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2D Barcodes – Keep it Simple, Get embedded!

atmaspheric | endeavors — QR Code

Silicon Alley Insider drew my attention to a new project at Google designed to embed 2D Barcodes into print ads. On the surface this seems like an interesting idea and I like the 2D/QR/Semacodes. They are pretty easy to deal with as a geek and in theory can provide shortcuts for text entry for URLs, text and phone numbers. I say in theory because I’ve become pretty damn fast with T9 on the N95 and it’s hard to beat QWERTY for entering URLs, the main thing you see 2D codes represent.

Google’s idea is not new if you consider the CueCat from early 2000 which as you might recall, sucked. It sucked (and boy did it ever) because the idea was that when you’d see a code in a magazine you would then get up from your couch and bring your magazine over to your computer where the CueCat was tethered. This is not exactly how people consider doing things. When you are already at the computer, why not just type the url directly in rather than go through a special process which takes more time?

This brings me back to QR Codes … We are still in the early days here and I’m guessing the only people who really care are the mobile geeks. It’s great that it’s “really big in Japan,” but they’ve been mobile focused for a long time — and this is an entirely new way to do things for Americans. My Nokia N-Series mobiles have had access to barcodes for a while and I’ve dabbled. You can hit that one at the top of the post to go right back to my site if you like – helpful I know.

The issue which could very easily kill adoption on arrival is that you have to load an application on your phone other than the camera in order to make this useful. A lot could be solved with some software engineering and I’d like to see that happen, but it’s likely to be a forward moving thing — and not really able to help those with current high end handsets.

Nokia is actively experimenting with additional functionalities through betalabs and location tagger is a good example of a small step towards embedding new functionality. While it’s an application you have to run, it can be set to run in the background on startup and is likely to find its way into the OS itself with a future (FP2?) release. I’m willing to bet that we’ll see embedded 2D codes and a reader in the imaging application within Android software stack when it arrives this year.

Software applications can show us how things work, but as a long term solution they run the risk of keeping QR codes outside of broader adoption. The gimmick of seeing the code on an ad is not enough to get this to fly … ease of use and convenience through embedded functionality is what we really need to see.

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QIK Updated – VGA Streaming from your N95!

Qik Updated!

This is very cool – Qik Updated tonight and you can now stream VGA quality from your N95 … while this is not the most interesting of videos, it will certainly show the quality. I streamed this over my home wifi since I only have EDGE access from the house. My only request for Qik now is to support the phone’s memory cards for storage so we can broadcast longer. I’ve actually been cleaning my phone out a bit to make sure there room on board…

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WSJ Enables Mobile Access, but Google takes it down a notch

I honestly don’t know when this activated, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the following while scanning my mail on the train today…

WSJ links now mobile friendly

You might recognize the mail app as Gmail which uses the Google proxy to mobilize links so this is not that huge a deal except that the google proxy is pretty gnarly compared to what I saw with the view HTML link from Gmail. Google in my humble opinion does an average job, not great compared to mippin or mowser or whatever the WSJ is actually using.

As you can see here, the Google view is on the left and the way the WSJ wants to show it is on the right:

Google Mobile view of the WSJ WSJ Mobile

You can see the WSJ is trying to serve an enhanced mobile page even with an ad, while google suppressing things, which can’t make them too happy. I’d really like to choose which mobile proxy gets used for these activities and ideally would even have the option to turn it off as I go as a browser preference. Google is trying to simplify the experience from a mobile app to the web, which is admirable, but in many cases they render the page in far to rudimentary a manner.

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Gizmo5 launches Backdoor Dialing

gizmo5 labs logo

Thanks to a tip from Andy, I just learned about a very cool new Gizmo service!

Approximately 11% of US telephones, including mobile numbers and land lines from carriers such as Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc., are connected via VoIP. Working with telecom partners we are now making it possible to dial these numbers without going through the traditional phone system.

This means you can call certain mobile and land line numbers from any computer connected to the net and talk for free. Because these calls are bypassing the traditional phone network entirely there is no per minute fee or other charge for the caller regardless of where they call from. [Gizmo5]

gizmo5 backdoor dialing

As you can see this is clearly focused as an end run around the standard PTSN dialing universe. While I don’t see a use for this every day, there are certainly situations when using Gizmo to make free calls could be quite nice. No roaming charges for example internationally… If your number is supported you can take advantage of this service by dialing 0101 and your 10 digit number from anywhere in the world as long as you use a Gizmo or SIP based client. I happen to have a few of those here and look forward to testing this out. An added bonus here is that the recipient can call you back on the number they see on callerID and the return call to you is also free.

I checked my home number and it’s available for use, while my cell and grand central numbers are not. You can test your numbers on the Gizmo5 site.

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iPod touch is now a “mainstream Wi-Fi mobile platform”

Trojan Horse activated …

‘We believe one of the iPod [touch’s] future directions is to become the first mainstream Wi-Fi mobile platform, running all kinds of mobile applications,’ company executives said.

The iPod touch led a significant amount of Apple’s iPod shipment growth during the first quarter, particularly in Japan. Though US iPod sales came in relatively flat year-over-year, the Apple executives said they were happy to sacrificed sheer unit volume in the short term for a long-term objective.

While the executives didn’t explain what the iPod touch’s future directions would entail, the statement marks a reversal of Apple’s previous approach to the iPod line. While introducing the fifth-generation iPod a few years back, chief executive Steve Jobs said that the device remained ‘all about the music’ — a statement now challenged by equal attention to web browsing and other wireless data features. [Appleinsider]

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2008 Prediction – Lexicon Digital Communications will be a non-starter

Call me crazy here, but David Caruso does not seem to not have any idea what’s going on with online media (sorry but Cnet does not do embeds) and that appears to be the crux of what his company is all about. Aside from the ridiculous escalator bit in this video here’s what I’ve picked up:

  • solution based company
  • simplification to the internet itself
  • take this format and turn it into something competitive
  • competitive level of content
  • sleezy pickup

Here’s another take from G4TV:

But perhaps the best video they’ve made so far has to be the one on their site (I promise this video will be a waste of your time, but does include more escalator riding) which says the least of all, yet proves this is purely an ego play.

Admittedly I am interested in learning What happens when the King of Broadcast Worldwide meets the Chief Architect of Digital Media and Content Delivery? Not.

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Nokia N958GB DNLA Certified

Seeing some chatter on this today …

DLNA has certified the Nokia N95 8GB as a Mobile Digital Media Server, an acknowledgment that taps into the genius of this multimedia computer. The extensive connectivity and cutting-edge media capabilities of the Nokia N95 8GB are ideal for enjoying content, such as music, photos or videos, wirelessly on other devices in the home environment. [Nokia – ShowPressRelease ]

What’s amazing about this is that it’s just happening now. All of the wifi enabled N-Series devices (with the exception of the N91) have been capable of UPnP host streaming. As you may recall I showed this via the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet and the N93 on November 12, 2006. You can see it in action at around 90% of this video…

Thing have advanced in the past year, and there are many more products like set top boxes that support UPnP. The advantage of this of course is wireless streaming / sharing of content from your mobile to a more shared environment like your TV. What would really make this special in my home network anyway would be support for UPnP within Apple’s iTunes / Bonjour protocols so I could stream content from my devices to my TV within the AppleTV environment. People don’t want too many devices connected to the TV …

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A couple of days with the iPhone has me right back to the N95

In honor of Macworld this week, I put my SIM card back in the iPhone and charged it back up and after the keynote I was excited to to update all my Apple kit and I did as soon as I got home that night. Interestingly (or not) that’s when my interest sorta fell into whatever mode. The Quicktime, Itunes updates were nice and revealed the rental marketplace, but AppleTV is still two weeks away and the platform on which I’m most likely to use it. The iPhone updates while nice on the surface really don’t offer a whole heck of a lot. The biggest change being the enhancements to Google Maps, which are indeed quite nice.

Changing my home screen around and adding web shortcuts however is a total non-started for me at this point. I don’t find adding a bookmark to my home screen to be enabling any additional speed to the process – especially since I tend to keep a few tabs (the ones most likely to appear on my home screen) open at all times in Safari. Dropping back to EDGE only speeds and seeing the limits of the camera were also bummers and not having any legit applications like Jaiku, Gmail, Shozu among others … The addition of multi-address sms messages is something that should have been there from the start and is only worth mentioning that it’s there.

This morning after two days of straight iPhone use, I swapped the SIM back to my N95-3 and was immediately reminded why I love this device. It’s fast. Applications run quickly and in the background and I can multi-task like the power user I am. The addition of DUN let’s me fire up my N800 as well and take advantage of both devices to their respective limits. I tend to push things pretty hard (if you had not noticed) and the I reach the limits on the iPhone rather quickly.

One note of interest … while I previously thought the battery on the iPhone was amazing, I’m feeling considerably closer to reality now after two more days of full use. I have no problem reaching the 20% warning in a day and in fact if i don’t trickle charge during the day will run out of juice quite a bit more quickly. That said the battery is certainly more robust than the N95’s and I’m used to charging through the day, but don’t let anyone tell you the iPhone can handle the torture of intensive use without needing a refill before the day is over.

All of this is bringing me back to my initial conclusions on things. The iPhone is truly a mass market device that is designed to bring aspects of mobility many of us take for granted to a much wider audience. While certain aspects of the experience are undeniably wonderful (browsing, syncing and connection switching to name a few), they don’t outweigh the needs (HSDPA, DUN, Applications, image and video capture, and local storage) I have on which the iPhone falls very flat. I can’t help but think how nice that upcoming N958GB NAM device is going to be when it arrives … a larger screen is always a good thing for reading as much I do on the go.

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What’s in store for AppleTV?

With Macworld coming this week I’ve been actively considering what’s in store for us and the one thing I’m hoping to see (almost more than an Apple MID) is an AppleTV strategy in conjunction with some updated products.

Apple could, as I’ve thought for a few years now, easily own the (still fledgling) media center market. While the current crop of MediaCenter PCs offer far more than AppleTV they are not really targeted at a mass market. Apple owners must add additional devices to handle TV recording and since Apple currently only officially supports the iTunes ecosystem from both a codec and content perspective it’s a tad limiting. That said, what it does it does very well.

It’s easy to add a Mac Mini to your system, which offers more power than an AppleTV, but the simplicity of the interface should be a benefit not a hinderance to getting access to content. Most people (not the geeks though we are most likely to want this first) do not want a keyboard and mouse a the TV. You want to lean back and use the remote… The AppleTV is a potentially perfect solution, but it needs to evolve.

What’s the grand vision? In my mind it looks something like this:

AppleTV_MediaCenter

Assume it’s all open for change, and consider that Apple actually has most of these parts in place now though they just don’t all connect … yet.

  • I’m feeling the AppleTV is ripe to support an even larger drive than it has now, though ideally it would work with an Airport Disk / NAS which would give you considerably more flexibility and storage potential.
  • In addition to enhanced storage options, the AppleTV needs to gain the ability to record live television. In an ideal world that would come through CableCARD, though ATSC tuners would be acceptable as a consolation. CableCARD would let you record premium channels like HBO, while ATSC is limited to what’s coming in over the air and unfortunately is not even available in all markets.
  • Apple’s rumored Movie Store (rent and purchase) is likely to be shared at Macworld, and everyone believes that you will be able to purchase from AppleTV at that time as well. There’s no reason to assume (we are dealing with rumors here) that the store would not also support direct purchase of Music and TV shows. The iPhone already has a great purchase and sync function for music … seems like a logical extension to use in for AppleTV.
  • I’ve added Subscriptions to the iTunes store and hope we see this eventually. It’s probably unlikely for Macworld this year, but is something I hope Apple really considers. Rhapsody has led to purchase for me and subscriptions bust the walls down for people to actively sample.
  • The iPhone has some serious potential in my vision. Using Back to My Mac technology, the iPhone would be capable of controlling the AppleTV from within the home as well as anywhere you can get a connection. Apple actually already has the technology to control considerably more than just the AppleTV and the iPhone / (or iPod Touch) is a perfect form for this. Back to My Mac would just the way to do it from outside your home… Though it would potentially also offer a remote way to schedule recordings or purchases you want to watch upon your return.
  • I also see the iPhone as a new addition to where content can be streamed (not just synced). Through wifi and the likely 3G successor we’ll see this year, you get a remote viewing platform to rival SlingBox.

While I realize that adding LiveTV goes somewhat against the grain in the Apple ecosystem of iTunes, it’s an important component to the overall media center vision as it’s still the primary vehicle for how most people consume broadcast material. It would be trivial to add…

Another detail I did not include in the illustration, but I feel is important to note is that Apple should really open the capabilities of the box up to developers. A plugin SDK would enable a new world of opportunities for content providers and even more importantly the addition of codecs. Let’s face it, there’s a whole world of content well beyond the iTunes store and the Quicktime world and simply letting people view that as you can on your Mac would be a win. Of course that challenges Apple’s H.264 vision a bit and so I’ll just leave it as wishful thinking for now. There are always hacks to get around things…

Apple has nothing but opportunity with AppleTV. While it’s been a hobby since it launched it’s time to rip the doors off their hinges and define the market. It’s easily within reach.

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Apple Going WiMax – Doubtful

xohm + Apple

Not like Valleywag has ever been a keen source for Mac information.

“Our sources tell us that Apple may include WiMax, the high-speed, long-range wireless broadband technology, in an ultraportable 13′ notebook computer, and possibly across the entire MacBook Pro line. Just part of the rumor mill flying in preparation for Steve Jobs’s Macworld keynote next week in San Francisco, of course, but our source gives it a ’60 percent chance.’ AppleInsider has pictures of Apple’s banners inside the Moscone center with ‘There’s something in the air’ as a slogan. If true, this could be a risky move for Apple. [Valleywag]

A couple of considerations …

  • Apple chose NOT to go with 3G for the iPhone because it’s not in wide enough distribution.
  • Apple has chosen NOT to release a Blu Ray drive machine yet even though they’ve been in that camp for a very long time.
  • Apple did add ethernet, Wifi and Firewire before anyone and killed the floppy so you never know.

It just seems high risk to me to bet on WiMax as much as I’ve been starting to like the idea. The interesting angle with WiMax is the bring your own device. You just buy network access… not quite as simple as the iPhone all you can eat plan which is currently part of purchase, but considerably more open sounding than your standard voice+data plan. And of course there’s no reason why Apple could not shake that up as they’ve done to date with the mobile market.

ZDNet thinks there’s the opportunity for a few WiMax enabled devices. If this is happening, I’d really like to see an OSX Multi-touch MID much more than a WiMax iPod…

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Apple Ultra Portable to Dock into an iMac like system?!

apple docking system

This is such a cool patent I hope it’s real for Macworld this year. I’ve been reading about Apple’s potential products for MacWorld like most enthusiasts and the notion of an ultra portable (MID or UMPC) would be a very cool release. The market is certainly ready this time around – at least from my accounts of how things are working. A device that gives me full access to my stuff, locally and from the cloud and all in the same elegant Apple OS would be a home run.

While I’m not currently a major traveler I would totally want this type of rig as it truly would offer the best of both worlds. From what I can tell this is probably something in the 5-7inch screen size like the EEEPC, rather than the Nokia Tablet and would not fit in your pocket, but would easily fit in a bag. Macworld starts on January 14th … getting close!

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Cablevision offers Day and Date On Demand — for DVD’s With Physical Fulfillment

Update – Movies are 21.95 on average and the selection is limited.  As I noted in the original post, my choice would be to just pre-order the movie from Amazon and you can have the full quality DVD at your door on the same day it’s released — for less money.

I woke up to an email from Cablevision this morning offering a new on-demand service called Popcorn DVDs OnDemand.

Popcorn DVDs on Demand

As you can see from the email ad, you can do an on demand showing of a new DVD release the day it’s out which is nice, though I can’t tell whether this is an HD (I doubt it) option or just a standard viewing. I’m not expecting an HD Disc like option here, but we do actually have HD ONDemand service with some movies and the quality is considerably better as well as actually widescreen.

I’ve signed up – had to add a credit card to my profile which seems silly when they already have my billing and shipping info from the monthly bill…. I guess that as a 3rd party, Popcorn either chose or could not access the billing backend.

You are now ready to experience the ease and convenience of Popcorn DVDs On Demand, available through the Movies On Demand menu on iO® Channel 500. Just select a movie from Popcorn DVDs On Demand and watch the movie immediately on demand. Then, Popcorn will deliver the DVD to your home within 5-9 business days. So, you get to watch it now, and own it forever.

I like the idea of physical fulfillment from an online order and would love to actually see this with other types of services like Music so I can get immediate gratification and then still have an archival copy for more critical listening. With movies though, I’m actually a tad skeptical on this particular idea as it seems to be coming a bit late to the party. This is for DVD releases rather than in-cinema and thanks to Amazon, I’ve been able to get physical fulfillment on the day of release for over a decade.

I’ll check out the system tonight when I get home and see if I’ve missed anything critical here. I’m hoping there’s a minimal charge for the on-demand and perhaps even a discount on the disc, though somehow I doubt that the convenience equals any financial break, but rather an opportunity for the various parties (including the MPAA) to make more money from the same thing)

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Google Sync For Blackberry

Gogle Sync for Blackberry

If you browse to the Google Mobile Site on your blackberry today, you’ll see a Sync app at the bottom of the page. Once installed your Blackberry will be able to automatically sync all your calendars to the Google Calendar in the sky. Initially it syncs your main calendar, but it’s easy with the options setting to choose additional calendars if you like. Sync seems to happen in the background and automatically just like you already know with the rest of the blackberry PIM system syncs.

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Google Maps Send to TomTom confirms the need for a connected GPS

When I first read the news on the Google Maps TomTom integration I was pretty excited. While I use a variety of devices I have a TomTom 510 in my car and could definitely see sending myself details from my computer, phone or tablet on the go as new POI or places of interest. The excitement ended though when I realized how this actually works. It’s sync and go. Syncing, or even backing up my GPS is not even remotely close to something I do with any regularity. When new maps or features are announced I check them out, but usually the TomTom stays in my car.

I don’t understand why I can’t send directly through my phone’s data connection which is used for a variety of other services like traffic and weather. I can’t imagine that the location and name info is more than a few hundred kilobytes and could easily be bluetoothed or actually downloaded in a more active setting.

BMW actually uses their Drive Assist program to do exactly this:

While I realize this is not only model specific, but country (Germany only) specific as well. I’m not familiar with how Drive Assist works, but assume it’s a subscription like you find in other enhanced services within various cars. If there was a standard format to manage POI it would be pretty simple to “beam” a contact card or saved location from my N95 to the TomTom or even my Nokia Tablet’s GPS system, but sadly there is co compatibility with any of these devices except to get a data connection for updating traffic.

I see a near term future where Nokia’s recent acquisition of Navteq connects all of these dots. The device already knows where I am… The device can speak to the network to update additional info as needed and lastly if I am using more than one thing, the devices speak to each other Once we can nail down “the basics” in connected navigation we are likely to see other things like user contributed updates, enhanced services and of course advertising.

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Ultimate Mobile Charger?

Martin Geddes seeks the Ultimate Mobile Phone Charger… Here it is:

Proporta and N810

Proporta’s Mobile Device Charger is hands down the best accessory I’ve ever purchased for a mobile device. It’s a 3400mAH battery that charges over USB and offers a retractable cable (connecting over USB as well) to charge Nokia (large and small tip), Sony Ericsson, iPod / iPhone or any device that charges over USB. It also offers pass-through charging so while it’s charging you can also power-up one of your devices.

In my daily commute, I use it to power my N95 while tethering over bluetooth to the N810 or N800. This keeps the N95’s battery at 100% for when I need it during the day. The hour of (EDGE / 3.5G) DUN connectivity can really take a toll on the battery and this keeps things easily full. I can stream internet radio (again over DUN) from the tablet via the N95, maintain a live Mail For Exchange connection, upload at will to flickr via Shozu and stay current on my podcast subscriptions. In the car, I can use the Proporta to charge or maintain one device, while using my cigarette adapter on another for longer trips or on the way home from a full day of business travel. On a cross country flight I know I’ve got plenty of power to keep things charged without having to compromise my desired usage in any way.

It’s great to know that I can use the devices I want as hard as I want / need and always have plenty of juice to spare as the Proporta is like having two more full batteries in a single package. I love that this device is small enough to fit inside a jacket pocket if you need it and easily fits in a gadget bag or briefcase without adding any real weight.

If you are a power user like me, this is the ultimate accessory to keep things connected and powered up as long as your day might last! Jeremiah had initially shown me this device in LA and I ordered one soon after I returned. It’s an essential piece of kit. I can’t recommend it enough.

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Verizon opening their network…

Just caught this interesting snippet on the VZ…

Verizon “will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company.” This could be seen as a reaction to upcoming Android phones but probably won’t be accessible to the average hobbyist, as devices will need to be “tested and approved in a $20 million state-of-the-art testing lab” before being activated on the network. [CrunchGear ]

The CrunchGear post actually says it won’t be happening until the end of next year, but it’s still a very cool piece of news. Sprint was the first to announce this but it’s unfortunately for their Wimax network which may be DOA at this point. I hope more carriers get it that as we mature in our interests and use scenarios, we just want the network like we get broadband at home. Nokia does not have any interesting CDMA devices (currently anyway) which is a shame for S60 fans, but there are plenty of cool toys out there that take advantage of EVDO.

I’m willing to pay to play … but want my choice of what devices I get to have.

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All Nokia Media

I decided last week that I wanted to simplify my mobile media experience and ordered a 6GB microSD card so i could my N95-3 and N810 for evrything instead of also carrying my iPhone just for a few albums and podcasts. I’ve had an iPod since it was first released and have had my computer media experiece live inside iTunes. The full Apple ecosystem is strong and I’m a firm advocate of sync and go … Or at least I was.

For the most part the songs and albums stay the same on my ipod and it’s really podcasts that change with any real frequency – daily to weekly as things update. I thouht the 6GB card would be mainly in the tablet vs the phone as I started planning this but thus far (day 3) my plan has shifted a bit back to the phone. I’ve actually ordered a second 6GB card to use in the tablet so I don’t have to share and so each device can focus on some key pieces of the experience. A surprise arrived on Friday as well in the form of the Nokia N81 8GB which is designed to optimize the mobile music experience and I’ve been playing with that along with the N95.

Music and Video

Right now I have music on both phones and a limited amount of converted video on the tablet. The phones serve as really nice music players – quality seems solid on both. I have yet to do an A/B test as my recently updated iPhone (1.1.2) has not been reactivated… I’ve yet to swap its sim back from the N95 to complete the activation process!

The Nokia podcasting application does a great job importing my opml from iTunes and is able to update on a schedule or manually with a wifi connection or via cellular data. I’ve been manually switching things between wifi at home and cell on the go so I can get the latest stuff for my commute. Since I am unable to install anything on the work machine and do not have an itunes there’s no way to get an updated set of podcasts … Or even a quick download during the day on the iPhone. The Nokia phones however easily take care of business without the assistance of a computer which has really been quite awesome.

The N81 integrates podcasts directly into the music player which is something I’m hoping makes it back upstream to the N95 with a firmware update. In either case you can access podcasts as a genre and using the keypad you can live search through your collection of both music and podcasts. The Nokia Podcasting app also supports video which works nicely too though I’ve gone into the app to playback rather than use the music player which does not show video. When there’s an update to the Nokia Video Center application for the latest tablet OS2008, I will also subscribe there and predict my viewing preference will be the tablet’s larger screen.

Movies and TV shows are pretty easy to convert for the N810. Unfortunately video does have to be converted which takes time, but is relatively straight forward with the right tools. MediaConverter is probably the simplest to use and with the promise of making a file the tablet can play it’s hard to pass on it. Handbrake and (if you use Windows) Nokia’s new video conversion application also work well though if Hanbrake is your preference you might want to copy the settings from one of the other apps to make sure you get playable files.

Phone + Media Player

Like you would expect the Nokia phones pause and resume playback for phone calls much like the iPhone… So there’s no magic there, but it works relieably and well. The N81 has a dedicated music button next to the naviwheel and the N95’s multimedia key serves the same purpose. I discorvered today that a press and hold which brings up the music player on the N95, can also bring you right back to your previous application … A nice and I am sure not well known function.

The more I’ve used the phones as media players I can really see the potential benefit to an A2DP headset which would deliver stereo sound and also let me handle calls without switching things around my ear. My Shure E4C earphones are great but if I knew or needed the flexibility daily a wireless single unit would be killer.

What’s missing?

Amazingly the N81 is not supported by Nokia’s recently updated Multimedia Transfer application which would let me take advantage of playlist syncing as well as photos through iPhoto (though I use Aperture). While the N95 is supported, I’ve chosen to maintain a parallel experience and did a bulk copy (~4GB) using mass transfer mode on the N81 and a card reader for the N95. As it happens my mac mini media server crapped out at home so I had the external media drive on my desk and did a hunt and find to then drag over on both devices. This process took considerably longer than it would in iTunes to find what I first wanted and then actually to copy over. The Mac finder estimated over 2hours and after about 30 min I walked away. When I returned both were ready to roll. Sync is a really great thing to have and I hope that the Nokia Multimedia Transfer application (which has also been brutally slow for me) supports the N81 or that Nokia develops an actual plugin for itunes much like they did for iSync.

Copying video to the N810 was also done through a card reader and I will continue to do that as the video files I am using for my mobile needs are not really things I want clogging up iTunes.

Final thoughts

Outside of the initial bulk load, day to day use has been a pleasure. Music and podcasts are easy to access and update and video podcasts as well as converted video on the tablet all play well. Since I am already well converted as a two-piece mobile user, this plan works great for me though there’s no reason why the phone alone would not also do a lot of good. Of course you can’t playback any iTunes Store content as there is no Apple DRM access on anything other than their mobile devices, but that’s far from a deal breaker for me. Most of my content is from my own physical media collection and Amazon’s MP3 has an excellent DRM-free collection for “need it now” moments. I’ll probably dabble with the Nokia Music store when it eventually works in the US, but I’m less of a fan of Windows DRM.

Just as a sidenote, this entire post was written on the N810. That’s definitely not something I ever considered with the iPhone.

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Sony Reader PRS-505

I was in Borders this morning with the kids and saw they had the new Sony Reader. It’s remarkably thin and the display is gorgeous! Not sure this short video gives enough of an impression on how great the screen looks… The interface seemed a bit on the slow side, but I am not sure that really matters on something like this.

I’m looking forward to seeing the Amazon device as a comparison. Sony Connect is not something I’m looking to deal with and this would make much more sense for my wife than me, based her volume of reading.

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