The Mobile Gadgeteer

My iPhone is back and I too am satisfied

I gave the iPhone an honest try and as I stated in a post late last week I returned my iPhone prior to the 14-day trial period. I found that the iPhone lacked features found in many of today's feature and high-end smartphones and thought I could just leave it all behind me and move on. However, the iPhone drew me back in hour-by-hour over the weekend and I just could no longer resist it so I just picked up a new iPhone at the Apple store a couple hours ago. Over the weekend I tried using a Nokia N95 tethered with a N800 and both are excellent devices in their own way and I actually found some new applications for the N95 that made me like it even more. However, the Apple iPhone is slick and so refreshing after using other Palm, embedded Linux, Windows Mobile, and Symbian devices over the last 10 years that I was pulled back to it. At this time, the iPhone isn't necessarily about features, but about smooth integration and a new user experience that appeals even to power users like me.

July 17, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Apple

T-Mobile UK ordered to stop blocking Truphone connections

One of the first VoIP solutions I tried on the S60 platform was Truphone and at first I was having lots of issues that their tech support team helped me through by actually calling me personally. It turns out it was a DSL modem issue that has since been resolved since I switched to Comcast cable. I then posted a notice on how Truphone was extending their trial offer to landline calls and enjoyed using Truphone on the Nokia E61i and N95. Since then they have actually extended the free landline call offer until the end of 2007! While many S60 users enjoy using Truphone, there was one issue that was raised last month when T-Mobile UK began blocking Truphone.

July 16, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

iPhone web apps are good for S60 too

Jason posted on the fact that there are now over 150 web applications for the Apple iPhone, which is quite encouraging. I then used a Nokia N95, that has the same web browser base building block that the iPhone does, to visit a couple of the application index sites. The index sites work best in landscape mode on the N95 and you still have to do a bit of scrolling side to side. I recommend zooming into 50% on the N95 to make the experience better. I did find the information driven web applications, like GoMovies, to work quite well. Games and other apps that require you to interact seem to be hit and miss as chess did not work, but blackjack played fine. While these are not stand-alone applications and you must have a wireless data connection to use them there are many helpful titles already available and they are all free.

July 16, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Enterprise Software

MobileTechRoundup show #104; iPhone is returned

I give listeners my last word on my iPhone ownership over the last two weeks in MobileTechRoundup show #104. Kevin asked some good questions and there are definitely reasons to like the iPhone. We had a listener email about what non-camera options were available and after hashing it over we realized there really are not that many choices available for people, but our recommendation is for a sound device. James discussed issues with GPS on the BlackBerry 8830 and questioned what in the heck Verizon is doing. We all have Skype on our Nokia N800 devices and James and Kevin even used Skype without a WiFi connection using iSkoot.

July 13, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Social Media

Nokia kicks off Mobile Rules! 2008 competition

Symbian is the world's leading smartphone operating system and unlike the Apple iPhone manufacturers like Nokia actively support 3rd party application development. To emphasize and honor those developers who are out there working to design applications to make our live more efficient, fun, and rewarding Nokia is launching the second annual business plan and application competition, Mobile Rules!. As stated by a Nokia spokesperson, Mobile Rules! is a way to encourage and promote innovation in mobile services. There are two tracks in the competition, one for qualified developers working on applications for Nokia platform devices in the categories of multiplayer and connected games, multimedia, enterprise, and infotainment. The second track is for entrepeneurs, small businesses, and more who demonstrate outstanding business plans in the mobile space. Prizes include Nokia devices, memberships of Forum Nokia Launchpad, promotion of the winning application/plan through channels owned by Nokia or other competition sponsors and expert advice from Nokia specialists. The five overall winners will also be offered the chance to develop a contract with one of the competition sponsors or a significant cash prize if no contract is awarded. Check out all the rules and details of this contest. The development competition starts now with the business plan track starting in a couple months and the entire competition ends in Spring of 2008.

July 12, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Microsoft

T-Mobile giving some free HotSpot @Home phones to loyal customers

I don't know if T-Mobile has been reading my HotSpot @Home blog posts, but today when I got home I had a nice surprise on my door step. T-Mobile sent me a complimentary Samsung t409 HotSpot @Home mobile phone in "appreciation of my commitment to T-Mobile". This actually couldn't have happened at a better time since my wife just drowned her old i-mate SP5m at the water park last weekend. I tried to get her to use a Nokia N80, but she really likes the Windows Mobile Smartphone for the ease of smart dial, etc. However, for her independent candle business she makes a LOT of calls from home and actually tried the HotSpot @Home service when it was in early beta last year. I think I'll sign up for the introductory offer of US$9.99/month for just my wife's phone. They also offer US$19.99/month for all phones on the family plan, but no one else in my family needs the access. Thanks T-Mobile for the phone, now let's see how improved the service is over last year when I tried it out.

July 11, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Apple seems to have forgotten the phone in the iPhone

I just passed 10 days of iPhone ownership after waiting in line for 24 hours and then posting my first and second impressions of the device. I was quite excited about the iPhone after finding out that the AT&T data plan was reasonably priced and gave it an honest evaluation. Although the iPhone is priced the same as high end smartphones, I tried to resist comparing it to the Windows Mobile and S60 operating systems since they blow the iPhone out of the water in terms of functionality and the iPhone is more of a high end feature phone with iPod functionality. So looking at it as a high end feature phone, I have to say the iPhone falls flat when it comes to mobile phone functionality and features. The free mobile phone you get when you sign up with your carrier has more functionality and performs better as a phone than the iPhone.

July 9, 2007 by Matthew Miller in iPhone

Nokia adds Skype and Adobe Flash support to the N800 Internet Tablet

My Mobile Tech Roundup podcast co-host Kevin Tofel had a chance to see and play with the N800 and Skype while at the Digital Experience event a couple of weeks ago. James just posted that Nokia was quick to deliver on the promise of Skype for the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet with the newly available firmware. You can download and install the firmware now and you will find that Skype is included. There is currently no video camera support, but that may come in a future update. As you can read at Maemo.org other improvements include Adobe Flash 9 browser plug-in (take that Apple iPhone), support for Secure Digital cards up to 8 GB in capacity (now I can go get those cards I have been wanting for video) so you can potentially turn this into a device with 16 GB of storage capacity using the two SD slots, and major improvements in battery life. This update looks to make the N800 an even better mobile device.

July 5, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Microsoft

HTC Omni looks like one slick Windows Mobile device

Apple has done a good job with the design and usability on the Apple iPhone, but they are not the only player in town and HTC makes the best Windows Mobile devices on the market. They are also quite innovative as seen with the HTC Touch and other devices. After checking out jkOnTheRun and following the link to Unwired View I have to say the HTC Omni looks like another slick device. It looks like a competitor to the Nokia E90 Communicator and we may see it launching in October.

July 4, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Nokia E90 Communicator available for ordering on Dell.com

I am still testing out the Apple iPhone, but I am also discovering that it is basically a feature phone with iPod functionality that is missing basic phone functions and many smartphone functions. Granted it isn't really designed for power users like me, but the dang interface keeps drawing me in. There is another device that I have been seriously thinking about that I just discovered is available from Dell and that is the Nokia E90 Communicator. The listed price is just under US$900 and after adding it to my cart and seeing I have to pay tax the total is just under US$1,000. I am thinking of selling off my E61i to offset the cost and may go for it if I can find a Dell coupon.

July 4, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Mail for Exchange available for Nokia Nseries devices

I have a couple of Nokia Nseries devices for testing and evaluation from the Nseries Blogger Relations program and early last year I was able to use an older version of Mail for Exchange on them to sync with my hosted Exchange account. Versions after 1.3 broke this functionality on Nseries devices so I then moved onto using RoadSync which has worked very well for me. I then read about Mail for Exchange officially supporting the Nseries devices from Symbian Freak. Unlike the screenshot Symbian Freak shows, the N95 I have is not showing the application in the Download! utility. I visited the Nokia business site and found that you can download and install Mail for Exchange 1.6 that is reported to work on Nseries devices. I plan to give it a try on the N95 and see how it does compared to RoadSync and then go with the best solution for me.

July 2, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Microsoft

2nd impressions of the Apple iPhone

After spending a full two days with the iPhone while out and about, I had the chance to put it through a few more tests. I used the camera to take photos at a fund raiser car wash, text messaged back and forth with friends, showed it off to the public at Lowe's and Les Schwab, made several more calls, received and sent emails from 3 different accounts, surfed the internet, listened to and watched a couple of podcasts and episodes of The Office, made a couple of calendar appointments, checked the weather, and wrote some notes to test the keyboard out. As fellow ZDNet bloggers like Mitch Ratcliffe and Jason D. O'Grady stated the device is quite spectacular and fresh. I think my teenage daughter might have said it best when she said "It is just a lot of fun." And yes, it is a lot of fun and I think the user experience is a blast. It will be interesting to see what people really think of it though after the novelty wears off and they need to get something done.

July 2, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Apple

Forum Nokia developers actively support S60 devices

I am a big fan of the S60 platform and in particular the Nokia N95, Nokia N73 and N93 and one major differences between these devices and the iPhone is the huge 3rd party development community. Michael Tangeman, from The Pen Group sent along a loaner Nokia N80ie loaded with applications from Forum Nokia developers. The applications include fring, FlashWeather, PocketCaster, Project Gotham Racing Mobile, SCANBUY Shopper, and SCANBUY Media. Michael also included QuickOffice and I plan to post a thorough review of the latest version in the next couple of weeks. So take a look at my image gallery for application screenshots and read below for a bit more about each application.

July 1, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Developer

We won't see Linux Palm OS devices until sometime in 2008

As revealed back in April we were expecting to see the new Palm Linux operating system start to roll out at the end of 2007, but according to a conference call reported on by Brighthand Palm won't be releasing any devices with this new OS until sometime in 2008. This means that Palm will continue to release Windows Mobile and Palm OS based devices in 2007. This may a bit disheartening for those Palm OS fans that were looking for a refresh to their aging Garnet devices, especially now that the iPhone is in the mobile device market and offering a simple interface like the Palm.

July 1, 2007 by Matthew Miller in Mobility

Hello international readers, there may be a way to unlock the iPhone

I was just reading my buddy Kent's blog and read the story he posted of how someone "accidentally" unlocked the Apple iPhone. The procedure requires two iPhones, but seems fairly straightforward. However, after making this public I have to wonder if AT&T will somehow find a way to prevent this being possible so if you have a buddy in the United States who wants to try this you may want to hurry up. This also seemed pretty easy for the person to do so I have to wonder if it will really be that hard to unlock the iPhone for international usage.

July 1, 2007 by Matthew Miller in iPhone

Matthew Miller

Latest Posts