DISQUS

no. the iphone interface is nice and all, but there's more to a phone than just that. app store? yeah, sure, great. i'm able to locate, obtain, install, when i wish to purchase software remotely through my nokia. sure sure sure, nokia doesn't run the stores i shop at - who cares? is it as 'slick' as the apple app store? not even close. do i care? not even a little.

the app store is fundamentally broken. from apple's horrible backend enforcement of non-fully-disclosed rules right through to the broken frontend that fails to provide a stable and knowable release visibility timeframe.

so - a qwerty iphone with 5MP camera? that's only as good as a nokia to me if it also comes with a better 3g radio, video, copy/paste, MULTITASKING, oh and don't forget open development opportunity. i want JBTASKMAN to be a valid app for me, and ROTATEME, and FLIPSILENT. apple? best we can say is maybe apple would let one or more similar apps through and maybe not. and maybe after letting them through they'll secretly remove them later. that's a closed ugly version of a walled garden, and it's clearly not for me.

i'm no nokia fanboy, my n95 is my first nokia device ever. i'm no apple hater, i've just acquired my 3rd mac and haven't used any microsoft product regularly since 1998. i'm a computer engineer. i want the best and most fully functional devices. i want nokia devices.

-jared

well, i'm in the USA so the secondary camera has never been useful for proper video calls (the original design intent, or so i gather). that, and my N95-1 is a euro variant, so i can't connect via 3G anyways (even with it, video calling is rather... err... stupid, in the states)

but i DO use the front facing camera fairly often, though not for snaps.

1. using TiVi Phone, i place free VoIP Video Calls to other TiVi Phone users (namely my fiance, running tivi phone on her N82). It even works over EDGE :)

2. i use my phone as a bluetooth webcam on my mac

3. sometimes it's the closest thing to a mirror i've got

4. soon-to-be-released is Handwave (aikonlab.com). i plan to use the front facing camera with that app too.

snaps? no. other uses? hell yeah!

-bit

maybe they're still trying to find a way to provide a pleasant experience in windows? i have to say, my fiance has an N82 with NSeries Suite and, well, it sucks. it's constantly breaking and failing to connect to her N82 via bluetooth, the tethering option has ot worked once (and trying to set it up almost invariably breaks the rest of the suite)... i'd go on and on, but i'm off-topic.

in the end, windows is a shit host for services like this. i think they were heading in the right direction with Ovi Sync - let the phone sync with the 'cloud'. then, if you want this info on windows, sync the cloud to windows. that's my take. but i'm on a mac and the software stack there doesn't change nearly as much (and it tends to work as advertised) so maybe i'm spoiled? nokia seems to write better mac software than windows software.

-bit

yeah, but have you gotten the scheduled downloads to work yet?? i haven't. and i've noticed that LiveTV is no longer in my video center. i used to be able to manually add livetv XML feeds - which if there were embedded rtsp links, would let me watch the rtsp video like any other feed, but also let you see the published schedule and even set alerts (like an alarm to sound off 5 minutes before "Big Bang Theory")

i abandoned it long ago, as it's just easier to watch tv/movies via hulu, etc on skyfire.

i would consider taking legal action against handango - failure to act responsibly after notice of copyright infringement, inaction which serves to make them even more profit than the fraudulent person(s) selling your themes.

talk to an attorney, i have no doubt a free consultation could result in at least harming handango at worst with a net-zero impact on your pocket.

goodluck
-bit

quote:
"And Pandora CEO Tom Jordan claimed that more people downloaded his app for the iPhone in the first few days that the device was on sale than have tried Pandora on any other AT&T phone - and Pandora is pre-loaded on every other AT&T phone".

response:
-WRONG-
preloaded? as in, 'hey i already paid for it when i bought my phone, so lets give it a whirl'? NOPE.

AT&T, in their infinite wisdom *ahem* has made pandora part of their 'walled garden' of pay-per-month features. rather than providing users with pandora, they provide users with the privilege to PAY for a service these users already know they can get for free on a pc. yup, for $9 per month you can get access a free online music service.

now you see why no one wants to use it?
there are 3 kinds of mobile users:

1. buy the phone from my service provider, use it as a PHONE ONLY (maybe an SMS on new years)

2. buy my phone form my service provider, have fun experimenting with services, but try (pretty successfully, with the exception of ringtones) not to pay for features that aren't actually available for free elsewhere.

3. get an unlocked phone, sign up for the $15 unlimited internet service, abuse the service by listening to pandora with the built-in flash-enabled browser (am i REALLY that special? i've got a Nokia N95 - hell i even watch HULU.COM on my phone via skyfire, admittedly that's a bit more niche than most people will bother with).

err...yeah, i'd be ticked off. let me put it this way:
i WAS wishing i could afford to face-the-task, and NOW i'm HAPPY I DIDN'T SPEND MY MONEY ON IT.

sure, donations are great. save the panda and all. but seriously, they used the lure of the n96 to get me interested... and to tell rubin that it won't be sent out until it's pretty much in everyone's hands anyway... sheesh!

unless nokia plans to pull an apple maneuver (limit the stock to specific geographical areas) then i'd bet a week after rubin's got the n96 someone will look at it and say, "hey! nice, how come your's is numbered like that - mine isn't".

bummer.

my comment was never posted.

what - you didn't want to let my long comment point out the err of your arguments? i was moderated out? what gives? clearly you agree with my rebuttal then.

i was not biased towards the iphone (i'm a nokia guy) nor was i biased against the blackberry (i compared it favorably against my preferred device: nokia n95). but my comment was moderated out. it would have been the first reply to this article.

in short: the ONLY valid argument made above is that against the keyboard. everything else is fluff and tripe. care to read my full comment that was never posted? ask for it, i have a copy: jared.eldredge[at)gmail(dot]com.

-bit

Disclaimer: i don't have an iphone or a crackberry. i prefer my nokia n95.

first, let me quote the portions of your article i'd like to comment on:

"I’m not that surprised that it’s being adopted. Having tried both I think I’d still rather have the CrackBerry 8120 especially as it has WiFi on it(1). It’s not pretending to be something else.
I have an iPod (two in fact) and so never listen to music on the phone. I have a camera. I have a phone(2). I don’t really check the web on my phone because it’s rarely that urgent(3). So, that leaves me with the need for email and, quite simply, Blackberry is perfect for this(4). Especially as it has keys to easily type one(5)."

right.

1. rather have the crackberry as it has wifi on it:
- what is it the crackberry can do with wifi that the iphone cannot? bigger screen, better browser, i'd have thought the iphone would win this part hands down. now that Truphone is available for the iPhone even my trusty VoIP on my nokia has competition (which was one of my top 3 reasons for getting this phone).

2. I have a camera. I have a phone.:
- great for you. i don't. i have a camera phone. i don't think the iPhone camera is of significant quality for anyone to feel that they don't need a normal camera as well (presuming they ever had the inclination for one). even my N95's camera (with observably greater quality than the iphone) sits dangerously close to the 'i still need a normal camera' line due to the lack of a real flash (like the N82... sweet pics from that).
- you argue against the iphone because you already have 2 ipods. silly rabbit, trix are for kids. if you didn't have the ipods (or better yet, they break/get-lost/are-stolen/become-obsolete) then your argument completely deteriorates. personally, i wouldn't listen to music on the iphone or the crackberry - i need my A2DP and neither of those offer it.

3. I don’t really check the web on my phone because it’s rarely that urgent:
- this is precisely what people used to when explaining why they didn't need the blackberry - just replace 'web' with 'email'. now fast forward to a time when checking email on the phone is quite comfortable and pleasant. sitting at my desk, i sometimes check my email on my phone (again, nokia) INSTEAD of my laptop - it's simply that pleasant. web on the phone? err... on the nokia it's bearable. feature complete but unpleasant. on the blackberry it's about the same - pretty uncomfortable. on the iphone? seriously, in the middle of my work i can imagine reaching over and tapping my phone's screen a few times rather than opening up my browser, etc etc etc.
- your argument here simply shows that you've become acclimated to the status quo.

4. So, that leaves me with the need for email and, quite simply, Blackberry is perfect for this:
- more 'perfect' than the iphone? or even my nokia? i doubt it. i get push email on my nokia. iphone users get push as well. i get attachments and support for office documents out of the box with QuickOffice. how much more perfect than this do you really think the blackberry is? this is like mac people still crying "but we're better with graphics than PCs"! -- simply no longer true, if it ever was.

5. Especially as it has keys to easily type one.:
- ahhh.... finally a valid point. good point, Rob.

NNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
this creates the 'walled garden' currently STANDARD IN USA and it is EXTREMELY BAD!

i have a nokia N95 at my disposal, so i'm lucky - it's not AT&T branded and not even offered by them. but look at what they do with the cost of services on the devices they offer:

i pay $15/mo for unlimited data. AT&T assumes i'm using an antiquated piece of crap, because it's not one of their recent offerings - they don't know it but i use VoIP, email, web, etc... in fact i have raw TCP connection happening all the time. Nokia Maps, A-GPS, Worldmate Flight Alerts, Earthcomber, IMAP IDLE based pseudo-push email, EVERYTHING WORKS. they don't want this to happen. they would get more money from me if i paid:

- $30/mo unlimited 'full' internet

- $20/mo for GPS usage. yeah, thats right AT&T Navigator costs $20/mo. ridiculous, yes?

- $30 MORE per month for tethering (which i do on my n95, and can even log into my work's IPSEC VPN). right, so if i want 'unlimited' internet from above, thats only to be used on the phone. buy a package that includes tethering and i'm charged for anything over 5GB of usage... and i'm also going to pay $60-65 instead of $30-35. (why the 'maybe' on the last $5 for each option? if it's DATA ONLY you pay $5 extra, add data to voice and you avoid this).

so, my CURRENT AT&T PLAN, which is outside the scope of their intended use for my plan, costs me:
$40/mo voice + $15/mo data + $5/mo text-messaging = $60/mo TOTAL.

to do the same thing using their walled-garden approach?
$40/mo voice + $60/mo data + $5/mo text + $20/mo GPS = $125/mo TOTAL

more than 2x the cost!!!!! and why? because the corporate execs found that if a user is willing to pay for individual access to service A and service B, then as you increase the cost of each service you find a maximum they'll pay for THAT ONE SERVICE and that's the 'right' price for it. there is no incentive for them to make it easier for users to get these services at a lesser cost.

WALLED-GARDEN = MORE EXPENSIVE
and per-service based fees creates a walled-garden out of necessity.

please PLEASE don't encourage your mobile networks to do this. this is the fundamental reason why the USA has such crap phones and crap usage of good phones even when they are made available.

----------

on a side note: i paid about $140 for 3 years of navigation on my N95. that's a one-time fee that i didn't include above. round up to $150, thats $50/year or about $4/month you can add to my current $60/mo AT&T service rates... and their 'legitimate' alternative is STILL 2x more expensive. the post was long, i didn't want to clutter things up above... but for honesty's sake i've added it here.

-bit

any chance it can talk to the SIM card wirelessly?
in my N95 i have an option for 'Remote-SIM' - the help only says that 'if another device is using my SIM remotely, i can't use it locally'.

seems like a good way to do things - especially if the car's GSM can sync contacts automatically like i do now with my mac.

otherwise... well... you're right. crap implementation.

"push e-mail on updating every 30 mins via 3G"

please PLEASE please!!!! stop using this term incorrectly. Nokia users (i use an N95): Push email does NOT GET UPDATED EVERY _X_ MINUTES. This is like saying you're going to poll for incoming SMS every 30 minutes - or that "maybe those windmills will cool you off" - it just doesn't work this way!

countless times in recent months i've seen this misnomer. and i keep trying to correct it. why? because i want REAL PUSH EMAIL. if everyone accepts that we've got it already "by polling every 30 minutes" then the definition of the problem becomes grey and cloudy.

Look at the US market for bluetooth. Verizon and Microsoft both played their role in destroying the ubiquitous Personal Area Network that is Bluetooth. sure sure, buy a nokia and bluetooth does what it's meant to. but my co-workers and even my boss have no idea that verizon has crippled their precious strangled devices. no one in my office, beyond me, can use their phones as generic, open, connected devices.

why? because they have accepted that Bluetooth==handsfree. they've accepted it as much as every windows user has accepted that windows==performance (also a lie) or that mac==graphics (another lie).

please PLEASE for the sake of my sanity, don't propagate this sort of mis-use of terms into the realm of nokia. you'll end up redefining the term altogether -- just as the media did when they used Hacker instead of Cracker - now the term hacker is forever clouded by the stupidity the masses, and it's our fault for not providing them all with the proper terms when the mis-use was young enough to be fixed. "great hack"! can now be followed by a whispering, "is that legal"? it's a shame.

polling for email every 30 minutes? thats called any of these: 'Email', 'Pull Email', 'Polled Email', or 'Timed Retrieval of Email'. PUSH gets PUSHED to your device. if this were an alarm clock, you would be pretty ticked off if i sold you a clock that you could look at every 30 minutes and, if it reads 9:30am or later lets you press a button to make it beep. no no no, you'd want the alarm to PUSH the beep at you, so you can ignore it until it beeps. having the clock automatically check it's time every 30 minutes to push the button for you? that's half-assed. it's not a REAL alarm clock. it's a misnomer to call it such. perhaps it's useful, or at least more so than the clock that requires user intervention at all times, but it's still not right -- and the RIGHT thing exists, it's real, it can be had, IT EVEN HAS A NAME.

*sigh*
thats the end of my rant. sorry for being so long winded. if you actually read this whole thing you must be thinking i'm nuts. i'm just fed up. i'm tired of 'polling' email being called push. i'm tired of technology failing to take root because people forget they want it.

i agree with the fast and lightweight mobile sites being more efficient. do you ever use them on your PC? most mobile sites render very well on my mac (safari), and i find that when i just want to get something done (rather than surf the web for mild entertainment) the mobile sites are typically far better then the full onslaught of ads, flash and frequently broken CSS.

@zach will do, thanks - i appreciate it

aww man - i doanted $20 USD last week, 11/2/07. i haven't heard anything from samir, not a word. i'm really excited to try this app!!

anyone have contact with him? i've emailed him now twice about it, i dont want to be a pain in the @$$ but i donated a large amount and really want to try the beta out.

*feeling-unappreciated*
-jared

awww... i donated last week because his site said exactly what you've just posted! i thought your post was saying that he is actually distributing the app now.

you broke my heart!!