Clive

Owner and author of Clive's Blog.

Smartphones

/ General, Technology / ,

I got my iPhone 4 just before Christmas – and it was not an easy purchase. I had set up many iPhones both 3s and 4s and iPads and really liked the interface and the hardware but the thing in the back of my mind is that you never own the iPhne it always belongs to Apple and it will work how they want it to work. I am an extreme user of PDAs and have been for many years using them in preference to laptops in my job and personally as first, ebook readers and later as videos and audio players and most recently as my camera and hill walking navigation device. Would the iPhone do all these things for me.

Now audio is not an issue – unlike many I have always thought iTunes was a reasonable product and have used it successfully with my iPod Nano. It manages the podcasts and I have it set to manually manage music allowing me to load audio books and drama into the Nano as playlists. I now use the automatic setting for managing music to the iPhone and create playlists in iTunes which I then select for syncing.

A trip to a friend who already owned an iPhone 3GS and an iPad answered several more questions. The word processor and spreadsheets could be handled by Documents ToGo – a program I was familiar with from previous Palm PDAs. My company uses DropBox extensively and I was very pleased to find Documents ToGo and DropBox so closely integrated.

That left Memory-Map. I have a large investment in maps both 25k and 50k which work on my PC and on my Windows Smartphone – would they work on an iPhone. To test this I bought a copy of Memory-map and tried loading my maps onto his iPad – and they worked.

Ebooks were next – I have a huge collection of ebooks and text files – I could use ereader again but I have become fed up with not being able to purchase the books I want from their web site because I live in the UK. A search on the Internet, and I discovered Calibre and Stanza.

So I was ready to go ahead and buy and iPhone. Within hours of getting it I had my business critical Contacts and Calendar synced and the iPhone linked to DropBox.

I spent some of my Christmas holiday getting to grips with more of the software. I am now on holiday in Scotland and the Lakes so I will have plenty of time to test the iPhone out.

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Time to Blog… Again!

/ General /

So I logged into my blog knowing it must be a while since I’d put anything up – nearly two years – and what do you know he last thing I put up was a blog about my then new smart phone. Well I wore the HTC out and just before Christmas I got an iPhone 4 and the reason I am now posting is that it has an app for WordPress.

I never remembered to post – the HTC phone was good but not great for using on the web – and by the time I got back to my PC the moment had passed and I had work to do. With this app I hope I will be able to post more. I have a long interest in mobile computing and love walking and photography and that is what I want to talk about.

So watch this space and let’s see if it works out.

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New PDA – Phone – GPS – Camera…

/ General /

In a previous post I discussed the tech stuff I carry when walking or just for work – and especially the number of devices and chargers I have to pack. Well just before Christmas I got an HTC Touch Pro – and it was great to have only one device in my pocket – which does everything.

I got the extended battery pack, which is essential if you use it as much as I do and want to get a full days use from it, the supplied slim 800mAh battery is just not good enough. I also added a 16GB memory card.

Great Points

  • Excellent camera, which includes a flash light, exposure compensation and auto-fucus.
  • The ability to photograph documents and even business cards – very useful for me as I am always losing bits of paper when I am at work, and as a Director in BNI I get dozens of business cards each week.
  • The keyboard is very useable – and illuminated
  • Exceptional screen – it is small, but sharp and very easy to read. I can easily use the Memory-Map navigation software on it, edit word documents using TextMaker and read books.
  • The supplied RSS Hub application is very good – downloading content in the background when there is  data connection – and even able to download on request podcasts – which can then be played from the application or saved to the storage card.

I hve always thought that the Windows media player, supplied with Windows mobile devices, lacks flexibility. On previous PDAs I have used the free TCPMP player – but that does ot work in WM6.1, so I bought a copy of its commercial replacement Core media player.

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Anatomy of a malware scam | The Register

/ General

Anatomy of a malware scam | The Register.

I was sent this link by a friend – this XP Antivirus 2008 program has been causing me a number of headaches over the past month, at work.

We all see the “helpful” mass emails that well intentioned people send out when they are sent a virus warning – they run to many pages all including many email addresses, just waiting to be farmed – yours among them. The emails cluter the mail systems and are usually of little value. Of course they do include the dramatic statement from the big anti-virus company and a warning not to ignore this email.

However if you read this blog – the message is simple. Do not install XP Antivirus 2008.

Anatomy of a malware scam | The Register Read More »

PDA = A Good Read!

/ Technology / ,

I have used my PDA as a “book” all the way back to my Series 3 Psion. I have no trouble reading from a screen – which is what most people complain about, however I suspect many have not tried using a modern PDA screen and reader program.

I was at a party last night and got talking about electronic books – so I passed my X51v round and everyone said how easy it was to read, and use.

Using a handheld is a green option,

  • Ÿ You already own the device – if you have a Windows Mobile phone – so no new purchase needed
  • Ÿ The electronic book is not printed on paper, bound, transported etc – a great saving in resources
  • Ÿ Storage of ebooks is very efficient – so you can carry a large library with you at all times
  • Ÿ Do you like reading at night? – If so you need a light on to see the text, however a PDA has an illuminated screen, no bedside light required – I know the device needs charging but I am sure that is not as much energy as running a lamp
  • Ÿ Paper books can be recycled but so can the PDA – eventually
  • Ÿ One downside is that you cannot lend DRM secured ebooks to friends – this is something the industry will have to sort

One bit of advice, I would not bother with the Microsoft Reader ebook program. I tried it out on my first WinCE handheld where it worked OK, but the real problems came when I changed my PC (and then my PDA), something I do several times a year because of my job. The program counted how many devices I had it installed on, and as I had it on my PC in the office, and on the one in my office at home, and a laptop, and maybe the office development machine etc it threw a wobbly and I stopped using it. Now the people from Redmond may well have solved those issues or not, but why bother going back and trying again when there are other reader programs out there. As I said eReader pro (www.ereader.com) is my favourite – and I regularly buy books from them. Mobipocket Reader is another option (www.mobipocket.com). Both offer versions for PCs and handhelds but eReader does not yet have a version for Blackberrys but they are promising one soon.

Both the readers can read the long established doc (not .doc by Microsoft word) format books – and it is easy to make your own ebooks from text files – there are a number of places on the web to find freeware ebooks, use Google or start your ebook collection by searching for Project Gutenberg.

An issue arises when it comes to commercial ebooks because both companies use different (incompatible) DRM systems – so once you buy into one system you are committed, so think carefully before you buy into a system. (Microsoft of course uses a third DRM system and I am sure there are other ebook companies using still other incompatible systems!) Have a good look at the various companies catalogues before you commit, so make sure they offer a selection of the books you like. Of course you could always put all the different readers on your handheld and buy from everyone.

This article is sponsored by Octagon Technology of Lincoln, England

PDA = A Good Read! Read More »

BBC Click – and Mobile Friendly Web Pages

/ Technology / ,

I have just watched the BBC News programme, Click (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/default.stm) and they have reviewed a web site www.ubik.net. This site enables you to create web site suitable for display on a phone or PDA. So I have just been over there and got an account and here is the link http://octech.ubik.net. Light on content at the moment, but what an excellent idea for putting more content onto your PDA or phone.

There was also a service shown that helped find PDA friendly pages online – I have not looked at that yet, although it seemed to be for phones and will require call charges to work. The service is zabidoo.com/push.

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