Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category

What’s with the glowing Nokia N900 reviews?

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

I recently wrote about ditching my iPhone in favor of a Nokia 900. So far, it hasn’t really turned out the way I was hoping.
The N900, while unquestionably a powerful gadget, simply isn’t ready for prime time. Especially not when faced with competition such as the iPhone and load of Android based devices.

Off the top of my head, I can come up with exactly 4 features that the N900 has going for it:

  • It supports multitasking in a very usable way. Indeed multitasking becomes second nature in no time, when using the N900 on a daily basis
  • Deploying applications to the N900 is a breeze. Simply compile the application and scp it on to the phone.
  • Development in Qt for the N900 is not only supported, it is encouraged. Mmm… Qt. I may be biased
  • A massive screen resolution.

On the other hand, the list of deficiencies is just too long to ignore:

  • The worst touch screen of any device seen in the past few years. I mean, how did this ever pass alpha testing, much less make it to the assembly line? Compared to the the iPhone, the touchscreen is neither precise, nor responsive. It doesn’t support multi touch, and with the N900’s extreme screen resolution, using finger navigation is next to impossible (a link in the Maemo browser takes up around 6 square millimeters). And the stylus: well it’s just so damn 1990’s.
  • Portrait mode only supported in the Phone app. This is just plain horrible: In order to use the N900 as a phone, I need to unlock the screen (in landscape mode), start the phone app (or even worse, find the phone app in the list of running apps) still in landscape mode, once the phone app starts, I need to tilt the N900 by 90 degrees because, lo and behold, does in fact support running in portrait mode.
  • Next to no apps supported via the Ovi app store or apt archives. And the few apps that are actually to be found, are generally of mediocre quality. I am not going to go into details though, as it makes me depressed.
  • Kinetic scrolling of virtual desktops is sluggish and clunky. Specifically I expect kinetic scrolling to continue scrolling at the speed that I choose. The N900 however clunkily falls back to default speed as soon as I lift my finger from the swiping motion. Not a bug as such, but it sure doesn’t look all that impressive.
  • Syncing with my Mac involved downloading a 3rd party iSync profile from some guys web page. I realize that Apple computers isn’t the most widely used brand out there, but still…

The list goes on, but given that “I” paid close to 5000 DKK for the damn thing, I really don’t feel like continuing this rant for much longer.
Adding insult to injury, I actually gave my old iPhone to my wife, so going back isn’t even an option. Frick.

Posted in Gadgets, Me, Software | No Comments »

Tethering on the iPhone

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

Ok Apple, enough with the anal retentive arbitrary limitations.

What the fsck is up with removing tethering support for unauthorized carriers in iPhone os 3.1.2? Seriously, what could possibly excuse this lameass stunt? Oh wait, the Apple folks are probably making good on some backalley promise made to authorised carriers.

Maybe it’s time to try out the Nokia N900 with its sweet Qt support, even if it does look and feel like a brick.

Tags: ,
Posted in Gadgets, network, rants | No Comments »

iPhone

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

Like so many other fanboys, I bought an iPhone.

I never ever owned a gadget this nice. Much less a phone.

I just downloaded the iPhone SDK, in the hopes of getting around to playing with it. At least I hope I will have the opportunity to implement the “Hopper Lunch Sync application” for the iPhone. That would be sweet.

Now, if apple wasn’t quite so anal about restricting developer access to the thing, it would be damn near perfect.

Posted in Gadgets | No Comments »

Switching to a Mac Book Pro

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

As I wrote here, I’ve recently switched jobs. Although I haven’t actually started work, I have received my new laptop. It’s a brand spanking new Mac Book Pro. So I am now trying to figure out how and if I like Mac OS X compared to Xfce.

Mac Book Pro

So, what’s good and what’s bad about Mac OS X.

The good:

  • I absolutely love the tight integration between OS components. E.g. how easily bluetooth devices are configured via the user interface, how the user interface and network can be configured,  and how every hardware peripheral is instantly usable through the user interface. I can’t count the hours I have spent making these things sort of work Xubuntu/Xfce.
  • Software availability is generally better on Mac OS X than is the case on Linux, especially now that I have fink working. I especially like that I am now able to use reasonably new versions of skype and google earth.
  • My favorite games like Warcraft III and StarCraft work on OS X.
  • Applications may be bound to a specified virtual desktop, forcing them to display there, whenever they are started.
  • IPod integration is obviously very smooth.

The bad:

  • Poor keyboard shortcut support for manipulating windows. There are various hacks around which use apple script to support trivial things like maximizing any window. Basically, though, native OS X support for these things suck.
  •  No sloppy focus (or focus follows mouse). This is probably the biggest drawback of them all. For the life of me I cannot comprehend why people insist on clicking to give windows focus, when the same thing may be accomplished by simply moving the mouse.

More of these will probably surface when I’ve spent a bit more time with OS X.

Posted in Gadgets, Me, Software, Work | No Comments »

Streaming across a pair of PLE 200’s

Saturday, December 22nd, 2007

As I wrote in a previous post, I have recently found myself in need of a fast network connection from the kitchen to the XBOX 360. The USB based wireless network card for the XBOX 360 has exceptionally poor reception (especially if the XBOX is placed in a shelf or elsewhere out of sight), so wireless connections are out of the question for me. The idea of laying out CAT-5 cable throughout my house doesn’t really appeal to me either, as it is both unsightly and rather inflexible to work with. Also, the idea of even more cables in the living room is a difficult sell in a marriage.

So, what is a guy to do? I recently came across a review of some homeplug products, and even though review concluded that performance varies widely, depending on the exact topology of the electrical grid, I decided to give it a shot (Buying stuff online in Denmark means that it can be returned within 2 weeks for any reason, if the buyer decides to do so). So, I recently went ahead and ordered a couple of PLE200 units from shg.dk. I’ve now had a chance to hook them up, and see for myself what they can do. So far I am getting mixed results. Having hooked both units up through outlet boxes (ie. not directly into wall sockets), I get a sustained transfer rate of 1 MB/s (~8 Mb/s).  While that is sufficient for streaming most current DivX encoded movies, it is not nearly good enough for HD streaming (which requires up to 20 Mb/s). However, moving the PLE200 unit at the XBOX end to a wall socket, increased the speed to roughly 1.5 MB/s or 12 Mb/s. I suspect plugging the router end PLE200 directly into the wall may yield a similar speed increase, although I haven’t had a chance to test that.

All in all, the PLE200 falls far short of its theoretical speed limit of 200 Mb/s, but it does provide sufficient bandwidth for streaming non-HD encoded movies, which is what I need right now. And opposed to the wireless network, the PLE200 units provide a reliable connection. So, for the time being I am satisfied.

Now, if only XBLM would get here …

Posted in Gadgets, Gaming, network, xbox 360 | No Comments »

Streaming movies to the XBOX 360

Friday, December 7th, 2007

Just tonight I discovered TwonkyMedia, which allows my X61s running Ubuntu 7.10 to be used as a streaming media server in conjunction with my Xbox 360 unit. Coupled with the recently added Xbox 360 DivX support, I just got me a very nice livingroom media center. In fact, all I really need now, is a decent surround sound system to go with my Samsung LE-40M71B LCD TV.

There is onw downside to streaming movies to the Xbox 360 though, a semi-flaky wireless connection capable of delivering 4-5 mbit/s on a good day really doesn’t cut it. I guess I am going to have to wire up the living room one of these days. The wife is just gonna love that.

Or maybe I should look into those “IP over the power grid” thingies they are selling these days?

Posted in Gadgets, Software, xbox 360 | 1 Comment »

Shopping at pixmania.com

Tuesday, November 27th, 2007

Just yesterday I received my brand new Samsung SGH-U100 from pixmania.com. Given that pixmania.com received loads of bad publicity a year and a half ago, I thought I would write a few words about my experience.

I placed my order on the evening of november 16th, the phone was shipped on the 22nd, and I received it on november 26th. While that is not as fast as most domestic suppliers, I consider it OK for a retailer located in France.

Additionally, on november 21st I contacted pixmania customer services with a question related to my order, and I received a response at noon on the 22nd. That’s better than most danish retailers that I’ve had dealings with.

All in all, my experience so far is positive.

Posted in Gadgets, Me, Shopping | No Comments »