Newbrew

Move To Android

I recently decided that my Blackberry just didn't provide what I needed anymore.  Yes, it made phone
calls.  It also received mail and allowed me to compose outbound mail.  The Facebook app worked.  So did the Twitter app.  Battery life was good.  Durability was excelent.  The browser?  It was terrible.  Screen size, too small (for these near 50 eyes .)  Video?  Forget about it.  While my iPhone can take the place of my laptop for much of the time, my Blackberry was basically a better phone and not much more. 

I had considered moving strictly to my iPhone.  But, AT&T has the worst talk plans in the US.  Plus, T-Mobile offers something no other carrier offers:  Wifi calling (or UMA for those in the know.)  Wifi calling is great when you're in a basement or in the middle of an office building allowing you to use the Internet (via Wifi) to login to T-Mobile.  This feature is also great for use when you're overseas.

So, I went to T-Mobile almost a month ago and started looking at their two top phones:  The Samsung Galazy S II and the HTC Amaze 4G.  Both have dual-core 1.5Ghz processors, both support "4G" data speeds (via HSPA+) and both currently run Gingerbread, the latest Android operating system.  Both have large screens, lots of memory, MicroSD card slots, 8MP cameras, GPS and more.  But, this decision wasn't just my own.  My wife too had the same Blackberry I had and she really wanted either an iPhone or something similar.  She too suffered from the lack of a descent Internet experience.

We both went for the HTC.  And though Wifi calling wasn't out yet, we figured it would be soon.  Just this week it was released and works (still with some lag and echo though.)  I also like many other features of the phone including availability of apps, the speed and ease of use of the browser and the UI provided by HTC (on top of Android.)  However, Android isn't for those uncomfortable with customization.  You have to be somewhat tech savvy to get the phone to do all you want.  This is the opposite of the iPhone where everything works out of the box.  For example, the native HTC email app doesn't work with SMTP on a Zimbra server.  The native HTC calendar app doesn't support CalDav.  Yes, there are work arounds.  I use K9 (free) for email on the Zimbra server.  I use a $2.88 app that supports CalDav and allows me to use the native calendar app to sync with the same Zimbra server.  What a pain though to figure out what works and what doesn't work. 

Other apps don't work the same on Android as they do on the iPhone.  ESPN Scorecenter doesn't push out alerts on Android.  This is bad during football season.  However, Angry Birds is FREE on Android.  That's a plus!  Pandora (I'm a Pandora One subscriber) and Netflix work well.  So does SiriusXM.

Battery life though is a real problem.  Of course, the iPhone 4S suffers the same problem.  Perhaps these dual-core processor, bright screen, multi-radio (4G, 3G, 2G, Bluetooth, Wifi) features mated with limited multi-tasking and smart app management all combine to accelerate power usage.

If Google and the limited number of manufacturers out there focus on giving users the same seamless experience Apple provides, competition will ensure new features and capabilities will keep coming.  I am an iPhone user and fan.  I'm also a long time Mac user.  But, don't be an Apple automaton.  There are many excellent smartphone choices!  I hope soon to have a reason to buy and test Windows Phone 7.5, perhaps even mated to Nokia hardware.

Information Syndication

Many of my friends keep up to date on my personal status.  Some see it on Facebook, some see it on this blog, some see it where I updated it.  I update my status via Twitter.  I do this on the web, via a Mac app called Twitterific or via Twitterberry on my Blackberry.  I use all of these to create Twitter posts.  These in turn are made available to other web properties via "Really Simple Syndication" or RSS.  That RSS feed is then inserted into this blog.  Further, my Twitter posts are repurposed into my Facebook profile as a status update.  

If that's not enough, this post will show as a post in my Facebook profile.  And when I move pictures to my smugmug site, those pictures show as a feed here in this site.

Further, this post is automatically posted to blog aggregation sites and even makes it to places like Plaxo (as does Twitter posts.)  So, be careful what you say out there.  

Argh, Another Mobile Phone Letdown

My Blackberry Pearl (8100) has been a trusty friend for over 2 years.  I purchased it in early 2006 when I purchased a 2006 BMW which had the Bluetooth option.  It worked great.  And the Pearl was a "pearl".  However, I've had typing problems with it starting 3 weeks ago.  I do carry it in my pocket and bang it around.  Probably just time to get a new phone.  I'm rough on them.  So, I didn't want to switch from T-Mobile to AT&T just to get an iPhone.  I decided to just get a new and improved phone from T-Mobile.  I bought the Blackberry Pearl 8120.  Same as the old Pearl but with a nicer keyboard and Wifi.  Cool, I'll do VOIP on it.  Or maybe not.  I've tried all of the Skype schemes.  They aren't Skype.  I've tried Gizmo's client.  Won't use the WIfi connection.  So, what I get with Wifi is faster web browsing.  Whoppeee.  Oh, it does have a 2MP camera (versus the older 1.3) and video capturing.  And the MicroSD slot is reachable without removing the back.  But, Wifi, not really a usable feature yet.

Net Nanny Out of Control

I'm sitting at a Panera Bread in Midtown/Buckhead Atlanta.  I was looking at Twitter posts by a buddy and saw a "tinyurl" link in it.  Now, given that this buddy works at Georgia Tech and doesn't want to jeopardize his post, and that he's a "tech" guy (school and professions), odds are there won't be any porn or violence in his post or associated link.  A tinyurl shortens a long one into a short one.  Sure, it does obfuscate what is behind that tinyurl, but, hey, not all things "hidden" are bad.

Anyway, I recieved this when I clicked the URL in the post:

Sure, I'm getting free wifi.  So, they make the rules.  But, I'm really sick of the folks who are so worried that a naked picture might appear.  The typical response by management is, well, typical.  They'll say it's not their aversion to nudity but their aversion to being sued.  Bull.  Some prude in management or on the board has decided that their sanitized version of the world is correct.

Oh well, don't try to read any links to pithy tech articles at Panera which, due to length of said URL, have been shortened to a "tinyurl".  To SonidWALL, it's porn!

The New Humorless Net

My last post was a test to see if regular folk would respond to a Rickroll. A link to the Rick Astley "Never Gonna Give You Up" video. My blog is scraped onto my Plaxo profile and thus my posts are seen there. I received a couple of comments there, both showing almost disgust and shock that such a "sophomoric" post was there. IT'S A BLOG POST, not a NYT article. A test. An observation. Some humor.

The idea came after a number of my colleagues were using a test application called Backnoise (www.backnoise.com) during an entrepreneurial event last week in Atlanta. It's an Ajax based IRC type of application. While we were all mocking the presenters (yes, my buds even mocked me there), someone rickrolled us. I laughed for 30 minutes as did the other guys. IT WAS FUNNY. No porn or dirty words. It was a Rick Astley video. Goofy, puffy, 80's britpop. Why? Who cares, it was funny. Will YouTube and Fark become bad because they aren't "serious" enough? I hope not.