Disqus - Latest Comments for Tim Nicholson

Re: Inserting your Xbox Gamercard Using PHP

Tim Nicholson — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:59:53 -0000

This is great. Thanks for posting it. I can't seem to get it to work though. There are some funky characters in here when I try to cut and paste the code. I assume probably because you had to do that to get the code to display properly here rather than have the page process the code. Also there seems to be a big problem around here:

$pattern = ‘/<[^<]*)*<\/body>/';
([^<]*

Do you mind posting the actual .php file or emailing it to me? Thanks!

Re: Weekly Contest: Who got game?

Tim Nicholson — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:27:02 -0000

One of my favorite games that I'd like to see that would be perfect for the Pearl (and 8800) track ball is Centipede.

Re: ThoughtPeice: Email: Still the Killer App!

Tim Nicholson — Thu, 31 May 2007 01:35:44 -0000

I agree, but... BB email Should be able to do:

1. Html email
2. BES features over BIS
3. True IMAP support
4. Folder views that allow selecting not only BES folders, but show BIS email accounts as "folders" in the list.
5. Better email Recon for gmail, yahoo, etc.

Plus the platform could use More 3rd party app support.

I'd also like to see Better vcard/vcal/etc support, better Bluetooth sound quality, music playlists and better sync with desktop players.

I love the BB, but being objective there are a few areas for improvement. Luckily RIM seems to be working toward addressing these areas.

Re: Weekly Contest: What’s after Wi-Fi and GPS?

Tim Nicholson — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:46:23 -0000

I think that if there is only one correct answer to this question the it HAS to be adding 3G. That's going to be a requirement soon on any decent phone. EDGE is just too slow to get the masses really using the mobile internet.

Although, more important than just the technological features themselves, we need better applications and a better mobile internet experience. Improvements are being made, but I wish they were moving more quickly.

For example, GPS technology should be combined with mobile internet technology so local searches already know where you are at, what sports team, weather, and movie theaters you are near. I know about Google Maps and its GPS capability, I know there are more location-aware applications being released every day, I'm just saying that it all needs to be better integrated, with an intuitive interface optimized for mobile devices, and rolled out the masses more quickly.

Re: GMail releases IMAP support

Tim Nicholson — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:58:46 -0000

This is great for desktop IMAP access, sure, but I don't see how it really helps on the Blackberry. BIS doesn't really support true IMAP. It will access IMAP accounts, but it handles them just like it were a POP3 account. Messages sent from your Blackberry don't get placed in your sent items folder (in the case of Gmail they get sent to your inbox as a new message which is highly annoying). Plus, deleting messages from the IMAP account don't get deleted on the Blackberry. Deleting them on the BB does delete from the IMAP server, but not the other way around. Also read/unread status doesn't seem to work either.

I've found that Yahoo Mail now syncs perfectly with BES, including the fact that it doesn't even put ads in the mail you send. I would even pay the $20/year for their premium service to remove the ads from the web-based mail, but... Yahoo doesn't support IMAP, so there is no good way to sync from a desktop.

So we have Gmail working well from desktop mail, Yahoo working well with BES, but nothing working well with both. Unless I'm missing something.

Re: Weekly Contest: The Big G

Tim Nicholson — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:04:23 -0000

I'm not sure I'm going to have the most "full-bodied" answer here, but I'd like to comment briefly on this topic. First, this is what mobile Linux has needed for some time... a group of "heavy hitters" committed to it. An open-source mobile Linux could be the greatest thing since sliced bread, unless it becomes fragmented like the desktop Linux OS's have. The world needs to unite together to take mobile Linux to the point where it can compete with Microsoft and Symbian (and to a lesser extent, Palm OS).

It really IS about the OS itself when it comes to competing at this early stage of the game, but having the *applications* will make a big difference in the long-term. Perfect the core and then leverage Google search, Google news, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Calendar, Google Docs (full mobile editing is needed, of course), a mobile version of Picassa and you've got yourself something nice.

So combine a killer OS with killer apps, throw in support for some varied form-factors ranging from a smart RAZR to an expandable iPhone to a mobile Linux-based mini-laptop and you've got something intriguing.

The key here will be support for the one true standard mobile Linux platfrom, open-source (cheap), with good app support, support for widely varied form factors, devout support for 3rd-party application development, and you've got a winner.

If everyone in the mobile Linux space takes the stance, like Palm and others, that they can do it better and keep it proprietary, it will never make a dent in Symbian or Microsoft sales. The world needs to band together and truly build something great and open. Then it will succeed.

If it takes Google to make it happen, so be it. Red Hat, Ubunto, Palm, PalmSource, etc. probably aren't going to have the power to do it. Whatever it takes, it needs to happen and its going to require that big-business band together to beat the incumbants.

Re: BlackBerry KickStart pictures emerge

Tim Nicholson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:54:13 -0000

Does anyone have the dimensions for this thing? It looks cool, but it looks quite thick. I was hoping for something close to 1/2" thick.