last100 » Mobile

I’m really liking 3’s MiFi, mobile broadband turned WiFi hotspot

Steve O'Hear — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:38:35 +0000

I’ll admit that when I first heard about 3UK’s MiFi offering and similar devices from other mobile networks, I didn’t really see the appeal.

The tiny gadget – about the size of a typical candy bar phone – uses its own built-in 3G modem to create a mobile broadband-powered WiFi hotspot, which, optionally, several devices can connect to. In my experience, however, mobile broadband isn’t the quickest (not helped by the fact that I sit in front of a fiber-optic connected laptop most of the day), so it’s not something that I’d instinctively want to share. But…

Now that I’ve actually used the MiFi, I totally get it.

It’s not just about sharing a single 3G connection with others – though at times this could be a life saver – but the flexibility the MiFi offers through the ability to add mobile broadband to devices that aren’t compatible with a USB 3G dongle but that do have support for WiFi.

Apple’s iPod touch is a great example of one such device. It’s even referenced in the included instructions (see below). Other examples include the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and Nintendo DS Lite or Sony’s latest WiFi-enabled Walkman.

As more and more non-PC devices add support for WiFi – eBook readers, media players, MIDs etc. - a device like the MiFi will become infinitely more appealing than a single purpose 3G dongle.

Generally, the MiFi is dead easy to use and the accompanying instruction cards do a good job of walking you through the set-up. The only real complaint or shortcomings are the overly minimalist LED indicator lights, which don’t give you any idea of 3G signal strength and battery level, aside from telling you when you’re nearly out of juice. And battery life itself. The MiFi packs a 1500mAh battery, large for a cellphone but could be larger still for the job in hand. It should give you about 5 hours max of 3G to WiFi goodness, although you can also power the MiFi over USB or using a mains adapter.

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Sony Ericsson “explains” Satio battery discretion

Steve O'Hear — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:48:06 +0000

And I believe in the tooth fairy.

Some stories are best left alone but that hasn’t stopped Sony Ericsson (or me) from following up on my original story — Is Sony Ericsson short changing Satio users? — regarding why the company’s flagship Satio smartphone appears to be shipping with a smaller battery than the one in the possession of Anders Westin, Sony Ericsson’s Head of Software Relations, Symbian Software.

On Friday a Sony Ericsson PR rep called (and emailed) to explain that there had been a misunderstanding. Apparently Anders’ Satio does have the same sized battery as the retail version — 1000mAh — but that the “first ‘0′ had been scraped half off, so it looked like a ‘3’.”

Ahh, that explains it then.

Although I’m sure I recall Anders saying it was a 1350mAh not a 1300mAh, which would require two numbers to have been defaced. And, as one colleague pointed out, it’s pretty hard to scratch a battery that spends most of its life living under a battery cover. But what do I know?

(Wish me luck next time I request a Sony Ericsson review unit.)

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TwitterPeek: a device for tweeting and nothing else

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:29:54 +0000

I love me some Twitter (follow me @sohear) and I have a thing for mobile QWERTY devices too. That said, the TwitterPeek is probably taking these two obsessions just a little too far. It does one thing and one thing only: Tweet.

Building on the company’s original email and messaging-only concept, users put down a one-off payment for the TwitterPeek (available in the US-only) and get a lifetime’s worth of tweeting, with no additional data charges. Unless the company goes bust of course.

[Update: Unlike the original Peek messaging device, it's not a lifetime's service. "Includes 6 months of service, $7.95/month thereafter".]

Put a camera in this thing and dead easy support for Twitter-based services such as TwitPic and maybe, just maybe, for less-tech savvy celeb types who have a large base of Twitter followers to please (or their PRs operating on their behalf) there could be some appeal for a single purpose device. What do readers think?

(via Engadget)

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Free Sat Nav! Google Android 2.0 sticks it to TomTom, Garmin, Navigon and others

Steve O'Hear — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:47:46 +0000

The next version of the Googe-led mobile OS – Android 2.0 – is already encroaching on the work of HTC, INQ, Palm, Motorola and others in the universal address book space, and now we learn that the search giant has an even bigger target in its sights: Satellite Navigation systems.

TechCrunch has published a short video of Google showing off the upcoming Google Maps Navigation, which offers free turn-by-turn navigation, along with other features such as text search, voice search, and sat nav versions of Street View and Satellite View. The app will only be available on phones running Android 2.0 or at least that’s what Google tells TechCrunch.

Update: Much more info over at the official Google Mobile blog.

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Video: Android 2.0’s cloud-savvy address book and more

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:28:51 +0000

The Google-led Android mobile OS continues its rapid development with version 2.0 nearing release. A 2.0 milestone is rarely insignificant and Android doesn’t disappoint. Perhaps the biggest enhancement isn’t an end user feature as such but a new API that will enable handset makers and other third-party developers to add additional ‘Cloud’ syncing capabilities to Android’s contact application, taking it far beyond the existing support for Google Contacts. This could be Facebook or any social network or web app and to the end user will feel very much like the contacts element of Palm’s Synergy feature, Motorola’s MotoBlur, the work that INQ have done or HTC Sense on the Hero and Tattoo, two existing Android-powered devices.

In other words, this whole cloud-savvy universal address book concept is already in wide circulation and now Google just made it even more pervasive.

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Is Sony Ericsson short changing Satio users?

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:29:20 +0000

I’ve just got back from the Symbian Exchange and Exposition (SEE09) at London’s Earls Court where I had a one-on-one press briefing with Anders Westin, Sony Ericsson’s Head of Software Relations, Symbian Software.

We had an interesting chat about the company’s “commitment” to Symbian, whether or not Sony Ericsson can continue to afford to support a multi-platform smartphone strategy (Symbian, Android and Windows Mobile), and the issue of app store fragmentation. I was quite direct in my questioning and Westin kindly played game.

However, it was when I raised some of my criticism of the company’s flagship Symbian smartphone, the just-released Satio, that things turned a little odd.

I asked a very simple question: Why did Sony Ericsson ship such a small capacity battery – 1000mAh – with the Satio, a 3.5 inch touch screen device with serious Internet ambitions and one that sports a power-hungry 12.1 megapixel camera? Battery life on the Satio isn’t great.

“1000mAh?”, Westin replied. “Don’t you mean 1350mAh?”.

At which point he pulled the back cover off of his Satio to reveal a 1350mAh battery inside.

To say I was stumped would be an understatement. I’ve had access to a retail version of the Satio bought from Carphone Warehouse here in the UK for a couple of weeks now and I was sure that said device ships with a 1000mAh battery. Maybe I was wrong.

After leaving the briefing I bowled up to the Sony Ericsson stand on the exhibition floor where the Satio was on show and inquired about battery capacity. “1000mAh” was the reply. When I returned home, I also checked our Satio again.

Yep, 1000mAh.

Is this a case of Sony Ericsson not eating their own dog food? And if the Satio has room for a much needed higher capacity 1350mAh battery, why isn’t the company shipping it with one?

All theories welcome.

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I’ve published my full UK Palm Pre review over at Mobile Industry Review

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:42:43 +0000

I’ve posted part two of my Palm Pre UK (GSM) review over at Mobile Industry Review. Here’s the intro:

It’s been just over a week since I took loan of a Palm Pre, a device that bears the weight of Palm’s future success on its shoulders. Or so the story goes.

And it’s far too good a story for most pundits not to have written, me included. The truth, of course, is a little less dramatic but significant nonetheless.

While the Palm Pre is undoubtedly the company’s comeback device, the big bet is the accompanying webOS that powers the Pre along with the subsequently released Palm Pixi. In fact since the second device running webOS was unveiled, Palm have announced that, moving forward, they’re dumping Windows Mobile to pursue a single OS strategy. Thanks Redmond for easing the transition away from the dying PalmOS to the newly born webOS. But make no mistake, that’s all you were good for.

It’s in this context that when reviewing the Palm Pre it’s more tempting than usual to consider the phone’s hardware as separate from the operating system it runs on. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

(Spoiler: The hardware is OK but webOS is where things get really exciting.)

Click over to Mobile Industry Review to read the full post, and if you have any further questions, leave a comment here or on MIR and I’ll try to answer them before I return the device.

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3 and Spotify point to the future of music purchasing

Steve O'Hear — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:45:58 +0000

UK carrier 3 has teamed up with Spotify to offer a mobile tariff that includes a premium subscription, no ads and mobile usage, for the popular European (US launch pending) music streaming service. While the offer in itself is news worthy – it’s quite an attractive deal (more below) – perhaps more interesting is that the model may well point to the future of paid-for music.

Prior to 3’s offering, those wanting to utilize Spotify’s service on their handset were required to take out a premium subscription costing £10 per month in the UK. That’s quite high when competing against “free”, such as ad-supported offerings (including Spotify’s own, which prohibits mobile access) or illegal file downloads and the like.

However, by burying the premium subscription within a user’s monthly mobile tariff the service begins to enter the needed “feels like free” territory that self-proclaimed media futurist Gerd Leonhard has been talking about for years.

For £35 a month over 24 months, alongside an upfront fee of £99 for the handset (the very nice Android-driven HTC Hero – see my review) here’s what 3 are offering:

Unlimited Spotify Premium for 24 months (worth £240 at the non-bundled price of £10 per-month)
750 minutes to other mobiles
Unlimited texts
Unlimited 3 to 3 calls
Unlimited email, internet browsing and Facebook
Free Skype to Skype calls

Aside from paying an upfront cost for the HTC Hero, I think that’s a pretty good deal. My only real reservation is that I don’t like the move towards 24 month contracts, not because I particularly like to switch carriers but, being the early adopter I am, I like to upgrade my handset as soon as possible. On the other hand, for many users, a 24 month contract maybe a little easier to swallow while the music keeps playing. 3 have also hinted that the Hero is only the first handset to be offered with a bundled subscription to Spotify, and with a Symbian/S60 mobile app for the service just around the corner, I expect a range of Nokia phones on 3 to soon to be included.

As for the whole ‘feels like free’ mobile music space, 3 and Spotify’s offering will inevitably be compared to Nokia’s Comes With Music, which hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. However, CWM doesn’t offer a free version to hook users in and utilizes DRM in a much less user-friendly way. While Spotify does employs DRM, because it’s cloud-based (either streamed or cached rather than traditional downloads), the service can much more easily be used across multiple devices, Windows PC/Mac and on supported handsets.

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Gadgets and canapés: PR, Paranoia and the Palm Pre [review]

Steve O'Hear — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:32:17 +0000

I finally have a Palm Pre in my hands. Well not literally as it would be kind of difficult to type this post, unless I did it on the phone of course, which I’m not. Have you tried the keyboard? It’s pretty good but it’s not that good.

But a working UK GSM version of the Pre is sat next to me and I have the device on loan for the next 10 days or so. Remember, I’ve been chasing down the Pre for almost nine months, ever since it was first announced at January’s CES. So this feels like a big deal (the device went on sale today here in the UK, exclusively on O2).

And, frankly, I’m not used to waiting this side of the pond while my US brethren get to fondle a phone first.

It sucks.

Anyway, back to the Pre. I’ve written up my Day One impressions of the UK version of the Palm Pre, along with a tongue-in-cheek description of the PR back-story, in my debut column — working title: Gadgets and canapés — for Ewan MacLeod’s Mobile Industry Review (MIR). I hope to make a regular contribution to MIR and I’ll definitely be revisiting the Pre after a full week in.

Here’s a quote from the piece where I talk about the Pre’s Google and Facebook integration.

[Yes, I am quoting myself. Oh and it is #FollowFriday on Twitter. Just sayin'.]

After entering my Google credentials into the Pre, the phone’s email client sprang to life, as did calendar and contacts. In some ways the webOS-powered Pre is the Google phone I was always hoped Android would be. Google integration is on a par with stock Android but has a far superior UI. The Pre’s calendar is one example, with multi-calendar support and a nifty accordion metaphor to utilise screen real estate when part of the day is empty.

Importing Facebook contacts, avatars included, also worked as expected, and merging any duplicate contacts between Google and Facebook, for the most part, happened automatically. Manually linking contacts that Synergy had missed was also trivial.

Head over to MIR to read the full post ‘First impressions of the UK Palm Pre: We like it!‘

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The unsolved Macbook Melted Key Mystery

Steve O'Hear — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:41:21 +0000

Late last night I looked down at my unibody Macbook’s keyboard and, shock-horror, the zero key had melted! There was no obvious color degradation – in other words, no sign of external burning as if something scorchingly hot had been dropped on it (I don’t smoke anyway) – but either way, the key had definitely melted. But how?

At this moment, I still have no idea. What I do know is that no other keys have been affected, but I’m guessing that the rubberized keys on the latest Apple Macbooks don’t need much heat to cave in, literally (see pic above). This, naturally, brings into question Apple’s build quality.

Or does it?

Let me know your own theory to explain the Macbook Melted Key Mystery by leaving a comment.

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Back from the Sony Ericsson Satio launch – first impressions

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:21:49 +0000

Last night I was lucky enough to attend a really fun Sony Ericsson launch party – a kind of rebranding of sorts underpinned by the slogan ‘make.believe’ and used to officially launch the company’s new flagship Satio handset. The night also involved a fantastic live musical performance: A modern interpretation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, co-produced by Goldie (and others), featuring artists such as Miss Dynamite and Kano accompanied by The Bays and The Heritage Orchestra.

Anyway, I digress. Back to the tech. Here are my first (brief) impressions of the Sony Ericsson Satio.

The 3.5 inch touch screen device is much more svelte in real life than photos suggest. And the protruding lense cover protecting that headline grabbing 12 megapixel camera is a lot more subtle too. It gives the impression of being practical but also adds a defining design cue that I really liked.

The Satio is a lot lighter than you’d expect too but feels very solid and of high build quality. There was no obvious weak spots in the casing from my brief hands-on. Aside from the camera’s specs, the other standout feature is the screen itself. While it’s resistive (and we all know how I feel about resistive screens), it has an nHD (640 x 360 pixels ) resolution and in the dimly lit night club where the event took place, simply looked stunning.

On the software side, Sony Ericsson’s starting point is Symbian S60 5th edition – think Nokia’s Xpress Music 5800 or to some degree the N97 – but they’ve redesigned the UI for some of the phone’s key applications, such as its media features where it borrows from the PlayStation’s XMB UI, for example (see the video above). It’s a big improvement over standard S60 5th but it falls down in that SE haven’t given the same treatment to other parts of the OS. The device on show was also not the latest firmware I was told and it definitely had a few software bugs, which was a little disconcerting so close to release, although I was assured that many of these kinks have already been ironed out. Watch this space for a full review soon.

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Palm to developers: “We love you man”

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:11:31 +0000

Setting webOS apps free.

Despite the scarcity of third-party offerings available in Palm’s webOS app store so far, I’m remain bullish regarding the smartphone maker’s ability to attract developers to its platform. Although I’ve said right from the start that doing so will play a major part in making or breaking the company’s second coming.

Today, Palm made a number of announcements after listening to feedback from the community, the biggest of which is that developers will be able to ’self-sign’ their apps and distribute them via the Web, and in doing so, bypass any formal approval process. It’s not a complete free-for-all unlike what is possible on the Google-led Android as Palm will still own and issue the URL used for web distribution but the lack of an approval process, if developers choose to go this way, will enable more traditional online marketing techniques for third-party apps and speed up beta testing, something that is the bane of iPhone developers.

The traditional app store – on deck – route still remains an option, with developers paying a per-app fee for inclusion in the store and all apps being vetted by Palm. I suspect most developers will utilize both web-based and official app store distribution, with the former supporting a release-early-and-often development process.

However, web distribution is only the first play by Palm to reposition itself as the most open mobile platform or certainly in comparison with Apple. Next up is a direct appeal to Open Source developers.

… in appreciation of what the open source movement has contributed to the web, Palm will waive the $99 program fee for developers interested in distributing open source Palm webOS apps to the web. If the source of an app is available to the public under one of the commonly accepted licenses, it will be eligible for this program.

That’s perhaps unsurprising, with ex-Mozilla duo Ben Galbraith and Dion Almaer recently heading up Palm’s developer relations.

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