Disqus - Latest Comments for ollysk2

Re: What’s the best backpack a geek can buy?

ollysk2 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:39:02 -0000

I'l second the Northface recommendation - as a daily driver, I carry a Crumpler messenger bag, but my travel backpack is a Northface something or other that I bought a few years ago, and it's been through a ton of shit and still keeps going.

Re: Mobile Industry Review turns into a weekly newsletter next Friday

smstextnews — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:01:31 -0000

Oh I like that idea Olly... Sunday. Hmmm. I'll canvas opinion!

Re: Mobile Industry Review turns into a weekly newsletter next Friday

ollysk2 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:36:54 -0000

I like the idea, but I gotta suggest Sunday, not Friday -- the main reason being that all week my RSS and email goes apeshit - then on Sunday there's a huge dead lag -- so having this to read on Sunday would mean I had a lot more time to devote to it, AND give me something to read on a slow news day.

cheers!

Re: Nokia Booklet 3G To Cost $299 From Best Buy

ollysk2 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:40:10 -0000

Just to be clear, I said a third LESS, not a third of the price ;)

You are right about the 720p, I'll give you that - but only for now given that Dell, Lenovo, Asus, etc all have 720p displays announced, and all of them for cheaper (ranging from 75 bucks to 200 bucks cheaper). HDMI-out is available on quite a few netbooks at the moment - again all cheaper. As for battery life, most of the newer netbook batteries are announcing 7hr and up battery life, and I'd say that once you get to the 7 or 8 hr mark, you're playing in the same ball field.

So yes, the Nokia adds GPS to the mix, and if GPS on your netbook is worth the premium, then sure, it's a good deal.

But you'll still never convince me that having a built in sim is a good idea over an external modem, given the flexibility argument.

Re: Nokia Booklet 3G To Cost $299 From Best Buy

rcadden — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:34:55 -0000

There are no other netbooks that I'm aware of that have a 16-cell battery (with an advertised 12-hour battery life), 720p display, HDMI-out, and built-in GPS receiver. If none of those features matter to you, then clearly you're not the target market for the Booklet 3G (since it *does* have those features), and this conversation is moot. If they do, then you can't say there are 'similar' netbooks for a third of the price. No more than you could say the Samsung Highlight is 'similar' to the Nokia N97 and 1/3rd the price.

Re: Nokia Booklet 3G To Cost $299 From Best Buy

ollysk2 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:25:51 -0000

Ya but the fact that without the subsidy it's 600 also is a turn off..
There are similar spec'd netbooks for a third less, and there really
isn't anything super compelling about the booklet to warrant the
premium.. Once again you are paying the Nokia tax for no reason.

As for the sim card being user accessible, fair point but you can get
a subsidized netbook with internal 3g and similar specs for anywhere
from free to 200 bucks, so you STILL pay an unwarranted premium for
the booklet.

Not to mention the fact that an external modem allows use across
multiple devices a) without swapping the sim, and b) even on devices
that don't have an internal sim slot. The netbook by it's definition
is supposed to be a companion device, not a primary device, so in
theory you'd have another laptop that most likely DOESNT have a sim
slot. So ya, you can yank the sim out but if you want to use it on any
other device, you'd need to buy an external modem anyway, which
unsubsidized would be another couple hundred bucks.

The point is that by buying an internal 3g device you cripple the
flexibility of that 60 bucks a month you are paying for, and by buying
the nokia unsubsidized you are paying more without any real
justification for paying it. Hell even the Apple tax gets you OSX
which at least is somewhat of a differentiator.

In my opinion ISP's would be smart to offer a discount on internal 3g
per month, say 40 vs 60, to compensate for the lack of flexibility.
And as for Nokia, they need to seriously examine thier pricing
structure -- but that's nothing new.

Matt

--
Sent from my mobile.

Re: Nokia Booklet 3G To Cost $299 From Best Buy

rcadden — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:36:54 -0000

Lol, dude your argument doesn't make sense. The SIM card slot on the Booklet 3G is user-accessible (it's on the side of the laptop). Thus, if you're, as you say, already going to get the data plan, why on earth would you go ahead and not take the subsidy? In a year when something else comes out, swap the SIM and use the Booklet 3G over WiFi, or tethered, lol.

I don't get it when folks quote the $1740 price - that's for the optional data plan. You can buy the laptop for $600 without it, but if you're already going to get a data plan anyways, I don't see how that's a factor.

Re: Nokia Booklet 3G To Cost $299 From Best Buy

ollysk2 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:49:40 -0000

I still don't see a point in this. Sure, $299.00 is priced the same as most other netbooks -- except for the fact that it is AFTER subsidy. So we're talking a 1700.00 commitment over 2 years? No thanks. You'd be WAAAAAY better off getting a netbook for the same price that wasn't on a subsidy, and then getting a data plan. Sure, you are committed to the data plan, but at least then in a year when the next big thing comes out, you can simply move your usb modem over to a new gadget.

Re: Why Steve Jobs hates the iPhone App Store

ollysk2 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:29:21 -0000

I agree, bring on the Android for sure.. I think that before worrying
about web apps they need to start worrying about opening up thier
attitude and platform a bit. Android's major strength is not just it's
multitasking, etc over the iPhone, but the fact that a dev can write
for it without worrying about the crapshoot that is the App Store (as
the recent Google Voice fiasco demonstrates). Android has more
options for devices, a more open environment, and if the gathering
steam continues, almost as much industry support. Really, Apple is
left with a much prettier UI, and a world class marketing department.

Don't get me wrong, I love what my iPhone can do, but I'm getting more
and more interested in Android as certain gaps are filled -- if Apple
doesn't step up the innovation, I'll be on an Android handset this
time next year, I can almost guarantee.

--
Sent from my mobile.

Re: Why Steve Jobs hates the iPhone App Store

smstextnews — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 12:12:42 -0000

Bring on the Android invasion!

Re: Why Steve Jobs hates the iPhone App Store

ollysk2 — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 11:50:25 -0000

All I have to say is that if Apple really feels this way, then put up or shut up; if they feel the browser is where it's at then freaking hell just implement already! They just had one of their milestone moments with the release of 3.0 -- so why not wow the world with your amazing new browser tech? Google will get gears for mobile perfected soon, and Apple needs to be right there competing, or Android will simply keep moving further ahead.

My .02 cents (written on my iPhone)

Re: Mobile Industry Review goes subscription-only from 30th March

ollysk2 — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:41:46 -0000

So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish...

Re: MIR Show - Dan, a hammer and the Sonim XP3

whatleydude — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:32:45 -0000

I have to agree with Dan... Seriously. The Laser projector is one of *the* best things we all saw at MWC09.

Ewan's no doubt putting together a killer video on it...
(we got some awesome footage)

And Ben did a great pre-filming interview too.
Team effort FTW.

:D

Re: MIR Show - Dan, a hammer and the Sonim XP3

danlane — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:24:22 -0000

Wait until you see how happy I am demo'ing the laser projector!

Re: MIR Show - Dan, a hammer and the Sonim XP3

ollysk2 — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:26:39 -0000

Dan, why do I get the feeling from these videos that this was the absolute high light for you at MWC? You look like a kid in a candy store (or more appropriately a kid at a construction site that has been given a sledge and pointed at a wall needing demolishing).

Re: What do you think of the new spinvox.com?

ollysk2 — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:40:34 -0000

The biggest issue I have is that it's 'form' over 'function'. It's a very cool design, but is resource intensive to the point of me saying 'pass'.

Re: Flirtomatic users send each other REAL underwear and roses!

ollysk2 — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 10:01:24 -0000

Although it's not really my thing, this kind of innovation in the mobile world never fails to impress!

Re: The MIR jackets have arrived!

ollysk2 — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:32:00 -0000

Looks like you ought to open a gear store Ewan, I'm not the only one apparently that wants to get some schwag!

Re: The MIR jackets have arrived!

ollysk2 — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:07:52 -0000

Ewan -- how would I go about getting myself a MIR sticker for my laptop? (Those look like MIR stickers in the package, that's why I'm asking). Hope you guys have fun at MWC!

Re: Where’s are the updates to the S60 Brower?

atmasphere — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:01:36 -0000

I'm with you Olly ... the new OS's have the advantage of no legacy to carry which is great, but also lack some of the good stuff S60 has been doing for a long time. I'd also agree with your list of things that need to be changed / addressed. Email seems to be getting there in Nokia Email, but that has yet to replace the core S60 app which does indeed suck big time.

Threaded SMS missing is also totally ridiculous. I mean who wants to have a conversation anyway

Re: Where’s are the updates to the S60 Brower?

ollysk2 — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:21:09 -0000

Man, add this to the list... S60 has added some cool features to it, and it's still a good OS -- but the core components are getting OLD to the point of being ANCIENT in gadget world terms. Things that need to be sorely updated:

*Browser
*Email Client
*PIM
*WiFi Connection Client
*SMS (I'm fine with it, but enough people are asking for threaded that it's worth noting here).

Nokia really needs to focus on getting the core OS upgraded. The email experience on the iPhone is so much nicer than on S60 it makes me cry -- native HTML (not an attachment), better Exchange integration (sub-folder), etc -- I hate to compare everything to the iPhone, but in this situation it's necessary.

Not to JUST throw S60 under the bus though, it's true of a lot of the 'legacy' smartphone OS's. Blackberry desperately needs a complete overhaul of their UI, not to mention that even with the Bold changes their browser still sucks. Windows Mobile just plain blows -- and it's going to take a lot to convince me otherwise -- it's buggy, slow, the browser is HORRIBLE.

The iPhone is not truly a smartphone, I still argue that, yet it does some 'smartphoney' things better than the actual smartphones out there. Between the slick email, browser, and UI of the iPhone, and things brought to the table by Android and the new Palm Pre OS-- Blackberry, Symbian, and WinMo need to take a look at getting things updated QUICKLY to stay competitive.

-ollysk2

Re: Normob is ‘ugly word’, use ‘people’ instead

bensmith — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:48:22 -0000

'Mobtard'... Awesome. I'm going to start using that for people with pink RAZRs.

Re: Normob is ‘ugly word’, use ‘people’ instead

ollysk2 — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:26:12 -0000

Man, such a fuss over a word that's not that bad (I happen to like it) -- at least it's not "mobtard" or something like that.

Re: How to identify the MIR team at Mobile World Congress

smstextnews — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:07:56 -0000

And it would grant you membership to the most exclusive club in the world as well: The MIR Club at 105 Pall Mall. There's a £250,000 joining fee, but once you've joined, you get sent a brand new mobile handset every week to keep!

Re: How to identify the MIR team at Mobile World Congress

ollysk2 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:38:52 -0000

I seriously want to buy one of these -- everyone in my life already thinks I'm insane when it comes to mobile phones -- wearing a jacket that advertised a blog about them would just confirm my geekery.