Disqus - Latest Comments for TerenceEden

Re: Upgrading Likebook Ares to Android 8.1 on Linux

TerenceEden — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 12:51:47 -0000

Thanks. The Check Chip is working - but the firmware fails to load with "Download Firmware Fail" https://twitter.com/edent/s... Very frustrating!

Re: Upgrading Likebook Ares to Android 8.1 on Linux

TerenceEden — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 10:48:35 -0000

Hiya. Were you ever able to get this working in Linux? I'm also having the same problem. Tried multiple versions of the upgrade_tool and tried running it in WINE. Or, if not, which VM did you use? Thanks!

Re: How do I access SwiftKey’s dedicated number row?

TerenceEden — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 12:13:26 -0000

It used to be possible to get cursor keys on the "numbers" screen. Is it possible to get that back? I don't want them on all the time - just to be easily accessible.

Re: In praise of unfairness — Benedict Evans

TerenceEden — Sun, 20 Apr 2014 10:28:12 -0000

I think they're only unfair when they compare two incompatible experiences.

WhatsApp vs SMS is a great comparison. They both have identical(ish) use cases for the customer. Ignore how many people / servers / standards bodies they have.

Phones/Tablets vs PCs is pretty good - but it rather depends on what the customer is doing. Email, accounts, browsing, music, etc - sure.
However, you can't program an app *on* a phone (yet) - so in that very specific case, it's an unfair comparison.

Which is a convoluted way of saying - yes, you're right.

Re: QR Codes on Energy Bills – A Response

TerenceEden — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 08:21:49 -0000

Hey Sharon,

Believe it or not, we *have* actually thought about those things :-)

The idea is the site will be:
* Mobile friendly.
* Independent.
* Fully transactional on mobile.
* With alternatives for people who can't / don't use the mobile web.

BUT! That can only happen if you respond to the consultation and ask for those things. I'm quite keen that it should be an impartial site (like, say, uSwitch) but obviously some energy providers will have a "different" opinion.

This isn't just something we dreamed up in an afternoon - it took lots of negotiating to get even this far.

You're right that a small scale trial could give us interesting feedback - but as this is so cheap to implement, I see no reason not to roll it out nationally and see what happens. That also gives us the added benefit of mass media attention.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughtful feedback - please do send it in as a response to the consultation.

All the best,

Terence

Re: QR Codes on Energy Bills – A Response

TerenceEden — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 15:28:26 -0000

Hi Mike,

That's a great point. The only problem is that each URL is unique to the bill payer - that means that we'd need a reference which was also unique.

With around 20 million households in the UK, what would that reference look like? It has to be easy to type (no homographs like 0 and O) and not trivially guessable (don't want people iterating through them).

Ideally (and these are my thoughts, nothing is finalised yet) it would it be a GUID.

Now, if you can create a reference which is easy to type into a phone keyboard without mistakes (remembering more people have access to a mobile than to broadband) I see no reason why it couldn't be printed on the bill as well.

Regarding QR scanners - I think you're being a little disingenuous. I can't speak for the quality of the iPhone App Store, but the top few QR readers in both Android and BlackBerry don't exhibit the symptoms you describe. Windows Phone has a QR scanner built in. As does my N95!

Ultimately, this is a low cost way to see if these codes can help. I'd rather try and risk failing than do nothing at all.

Thanks for your comments, and give my love to Karolina ;-)

Terence

Re: Virgin Media SuperHub: 7 second security flaw...

TerenceEden — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 16:49:15 -0000

Which wifi network will they connect to? I have a guest SSID with no encryption - and a separate SSID *with* encryption which is bridged to my LAN.
What I'm asking is - during these 7 seconds, is an attacker able to access computers connected to the ethernet ports of the Superhub?

Good work spotting this.

Re: The Toshiba T1200. 19 years in a cardboard box and still working.

TerenceEden — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 08:49:08 -0000

It looks like it takes floppy disks. If you can save the contents to disk, I have a USB floppy disk reader you can borrow - which should work with your modern machine.

Re: One month with the Galaxy Note 3: This is Samsung’s best work, but is it the best phone?

TerenceEden — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 19:16:26 -0000

I've had the Note3 for a little over a week. I mostly agree with you.
Regarding the stylus - I rarely use it - but it is worth nothing that in the box are replacement nibs and a metal tool for removing your existing one. Might be worth trying if it feels rough on your screen.

My Note 2 is running CyanogenMod. I wish I could do the same on the Note 3 - not only to remove the crappy TouchWiz, but to add lockscreen widgets, Trebuchet launcher etc. The Note 3 just has so much junk preinstalled that it really is an intimidating device to use for the first time.

I've noticed the screen brightness. I think you can stop some of the auto-dimming if you turn off Reading Mode and "Auto adjust screen tone" (which is separate from Auto brightness). That said, on the low brightness I get horrible purple smearing on dark images. The screen is huge - but not much care has gone into it.

I must disagree with you about the home button, though. I find it very reassuring to have a physical button - and it doesn't take up precious screen space.

Re: Video: LG’s G Flex does indeed flex

TerenceEden — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 10:04:33 -0000

I winced while watching that! I assume it still worked afterwards? I get the screen and case may be flexible - but what about the circuit boards inside?

Re: My £30k alternative to HS2

TerenceEden — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 08:20:03 -0000

I assume you don't stop the 0700 train from Manchester at Stockport. You don't need to slow down, stop, then speed up again. That could shave 25 minutes off the arrival time at Euston.

That's a reasonably easy software update. But it screws over anyone commuting to/from Stockport. So you need an extra train somewhere - which means jiggling the timetable around, finding platform space, employing more train crew.

Surely the real answer is decentralise from London and do more working from home?

Re: JDI unveils new 5.0 inch 1080p panel that pushes 840 nits, sunglasses are recommended

TerenceEden — Sun, 13 Oct 2013 09:20:12 -0000

I'd also like to see a "low light" version. Even on the dimmest setting, the Note 2 is just too bright to comfortably read in the dark. Wish there was a way to drive it even lower.

Re: Foursquare traction — Benedict Evans

TerenceEden — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 06:14:40 -0000

Does it have to continue growing at an exponential rate in order to survive? Perhaps it has just reached a natural (and I hope sustainable) plateau to its customer base.

Looking at trends for, say, 4G (http://www.google.co.uk/tre... or BBM (http://www.google.co.uk/tre... also produces interesting results - but I'm not sure how meaningful they are.

I think that it's a mistake to look at 4sq as a social network. I'm not
particularly interested in what my friends are doing - but when
visiting somewhere new, I like to know what they *have done*. It is,
perhaps, a retrospective social network.

They main question for me is from where does 4sq derives value? Its advertising attempts have been risible, but its partnership with Amex was inspired - although not very useful in the UK.

As a visitor to a new country, I find it indispensable - so perhaps they should concentrate on national / regional tourist boards?

Re: Dead social networks and the value of history

TerenceEden — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 14:30:55 -0000

The phone number thing is interesting. I've had the same number for a decade - moving it between jobs and telcos. Some of my friends regularly change numbers when they get a new phone. They know about porting - but the hassle is not worth it and it gives them the advantage of a fresh, clean start.

Just like people often declare "email bankruptcy", I think there's a certain desire to perform "friendship bankruptcy". Just get rid of all the peripheral contact and start building up a new social life from the core up.

We also see it with Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ profiles. It's easier and cheaper to throw everything away and start again.

I guess it's no different to moving house. You set up mail redirection for a year - anyone who doesn't contact you for 12 months you say "so long sucker" to.

So, to answer your question, your real persistent identity is one which you can never change or leave. That probably means your tax reference number, or other mandatory government ID.

Re: Some random thoughts on the Cyanogen news

TerenceEden — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 06:56:29 -0000

I think it could be great for people who switch between different Android providers. If you're used to TouchWiz, you'll hate Sense. So why not keep the same interface on each phone?
Sure, it's probably going to be a niche market for now - but I'd certainly chip in a couple of quid to get the latest version on my old devices *with support*.

Re: O2 forced to compete with nimble startups for UK tech talent

TerenceEden — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 07:54:42 -0000

You can enter The Lab's intern competition at https://thelab.o2.com/2013/...

(I work for The Lab)

Re: Musings of a mobile marketer: “The world’s first hand held visual communicator”

TerenceEden — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 09:26:06 -0000

Wonderful! There's nothing new in the world, is there?

Re: Samsung’s latest GS4 ad trolls Harry Potter

TerenceEden — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 04:21:59 -0000

That's just awesome!

Re: Samsung Galaxy Folder launching next month, any of you want Android on a flip phone?

TerenceEden — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 05:13:51 -0000

Love the idea. Wonder if it will have an "outer" display screen as well?

Re: Optimising Samsung’s TouchWiz (Galaxy S4/Galaxy S3/Note 2/Note 3 and others)

TerenceEden — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 06:29:32 -0000

Samsung's "Power Saving Mode" is also pretty useful if you're trying to get as much battery time as possible. Settings -> Power saving mode. Turning the CPU down may be too much of a speed sacrifice - but reducing the screen power will definitely increase the time between charges.

Re: Eric Schmidt caught using the Moto X in white

TerenceEden — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 11:51:45 -0000

Nice! Although the curve does remind me of an old feature phone I used to have. Had a glossy back and always used to wobble when you put it down on a table :-)

Re: Brief: Offline maps are “back” in Google Maps

TerenceEden — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 06:16:16 -0000

I disagree. When I was in Las Vegas and San Diego, I was able to zoom out to a level which covered the whole city and then cache that. I also did the same for London as it's helpful to have the maps when you're on the tube.

I just wish they supported offline searching and routing.

Re: Linux has better hardware support than OS X

TerenceEden — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 15:41:32 -0000

Interestingly, I run Ubuntu on a MacBook and a MacBook Air. As they are a "fixed" target, I figured that at least one developer would have made sure that they "just worked". And, indeed, they did.

The installation tutorial was comprehensive, the out of the box experience was great, and upgrades have gone smoothly.

The only thing to note was that I was able to *manually* update the WiFi drivers for (supposedly) better performance if I wanted. Power consumption seems marginally higher, but I don't run the same profile of programs in OSX.

Having a fixed target is really good for Linux to show how it can shine - and I hope that Dell and Ubuntu continue to make perfectly matched hardware and software.

Re: What if Microsoft deliver a Surface Phone in the Xbox box?

TerenceEden — Mon, 27 May 2013 12:25:48 -0000

I've always said that Microsoft should split Windows Phone in two - Xbox Phone and Office Phone. Could still be the same hardware and mostly the same software - but it gets round the significant branding problems both have. Businesses probably don't want to buy a gaming device for their employees - gamers couldn't give a shit about SharePoint integration.

While I can't see a dedicated phone coming with the console (don't forget the American market with its paranoia over unlocked and unsubsidised devices) - I can see Nokia and the rest promoting their new devices as "Xbox One Phones".

Re: Paranoid Android’s Halo, Apple’s Assistive Touch, and the future of smartphone UI

TerenceEden — Fri, 03 May 2013 05:54:18 -0000

The question - for me - is *where* do you put that control? Either you do like iOS and have to move it every time it obscures a UI component, or it has a fixed position.

When I was using the BB Q10 I was really impressed by the fact that you could swipe from the bezel. Although, in BB's case, it only worked 75% of the time - the rest of the time it either didn't register or was picked up by the app as a vertical scroll.

Having flipped back and forth between devices with and without buttons, I prefer having a single physical button. I'd like it to work more like that iOS example - where multiple options spring from it. But, of course, with screen size being king, I can't see obvious buttons staying around for too long.

Perhaps using the proximity / camera sensor? If your finger is over the lens, pop up the controls?