Disqus - Latest Comments for norcalbarney

Re: Web 2.0: Teens love Facebook and Apple, confused by Twitter

norcalbarney — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:09:11 -0000

Excellent point, Mr Larner! The big companies should be scared because these are the next tech leaders. The "kids don't tweet" argument is like the old "Why can't Billy read" argument. Little Billy will learn to tweet when he see's something useful come from it.

Personally, getting these teens on stage looks like a marketing promo. See! Here's the future! Learn how to market to them, so you can own the future! Here kid, here's your $100 for two hours of marketing research. Intel cares about kids ...dollars.

Wasn't there a question, "What if Facebook charged $1/mo." The answer "I'd move to MySpace". Telling.

Re: London Underground chap threatens: ’sling him under a train’

norcalbarney — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:21:14 -0000

Surveillance only works for everyone when every one can create their own media. With every phone becoming a camcorder, people are will need to be nice in public, or the public will post it on the internet.

Mike42 makes some good points too, but I don't know any easy solutions. My answer is "The Internet" : ). Peer review makes most things better, IMHO.

Re: Is your Nokia 5800 completely screwed too?

norcalbarney — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:34:42 -0000

I've got an NAM model, and it's fine. It's the only Nokia that works with motorcycle gloves!

Re: best of craigslist: A few things from the bike shop.

norcalbarney — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:20:28 -0000

Pretty good!

Re: Samsung i8910 walkthrough

norcalbarney — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:01:19 -0000

Personally, I would choose the i8910 over the N97. The N97 is pretty slow for many things. Even unlocking it takes two seconds, so I relock it trying to get it to react. I found myself frustrated at the slowness of the N97. The i8910 did not leave me frustrated, and has a better video camera, and screen. I prefer the large touch keyboard on the i8910 over the tiny, hard keyboard of the N97.

Granted, the N97 will get better with firmware updates. And the 32GB storage is great.

They're both great choices, and either will make most users happy.

Re: Samsung i8910 walkthrough

norcalbarney — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:32:44 -0000

Totally. I want to buy one now, but I just cut down to part time at work to blog more, so buying new devices might not be the smartest thing for me to do. It's down to $689 here in the States.

Re: N97 : The Best feature

norcalbarney — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:39:11 -0000

What about the built-in 32GB of memory? 32GB + 5MP camera + qwerty really stands alone in the market. Add in Sports Tracker and Share Online, and it's a real powerhouse! Needs more ram and CPU, tho.

Re: Nokia Android Phone Unveiling at Nokia World 09

norcalbarney — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:10:23 -0000

It'd be awesome! I doubt it'll happen, though.

Maemo, maybe. N900 anyone?

Re: Nokia N97 Live Video Tests with Qik

norcalbarney — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:27:00 -0000

If you want to get the best quality from Qik videos, use the Offline mode. You can record the videos with Qik to the memory card, then seemlessly upload them in the background. This will give you the highest quality from Qik, because it's not trying to stream every bit.

--credit goes to the Qik team, who let me in on this little secret.

Re: Samsung i8910 720P video sample

norcalbarney — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:11:55 -0000

It was loaned to me by a blogger. I believe he purchased it from Orange.

Re: Nokia N86 – ComeBack Of The Video Editor

norcalbarney — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:37:28 -0000

This video editing functionality is also in the N97! It's still not as good as the full NLE on the N95-3, but it's better than nothing.

Re: Samsung i8910 720P video sample

norcalbarney — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:06:05 -0000

Yeah, the "shakiness" is really noticable, even while filming. I'll take some footie with a tripod and upload it.

There's an option for anti-shake and WDR (whatever that is) but both are greyed out in the Orange firmware.

Re: Vlog: Nokia N97 Compass Overview in HD

norcalbarney — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:52:03 -0000

It should make lightsaber sounds while you're calibrating it. vrrreeeaarrrrrrerrr.

I'm liking the new videos you're posting. And the beard! : )

Re: ZOMG We’re One Year Old !

norcalbarney — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:40:16 -0000

Excellent post, Clinton! I love reading the evolution of blogs.

Congrats on making the critical one-year mark. Here's to many more!

Re: Nokia to update order status soon!

norcalbarney — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:35:11 -0000

I'm going for White!

Re: N97 now available for preorder, $699 US.

norcalbarney — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:54:11 -0000

Agreed. The i8910 has been on the shortlist since it was announced.

I'm not sold on "crappy" HD video for a couple reasons. 1. it's too shaky and 2. it's still too tough to edit. Editing 720p video on my MacBook takes so much longer than SD footage. Plus the online hosting sites are still compressing it further, so the quality gets hit there too. (not to say the i8910's video is any crappier than my Kodak Zi6, for example)

I am very excited for the state of mobile two years form now, tho. When every $99 device has 4G and HD video recording, and easy uploads to YouTube and Facebook, I think we'll witness a profound change in society, lead by the kids under 20. No more barriers.

Still not sure if I'll get the N97, N86 or the i8910. The iPhone 3.0 and Pre are also on the short list. The N97 seems like a strong Twitter/Facebook device, but I don't know if I need more of that in my pocket.

Re: Did you know and didn’t tell me?, full image calling on E75!

norcalbarney — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:30:37 -0000

Seriously! What took so long for this feature?

Re: N97 now available for preorder, $699 US.

norcalbarney — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:34:14 -0000

I did see two different coupon deals for the N97. I found them both on Twitter, using a search for "N97 coupon" in Tweetdeck.

The first one was the good one, that supposedly knocked the price down to $500 something. That was apparently an error, and I didn't hear of anyone getting that deal.

The second coupon code was to get the N97 without the free bluetooth headset for about $620. I saw that deal, but I'm still not sure I can afford to spend that on my next device.

There are supposed to be big deals at the Nokia Flagship stores in the US this weekend. Maybe they'll have another N97 promo code. Watch Twitter!

Re: Announcing MOBILETRON 0.1 alpha. It’s a meetup in San Francisco.

norcalbarney — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:11:37 -0000

So do I Tate, so do I.... : )

We'll broadcast it, so you'll feel like you're here! I'll post more details in a bit...

Re: N97 now available for preorder, $699 US.

norcalbarney — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:06:19 -0000

You are correct on all the points. I'm not trying to justify that the N97 has a slower CPU, only trying to explain why *I* think Nokia made those decisions.

As for the i8910, I'm not sure it's been seen outside of a trade show environment, where it'd be plugged in all day. I'm anxious to read reviews of a production model i8910, as it seems to be the highest spec'd phone available soon.

For end users, IMHO most aren't going to use the CPU speed as a critical buying descision. Myself, I'm more into the services it can connect to as opposed to raw speed.

I am also curious to see how the market reacts to the N97. Let's wait and see....

Thanks for commenting, Jonathan! Just out of curiosity, what are your current and next devices?

Re: Announcing MOBILETRON 0.1 alpha. It’s a meetup in San Francisco.

norcalbarney — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:04:36 -0000

Alright! I'd better order the cookies then! : )

Thanks for confirming, Dennis.

Re: N97 now available for preorder, $699 US.

norcalbarney — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:03:09 -0000

I've asked the N-Gage guys about 3D acceleration, and they basically said "Don't hold your breath." They said everyone *thinks* they want 3D processors, but nobody wants a phone that dies in one hour.

Same goes for CPU speed, faster burns batteries. It's a trade-off. I'm guessing that with the active updates from the widgets pulling GPS data and internet data, Nokia needed to slow the CPU to get enough juice to stay on one full day.

Re: Exclusive N97 walkthrough video

norcalbarney — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:58:01 -0000

Well, I think the "slower" processor isn't that bad. I've played with the N97 on two occasions, and it didn't feel slow either time. Also because S60 multitasks, you can leave apps running in the background, so you don't need to fully launch an app every time you switch to it.

A faster processor is nice, but it will aways shorten the battery life. Sure, everybody wants a 4" screen, GPS, 3G and all, but that's gotta be a thick device for the battery to last all day. There are tradeoffs to cramming that much hardware into your pocket.

I'd recommend waiting for the reviews of the final shipping N97 before you decide. I'm confident the N97 will be a big hit for Nokia.

Re: Video Diary: James Whatley on planning MGoLA

norcalbarney — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:47:44 -0000

Looking forward to Mobile Geeks of San Francisco!

Re: Video Diary: Vikki Chowney talks about the Nokia E75 and Samsung NC10 on O2

norcalbarney — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:46:49 -0000

The Asus EPC 1000HE has built in bluetooth, and the newer faster N280 Atom cpu. This is likely my next netbook, although I'm waiting for Windows 7.