About time to make a change to this blog. I was a bit bored with the old lock, and there was to much manual stuff in there. So I just wiped everything and started anew with one of the standard templates.
In other news, I am now "certified" as a HSE person. In Norway, the management in every company are obliged by law to participate in a HSE course that lasts one day. Of course, the motivation and energy in search seminars that are mandatory could be so-so, but I think the course was quite ok, considering the circumstances. And I actually learned a few things.
I am still waiting for the N900 review by my coworker, maybe I just have to get one myself. But first I shall check out the Apple slate that the whole world belive will be on display 27. January...
And finally, a tiny piece in Norwegian: Hvorfor i all verden er det sånn at fjortiser som blogger om helt trivielle ting kan tjene en årslønn på blogg og ha titusenvis av lesere, mens jeg som skriver om skikkelig superseriøse ting enda ikke har fått en eneste utbetaling fra google adSense, etter å ha hatt adSense på bloggen min et par år minst! Ok, jeg er ikke så dum, jeg bare later som. Men det står masse spennende nerdestuff rundt her altså...
Ali, ali, ut å være sjåfør!
Showing posts with label gadget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gadget. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Testing a new device
Sure, I know I am late on this one as the device has been on the market for months. I am testing the Nokia E90, mostly as a better replacement for HTC TyTN II which I have tried in the past and my boss use now.
So far, I am really happy with the performance of the E90. The web browser included is so goos that I even write this post on the phone. The E61i was good, but this one is even better!
A more complete report will follow.
Take care!
So far, I am really happy with the performance of the E90. The web browser included is so goos that I even write this post on the phone. The E61i was good, but this one is even better!
A more complete report will follow.
Take care!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Update on Nokia N82
This will be a short post! I said I was impressed with the performance of the N82 after just a few days use. I am still impressed. It's the best phone I ever had, hands down. It's that "just works" feeling. It almost never go in deep freeze (I can't remember now if it actually have happend at all?). Even the GPS works fine. I have used it for navigation a few times, and it helped me to get where I needed to be.
Is it perfect? No, there is no such thing! The only thing I don't like is the keyboard. It is not comfortable to type on. The result is that I rarely write more than a few words at a time. A long email is out of question, at least it has to be extremely urgent. Most of the time I have the Oqo at hand to deal with such situations.
I have seen complaints about battery life on this device, but I don't think it's a big deal. The device is very powerful, so it consumes energy in big chunks. Still, I get it to last a couple of days, even more if I have to. I think this is what we have to expect.
For me, the N82 and the E61i combined will be the perfect device right now. Or an iPhone with similar specs. Let's dream on.
If someone wonder what happend to the TyTN II, I can tell you it died just a few days after I handed it our to my boss. Suddenly, the keys - all of them - stopped working.
It's in for repair, but it doesn't look good for HTC.
Take care, folks!
Is it perfect? No, there is no such thing! The only thing I don't like is the keyboard. It is not comfortable to type on. The result is that I rarely write more than a few words at a time. A long email is out of question, at least it has to be extremely urgent. Most of the time I have the Oqo at hand to deal with such situations.
I have seen complaints about battery life on this device, but I don't think it's a big deal. The device is very powerful, so it consumes energy in big chunks. Still, I get it to last a couple of days, even more if I have to. I think this is what we have to expect.
For me, the N82 and the E61i combined will be the perfect device right now. Or an iPhone with similar specs. Let's dream on.
If someone wonder what happend to the TyTN II, I can tell you it died just a few days after I handed it our to my boss. Suddenly, the keys - all of them - stopped working.
It's in for repair, but it doesn't look good for HTC.
Take care, folks!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Nokia N82 in the house!
I now have the Nokia N82! So far I am impressed. It is a very capable device. The camera is so much better than the E61i, the GPS works very well, and the HSDPA network is nice (and dangerous because of my dataplan). Besides that the device function very much as the E61i which I liked very much. From time to time I miss the keyboard of the E61i, but I have to give it more time to conclude.
The HTC TyTN II is now passed on to a colleague of mine. It worked relatively stable, I just had to reboot it a couple of times. The camera was not as good as on the first TyTN, but still much better than the E61i. I keyboard have an awkward feel - you're not certain you pressed the key, so from time to time I pressed twice by accident. The keyboard on the E61i is much better, but the TyTN II (as the first TyTN) is much more comfortable to hold in your hands.
While the TyTN II works much better than the first TyTN, at least in this short time I have used it, it is still not a device for me. I blame the OS most, but probably have to blame my willingness to adapt as well! More important though, is the fact that the TyTN II and the Oqo O2 is to close in functionallity. I chose to go for a smaller phone and the Oqo O2. Maybe I'll try to get my hands on the Nokia N810 as well, I think that will be a better inbetween device than the Oqo.
One last thing about the TyTN II. The GPS device and the Tomtom software works quite well. Together with the assisted GPS software that get some info from the internet to precondition the GPS, it very quickly locks in and starts showing correct location. I have one small nit though. First time you boot Tomtom you can select and download one free city. I, of course, downloaded Oslo, Norway, as this is where I live. But I got the impression that I could download other cities so far. So, when I traveld to Berlin last week, I thought I just could pay a few $10's and download Berlin. That proved not to be possible. I could have bought the full Western Europe for like $60. Problem was that this was a 1GB download - at the time I figured that out it was too late for such a big download over my ADSL, I would have been on the plane long before it could have finished. So I had to stay in Berlin using the old style maps. This was not as flexible as it should have been!
Stay tuned, I'll report on the Nokia N82 soon!
The HTC TyTN II is now passed on to a colleague of mine. It worked relatively stable, I just had to reboot it a couple of times. The camera was not as good as on the first TyTN, but still much better than the E61i. I keyboard have an awkward feel - you're not certain you pressed the key, so from time to time I pressed twice by accident. The keyboard on the E61i is much better, but the TyTN II (as the first TyTN) is much more comfortable to hold in your hands.
While the TyTN II works much better than the first TyTN, at least in this short time I have used it, it is still not a device for me. I blame the OS most, but probably have to blame my willingness to adapt as well! More important though, is the fact that the TyTN II and the Oqo O2 is to close in functionallity. I chose to go for a smaller phone and the Oqo O2. Maybe I'll try to get my hands on the Nokia N810 as well, I think that will be a better inbetween device than the Oqo.
One last thing about the TyTN II. The GPS device and the Tomtom software works quite well. Together with the assisted GPS software that get some info from the internet to precondition the GPS, it very quickly locks in and starts showing correct location. I have one small nit though. First time you boot Tomtom you can select and download one free city. I, of course, downloaded Oslo, Norway, as this is where I live. But I got the impression that I could download other cities so far. So, when I traveld to Berlin last week, I thought I just could pay a few $10's and download Berlin. That proved not to be possible. I could have bought the full Western Europe for like $60. Problem was that this was a 1GB download - at the time I figured that out it was too late for such a big download over my ADSL, I would have been on the plane long before it could have finished. So I had to stay in Berlin using the old style maps. This was not as flexible as it should have been!
Stay tuned, I'll report on the Nokia N82 soon!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
I'm still here!
I have been kind of quiet lately. The main reason is probably that my wife and I have another child to take care of - those folks who follows me closely know that we got anoterh daughter on 8. october. She is sweet and cute and sleeps almost all day, as common for babies. Still, with more kids there will be some more work to do, and while we adapt to the new situations, there will be a bit less writing.
I have some things that I will write up on as soon as time permits. On the Oqo O2, I am testing Windows Vista now. I had some issues with linux, and wanted to test Vista such that I can make a fair comparision. I have run Vista for a full month now, and will write up on that. On friday I also got a brand new HTC TyTN II. This is a Windows Mobile version 6 device, and a nice followup to the HTC TyTN I have used in the past. I will check back on my earlier notes on the TyTN and see if this one is better. I am not supposed to keep this device for myself, as I just check it out for one of the bosses at Simula Research Lab. But that depends of course. If it's bad, I have to keep it, while if it is just good enough, I let the boss have it. If I enjoy the device very much, I buy another one for the boss and keep this one myself ;0
I am also awaiting the new Nokia N82, and will review that device when I get it.
One of the really bad things with the Nokia E61i is the camera. If the camera in TyTN II is close to that in the original TyTN, I might restart my photo-a-day project which I just closed down when the TyTN died as the E61i was just to bad.
I will be back soon! Take care.
I have some things that I will write up on as soon as time permits. On the Oqo O2, I am testing Windows Vista now. I had some issues with linux, and wanted to test Vista such that I can make a fair comparision. I have run Vista for a full month now, and will write up on that. On friday I also got a brand new HTC TyTN II. This is a Windows Mobile version 6 device, and a nice followup to the HTC TyTN I have used in the past. I will check back on my earlier notes on the TyTN and see if this one is better. I am not supposed to keep this device for myself, as I just check it out for one of the bosses at Simula Research Lab. But that depends of course. If it's bad, I have to keep it, while if it is just good enough, I let the boss have it. If I enjoy the device very much, I buy another one for the boss and keep this one myself ;0
I am also awaiting the new Nokia N82, and will review that device when I get it.
One of the really bad things with the Nokia E61i is the camera. If the camera in TyTN II is close to that in the original TyTN, I might restart my photo-a-day project which I just closed down when the TyTN died as the E61i was just to bad.
I will be back soon! Take care.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Was I dreaming?
Some time ago I read about the new Sony Ericsson K850 phone. From what I remember, the phone was supposed to have edge, 3G and super-3G radio, and maybe even wifi. In additionit has a nice camera and other goodies. But maybe it was just a dream? Now the phone is in the stores. And from what I can tell there is no edge and no super-3G. Come on, Sony Ericsson - data connectivity is important to lots of folk these days. Even for uploading those 5megapixel pictures. And there are still lots of places with poor 3G coverage, so edge is still quite handy.
I was really hoping that the K850 could have been the phone that brought me back to Sony Ericsson, the brand I liked so much in the past. But there are too many errors with it now that it is on the market. So I think I just stay with the Nokia E61i for a while, or I switch to a N95 since I have the Oqo O2 for the occasions I need a keyboard.
Was I dreaming, or was the spec of the K850 changed on the official Sony Ericsson pages at some point in time?
[Update 27.10.2007:] According to reviews on Norwegian it/phone sites (amobil.no), the K850 actually got both Edge and super-3g. So I wasn't dreaming after all. I have to rush to the store to get one...
I was really hoping that the K850 could have been the phone that brought me back to Sony Ericsson, the brand I liked so much in the past. But there are too many errors with it now that it is on the market. So I think I just stay with the Nokia E61i for a while, or I switch to a N95 since I have the Oqo O2 for the occasions I need a keyboard.
Was I dreaming, or was the spec of the K850 changed on the official Sony Ericsson pages at some point in time?
[Update 27.10.2007:] According to reviews on Norwegian it/phone sites (amobil.no), the K850 actually got both Edge and super-3g. So I wasn't dreaming after all. I have to rush to the store to get one...
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Oqo-folks, I am impressed!
I have been using portable computers on a daily basis for about 10 years now. Yet, I have never before had a notebook that I was able to use comfortably outdoor in sunshine. I knew already that the screen on the Oqo O2 is bright, but doesn't realize before now how good it is outdoor!
Right now I am sitting on my veranda, and pulled out the oqo to see if I was able to connect my Canon 350D and get some photos off it. For a change, it is also nice summer-weather today, with bright sunlight. And I can use the Oqo O2 just fine. I can even keep the screen brightness on about 50%. This was totally unexpected. I expected it to be possible with some effort, turning with the sun and try to fine some shading, and so on. But I can just use it . Great!
Just had to tell you! Take care!
Right now I am sitting on my veranda, and pulled out the oqo to see if I was able to connect my Canon 350D and get some photos off it. For a change, it is also nice summer-weather today, with bright sunlight. And I can use the Oqo O2 just fine. I can even keep the screen brightness on about 50%. This was totally unexpected. I expected it to be possible with some effort, turning with the sun and try to fine some shading, and so on. But I can just use it . Great!
Just had to tell you! Take care!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Ubuntu linux on Oqo O2
In short terms: it works! It even works well.
But if you want to test the same thing your self, you should know that there are a little more to the story. There were some issues during installation, and there are some during use. The main things during installation was:
1. Small screen makes installation a bit harder. The reason is that the standard Ubuntu installer (at least for Feisty fawn, or 7.04 if you like) is optimized for larger screens. I'm not sure it is possible to use that installer on the small Oqo screen at all, and if it is it is at least not easy. Tick the checkbox for 'alternate cd' when you download the Ubuntu iso-image from www.ubuntu.com, as that gives you a text-based install instead. And don't be afraid, it is rather slick to be a text-based installer!
Boot from the alternate cd, choose to install the system. For partitioning, I just use the 'Entire disk' option as I like to wipe out the Windows, but you may have other preferences. The whole install takes about an hour and gives you most of what you need.
2. After installation is finished, you may not be able to boot into the new Ubuntu system. I couldn't at least. The reason is that the hardrive, or actually the ide controller, is not detected correctly by the kernel. What I recommend is to just leave the alternate install cd in the drive and reboot. Then you will choose the Rescue mode option, choose your root filesystem according to how you partitioned, and finally execute a shell in that root. Now you need to edit the file /etc/initramfs-tools/modules and add a line with 'ide-generic'. This will trigger that the module 'ide-generic' is loaded when grub boots the system, and your drive will be detected. After you close that file, you will need to run 'update-initramfs -u' to update the initrd file.
3. While you're in the shell in the root filesystem, you should also open the configuration file for the X server, /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and add some necessary information for the screen. The lines you need to have in the "Monitor" section are:
HorizSync 30-92
VertRefresh 50-85
Modeline "800x480" 40 800 864 928 1088 480 481 484 509 +HSync
Also, add the mode "800x480" in the Modes line for the "Display" settings inside the "Screen" section.
These are all the changes you need. Exit from the shell, and reboot - remember to remove the install cd from the drive. You should now boot into the Ubuntu system and are ready to go.
As mentioned by others who have tried similar things, the mouse pointer will behave funny in the beginning. Most people belive it has something to do with the data from the touch scrollers. After a short while the mouse pointer settles down and you can use the system. The other thing that does not work out of the box is the wacom pen - so far I have not figured out how to configure that (If someone knows I like to hear!).
Things that do work out of the box: Bluetooth (I am writing this on the ThinkOutside iGo Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard), wireless network (I am connected to the wireless network in my house right now!), wired network on the docking station. Also, suspend/resume works - which makes the mouse problem after boot less important as you really shouldn't need to boot that often. Hibernate does not work out of the box, though, so I still have some research to do there. Maybe I just need to prepare a device or something, I really haven't used hibernation much in the past but see that it may be important on the Oqo.
Now, I will use the device for a while and write up things about my experience with it later on. I guess interesting things will be how I move data on and off the device to have what I need when on the road, battery life, applications, and so on.
Take care!
But if you want to test the same thing your self, you should know that there are a little more to the story. There were some issues during installation, and there are some during use. The main things during installation was:
- Small screen makes installation harder
- Necessary modifications to boot the machine right
- Modifications for X.
1. Small screen makes installation a bit harder. The reason is that the standard Ubuntu installer (at least for Feisty fawn, or 7.04 if you like) is optimized for larger screens. I'm not sure it is possible to use that installer on the small Oqo screen at all, and if it is it is at least not easy. Tick the checkbox for 'alternate cd' when you download the Ubuntu iso-image from www.ubuntu.com, as that gives you a text-based install instead. And don't be afraid, it is rather slick to be a text-based installer!
Boot from the alternate cd, choose to install the system. For partitioning, I just use the 'Entire disk' option as I like to wipe out the Windows, but you may have other preferences. The whole install takes about an hour and gives you most of what you need.
2. After installation is finished, you may not be able to boot into the new Ubuntu system. I couldn't at least. The reason is that the hardrive, or actually the ide controller, is not detected correctly by the kernel. What I recommend is to just leave the alternate install cd in the drive and reboot. Then you will choose the Rescue mode option, choose your root filesystem according to how you partitioned, and finally execute a shell in that root. Now you need to edit the file /etc/initramfs-tools/modules and add a line with 'ide-generic'. This will trigger that the module 'ide-generic' is loaded when grub boots the system, and your drive will be detected. After you close that file, you will need to run 'update-initramfs -u' to update the initrd file.
3. While you're in the shell in the root filesystem, you should also open the configuration file for the X server, /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and add some necessary information for the screen. The lines you need to have in the "Monitor" section are:
HorizSync 30-92
VertRefresh 50-85
Modeline "800x480" 40 800 864 928 1088 480 481 484 509 +HSync
Also, add the mode "800x480" in the Modes line for the "Display" settings inside the "Screen" section.
These are all the changes you need. Exit from the shell, and reboot - remember to remove the install cd from the drive. You should now boot into the Ubuntu system and are ready to go.
As mentioned by others who have tried similar things, the mouse pointer will behave funny in the beginning. Most people belive it has something to do with the data from the touch scrollers. After a short while the mouse pointer settles down and you can use the system. The other thing that does not work out of the box is the wacom pen - so far I have not figured out how to configure that (If someone knows I like to hear!).
Things that do work out of the box: Bluetooth (I am writing this on the ThinkOutside iGo Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard), wireless network (I am connected to the wireless network in my house right now!), wired network on the docking station. Also, suspend/resume works - which makes the mouse problem after boot less important as you really shouldn't need to boot that often. Hibernate does not work out of the box, though, so I still have some research to do there. Maybe I just need to prepare a device or something, I really haven't used hibernation much in the past but see that it may be important on the Oqo.
Now, I will use the device for a while and write up things about my experience with it later on. I guess interesting things will be how I move data on and off the device to have what I need when on the road, battery life, applications, and so on.
Take care!
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Nokia E61i as a modem for Macbook Pro
I had some questions regarding Nokia E61i as modem for my Macbook Pro in the past. I have posted how I got that working as a comment on one of the E61i posts (the one about Nokia and Papyrus, I'll dig up the link).
Please, read my comment, and post further questions here!
Btw, I am posting this from my Macbook Pro connected to the 'net over bluetooth and the E61i. So it works!
update: This is the interesting post!
Take care,
Please, read my comment, and post further questions here!
Btw, I am posting this from my Macbook Pro connected to the 'net over bluetooth and the E61i. So it works!
update: This is the interesting post!
Take care,
Friday, June 22, 2007
Oqo, where are you...
As I am in Santa Clara, California now, I thought about picking up an Oqo O2 while I am here. Being in the technological center of the world, I supposed that should be possible. Also, since Oqo is San Francisco based, it should be even more possible.
According to the Oqo website, MicroCenter is a retailer for the Oqo, and there happen to be a shop just a couple of blocks away from the hotel I am staying in. So I went to the shop and asked for the Oqo. Unfortunately, they were out. Not even out as in no exemplar for sale, but they even didn't have one on display. The salesperson told me that the Oqo is so popular that they got a list of people waiting for one, and as soon as they get shipments, they call people on the list and the Oqos goes out of the door again. I saved some $2000, which is probably not a bad thing.
I can go buy one on the internet of course, but it is kind of scary buying something I even have not held in my hands. As I have mentioned before, I am happy to this day that I didn't got stuck with the Sony UX50 as it turned out to be horrible in my hands when I finally got to hold it. I think the Oqo O2 is very different, but I have to be sure.
I am visiting Chicago on my way home, maybe I can pick up one there...
Some of you might wonder what's up with the Usenix annual tech conference, as this is where I am right now. I think it is kind of average. Some good talks, some not so good. And nothing special to report like big braking news or anything like that. I got the chance to speak with Guido van Rossum though, which was of course kind of cool for someone like me using Python all the time - I enjoyed that. I have also made some new friends, both from Norway and from USA - which is always good and a main reason for going to conferences. So all in all, it was ok for me to be here. Tomorrow I take off and head east.
Take care!
According to the Oqo website, MicroCenter is a retailer for the Oqo, and there happen to be a shop just a couple of blocks away from the hotel I am staying in. So I went to the shop and asked for the Oqo. Unfortunately, they were out. Not even out as in no exemplar for sale, but they even didn't have one on display. The salesperson told me that the Oqo is so popular that they got a list of people waiting for one, and as soon as they get shipments, they call people on the list and the Oqos goes out of the door again. I saved some $2000, which is probably not a bad thing.
I can go buy one on the internet of course, but it is kind of scary buying something I even have not held in my hands. As I have mentioned before, I am happy to this day that I didn't got stuck with the Sony UX50 as it turned out to be horrible in my hands when I finally got to hold it. I think the Oqo O2 is very different, but I have to be sure.
I am visiting Chicago on my way home, maybe I can pick up one there...
Some of you might wonder what's up with the Usenix annual tech conference, as this is where I am right now. I think it is kind of average. Some good talks, some not so good. And nothing special to report like big braking news or anything like that. I got the chance to speak with Guido van Rossum though, which was of course kind of cool for someone like me using Python all the time - I enjoyed that. I have also made some new friends, both from Norway and from USA - which is always good and a main reason for going to conferences. So all in all, it was ok for me to be here. Tomorrow I take off and head east.
Take care!
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Nokia E61i and Papyrus
Hi, I got some questions about the E61i and Papyrus. To be more exact, the question was if it was possible to see detailed notes on tasks and events. Today I have downloaded and installed a trial version of Papyrus for Symbian S60, v.9.1. The version of Papyrus I have installed is 1.2.13, as the latest version, 1.2.14, use some funny language when used on my E61i with Norwegian menus.
I can at least confirm that the longer notes does show up when Papyrus is used. So you guys out there who want the notes and like to use Papyrus - you can go ahead and make the purchase.
Besides that, thanks for the tip about Papyrus. It looks some much nicer than the default calendar application! I guess I have to buy it in order to test it as default calendar application (now, I have to open it each time I want to look at it). Comments are appreciated on that.
Take care,
I can at least confirm that the longer notes does show up when Papyrus is used. So you guys out there who want the notes and like to use Papyrus - you can go ahead and make the purchase.
Besides that, thanks for the tip about Papyrus. It looks some much nicer than the default calendar application! I guess I have to buy it in order to test it as default calendar application (now, I have to open it each time I want to look at it). Comments are appreciated on that.
Take care,
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Nokia E61i and FoneLink
Today, there was a post on JKonTheRun about a product named FoneLink. This is supposed to be a better piece of software for syncing information between a Mac and a Symbian S60 based phone.
As I have both a Mac (actually, a couple of them) and the Nokia E61i, I wanted to give it a run. I grabed the demo version at the webpage. Installation was OSX-smooth as usual, and then I launched the application. And, man, this was a smooth experience. It quickly figured out which was the relevant phone among my bluetooth connections, and started collecting information after my confirmation that this was the right device to collect from. It went stright away making a backup of all the information in the phone, but it is also possible to put the backup procedure into the background to perform other tasks at the same time.
I just mess around in the application for a while. This works really smooth, and seems to be so much nicer than the iSync. If I can get this to sync my Mac and the Phone regularly whenever those are close to each other bluetooth-wise, I think this is a keeper.
For those who like to know such things - the notes in events and todos does not seems to be synced over to the phone with this application either. Have to look more carefully into that (and have not got around to test papyrus yet, as suggested in comments here).
This was just a short notice, I have to go to bed now. More on FoneLink if I buy it!
As I have both a Mac (actually, a couple of them) and the Nokia E61i, I wanted to give it a run. I grabed the demo version at the webpage. Installation was OSX-smooth as usual, and then I launched the application. And, man, this was a smooth experience. It quickly figured out which was the relevant phone among my bluetooth connections, and started collecting information after my confirmation that this was the right device to collect from. It went stright away making a backup of all the information in the phone, but it is also possible to put the backup procedure into the background to perform other tasks at the same time.
I just mess around in the application for a while. This works really smooth, and seems to be so much nicer than the iSync. If I can get this to sync my Mac and the Phone regularly whenever those are close to each other bluetooth-wise, I think this is a keeper.
For those who like to know such things - the notes in events and todos does not seems to be synced over to the phone with this application either. Have to look more carefully into that (and have not got around to test papyrus yet, as suggested in comments here).
This was just a short notice, I have to go to bed now. More on FoneLink if I buy it!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Notes on Nokia E61i
A few weeks ago I switched smartphone. The last 6 months I have used the HTC TyTN on a daily basis, and was satisfied with the hardware although I of course have a hard time with the operating system. As I already have written up something on the HTC, I don't want to go into any detail on that. But as you already know, I switched to the Nokia E61i, running the 3rd generation of the S60 system - a old and well proven operating system, but still new to me.
Let us start with the conclusions! The e61i is a solid phone, with a solid operating system. So far I have had to reboot the phone just a couple of times to fix problems with some applications, but not by taking out the battery as I had to do each other day with the TyTN; only third-party applications was locked up and the phone was still functional. So reboot have only been a convenience thing. Other things on the positive side is good messaging functionality, easy access to, and well-functioning wifi system, and great selection of software due to the S60 system. So all in all I am satisfied, and will probably keep it for a while. But read on, there are quite a few things on the negative side as well. For instance, the camera is totally crap.
In the past I have used Windows mobile 5, Sony Ericssons Symbian/UIQ (P800i and M600i), as well as the more regular Sony Ericsson system. While these systems are quite different, the Symbian S60 can be compared to the first two. It is obvious that the S60 have been around for a while, with a lot more bugs nailed out. It feels more solid. Maybe not super-fast all the time, but it does the job. On the negative side, though, there are often too many steps to go through to complete an action. If I want to send an SMS, for instance, I have to go through 5 steps (depending on how you count) on the S60, while on the Sony Ericsson UIQ there are only about 3 steps if you want to send to someone you send to regularly. I haven't done a scientific comparison as I should as a researcher, but in general I feel I have to use more time to perform the same action on the S60 compared to the other two.
On the positive side, you can't get past the large selection of software available for the S60. Maybe comparable to WM5, and far more than what's available for the UIQ. The putty ssh-client is very usable. I also use Fring for Skype/MSN/GTalk and the Gmail application. All work very well. Also, S60 is generally better supported when it comes to sync/desktop access than the other two. While the situation in general is good for all the systems if you use Windows on your computer, the S60 is far better if you are either a linux or osx user like me.
The E61i is light, and it is slim. While the form factor is a bit unusual, it is easy to carry around either in a shirt pocket or in your jacket. I even stick it in the back of my jeans if I have to. But generally I carry it in a Krusell pouch with a belt-clip. As the weight is so low, I hardly recognize it's there.
The display is very good. It's bright in almost any light condition and have better colors than I have had on any phone in the past (and as you know, I have tested quite a few...). While the resolution is not extremely high considering the size of the screen, I have find it to be sufficient for all my needs.
When it comes to the keys, I have to say they are good. The feedback is nice - when I type messages I rarely mistype. As there are many keys on the phone, there are also room for a few shortcuts which helps out with problem I have with to many steps to perform certain actions in the S60 system. But, there is a big downside for me here. It is not comfortable typing on the phone. While the phone is wide for a phone, it is still to small to hold and thumbtype comfortable with my not so very big hands. The TyTN have the keyboard as a slide-out in "landscape" orientation. Hence the keyboard is wider, and much more comfortable. My hands starts aching even when I type moderate sized emails on the E61i, so I rarly do that. Still, if I have to type a message, the system is very capable, and works all the time. So compared to the other smartphones I have used, I have to rate this above them.
I will make the story on the camera supplied in this phone very short. Nokia had some left overs on the shelf. They put it into the E61i. Period. It's too crappy. To be honest, though, I am not sure whether it is the camera it self, or the totally crappy, horrible post processing done in the phone after a picture is captured. It seems that they sharpen every image beyond any reasonable imagination, and bump the saturation as well. Does not look good at all.
The Nokia E61i is equipped with Wifi, Bluetooth, 3G/UMTS, Edge, gprs. A lot of connectivity. From time to time I am not sure which one of these is being used. Probably this is just some details in the S60 symbian system I have to figure out. An example: I open the E-mail application, and connect to my IMAP account on wireless lan in my house. I leave this running in the background, and open the webbrowser to check something. In this case I have recognized that the webbrowser from time to time use either the UMTS or the Edge connection instead of the wifi, althought wifi is already connected. I can not explain what is going on, and whether the fault is mine or Nokias. Maybe I am even mistaken... At least, there are things to be sorted out here.
The conclusion was already given above, so I stop here.
In other news, I have start looking for a replacement for my Fujitsu Siemens P1510 (which I write this on). I am looking at either the oqo O2, or some of the newer UMPCs. Fujitsu Siemens is also out with a small thingy. But I'm not in a hurry on this.
Also, I will travel to WWDC'07 and then USENIX'07 (in San Francisco and Santa Clara, respectively) in mid-june. If someone want to meet up and discuss Qtpfsgui on Mac, small devices, have a flickr-meetup, or something else - please drop me a comment!
Take care.
Let us start with the conclusions! The e61i is a solid phone, with a solid operating system. So far I have had to reboot the phone just a couple of times to fix problems with some applications, but not by taking out the battery as I had to do each other day with the TyTN; only third-party applications was locked up and the phone was still functional. So reboot have only been a convenience thing. Other things on the positive side is good messaging functionality, easy access to, and well-functioning wifi system, and great selection of software due to the S60 system. So all in all I am satisfied, and will probably keep it for a while. But read on, there are quite a few things on the negative side as well. For instance, the camera is totally crap.
The S60 system
In the past I have used Windows mobile 5, Sony Ericssons Symbian/UIQ (P800i and M600i), as well as the more regular Sony Ericsson system. While these systems are quite different, the Symbian S60 can be compared to the first two. It is obvious that the S60 have been around for a while, with a lot more bugs nailed out. It feels more solid. Maybe not super-fast all the time, but it does the job. On the negative side, though, there are often too many steps to go through to complete an action. If I want to send an SMS, for instance, I have to go through 5 steps (depending on how you count) on the S60, while on the Sony Ericsson UIQ there are only about 3 steps if you want to send to someone you send to regularly. I haven't done a scientific comparison as I should as a researcher, but in general I feel I have to use more time to perform the same action on the S60 compared to the other two.
On the positive side, you can't get past the large selection of software available for the S60. Maybe comparable to WM5, and far more than what's available for the UIQ. The putty ssh-client is very usable. I also use Fring for Skype/MSN/GTalk and the Gmail application. All work very well. Also, S60 is generally better supported when it comes to sync/desktop access than the other two. While the situation in general is good for all the systems if you use Windows on your computer, the S60 is far better if you are either a linux or osx user like me.
The E61i hardware
The E61i is light, and it is slim. While the form factor is a bit unusual, it is easy to carry around either in a shirt pocket or in your jacket. I even stick it in the back of my jeans if I have to. But generally I carry it in a Krusell pouch with a belt-clip. As the weight is so low, I hardly recognize it's there.
The display is very good. It's bright in almost any light condition and have better colors than I have had on any phone in the past (and as you know, I have tested quite a few...). While the resolution is not extremely high considering the size of the screen, I have find it to be sufficient for all my needs.
When it comes to the keys, I have to say they are good. The feedback is nice - when I type messages I rarely mistype. As there are many keys on the phone, there are also room for a few shortcuts which helps out with problem I have with to many steps to perform certain actions in the S60 system. But, there is a big downside for me here. It is not comfortable typing on the phone. While the phone is wide for a phone, it is still to small to hold and thumbtype comfortable with my not so very big hands. The TyTN have the keyboard as a slide-out in "landscape" orientation. Hence the keyboard is wider, and much more comfortable. My hands starts aching even when I type moderate sized emails on the E61i, so I rarly do that. Still, if I have to type a message, the system is very capable, and works all the time. So compared to the other smartphones I have used, I have to rate this above them.
I will make the story on the camera supplied in this phone very short. Nokia had some left overs on the shelf. They put it into the E61i. Period. It's too crappy. To be honest, though, I am not sure whether it is the camera it self, or the totally crappy, horrible post processing done in the phone after a picture is captured. It seems that they sharpen every image beyond any reasonable imagination, and bump the saturation as well. Does not look good at all.
Other thoughts
The Nokia E61i is equipped with Wifi, Bluetooth, 3G/UMTS, Edge, gprs. A lot of connectivity. From time to time I am not sure which one of these is being used. Probably this is just some details in the S60 symbian system I have to figure out. An example: I open the E-mail application, and connect to my IMAP account on wireless lan in my house. I leave this running in the background, and open the webbrowser to check something. In this case I have recognized that the webbrowser from time to time use either the UMTS or the Edge connection instead of the wifi, althought wifi is already connected. I can not explain what is going on, and whether the fault is mine or Nokias. Maybe I am even mistaken... At least, there are things to be sorted out here.
The conclusion was already given above, so I stop here.
In other news, I have start looking for a replacement for my Fujitsu Siemens P1510 (which I write this on). I am looking at either the oqo O2, or some of the newer UMPCs. Fujitsu Siemens is also out with a small thingy. But I'm not in a hurry on this.
Also, I will travel to WWDC'07 and then USENIX'07 (in San Francisco and Santa Clara, respectively) in mid-june. If someone want to meet up and discuss Qtpfsgui on Mac, small devices, have a flickr-meetup, or something else - please drop me a comment!
Take care.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
How I get the Nokia E61i working for me
These are some notes a made while setting up the Nokia E61i phone such that it works for me.
My main requirements are:
Email
Setting up email for my company account took me a few minutes. First time I started the email application on the phone, it asked me whether I wanted to set up an account. Sure, I did, so I went through the wizard, entering in imap and smtp server, account information and so on. After that, nothing works. Of course, I knew that our server requires SSL/TLS, but as I was not asked about security during the wizard phase, I just assumed it detected these things by it self. But it didn't. After consulting the booklet that came with the phone, I figured out where to go. After turning on SSL/TLS for both in- and outbound messages, and entering account information for our smtp server, I can send and receive messages. It even supports the concept of selecting a subset of folders on the imap server for synchronization, and actually just shows me thoses selected folders when I open the mail application. A life-saver for me. Now, I have set the phone up to automatically download email from 3 different folders, every day of the week between 16:00 and 02:00, every half hour. That should cover my requirements just fine.
Then I moved on with GMail. First, I opened the webbrowser using the WiFi connection we have at home. Entered in http://gmail.com, and on the top of the GMail page I was asked whether I want "Faster GMail for phone". Of course I want faster GMail, so I followed the link. This downloads a S60 (or maybe Java?) application that works quite nice on the E61i. So far I have to select the internet connection to use for the GMail application each time I start it, but I guess this is something that can be adjusted.
Bluetooth is of course working flawlessly on this device. New to me was that I had to go into the Bluetooth system after pairing a device to mark it as an authorized device. On devices I have had in the past, this was a question during the pairing phase. But as soon as I figured this out, it really doesn't matter - just different ways of doing things.
After sending a few pictures to the desktop Mac just to see that Bluetooth is working, I proceed to the syncing issue. Actually, I attached the usb-phone cable first, and started iSync, but scan for new device in iSync does not find the phone. So I went to goole instead, and found this page at Nokia where it is possible to download an iSync plugin for many Nokia phones, the E61i beeing among them. As told on that page, I closed iSync, installed the plugin. Then I used the "Setup new Bluetooth device" in the Bluetooth system on the Mac, and put the phone in discoverable mode. The phone was detected just fine, and I had the option of selecting it for iSync use and as a modem. I selected both. Now iSync started up in the configure new device mode, with some reasonable defaults. I adjusted which calendars in iCal to synchronize with the phone and did a few other adjustments. Then I pressed the "Sync Devices" button in iSync, and suddenly all my events and all my contacts are on the phone. Quite nice.
As I selected the phone for use as a modem during the Bluetooth setup, that is probably ok already, but it remains to be tested.
Ssh from the phone is coverd by installing PuTTY for S60. As stated on the s2putty page right now, I went for the "unofficial build" of PuTTY, as some nasty bugs on v.3 of S60 have been clean up in some recent builds. This PuTTY works very well. Actually, I went to the s2putty page using the browser on the phone on my WiFi connection, dowloaded a zip with the application. Within a minute, it was downloaded, installed, and running. As the E61i have a full keyboard, even with a Ctrl key, I can connect to a linux server at work, attaching a screen I have running, and instantly chat on irc channels and read news. And do all sorts of other things I regularly do in a shell.
As I want to be able to use Skype, GTalk and maybe even MSN from the phone, I also installed fring. The installation and getting started part is very nicely covered on that webpage, so I want say anything more about it. Just go there, type in the required information. You will then get a text message with download instruction, and in just a few minutes you have all the internet-phone and chat connectivity you ever want.
From time to time I may want to IRC directly from the phone. To cover this, I installed mIRGGI. It just works. Probably, I will usually use PuTTY, and the screen on my linux server, if I need to use IRC, but you'll never know. It is nice to have.
As you can see, most things are comming along quite nice. I guess there will be annoying things creeping up when I dig deeper down, but so far I am happy with the E61i. I will get back with a review on how it works for me in the daily life after I have used it for a week or two.
Stay tuned, and take care!
My main requirements are:
- Beeing able to call people from my phone (!)
- Reading email, both my company imap account and GMail.
- Syncing events and contacts with my MacOSX computer
- Ssh from the phone
- Using phone as modem for the Mac
- Using phone as modem for my linux laptop
- More secondary, IRC, GTalk, MSN, etc. from the phone.
- And probably some more
Setting up email for my company account took me a few minutes. First time I started the email application on the phone, it asked me whether I wanted to set up an account. Sure, I did, so I went through the wizard, entering in imap and smtp server, account information and so on. After that, nothing works. Of course, I knew that our server requires SSL/TLS, but as I was not asked about security during the wizard phase, I just assumed it detected these things by it self. But it didn't. After consulting the booklet that came with the phone, I figured out where to go. After turning on SSL/TLS for both in- and outbound messages, and entering account information for our smtp server, I can send and receive messages. It even supports the concept of selecting a subset of folders on the imap server for synchronization, and actually just shows me thoses selected folders when I open the mail application. A life-saver for me. Now, I have set the phone up to automatically download email from 3 different folders, every day of the week between 16:00 and 02:00, every half hour. That should cover my requirements just fine.
Then I moved on with GMail. First, I opened the webbrowser using the WiFi connection we have at home. Entered in http://gmail.com, and on the top of the GMail page I was asked whether I want "Faster GMail for phone". Of course I want faster GMail, so I followed the link. This downloads a S60 (or maybe Java?) application that works quite nice on the E61i. So far I have to select the internet connection to use for the GMail application each time I start it, but I guess this is something that can be adjusted.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is of course working flawlessly on this device. New to me was that I had to go into the Bluetooth system after pairing a device to mark it as an authorized device. On devices I have had in the past, this was a question during the pairing phase. But as soon as I figured this out, it really doesn't matter - just different ways of doing things.
After sending a few pictures to the desktop Mac just to see that Bluetooth is working, I proceed to the syncing issue. Actually, I attached the usb-phone cable first, and started iSync, but scan for new device in iSync does not find the phone. So I went to goole instead, and found this page at Nokia where it is possible to download an iSync plugin for many Nokia phones, the E61i beeing among them. As told on that page, I closed iSync, installed the plugin. Then I used the "Setup new Bluetooth device" in the Bluetooth system on the Mac, and put the phone in discoverable mode. The phone was detected just fine, and I had the option of selecting it for iSync use and as a modem. I selected both. Now iSync started up in the configure new device mode, with some reasonable defaults. I adjusted which calendars in iCal to synchronize with the phone and did a few other adjustments. Then I pressed the "Sync Devices" button in iSync, and suddenly all my events and all my contacts are on the phone. Quite nice.
As I selected the phone for use as a modem during the Bluetooth setup, that is probably ok already, but it remains to be tested.
Other connectivity from the phone
Ssh from the phone is coverd by installing PuTTY for S60. As stated on the s2putty page right now, I went for the "unofficial build" of PuTTY, as some nasty bugs on v.3 of S60 have been clean up in some recent builds. This PuTTY works very well. Actually, I went to the s2putty page using the browser on the phone on my WiFi connection, dowloaded a zip with the application. Within a minute, it was downloaded, installed, and running. As the E61i have a full keyboard, even with a Ctrl key, I can connect to a linux server at work, attaching a screen I have running, and instantly chat on irc channels and read news. And do all sorts of other things I regularly do in a shell.
As I want to be able to use Skype, GTalk and maybe even MSN from the phone, I also installed fring. The installation and getting started part is very nicely covered on that webpage, so I want say anything more about it. Just go there, type in the required information. You will then get a text message with download instruction, and in just a few minutes you have all the internet-phone and chat connectivity you ever want.
From time to time I may want to IRC directly from the phone. To cover this, I installed mIRGGI. It just works. Probably, I will usually use PuTTY, and the screen on my linux server, if I need to use IRC, but you'll never know. It is nice to have.
As you can see, most things are comming along quite nice. I guess there will be annoying things creeping up when I dig deeper down, but so far I am happy with the E61i. I will get back with a review on how it works for me in the daily life after I have used it for a week or two.
Stay tuned, and take care!
Friday, April 27, 2007
My new phone showed up today! Stay tuned for more information.Thursday, April 26, 2007
Have to move on...
It feels like it was yesterday I bought the HTC TyTN. Of course it was not, it was back in November 2006 according to the archives in this very blog. Back then I threw out the Sony Ericsson M600 due to lack of support for MacOSX, and bad support for Linux too. Although I have been quite happy with the TyTN during these months, there are some issues of course.
First it is the OS. I have never had a phone in the past I need to reboot that often. Sorry Microsoft. In the past I just told everyone that you are bad, and that people should choose something else (Linux, MacOSX, Symbian, Whatever). Now that I have actually used a Windows Mobile for some months, I can put so more momentum into those statements. Sure, WM6 will fix all the problems. Right, I don't believe it. And there are no WM6 upgrade for TyTN out there yet. When the phone is working it is quite ok, though. Even though I can not get the Imap client to just show me subscribed folders, and the camera freeze quite often (easily fixed with a reboot...), I can read and send messages, receive and call contacts and listen to music, snapping photos (as you can see over at my photoblog) and browsing web quite well. So the TyTN is not that bad. And the full keyboard is a life saver, the best I have ever had on phone or pda so far. Based on all the nice things with the phone, I can actually live with the bad OS, and keep it.
It is the second problem that make me switching again. The hardware is not holding up much longer. Every other time I switch the phone out of standby now, the screen just goes white. Turning on and off again usually fix the problems, but from time to time I also need to pull out the keyboard and push it back in again. Then there are the keys on the front. Earlier I could scroll with the directional buttons and press the mid button to select. But this does not work so well any more. Some of the other keys have problems as well. I suspect the reason to be the connection between the bottom "keyboard" part and the upper "display" part. There must be some weakness in the design there. Maybe this can be fixed by sending the phone off to support, but in the long run I can't live with this stability. When I get a new phone probably check out what support can do for me - if they can fix the problem on the TyTN I'll probably keep it as a backup; and for use on HSDPA networks...
The big question is then - where should I go now? Back to the SE M600i is not an option, as it is still not supported very well on MacOSX. That throws out the rest of the SE smartphones as well. And I do not want a Microsoft WM5 or WM6 device. That rules out most of the other smartphones on the market, at least with a qwerty keyboard, which is one of my requirements. And as you all know, iPhone is not out yet. And it will not have a real keyboard anyway. But Nokia have something - the revised version E61i which has a full keyboard, all the connectivity I need but the HSDPA, which is not that important yet anyway, since it is in general not available. MacOSX support also seems to be quite ok for Nokia S60 phones, and there are ssh client software available.
I have therefore ordered a Nokia E61i today. As it is on stock, it should appear already tomorrow or on monday. A report will appear here shortly after that.
So long folks, take care.
First it is the OS. I have never had a phone in the past I need to reboot that often. Sorry Microsoft. In the past I just told everyone that you are bad, and that people should choose something else (Linux, MacOSX, Symbian, Whatever). Now that I have actually used a Windows Mobile for some months, I can put so more momentum into those statements. Sure, WM6 will fix all the problems. Right, I don't believe it. And there are no WM6 upgrade for TyTN out there yet. When the phone is working it is quite ok, though. Even though I can not get the Imap client to just show me subscribed folders, and the camera freeze quite often (easily fixed with a reboot...), I can read and send messages, receive and call contacts and listen to music, snapping photos (as you can see over at my photoblog) and browsing web quite well. So the TyTN is not that bad. And the full keyboard is a life saver, the best I have ever had on phone or pda so far. Based on all the nice things with the phone, I can actually live with the bad OS, and keep it.
It is the second problem that make me switching again. The hardware is not holding up much longer. Every other time I switch the phone out of standby now, the screen just goes white. Turning on and off again usually fix the problems, but from time to time I also need to pull out the keyboard and push it back in again. Then there are the keys on the front. Earlier I could scroll with the directional buttons and press the mid button to select. But this does not work so well any more. Some of the other keys have problems as well. I suspect the reason to be the connection between the bottom "keyboard" part and the upper "display" part. There must be some weakness in the design there. Maybe this can be fixed by sending the phone off to support, but in the long run I can't live with this stability. When I get a new phone probably check out what support can do for me - if they can fix the problem on the TyTN I'll probably keep it as a backup; and for use on HSDPA networks...
The big question is then - where should I go now? Back to the SE M600i is not an option, as it is still not supported very well on MacOSX. That throws out the rest of the SE smartphones as well. And I do not want a Microsoft WM5 or WM6 device. That rules out most of the other smartphones on the market, at least with a qwerty keyboard, which is one of my requirements. And as you all know, iPhone is not out yet. And it will not have a real keyboard anyway. But Nokia have something - the revised version E61i which has a full keyboard, all the connectivity I need but the HSDPA, which is not that important yet anyway, since it is in general not available. MacOSX support also seems to be quite ok for Nokia S60 phones, and there are ssh client software available.
I have therefore ordered a Nokia E61i today. As it is on stock, it should appear already tomorrow or on monday. A report will appear here shortly after that.
So long folks, take care.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Do I have to change phone already?
According to this post in engadget, there is a new device comming up from HTC:
While my HTC TyTN still does a fine job, there are certain things with this device that seems to be particularly interesting. First the display of course; 5 inch and more resolution than the TyTN. Next better cpu. A camera with higher resolution and built in GPS is always nice to have.
I have to follow this closely. Maybe I can have this while I wait for the iPhone. This device is probably to large to be the only phone in the pocket as well, so I can still keep the iPhone when it appears as my phone. Hmm, though decisions to make!
While my HTC TyTN still does a fine job, there are certain things with this device that seems to be particularly interesting. First the display of course; 5 inch and more resolution than the TyTN. Next better cpu. A camera with higher resolution and built in GPS is always nice to have.
I have to follow this closely. Maybe I can have this while I wait for the iPhone. This device is probably to large to be the only phone in the pocket as well, so I can still keep the iPhone when it appears as my phone. Hmm, though decisions to make!
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