Mobile Music & I-Tunes Theory

I'm what you call a regular user of Real's Rhapsody ... my brother pays for the service, and I generally log in and use his service while he's sleeping (since I'm +9 hours ahead of him) .... toward the end of my work day, I generally get a " *Ping* User has logged in from another location" followed by an IM from him saying, "Get off my Rhapsody." It's a pretty cool service ... he pays I think 9.99 USD per month or something and can listen online to any (900,000 choices) song as he wants. Seemingly, it's much better than iTunes, as you get some pidly 30 music previews then gotta pay 99 cents per song in some crappy ACC format. Real allows you to burn Rhapsody songs for 79 cents (not sure what format, probably Real's).

Anyway, what is INTERESTING is that no client side application (a dumb downed version) has been made for PPC or Symbian based devices ... with EDGE/3G pretty much starting to hit a slow stride, I most certainly wouldn't mind draining a bit of my device's battery to pick any song I'd want to listen to on my phone/PDA ... why not. You don't even need a lot of space to stream songs ... Maybe it's just me but that would be pretty cool. Who the hell (besides Apple freaks) want to buy some over-priced Mp3 player and then pay 99 cents per song? Sure, people are doing it, but I bet if Real had their own player with such a service (and say, Bluetooth in their player to connect to a phones's GPRS/EDGE/3G connection), that'd be awsome and would murder Apple on the spot (ok, not murder, as Apple's marketing folks are awsome).

Again, all of this goes back to Platforms (Windows/Symbian) vs. Hardware (Mac/iPod) ... Nokia didn't learn much with the N-Gage (hardware, instead of a platform), it seems Sony with the PSP is gonna go pretty much the same route ... one day, maybe they'll all get it right. This is why I'm still crossing my fingers for Symbian. Time will tell.

[ Technorati Tags: Bluetooth Mac iPod
Mobile Music Mp3 Players ]

10mb to 2GB email via SMS...

Not all that interesting, but might have been something cool for Hotmail to do to sell "premium" email accounts ... Czech protal Seznam.cz has been offering free email accounts for the last 6-7 years .... you get a simple 10mb account (available via POP3 or IMAP, however....) for free just by signing up. Well, they've up'ed the act and offer premium accounts that come with 2GB of storage and allow you to send 13mb attachments.

The cool thing about it, is that they just didn't upgrade all 4 million of their users ... if you wanna upgrade, you gotta send a Premium SMS for 3kc (about 13 cents USD) to get it activated. It's obvious they're not trying to make extra money off this, but it's a good way to upgrade only those who WANT the space. Even though I don't use my Seznam account all that much, I sent my SMS -- it costs basically nothing and I'm juiced with 2GB now.... how cool is that.

Compare that with Microsoft's Hotmail Plus premium account $19.95 USD per year .... you basically get the same storage (2GB), ok, fine ... but you gotta pay with credit card. There is nothing impulsive about that, and I'm not keen on giving them my credit card -- they should just charge a premium SMS (and lower their price abit, since they'll never compete with Google's gmail) ....

It just goes to show that many US tech companies are still very primative when it comes to mobile technologies ... in the Czech Republic, you can join almost any online chat, make donations, etc.. all via premium SMS ... it's an old technology, but allows for impulse buys and is generally easy to use ... not sure why people haven't jumped all over it yet. Strange.

Jellingspot in Action

Well, today I was doing my rounds at the Novy Smichov Shopping Center where we have our Project Novy Smichov under full steam with our Jellingspot Data Server ... I decided to make a quick video (Mp4 Format) of a Jellingspot in action with my P900 ... so please excuse the video quality .. you can't see much, but you can hear a cool "bling" (kinda like the "bling" in Monthy Pyton's film "The Meaning of Life," if you know what I'm talking about...). Once we go live with our 5th store (Palace Cinemas is on deck ... see title graphic), we will make a more professional video you can actually see. This video just shows our Adpusher service in action -- basically, once you connect via a phone with Bluetooth (and our client application), ads will rotate on your screen (in this case, game screen shots from JRC Gaming, one of our customers) ... you can save these ads to your phone's inbox and MMS/Bluetooth/IrDA them to your friends ... or whatever you want.

Also, for those of you out there who haven't noticed much activity on the Jellingspot website, it's because a new website is under construction ... our super bad ass designer Alexander fires me a few new samples every few days ... here is the latest sample. It has all kinds of little flash enhancements all over it, but it's not too robust -- so, we'll see. We want to launch it when we have the Windows stack complete, which I can say is basically done. Once everything is in place, we're gonna come all at once -- and it's coming soon, so stay tuned.

[ Technorati Tags: Jellingspot Proximity Servers Gaming
Bluetooth Marketing ]

PSP & Ad-Hoc Gaming

Well, it seems talk about the Sony PSP has blown all over the place ... and for some reason I just don't get it. I mean, from a gaming point of view, it's just following the same "curve" of gaming consoles getting better from a (mainly) graphics point of view ... having owned an Atari Lynx back in the OLD SKOOL days (it rocked by the way, Blue Lightning was all that, and a bag of peanuts), it's not like it's getting "more portable" -- seems just the opposite. What seems to be happening (like with phones and PDAs) is a convergence of technologies ... so, instead of just a gaming console, you can now listen to MP3s, movies, surf the web ... it's not really doing anything special or new. Worse, in the case of the PSP, is that most of these "cooler" functions are hacks ... seeminly not intended to be open ... people are bragging about hacking the PSP to use IRC, etc... that's cool if you're a geek (hands up!), but is it really gonna impress the Early/Late majority? Why in Godzilla's name didn't the PSP just come with a browser option pre-installed (like Opera or a dumbed down Firefox), movie player, etc.... why does everything have to be hacked? Seems like a rather stupid move on Sony's part ... if your device can do it, why limit it?

Then there is talk about playing against other people -- which I think is cool, but the N-Gage has been doing it for 2 years ... and now, all of a sudden, it's a big deal? (granted, if you can play via Wi-Fi through your network against somebody playing on their LAN at home, that's an improvement) All of the hype just doesn't excite me ... I'm not really seeing innovation -- I'm just seeing technologies being mixed (which I like by the way) into one device ...

Does this mean that, PSP 2 might include a GSM module, so you can make phone calls? The days of propritary systems are coming to an end (anybody ever heard of a PC?) ... there needs to be an open platform on such devices .... and then we can go crazy. The N-Gage had the opportunity, but chained themselves to one game deck .... the PSP is essentially the same ... somebody, BIG, needs to come out and "license" a platform (Microsoft, are you listening?) that works one multiple phones .... do what the N-Gage failed to do, and rule the world...

Anyway, whatever the case -- backing up real quick to Ad-Hoc gaming -- the N-Gage has been doing it, the PSP is now doing it (with a different standard ... sound familiar?) ... what's next? Ad-Hoc gaming is gonna be big -- MARK MY WORD -- Nokia is pushing it hard on a "dead man walking" device (clemency would be the N-Gage jumping back as a platform) ... Sony will eventually start pushing this feature harder as well or its fans will. In fact, what I'm saying now has already been spoken about in a bit different form by others (Russell Beattie's comments HERE come to mind for starters).

Anyway, hype is good, but too much is a big turn off ... especially for the larger markets -- you can't hype up a device that you've gotta hack. That's rule number #1. Do you think Paris Hilton is gonna hack her own? However, get that out of the way, and somebody is gonna (actually, already is) make a lot of money.

[ Technorati Tags: Wi-Fi Sony PSP
Ad-Hoc Gaming Proximity ]

The Horror of Moving

Well, you can see I haven't posted much lately -- OMFG, moving is getting harder and harder as I live over here in Europe ... mainly because 1. the longer I'm here, the more stuff I accumulate, and 2. I'm getting older (28), so lifting 200lb boxes just aren't tossed around anymore like paper (yeah, right) ...

Having lots of computers and tech toys in your flat is cool, but when you have to move them ... that's when the sucking begins. And then once you move in, there is the issue of buying MORE stuff ... a lot of tech toys I've been eyeing are now on hold as I pay back Mr. Creditor for lending me money to purchase more furniture, etc...

The good news is, I had cable broadband plugged back in the DAY I signed the contract -- so naturally, the first thing I had working in my flat was my computer on the net... I am such a geek.

Anyway, I've got a load of unpacking and cleaning to do still, so it may be a few days before I start posting meaningful (I hope) comments again ... in the meantime, looks like Europe and North America are starting to get some good weather, so those of you there go out and enjoy it!

Phallic Technology

Today's post isn't about wireless technology, but wired -- more specifically, about switches (and I'm not talking networking technologies). What in Hades am I talking about? The Pomlazka. The preferred weapon of choice that Czech males utilize against their female counterparts to celebrate Velikonoce (Easter/Ostara). On Velikonoce, any fair young maiden is fair game ... a whack on the butt to help her get pregnant. The pomlazka represents the phallic symbol, the "ribbons" symbolizing the regenerative force in nature (ie... sperm). While most Czechs seemingly don't know these details (I'm not only a wireless freak .... I do have other hobbies :-), what they DO know is that on Easter they get to chase women and whack'em. It's fun, too ... you can do it in packs ... or, sniper style. Whatever the case, if you're lucky enough to find a female walking around (they're not stupid, they know what day to stay indoors), and you whack her, she's supposed to give you a colored egg in return (obviously a return fertility symbol). Of course, whacking people is generally done in villages, where people at least know your family -- don't try it in the big cities, as I did ... I didn't get an egg in return, I got something verbal.

Whatever the case, Christian, pagan, or any other variety in between, but sure to send the folks you like a "Happy Ostara/Easter/Velikonoce" via SMS (see, the wireless bent to this post) -- Spring time has arrived, it's time to pull the sandals out from their long winter hibernation ...

Ad-Hoc Social Networking: Jambo

I have obviously plugged the Ad-Hoc Social Networking application scene out there a few times (and even threw my own company's hat into the ring) -- MobiLuck, ProxiDating, CrowdSurfer -- up until now have all been Bluetooth wireless technology based solutions. However, Jambo Networks is the first (that I know of) solution that uses Wi-Fi to search for and interact with other Jambo users with this wireless standard.

As with the previously mentioned Bluetooth solutions, the premise is still the same: Network with people in your immediate area (in the case of Wi-Fi, other people can be more than 100m away): get their interests, find out their marital status, and basically find an easier way to hook up with somebody (either for personal or business reasons) in your immediate area.

My problem with Wi-Fi vs. Bluetooth in these ad-hoc solutions is that phones are not Wi-Fi enabled generally, and therefore you're more dependant upon PDAs (which I guess is fine) or notebooks. Not everybody has a PDA or Notebook, but almost everybody has a phone. Additionally, those with notebooks are generally not going have their notebooks up and running while walking down the street or hanging out at a bar or club. Therefore, wide spread use is going to be a bit more limited (in their demos, they have a university as an ideal spot, and to this I agree ... in the library it would be useful, or to hook up with all of those fine chicks in your Computer Science classes, if you know what I mean ... :p).

Let me know if anybody can download it -- what I hate MORE THAN ANYTHING is to go to some site, and then have to sign up before I can get any application (I think) ... I won't be signing up anytime soon ...

[ Technorati Tags: Bluetooth wi-fi Jambo
Ad-Hoc Proximity ]

ADSL or Cable?

Well, I'm moving into a plusher flat, finally, after 2 years of living in a human hamster box (38m2) ... so, I may be a little quiet the next few days, as I'll be moving and migrating my Cable connection over to the new flat ... you'd be amazed how hard this can be.

In Prague, the real estate people are just now getting a clue on how to sell flats via "Ooh, this flat has bandwidth." Generally, before I go see a flat, I know which street it's on so I look up the address on cable provider's site to see if I can get broadband over cable ... it's not so easy, as it's not available everywhere -- so, I generally LOOK for flats on such streets (doesn't mean the building/house has been wired up, though). If I don't see cable, then I have to back up to ADSL -- and I can generally only check this if I have the phone number of the flat (or one in that building) ... a common run through looks like this:

Me (in mangled Czech): Does this flat have cable?

Realitor: It has SAT TV.

Me: No, no, I don't care about TV -- I need cable Internet.

Realitor: Why, you have a phone for Dial-up

Me: Dial-up sucks ass (ok, I don't say that) ... No, dial-up is very slow, I need a broadband connection

Realitor: What's that?

Me: Does this flat have cable?

You get the drift ... now, ADSL is also available, but it's more expensive and slower (and, while available pretty much everywhere, that's still not always the case).

Prices look like this:

Cable: 3mbit Down / 512kbit up = 1500kc (about 67 USD)

ADSL: 1mbit Down / 256kbit up = 2000kc (about 90 USD)

Both generally have a 15-20 GB data limit per month ....

3 times slower and 1/4 more expensive -- f--k that.

This thus means, unlike people who look for flats first, and then worry about that stuff later, my main criterion is: Can I get Cable or ADSL here ... if I can't, no matter how nice and cheap the flat is, they're not getting a sale -- ADSL only flats must be a good deal ... if it has cable, it has a good chance of getting taken by me -- that's just the way it goes ...

Proximity Content Distribution: Kameleon

Well, I was gonna mention these guys a few weeks ago, but just haven't had the time ... it seems like "Proximity Server" solutions are now a dime a dozen in the race -- however, NONE have taken any signifant leap forward in becoming mass deployed. Kameleon is another player who utilizes Bluetooth wireless technology to send out"push" URLs of content. In other words, although they require, like previous solutions, the use of a specific client-side application to receive content, they do nothing more than send out "WAP Push" like URLs of content related to the specific location, and then via your GPRS/EDGE/3G connection, you download the information. Can this then be called a point or proximity server, since it doesn't do a whole lot of serving? Well, that's another issue altogether.

Basically, it works like this -- you see their logo on some billboard (say, some poster promoting the new release of an albulm from your favorite artist) ... you fire up their client application on your phone, and a URL is pushed to your phone via a small "tag" like device hidden in the billboard ... you then click on that pushed URL and your Opera / Native brower opens up on your phone / PDA and you're transported (via GPRS/EDGE/3G) to content relating to that poster -- MP3 sample clip, discography, or a link to buy tickets to their concert coming to town in a few weeks. It's a nice concept. The carrier-tyrants will love it -- it'll help drive up data use on their networks, advertisers will love it, because it gives a more dynamic feeling to their brand/product ... but, will users like it? Will they want to pay those GPRS/EDGE/3G costs to down load a 1mb or so clip? It'd cost about 1 dollar in the Czech Republic -- I know more in the USA and the UK. People generally aren't all that thrilled to PAY for advertising sent to them ... but, as data plans move down in price, and "unlimited" plans come into being (and become cheaper), this just might have a future. Note, I believe Nokia's solution which I previously discussed works in a similar fashion.

Check out Kameleon's site ...

[ Technorati Tags: Bluetooth Wireless Kameleon
Symbian Proximity ]

CeBIT & Skype: Brass Balls

I'm not going to summerize what's going on at CeBIT (I completely forgot about CeBIT this year -- so, I guess I'm not going ...) but, one post that caught my attention came from Niklas Zennström, CEO and co-founder of Skype ... check out his bold statements: He's got big brass balls ... Now, I thought Jellingspot might make carriers pay for their in-your-face hubris, bullying, and insolence to humanity -- but, looks like Skype is gonna kick'em into the dirt. Just imagine, using Skype via Jellingspot ... that'd be a cool service ... not just notebooks at Hot-Spots, but your mobile phones, via Bluetooth wireless technology, using Skype (and a location's internet connection) to make phone calls ... Hey, Niklas, give me a call ... let's bury the carriers once and for all (unless they get a more cooperative attitude and stop screwing content and applications developers in the mobile world) ....

[ Technorati Tags: Skype CeBIT Jellingspot
VoIP Tyrants ]

Skype on Symbian: The Killer App

Gotcha! At least, all you RSS feed readers ... I WISH Skype worked on my Series 60 Symbian phone, but as of yet, it's still a no go. I have written them a few times pushing the idea ... if it works on my brother's Pocket PC 2003 powered Dell Axim, why couldn't it work on my N-Gage or P-900, or at least my business partner's Nokia 6630? After all, if bandwidth is the only consideration (my hypothesis), the 6630's EDGE/3G connection should suffice. Here in the Czech Republic, 2 of the 3 carriers offer EDGE, so I have a download rate (not sure on the upload, actually) in theory of 100 - 150kbps, certainly enough for Skype. If Skype wanted to take over the world, getting a client on Symbian, even if it's not as fancy as its desktop brothers, would certainly be the first step in doning so. Skype, what are you waiting for man? If you're not in the know-how to get it done, open up your communication protocol Jabber style, and let the community do it for you ...

Now, would Skype last on your phone -- who knows, carriers most certainly would try to protect "their interest" (but then, at least in the USA, we could sue the hell out of them for blocking the Skype port) ... check out this Oskar (carrier in the Czech Republic) document, which shows you which ports your GPRS/EDGE connection can acess. Obviously, Skype isn't on phones yet, but seemingly, if I try to connect via my EDGE connection (connected to my notebook via Bluetooth wireless technology), can I still access skype? I don't have an EDGE phone, but I'll ask business partner if he can get access via T-Mobile's connection in the Czech Republic -- if not, that's whack. BTW, does anybody know which port Skype run over?

Anyway, in the next few days, I might just set up a petition for people to sign to pressure Skype to go Symbian -- who is with me? :-)

Update: T-Mobile isn't offering EDGE in the Czech Republic until April -- so, I'm gonna have to wait -- anybody else out there have an EDGE connection they can test (via a notebook or something) to see if your carrier will let you use Skype?

[ Technorati Tags: Skype EDGE wireless
Symbian Pocket PC ]

Using Omea Pro

If you are a information junkie like me, then you probably own a RSS reader, newsgroup reader, use Google a lot, and subscribe to a load news listservs, etc.... if so, then you REALLY need to check out Omea Pro (Disclaimer: I work for JetBrains ... but I'm responsible for ReSharper :-) ) Bias aside, this tool rocks: period. With Omea Pro, you can read/search in your RSS/Atom feeds, Newsgroups, Outlook emails, favorite (bookmarked) webpages, instant messages, and even local files -- and instantly find them. You can even link resources together (associate an IM with an Email, for example), so you can always keep track of your info, heck, it even has an integrated Bloglines tool that allows you to import your subscriptions!

Look, Omea Pro just does way to much for me to blog about -- download a 30-day evaluation copy for free. You can get a "lite" version of Omea ... called Omea Reader, for free (RSS/Newsgroups reader) ... you won't be disappointed.

If you're an early adaptor, try Omea Pro EAP -- the Early Acess Program release. This version rocks the house with a lot of other cool features (create annotations and clippings of webpages, and then organized them into Omea)

Basically, if you have hoards of info, this is THE tool you need to help you manage it - after using it, you'll be hooked. How much you wanna bet?

[ Technorati Tags: RSS Feeds Google Bloglines
organizer Omea Pro ]

'Proximity' (Bluetooth) Social Interacation...

Well, it seems like Peer-2-Peer (P2P) -- or maybe it should now be called Person-2-Person -- proximity social interaction technologies/tools via Bluetooth wireless technology have yet another player in the game. Small Planet's CrowdSurfer follows on the heels of pioneer MobilLuck, and recent addition ProxiDating. The modus operandi of CrowdSurfer is basically the same as MobiLuck and ProxiDating: You install a client-side application on your Bluetooth enabled device (Symbian, Pocket PC, Palm, etc...). This client application allows you to add information about yourself (Single, Male, 28, Hobbies -- basically different types of information that might help you meet somebody interesting - or - get you laid), and then makes that information available to folks within a 10 - 100m area (that's about 30ft - 300ft .... or a football field, to all my fellow Americans out there) that are running a similar client application in search mode.

So, just imagine -- you walk into a bar, your fire up your application, and search for other users ... your phone rings/vibrates, you see that a user "Lisa" is running the same software, you download her profile (if she's allowing it), and it says, "Female, 21, romantic walks, expensive dinners, etc..." and it has a picture of some fine ass chick ... you can basically send her text messages (she's somewhere around you, but you haven't a clue, and neither does she) ... she checks out your profile, thinks you're cute, and sends you a text message (remember, all via Bluetooth -- FREE!) -- meet me by the bar downstairs, I'm blonde, belly ring, tat on the back, and carrying a white (pocket) dog. You get there, and BAM!, you already know a bit about her (that she is gonna break your wallet) ... doesn't matter, you're the man -- no need to drink a few shots before going up to some girl sitting at the end of the bar -- now you can geek your way into her life.

Pretty cool, huh? There is still hope for me yet ...

[ Technorati Tags: Bluetooth Wireless Dating
Symbian Proximity ]

Beer Moblog

Ok, I think I'm gonna have a new theme once in a while for my Moblog, and the first theme is beer. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't drink that much -- but when I do...ooh, heavenly bliss ... Living in Bohemia, you don't just drink beer -- you drink gold in liquid form. I don't supposed you'll see a whole lot of beer shots from me, but when I have a cold/warm (yes, depends on the beer and bar!) one, I'll try to take a pic -- so you can see -- if you get bored, do the same and upload it to my Moblog -- try to name the type of beer and get a pic of the label -- let's see how many we can get :-)

If you're not of drinking age reading this, well, then, snap your favorite drink anyway ... or snap your pa's beer in the fridge.

I bought a N-Gage QD and got jacked! (Part III)

Well, I got my return number to send my QD back; however, I found the "Certifed Nokia Partner" store that actually had the covers -- same color, and original -- check this out, 80kc (about 3 bucks) for a back cover and 3 bucks for the entire FRONT cover with new screen ... (and I could buy them seperately, but since I had a girlfriend of mine get them for me, I couldn't be sure on the color, so I bought both). So, it set me back 6 dollars -- would have cost me 10 just to send it back to England. Looks like I ain't gotta do that now -- w00t, w00t!

So, I have a QD now, wat up! It was so bloody cheap, I couldn't help myself (I'm a whore for Symbian phones) -- Anybody up for a global match of Pathway To Glory? ;-)

Flash Lite: Redux

Well, a few weeks ago, I said I'd comment on Flash Lite. I haven't felt like commenting on this topic, simply because I'm rather ignorant of the whole technology outside of creating fancy little graphics for webpages (and I don't do that anymore myself -- having never been good at it (check out the www.jellingspot.com title header for a sample -- anyone out there wanna improve it? :P ). In the mobile world, I'm a rather big fan of Java (or was, until I started finding that companies like Nokia, for example, had utterly gutted out socket connections in most of its Java enabled phones ... had to move to C++ to get those features). This isn't for any other reason than my partner is a Java Guru and I work for a premium Java Tools provider, so I know something about Java (but I don't program IN Java -- see the difference?) However, I am aware Macromedia makes "Enterprise" web application type software such as Cold Fusion, so you know they're doing more than just aninmation type-software.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, it was spreading all over the net, that thank god, it was gonna displace dismal Java (mobile Java, generally based on J2ME/Personal Java) because Java is "too hard" (ie... it requires more brain power to be an OOP programmer than a basic "scripting" langauge writer -- it what the feeling was anyway) -- and Flash Lite was the savior of the mobile world, as things could be written much faster.

All of this may be true ... Blogger Bryan Rieger dropped some verbal bombs on the whole thing, and being a Flash developer himself, they're well worth listening to. However, I just can't see (with my limited insight into the technology of course) Flash doing much more than sending nifty greeting cards (as it does now on the net), or some simple games (keep in mind, my favorite Sumo Volleyball, which ICQ seems to have murdered, was in Flash). This is all fine and dandy, but Java (and more so C++ Symbian/PCC/Palm) have real meat and potatos inside ... as I asked the rhetorical questions previously: Can Flash Lite access the native system's features? Such as the phone book, or Bluetooth radio, or store information onto a memory card? If yes, then I think Flash Lite could have a bright future ... but, from what I know, this isnt' the case -- it's not meant to do that, so why all of the talk about "replacing" Java, when it doesn't even come close to doing what Java does (or can/could do, if phone makers didn't gut it out).

It's obvious, people got ahead of themselves -- many of the time, people with no programming experience do that (I won't mention them here, cough...the entire commerical technology media, cough...) ... while others, kinda just go along with the crowd, I'm more inclined to be critical (not negative -- as I hate them types) ... show me the money I guess.

Having said that, can all of the Flash Gurus out there somehow port mini Pac-Man (I got to levl 4) and mini Pong to my phone? Sure, my eyes are blown out playing these two all day, but on a phone, wouldn't they just be so cute?

Ooh, one more thing -- Bryan also mentioned that, if Flash Lite were on most mobile phones -- especially as it relates to Jellingspot, then Flash ads/games/etc. could be distributed over Jellingspot -- Maybe there is more to this Flash stuff just yet ... ;-}

[ Technorati Tags: Bluetooth wireless Jellingspot
Java Flash Lite ]

I bought a N-Gage QD and got jacked! (Part II)

Well, I called GAME yesterday and talked to customer service -- in all fairness, their people were EXTREMLY friendly and sympathetic to my plight ... my choices: 1. Send it back and get a new one, or 2. Get a complete refund. I told them I'd try to find some cheap cover here, as my time is worth more (going to the post office, boxing it back up, etc...) than the 20 bucks ... but, alas, I can't even FIND a place in the entire CZ that has one in stock, and I'm not about to order one and wait 3 days ... I may as well send the bloody thing back!

So, it's going back ... now I have Pathway To Glory sitting here and can't play it (not that I'm a big gamer) -- sure would be nice if the N-Gage PLATFORM were open, so I could pop it into my other Series 60 phone and play it ... no, that'd be asking too much.

I bought a N-Gage QD and got jacked!

So, to make a long story short, I ordered a N-Gage QD from GAME in the UK ... the price was right, about 100 bucks less than what I could get it for here in Prague, and this WITH a game (Pathway To Glory) ... I get the box from the post office 5 minutes before it closes, on the box it says "If security seal has been broken do not accept it..." blah, blah, blah -- the package's seal hasn't be broken, so... I get home, open that bad boy up -- N-Gage, got my Pathway To Glory game .... open up the N-Gage box, get the console, see the battery, put it in -- put in the fake SIM card they give you so you can play it ASAP -- look for the back cover -- NO WHERE TO BE FOUND!

Can you believe that? I start back tracking, going into a panic attack ... double checking to make sure I'm not an idiot ... even read HALF of the manual .... NO BACK COVER TO MY N-GAGE! Some jerk must have jacked it in the "shipping" department, before it went into the box -- I guess that's how things go in the UK nowdays -- no more British Empire, now I know why.

I called GAME, but of course, they were closed ... I'll call tomorrow and yell -- I'm sure they'll want me to send the whole thing back -- what a nightmare. We'll see ... I'll be posting on this again real soon. If they don't hook me up ASAP with a back-cover, I'm going on a anti-GAME Jihad against them .... putting them in my cross-hairs for an online beating -- this is just wrong (some jerk probably said, "Hey, this box is going to the Czech Republic, let's jack his back cover cuz I broke mine"). Whatever the case, they better fix it!

More soon ... have a nice weekend, I know I won't!

MobiLuck on MS Smartphones ...

MobiLuck's cool proximity based Bluetooth P2P client now works on Microsfot Smartphone powered devices. This is good news -- first on Symbian, now on MS Smartphones. MS Mobiles.com has done a pretty good overview of MobiLuck's technology.

While I can't see a very good business plan behind such applications (somebody, like us at Jellingspot, are going to have a free one soon anyway), the idea behind the technology itself is pretty cool IMO -- some people laugh at it now, but I remember the laughs about the Internet (internet dating, etc...) ... never fear, eventually, the nay-sayers will be on the bandwagon -- you innovators at MobiLuck (et alia) pay them no attention ...

Moblog Updated (23/02/2005)

VISIT MY MOBLOG