Disqus - Latest Comments for Steve

Re: Jonathan Jensen - What’s your number

Steve — Thu, 01 May 2008 11:46:53 -0000

A few years ago, while I still lived in Britain, I signed up to a service tht gave me a 'portable' number. The idea was I could hand out this number to everone to call, but when they dialled, it put them through to me wherever I was, or at whatever landline/mobile number I designated.

At the time the mobile industry was a little hectic, so people were swapping numbers regularly .. I think thi was just before cell phne numbers became easily portable. I moved house a couple of times around then too, and all I had to do when my number changed was go edit my designated number on the service web site.

I'm not telling you this because I think the service was particularly good, or because I miss it. I think it was necessary at the time, but these days it i less so. If nothing else, people can always get me on my personal email addres, so I really don't care if they have an up to date phone number for me. But I like the idea of an emal address and/or phone number that we can carry with us for life. Sure there's reasons why some of us find we want or need to change contact details, but most people are lucky enough not to need to do that :-)

Re: The shittest thing about Windows Vista

Steve — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:39:32 -0000

Oh come on. Folk complain that Microsoft made Windows too open to abuse, viruses and hackers. Yet every time they add another layer of security, folk whine! It's not like it's rocket science to reopen the vulnerability just so you dont have to make one or two more mouse clicks.

And since Apple has similar, if slightly less invasive, blocks on installing stuff without express permission, then you are being just a hair disingenuous ... IMHO :-)

Re: Why doesn’t my E90 come with a 400 quid Windows XP computer?

Steve — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:45:33 -0000

Maybe somoething in Vista SP1 screwed with Nokia Software Updater???

Re: Free US texting will cause spam; kill everything; blow up world etc

Steve — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:30:02 -0000

So does removing SMS charges automatically permit SPAMmers to mine mobile phone numbers and 'advertise' at us willy-nilly?

If so, then why not have some sense and change the law in advance to STOP that? Oh ... because the US governent is terrified of standing in the way of any sort of trade or advertising, no matter how shady.

<sheesh>

Re: Whatley on the iPhone: “Meh. Next.”

Steve — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:28:53 -0000

I agree. Nothing to see here, move on. When they give us 32/64++ Gb, a decent camera, video, haptic feedback (where did that go?), removable SD/mini/micro slot then I'll be buying one.

Meantime, I am very impressed with the Apple bullsh1t marketing that tries to make out that no one else ever did what they are doing. They spent how long telling us that the Exchange application works just like web-based Exchange on PC ... woohoo you can drag and drop emails and files.

But the games look good. And there is huge buzz. iPhone 3 might actually have me putting my hand in my pocket and giving ATT/Apple some of my cash :-)

Re: Dell M1330 Ultralight arrives at the office

Steve — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:12:26 -0000

If I see one more shakey 'box opening' video, I swear I'll ....

Re: Whatley on the iPhone: “Meh. Next.”

Steve — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:36:07 -0000

Nobody did the interface so good. But everybody else (well, you know what I mean) has more and better features. I wish PocketPC had got this interface thing figured out 5 years ago, because a 5 year old Pocket PC has more features and functionality than the iPhone.

But it's not all about interface. That's clear from other comments here. Apple has to add more of what's missing before the technophiles move over in large numbers. But meantime, Nokia and others are slowly unwinding their own interface design and develop engines. The next two years are going to be very exciting. I'll be shocked if Apple doesn't take a hammering very soon.

Re: SMS - die already (Short Message Scam)

Steve — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:43:01 -0000

Wow - you just noticed? SMS has always beeen horrendsously expensive. But somehow no one has ever noticed. I point this out to people who want to do 'mLearning' via SMS and even when you show them the numbers they still don't get it.

The Corporate world is stunningly effective at pulling the wool over your eyes!!!

Re: The iPhone arrives tomorrow: I don’t like it already.

Steve — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:07:30 -0000

Well at least we know where you stand before you pick it up :-)

Re: The iPhone arrives tomorrow: I don’t like it already.

Steve — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:10:46 -0000

Guess you haven't looked at iPhone resale values on eBay ...

I do understand your need to be on a budget for your phone contract, but I think you missed something in your assessment. 150 quid is the purchase price of the iPhone. Do you know what you'd have to pay out of you were buying a phone so that you can use it on PAYG?

Re: #uksnow yet another demonstration of time wasting rubbish

Steve — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:07:28 -0000

Oh diddums! Suck it up, big boy. When you tweet about football, or your golf score or your daughter's first steps *or whatever* do I moan and whine? I either enjoy it or move on. It's not complicated. If you can't work out how to filter or scan or skim or ignore or unfollow, don't blame everyone else.

Re: Verizon and AT&T defend the indefensible (text charges)

Steve — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:51:59 -0000

"The U.S. wireless industry is the most competitive and innovative in the world"

<cough>Bull oney</cough>

Re: Microvision (MVIS) WikiBlog: CES 2009: 30 Days

Steve — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:29:52 -0000

I A M O N T H E E D G E O F M Y S E A T !

Re: Microvision (MVIS) WikiBlog: High-Definition Eyewear

Steve — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:52:32 -0000

Coolness. Jut need that recent survey to bring fruits and some of us can find out for ourselves :-)

Re: Microvision (MVIS) WikiBlog: Microvision's SHOWWX Pico Projector

Steve — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:44:58 -0000

I'm following Microvision on Twitter.... so what's going on with user testing? I was excited by the recent survey, then silence ...

Re: Microvision (MVIS) WikiBlog: Microvision's SHOWWX Pico Projector

Steve — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:15:14 -0000

All I couild see for 'old' specs is a volume, in this doc

http://www.microvision.com/pdfs/show_specs.pdf

... quoted as 120cc. New dimensions work out at 99.12cc. This equates to the new accessory projector being around 3mm thinner, assuming width and height arer not changed.

Assuming I can count right today :-)

Re: Microvision (MVIS) WikiBlog: Microvision Unveils Pre-Production Pico Projector, SHOW WX, at Macworld

Steve — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:21:20 -0000

Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh BOY :-)

Love the colour-selection page .... but I simply want plain ole black. Or maybe hot red :-)

Re: Microvision (MVIS) WikiBlog: Microvision's SHOWWX Pico Projector

Steve — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:53:00 -0000

Better - 848x480

http://www.microvision.com/showwx/specs.html

Re: Microvision (MVIS) WikiBlog: PicoP Evaluation Kit (PEK)

Steve — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:56:05 -0000

So about an inch square? That's smaller than a CF card (although a little thicker. Hmmm - how about a CF-card-slot projector for Digital cameras? :-)

LOL

Re: Microvision (MVIS) WikiBlog: Microvision on the Discovery Channel

Steve — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:15:33 -0000

Great video. We ROCK :-)

Re: Microvision (MVIS) WikiBlog: Tokman Buy Shares

Steve — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 15:21:11 -0000

Wow. It's a strange world indeed where someone thinks $449,000 (close to half a million dollars) can be described as 'only'. I would lik eto think that if I was 'only' earning half a million dollars, that I would have more than $4300 cash to spare on a little investment.

But the reality is he probably has his cash spread around, like the rest of us. Even if you think it's not much money, at least he did do something rather than bash the company or its employees.

Re: Red N95-3, Where’s The Camo?

Steve — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:25:23 -0000

Camo edition?

Yeah perfect until you drop it in the long grass!!! :-D

Re: PhotoAcute Mobile by Almalence

Steve — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 15:22:43 -0000

I'd like to see the ability to automatically stitch photos together. PhotoShop introduced this feature recently, and that's nice, but we don't all have the cash for that sort of software.

By the way I tried clicking on your sample images to view the larer originals, but they don't appear to have active links on them.

Re: PhotoAcute Mobile by Almalence

Steve — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 15:24:12 -0000

Forgot to explain better - what if I want to take a panorama, say of the Golden Gate Bridge. We've all tried to take several photos and stitch them together as a panorama, but it's tough - not least becuase we never line the pictures up so well, and there are usually remarkable colour differences between the pictures.

Re: Winners Of PhotoAcute By Almalence

Steve — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:12:23 -0000

Looking forward to playing with this over the weekend :-)

Re: How Nokia/S60 Could Break Into The U.S. Market

Steve — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 10:43:01 -0000

Olly I don't agree with your assertion that Windows Mobile is the culprit for s60's poor takeup.

I think it's three things -

- Carrier 'misguided' decisions - like insisting on the E62, rather than taking on the E61/E61i, both of which have Wi-Fi, for instance ...

- Palm Pilot. Every American thinks any sort of PDA is automatically a Palm Pilot. That's effective branding on Palm's part, all those years ago. Neither Windows Mobile or S60 have broken that branding legacy.

- Blackberry. If it's a phone with a keyboard, its a Blackberry to most Americans.

- I'll throw in Carrier Greed as a sneaky 4th, but only because I was being charitable with the first one (misguided carriers) ;-)

I don't think many in America have not heard of Nokia. I just don't think those in America who are in the market for a full-blown Smart Phone recognise anything outside of Palm/Blackberry/Windows Mobile as a true smartphone.

Oh - and I'll add a 5th reason for the slow takeup of S60 - Corporate America. The company I work for supports Push email through MS exchange. But, strangely (to me at least) they insist on using Blackberries. Employees have no choice. Blackberry or nothing. Not even Windows Mobile, which synchs more fully and very easy with Exchange!

Corporate America is wedded to their Blackberries, so there's no chance of sneaking in S60s unless Nokia an others push REAL HARD and back up that push with devices that wipw the floor with Blackberries, Palm, Win Mo and of course the red herring iPhone!!!

Re: Paid Upgrades Could Be Solution For FP2 On Older Devices

Steve — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:39:44 -0000

I don't like to be pushed into buying a new device every year or so just becuase the manufacturer does not have the motivation to issue software updates to the device I have. Nokia make quality devices that are physically up to the rigours of a three year live span or more, so I want them to support those devices for 3 years, not drop them off the update list after 6 months!

We have become used to service pack/bug fix updates being free as part of a continuous maintenace program from providers of OSs like Windows, Linux, Mac. Whether Nokia likes it or not, that means we are inclined to expect similar free updates and bug fixes on mobile devices.

Now, if Nokia were to call the updated OS versions S60 v3, v4, v5 then I would have less issue paying for an upgrade, because I would perceive it as an upgrade. But when they dub the updates *feature pack* 1, FP2, FP3, these sound like incremental updates and I expect to get them for free.

Now, don't go misunderstanding me. I am well aware that many up the FP updates apply features and functionality that may not be supported by older devices. Fine. So pick a name for the updates that does not suggest incremental :-) But that doesn't remove the need to support older devices with bug fixes for the reasonable life of the device.

What actually causes me bigger grief is that *even if* Nokia do issue updates, here in America the cell phone companies have such a stranglehold on the devices they deign to be appropriate for their users that they can lock out those devices from ever receiving an update from Nokie ... Cingular/AT&T with the E62, for instance.

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Steve — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:54:17 -0000

I think the onlyu way to learn T9 is to be a SMS addict. Kinda leaves me out then :-)

Re: E61i Thoughts - A Wish For Dual Screen Mode

Steve — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:23:36 -0000

VGA? I have an old VGA pocketPC, that's about the same pixel density as the E61 screen ... meaning the screen is twice the size, displaying twice the data, once you tweak the software to get true VGA instead of MS's insulting pixel-doubling settings. Reading books, surfing the web and more are wonderful with such a screen.

Don't see any real pont in a 2.6 inch VGA screen though ;-)

Re: Nokia Working On An Update To The S60 Calculator!

Steve — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:01:56 -0000

I think they should buy Calcium and build upon it.

Don't get me wrong - I love the uber-simplicity of Calcium, but some days I want more advanced features and I want them as easily accessible as the basic features Calcium does so well

:-)

Re: iPhone to N95: 5 - Multimedia Computer or Feature Phone?

Steve — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:54:38 -0000

What you say seems particularly true in teh American market. It's sad fact that a huge percentage of smart phones are returned becuase buyers cannot figure out how to work them ... which is another reason why the iPhone seems like a step up, since most people can figure it out without instructions.

Most of my friends seem to think I am some sort of Uber Geek, and they keep asking my why I don't have an iPhone. The answer is that it doesn't do so many of the things that I take for granted - and because it is locked down tight that the only way to really use it is to jailbreak it, thus invalidating any warranty.

Maybe the iPhone 2 will bring enough improvement that I can live with the phone being locked ... becuase in spite of all the claims to the contrary, I've yet to see an 'iPhone killer' device that comes close to the sweet interface of the iPhone.

Re: SkyFire Beta For Symbian Crashes And Burns

Steve — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:37:15 -0000

Weird - I signed up to the beta, got the invite months ago. But I've no Windows device to test on, so I stated s60 ... but when I go to the SkyFire pages, I only see Windows Mobile versions for download, and no mention of s60 in the forums ...

:-(