Disqus - Latest Comments for barryjon

Re: O2: Fail, fail and fail again

barryjon — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:11:43 -0000

I could neither receive nor make calls, receive nor send SMS between about 4.30PM on Friday till about 8pm when I got a rush of messages. Was massively annoying as I was the key point in a group of my friends getting together. Other half, who also has a iPhone on O2, had no problems though; making it all the more annoying for me. I tried the off and on thing but left the SIM check till I got home (didn't have the pin to push the SIM tray out); obviously didn't need to try the SIM change in the end as service returned as if by magic.

Re: Mobile Web is Rubbish

barryjon — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:29:52 -0000

I have always found Kizoom the easiest mobile way of getting my rail information and have done for years. Seems to have been hobbled by Network Rail recently withdrawing the real time data though. I guess that's just anecdotal but really I do disagree. As a (power) user the mobile web does me just fine. Google agree (yes I know that, as you say below, they have their own agenda) and the economics of developing an "App" for so many different platforms agrees also.

Re: Can SpinVox spin their way out of this?

barryjon — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:08:14 -0000

Bit harsh Ewan, no? AFAIK, one can honestly declare that they do not move data outside the EEA provided the data is not hosted outside the EEA (i.e. the servers are in the EEA). A thin client outsite of the EEA would not be in breach of this declaration.

As to the mix of automatic speech to text via tech vs via human interaction, it would be interesting to know that mix. They say only some go via call centres, I would be inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

Finally, what difference does it really make from a consumer perspective. I wouldn't use such a service for delicate or highly confidential communication anyway. As to what the investors have got - I would hope they did their due dilligence (and would be very surprised if they had not).

Re: Mobile Industry Review 3.0 is here

barryjon — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:04:23 -0000

Glad I didn't delete the RSS feed yet :-)

Looking forward to hearing more from you again.

Re: The useless element with Vodafone Passport

barryjon — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:54:47 -0000

I would bet that you could claim them back if they did. Do the T&Cs describe a call/connection. If not you would have a good chance in court to recoup any repeat charges if you could show repeat short calls between the same numbers over a short period of time. Assuming you are a consumer of course.

Re: SMS Text News » Archives » o2’s email system and it’s 3gp/avi email transcoding ‘feature’

barryjon — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:59:02 -0000

I simply don't rely on my ISP to provide my email service. It's too important to me and not important enough for them. For them it is an afterthought, an "oh gosh we really ought to provide email too, everyone else appears to be doing so".

Not that that excuses sloppy execution.

Re: Jonathan Jensen on Thursday – Mobile aspirations of a 14 year old

barryjon — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:56:24 -0000

He may be more than a normob but he is still a young lad and image probably rates highly. Only a guess.

Re: Jonathan Jensen on Thursday – Mobile aspirations of a 14 year old

barryjon — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:54:26 -0000

Do let us know his findings. It sounds like they will be worth hearing about.

Re: Should an operator charge you VAT on your contract pay off?

barryjon — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:22:29 -0000

Orange didn't charge me VAT when I cancelled my contract early - that was about three years ago now though.

Re: Orange is “committed to providing excellent customer service”

barryjon — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:48:16 -0000

I'm sorry but tied and loyal are not the same thing. You had no choice but to pay your bills and you did it in return for a service that until now you felt was worth the money. That's not loyalty.

Re: Orange is “committed to providing excellent customer service”

barryjon — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:16:55 -0000

" Do we not matter once we have signed the paper to agree to send them money each month?" - you surely jest in asking this, no? Of course we no longer matter - we belong to them for the duration of the contract. Reasoning being that you will have forgotten how bad they were by the time your contract is actually up for renewal and they may offer you a sweetener then - when you do (kinda) matter for a while.

"Why, as a long-standing, loyal member, am I then left out in the cold like this?" - No offence but you can hardly call yourself a long-standing and loyal customer when you have yourself admitted to being "with Orange for just over two years now" - one full contract term and a single renewal. There is no such thing as true loyalty with phone companies. They are loyal to us as long as we pay them (and the more we pay them the more 'loyal' they are) and we are loyal to them for as long as they give us a good handset and a good deal. As soon as either party feels they are not getting enough out of the loyal relationship we usually end up parting ways so we can be loyal with someone else for a little while. Nothing wrong with that but let's not delude ourselves.

Truly appalling service from Orange though. And let's not let Nokia off the hook; they have been churning out flaky handsets like this for years.

Re: Vodafone and their Magic Pen

barryjon — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:53:53 -0000

Sounds very good - now that O2 are taking the proverbial by abolishing 12 month contracts and not even offering decent handset subsidies on the 18 month contract I may very well move to Voda - if I don't get an iPhone.

O2 broadband are actually supposed to be quite good - I will be moving soon myself and will have to go through the same cr@p with BT sending an engineer and charging me £125 for line installation. I can't arraneg broadband till the line is in either. They also automatically connect you to BT Credit Cards after you make the call to move house - the cheek.

Re: How now, Mr Operator? Fare ye well?

barryjon — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:47:28 -0000

I thought the Mr Operator series was refreshing and enlightening. What are blogs for if we only ever get to hear the nice sanitised, raving fan version of everything.

Re: Vodafone calls get more expensive

barryjon — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:08:28 -0000

Wonder how quickly they will follow o2 on the handset subsidies?

Re: 3 win top UK mobile broadband prize

barryjon — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:47:21 -0000

Slightly different findings to PC Pro's comparison in July.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/212520/mobile-b...

Re: o2’s joint mobile and home broadband service - wicked!

barryjon — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:52:10 -0000

Very cool - moving end of September and had been looking at O2 as a new broadband provider - I think this clinches the deal.

Re: What’s so great about the iPhone? | SMS Text News

barryjon — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:43:21 -0000

I couldn't agree more! I do miss copy and paste & the hardware qwerty keyboard. The browsing is stunning though not perfect; sure you can have multiple browsing windows but you hold down a link and what do you get but the link address instead of a menu that would allow you to open the link in a new window or tab - kinda shit really. The browser is so good I like to read the news or blogs on it in bed but can't lie on my side without it switching view; I would like the ability to lock a view (landscape or portrait). I don't care about mms or video calling - I don't see the point but I can see how others might. And what about some arrow keys for editing what you have already typed without having to delete loads? The ability to select a piece of text for editing is fiddly and often innacurate. Video capture is a genuine ommission. Likewise the app store being the only way to get apps. Funny how the 'jailbroken' term has caught on - makes the mandella analogy ring very true. Still, when it goes 32GB I'll be getting one as it converges enough functionality and devices as to be worthwhile for the moment. I do yearn for the day when the more open platform devices catch up on the browsing and beauty side though - the 18 month contract will kill me though I don't mind the o2 tariffs.

Re: The SMS Text News iPhone has arrived! | SMS Text News

barryjon — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:49:09 -0000

I am currently out of the office with limited access to email and no access to voicemail. I will be returning to the office on Tuesday July 15th and expect to respond to all outstanding emails by close of business on July 18th. If you require immediate assistance, please contact John Kavanagh (x6392) or Gary Fisher (x6549) or email the 'UK Middle Office Technology Support Mailbox' (Mailbox, UK Middle Office Technology Support).

Barry J O'Connell
World Markets Technology

Tel: +44 (20) 7234 6949
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Email: barry.oconnell@cibc.co.uk

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Re: The SMS Text News iPhone has arrived! | SMS Text News

barryjon — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:22:42 -0000

When doing your review please can you include a review of the activesync functionality for exchange mail, contacts, calendar and tasks? Including ease of setup for those using our own or hosted exchange services. Cheers.

Re: LG now more popular than Sony Ericsson

barryjon — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 03:25:25 -0000

I will never ever ever buy an LG anything ever. Complete heaps of sh!te.

Re: Microsoft wants to double Windows mobile sales

barryjon — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:08:30 -0000

Might be more of a tall order than it first appears. In order to achieve NET growth you have to RETAIN your existing users. I and many of my friends who were ardent WM fans have all very much lost our appetite for Microsoft's increasingly flaky mobile OS.

Re: $300k suicide text from Trades Union

barryjon — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:50:40 -0000

I would expect a physical letter to have the same effect. The outcome is the same (sacked) and on letter-headed paper would be more formal and final. I don't think the medium was the cause here.

Re: Have I made a massive mistake signing up with Vodafone?

barryjon — Tue, 27 May 2008 03:29:43 -0000

Have to agree - total con job. The call charges almost annoys me more though, the £8. Okay - so free phone isn't REALLY free, we all know that, but why not just take it out of our minutes? And with o2, you have to actually redial the bloody number without the zero - a total PITA when you are running about somewhere. Same with con job customer service lines on 087*. I always try to use the geographical numbers these days (which can be found on http://www.saynoto0870.com/).

Re: BMI ditches paper plane tickets for MMS

barryjon — Mon, 26 May 2008 07:15:23 -0000

What will those with iPhones do?

Re: Lawyer spunks 5k on Vodafone data watching BBC’s iPlayer

barryjon — Wed, 21 May 2008 08:45:31 -0000

I think she should offer to pay the bill with "unlimited* pounds sterling"!!

*subject to fair payment policy (subject to change without notice) to ensure all creditors enjoy a good and fair payment.