Disqus - Latest Comments for bensmith

Re: iPhone to come to 3UK (probably)

bensmith — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:42:20 -0000

Oh come on Mike.... Yes they were all desirable, but each one was the *only* decent handset offered at the time. That was my point. Not criticising the handsets themselves.

Consumers don't care about the difficulties for operators in launching devices - they want to walk into a store and see an entire wall covered in the latest devices they've seen advertised or that their friends have... Crap? Yes. Shallow? Yes. Fact? Sadly, yes.

I agree the low-rent angle is unjustified now - but it's an image that's been created and it's difficult to dispel in people's minds. I hear it repeated frequently... it's even the basis for a 10 minute routine by Alan Carr which I saw on TV last night.

Re: iPhone to come to 3UK (probably)

bensmith — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:12:09 -0000

But they were release one at a time, late relative to other carriers (in many cases) and crippled with non-updated firmware (with plenty of bugs). My comment relates to having a range and choice of current devices.

...and who said this was about smartphones?

Re: Battle of the MiFis… Round 1

bensmith — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:06:14 -0000

That's great feedback... Thanks for letting us know!

Re: Shopping at the OVI store…

bensmith — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:31:13 -0000

I'm not sure that's the type of video they're after Mac :-)

Re: Going shopping at the Nokia Ovi Store: Dire

bensmith — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:32:47 -0000

Yes we are reading(!) ...and yes we have spoken to a number of Nokia people about this. However, it's not them this video is aimed at. It's for regular consumers who need to know that we have never had a customer service issue successfully resolved via the standard route.

Nokia don't need to be told the OVI experience is below-par... they already know.

We could probably do more in chasing someone appropriate down via their PR dept and providing detailed info on these specific problems, but - frankly - why should we? I prefer to give my consulting time to my paying clients.

Re: Shopping at the OVI store…

bensmith — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:32:41 -0000

Yes, it's like a 'idiots guide to identity theft'... Passport numbers, bank details...

What next? A vile of blood? :-)

Re: Shopping at the OVI store…

bensmith — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:31:41 -0000

Ouch... that's grim. Same happened to me with some Gravity installs on long-term loan handset. In the end I just bought it again direct from the developer (who's app's so awesome I don't mind bunging a few quid extra).

Re: 3UK launches Android HTC Hero complete with Spotify Mobile

bensmith — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:52:22 -0000

It's only a matter of time before MIR is syndicated by the Grauniad...

Re: 3UK launches Android HTC Hero complete with Spotify Mobile

bensmith — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:47:25 -0000

I feed on coffee and the typos of others... ;-)

Just don't scrutinise our output too closely(!)

Re: 3UK launches Android HTC Hero complete with Spotify Mobile

bensmith — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:28:25 -0000

I think it's a 24 month contract, if I've read the release right.

Re: Underwhelmed by Pre launch buzz

bensmith — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:35:54 -0000

LOL... Sorry mate.

Re: Underwhelmed by Pre launch buzz

bensmith — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:13:46 -0000

See http://www.quidco.com if you're in the UK for a 10% cashback and 15% discount from the Nokia store right now.

Re: O2 launch the Palm Pre: We go to the party…

bensmith — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:20:40 -0000

No, but she was in Budapest filming in my hotel when we went there with Nokia to look at the N900... In fact that film should be out next week (the Nokia one, not Jamelia).

Re: O2 launch the Palm Pre: We go to the party…

bensmith — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:31:00 -0000

Ask Dan Lane. I was busy 'working' when they were being handed 'round *sniff*.

Re: Underwhelmed by Pre launch buzz

bensmith — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:10:52 -0000

I did and Quidco too. In fact I think it was your tweet that alerted me to it. Also used cash-back credit card for even more spendy-WIN.

If I got my maths right I got 15% discount plus 10% cashback from Quidco and 1% from my credit-card... Not cheap, but *cheaper*... 24.5% discount?

Re: Palm Pre launch party [There ain't no party like an O2 party... Hey... Ho... etc]

bensmith — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:14:37 -0000

Sorry. I will use short words in future ;-)

Re: EXCLUSIVE: Palm Pre wins ‘Gadget of the year’

bensmith — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:42:35 -0000

Out of fairness to James it was me that decided the Pre story was good enough to publish on the basis of two pieces of info we got. James just penned the words.

Sorry.

Re: Video Diary: Whatley & the Sony Ericsson Satio in Soho

bensmith — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:40:22 -0000

Wow. That's an amazing deal... I could forgive it much at that price.

Re: Video Diary: Whatley & the Sony Ericsson Satio in Soho

bensmith — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:37:32 -0000

Awww. C'mon... you have to say how much... :-)

Re: Video Diary: Whatley & the Sony Ericsson Satio in Soho

bensmith — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:50:48 -0000

It was live when we recorded it ;-)

Re: Goodbye to the Blackberry 8520

bensmith — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:59:53 -0000

I agree it's a quick little device, but the build on the 8520 does feel a noticeable step down from the Curves and the Bold I've seen before... definitely not up to E-series quality.

BIS may only be £5 per month, but it's not reliable and with unlimited data at the same price point why not just use IMAP, Exchange or Google?

Re: Is it Christmas? Samsung’s brought a turkey [Samsung Galaxy (again)]

bensmith — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:25:08 -0000

That would be good - there are a lot of people out there looking for some help with this...

Re: Blackberry Storm 2: Snapped in Vodafone Store display

bensmith — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:58:12 -0000

*zing* :-)

Re: Blackberry Storm 2: Snapped in Vodafone Store display

bensmith — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:52:01 -0000

Ooops! Fixed. Thanks Dan.

Re: Blackberry Storm 2: Snapped in Vodafone Store display

bensmith — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:51:41 -0000

The UI and the clicky screen made me want to hurt people... mostly the people who designed it.

Can't argue about BB's messaging strengths tho'