Mobiles

Symplification obviously hasn't been updated for some time, and the way things are going it's likely that they're not going to be.

It's not just the "new" job (and sometimes World of Warcraft, hehehe) - it's also that since that new job started I've been using a blackberry (with an unlimited data plan), and that single device provides basically all of the functionality I need.

For example, I have an N80 - but as it's music playing capabilities were rendered useless by an ipod shuffle (which is about the same size as the adaptor it needed for me to plug proper headphones in - and has much better sound quality through my super.fi 5 pros), the only thing I use it for nowadays is to actually make phone calls. Yeah - not even SMS.

Indeed, assuming you have Gmail App (for email) and the newest version of velvetpuffin (for instant messaging - disclosure, I've acted for the owner of velvetpuffin before) I don't think there's actually any reason to have a smartphone - anything which has data (preferably 3G) and supports those applications will do! So - buying a phone will become something which is almost -completely- about how you feel about the device.

And this is from the perspective of someone who actually uses a smartphone as a smartphone... (which is a whole other reason to think that "smartphones" are a waste).

It is, of course, possible to argue that I've just lost the faith, and it's also perfectly accurate to point out that phones are branching out even more than ever before (GPS, for example) - but unfortunately I suspect that it's all about usability, and the swiss-army knife device is likely to be inferior to the "real deal" (e.g. look how the prices of standalone GPS devices have fallen, and think about how much easier it is to have a nice big screen when being directed; or consider something how the creative zen stone plus manages to have a screen and 2GB in a device basically same size as the shuffle).

So - bye for the moment, and thanks for all your clicks! I'm likely to create some other website soon, because that's kinda fun. Don't know what it'll be about though... hmm. I did recently buy a new camera...

[sorry about that - I was getting too many spam comments - send me email if you have something to say, and I'll update accordingly ^.^]

According to news.com.com (*koff koff horrible url*) the iPhone is going to be announced on the first day of WWDC.

Cool.

This means that Nokia (and the other usual suspects - Moto, SE, Samsung, etc.) still have more than 2 months left. For Nokia, by their usual standards, this means that if they are going to have a direct iPhone competitor (touchscreen etc.) it has to be announced within the next couple of days.

We don't think the announced yesterday Nokia 5700 (pictured above) is it, although we do admit to liking some of the new styling cues.

Quick! Touchscreen device with symbian, multi-touch (like this!) tech, blackberry connect, 3.5mm plug and the music quality of at least an ipod shuffle, and I'm sold (if I were planning on getting an iPhone, and the multi-touch actually works such that our concerns about painful interfaces are misplaced).

[via Engadget]

Bleah. We were wrong, and it does appear that all Ferrari and Vertu had to announce was a new phone cover - the Vertu Ascent Ferrari 1947 Limited Edition. Of course we're basing this on the information which we received.

That information is basically identical to the information chronicled over at Darla Mack's blog, so I shan't belabor the point.

It's interesting that Vertu's own website (as of the date and time of this article) has not yet been updated with the official press release. Having said all that, since it's a Vertu Ascent, we'd expect the specifications to be identical to existing Vertu Ascents - which basically means that if you want a basic phone it should serve you well.

Pity.

We would post pictures, but as all existing pictures appear to be from the same source, and aren't of the best quality (although we're not entirely sure why, since EXIF data shows that the camera involved was a Nikon D100, which is old, but is still based on a sensor very similar to current DSLRS) we shan't bother for the moment. :D

[source: little bird! Hooray for little bird! :D]

So Apple's iPhone is here.

While official specs aren't out yet, and apple hasn't officially released any images of the phones other than full frontal shots, Arstechnica and engadget have enough between them that you generally know what to expect.

But even with a nice big (480*320) 3.5" touchscreen, 8GB of memory, sound quality which should be better than the N80's and a nice exterior, it still falls short of the N95 in certain ways - the two most important being dedicated keys and 3G.

The reason for this omission of dedicated keys is pretty obvious - the iPhone can't, in this day of uber-thin/small phones, be monstrous in size. Since a large screen was deemed to be important (and it is excellent marketing material) the device had to be thin (and it is, at 11.6mm) and so there's simply no space. This means that all keys must be "soft" keys - press bits of the touchscreen to get it. I don't know if you've used a touchscreen for this before, but it really sucks. Really. Really really. Unless Apple has used some sort of better touchscreen which can actually detect "button-presses" with at least 99.9% efficiency, I know i'm going to get frustrated using the iPhone as a the phone (sms).

The lack of 3G (UTMS or EV-DO) might also be related to "thinness". We would like to hope that it's omission was due to the fact that the US telephone market is engaged in something akin to a VHS/betamax war, and that handsets intended for the rest of the world would include it, but surely that would have been announced, especially since this is (very unusually for Apple) not an "availability" release, but rather a pre-announcement of the Nokia variety (i.e. not available now but hey - we're working on it). Perhaps that was because they knew that once the device was sent in for FCC approval, it would be plastered everywhere (example) In any case, the lack of 3G means that video calling (and conferencing!) is not part of the package. The lack of video conference ability is strange, as this would have been a really interesting iChat device otherwise. Also, surfing on EDGE is possible, but definitely comparatively painful.

Apart from that, there are a few other, more minor features, which the iPhone lacks. It doens't have the N95's GPS, and it's not a symbian device. These are probably not as important to the iPhone's target demographic, but are still interesting points to note.

I suspect that in the end all the above doesn't really matter in the medium term - the iPhone is not going to be a failure (too much market expectation), and Apple can always release a device with another form factor/functionality. But in the short term, I'm doubt that the iPhone will sway me from purchasing the N95 - or perhaps i'm not in it's target demographic...

Unfortunately, as you all know, S60v3 (Symbian 9.1) broke compatibility with all existing symbian apps, rendering the Nokia 6280 a decent choice. We've lamented the lack of S60v3 apps before, but the tide is changing.

And at the frothy bits right in the front of the rising crest is mtvoid's Calcium, which we've included in our much downloaded Symbian S60 Freeware bundle for the longest time.

We've previously lauded Calcium as a "Replacement for the standard phone calculator ... (which) ... sets new standards for usability, and is also very very pretty. ," and really, there's simply nothing more to add, except to note that this port not only includes the same spiffy functionality but also a (we think?) newly rendered UI which, while fundementally identical, is nevertheless even gummier. Mac OS X fans will be pleased.

So - go forth and download it! (We'll be creating a Symbian S60v3 Freeware bundle in short order, but for now just hit mtvoid's site ;) )

[Source: Michael Ahokas from mtvoid! Thanks mate!]

Thomas Oldervoll from Zenior AS has developed GCalsync, a java program which synchronizes phones. Currently at version 1.04, it supports basic sync functionality, although there are still a couple of rough edges, and not all java capable phones are totally supported.

Possibly worth a look though, if you use Google Calendar. We prefer outlook + Nokia PC Sync. :)

[via mobitopia]

Gosh. As can be seen from the chart above, which was extracted from a press release about the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Wireless Mobile Phone Evaluation Study, Sanyo did the best, smacking down more established players.

These figures are based upon a surveys, in the US, conducted around October 2005 and February 2006, with 18,740 participants who had mobiles newer than 2 years old. Satisfaction was based on five factors: physical design (24%), operation (22%), features (20%), handset durability (19%) and battery function (15%).

What this really means, though, is open to question. There is a rather high degree of subjectivity involved in determinations of "satisfaction," and while the reasonably large number of survey participants may alleviate issues such as the differing numbers of customers using each brand, without sighting the entire report it is difficult to make any certain conclusions. So all we can really say is what the press release states:

(1) customer satisfaction ratings have increased most significantly from 2005 in phone
operation (increasing 5%) and features (increasing 5%);
(2) average reported handset purchase price in 2006 is $86—a decrease from $99 in 2004;
(3) average replacement cycle for a typical handset is 17.6 months—a slight decrease from 18 months in 2005;
(4) the most-used features on the handset include the speakerphone (26%), send/receive short messaging services [SMS] (22%), camera capabilities (19%) and gaming (16%); and
(5) more than 40 percent of all current wireless users compared other handset brands before selecting their current wireless phone. Those who did compare phones during the selection process were significantly more likely to be satisfied overall with their current handset than those who did not.

Whether any of this can be extrapolated outside the US is difficult to predict, as certain brands (notably Sony Ericsson and Nokia) have very different models elsewhere.

[via Arstechnica]

Virgin Mobile US will partner with Microsoft's Xbox, Pepsico, and the American Legacy Foundation's anti-smoking "Truth" campaign (www.whudafxup.com!!!) to show it's customers ads in exchange for free airtime. The advertisers apparently want access to Virgin Mobile's young userbase...

Here's the deal: Watch a 30-second ad on the Virgin Web site, then answer a few questions to show you were paying attention. Or, if you prefer, answer a few multiple-choice questions through a brief text-message exchange. In return you get one minute of talk time.

Um. While we don't see how this would be appealing at all. Perhaps if you had no idea what Xbox, Pepsico or the "truth" campaign was about (plus if the ads themselves are great), and very very free, it might seem like a good value proposition.

Just make sure you're not using the mobile phone when you watch the ad...

[via Businessweek]