When I was confirming my seat earlier in the week with Continental I saw there was an option to get a mobile boarding pass and I decided it would be pretty cool to go paperless and signed up to receive my boarding pass on the phone. The way it works is that you get an email with a special link to your boarding pass which then must be displayed on your phone or PDA. I’d seen mobile check-in opportunities with American and Luftansa recently but nothing quite like this:
What you are looking at is a poorly merged set of screenshots from the E71. I wiped out my frequent flier number and the trip confirmation code, but otherwise this is what you get. The QR code was scanned by the TSA at security with a handheld device and I made sure to mention to the next TSA team that my boarding pass was my phone since that had to pass through the larger scanners … No problem and I walked right through. At the gate, I think I was the first passenger to present a mobile boarding pass to the particular gate staffer as he had no idea where to put the phone to scan it in the table-top scanner. His colleague showed him you just place it on the base and a moment later I was checked-in and on the jetway.
I hope more airlines start offering this service because one less thing to deal with is a benefit when you are traveling. I always have my phone and it was very easy to simply show the screen instead of fumbling with a piece of paper.
One tip for Nokia users … I’ve had bad coverage in airports previously and was not going to take any chances with boarding and security process so I used the ever helpful but easy to miss “Save this Page” feature of the S60 browser. Once saved, I simply navigated to my bookmarks, went into the saved pages folder and chose my boarding pass.
Recently I’ve been traveling quite a bit and really thinkng about the Kindle. Â I like that I can get magazines as well as books as I go which would make always having something to read a non-issue. Â From the rumors I’ve been reading there does not appear to be a new device coming this year … aside from the EVDO-only access point (will not work outside the US) I can’t think of any true negatives. Â Sure the form factor is a tad wonky and the screen is not backlit, but it basically works like a book and comes in a reasonably small form factor making carrying it in my briefcase a pretty simple addition.
I have a trip to San Diego for DEMOfall leaving this weekend, and while the Kindle won’t be able to make it for tomorrow or Saturday, I could have it shipped to my hotel for the return trip …
I was very excited for the Chrome release today. Â Spending as much time in the browser as we all do now the experience and performance are critical parts of the online experience. Â While it’s a very early release, I definitely like what I see so far and look forward to tracking the progress forward as things evolve. Â
I’m finding that the speed is decent. Â Not hyper fast like they were promoting but then I am not running some javascript test page, I’m using a bunch of tabs and windows like I always do. Â What Chrome does though which is generally get out of your way and let you experience the page or application a site is offering. Â It’s very simple to create single window views like Fluid does on the Mac. Â I’ve got that configured for gmail, google reader, wordpress and my office webmail … so far so good. Â
Right now Chrome only works on a PC unless you compile it yourself. Â My work machine, a Lenovo X61 is not having any issues with Chrome and I actually find it to be a very pleasant browser. Â There are some subtle things about the UI that i really like and of course a few I would like to see changed. Â
On the positive side, the window is about as full as it can be all the time which is awesome on my small screen and even better when connected to a larger monitor. Â There’s no status bar on the bottom of the window, but when you hover over something that can be clicked on, you can see where it will go just like you know you can. Â There are some slick overlays for downloads and completed downloads stick to the bottom of the window to remind you they are ready to be acted upon. Â When things crash or go bad, only that tab seems to be effected and Chrome is able to save the state of things quite gracefully. Â In my limited testing this afternoon, I’d say it does a much better job that Firefox 3 currently. Â Not bad for a .2 release.
As you might expect with an early release, there are some bad things. Â The one that’s making me nutty is that there is no way to email a page / link without using a bookmarklet. Â I’ve got one for Gmail, but it makes sending a page or link to work collegues in Outlook take a few steps more than I’d like becuase I have to copy and paste twice to get both the link and title or content from the tab. Â I’ve also noticed that there’s no way to get certain links working on Facebook which is a huge miss. Â I was unable to “become a fan” or comment on someone’s status today and both links looked like they would work, but failed to do anything. Â Back to Firefox …Â
In general though Chrome is very smooth, very stable and really well done. Â I’m looking forward to the fixes further optimizations and hopefully some plugins. Â Of course I’d also like to install this on my Mac!
While they’ve only teased at this point, I would expect Chrome to be the browser in Android when it launches later this year. Â We’ve already seen the power of webkit in mobile devices – first in the S60 browser and then of course with the iPhone. Â Webkit has become the engine to beat (sorry Opera) in higher end mobile browsing. Â My guess is that it will sync via some Google service and I hope that multiple computers will also sync eventually as well…. Google killed the Firefox sync extension recently and it seems quite clear now that those bits are being focused on their own developments. Â It’s great that Chrome is open source and I hope Nokia is watching closely to see how they can improve their own S60 webkit browser as it’s clearly stagnated a bit since Apple came along with Mobile Safari.
There seem to be two Operators here in Dubai (DU and Etisalat) and while both offer voice service only Etisalat seems to have data. It took me a while to figure this out actually and for most of Monday I was convinced that my phone was dropping into some sort of limbo state when the carrier switched to DU.
I am using a T-Mobile Blackberry SIM in my E71 and N82 while here and I found that regardless of which phone I was using the data service would simply die on DU. I though the issue was Blackberry related and so I switched over to the BB, saw it work and then would switch back. It was not until Tuesday morning though when the BB actually switched over to DU and then I realized what was happening … Once I manually selected the network I wanted data returned and messaging has been very reliable since.
In a related note, I was hoping to get access to the Etisalat HSDPA hispeed network but it seems they have vastly overpromised what is really here. While the site claims they offer 7.2 Mbps, I have been seeing between 100 and 500Kbps which is less than I get at home on the ATT system. Disappointing for sure, but the coverage is quite consistent at least and it works everywhere but on the elevator in our hotel. I switched the N82 over to UMTS only (yes I know it’s not HSDPA) but just think the speed is over-promised. In the N78 (with hispeed activated) which I also have here I am seeing similar network performace. I supposed it is possible that the ever sucky and limited TZones data service is forcing me to second class over the more expensive internet service, but that’s all I get on this TMO SIM.
Andy Abramson figured out an awesome work around for the alleged VOIP lockout on the American Airlines Wifi service which launched this week. The best part is that it’s pretty damn simple and can be done by anyone once you are connected. Using a new service called Phweet he connected to a Joanna Stern from Laptop Magazine who was in the air using AA’s Gogo Wifi.
Phweet using flash in the browser to connect two twitter users who’d like to have an actual conversation. Instead of exposing a phone number, it enables a VOIP call by connecting tweet’s to the Phweet web service. I actually received a phweet last night on my commute home, but had connectivity issues (thanks for the missing tower in west chester, ATT) so I was unable to try it directly. Signing up for Phweet is simple – just use your existing Twitter credentials.
This is great news for anyone looking to actually use a network connection the way it should be used – open and unrestricted. I really don’t want to hear everyone making phone calls in the air, but at the same time no institution should be restricting how the net is used. I would imagine as a result of this, we are going to see some new VOIP implementations based on flash …
I’m not sure when this kicked in, but you can now adjust a few key pieces in Google Reader Mobile. I use the iPhone edition which works great on the S60 and Nokia Tablet browsers and have been reading through all my feeds, rather than starting in one of my folders (as seen above). With a few clicks, you can now set which folder to start browsing and adjust whether links open in new windows (yes please) and whether the Google Mobile Proxy handles things to manage the page load. I’m still experimenting with the mobile proxy … I go back and forth preferring the full sites most times, but find that for quickly following up on something it’s hard to beat the smaller page.
I’m sure this is not news to anyone who’s a long time mobile worker, but man does Windows make mobile connectivity a complete pain in the ass! When I try to use either DUN or Joikuspot (wifi) to connect with my phones I am forced to reconnect or repair the connected repeatedly during the course of an attempted session. Why does windows even have repair as an option?!
On my Mac it literally just works. If there’s a connection glitch because of low signal from the mobile, I can just simply reconnect. There’s no need to repair because there’s nothing actually wrong with the connection.
With the Nokia Tablet it also just works. I can use either wifi or DUN to get online and as I’ve blogged many times before I do this daily in both directions on my commute. Today I decided to use my work laptop, something I do much less frequently and am just amazed at how poorly Windows plays here.
I’ve had issues on various hotel and client site wireless networks as well so I know it’s not just the mobile connectivity thing I’m trying now … At least with joikuspot I can reconnect, when I’ve used DUN, the connection seems to get stuck when it needs to reconnect. Nothing like spending more time trying to connect than actually being online.
I know this is not the mainstream pattern by any stretch but just a sample of how I tend to use mobile technology.
On my walk to the train tonight I fired up Sportstracker and captured my speed and distance, while listening to some tunes over A2DP which logged up to Last.fm via Mobbler. I maintained an active chat with my friend Serko via Nokia Chat and also cleared a few emails. I even stopped into Jaiku to reply to a thread. Serko was able to see my status live update as I passed through Bryant Park (love the Location broadcasting) in Nokia Chat.
This morning I had a pretty similar walk to the office though instead of chat, I snapped a few pics which synced to my walking map in Sportstracker.
Now on the Train home, I’ve added the Nokia N810 on which I am typing this post … Music, chat and email all rocking.
The E71 is my current workhorse of a mobile and it easily handles the multitude of simultaneous requests I make. Devices like the iPhone restrict multitasking because only email and music work when not serving as the active applications. I realize my uses are not the usual case but how long with the growing base of power iPhone users stand to be limited. Background notices are not solving the challenges the power user will need to have resolved. The mobile experience has evolved into far more than a simple communications platform. We are computing, creating, collaborating as well.
One considerable annoyance of the E71 is the 2.5mm headset connection which makes using your high end headphones impossible… at least without an adapter.
I had an adapter from a few years ago when I ran into a similar situation with the Treo. That adapter unfortunately was only dual-mono which works fine for calls but definitely impacts the listening experience for music. A quick trip to google and then Amazon (via mobile during the commute) led me to the JAVOedge 2.5mm to 3.5mm stereo adapter. Don’t be put off by the fact that this is actually a Treo accessory… It works great on the E71!
Here are a few shots for perspective:
Amazon is selling a 2-pack for $4 plus shipping. I have one in my car and one in my bag and am definitely ready to rock.
Boingo Mobile has been updated across platforms. If you use a Nokia Handset (N or E Series), Nokia Tablet or a Windows Mobile Handset it’s worth checking out the new download.
I’m still waiting to hear back from Boingo and Nokia on the E71 bug before installing this version … Even so I find Boingo to be an indispensable travel companion. The Tablet and my laptop auto-connect when in range which is killer. You have to run the app on the Nokia handset, but that’s not an issue as I don’t leave wifi scanning on anyway.
I go away for a few days and AT&T lights up Northern Westchester!!
I have been waiting for what feels like a very long time to see 3G or 3.5G on my phone. This am, I saw it activate briefly, but I had so few bars I assumed it was the low signal notice rather than actual coverage. I’m seeing a very active fluctuation still from EDGE to HSDPA, but it’s looking very good!
If you live in the US, the NBC Olympics site is really an excellent way to keep tabs on athletes and events. I can’t quite figure out how they determine what makes it to the site in video vs text, but the coverage has been excellent for the major events. I re-lived last night’s amazing 400 Free Relay this morning and plan to watch quite a few more events this way as the week progresses.
If you are on the go, Mippin, has created an excellent mobile aggregator of all the Olympic information. It’s really a great showcase of what they do and delivers a very useful tool for the Olympics as well.
I’ve been using Boingo for a while now and have successfully traveled across the country and most recently to Toronto. Boingo has enabled easy connectivity from Airports, Coffee Shops and hotels on my laptop, phones and Nokia Tablet. There have been occassional glitches in connecting but I’ve found that one of the devices I’m carrying has always been able to connect without issue.
On the return this week from Toronto, I noticed that my E71 was not allowing me to use Wifi and I tried restarting the phone but things still failed. Checking the Access Points I discovered a serious error in the way Boingo had been scanning and adding AP’s on the fly:
Yes, that’s 149 Access Points! I’m not sure what the realistic limit is for a handset, but this has made using Wifi impossible. I can’t manually select an AP like the one at my parent’s beach house (where I am now on vacation) and there does not seem to be any way to select multiple APs to delete them en masse. I’m hoping I don’t have to reflash my E71 but I am not sure how else to clear this mess.
Update – I reached out to Boingo with this and it’s a confirmed serious bug. Working to resolve it …
I’m in Toronto for a few days this week and have discovered that there’s a great (though not free) wireless cloud here offering very responsive access.
The speed is not far from turbo, but it feels like it’s all mine at the moment which is excellent. What’s nice about the access here though is that Boingo has things covered if you have an account. My account has come in handy during my travels the past few months and I love how easily I can auto-connect as I go. I did have issues today on both the E71 and N810, but my laptop detected and connected without even a hiccup. I think there’s something going on with how the network works here as this is actually the first time I’ve had a problem from a mobile device – knowing there was a visible network.
The coverage in Toronto is something I wish I saw more often. Granted this is not a free network, but the access is easy to see and seems to be covering a solid portion of downtown.
While NYC won’t be getting a wireless network anytime soon, it looks like I’ll be able to tap into something in Westchester relatively soon. I’ve actually seen a few optimum (the Cablevision brand) hot spots pop up on my commute and there’s one in Katonah where I live, but I don’t currently have access. Not sure if it’s just someone’s wireless home broadband connection or what…
Over the next two years, Cablevision said it will spend in excess of $300 million to make wireless Internet available across its entire operating region, which in addition to Long Island, also includes parts of New Jersey, Connecticut, New York City and Westchester.
Cablevision, the new owner of Newsday, hasn’t yet outlined which region of Long Island would be first to receive service, which it said would be free to Optimum Online subscribers.
On a conference call with Wall Street analysts yesterday, Cablevision chief operating officer Tom Rutledge said the company spent $20 million between May and the end of June to begin building the so-called Wi-Fi network, which he said the company will unveil soon.
The service eventually will allow people with mobile computers to access the Internet anywhere Cablevision service is available, but there are plans for more services, involving voice, video and data, officials said. [Newsday.com]
A free network thanks to my cable provider would be actually very cool. AT&T does not exactly seem to be racing along with plans to update their HSDPA coverage in Northern Westchester.
To be officially confirmed later today, but apparently the Mayor’s office will be passing on lighting up the city. The plan is to instead focus on providing affordable access to everyone which is certainly an admirable goal.
According to a piece in Computerworld, the consultants have decided not to focus on a particular access technology, but are very interested in the $8 Million available from Verizon, Cablevision and Verizon to help fund the underserved initiative.
Now I don’t want to sound too ungrateful or suggest anything too out of line here, but the main providers of access in the city would stand to lose the most from a low cost / free wifi citywide network right? I’d have no need to connect to my cellular connection or pay more to my cable / phone provider to get additional out of home access. And someone does have to pay to maintain it …
I can’t imagine we are really even going to see that much progress with $8 Million in “free” money. No one burns money like our benevolent overlords talking about doing things rather than just getting it done.
Peter Rukavina wrote a very cool hack for Nokia Chat and Plazes over the weekend. Using a jabber bot, you can request Plazes places based on your location. Of course the results vary based on user submitted data, but the idea is quite compelling and something I would imagine we’ll see more of when Nokia integrates Plazes into the budding Ovi suite.
To get started you simply add reinvented@ovi.com to your buddy list and you should then see something like this:
You can then make your requests and see where the places are on the map. You can even add these locations as landmarks which is quite handy as well. In fact the landmark makes it possible to roundtrip the data back to Nokia Chat if you share your location within your presence.
I’ve been playing with Nokia devices for a few years now thanks to the blogger relations program but the program has been focused on the Nseries line. This past week however, I received an E71 which has made me an instant Eseries convert. The E as you might expect stands for Enterprise which would lead you to believe there’s a corporate focus here and while that’s certainly a strong suit (ahem) there is nothing conservative here at all.
The styling is awesome – metal, sleek and shiny. The build quality is the best I’ve seen with the exception of Nokia’s 8800 which was designed as a luxury device. The E71 makes my Blackberry Curve feel like a toy by comparison.
The E61 and E61i which I’ve also used are the prior generation of this device and yet aside from the QWERTY keyboard there’s very little in common in experience so far – and that’s a very good thing! I actually loved the E61 when I first purchased it a few years back and was excited to try the E61i which enhanced the original with a slightly refined body and a camera. Both however, simply did not have enough memory to multitask and I found the batteries was easily drained by mid-day running push email. I had the opportunity to switch over to the E61i from the BB Curve but had to return to the Blackberry after a short time due to a weak battery as well as issues staying synced with Exchange. Exchange sync has been fixed thanks to the free Mail for Exchange updates and the E71’s battery is a whopping 1500Mah – the same as the Nokia N810.
As you can see in the above shot the E71 is between the Curve and iPhone in shape and size, though it’s thinner in both thickness and width than either device. It feels amazingly solid feeling in your hand and easily slides in and out of your pocket as you need it.
I think the more logical comparison of the two is the Blackberry since that’s really the target for a device like this but there’s not much to compare. I’ve always found Blackberries to be very strong in wireless sync and speed between messages and while the prior E61 series were not stellar here, the E71 is super quick. Aside from the speed, I’m running a ton of apps concurrently and using gobs of data on both cellular and wifi simultaneously. Handy Taskman reports 61MB of free memory on boot which easily lets me do anything I can imagine with the E71. I typically run two push email accounts, Nokia Chat, Jaiku, the browser with multiple windows and have the Music Player open. On my commute I’m listening to music or podcasts over A2DP. I’ve found in the past week that my usage of the Nokia Internet Tablet has gone from several hours a day to only a few minutes … The E71 can handle just about anything.
While the E71 has a very solid qwerty keybord, the software also includes predictive text which works better than other systems I’ve tried (NIT and BB). Anything you type can be added to the system dictionary and is then available anywhere you need – whether in a note or even in a form field within the browser. I’ve added at between 50 and 100 new words if not more since starting out. The text prediction works with contractions, but for some reason does not add a period after a double space. Hopefully that can be addressed with a software update. The keyboard layout seems far more optimized that the E61 as well. It’s easy to reach key punctuation and symbols without having to hunt around or use the character shortcut key.
The Browser has received a nice boost on two fronts. I discovered fullscreen mode immediately and have not looked back. This elimiates the soft key shortcuts and page titles to maximize the page view. With a double press on the left soft key you are at the menu for bookmarks setttings etc. A single tap is handy to see how much of a page has loaded since you can’t see the loading bar in fullscreen. I would love to see the fullscreen mode drop back to window view when a page is loading and then back to fullscreen on completion so you never had to guess what was happening. I’ve actually suggested this to “some people” and hope it makes it in on a software update schedule. The other key detail here is that new windows spawn when opened from other apps or via an active standby screen shortcut. I love this one. It’s seriously annoying to lose your place when coming over from an email link and having a new window open instead is the same way I use my desktop browser.
In software, there’s a nice dictionary which can serve either as a traditional dictionary or if you download (for free) additional languages you can also use it as a translator which could be quite handy when traveling in another country. Otherwise the on-board software is as you might expect from S60 though for some reason Access Groups are no longer on board. This was a handy way to package both cell and wifi AP’s together in a single stack. I really hope this returns. The new Nokia Chat beta application actually has a nice facility for selecting multiple AP’s by type for access … perhaps this is a new direction for things and will make it’s way in to the rest of the system as well.
The E71 is as close to a QWERTY Nseries as I think we might see. It does everything a high end Nseries does with though lacks Carl Zeiss optics and automatic auto-focus (press T when the camera is open). The 3.2mp camera does a fine job – not great, but substantially better than most phones. From a multimedia angle, music, podcasts and video are all fine. Sound is fine for my daily needs and while video looks great on this screen, the consistency in framerates are not at the same level as what I’ve experienced on the N95. Though I can’t say I necessarily expect the same level of entertainment access with an Eseries.
One last function to note which I’ve honestly barely used is the ability to switch modes. The idea here is that you get one device with multiple personalities. If you want work messaging on until the weekend and a focus on your personal stuff after hours and on weekends, you can press one button and switch over to a more personal (active standby) view. I’ve been running both email accounts all the time – I guess I’m too Type A not to just leave it all going all the time.
In general, the E71 is one helluva solid device. The only thing missing here is 3G support for the US, but that’s coming …and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
As noted previously I have not purchased the iPhone 3G and as of this moment see no compelling reason to do so … I did update my iPhone to the 2.0 software though after the update re-harvested the SIM for my other devices.
I like what I see in the app store, meaning I like how it works, but I am not finding any applications that are must have, OMG this is something that will drive me to the 3G device cool. The App Store is regardless, the best on-device implementation I’ve seen for application discovery and distribution. Works quite well in iTunes as also I should note, though 99% of my browsing has been on the iPhone itself.
I’ve loaded up mainly streaming music apps – Pandora, AOL Radio and Last.fm. All work well and as you’d expect delivering tunes based on your requests. I’ve only used them on Wifi, but as Angel can confirm, music streaming on EDGE seems to work fine too.
I’ve also checked out Facebook, NYTimes, Truphone, Remote, eReader and Bank of America. Facebook worked as expected though the iPhone web app was strong to begin with. The NYT was actually disappointingly slow. The m.site is much quicker on the iPhone or any other device for that matter. Truphone refused to connect I think because I was doing it without a SIM and that’s how it identifies you … eReader is cool and actually connected to pretty old Palm database. I actually updated my payment info with eReader and installed the app on my E71 … think I’ll be checking out some new eBooks soon. I don’t have an account with Bank of America, but I was curious how they were handling mobile banking … not much to see beyond locations until I login. Remote is the best app I’ve tried and that’s thanks to the Apple-centric home in which I live. I love how I can use my wife’s or my iPhone to connect to our shared iTunes library and stream tunes on the AppleTV. If I did not have an iPhone, it would be worth having an iPod Touch just for this functionality.
In general, I’m pleased with the update given I get essentially all the functions minus the 3G radio and onboard GPS with the 2.0 software. I stopped in the Apple Store in White Plains on Sunday for a Genius Bar appointment with my MacBookPro and spent some time with the new iPhone 3G just to see if I’d missed anything and should just buy it, but I left without a new device and am not regretting anything. The new hardware certainly feels nicer in your hand and I found the keyboard more responsive than the one on my device, which is odd given they run the same OS … If I was going to spring for one, I’d get the White which definitely looks elegant and seems to stay cleaner compared to the finger print magnet Black. Plus, I’d need to have 16GB just because …
I was completely unsuccessful at getting my work Exchange account to sync and am not sure what the issue is as the Mail for Exchange application syncs without issue on the Nokia handsets on which I’ve tried it. MobileMe has been a complete fail … Contacts and Calendar refuse to load and mail is just my .Mac which is already forwarding to Gmail. I’d probably stick with Gmail IMAP which supports IDLE and does “push.”
I’ve been reading reports on battery life and am not surprised. GPS and 3G eat batteries. It’s been my experience for a long time and that nice big screen on the iPhone can’t be helping in the power department either. People will just need to learn how to manage their activities a bit. Speaking of which I’m very curious to see what happens with all the apps people load and how that impacts the usability and navigation on the device. There are no sub-menus which is potentially easier to deal with, but you can only deal with so many pages of things.
We’ll have to see what happens when apps get access to background processes in the fall. For now, there’s still no multitasking, cut and paste, and bluetooth does not support DUN, A2DP or keyboards. My iPhone is likely to remain largely unused …
I’ve been using Boingo on and off for a few months now and it’s been indispensible from my mobile devices though until now there’s been no Mac client … It’s finally here though, GoBoingo for Mac works just like the PC and Mobile editions and lets you connect to the vast international network of hotspots via the Boingo simplified connection manager.
One thing I really love about the Boingo client is that you don’t even have to know in advance whether the airport or hotel is in the system, Boingo proactively connects and lets you begin to surf.
I’ve got Boingo installed and ready on my N95, N810, MacBook Pro and work-issued Lenovo X61. I’m ready to connect and with a business trip this week, I’ll be putting Boingo to work!
. Â I like that I can get magazines as well as books as I go which would make always having something to read a non-issue. Â From the rumors I’ve been reading there does not appear to be a new device coming this year … aside from the EVDO-only access point (will not work outside the US) I can’t think of any true negatives. Â Sure the form factor is a tad wonky and the screen is not backlit, but it basically works like a book and comes in a reasonably small form factor making carrying it in my briefcase a pretty simple addition.
