My sister delivered her first child this morning!
Brandon Gregory was born at 6:30am and weighs 7pounds 15 ounces. Everyone is doing great!
Welcome to the family little guy!
ShoZu vs. Mobup
Stefan from Ring Nokia thinks Shozu needs to watch their back now that Mobup has been released. I can’t say that I agree… In fact I can’t see this threatening Shozu in any way. The only feature Shozu does not have is the GPS integration which granted is quite cool, but far from critical.
Where Shozu shines is with native camera use – it’s seemless and the last thing I want to do it overcomplicate opening the shutter by first having to open an application to take a picture. You also get full access to your gallery of images for uploading later if you like and of course the fact that it runs as a service so when you snap a pic or shoot a video you can upload it on the spot which is totally kick-ass. You can also use the full picture size (vs. mobup maxing out at 640×480) which is great considering I can shoot 3.2MP.
One other key point of difference, pictures I take in Shozu actually upload. I tried three images and all failed to leave the N73.
Shozu now also supports video which means you can upload (less than 4MB) files right to YouTube if you like. I previous noted some S60 photoblog apps, and Meaning was one that could do the GEO Tag via GPS, but unfortunately does not work in S60v3.
Technorati Tags: Flickr, Meaning, MobUp, N73, Nokia, NSeries, photoblog, Shozu, Youtube
Boing Boing: MPAA: it’s OK to copy movies if you keep them in a vault
A classic double standard… whatever they need to work for them. The MPAA is the worst of the worst.
MPAA: it’s OK to copy movies if you keep them in a vault
During the Q&A at last night’s screening of Kirby Dick’s “This Film is Not Yet Rated,” Dick recounted the story of how his film was unlawfully duplicated by the MPAA’s ratings board. He submitted one copy of his movie to the MPAA, extracting a promise that no more copies would be made — the MPAA’s own anti-piracy materials describe making a single unauthorized duplication as an act of piracy.
Once it got out that the MPAA had made its “pirated” copy of Dick’s movie, one of the MPAA’s lawyers called Dick up to admit that the cartel had indeed made an infringing copy, but not to worry, “The copy is safe in my vault.”
At this point, I raised my hand and asked if Dick thought anyone caught downloading movies from the Internet could get off the hook by saying, “Don’t worry, I keep my copies safe in my vault?” [Boing Boing]
mobileYouth
If you are interested in what drives mobile usage and demand as well as what drives younger consumeers away from potential marketing messaging, you might want to spend a few minutes watching these great man of the street interviews from the Wireless World Forum.
Drive-in
Lifehacker’s Download of the Day is an app called Drive-in which at first glace seems like it’s pretty slick – and don’t get me wrong visually it is. The idea is not new, archive your DVD collection to enable ease of access on your computer. Longtime readers here will recall Matinee which is still a very simple way to access your archived DVD (video_ts) folders.
My beef with Drive-in is three-fold. First, it cannot import existing files you’ve already archived. At roughly 30min per DVD I can’t see running the archival process again for all but the slickest of upgrades. Second, they claim Front Row support, but it’s better to simply just open the damn Apple DVD player based on their instructions for getting it to work:
- Eject all DVDs and mounted DVD images by selecting them in the Finder, and dragging them to the Trash icon in the dock.
- Launch Drive-in.
- Choose File->Open DVD Case… to open the desired movie.
- Select the DVD image that you would like to play from the list on the right, and press the Play button in the toolbar. This will insert the DVD image, launch DVD Player, and begin playing your movie.
- Bring up Front Row by using the Apple Remote Control, or by holding down the Command key and pressing the Escape key. You can now navigate to your DVD and play it.
If you choose to even try this, realize it will run $50 when released from beta. No thanks. Matinee is $10 shareware and works with standard (and existing) archival files. I can easily pass on Front Row support…
Technorati Tags: Apple, Drive-In, Front Row, Media Center, puppy
Musicovery : interactive webRadio
Musicovery : interactive webRadio is a pretty cool way to explore music. It’s more fun than functional, but is definitely fun to play with … (Hat tip- David)
Technorati Tags: listening, music, musicovery
Nokia Communication Suite
Andy points to a very cool Nokia announcement coming from NokiaWorld today… The Nokia Communication Suite!
“The use of broadband Internet access for voice communication is here to stay, and Nokia recognizes that traditional operators – both mobile and fixed – can swim in these waters as well.
“At the same time, IP gives operators better control over how their network resources are used – an important consideration as multimedia services proliferate and data traffic grows.”
By using IP, internet telephony can support calls, video sharing, video calls, instant messaging, presence, file sharing, and other multimedia services.
With Nokia Communication Suite, users can make and receive VoIP calls and other services from their PCs using their existing mobile number. Calls to their mobile number can be answered with either their mobile or PCsoftphone.
Operators can offer both PC-PC calls, calls to mobile phones, or calls to traditional telephones at competitive rates and can bundle additional services as well.
Other services can be charged to same account as the subscriber’s fixed or mobile calls, simplifying their billing and avoiding the need to set up separate, pre-paid accounts for VoIP service. Nokia’s Communication Suite can also allow travelling subscribers to avoid roaming charges for mobile calls when abroad. [Computing.co.uk]
I hope this is not carrier dependent and something we can just use… oh and Mac support please!
Nokia On Board GPS
If you’ve yet to consider how helpful it might be to have an on board GPS system in your mobile, check this out…
Sure there’s a small glitch at the end, but this is a soon to be released product that will most certainly improve. I like that Nokia has built in a content store beyond just the installed POI which should make for some nice incremental sales as people travel about.
How To: Update Nokia N73 Firmware to Music Edition
Only for the very brave… The NokiaBlog gives a run down on how to update the firmware on your stock N73 to make it work like the music edition.
I like my N73 way too much to chance this. Firmware updates are already hairy enough with warnings like don’t touch the phone or cable at the risk of bricking your phone. I already have one bricked device and it’s enough for me.
Got Gear Will Travel
As I read Oliver’s post on MobileCrunch, I realized that I am not alone in packing gadgets and accessories for a trip. As I packed for my recent trip to Iceland I geared up for the adventure specifically (mainly with International adapters), but actually carry a similar load on most days. Here’s the core gear I brought along:
- Nokia E61 – My main work device. I use it for Exchange sync via MailforExchange, calls, browsing and the occasional VOIP call. I use the mobile Gmail client to check my personal mail as well as
- Nokia N73 – I swap my SIM to this baby for my personal use and actually consider it the current champ in Nokia’s arsenal of devices. I love the size, camera and connectivity – amazing reception! On my trip I bailed on the E61 once I realized that there was not an abundance of WiFi (as in none) and used this to snap pics which were then auto-uploaded to Flickr via Shozu.
- Nokia N93 – The camera is definitely better than the N73 and takes larger size images and videos, but the size is less comfortable in my pocket. Also as a Cingular customer, I am lacking the 850 band which enables far better reception on the N73. I do really like what this device can do, but given the choice as I have been, I prefer the N73. I still brought it thinking I would have a chance to do some video capture as we toured around…
- Nokia BH-800 – My Bluetooth headset
- Nokia 770 Internet Tablet – This is one of my favorite devices. While I wish there was a slide out keyboard, it’s great for what I use it for which is reading news feeds, listening to streaming audio, reading email (short replies via stylus) and VOIP calls via Gizmo — I was able to call my wife from the airport in Reykjavik through Gizmo which worked great.. It’s quite small considering all that it packs and can easily connect via bluetooth to any of my phones or use WiFi when it’s around.
- Nokia LD1W GPS – Awesome for Wayfinder on the phones as well as Maemo Mapper on the 770
- Nikon D70s – I knew going to Iceland was not something you get to do every week so I brought this excellent camera along to capture some high res keepers.
- Nintendo DS – Games!
- 60GB 5G iPod – I actually watched my first movie from the ITMS on the way home… Cars.
I recently removed both the N70 and N90 from my backpack which I don’t actually find myself using much these days but had them in there for comparison with some of the newer NSeries units. I also carry a pretty vast array of cables and connectors and a Sprint EVDO card along with a Powerbook (no work issue MacBookPro yet).
As you might expect, I’m used to getting stopped at security and having everything swabbed for explosives. I don’t think the TSA appreciates seeing so much gear at one time in a single bag. Interestingly one of my colleagues was traveling with two laptops and did not get stopped so I’ve concluded it’s the cables and smaller things that make them nervous. I’m sure it’s odd to see someone with 3+ phones and an internet tablet (a what!?) but it’s all normal for me… 😉
Technorati Tags: E-Series, E61, N-Series, N70, N73, N90, N93, Travel, VOIP
Nokia – New Year 2006
Just saw this on the Nokia website… sounds like a killer party!
On December 31st, Nokia will welcome the New Year in unique style – by connecting millions of music lovers from around the world as they count down the final minutes of 2006. Nokia New Year’s Eve, a global music event stretching across four continents, will feature a number of international artists including The Black Eyed Peas and Scissor Sisters to entertain audiences at New Year’s celebrations from Hong Kong to Rio de Janeiro. Those unable to attend in person can experience the party via television or the internet. To orchestrate this unique global celebration, Nokia has enlisted the services of Harvey Goldsmith CBE, the producer of Live Aid and Live8.
Nokia New Year’s Eve will travel from east to west, starting in Hong Kong’s Ocean Terminal, followed by Mumbai’s Andheri Stadium, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro and rounding off the night in New York. [Nokia
]
As if they know….
As soon as Thanksgiving passed the Turkeys returned to our yard… We’ve lived in the house for about a year and a half but it’s still a bit odd to see Turkeys roaming about when you look out the window.
Gmail mobile updated…
Things I learned in Iceland
- The people are very nice…
- There are only about 300,000 of them
- It’s apparently temperate most of the time and had not really snowed since like 1998
- You’d never believe that looking at my pictures since there’s currently a ton of snow everywhere and it’s pretty damn cold
- The flight time is similar to heading to the west coast but…
- The 5 hour time difference and considerably less sunlight make that first day a bear
- There’s a great deal more to see and experience than I was able to get to in a day and a half … volcanos, hot springs, whales and of course the aurora borealis. I’m hoping for a next time if my business pans out.
X-Series mobile services from 3
3 in the UK has announced a pretty killer suite of services on your choice of two high end mobile devices… Why the hell don’t we see anything like this in the US? VCast and MediaNet are not the same … the addition of Skype and means that 3 is savvy enough to realize that people are going to figure out how to do this stuff (when the symbian clients are officially released) so you might as well buy it from them.
I don’t have any experience with the SE Walkman phones, other than about 1 min of hands-on with a former colleague’s, but the Nokia N73 rocks.
Hutchison, more commonly known as 3 in the UK, today announced a partnership with Skype, Sling Media, Yahoo, Nokia, Google, eBay, Microsoft, Orb and Sony Ericsson. The idea is to bring all of these services on to your mobile for a flat rate fee — it’s been dubbed ‘X-Series’.
According to the hype, you’ll get free Skype-to-Skype calls to any PC or other X-Series user worldwide, be able to search on Google and Yahoo, send MSN instant messages to your friends, watch your TV from a Slingbox, access your computer at home with Orb and buy or sell stuff on eBay.
So far the only thing getting between the majority of consumers and the mobile Internet has been the cost of accessing online content and the limitations of certain sites on certain handsets. 3 says it is going to eradicate these problems by charging a set fee and making sure that its handsets support the content properly. The first handsets to be sold on the X-Series plan will be the Nokia N73 and the Sony Ericsson W950i Walkman phone. [Crave at CNET.co.uk:]
Technorati Tags: 3, Google, Marketing, Mobile, MSN, N-Series, N73, Nokia, Sling Media, Sony Ericsson, Yahoo
Cingular blocks certain SMS messages…
Quite a few new companies are starting to offer SMS configurations for mobile services via an SMS which can actually install a file on your device directly. This is great for a few reasons – It confirms the user’s device address and makes it easy to get going rather than worry about manual entry for adding settings to things which can actually be quite a pain for the average person.
Truphone offers an SMS configuration trust me when I say you don’t want to manually configure SIP on a phone. I was not able to get the SMS to arrive on my phone even with a full signal so I began to try and figure it out eventually getting some help over the phone…
GooSync is another service which can configure your device for use and as adding a sync service is a bit complex. Again, the SMS never arrived… Seems there are quite a few people in the group list who also had not received their messages and were also on Cingular.
A few threads later, it was revealed that there’s actually a binary multipart message being sent which is clearly being blocked by Cingular I’m sure as they think it might be something bad…
Truphone’s solution to this problem is to offer a download (two parts) from their site based on how their service works… not ideal, but you can get it done. I’d imagine that the average mobile VOIP user is not your average user anyway so a bit tech-duct tape to the rescue… Hopefully a work-around for Goosync will also come around. It’s unlikely that Cingular will unblock these type of service messages.
Hamilton College Gilded Bicycle Guild
There is a new free bike service – actually a Guild – which has been created by students so everyone can share and use 20 golden bikes to move about campus at Hamilton. Very cool!
The Gilded Bicycle Guild consists of a fleet of 20 used bikes, mostly classic 50’s-era one- and three- speeds. With funding from the Student Assembly, bikes were purchased from Welch’s Bike Shop in Utica for $40 dollars each and are now property of Hamilton College.
In late October a group of students got together to spray paint the bikes gold on what LaFiandra called “a really fun day.†After being painted, the bikes were all named by the students. LaFiandra wanted the names to “reflect the people who got the bikes here and the obscure and fun things behind the Guild.†The names cover a broad range and are derived from five languages including Chinese, French and Italian. They include “Bucephalus,†Alexander the Great’s horse, Horton, Buttons, Checkers, and more. According to LaFiandra, “the names reflect the sweetness of the Gilded Bicycle Guild.â€
Although there are no specific rules for the Gilded Bicycle Guild, the system runs on the community taking responsibility and being respectful of the bikes. LaFiandra wants it to be understood that “they are your bikes but they are also everyone else’s bikes.†According to LaFiandra, the bicycles are “fair game†and “are there for you to take them where you want.†If you see a bike you can hop on and pedal to wherever you need to go. This also means that if you ride a bike to the library it might not be there when you come out. [Hamilton College]
Technorati Tags: Bicycle, Hamilton College
Unbelievable!
This is the most disgusting and disturbing news I’ve read in a very long time.
Technorati Tags: news, OJ Simpson
Heading North loaded with VOIP options
I have a trip pending for this Sunday afternoon to Iceland on business… I’ve never been and actually will only be there for a night due to a combination of meetings and Thanksgiving week.
This is the first time I’ve been overseas without an international capable phone so I’ve been making a few tech plans to handle matters through VOIP.
I’ve got Gizmo on my Nokia 770 and Powerbook which can also do Skype and iChat. My Nokia E61 can do TruPhone and SipPhone, but since I reset the device last night I’ve only installed Truphone — which is running great btw and automatically is chosen as the callout option when I walk into my house…slick.
Since I’ll be looking to chat with my wife, only Gizmo/Sipphone and Truphone make sense so I can call the home phone and not have her have to be tethered to the computer far from practical with two kids running around…
I’m hoping I’ll be able to get Wifi so I can do things over the E61, but worst case, I’ll have to sit in the room near my computer to call out over a cable connection. Airport access should not be much of an issue either actually as there’s usually Wifi in the international terminals.
Technorati Tags: Gizmo Project, E61, Skype, VOIP, Truphone
Home networking tip of the day
We lost power for a change last night and while I thought everything was working when I left for work, my wife ended up having trouble with connectivity and the cable box. They are not connected in the same place so I ruled that out while troubleshooting over the phone… After running through a few things and a reboot I was stumped on her computer.
When I got home I discovered the problem.
My main airport is connected to a switched outlet temporarily while some work is being done in the house and it must have been switched off at some point during the day. It never occurred to me to even check this since Ashley was reporting a full airport signal. The signal was coming from an Airport Express… not connected to anything. We use a few to extend the signal around the house and clearly they appear normal even if their home base is down… doh!
The cable box eventually decided to cooperate as well…