Disqus - Latest Comments for MarkW

Re: My DoorBot is on its way: Are you getting one?

MarkW — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 08:36:00 -0000

Really hope this works. It has so many potential uses... Fingers crossed it's better than the Wallet TrackR I tried recently, which was a total fail.

Re: Sky Go Extra: Possibly the shittest service I’ve used this year

MarkW — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:27:43 -0000

Heh! So much for my blind optimism. Sat down to watch that download last night only to find it refused to play and, anyway, there's no support for HDMI out via Apple TV. Boy, was I popular with my wife, having told her that I'd found that episode she'd missed. Rubbish.

Re: Sky Go Extra: Possibly the shittest service I’ve used this year

MarkW — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:14:14 -0000

They do appear to have *just* pushed an update to iOS... Trying my first dl now and it's working so far. Know what you mean about having to phone to cancel though. It's extremely easy to sign-up online, not so easy to stop Sky services.

Re: Android: What do you use for Twitter?

MarkW — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 07:10:00 -0000

I've tried most of them and just keep going back to Seesmic, even though I use Tweetdeck on the desktop.

Re: “Relax when you’re on holiday with 3” — not flipping likely!

MarkW — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 06:01:09 -0000

And just to update that, I've now checked my O2 account online; I used data whenever I wanted to, keeping on top of email, Twitter, FB and G+, as well as more than just a bit of browsing, and the extra charge on my bill is £9.18. Compared to my previous costs, that's a total win.

PS - delighted to see the return of the MIR newsletter :-)

Re: “Relax when you’re on holiday with 3” — not flipping likely!

MarkW — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 04:53:41 -0000

I'm loving O2's Web Daily Europe tariff that it launched a couple of weeks ago - just before I was due to be out of the country for 10 days! While the set-up required CS intervention (rather than just the SMS activation it promised), which I got very efficiently via the O2 Twitter account, I can now turn on my data in Europe and be charged just £1.50 per day for 15MB. Even going over that won't incur further charges apparently, as long as you don't abuse it too often. My wife, by contrast, is on Three - so we left her data switched off.

Re: Video: What will Android 3.0 look like on your next tablet?

MarkW — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 09:03:40 -0000

Liking the look of that a LOT! Especially the tablet optimised Gmail. 2.2 is okay on my Vega, but you can tell it's a mobile OS that's been forced onto the bigger screen. Bring it on!

Re: News agency bid to cash in on celeb Twitter pics - Press Gazette

MarkW — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 07:18:18 -0000

Thanks for clarifying, Dominic. It makes me think back to Scoopt, the photo agency that set up to negotiate deals with the media for the public's digital images. That had a proper revenue share model. It got sold to Getty in 2007 and basically died there. But maybe it was simply an idea before its time. You could see something like that really flying now.

Re: News agency bid to cash in on celeb Twitter pics - Press Gazette

MarkW — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 06:59:10 -0000

Are Plixi going to revenue share with the copyright holder? If not, this makes no sense and would surely soon be replaced by a photo sharing service that *does* make a payment to the person who actually took any photo that was sold on...

Re: The Beatles arrive on iTunes and nobody gives a toss

MarkW — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 07:30:41 -0000

You are not wrong in the least. Total non-event.

Re: The Nokia/Android debate

MarkW — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 09:05:49 -0000

Can't see Nokia going for it, but just to put in the basic argument of a user, I would *love* to see a well-built Nokia device, with one of their great cameras, running Android. I'd be in like a shot for that.

I'm a huge fan of my Android phones but, with some regret, I don't buy them for the cameras. That's a sacrifice I make for the other functionality. It would be brilliant if I didn't have to.

Re: Dell Streak goes Android 2.1

MarkW — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:06:48 -0000

I really wasn't interested in this at launch because 1.6 was already dated. But a 2.1/2.2 upgrade really does get me thinking....

Re: It’s official: 3′s data network run by hamsters; string [Fixed]

MarkW — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:07:10 -0000

Can't argue with you there, Mike. And I don't plan to stop using it. All I'm saying is that consumers, for the most part, don't want to know how complex it is, they just want it to work. I'm only playing devil's advocate - I actually found your explanation very interesting ;-)

Re: It’s official: 3′s data network run by hamsters; string [Fixed]

MarkW — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:32:34 -0000

While I like having some explanation and bit of detail, I'm still with Ewan. I, frankly, don't care how complicated it all is because it's been built and sold to me to do a job. If it can't do that job, or it's too hard to maintain, find another way or don't sell it to me (or sell it to me really cheap with the caveat that it might be a bit crap sometimes...).

Re: Picked up a Streak yet?

MarkW — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:22:41 -0000

Sorry :-) I'm sure it'll get an upgrade, but as Hero owners will attest, that seems to happen in the individual vendor's own good time, if at all. When I commit to my next Android device (no, I still can't see the next investment being anything by Nokia...) I want it to be on the cutting edge - at least for three or four months.

Re: Picked up a Streak yet?

MarkW — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:10:54 -0000

It looks nice, but it bothers me that it's still on Android 1.6. Surely that means the old Google Maps (minus navigation) and other now outdated features. I think I'll hang on and see what Android tablets emerge to rival the iPad...

Re: Finally: iPhone 4 is coming to Three

MarkW — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 08:39:59 -0000

I have a contract with Three for my wife's phone. I called a few weeks ago to kill it and move her to an O2 SIM only deal like mine, but barely had I finished the sentence 'can I have my PAC?' than the nice chap was offering a free iPhone 3GS 16GB on a lower cost contract than the existing one. Obviously I took it.

A couple of days later a shiny new iPhone turns up, imported from Italy it seems. So while Three weren't officially offering iPhones, they were using them as a very effective retention tool. Having moved on from her E71, my wife is now absolutely loving the whole new world of easily accessible apps.

There are, as you point out Ewan, still plenty of good things to say about Three.

Re: Baby Archie has arrived: Recommendations for baby-tech gear please!

MarkW — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 05:43:28 -0000

That's definitely advice I would second. Similarly, we had it all for the first - special bags, nappy bins, monitors, you name it. By number two it was a nappy and a pack of wipes in my wife's handbag. The nappy bin never saw service again. In fact, neither did the changing table. Why bother when there's always a floor?

What is useful, and for some time to come, is a pair of PMR radios with a vox/baby listening feature, for those times you're in someone else's house, or the little one is asleep in a nearby room at a wedding, or your baby monitor won't work in another country, etc, etc.

Other than that, the KISS principle rules.

Re: I’ve got a son: Archie MacLeod

MarkW — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:40:15 -0000

Excellent news! Congratulations. You're gonna love being a dad!

Re: SpinVox Refugees, HulloMail awaits!

MarkW — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 06:24:29 -0000

Aha! I see Ken beat me to it. Consider my comment a thumbs-up from a satisfied customer.

Re: SpinVox Refugees, HulloMail awaits!

MarkW — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:55:39 -0000

I've tried Hullomail, but I must say that, compared to the convenience of transcribed voice mail, it didn't feel like much of a step on. Yes, it's useful and convenient compared to dialling in, but when you've got used to glancing at your screen and understanding the message and whether you need to act on it now, it doesn't offer that much.

When Spinvox finally annoyed me for the last time I switched to www.voxsciences.com, which works just like Spinvox, for about the same price, and has been invaluable. Don't actually know much about them as a company though... Would be interested in other people's comments.

Re: A private video & photo account for JUST the family?

MarkW — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 06:38:20 -0000

I think we're on the same page. Unfortunately I reckon you are, once again, ahead of the market!

Re: A private video & photo account for JUST the family?

MarkW — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 06:17:29 -0000

Ewan, I think, unavoidably, what you're describing is Facebook. Let's face it, many of your friends and family will be familiar with it, it has apps on all devices, you can lock down your pics and videos to family only, or friends and family and everyone will automatically know where to look.

The problem, though is that you are allowed (theoretically) only the one FB account under your real name, which is probably as it should be, but if you're using it for work networking, it's already wide open to too many people... Dilemma.

To be honest, I've kept Facebook closed to the people I really don't mind seeing pics and video of my kids. I keep them off Twitter. Consequently I have a relatively small list (80 or so) of FB friends, but it's an easy way to ensure that even my mum gets updated vids and pics of the boys. LinkedIn is more for business, in my book.

Obviously this isn't necessarily a useful answer if you're already 'friends' with thousands of people on FB, unless you can narrow it down in terms of distribution of family content. It's just that I've always found that trying other photo and video services results in fragmentation and confused family members who can't remember, or don't understand, where to look for your updates.

Food for thought, maybe.

Re: I’m having a baby! Your help required…

MarkW — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 05:59:49 -0000

I'd have to agree with the "leave the tech out" brigade here. I'm a bit like you with regard to planning for all tech contingencies (Proporta, correct phone for camera use, etc) but, speaking from two experiences of this, it all becomes utterly irrelevant. You DO NOT want to spend the first moments with your new child and exhausted/drugged wife looking through electronic eyes. Use your own - the storage is more long term and won't suffer from bad clusters later on. A good, simple camera (and maybe a Flip/N86 for later when they're settled on the ward) will do.

In most cases, birth plans mean diddly squat once the action starts, and I'd say the same goes for geek planning. Accept this is your "damn it I can't control a thing" anxiety starting to kick in. Just go with it and do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. A Nokia 6310i might be your best bet in the end - cos the battery will go forever when you do need to make those "it's a boy/girl" calls!

All the best to you all.

Re: Android: “A tart and thick as two short planks”

MarkW — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:47:36 -0000

I'd say I fit your definition right on the nose, Ewan. The N97 depressed me so much, I skipped it went to a HTC Hero, which I do like a lot, but which does feel lightweight somehow.

Somewhat embarrassingly for me, I'd been evangelising the N97 prior to its release because I'm one of those geeks people look to for advice on this kind of thing. I had to back down rapidly on the N97. I thought the N900 would be *it*, except then I discovered that it didn't play nicely with my Google Apps setup, so I've given that a miss too. I'm fed up to the back teeth with flaky, clunky, incomprehensible Nokia services. So, so disappointing.

I still hold out hope for Nokia and would love to see a great phone with a great camera finally delivered, but they'll lose me forever if they let us down again this year...

Disqus - Latest Comments for MarkW

Re: My DoorBot is on its way: Are you getting one?

Re: Sky Go Extra: Possibly the shittest service I’ve used this year

Re: Sky Go Extra: Possibly the shittest service I’ve used this year

Re: Android: What do you use for Twitter?

Re: “Relax when you’re on holiday with 3” — not flipping likely!

Re: “Relax when you’re on holiday with 3” — not flipping likely!

Re: Video: What will Android 3.0 look like on your next tablet?

Re: News agency bid to cash in on celeb Twitter pics - Press Gazette

Re: News agency bid to cash in on celeb Twitter pics - Press Gazette

Re: The Beatles arrive on iTunes and nobody gives a toss

Re: The Nokia/Android debate

Re: Dell Streak goes Android 2.1

Re: It’s official: 3′s data network run by hamsters; string [Fixed]

Re: It’s official: 3′s data network run by hamsters; string [Fixed]

Re: Picked up a Streak yet?

Re: Picked up a Streak yet?

Re: Finally: iPhone 4 is coming to Three

Re: Baby Archie has arrived: Recommendations for baby-tech gear please!

Re: I’ve got a son: Archie MacLeod

Re: SpinVox Refugees, HulloMail awaits!

Re: SpinVox Refugees, HulloMail awaits!

Re: A private video & photo account for *JUST* the family?

Re: A private video & photo account for *JUST* the family?

Re: I’m having a baby! Your help required…

Re: Android: “A tart and thick as two short planks”

Re: A private video & photo account for JUST the family?

Re: A private video & photo account for JUST the family?