whilst I can make changes to my usage as not to engage the wrath of O2, it is about time there was a shake up in the industry and they gave clear guidelines on what unlimited means rather than advertising complete hogwash.
The gadget show ran a campaign on home broadband that was successful in getting the major ISPs to change their T&Cs and actually come clean on what they mean.
A similar shake down needs to happen in the mobile industry to all of the networks including O2 and be clear on what I am buying or at least offer a true unlimited tariff for more money of which I would glady pay for.
Just like my ten pence bag of sweets I know when the bag is empty I can either buy another bag or wait until next month. Rather than being told halfway through the bag that I am eating too much.
Friday, 4 September 2009
To Hell and back again
The HTC Magic has been driving me mad today. It has taken me over 5 minutes to write a tweet to the extent I ended up slapping the phone through frustration. Although this calmed my nerves I ended up looking at cooked roms for the phone hoping it would speed it up.
After advise from people on twitter I downloaded a recovery image to put phone into a mode where I could back it up to SD. I also used the Astro file manager to back up my apps as well to SD. Then using Linux (Ubuntu 8.10) I re flashed the phone and went upon my way restoring it.
The Asto File manager was bad in that it would allow me to bulk select all apps for backup, but I had to individually restore the apps back onto the phone. Further even though I had restore the apps individually the market application would not acknowledge this. This means I would not be notified of any application upgrades unless I reinstalled the application via the market place. This, coupled with the phones failure to sync again using road sync prompted me to restore the phone from the backup I had taken. Further the all of my settings had gone so I would need to input logins and passwords again etc....
Before installing the cooked rom, I used an emergency recovery rom which used a mode call fast boot and an application called nandroid to backup the android to SD. I merely reversed this process to restore the phone to its previous state. But again, the applications although restore from SD card would not show up in the market place. Through using an application called App Manager this somehow allowed me to go into the market place, rebuild the database of installed applications so I could complete the online upgrades. I have removed the offending application hoping this will resolve my speed issues.
I am still humming and ahhing about the N900 and wonder should I impulse buy, but in the interim my Magic is what it once was. I will observe the cooked roms and choose another in time what should assist with my speed issues. Lastly, I believe Android 2 will be out soon so multitouch will be available and hopefully speed bug fixes.
The lesson(s) from this tale are, don't use cooked roms unless you know what you are doing and don't run too much on your android unless it dies....
I will root the phone on the original rom that is installed so I can tether and run scheduled reboot applications on the phone. But looking at the windows mobiles, Palm(s), S60 and UIQ phones I have had in addition to Android. All of them are bad when backing up and restoring as they do not restore the phone fully. They always miss something.
I can only recall my old Psion 3 series and 5 series over 10 years ago where you could run a scheduled backup. The battery would die and you would loose you main system disk data. You could then power on the device, run a restore of which would restore the device perfectly.
The question is we now have User Data Protection areas (UDP) on phones, flash memory and external storage, yet none of these devices whilst slightly more sophisticated than the Psions still cannot do a complete restore.
Thank goodness for the cloud as this is where I store my data. But as I have said before, the cloud is a great backup but always ensure you have another parachute (additional backup) incase the first chute fails.....
After advise from people on twitter I downloaded a recovery image to put phone into a mode where I could back it up to SD. I also used the Astro file manager to back up my apps as well to SD. Then using Linux (Ubuntu 8.10) I re flashed the phone and went upon my way restoring it.
The Asto File manager was bad in that it would allow me to bulk select all apps for backup, but I had to individually restore the apps back onto the phone. Further even though I had restore the apps individually the market application would not acknowledge this. This means I would not be notified of any application upgrades unless I reinstalled the application via the market place. This, coupled with the phones failure to sync again using road sync prompted me to restore the phone from the backup I had taken. Further the all of my settings had gone so I would need to input logins and passwords again etc....
Before installing the cooked rom, I used an emergency recovery rom which used a mode call fast boot and an application called nandroid to backup the android to SD. I merely reversed this process to restore the phone to its previous state. But again, the applications although restore from SD card would not show up in the market place. Through using an application called App Manager this somehow allowed me to go into the market place, rebuild the database of installed applications so I could complete the online upgrades. I have removed the offending application hoping this will resolve my speed issues.
I am still humming and ahhing about the N900 and wonder should I impulse buy, but in the interim my Magic is what it once was. I will observe the cooked roms and choose another in time what should assist with my speed issues. Lastly, I believe Android 2 will be out soon so multitouch will be available and hopefully speed bug fixes.
The lesson(s) from this tale are, don't use cooked roms unless you know what you are doing and don't run too much on your android unless it dies....
I will root the phone on the original rom that is installed so I can tether and run scheduled reboot applications on the phone. But looking at the windows mobiles, Palm(s), S60 and UIQ phones I have had in addition to Android. All of them are bad when backing up and restoring as they do not restore the phone fully. They always miss something.
I can only recall my old Psion 3 series and 5 series over 10 years ago where you could run a scheduled backup. The battery would die and you would loose you main system disk data. You could then power on the device, run a restore of which would restore the device perfectly.
The question is we now have User Data Protection areas (UDP) on phones, flash memory and external storage, yet none of these devices whilst slightly more sophisticated than the Psions still cannot do a complete restore.
Thank goodness for the cloud as this is where I store my data. But as I have said before, the cloud is a great backup but always ensure you have another parachute (additional backup) incase the first chute fails.....
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