Category: Rants and Raves

Like every tech BLOG the Apple iPhone gets free publicity here too!

We haven’t sampled the latest iPhone 4G yet but we have managed to upgrade our existing iPhone 3G and iPhone3 GS with the lastest OS4 – and here are our views!

The much complained about unified email box is excellent!  It also allow you to individually check each mailbox that you have specified and also individual mail box settings.  Clearly certain ‘reputable’ new sites have not actually tried one yet.

If you have the original iPhone 3G you should not bother with the upgrade – it does work but none of the new features can actually be used. Do not do it!

If you have a iPhone 3GS the upgrade to OS4 is worth the effort!  The phone is faster and most of the new features can be used.  The changeable backgrounds and the calculator icon are the most noticeable changes.  Multitasking is a bit of joke really.  It is activated by double clock the home button which is a pain. An onscreen button or gesture would be much more convenient, or another button on the side.  Finally the ability to create folders for sorting apps is also a feature log over due.

Both upgrades where performed on a Apple Mac and updates where downloaded first before performing the Sync and then the update.  We did not encounter any problems.  It took about 1/2 hour to download the nearly 400Mb file and 1/2 hour to then complete the software update to the phone.

A few of the older Apps no longer work but overall much better if you have a 3GS.

There are lots of mobile phones in a variety of designs. There is the candy bar, QWERTY, flip or clam shell, touch screen, slider, slider QWERTY, twist, touch slider and so forth.  Each design has its pros and cons.

We do have a preference for the QWERTY and flip phones for convenience, design and ease of use. However we are definitely open to trying new designs to see if they are any good.

QWERTY keyboard phones are usually very easy to use and allows you the ability to properly reply to emails and SMS on the run.  As a result of the keypad they usually have large screens.  Some keypads are naturally better than others but most are very easy to use.

Clam shell or Flip phones are so convenient and usually stylish.  There is nothing easier than flipping open your phone to answer a call or flipping it shut to end it.  The keypad is nice and large and the internal screen protected.  it is unfortunate the most manufacturers don’t make top range flip phone anymore (2010).

So many people are saying – Apple iPhone will have a or want a FM radio.

I say no way – Apple is always looking at things a different way and it my guess that they will introduce digital radio before anything to do with FM.  FM radios even with RDS are old tech and digital radio DAB and DAB+ is the way of the future.

FM radio won’t disappear entirely but where a iPhone 3G will work you can be sure DAB will also be there.

Sure most of the world hasn’t moved to DAB yet but it is inevitable.

We’ve been conned.

I went to the optus store to purchase a iPhone on their pre-paid plan only to be told it would not be available for another 2 weeks.

False advertising.

So if you want a new iphone don’t bother.

Perhaps I was a little harsh but the whole situation is not exactly the best situation for Optus to be in. Essentially although Optus heavily promotes the iPhone available on Pre-paid plans the fact is that they don’t actually many available to buy. Yes – there are some but not many.

Everyone knows that sales get commissions for selling phone on plans and little if none for pre-paid. I think that will change very soon!

Clearly a marketing ploy but one that has back fired.

Nokia’s web browser for the N and E series of phones is the best! Why?

Safari on the iTouch and iPhone are very good at displaying web content but they are not Flash capable. Furthermore they don’t allow data input for online applications, in particular BLOG based sites.

Yes Safari for the iPhone is the best for browsing but that’s it.

The Nokia S60 browser for 2007 is better than Safari. Nokia’s browser is great because it does a good job on displaying real web pages AND works with most online BLOG software. Most of all even, highly customised PHP and AJAX sites almost work perfectly,

With Safari, while I can log into BLOGs editing of fields is never allowed.

Yes, the Nokia web browser allows you to log in and edit WordPress BLOGs over a a wireless connection. In fact I used the browser via a 3G connection to edit various parts of this website! It works even better when you use Wi-Fi. (I use a Nokia E61i)

Admittedly the display of the input fields can make editing a hit or miss on smaller screens, the fact that it allows you write and edit posts is a very good start. Hopefully the 2008 version will be even better.

I understand Nokia’s 2008 Web browser that comes with the S60 3rd Edtion Feature Pack 1 & 2 mobile phones can even display Flash as per normal web browsers. (Confirmed with the latest review of the E71!)

This is the next part in a series of reviews on the major mobile manufactuers for the 2007 range. Motorola mobiles where the top of the heap in the 90’s. Unfortunately it has been largely down hill from then.

For 2007/2008 Motorola finally released the V8 and V9 handsets, the so called next generation to the very popular V3 series of models. Indeed if you’ve ever used them they are amazingly designed to look at and feel. Aside from the physical aspects the phone’s screen quality and calling sound quality are top spec. You’ll probably see lots of them once the price goes down a bit.

However it all falls down when you start using the interface. The graphics even when customized by the various networks carriers look basic and down market. Sure most models work quickly but the lack of logical setting menus and the ability to customize the interface are limited or non-existent.

Aside from these 2 models the only other models with any interest is the Q9 a Blackberry like and Windows Mobile based device and the new Z series of sliding handsets.  Since we haven’t tried the new Z series we can’t comment.

To sum up 2008 is not going to be a good year for the maker. The competition is fierce, although none have a equally stylish flip phone. Motorola hardware is state of the art, they really need to improve the OS and to offer more functionality and more customization and software developer friendly phones. As a manufacturer all their phones work best as voice only models.

It may seem too late to comment on Sony Ericsson’s mobile phone range but if you think about it all their 2007 models will be the most common models that will be sold this year (2008).

2007 was a very ordinary year for the phone manufacturer.  It’s easy to see why.  The only shining light in their range was the k800 which was the halo model due to a starring or should we say product placement in the Jame Bond movie Casino Royale of 2006.   It was a genuinely good phone so much so that at least 2 of us had one during the year.  It probably did well too because everyone had a Nokia before and switching brands to try different models have always appealled to the majority of mobile phone users.

Well, lets face it almost everyone has a Nokia of some sort and Sony Ericsson managed to tap into the ‘be different’ set with it range.   No-one wants to have the same phone as your friends. However Sony’s break didn’t last long.  They failed to update their range with the latest features the quality of designs and their materials just fell into a black hole.

In terms of hardware Sony Ericsson models often lack 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS capabilities.  Even worse they use the rare Memory Stick M2 which is hard to find adapters for.  They so use and will continue to use propriety connectors. Their designs try to be different but are let down in the quality of materials.  Sony products used to have the best look, quality and feel.  See the k800 replacement the k850 – what a shocker.   The only saving grace is the W890 and perhaps the W910.

In terms of software they come with all you need for calls and text messaging. Their web browser is very basic due to  their lack of 3G capable models. Customisation of the interface is also limited. Sony Ericsson phones mainly use UIQ or Symbian based OS and because they don’t offer state of the art functionality but they are very stable phones.  Standout models are their Walkman branded model are the best sounding mobiles around.  Also their Cyber-shot branded models have arguably the best mobile phone camera and picture quality.

So for 2007 we can summarise by saying that Sony Ericssion mobile phones are good and stable but lack state of the art design or functionality.

This is second USB or Flash drive we’ve reviewed!

The Sandisk company has bee around for a few years now and the Cruzer Titanium series of flash drives where their top range models until the recent release of the Contour series. The Cruzer Titanium is different from the rest as it is apparently made with titanium. But beware because we don’t think it’s made entirely made of of the stuff because it is an expensive metal and it is supposed to be lighter than steel which it clearly isn’t once in your hand. Sandisk don’t exactly publicize how now of the stuff they used and what grade.

We used the heat prone Firefly drive for a little while and where reasonably impressed with its performance so decided to try the Cruzer series. Flash or USB drives are pretty generic these days and rely on the construction and design for differentiation. (Although this drive still gets hot when left in the USB slot.) We performed the same file transfer test as with the Lexar model and the Cruzer Titanium as reported by Vista took about the same time (10 minutes) to copy 1 Gig and 5046 files from the PC. We didn’t time the exact transfer since we don’t do bench testing in detail. The point is that it is one of the fastest USB/Flash Drive available.

It’s reasonable small and has a retractable connector which is very handy. The mechanism feels that it will last a long time and well made. However design wise its shape is a tad boring. There is a blue led that continuously lights up when the drive is connected to the PC flashing when being accessed. Some like the always on light some prefer no light until being accessed. We don’t care.

There is some software that comes installed with the drive and its called U3. U3 is very similar to the PowerToGo and Portableapps programs in that it is a menu launcher that allows you to run certain PC free programs directly from the drive. However it only works on XP, 2000 SP4 or 2003 server. There is an updated version that will sun on Vista but we didn’t bother. The Portableapps version is superior to both and not propriety.

There is a ton more programs available via the Portableapps site than the other two menu programs put together. All are free and work in a stable manner. We’ll do a USB menu launcher comparison at a later date.

So if you want a fast USB or Flash drive consider the Titanium or the regular plastic version of the Cruzer. If choosing between the Lexar Lightning and Sandisk I would pick the Lexar purely based on its better looks. Both perform equally in our opinion unless you’re a true tech geek to want to delve into performance differences by seconds or milliseconds.