Goodbye iPhone; Hello HTC Desire S

Well, the speed of my 3G iPhone was starting to get pretty damn annoying (ever since the "upgrade" to iOS4, it started going downhill), not to mention the fact that the battery charge is now sucking too. And since I couldn't just replace the battery in the iPhone, to stretch out its life a bit more, I decided to scrap it altogether and get a new phone. Enter the HTC Desire S. Goodbye Apple.

As you may have read in previous posts, I have a love, but mainly hate relationship with Apple products. I just never got comfortable with the closed platform, iTune necessary, built for dummies mobile device. Don't get me wrong, it has some nice usability (see below) features, it IS simple to use, and most of the third-party apps that I used on the iPhone were pretty good. But, I always wanted something more, to bring me back closer to my old days on Nokia Symbian powered phone features. So I thought HTC would get me there.

So far, after having the phone for 4 hours, I'm not impressed. It takes WAY too many clicks to perform basic functions. The freaking apps panel is a bloody mess, and I'm not able to create sub-groups or folders to organize everything. I have TWO email clients (one for Gmail, and one for POP3/IMAP accounts), and frankly both suck. Facebook, as much as I hate it, also sucks on Android compared to iOS (can't upload video, and layout looks cheap). Linkedin on Android sucks compared on iPhone too. In fact, almost every app that I had on iPhone that's on Android sucks. The exception so far being Photobucket.

I didn't do enough research on Android before buying, I thought I'd just go see how it stacks up. And, while it has some cool things about it (wigets are cool and suck at the same time), so far it's a cluttered mess.

Anyway, these are only my first hours impressions, so we'll see how it goes in a week or so. So far, I have like 2-3 weather apps/wigets on the phone, and 2-3 twitter icons or apps that I don't need. And I can't seem to be able to delete them. Arrrrrrrrrrgh!

More soon!

Mobile Slingbox Chill'axing ...

Well, last week I was in the UK on a biz trip, and I did a sweet impulse buy of a Slingbox SOLO at the airport (Terminal 5, despite all of its glitches and its over-price construction costs, it certainly has enough gadget stores in it for the likes of me!). In case you've forgotten what a Slingbox is, it basically is a stand-alone TV server that "slings" (hence its name, clever eh?) or pushes out your home TV connection out to the internets -- and you pick the signal up with a software TV client (on your notebook desktop pc, or mobile device). It works really really well. I watch my Dad's TV back in the states on it from time-to-time. I picked one up mainly so my girlfriend's sister can watch Czech TV while she's abroad (they don't sell the Slingbox here in the Czech Republic, go figure...).

At any rate, the other obvious reason I picked one up is because Sling viewing on my Nokia N95 is *really* good. I mean, REALLY good. It looks super clear and the audio comes in great (*** only via Wi-Fi-- EDGE just isn't fast enough for Sling viewing). Most modern shopping malls in the CZ have free Wi-Fi, so at lunch I'm usually watching the news on my mobile -- and people freak out when they see TV (full screen) on my phone. Even my colleagues who sport iPhones drool at the fact they can't do that (Apple, make a deal with Slingbox to get their client on your new 3G iPhone -- that would be yet another selling point for me to get an iPhone). Check out which devices are currently supported for mobile Slingbox viewing ... (30-day free trial)

Anyway, enough of the rambling -- I have some Slingbox TV to get viewing ...

Nokia N95 vs. Apple iPhone II

Well, it has been a while since I last blooged ... a very busy work schedule, not to mention I broke my leg and recently my hand (thank Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training for that), I haven't gotten to blog much as of late.

Anyway, iPhone talk has started to become standard lexicon here even in Prague, so it's time to revisit the Nokia N95 vs. iPhone discussion again. Having played with a few iPhones now, I can say openly that the iPhone is a LOT more stable and a lot more usable than the Nokia N95. My N95 has a host of stability issues (slow GPS start-up time, crashing on larger webpages, freezing when an application tries to determine which access point it should use, etc....). I have updated my firmware to the newest version, and that was more than 2 months ago when it came out, and no updates since that time. Nokia is very slow with updates. They really should release minor versions on a regular basis (with change/bug-fix log), specifically for their early-adaptors and champions ... pissing us off is not a good idea.

The iPhone is a superior phone when it comes to usability ... what it still lacks to put it far ahead of the N95, however, is:

1. Flash support in its browser
2. Ability to select more than 1 message at a time (organization features kinda suck)
3. GPS (that's a given)
4. 3G (another given)
5. Open Bluetooth (to send/receive pictures, business cards, etc...)
6. Open platfrm (I believe this is gonna change soon)

The Nokia N95 is still a better device to have when you find yourself in unchartered lands (having maps is nice, but if you can't find a street name, it's a moot point to have MAPs) -- not to mention, you cannot save maps locally ... no connection, no maps on the iPhone. The photo and video quality of the N95 is just super. I used my N95 on my last holiday to Greece (leaving the video cam at home), and it worked perfectly. Great DVD quality video, and excellent photos. The iPhone will have a BIG HILL to climb when it comes to knocking off the N95 in this territory.

I'm both happy, and greatly disappointed with my Nokia N95 ... Nokia could pay it a lot more attention and get their Series 60 platform in more order ... I think if the iPhone starts fixing its shortcomings (and Apple has a history of listening), the iPhone is gonna turn into the "to have" phone while Nokia's offerings slowly slide back into the abyss. Hope that's not the case, but we'll see how the Finns react. If they react at the same speed they are fixing bugs in the N95, they're good as gone.

Nokia N95 vs. Apple iPhone

I don't mean to bash the iPhone -- I haven't seen one nor played with one yet. However, looking at the spec sheet leaves much to be desired, and the marketing for the iPhone (and the idiots in the mass media outlets that keep swearing it's the next greatest thing since sliced bread) is getting pretty damn annoying -- especially for ANYBODY who knows basic things about mobile phones (I suspect, the iPhone will only take off in the U.S. and the U.K. -- whereas the rest of the planet will not buy into the retarded hype ... but I've been wrong before). The iPhone just isn't that great, feature wise -- I like how these guys spoof Apple's famous commericals to compare the Nokia N95 vs. the iPhone.

Now when I go back to the states, I'm going to have to hear all of the parrots ranting about how great the iPhone is -- and I'll be like the guy in the video talking crap about it.

Nokia N95: I pulled the trigger

Being the penny-pinching miser that I am, I was kinda skeptical about spending so much on a phone that I didn't think was worth it -- but I did ... so far, the phone is impressive, but it's not blowing off my socks. In the coming weeks, I'll give my impressions of using the N95 in more detail -- and some of the apps I've already started to use (fring, truphone, its maps app, etc...). So far, the phone is good, but has some usability issues I think Nokia could improve. More reporting later ... gotta go search for more fun software to install :-)

Smart 2 Go Maps: Revisited

Well, so I tried installing Smart2Go maps on my Wi-Fi enabled Mio P550 .... installation was fine (fine = as reported by a gang and grip of other people, I could not even download the installation cab file via the IE browser on the PDA, since the "download" button does not work on the PDA -- I had to download it via my PC and then transfer it to the PDA via Bluetooth).

I established my Wi-Fi connection on my PDA, and then surfed to Greece to check to see if it worked -- NOPE. Never got anything. I only saw maps seemingly work for Italy and Germany -- I waited like 30 minutes, and maps for Greece and the Czech Republic never came up. Great stuff.

Then silly ol'me thinks that, I'll just use the MapLoader to load up the maps. So, I download the MapLoader that Smart 2 Go offers -- but *naturally*, I could not get the MapLoader to recognize my SD card in my card reader, nor could I get the MapLoader to reconize my PDA as "USB Storage." Complete junk.

I'm not the brightest bulb in the bunch, but I really couldn't get it to work -- it got uninstalled. Not to "smart" Smart2Go ... not to smart. You guys might want to really focus on usability and actually make this stuff work.

[ Technorati Tags: Symbian Windows Mobile Nokia
GPS Navigation Smart2Go ]

Smart 2 Go Maps

This post is mainly for me, so I can remind myself to test these maps on my WM5 device ... but, in case you've been living in a cave the last year, you can download FREE Global maps for your Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition or Windows Mobile 5 platform device absolutely free from Smart 2 Go:

Free Maps from Smart 2 Go

Since I have not yet purchased a new phone yet (still fighting with choice -- Nokia N95 or some kinda WM5 phone), I will have to download -- but, I believe that all Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition devices come with this software pre-installed. But, if not, you can download it from this site and use the maps feature for free. Navigation will cost you a few pretty pennies, though.

[ Technorati Tags: Symbian Windows Mobile Nokia
Smart2Go Navigation ]