Technology Spoon:

My HP Mini 1000 Netbook Review

2009-03-26T20:32:00.001-04:00

my mobile lifestyle keeps getting more mobile so I recently picked up an HP Mini 1000 netbook since my N800 internet tablet was not cutting it anymore. Not only had the OS become a hog and unstable and I was not able to do the firmware upgrade, the battery seemed to be going bad and lastly not having a keyboard made it almost useless for emails/IM on my commute. I'm still not sure if I will keep it or craiglist it since it may come in handy for overseas trips for quick email and skyping. Back to HP Mini - Originally I thought about getting the new macbook Pro but that was going to run me almost $3k! and having a perfectly fine maxed out G4 Mac desktop at home, apple not having a net book out yet(although rumors exist they will) made the decision to go with a $349 net book easy...and even easier when the possibility of maybe hacking it into OS X netbook as its been done with this dell mini

I think the HP Mini is the nicest out of all the netbooks out there compared to the ACER/Asus/MSI brand names available @ bestbuy. It has a nice glossy finish, 1" thin and only 2.25lb, 2 USB ports and SD slot.

For the ladies that need something fashionable check out the Vivienne Tam edition..its pretty sexy but be ready to pay twice as much..hey looking good is not cheap.

I decided to upgrade the standard 1GB DDR2 mem to 2 GB which brought it to a final price of $475. After having my IT guru smutz2k wipe off XP home edition and install XP on it (making it more secure) I went ahead and paid for the premium version of Joikuspot (had been using joikuspot light) and started sharing my 3G connection off my nokia E71 to the net book and its working great! Not only does the commute go by a lot faster but I'm able to do work just fine (I'm writing this on my way home now actually)

If you are looking for something small and portable net book is the way to go (too bad apple doesn't have one out since I hate PCs) Its a great little machine to do email, IM, web browsing office docs, and more. It's a perfect mobile companion and if you have a 3G phone that you can connect through you will enjoy near WiFi speeds everywhere there is 3G coverage (or just jump onto any WiFi hotspot). Lastly, even if you are not connected on your commute you can still use it offline or what the hell you could just relax and watch a movie off your SD or USB thumb drive (something unheard of these days)

Below is a youtube video of the HP mini

Google Love update: Google maps and Gmail SMS

2008-12-12T22:14:00.002-05:00

I figure I would include two updates from two Google products I use and love dearly...Gmail and Google mobile maps. Seriously how did we survive before google maps and gmail? ohhh thats right we stopped and asked for directions...and talked to each other vs. gchatting all day.... click

-Send SMS from Gmail lets you send SMS text messages right from Gmail (this makes me want to actually sync my address book with gmail contacts)
-Google Maps Street View now available for Windows Mobile and symbian S60(nokia)
walking directions is also another new feature available..no excuses to get lost now!

Best of How To Hacks for 2008

2008-12-12T21:59:00.002-05:00

As 2008 is coming to an end..most people spend their time putting together x-mas wish lists. I actually enjoy looking back and seeing how far we've come in technology in a year. I'll save that for another post but a similar list was put together over at one of my fav blogs lifehacker..
want to turn that ipod into an iphone? want to playback dvd's on your Wii? want your iphone to push email to you for free? head over and see their list of the most popular how to-features of 08

McCain/Palin Campaign Blackberries for $20

2008-12-12T21:44:00.002-05:00

When you thought they couldn't get any dumber....they actually did.. Fox News reports that campaign items (desks, whiteboards, laptops) were being sold for almost nothing but one item proved to be priceless... Blackberries sold for $20 w\no chargers and batteries..but with contacts of politicians, campaign folks, journalists, etc. and hundreds of emails. That's right someone forgot to wipe those berries off. This is almost as good as when Paris Hilton's sidekick was hacked and address book and pics were put online.

Its an Amazon out there..well on your iphone at least

2008-12-03T07:29:00.000-05:00

As I was browsing through amazon I found out that they now have an app for the iphone - so what? you say..well the amazon app not only lets you browse and buy items from your iphone but the cool feature I found interesting was the "amazon remembers" feature. This feature allows you to take a picture of an item you may see at the mall with your iphone and send it to amazon, (I do this already to remind myself of price,color,etc of an item) it will then get added to your "remember" list (sorta like a wish list) and in addition amazon will search for similar items for sale and notify you. talk about searching for the best price?

New Phone, New blogs, New Apps: The nokia E71

2008-09-22T19:28:00.004-04:00

finally upgraded to the Nokia E71 and are loving every bit of it. The 3G speeds make such a difference on my email downloads, and web searches. The GPS has come in handy too. The phone also runs a bit smoother and the new layout of the UI and design of the phone are top notch. I have been using the E series phones from the very first E61 - E61i and now E71 and can tell you this one is by far the best and will probably keep me happy for a very long time. Below is a pic of the E71 compared to the E61i

As I write this I'm already seeing leaked pics of an E71? and E75?! Thats technology for you..always 10 step ahead of your wallet. From the leaked pics the E75 looks to be getting a slider QWERTY which may make the phone a little fatter. luckily for me E71 seems to only be receiving a new color (red)? Since upgrading I'm finding new blogs covering specifically the E71 - here is a list of the few I have come across so far

- Nokia E71 blog

-E71 Fanatics

these two blogs have been great in finding some new themes, and apps like mobbler which is a last.fm player for the E71.. a music service I have been using for a while on the N800

Solutions Engineers at NextPoint ... Rehiring @ Nexpoint? and more rumors

2008-08-29T11:52:00.004-04:00

Now I'm really confused..someone sent me this post for a job on linkedin and I scratched my bold head...Next point recently laid off 100+ employees in May..I even got some not so nice messages for confirming the rumors....and now months later they are hiring again? this may just be one position but who knows...the other rumor on the street was that Genband was to acquire nextpoint but I havent heard much in the last 2 weeks so maybe that deal fell through? and management has now decided to restaff for the positions they fired 3 months ago? how nice.. I can only wonder what management is doing these days to stay busy? the company has been pretty quiet, no press releases since june.

To become ONE - Symbian and Android OS to merge?

2008-07-25T12:54:00.005-04:00

It seems like that is the fate of these two popular open source mobile operating systems. Even though it doesn't make much sense from Nokia's perspective since the Symbian OS has been around for quite some time and is established and successful. Google's Android is still an infant in the eyes of developers. So far developers are the only ones that have gotten to preview google's Android. I think there is definate benefit for these two in working together as they have been for some time (the nokia N800/810 tablet comes loaded with google talk, and google as the default browser) but as of today it would benefit android more than nokia which has the largest share of smartphones in the market. However google is the popular rich kid who everyone wants to be friends with while Nokia smartphones here in the U.S are still not as "cool" due to the fact that carriers like AT&T and Tmobile hand pick which Nokia phones they want to carry. So lets just say that not all the cool nokia phones make it over to the states.

The New iphone 3G still sucks

2008-06-13T13:14:00.000-04:00

If you havent heard Apple announced the much anticipated, rumored iphone 3G this week at their WWDC conference. I followed the almost live coverage closely via engadget and found a "secret" audio feed as well. With 3G, GPS and at $199! I put my name down for one but much like last time now that the dust is settling I am staying iphone free again. There is plenty of coverage so I wont go into many details but I will give my personal reasons why you wont see me in line come July 11th.

-made of plastic!? rather than metal like before..get ready to see plenty of scratches and cracks

-Still no MMS support or video recording. that means you cant record video. The iphone's camera is only 2mpx and has no flash and you wont be able to send or receive pictures.

-Although battery life has inproved tremendously the phone is still sealed and you are not able to swipe dead batteries on the go, so dont leave home without your charger.

-GPS is new but as of today you wont be able to use for navigation purposes?! so its basically google maps with mylocation on steroids. Nothing else!

-3G means faster data speeds to browse the web on it but at what price? at&t has hiked up the data plan for the iphone to $30 and that doesnt include SMS! so it's $10 higher than before. I'm grandfather into a $19 unlimited data/sms plan and for me to loose that is absurd.

So if you think the iphone at $199 is a steal, dont be fooled because you will probably end up paying more in the long run because of the increase in cost of the data plan. While the iphone 3G is a slightly better phone than the last version it's still not there.

U.S. open goes High tech

2008-06-13T13:12:00.000-04:00

If you were not able to make the U.S Open this week in San Diego there is still ways to catch it live online at espn.com where they've been streaming live coverage in near HD. In addition to the live video feed, the player comes with stats, fan feedback, interviews, and live scoring.

For those that made it the experience has been enhanced by the use of high tech multimedia devices and this makes me even more jelaous I'm not there. "Championship Vision" is what these little gadgets are called and they take the whole experience to a new level of interactivity. The handheld devices by Lvis and myLEADERBOARD track championship playoffering live video/audio feed from up to 8 camera angles and up to the minute stats among other services like instant replay, all from the palm of your hands. Pretty cool.

Mac OS X Sync Google contacts

2008-05-30T06:19:00.000-04:00

Up until now I've been syncing my google calendar flawlessly with iCal and my nokia e61i using goosync Their premium account lets you sync contacts too but since I'm too cheap I've been using the free account - actually the main reason I'm not syncing contacts is because google does not give you the option to disable the "add recipient" of all the email addresses you've used at one point or another..I don't really want to keep an email address of someone I emailed once. I recently imported my contacts from gmail to Mail and had over 1000 contacts to erase. Google's new Contact Sync still doesn't address this issue but at least it keeps it synced w\out the need to export/import contacts, so if you always email the same people or don't mind having the contact info of someone you bought a Wii of craigslist then it may just be fine for you..Read the FAQ though it seems to have too many setbacks in addition to only working with iphones and ipod touch by default which is pretty lame, but there is already a way around this here its not a walk in the park but it gets it done..I'm just going to keep importing/exporting like its 1999 until they give users alot more control over what contacts to sync on any device.

Layoff rumors confirmed @ Nexpoint Networks

2008-05-29T14:32:00.002-04:00

I come back from a month long trip in South America to find gas prices doubled, Mariah Carey hitched and lots of changes at Nextpoint Networks. The most recent news I heard today over lunch from various sources is that there has been a layoffs today, they are closing regional offices abroad and outsourcing almost everything. Engineering, Sales Engineering and Support are to be outsourced and tier 3-4 sales will be handled by channels like Voiplogic and Verscom. I scratch my head and try to figure out whats left? I guess the other rumor I heard from someone high in the company of moving offices is also true? There has been lots of ongoing changes in the last few months, some have been good but others a loss to Nexpoint. Most recently they lost co-founder and CTO Sri Ramachandran, VP of worldwide sales Vic Bozzo also called it quits. Just when I thought they were actually making a turn for better by doing some spring cleaning of extra baggage that were basically taking the company no where, but only draining it. The news couldn't come at a better time though with GTM 08- one of the biggest conferences- happening next week here in D.C - I'd like to see how this is spun. I hope this new management team thats in place (result of the NexTone and Reefpoint merger) knows what they are doing and gets its act together quickly, it is honestly sad to see a company like this that had great potential (when I was there) to be in this situation...so what does this mean for the nextpoint? If I had to make a guess by these recent changes it looks like they are heading towards getting acquired by a bigger dog perhaps? at least thats the rumor I'm hearing.

Wii Fit says I'm 47?!

2008-05-29T12:20:00.003-04:00

I picked up a Wii fit yesterday and after I set it up it told me I was overweight and had the characteristics of a 47 year old!!!...I couldnt let a game tell me that (its one thing for my girlfriend to tell me that Im overweight but a game? come on!) so I started right away and setup a goal to loose a certain amount in 2 weeks - the wii will keep track of this. Overall the game is pretty sweet..I would have to say that my favorite has to be the balance games like ski salom and soccer, but I havent fully tried all the other games yet but soon enough I was sweating.
While some say that its not a "true workout" and I'm not saying it is..it definately burns some calories and most of all its fun. I'm actually looking forward to getting home and playing again today - something I cant say for going to the gym. There are also more games that are "Balance Board-compatible" some are already annouced EA' Skate It, Bandai Namco's We Ski, THQ's cheerleader game and I'm sure more will come out. There are even already "balance board" hacks out there - like using the board to surf Google Earth with a hacked Nintendo Wii Board (video below) Im glad I picked it up and look forward to see if all I've read on the Wii Fit is true down the line

Full HD video over USB or WLAN!

2008-03-20T00:09:00.004-04:00

thanks to nokia's project "noBound" this may come a reality sooner than later. We are all "bound" in one way or another to our cell phones aka handhelds aka smartphones aka tablets. Not only are we bound to these wireless devices (mostly to be connected to the world) but we also have content on them (everything from pictures, short vids to full movies) that we like to share. In addition we are in the High Definition era...regular definition content isn't enough anymore. Just look at sites like hulu.com which features HD content, even P2P apps like Vuze (azureus) . We love our cellphones and we all love HD content on our HD plasmas and noBounds brings both of these technologies together by letting you pair a cell phone or handheld device up with any display, even your shiny plasma at 30 frames per second over USB or WLAN... click play on the demo video below to see it in action. I can not wait to be able to do this on my Nokia N800!

noBounds! - blast Smartphones display bounds! from Bernd Steinke on Vimeo.

Mac Users: Opening UIF files on OSX

2008-03-12T11:02:00.002-04:00

for those Mac users out there that end up with UIF files (a proprietary file format that works only in windows) and have no access to a PC to convert it to a DMG check out this cool little app uif2iso for Mac that lets you convert them - I worked like a charm for me!

multi calendars synced! Nokia e61, iCal and Google Calendar

2008-03-12T02:38:00.005-04:00

my life's schedules are spread all over the place: until recently outlook on a PC, iCal on the Mac, GoogleCal with my girlfriend and calendar on my nokia e61...while it worked ok..I had a few incidents where appointments dissapeared, or were in one calendar but not on the other..

tonite I have come one step closer to "sync heaven" I followed most of the advice from Puramu at ITtoolbox I did everything but use isync to sync my phone to iCal (the needed plugin was $15) which I didnt feel like I truly needed since goosync did what I wanted and over the air!

so the setup goes something like this: (this is my personal setup so check Puramu's post for the orginal setup that may work better for you)

-I have iCal subscribed to my Google Calendar - I can see my appointments on iCal but CAN'T make changes to it. (I am basically using that just to get alarms and see it on my desktop without having to open a browser) if you want to the two way sync between iCal and google Calendar check out/purchase ($25/$65) spanning sync

-I'm using goosync which is free to sync between the phone and google calendar, its easy and over the air (so I don't need to bluetooth sync it with isync, I can easily add stuff on my phone and sync over the air to my google calendar which will then automatically update iCal)

this setup works for me because I enter most of my meetings while on the phone and on the go..but if you are more of a desktop jockey you may need spanning sync and the isync plugin..

Sick of facebook, myspace and everything in between?

2008-02-20T19:43:00.002-05:00

yes me too.. a picture is worth 1000 words

R.I.P HD DVD - the battle is over

2008-02-20T18:38:00.003-05:00

....and blue ray came out on top. Toshiba announced yesterday it will discontinue HD DVD production. while I'm sad for Toshiba and HD DVD supporters..Im kinda happy this battle is over. I had been holding off buying a new dvd player because of the battle between the two formats but was willing to hold off on to it settle down. Like others I also saw this coming. mos recently Warner Bros made the decision to back Blu-ray and then Wal-mart (the largest U.S retailer) also picked Blu-ray over HD DVD last week. and it was game over...speaking of games and which I'm not that much into (but I will be getting a PSP3 now) I feel like one of the main advantages Blu-ray had in this battle was the PSP3 which plays blue ray discs...already in homes as a game console it doubled as a dvd player as well... I guess now I'll be adding a PS3 to my entertainment setup...

Order your starbucks from your iphone

2008-02-18T12:34:00.002-05:00

I saw this concept earlier this month and was wowed by the fact that this isn't out yet or a more formal announcement has been made. the apple/starbucks relationship has been there since the iphone but now with at&t taking over the wi-fi service at starbucks (previously offered by tmobile)this makes a lot of sense.. while its only a concept for now and all I have seen are snapshots of the screenshots it looks like it would only work while on the Wi-Fi spot at your local starbucks..which doesn't make much sense. If anything I would want to jump on via at&t's EDGE network and place an order before I arrive at starbucks. doesn't that make more sense?

either way I think this application would be a sweet deal for all parties involved and make it easier for some of you that own an iphone/itouch. I on the other hand will still have to wait in line and actually exchange words with my local barista as I own a nokia :\ to look at some pretty screenshots head over here

shake n bake? your nokia n95

2008-02-18T12:08:00.002-05:00

shake it but don't bake it..shakeme is a symbian application for the nokia n95 that lets you do all the following things by just shaking the phone:

keylock: lock and unlock keypad by shaking the phone

bluetooth: on/off bluetooth state by shaking the phone

silent: on/off silent profile by shaking the phone

backlight: switch backlight on by shaking your phone

shakeme is not the only appliction being developed by Samir I was also pretty impreseed by the other apps like shutup(when the phone is ringing you can silent it by flipping over the phone) NokMote (detects movement of the phone to control games very much like the wii remote) and rotateMe (allows you to switch the phone screen from portrait to landscape by turning it)

I was very impressed by all these apps and cant wait to see them in action!

Turn your phone into a Wi-Fi Hotspot!

2008-02-06T07:37:00.000-05:00

It had been a while since I blogged about anything but this deserved it as soon as I read it, I had to check it out and share it.. if you own a nokia phone running the symbian s60 Operating system and have 3G coverage here in the US or Europe you are going to love this... Joikuspot allows you to share your 3G connection over WLAN to any device. for more info and to dload joikuspot visit http://www.joikuspot.com/

Try it before you buy it [Cell phones]

2007-12-13T07:09:00.000-05:00

buying a new cell phone is tricky, yeah there are sites with tons of info but it can be time consuming - you can visit the store but most likely they only have dummy phones that arent even functional, so playing with the user interface and OS is out of the question. It ususally takes me months of research before I change phones, I ask around alot, and usually try to convince my friend to buy it first...if thats too much for you and you just want to test it - check out tryphone.com, not only does it let you virtually play with the phone but also read reviews, specs, and even has demos on how tos - (I wish I would've had that when setting up SIP on my e61) they only have a few phones for now but expect to see a list grow.

web 2.0 bubble video - hilarious

2007-12-11T10:58:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: seems someone didnt like the video and its now not on youtube but can be watched on metacafe - click play

Here Comes Another Bubble - Click here for more home videos

Upgraded my Nokia n800 to OS 2008

2007-12-10T12:25:00.000-05:00

this past weekend I upgraded my n800 to run the new OS 2008 -(which runs on the new N810) it had been a while since I had done any but everything went fine and I'm now running os 2008 - while I think the n810 is a nice upgrade from its predecessor I did not see enough reasons to buy one especially when OS 2008 surfaced. Apart from the GPS and QWERTY keyboard that slides out it didnt seem like much of an upgrade on the hardware side - on the software side the UI is very sexy and while there are still some things I would like to see Im happy overall.
Why didnt I just get the n810? was the question I kept getting (since I like having the latest gadgets) GPS? with google maps "my location" I really dont need it -I may still get a bluetooth gps receiver for those times I want 100% accuracy but the more I use gmaps mobile the more Im happy (except for the "avoid highways" option it lacks)
QWERTY? Im a big texter-why I have a nokia E61i rather than an N95 so this was probably the only main reason why I woulve upgraded but at around $200 price difference it was not worth it - come to find out OS 2008 now launches the full QWERTY touchpad on the n800 when you press the square button - this was only launched before by tapping your finger on the screen which did not work for me all the time - this is my new way of typing now but I still use the stylus here and there.
you can find an N800 for as low as $228 at buy.com while the n810 is retailling around $500
so my recommendation is if you always wanted an n800 get it now that the price has dropped and/or if you already own one flash it to OS 2008 - follow the easy steps here
for further reading, more reviews, etc etc visit - http://www.internettablettalk.com/

New Google Maps version: My location is almost GPS good!

2007-11-28T12:47:00.000-05:00

I use google maps for all my direction needs and even though I've almost come to buy a bluetooth GPS for more accuarte directions I havent - mainly because google maps does a great job - the only part thats a pain is inputting where you are if you dont know where you are? the new updated version tackles this with their "my location" feature..its not using GPS its using the information from near mobile towers to approximate your location..its not GPS of course but its pretty dammm close to it.. if you dont have google maps on your phone yet this is a good reason to get it.. I upgraded earlier today and as you can see it pin pointed my location pretty good and was able to zoom in. while I was writing this the app moved my location twice - it send the blue dot to "my location within 1800 meters" when before it was 1400 meters which was the more accurate location -I am guessing this happens when the phone switches towers..

see the video on how it works here and go here to download it

fly virgin america 2 for 1

2007-11-28T09:24:00.000-05:00

I wrote about virgin america back in july and they are now flying out of the DC Area and with this deal I may just have to fly for no reason. this offer comes as the result of a partnership of diggnation (an internet video show in case you didnt know or watch) and virgin who sponsored this week's episode. visit www.virginamerica.com/diggnation for all the details - there are some black out dates but basically book your flight and your buddy flys for free...

Order your Pizza via Text Messaging

2007-11-16T10:48:00.000-05:00

i havent had papa johns in a minute but after i saw these news I started craving it...why would you be calling papa johns to order your meat lovers pizza ? having to listen to their recorded greeting, waiting on the phone (killing minutes) and finally being answered by a high school kid with bad attitude.. you can skip all that and just text away.. Papa johns rolled out this SMS based ordering option this week to 2700 stores in the U.S..looks like dominos also has something similar allowing to place orders with web-enabled phones .. not via text messaging but over in the U.K they seem to be able to do it via text the dominos site had info on SMS ordering right now texting just seems alot easier so I give papa johns my thumbs up
for more info on papa johns sms ordering visit http://www.papajohns.com/sms/

more on the state of VoIP

2007-10-12T10:39:00.000-04:00

On yesterdays post about not blogging where I mentioned my thoughts on the state of VoIP.. I talked about how the industry had become boring for me.. and today's post on techdirt further reinforces my feelings on this by going into the third stage of voip that never happened.. my thoughts especially on features that VoIP was supposed to bring that could not be done on traditional phone line systems..I know this from personal experience, my parents wish they had stayed with their old phone line.. vonage is just too unreliable..even people in the industry still have a POTS line.. sure they may have a secondary vonage line but keep their old system as a back up.. so yeah its a cheaper solution but just cheaper..no features that wow me.. (getting your voicemail on your email is so 2002) not only that but do i realy want to get a service from a provider and not be sure if they will be there next year.. I mean lets look at sunrocket, lawsuits with vonage, outages with skype....

another one bites the dust..google at it again

2007-10-12T00:25:00.000-04:00

at the end of august rumors of a google phone were at its peak - it was the iphone all over again..
and I said it wasnt going to happen.. I guess I was right, like I said the gphone already exists . as these rumors are being straigthen out.. much like the Herald tribune's article I said that they would focus only on the OS part of it.. getting into manufacturing cell phones is just too dirty.. they do apps well..actually they do apps great but entering a more into the wireless space isnt going to be easy..however they've been acuqiring the right companies in this space and its going to be interesting to see how they bring it all together.. they recently acquired grandcentral.com (one number for life - you get a phone number and it rings up to 4 phones simultenously) then zingku.com (mobile social networking) and a few days ago I saw it got Jaiku.com (a presence, microbloging mobile app) which I loved but was restricted cause it only worked on nokia's s60 vs twitter that worked on any mobile.. so as you can see with jsut the last 3 examples theya definately lining something up..and these are just the ones I know... maybe I should read throught my 1000+ RSS feeds..

not enough time to blog vs nothing worth blogging

2007-10-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

Ive been super busy, the days just dont seem to be long enough... as some of you know I am no longer at NexTone (the VoIP software company as some of you know it). I left for various reasons but one was that I was getting bored - Voice has become in the last year pretty boring to me.. for example 2 years ago Vonage /skype and other VoIP players were cool..people talked about it..I talked about it.. after many issues (like lack of features, compatibility issues, lack of good service, etc) and setbacks in the industry it just wasnt the same... if IP communications is going to become this utopia where IMS makes everything pretty and work seamlesly, a bunch of issues need to be worked out.. but that wasnt the reason for this post ..in addition I just havent seen anything great worth blogging about and I came accross this one post that I agree 100%.. especially points #3, 4, 6,10..
my RSS reader is at 1000+ do you really think I'm going to go through it? no! I have started deleting feeds due to the amount of posts they published intomobile, all things digital amongst others just put out too much in one day for anyone to keep up with...and alot of these other small bloggers were putting out stuff that was poor quality and just repetitive of bigger blogs.. ie I read a blog called ringnokia for a bit but the stuff was just recycled from other feeds.. its like everyone just tries to jump on the bandwagon talking about the iphone, the googlephone, etc etc so I end up seeing the same news more than i need to.. anyway so there you have it.. its not just because i have no time, theres been nothing worth blogging about that you probably have not already seen...Im off to NY for the weekend so maybe I'll come back with some cool stuff.

get your ooma

2007-09-18T14:49:00.000-04:00

ooma is finaly open to the public..for those not familiar..
I consider them the vonage of 2007..or even better.. sunrocket of 2007..since its a all you can eat pre-paid service...basically you pay $400 upfront for this ooma hub thingy.. and thats it.. free US calls for life... (actually read the small print carefully - for at least three years) ask for clarification..
not a bad deal at all.. if you are into that sort of thing but a few things to consider..
- with cell phones becoming the main way we communicate do you still use your "home" line?
- will it follow the faith of sunrocket? well at least you'll keep that little futuristic looking ooma hub as memorabilia
- if your internet goes out..no ooma..(this is the same thing for all VoIP providers like vonage)
-if E911 is not avail in your area..you may want to keep a regular line
-they cant port your number currently-so say goodbye to your number

a cool idea maybe 5 years ago late when all you can eat VoIP woulve been nice competition to vonage and other players..but I myself would rather go with something like a skypein number and be able to use that on my computer, laptop, cell phone, or regular phone..

google phone rumors? the gphone already exists!

2007-08-30T10:17:00.000-04:00

last year was all about the iphone..but now that the overpriced overhyped iphone is out all you see is news of hacking it..or complains.. so we must start new rumors or hype them up which is natural - we are only humans. I have seen an increase in rumors about the gphone all over the blogs and even news covering the increase of the subejct in blogs
in a recent email convo with friends where we were discussing the iphone, 700mhz spectrum bidding and google I made the following statement:
"there is no google phone..there wont be a google phone.. the google phone already exists.. look at your phone now..its pretty much a "google phone" .. it has gmail, google maps, gtalk,calendar, SMS search, YouTube and more and even google as your home page on your cell phone browser.. all on there.. and the best part is that they never had to get their hands dirty w\ manufacturing.. or providing the service ..they are pretty much embeded in billions of handsets..the "google phone" will be more apps for phones but thats it..they will partner up w\ carriers or manufacturers to embed their "google OS" ..but if in fact they do come up w\ an actual device most likely from a parntership i could see them offering a free phone-service offering which would be ad based on the 700mhz spectrum they are after"

as you can see the gphone is here..it has been here and its not going anywhere but into more devices.. even non-cellphone wireless devices.. I recently bought a nokia N800 internet tablet which runs on linux has Googletalk/Gmail alert, and google search as default apps out of the box ..so see all this talk about the gphone is not necessary when is right in your pocket already..
rumors say that it could be as soon as 2 weeks for the gphone to be avail....so we'll see in two weeks..I could be way off

Im back around..

2007-08-30T10:14:00.000-04:00

its been a minute since I have posted anything.. been busy..been traveling.. but I guess with all the gadgets I have and connectivity it is a lame excuse... anywho lots going but Im back on..sit tight

Truphone upgrades and free calling for the year

2007-08-01T01:09:00.000-04:00

Im a big truphone evangelist..they've set the path for mobile VoIP..and even though I wasnt using it that much before I am now..

- calls are FREE for the rest of the year (not only to other truphone users) but also to landlines (and some mobile numbers) at no cost in all 40 countries until the end of 2007!! here is the list of those countries

-more cool features like VoIP over 3G, presence and free SMS messages..the much improved wi-fi access feature is awesome..no more SIP profiles..I can now search for an access point and start using truphone in less than a minute read more here

-they also support gtalk as well and I hope soon they will also support the N800 internet tablet to compete right up against skype and gizmo (compete? i think not..more like own it)

New Entertainment System: Circuit City VS. Best Buy

2007-07-30T15:18:00.000-04:00

I just purchased the last part to the new entertainment system I had been saving for and putting together for a few months now (checking reviews takes time) and to my surprise it was all bought at circuit city. I have been a best buy junkie for the longest, their stores are nice, customer service ok most of the time, nice selection and prices arent bad either, and a reward program that got me some $10 off coupons....However this time around circuit city got my $$ and its not just because their prices..let me start with the setup of the system I purchased and I'll go into the reasons why I bought it entirely at CC.

Entertainment components :
-Hitachi 55" LCD Projection HDTV (55VS69)
-Samsung Up-Conversion DVD Player (DVD-1080P7)
-Verizon FiOS TV (HD Set Top Box)
-Onkyo 5.1 Channel Home Theater System (HT-SR600)
-Z-line Designs 55" TV Stand (LUXOR55S)

Additional components: (already owned & wishlist)
- Slingbox Tuner to watch TV anywhere in the world using my laptop /mobile
along with airtunes which I will use as a wireless bridge to be able to watch tv from my Mac in my office (already owned)
-AppleTV sync movies from my itunes library on Mac in office to TV (wishlist)
-Apple Airtunes stream my itune's mp3 collection on Mac in office to receiver and enable slingbox to stream cable TV to my other computers(wishlist)

Website experience:
Bestbuy's initial visit was pleasant as it helped me narrow my search initally by the type of system ( 5.1 channel system, 2.1 channel system, digital sound projectors) but what about 7.1 channel systems? so even though this made it easier to narrow it down it left out one entire category out. Circuit city didnt have this to begin with but it gave you different categories to narrow it down (systems with or without dvd, price, brand) where best buy just listed all the systems starting with the most expensive of course (and giving you no option to sort by price) and then in no specific order either. Best Buy also lacked a "compare" feature. Circuit city went a step ahead and included customer ratings on each listing which gave me a good idea even before clicking for more info. It also provided customer reviews which best buy lacks too.. this was very helpful in choosing the dvd and surround sound, even though I still used google to find other reviews this was a good start. circuit city's detailed view also offered much more information it felt like than best buy and even simple things like "email a friend"

InStore experience:
this is a tough one since I never made it into a bestbuy store since most of my research was online, but their customer service is ok at best most of the time the staff at either store wont know much so I do all my research online before stepping in. I picked up the tv at the circuit city store and the person knew the basic stuff but since I knew what I wanted, it didnt leave much space for him to upsell me on another tv that I didnt need. I came in, pointed at it and bought it.

Product selection and Price:
I felt like bestbuy only had a few brands to choose from while circuit city had 12 and when narrowed down to audio system only gave me 4 brands in the type of system I was looking for where bestbuy had 11 different brands but all mixed in... Getting the best deal is also important to me so once I knew what I wanted I searched on that item for the best price. I used sites like pricegrabber.com and google's product search. This time around circuit city had the best deals around not only for the tv but also for dvd and surround sound.

Hooking it up!
i couldnt wait to get these hooked up but I needed cables and I highly recomend you never buy cables at the stores..the markups are crazy I used http://www.newegg.com/ for all my wiring needs
I bought 2 optical cables and 2 HDMI cables for about $30 delivered in 2 days where I probably would've spent that on one cable at the store..

I have pretty much everything setup, the only thing remaining is buying speaker stands and brackets for the back speakers..and picking up the airtunes.. and then Ill be ready to melt on the couch for a few days...

Meet my new friends

2007-07-26T19:55:00.000-04:00

Say hello to my little friends.. the Nokia E61i and N800 Internet Tablet.. I have been using them for about a week or so now and enjoying it.. I was not trying to upgrade my e61 but missed the camera and being able to send pics.. so even thought its a minor upgrade im still happy i can now use it w\ shozu which uploads videos and pics straight to my YouTube and flickr accounts.. the n800 has been really nice.. I even paid skypeout so i use that when at home.. Im also using to read my rss feeds and listen to internet radio using Canola. I have yet to watch a movie on it though..thats about it.. Im not going to go into a depth review on these two since there are plenty online so just google it or drop me a note as you can see I'm too busy playing with these new gadgets to write more..

Verizon FiOS headache!

2007-07-24T16:28:00.000-04:00

Im regretting switching over from comcast (even though they are just as bad) ...getting FiOS has been nothing but a huge headache.. see my previous posts about the whole experience HERE

To update you:
-when I signed up I was told that for the $42.99 premier pacakage I would get 3 set top boxes
my first bill came in and Im gettin charged $5 for each box!!
- My first bill showed up with packages I never ordered like a "movies and sports"
- to upgrade to an HD set top box I have to pay $25 for delivery charge or go to upper marlboro??!!
-everytime I call they either cant find my account by my phone number,or even Name! or transfer me to the wrong department, get put on hold forever, or just get dropped...
I have been on the phone for an hour either on hold or calling back..
I have been trying to make a payment my bill says $36.12 but w\ the credits..they told me it was $18.53, then I log online and it says $17.64 ..then the guy says how long have you had us? you shouldnt have a bill yet!!!!???? they have no sort of accounting information at all..
they keep asking me what my name is or phone number about 3 times
verizon fios = disapointment..

Flying Virgin..

2007-07-20T12:35:00.001-04:00

I typicall keep these type of posts on my other nongeek blog but it deserves it..brand expansion of Virgin - Virgin America is looking really dammmm good to me.. I travel alot for pleasure and work so I have been on pretty much all airlines.. but when I read some of the awesome things VA has.. I was sold.. how does a standard 110v power outlet sound? ethernet for broadband? and usb outlets at every seat? maybe not that great for you non-geeks out there.. cause I would have everything plugged in like always.. while my girlfriend just sits back and chills.. anywho for those kind of flights I would feel like having a martini cause the mood lighting that changes throught the flight makes it look like a lounge out of NY.. even if you didnt bring entertainment with you there is plenty to do on the flight.. Satellite TV, Payperview, 3000 mp3s to listen to..but the coolest feature has to be the "seat to seat" chat client-An airborne social network!! so far they are only flying out of a few airports..SF, NY, LA ..DC was listed but I could not get a fly to Vegas yet (which Im going on Aug 9th and this woulve been booked here) but flights from LAX to JFK came to $ 280 which is not bad at all.. Service out of DC to SF or LA starts in sept 26th and oct 24th of this year! birthday Trip!

RIP: IM and email

2007-07-18T10:09:00.000-04:00

I was thinking about downloading AIM.. but did I really miss it? I had been using trillian for a while but features wise there is nothing like the real application for yahoo, msn, gtalk, aim.. but I would be going back on what I have been saying for a while.."the days of IM and email are long gone " (at least for outside professional life) Instant messaging has been replaced by Text messaging (SMS and MMS) and email has been replaced by social networks (myspace / facebook) message capabilities....how and why did this happen?
-cell phone sales over the last 5 years has been huge.. (to exceed one billion in 2009) Im pretty sure almost everyone and their mother has a cell phone now. IM is restricted to a computer unless you have IM capabilities on your cell phone but even then you are limitted to the IM applicatiosn built in that phone and using the data to stay connected not only drains your battery faster but also increases your monthly bill since you need a data plan.. text messaging is on all the time- the only way to not receive a text message is to turn your mobile off (the capability to block and not receive text messages is not avail by any carrier) one thing that text messaging doesnt replicate is presence, unless you and all your friends have a fancy phone and use apps like Jaiku.. so just because you send someone a text message it doesnt mean they will get it right away (they could be out of service, or have their phone off)
-email is so 1990.. outside of having to use it professionaly.. people of all ages are looking at social networking sites (myspace, facebook, linkedin) to message friends/contacts. To me the hardest part is keeping up with people's contact info.. which I dont have to worry about when using a social site... 2nd I can see when they have read it, have logged in, etc.. so again its about presence. Thats my morning rant about the extinction of IM and email - Your thoughts?
do you see yourself answering to the same if not more text messages and myspace messages than IM's and email?

Sunrocket runs out of rocket fuel..

2007-07-17T17:01:00.000-04:00

VoIP player sunrocket closed its doors today..they were one of vonage's main competitor and their offering did look good - $200 per year for all you can talk.. this sucks for sunrocket but is it good for vonage? verizon? cable providers? who will take some of these customers? more importantly where will customers want to go? I have talked to a few people in the VoIP industry and alot still have their regular POTS lines..I wonder why?? even my parents complain of vonage and my brother's comcast line sucks in their own ways..I will write some more thoughts when I get home.. must concentrate on driving for now..

social networks are ok but for how long?

2007-07-12T22:04:00.000-04:00

social networks were a big topic at the online marketing summit I attended today in tysons corner.. towards the end I couldnt help but think how much longer is this going to last? or is it here to stay? what are they going to evolve into??
I started thinking back some years ago when it was friendster and discussion boards that started it all..you were cool if you had cool people as friends but (much like high school) this didnt last too long..due to a few too many issues everyone moved over to myspace.com, a site that was originally mainly for promoting music? became the cool thing and left friendster wishing they had fixed their problems....so now this guy "tom" became a rock star .. the ability to customize your page to reflect who you were (this was after all your space so why shouldnt you be able to decorate it much like your room?) is what made this new site so cool to get into.. at the same time there was another site but restricted to college kids only brewing like cheap beer..this made facebook even more desired by everyone that was NOT in college.. next thing you know it opens up for everyone to join and their platform as well to developers.. this meant more apps and widgets to keep college kids away from bars..and and now there are talks about an IPO, $6 billion offers from MSN, declined $2 billion offer from yahoo..but even with the buzz this "platform" created it apparently decreased facebook's fame.. its reported that myspace still has better traffic.. what happened? too much going on..the site was simple and it was only for college kids....now there is too much and its turning people back to basics.. so where is it going? I see all social networking going mobile.. apps like twitter are the next wave of social networking because of how basic and easy it is..keeping in touch w\ your friends.. you dont need no pics, or html knowledge, all you need is your text messaging..

my last iphone posting!!

2007-07-12T21:31:00.000-04:00

I dont know about you all but I've had enough about the damm iphone.. yeah I like it but I wont go back on my word and get it like many that have...two bloggers I follow Jeff & Om grabbed it and they seem happy even though at first they were totally not fans.... but going back to my intial though.. enough is enough.. is there anything else to talk about?the last year has been nothing but iphone rumors..then a week+ ago the hype got huge with the phones..damm loosers waiting in line?! etc, etc..then it was all the "first hand" reviews, complaints or praising the phone postings.....now its all the applications and the hacks surfacing.. even a guy from JP morgan talking about the iphone nano!!! ok dude you are supposed to be a respected analyst.. even your own pals are putting you down..he went and retracted..damm right he better.. but he got his 2 minutes of fame..bad fame but still..
this is what I told my friends on an email exchange
"I've had enough of the iphone.. seriously its like the bad ex gf that
wont leave you alone.. w\ all her crap people still tell you..awww she
was nice.. how come it didn't work out?? She couldn't send SMS's to more
than one person! ...The iphone set a new standard for what converged phones/smartphones
should be..and what the user interface should be on all phones, however
things like no 3G, no mass SMS / MMS capabilities, video uploading
..this could go on and on.. need to be fixed! ...stay put for 2nd or 3rd generation"

anywho..this is it...Im saying bye bye iphone until you come out with the proper features..my hats off to apple steve..nobody in the history of geeks has been able to do what he has..bring sexiness to something so simple and basic like a cell phone...and while doing it he has brought apple stock up and up to $134 per share over the last 5 years

Get your friends some loving..

2007-07-03T15:14:00.000-04:00

this reminds me of hotornot.com but alot more to the point.. getthemlaid.com is a beta site that basically lets you create a profile for your friend who you think needs to get some action.....thats as much work as you need to do.. let nature take its course and hopefully your friend would soon be found by someone..although its a funny idea and site..there are some privacy issues that concern me since pretty much anyone with a picture of you can create a profile for you, but nonetheless your friend may just end up thanking you.

got your iphone? now just need the apps

2007-07-02T09:23:00.000-04:00

if the hype over the last few months and this past weekend was not enough.. Im seeing some other "iphone" related news.. not about the idiots sleeping outside the store, but about applications being released of the iphone
-Visto jumps to the rescue and will support corporate email such as MS exchange..which lacked on the iphone
-iZoho gives Zoho (the online office suite) users word, excel, powerpoint support
-iphone chat..IM anyone?.. this was a feature the iphone lacked but this webbased app solves that issue for now.
-iphone accessories: as if paying steve $600 isnt enough..now you have a chance to drop more dough on things like the iphone bluetooth headset, docks, chargers, cases, etc etc ..

I expect to see more iphone apps and even though most might be web-based only is ok for now.. since a few days ago you did not expect to do half of this.. native apps wont come around as soon so for now these will do

my iphone experience

2007-06-29T22:46:00.000-04:00

Today was the day many had been waiting for..the day to drop $600 for an iphone..although I fell in love with it when the phone was first released but then after some facts I ended up not favoring the phone for more than a few reasons. I still drove by an At&t store this afternoon while my girlfriend shopped just to see the action.. it seemed empty so I stopped in and got to test one out in person.. WOW!
no matter all its setbacks and faults(no 3G, no mms support, 8Gigs, no flash, etc etc) the iphone is still one sexy converged device.. there is no doubt about it... I almost bought it!..left the store soon because my girlfriend was done shopping.. but I dragged her and her friend back to the store..I had to show them this.. while they were not as excited and wowed as I was they did seem to like it..they left again and went to another store..I kept playing with it for another 30 mins..The user interface could not be any more beautiful and easy to use.. while the virtual keyboard gave me some challenge it still did its job (definately easier than typing on a Pearl)
while I was tempted to get one..at that point $500 didnt seem like such a bad deal.. I did not..
like I said before I will wait for the 2nd or 3rd generation.. and while the phone isnt perfect it has still set a new bar for mobile manufacturers worldwide..companies like motorola, nokia, LG will have to start focusing more on the user interface and user experience.. Apple deserves lots of props here.. the phone is just fun to have.... sure my e61 is awesome because of its SIP client but what good is it when it takes a techie to know what to do and dig through the settings? so two good things have come out of this iphone phenomenom.. a faster EDGE network and a new standard for wireless devices has been set.

iphone day is here

2007-06-29T08:51:00.001-04:00

its almost here..just a few more hours..what millions of americans have been waiting for.. to drop $600 on a new shiny toy that will make them popular for about 5.3 minutes

I think I may drive to the cingular /att store and get on my PA "we are sold out of iphones. You must rely on money and personality to get knowest"

get email on your cell phone

2007-06-25T22:51:00.000-04:00

the days of carrying that extra PDA, or that bulky Treo or Blackberry maybe long gone..or maybe not...if you are a power user that needs to be connected 24-7 with all the capablities such as push email, reply all, attachments, etc dont read further. this isnt for you. but if you wouldnt mind gettin your email from certain people on your phone for free then this may be something worth checking..

I learned about teleflip at DEMO 07 and was invited to be a beta tester and finally set sometime to take a closer look: basically its a free service that fwd's your email to your cell phone as a text message..sounds good right? no software, free, any cell phone will work (you should have a text messaging bundle pack from your provider otherwise this may get expen$ive)

Signing up was painless, I entered my cell phone number and email account.. but receiving email was not as easy..I sent a total of 3 test emails to myself within 30 minutes and none were received on my cell phone.. it seems that this is a known issue but out of teleflips hands (they say the carrier is to blame for the latency on receiving it, Cingular seems to be known for this but give it a try it may just work for you) in theory its a great service even though text messages (SMS) are limitted to 120 characters (this means that if your email is 240 characters it will be broken into 2 text messages)... but even then its still a great service if it works for you....its a free service that delivers email to your cell shiny razor..so dont complain because 5 minutes ago all you could use that thing was to talk and send text messages...overall I give teleflip 1 thumbs up - the idea is great but it didnt work 100% for me but it may just be because Im on cingular..

YouTube goes mobile

2007-06-21T18:21:00.000-04:00

cell phones are getting love from the now live mobile youtube site...just point your mobile browsers to m.youtube.com and start streaming away..whenever you are bored, cant sleep or at the airport (like me) the vids stream quality is pretty good and there is no downloading so thats always nice.. you can also upload vids right from your cell phone

Opera mini 4 beta is the iphone safari rival

2007-06-21T12:00:00.000-04:00

I talked about opera mini 3 last year , they now have released the 4.o beta version and its much sweeter...it now loads up pages the way they are supposed to load up (not vertically displayed) its easier to move around the page and zoom in when necessary (much like the zoom in feature on the iphone safari browser shown below)

Opera mini 4 is free and you can use it on EDGE, 3G and WiFi.. which on the iPhone you are restricted to EDGE and WiFi..they even have a funny but true iphone ad parody video of opera mini guy vs iphone guy ... to finish off I took a few screenshots of opera mini 3 and the latest 4 Beta version..

As you can see opera mini 3 rendered web pages in a vertical "fit to width" format which was cumbersome to flow on pages (this is the result of web pages being pre-processed by opera before sending them to your phone)

Mini 4 Beta displays webpages the way they are meant to be viewed.. as you can see the washington post page loaded with a zooming box marked by the X

This is a zooming in shot of the post page using opera mini 4 making it easy to flow across and read.

Yahoo copies Gmail Chat

2007-06-14T13:37:00.000-04:00

yahoo = 0

google = 1

my friend peter Do IMs me and tells me he is using Y! messenger on his Y! mail...? smelled fishy like I had seen that somewhere else..GMAIL! anywho.. I liked Yahoo messenger and still use it heavily and yea you can now talk to msn messenger buddies..but come on.. a little bit more creativity woulve been nice from the yahoo peeps.. I mean google came in and owned this space in very little time..it seems everyday more and more of my friends are making the switch to gmail and getting sucked into the gtalk effect.. i like the fact gmail saves my chats onto an email if lets say I navigated away from the gmail page.. where the yahoo page seems to sign me off...anyway visit Yahooo web messenger if this thing wows you

No good TV

2007-06-14T13:10:00.001-04:00

Joost looks so innocent next to NoGood TV this beta internet tv site..unlike joost, you dont need to download a client ..the web based player is decent and videos seem to be in ok quality even when you go full screen..the site overall is pretty flash heavy but has plenty of content to keep you entertained..theres a good amount of channels for everyones taste as well..buffering is almost non existent ..add it to the list

off to chicago..NXTComm time

2007-06-14T11:29:00.001-04:00

I will be in chicago next week for NXTComm .. its a mix of communications technology vendors and communications and entertainment companies.. I hope to be Wowed next week with some new cool technology.. there is a bunch of mini conferences within nxtcomm..like Digital Hollywood, WiMax Strategies and others.. with some very interesting panels so I hope to make a few..
if any of my readers are interested in attending this mega conference let me know I have some free passes just drop me a note gonzales dot sam at gmail

Cell phone popularity..be mr popular..

2007-06-14T11:13:00.001-04:00

ever wanted to get out of that awful date or that boring meeting... I know I have.. or maybe just look important? with the popularity dialer you can.
Via their website, you can setup to have your phone called at a particular/several times and your phone will ring and hear a prerecorded message... the message are actually half of a conversation so you can fake a conversation even on speaker phone... the only setback is that there isnt an option to set up calls on a calendar all at once.. you have to do each date at a time.. and a max of 5 free calls to a number also sets you back on just how popular you will be.. so save it for a good one..you may also recognize one of the founders.. Jenny is also responsible for the portable cell phone booth

Verizon FIOS - the Nightmare!!!

2007-06-11T15:28:00.000-04:00

do you know why this guy is reading the newspaper? Cause he cant get FiOS installed at his house! so no internet or TV like me.... that is the image off the verizon fios website ..where the USA today raves about it..as impressive Data services that can be "delivered" I dont know how much I can believe that when they cant seem to just get me hooked up..getting FIOS reinstalled at my house and FIOS TV has been a nightmare..how is it that a service provider like verizon and with all the SPAM marketing about being ready..and there for you 24-7 be such a disaster..

-Back in May..yes MAY! I got a letter to sign up to receive FIOS TV priority installation?! ha what a joke.. I signed up and never heard back..for the last few weeks Ive been trying to call to see the status.
-My roommate who moved out had FIOS internet which couldnt be transfereed to me..I had to start a new account.. but when I called it showed my address as not being FIOS ready..I guess Ive been living a dream for the last year and that FIOS Box in mybasement has been an imagination..what a disaster..! they were able to pull up his old account but couldnt figure out why the other system said I was not FIOS ready.. this was thursday..the chick who said would call me back friday by noon never did.. made me feel like I had a bad one night stand
-Ive called a few times and today was no different, the guy said i was not FIOS ready, transferred me to tech support then eventually ended in the right department and now supposedly I have a confirmation and install date for thursday.. we shall see how this goes..
very dissapointed in verizon for the lack of knowledgeble customer service.. if they think because they are offering FIOS speeds and TV for a bit lower than Comcast they can get away they are wrong.. at this point Im about this close on just getting broadbandconnect from Cingular and no cable.. I got Joost, and torrents to watch TV ..as Ive said it before internet TV will be the downfall for these suckers who think they can overcharge for a simple service and suck at it...

UPDATE6/13: I was supposed to get it installed tomorrow. I was told I would get a call today to confirm my between 8am-12pm installation time.. its 5:30pm and have not heard from them so I called and apparently they have now changed me to June 22nd..it was so nice of them to notifi me.... I asked to speak to a manager but apparently they dont take calls..so they are going to call me back..this is going to get good..stay put.. verizon sucks..

i guess Im not the only one.. it took 6 months for this person to get it! just browse around the internet..

UPDATE 6/14: the 14th is here and I'm FiOSless .. supposedly I am now scheduled for June 25... I'll defnately be reading the newspaper for the next few weeks! I've become so diaspointed th:at I just dont care.. if they screw one more time.. I will go back to comcast.

UPDATE 6/25: its monday June 25 and I have a FiOS tech in my home working on the install.. he has been here since 930am but its a pretty easy install he says since I already have half the job installed.. the cable is running straight into the second level where my G4 resides, the wireless router will also be here..thank god for my neighboors unsecured wireless network

UPDATE 6/29: Ive had FiOS for a few days and I guess it was worth the wait and suffering.. but nevertheless it shouls not happen like that.. internet speeds definately bumped up.. I now have the wireless router in my office on the 2nd floor (it was in the basement before) and I have an "excellent" connection even when Im in the basement when before the signal would be only "good"when I was on the 2nd level.. TV quality also seems to have improved..the quality is more clear and crisp.. and the widgets are nice too..

Memory to go..portable hard drives

2007-06-11T13:27:00.000-04:00

I recently downloaded a few movies but my laptop was struggling and I started getting alerts for out of memory.. I have 2 External hardrives but they need an external power adapter so they arent very portable.. I had been looking at the western digital passport in the past and nothing smaller has come out by other companies..so I decided to get the 160GB but the day before I bought it WD released news of their new 250GB version! but its not in stock yet anywhere.. it retails for $199 which isnt bad if you are an on the go person like me.. I couldnt wait so I decided to grab the 160GB version which is on sale @ bestbuy for $109.. and Im loving it! its usb powered so you just plug it in w\ the provided cable and you are ready to go! its usb 2.0 so I can play movies and music right off it w\out delay.. it can be used on a Mac and PC. it’s easy to carry and no external power adapter is needed. Comes with sync & encryption and Google software. Ive backed up all my files and are carrying pics, movies all on it now..I give it two thumbs up

More iPhone cons

2007-06-11T11:34:00.000-04:00

the iphone sales training book leaked and there are a few more reasons now why I would NOT get it in addition to my inital thoughts ...it describes features but also ways to overcome objections..which I would definately have if I found out this at the store..

-No one-touch dialing - two touches are required
-IM clients not supported
-No GPS capabilities-I already knew this but not even bluetooth GPS enabled?
-MMS is not supported - it does not support MMS for photos and videos??

just how revolutionary is this phone again? the fact that it doesnt support multimedia messaging amazes me..especially in the heavy text messaging world we are living in these days

IPOD - Multi Room speaker system

2007-06-11T10:18:00.000-04:00

streaming music from my itunes library wirelessly to speakers around my house has been on my wish list for a while.. at first the plan was to buy a few airport express for each space I wanted to stream to..actually that really seemed like the only option..and not a cheap one each airport express runs $99.. in addition I would have to buy a powered speaker which are not cheap..

I also wanted to use my Nokia E61 as the itunes wireless remote control using sailing clicker via bluetooth or WiFi so that I could control the songs playing from my couch, patio,bed, etc..

I came across an easier and maybe less expensive alaternative..EOS wireless sells a home wireless speaker system for your ipod and other audio sources..the site states that is broadcasts cd quality audio up to 150 feet and can be expanded up to 4 wireless speakers.. the Core system retails for $300 which includes the base station and one wireless speaker each additional wiereless speaker retails for $150 so for about $750 you could have a multi room speaker system for 4 spaces which isnt bad if you consider a few things..

-If you move to another home you take this multi speaker system with you

-You can stream not just from your ipod, you can plug in your XM radio, mp3 player, or computer

Even though I would spending about the same if I deployed my inital "system" to match EOS (4 airport exprees @ $99 each=$400 and lets say that a decent powered speaker is about $99 each that would add up to $800) but a few setbacks is that I would only be able to stream from my itunes on my Mac so I could not play songs from friend's libraries if they brought their IPODs over.. and the EOS system is also more portable in my mind..with my "system" I would have to plug the airport express but also the powered speaker into an outlet..where I wpuld only plug the EOS speaker wherever I want it..less cables, less mess, less bulk.. seems like sharper image stocks this so check it out.. it gets my vote..

Bluetooth enabled car stereo

2007-06-11T09:53:00.000-04:00

I've seen an increase of car stereos with the auxillary input for your ipod.. even new cars come with it..but I just came accross the sony MEX-BT2500 which has bluetooth connectivity in addition to the aux input.. which is pretty cool if you carry tunes on your music phones or smart phones and use it as your ipod.. with memory increasing on cell phones (the nokia n91 has 4GB-8GB) more and more people are going this route vs carrying an ipod too.. but this is also why the iphone is coming out right?.. most of the time you have to buy a special adapter or cable to be able to listen to your tunes from your "music phone or smart phone" ..this overcomes that issue..at least while playing in the car.. it also allows you to do hands-free calling but its limitted to incoming calls and only redialing the last number dialed..(what is that about?) I would have to agree with this cnet review that apart from music streaming the "principle purpose of the system, therefore, is to accept incoming calls"..a feature that limits the full usage of bluetooth connecvity

the iphone may be a good thing

2007-06-06T11:21:00.000-04:00

so June is here and you know what that means.. its getting hot outside..and the iphone comes out june 29th. Everyone that asks me about it already knows my thoughts on this first generation iphone and why I will wait for the next generation even though the iphone ads make me want one..but I know its just the hype. Even apple executives share the same feeling I have according to NY times article

"Some Apple executives worry privately that expectations for the one-button phones may be too high and that first-generation buyers will end up disappointed.
Certainly there are skeptics. The high price will limit the phones’ appeal to true believers. The cellular network that the iPhone operates on is slower than those of many of its rivals. Several of Apple’s handset competitors hope that its decision not to include a keyboard, relying instead on a touch-screen virtual keyboard, will limit the attractiveness of the iPhone in text-intensive business markets"

I have no doubt that the iphone will get that 1% market share though regardless. there are enough people out there ready to pay up the $600 for it... with all that aside and the impact the iphone will have in the wireless industry..I was happy to read that at&t is boosting up EDGE speeds which benefits everyone! not just iphone owners.. a smart decision from the people at at&t since faster speeds are needed to create a rich web experience which the iphone claims as a main feature but since the unit is lacking 3G that was going to be a semi-rich web experience with lots of disappointed people..
Minimum data speeds should increase from about 40Kbps to 80 Kbps around June 15th if all goes as planned.. so see even if you are not getting the iphone you are still reaping the benefits that this little device is causing, its not everyday a wireless carrier shifts focus to refining older technology (EDGE) when they've been focused on growing their 3G coverage

New Applications for the Nokia E61

2007-05-23T16:38:00.000-04:00

I have not blogged much about any of the latest symbian 3rd edition applications for my nokia e61 and others for a few reasons..they usually get good coverage already and I havent had time..but I think these are worth it...and like my friends that own these devices would say..why didnt you tell me..so here are some of the new apps or upgrades that are worth a read..

SMS killer: the SMS client in the E and N series is not the greatest..we all miss the palm style threaded sms where all your conversations are under one contact..here are two applications
I first tried threadsms a few weeks ago and once the trial expired it didnt blow me away so I unistalled it but it may do the trick for you.then i saw SMSchat on my HF feed, and Im liking it alot more, its got an iphone feel to it, however one setback I encounter was that when it loads your contacts it sorts them by last name, I have my address book in first.last order, I have not seen a place to change that, also the fact that it doesnt replace the built in sms app is abit annoying..I got to press exit, press and hold the application key to get into the application and then to inbox..seems like a lot of steps rather than just pressing "show"when I receive something. I think these are great but replacing the built in app is a must otherwise it might be too many steps to get to your text's

Internet Radio: I already use the nokia internet radio app but this application looks alot nicer and very XM radio like..it came through from virgin but branded spodtronic..I cant remember from what rss feed I saw it originally but Ed does a nice write up here, I tried it myself a few times but Im running the old firmware so you have to be running the latest firmware for it to work otherwise it will just hang..

VoIP: more MoIP apps! I recently got an email from gizmo which I no longer use about some cool offer so I went to their site to see what theyve been up to and saw the gizmo client for not just the n80i which I knew existed but also for the E series and then this week I saw a few postings about it so Im assuming its relatitvely new..click here for E-series and here for the other nokia devices I already use truphone for my MoIP needs but this is a nice application..

so I think those were it as far as new apps Ive seen around lately.. as always this phone's apps keep getting better and better...this week @ GTM Ive seen quite a bit of E61's around actually.. the conference is highly attended by europeans who were the ones I saw the most walking around with their shiny E61's..

Evite Sucks - Episode 2

2007-05-16T23:21:00.000-04:00

earlier I wrote about my evite issue.. well here I am again. we are planning a camping trip and my girlfriend started drafting something on evite..the thing went wack again.. erasing or entering wrong data in the wrong places..she fixed it and would go back to do it again.. tonite I decided to have a closer look at socializr and Im liking what I see..
even though it doesnt have as many designs loaded Im sure there will be more later( i couldnt find one for camping) but thats ok..on to the things I liked..
- I can add music to the invite or add my own mp3
-I can add video from youtube
-I can add flash widgets like rockyou voicemail, or meebome IM...
as if that wasn't enough.. I can IM the invite to (aim, yahoo, msn), share it on facebook, add it to my outlook calendar, send it to my cell phone and even update my twitter!!
that did it for me.. theres some features i would love to see in something like this but cant talk about it unless socializr contacts me and offer me a nice offer ...anyway Im saying bye bye evite!

be a lender or a borrower

2007-05-15T06:48:00.000-04:00

I was reading my fast company april issue (catching up actually) and came across prosper.com, a peer to peer lending site..its like ebay for people looking for a loan and people looking for a place to dump some dough.. I checked it out and the listings are from things like starting a new business, to pay off credit debt, to getting married! so if youve always wanted to be a VC or angel investor here is a good way to start..and if you need some $ for anything it may be worth the visit to their site...make sure to read the FAQs though..

evite sucks

2007-05-14T11:33:00.000-04:00

in the last few weeks I have supposedly been invited to friend's events but never heard about them until they started asking me..why I had not responded to the evite?if that sounds familiar..welcome aboard. I would understand if maybe it got filtered into my junk folder..but nope. Last week I went through my entire gmail junk folder looking for one that was sent and nothing..but getting the evite is not the only issue, for NYE we had a party and sent out an evite to friends, most of them received it but the thing went wacked and one day deleted all the friends rsvps and responses.. so Ive been looking around for other options and recently read about socializr which was started by the founder of friendster Jonathan abrams. I signed up but havent played around with it enough to say this is the solution since there are other evite competitors out there..and even myspace competes in this space...we'll see how socializr does..

iphone survey and stats..

2007-05-03T12:02:00.000-04:00

a month away from the release of the much anticipated iphone..will you get it? reading through some news and surveys and stats seems like apple will do quite well with first round.
a survey from markitecture of 1300 people makes it sound like 6% is not good at all? or is it just the sense I got? specially when apple sees a 1% market share a win.. this is a high end phone after all..market entry will be tough for anyone.. and then you look at the 5.6% market share windows mobile has.. definately has to have people at microsoft scrambling.. so how is it that 6% is not good?as far as me I wasnt planning on getting this version of the iphone.. Im going to sit and wait for the 2nd or 3rd generation..why? look at my previous thoughts on the iphone... if you want to read deeper into the iphone and how it will affect the cell phone industry check out this report Im reading

T-mobile's Wi-fi dual mode cell phones to roll out..

2007-05-03T11:16:00.000-04:00

Todays technology journal of WSJ had an article on T-mobiles nationwide roll out of its hotspot @ home service this summer..this program was in trials in seattle and last I heard not doing well..they were having issues with the call handoff between cellular and Wi-Fi network..which according to the article has been ironed out...(for you non geeks this service would let you make and receive calls over their cellular network but as soon as you came in rage of T-mobile's wifi Hotspots like at starbucks the call would automatically switch over to the Wi-Fi network-saving your cellular minutes and increasing the quality of the call) the service would cost about an extra $20 which is a bit high I think..$10 would make think twice about switching from cingular..
another feature of the plan thats not being rolled out until later for which I would pay the $20 is being able to use your home landlines and be able to get your cell phone calls answered on your landline when at home and not use your minutes.. I can do this today well sort of..my nokia e61 has a VoIP client but its not a smooth handoff.. I have it set so that the wifi kicks in when Im at home but I have a separate number through truphone..so not the same thing at all...I cant wait to see how this plays out.. I must say T-mobile will gain some market share through this new strategy..already popular with their myFaves plan and the plans to also roll out a 3G network.. this would also mean that they would have to carry some very cool dual mode cell phones like the rumored Nokia N95 to come to tmobile.. so for that they get two thumbs up and maybe my business later this year

Tmobile Dash now makes VoIP calls

2007-04-30T12:07:00.000-04:00

even though the feature was never enabled.. someone figured out how to unlock it! got to love it.. I recently looked at gettin a dash vs the blacjack which I sold and Im back on the E61.. but one of the reasons I quickly said no to the dash was for the lack of a SIP client even thogh it has wifi.... here are the instructions from howardforums

As expected, tmobile wm6 does not have voip enabled by default.. However with the help of ppl over at xda, I was able to get it working !! Here are steps
1) app unlock your wm6 (same surrealnetwork file works in wm6)
2) download voip cab files from xda here http://218.93.115.138/d900/patch/WM6VoIP.CAB and put it on your dash. then install it. You should see these files in windows folder
# ipdialplan.xml
# dnsapi.dll
# voipphonecanvas.dll
# rtcdll.dll
3) follow the steps here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=299950
4) reboot your device and Settings->Phone->internet calling set the option "Whenever available"
5) it takes some time for the special sip icon to appear on your phone
enjoy !!!

call mom for free! on mothers day

2007-04-30T11:55:00.000-04:00

mothers day is around the corner and is probably one of bussiest day to get a phone call in internationally.. the good people at skype have teamed up with intel on a promotion - "gift of gab" you can place free calls to any landline or mobile number around the world on Mother's Day (May 13, 2007). this is the first time that U.S. and Canadian users will be able to make free SkypeOut calls to anywhere in the world for a period of 24 hours. You have no excuse not to call your mom, aunts, friends moms, etc.. if you still dont have skype, this is a good opportunity to download it.. its free! skype.com/go/giftofgab .. and since you are saving some dough on the phone call, get your mom some flowers and/or chocolates.. I highly recommend locolat www.belgiumlocolat.com

the mighty powerful SIM card: GPS SIM cards

2007-04-28T10:52:00.000-04:00

last year I wrote about samsun's GSM SIM card with a whooping 1GB of mem.. a year later we are looking at SIM cards with a complete embedded GPS system! developed by blue sky positioning and announed at SIMposium .. the entire gps system is fitted in the sim card but the processing is done by the phone.. this opens up alot of embedded applicaitions in high end phones like the nokia e61 I owe which has positioning, navigator and landmarks applications already but not used w\out a bluetooth gps receiver.. and even in lower end phones the GPS SIM card could come into play with text based location pin-pointing.. and even applications like Jaiku and Twitter could have more location rich features..and if google decided to upgrade the mobile map application to use the GPS SIM it would pretty much put GPS receiver manufatures out of business.. how will GPS receiver manufatures and softwares survive? Garmin is a good example of seeing where mobile technology is going and trying to get a pice of the cake - just look at Nokia and the nokia N95 - GPS enabled with their own GPS software embedded in the phone- even though Garmin maybe a bit too late since they are not known for manufacuring cell phones..but then again neither did apple or google but the iphone is out in june and the google phone is still a "rumor"

iphone for sale now?

2007-04-27T11:19:00.000-04:00

yeah if you want a look alike one get it on ebay .. got to love clones and fake me out phones.. this is nothing new ..I recently saw a nokia n95 knock off on line.. but this iphone runs windows xp?! and only dualband? and has a weird keypad lay out.. so even though its touchscreen the numbers arent.
got to wonder who are the 28 idiots bidding on this? and is this a sign of more iphone clones to come?

if you want the real thing break that piggy bank and start counting coins for late June when the phone is scheduled to be released (thats if it doesnt get pushed back again)

I sold out..but not for long - Blackjack vs nokia E61

2007-04-27T10:44:00.000-04:00

Yes I sold out and got a Samsung Blackjack- I kinda felt in love with it after getting a closer look..but it must've been the excitement of testing a new toy-I bought it last thursday and sold it yesterday so in less then a week I decided to get rid of it. Here is my review of the phone and the reasons why its no longer with me.
PROs
-the blackjack is small but well put together and its also very light in weight
-it has 3G which is one of the main reasons why I got it
-AIM, Yahoo, MSN clients that can be logged on all at the same time
-email, calendar, contacts synced fine with my outlook
-slingplayer mobile client available for windows mobile(this was the main reason I wanted this phone to be able to watch my tv from the go)
-1.3 megapixel camera

CONs
-the screen is small, too small to watch videos, even when on full screen
-No 3G coverage in Gaithersburg MD, where I live and work and spend most of my time
-the QWERTY keyboard lay out is weird, the number buttons (in gray) are separated by a columm rather than having them all in one area together like the e61
-the keys were also hard to type in, it felt like you had to put some force into it
-Battery drains quick, faster if you are on 3G but cingular provides you with 3 batteries! but who wants to carry that around
-the plastic housing and screen are easily sratched even when in your pockets and lint and dust is easy to get under the screen, within a week the phone had numerous hairlike scratches
-screen is not sun friendly, it was almost impossible to see the screen when outside
-signal reception seemed weak, even though its quadband my e61 seemed to get alot better reception
-Phone's processor seemed slow, I timed getting online to my google landing page on both phones and the E61 won by more than a few seconds even though its on EDGE

overall I think its a good phone, light and small and semi easy to use if used to Windows OS..
the keyboard and screen were the main parts I could not deal with, that if I had 3G coverage where I am I probably wouldve kept it. For now I've gone back to my E61..I thought about getting the E61i because of the camera but have decided that I wont until 3G coverage is expanded in my area.

the will ferrel "the landlord" and why internet tv will outwin cable

2007-04-20T07:01:00.000-04:00

Im up early this morning (even though I went out for a few last nite) and Im channel surfing with nothing to watch I get to my encore channels - Ive been having issues with these channels and comcast has done a horrible job at fixing the situation (but they do a great job at charging my Amex right on time!) I turned it off and got online to check RSS feeds.. I come accross a new internet tv/comedy site called funny or die .. the site isnt a start up by another 20 year old..its actually backed by sequoia capital (vcs who backed apple, google, youtube and yahoo) and so far its done good by the buzz and views of "the landlord" a will ferrell 2 minute clip that had 7+ milliion views in 24 hours!...got to love viral marketing..but even though will ferrell is in it I have to say that its the 2 year old who makes this clip what it is..watch the video...and if you are like me start looking more and more at internet tv and get rid of comcast because at $108 a month they do a horrible job at providing cable tv.. this is why internet tv will shake down cable providers much like internet telephony (VoIP) shook down telephone providers.. it wasnt just about the price, (dont get me wrong paying $60 for local verizon vs $25 on vonage is a no brainer) but it was also about features like follow me, voicemail emails, etc..same applies for internet tv..the fact that i can watch it, share it, digg it, save it, comment it is very cool and not available with cable...I was more entertained by a free 2 min clip than I probably wouldve had been by watching anythingn on tv at 6:30am when there is nothing but infomercials..

cingular, qwest and sprint are naughty...

2007-04-12T10:33:00.000-04:00

I got a conference call scheduled for next week and it was interesting to see the additional call in number for sprint, qwest and cingular customers only..
Wednesday April 18th 11am
Conference Call-in: 1-641-297-5600 Access#: xxxx
1-641-297-5610 (Sprint, Qwest and Cingular Customers)

in case you have not heard these 3 stooges decided to block certain call in numbers from freeconference.com service..why would they do that to their paying customers? apparently they are loosing millions of dollars?..(all Im going to say to at&t is that if you got roughly 52 million customers that they claim, paying roughly $$$ a month and you got enough dough to do a name -brand change from cingular..you arent hurting for money so dont cry me a river) we pay too much for voice as it is and totally get raped for data and text messaging bundle plans..
this is just like the whole net neutrality issue.. where service providers feel they can charge more or block certain content providers.. last time I checked I pay a fixed fee for anytime minutes and "unlimitted nights and weekends" to be able to call any US number (intl numbers too at a higher rate) does this mean they can now pick certain numbers and block them?
for further reading check this good article that explains it in good detail

Internet TV for the mac

2007-04-11T22:53:00.000-04:00

I just wrote about fireant -a very cool internet tv application that uses RSS feeds to download the latest to your desktop... but if you have a Mac.. you must check tvshows 0.2 out that lets you automatically download your bittorrent tv episodes..its tivo for the internet tv world... so now go ahead and put that FIOS service to good use..

Palm Treos go Linux

2007-04-11T12:52:00.000-04:00

the days of throwing that treo 700 against the wall may soon be gone as news today revealed that Palm is developing a linux based operating system.. a move thats been overdue for sometime I think should improve the stability of the palm treo.. a smartphone that ironically isnt very smart due to the many bugs and issues it has even in 2007 I still hear nothing but complaints from users and my response is ..what did you expect? it doenst run on linux..even though Im a symbian os guy now.. I had nothing less than a great experience while using linux..so keep your fingers crossed Treo users.. maybe this time around it will work

Spring VON follow up

2007-04-11T07:35:00.000-04:00

Even though Spring VON 07 was last month...and I've been busier than ever I still wanted to write something about what I saw this time around in San Jose.. so it was all about "voice, video and vision".. you can scratch off voice - VoIP alone has become a boring topic..it is just voice after all..the end consumer doesnt really care what it is, so its only the geeks that are still hung up on VoIP and all the "cool things" you can do with it like get your voicemail in your email
--woppedoo-- yeah its cool but how hard is it for me to call and check in my voicemails rather than get spammed with mp3 attachements in my inbox...I'll stop now rather than continue on VoIP features that are overdue in this "voice 2.0" world..
Video is a different story and I see this as the vision part of the show and the future of IP communications- the video pavillion was packed pretty much at all times. I got a chance to walk through the packed kiosks on the last day to see what all the fuzz was about and even though I didnt get a chance to talk to everyone I got to see some very cool things.. I rated them using my thumbs up award -
Qoof- informercials meets youtube - a preety cool idea if you are enrolled in affiliate programs and make some dough this way. You create your own video about a product/service and then link it to the product being promoted and voila $ in your wallet from every sale generated..its a free service too.. Qoof gets my one and half thumbs up
Fireant- internet tv on demand thanks to RSS feeds.. how did we survive before rss?
its a preety sweet desktop player you download, you subscribe to the rss feeds, and watch internet tv-it plays multiple formats ( Quicktime, Windows Media, Flash, Real, MPEG, MP4, AVI, DivX, MP3, etc) and you can take it to go too on your ipod, psp, zune, cell phone, etc..video on the demand and on the go doesnt get much better than this.. Fireant gets two thumbs up
Clesh & FORscene web based video editing and publishing at its best.. if you are a pro youll need FORscene and youll be able to collaborate with your buddy accross the world through a browser.. for consumers clesh is the easy way to go, upload, edit, and publish to cell phones, websites, podcasts all within the webbased toolkit. Clesh & FORscene get the "I wish I had more than two thumbs award"

Free SMS worldwide

2007-03-22T23:11:00.000-04:00

Ive said it before and after spending this week at Spring VON I'll say it again - Voice is boring! - who needs to talk when you can communicate and via SMS and MMS .. gizmo project recently lauched gizmosms - which lets you send free text messages to any mobile phone worldwide..
and even if you feel like you want to talk to this person after you send that text message you are given the option.. I know what you are thinking.. this is freaking awesome.. and it is but the two drawbacks are replies from the people you sent the text message to is not possible so this is only one way.. second voice calls are not unlimmited, as stated on their website = "Call length limited to up to 3 min/call, 10 min/day to most landlines & select mobile phonesaround the world. Additional restrictions apply."

Wii Djing..

2007-03-22T22:58:00.000-04:00

if you got a nintendo wii and are also into djing..or even if its none of the above.. this little hack is pretty fing cool... as some of you know djing has been a hobby for many years but as technology advanced it has killed the fun in it.. these days its all cdj 1000's or mp3 players.. the days of vinyl are long gone.. so this is what the future holds .. check it out = wiidjJ

white space: internet over TV airwave

2007-03-13T23:24:00.000-04:00

so once we all switched over to our digital cable boxes we left one thing behind and plenty of.. analog TV airwaves which uses the 700 MHz spectrum and apparently its a good medium to provide high speed internet since it can penetrate walls..or at least thats the hope by the usual players (google, microsoft, HP, Dell, Intel, phillips) who have formed a coalition and have come up with a prototype that will be tested by the FCC to see if it does what it says...the spectrum is currently held by analog TV operators which have until feb 2009 to terminate analog TV service and go digital..I think its a great idea..
-this unused "white space" can be used to pipe broadband to homes - increase competition, sorry at&t, vz and comcast.. its time to bring your overpriced services down!
-nobody is using analog anyway..and those few that are should be switching to digital if not now definately by 2009..prices of HD plasmas and other TV units are cheaper than ever
-Rural love- even if you live in boonsville..you could get broadband access for less than cable/phone

so the prototype is in the FCC labs now and if it proves that it won’t interfere with spectrum that is already in use by TV broadcasters..we could see them as soon as early 09..

I'm on the News

2007-03-12T20:03:00.000-04:00

I was recently interviewed about wireless offerings from cable operators by the associated press..here is one of the articles.. abc news the article got picked 177 times!
as of now cable operators like cox, comcast and others have a partnership with Sprint which I blogged about before offering a quadruple play bundle package (cable, voip, internet and wireless) all from the same cable provider in one bill...
my feeling about the whole topic is that while its cool to get one bill for all of the above it may still not be the best deal..check prices and do the math.. like I said on the article this quadplay through sprint only had 4 cell phones available so that alone will turn people who want a variety of choices off.. as of today I have my wireless through Cingular and tmobile, my VoIP through truphone, my FIOS through Verizon, and cable through Comcast.. so thats my 15 mins of fame.. at least I didnt have to look goofy like I did on last year's radio interview on tele-semana

Here is 3 links of the articles: many more on google news..
spokesmanreview.com
The enquirer: Cable v. Phone: gloves are off
KomoTV channel 4 : Cable, telcos compete over wireless

Presence is hot - jaiku

2007-03-01T22:04:00.000-05:00

as my friend Paris Hilton would say... knowing where she is hanging out and what shes doing is very important to me...not! I talked about jaiku and presence last year and they just launched their new beta application @ etel for nokia s60 3rd edition phones (like mine) so Im very excited to test it out because I think presence is a very hot feature that phones should have built in.. regardless of what cell phone you are using , or what service provider you are using.. dream on right? well since service providers are too busy thinking of ways to make more bucks rather than make more usable features - companies like Jaiku help out with this need but only with some supported phones - twitter is also another presence app via text messaging...

so not only does jaiku show your presence but it can also feed flick pictures, blog postings, music video and more...one thing I would love to see incorporated into it is either GPS or GSM location tracker..show the presence of my friends on a google map would be sweet...

here are a 2 snapshots of jaiku running on my e61

>>>>>

Smart2Go - map application for your cell

2007-02-12T22:25:00.000-05:00

its really hard these days to use that excuse on how you got lost....I would probably laugh at you if you told me you couldnt find my house.. with applications like google map on your cellphone you can actually see my house with their satellite view..anyway here is another player in that mobile map/directions game.. smart2Go and I like it..I've written about other googlemap like applications for cell phones like map24, mGmaps , amAze

theres a few reasons I like smart2Go ..
- MapLoader: if you dont have an unlimitted data plan and get charged per MB they help you download the maps you need to your PC and then install them onto your phone- this way you dont incur any data costs from your cell phone provider..pretty cool!
-smart2Go 2.0 upgrade options you have w\ smart2Go.. first the navigation upgrade so that you get voiced turn by turn directions in 2-3D all you would need is a GPS receiver
the 2nd upgrade option which I loved is the City Guides upgrades..because when traveling who wants to look like a dumb tourist with a guide book and map.. the smart2Go guides can be purchased rigth from the cell phone itself!

Truphone and Gtalk are now Talking

2007-02-07T20:14:00.000-05:00

Truphone is one of my very favorite software on my Nokia E61..even though I dont use it as much its an awesome easy add on to the SIP client .. if you have a compatible phone (Nokia’s E60, E61, E70 and N80 now but Windows mobile client is coming) you should get it and use it.. and they just made themselves alot more appealing with today's news.. you can now talk to google talk buddies for free (they can call you and you can call them) this is another truly revolutionary move in the mobile VoIP space .. we want multi IM /VoIP mobile capabilities...my recent entries about Fring and iSkoot also prove this... I dont want to just chat but I want to have the option of calling my buddies and not get killed with long distance charges... these applications are bridging mobile VoIP and Web VoIP applications that are in a way antisocial-social networking apps..(the whole point of IM and VoIP is to talk to friends, and/or meet new ones from accros the world, email, see pictures..but how can I if my friend uses skype and I use googletalk?) the more they each integrate each other with other applications/clients the more they are to make an impact with people because at the end of the day I dont want to have 3 different IM or VoIP applications running.. yes I know I make it sound easy but its not, I understand there are different protocols that each of these applications run on which sometimes arent too friendly of each other..(gtalk uses XMPP protocol and truphone uses SIP protocol) but its moves like these that need to happen more often...
anywho back to truphone:here is a video from truphone blog on how to do this..

iphone available now..$99

2007-02-06T07:30:00.000-05:00

no its not apple's overrated cellphone...this one actually does VoIP.. its a SIP softphone for your Mac os X called isoftphone... its integrated with your existing address book which is awesome so you dont need to import contacts to the application itself, it has an easy VoIP configuration setup and soon will add SMS capabilities..it retails for $99 so it definately beats the $600 price tag come june.. more info click here

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Free GPS navigation for your cell phone!

2007-02-06T06:04:00.000-05:00

tommi blogged about it and it caught my attention..even though I use googleMaps and has been working great...amAze looks like a solid application.. check here to see if your cell phone is supported (Java-enabled).. so if you want 100% accurate directions check it out.. you'll need a bluetooth GPS receiver..

Skype on the Nokia E61 ..

2007-02-05T21:38:00.000-05:00

IM is a huge part of my life.. next to SMS texting.. its the whole presence, freeflow almost instant conversation with friends that makes it a very appealing application for cell phones.. unfortunately not all cell phones have them or the applications arent broadly compatible... skype and symbian OS is one.. skype is a cool IM/VoIP application.. a mobile client has been on the "works" forever but nothing yet and since it doesnt look like skype will release a Symbian client to the public (the client for 3's X series phones does not work) anytime soon.. theres been a few beta apps out there that have skype capabilites but they arent as nice as having a native client built for the phone... apps like EQO and SoonR for example have skype in/out capabilities but you also have to download and have the PC application running on your computer for that call to be made which kinda sucks... and defeats the whole Mobile VoIP idea

I wrote about iSkoot and fring before (and again about fring recently here) but at the time they did not have a solution for my phone.. but things have changed.. this post is all about using skype on the E61 or any other supported phone for that matter for free skype calls..I'll explain a bit about each, what I liked and didnt like as well...at the end they both do a very nice job.. as you can see I have a few different IM options but I like these two the most

Fring uses your cell phone data plan to make VoIP calls and instant messages with Skype and GoogleTalk..why I like Fring? it uses your data plan to make that call sobasically it makes a decent VoIP call over EDGE (2.5GPRS) or WiFi if your phone is capable..theres no usage of minutes!.. what I didnt like? no option at login to choose your connection, it jumps whatever Access point you used last.. so in my case EDGE connection but I can switch the connection to WiFi once logged in ..since the call is made w\in the application it doesnt let you use speakerphone or bluetooth ..unlike iskoot it doesnt load your skypeout contacts

iSkoot is probably my favorite right now..probably because its as close to a native skype client as possible...it looks like a skype client..the logos and UI..it asks for my access point at login and automatically refreshes my buddy list...and also brings up my skypeout contacts
what I didnt like? no chat capability as of today on my phone so I can only call them but no IM..no GoogleTalk support (which is ok by me but coming soon)... it makes the VoIP call by calling iskoot's PSTN server and then connecting to Skype (this is where you still use your minutes- if anything this comes in great when calling Intl skype contacts since there is no long distance charges)

So two different but yet similar IM/VoIP mobile clients.. check their websites to see if your phone is compatible and start calling!

FREE WiFi everywhere!?

2007-02-03T05:22:00.000-05:00

no Im not talking about Googlenet (Googles free WiFi access pilot that started in San Fran ) but what about free WiFi access everywhere else in the world..or in the US for that matter..we can't look to Google for that can we? not anytime soon but maybe in a few years.. in the meantime we could use companies like FON which is Backed by no other than Google and Skype is a worldwide community where members aka Foneros share their WiFi at home and in return enjoy free WiFi wherever they find FON too. another company doing the same thing is Whisher .. I think its a great idea share the Wifi and that way you get wifi access for web and VoIP too.. right? not so perhaps..after I shared the idea and FON's latest promo (giving away free FON routers) to my friends I got alot of ressistance.. the idea of them sharing their Cable or FiOS broadband was not accepted well.. why would I want to share my bandwith? it will slow my downloads! what about security? these are all good questions but I said lets look at the bigger picture... for one you can control how much access your give people

and second what are the chances of a Fonero actually being in my neck of the woods? and if so how long is that person really going to be there?..I think we were overlooking the actual idea..and what about us when we are on the go wouldnt we want free wifi access..i guess its that I take but dont give back mentality in some of us?

communications toolbox for your business

2007-02-01T09:23:00.000-05:00

....Conference. Hosted by the md tech counsil...is taking place today...ill be here speaking with attendees about VoIP and the benefits for consumer- smb's communication needs

-Sent wirelessly from my nokia E61-

its Fringing Time!

2007-01-30T17:30:00.000-05:00

Fring (the mobile voip application for cellphones) just released their symbian 9 client! I talked about them before but at the time they did not support my phone at the time.. well I waited patiently and it seems to do the job.. its too early to tell..there seems to be a few bugs.. (when I try calling my google talk contacts the call gets disconnected) if you have a symbian 9 phone head over here and try it out and provide some feedback. What’s in this version (2.71)?

Voice calls and chat over 3G and Wi-Fi
Skype and Google Talk integration (Voice and Chat)

History (Missed calls, Incoming/Outgoing calls)
Improved voice quality compared with previous versions

1/31 UPDATE: Fring is working great.. buddies prescence refresh seems to be pretty on point..(no need to manually refresh) and today I successfully received a Google Talk call from a friend while connnected on EDGE (2.5G) the call quality was really good for not being 3G and best of all it was free!

Talkster - Call IM contacts from your cell

2007-01-28T20:05:00.000-05:00

talkster the mobile web based application allows a user with a regular cell phone (no need for software) to be able to see their instant messaging buddies from MSN, Google Talk, and Gizmo project, and call them from your mobile to that persons PC..unlike some other services that I ve written about like EQO (which allows you to make calls to your skype contacts but your PC has to be on and connected to skype) this one doesnt require software..I signed up to try it out..and couldnt get it to work..I uploaded my girlfriend as a contact and it shows up on the phone's browser too along with "invite me"next to it...
when I click to connect to her the phone dials a 646 area code number but never rings and it gets disconnected..instead it sends an email to that contact to invite them to accept the invitation on their messenger applicatio which they never got?? after a few tries the phone actually got through but I got a voice greeting telling me I had a $2 balance and to enter the number I wanted to call even though I was trying to call a buddy contact.???? so Im extremely confused and annoyed now so even though I like the idea behind this.. here what I didnt like

the fact I have to enter or upload my contacts to it (why couldnt I just enter my Messenger screen names and the service get them from that, like EQO)
the fact that I couldnt make the call, some find the invite email annoying
only 3 messenger options (no skype or yahoo)

Update: James from Talkster was nice enough to respond to my issues.. check out the comment on this post for his reply..

buy the iphone get free service!

2007-01-26T20:04:00.000-05:00

thats the rumor Ive heard and read.. sounds like at&t (formerly cingular) will be giving 1.5 years of free service if you pay up the $500-600 for the iphone come june... so is this another iphone rumor? we'll see.. if true does it make sense? lets see the iphone got awesome publicity and hype for being probably the greatest rumored phone to come true.. I even wanted one.. but after my excitement settled down and I took a closer look at it... much like thousands of others who say the iphone is just not that great.. but hey if you must have it because you have to be the cool kid at starbucks with it go ahead.. youll look like fool using a razor in a few months and most likely i will make fun of you.
so free service? this could be at&t's plan to gain that market share even of those people like me that dont think the phone is that great..its "free" service after all... since they wont need much for the thousands that have decided to pay up and switch carriers to at&t which will make it a winner..in the wireless fight with sprint, verizon, tmobile.. Jim Cramer seems to think so
a few things to keep in mind..if this is even remotely true... most likely this free service only means voice..not data.. so be ready to still pay the $20-$30 a month for unlimitted EDGE data (remember the iphone does not have 3G) thats still $360-540 for the 1.5 year of data ...if you dont have cingular you'll to break out of your plan ..the penalty is about $200.. then you have to fork over $500-$600 for the phone.. so far this iphone with this "free service" will cost you around $ 1200+ with most likely a very basic free voice plan of 450 mins which goes for $40 (cause I cant believe they would give away more than that) so basically you are paying about $70 for a $40 plan (I divided the amount it would cost me for this "free"service phone into 18 months) then youll probably be tied in to a 4-5 year contract (if cingular is smart they will say the first 1.5 year didnt count since it was free.. after those 1.5 years you are tied to 2 more) so $1200 and 4 years later you will be using the most overpriced phone ever invented that doesnt even handle 3G and only has 8Gigs of space..and have overpaid for a voice plan that would regularly cost you half... congratulations you are probably the most stupid person on earth..but dont worry there are a few million of you..

more razor phones!! wooopeeedoo

2007-01-26T06:41:00.000-05:00

when you thought motorola couldnt possibly keep releasing razor phones..they did it again..just in time for 3GSM... at this point I am so razored out! that I may start slapping people that use them... I still remember when the phone came out and people thought they were the coolest until everyone had one.. I guess the design team @ motorola are stuck and cant get out of this razor phase or motorola management thinks they can still milk more milk out of this cow..
anywho..the phone is a razor but slider one..how clever? reminds you of the LG chocolate?
for more info visit http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto/motorizrz6/
can you tell how excited I am about this phone?

Cingular is now at&t...

2007-01-24T06:21:00.000-05:00

in case you didnt know..but you have seen the recent cingular commercials... cingular wireless is being rebranded back to at&t wireless..(if you rememeber cingular bought at&t wireless and renamed it cingular and spent millions in the marketing and rebrand effort..all to waste now) so if you have an old at&t branded cell phone you will not look like a complete fool if you decide to use it now.. for a better explanation on the name change and how it shows antitrust efforts at its best: play the video

reality hits - the iphone its not sooo great!

2007-01-11T06:42:00.000-05:00

so its been a 2 days and after reading tech specs and processing it all about the iphone Ive come to the conclusion that its not that great and as "Revolutionary" as Steve Jobs said.. so I wont be buying it in june and will probably put the $600 towards a trip instead..here are my points..

- no 3G: the iphone is a cingular exclusive who have ok 3G coverage, why isnt it included its beyond me. the phone looks "revolutionary" and has WiFi but only having EDGE sets it back for things like "rich"web experiences
- no removable battery: much like the ipod the iphone is sealed..how is this possible? a device that is packing an ipod for music and video and a cell phone that is all touchscreen will die of power quickly and quicker when you start using WiFi and bluetooth.. this means I'm limited to only hear some music or some web browsing or I have to be glued to a plug for contstant charging
- only cingular: another so not "revolutionary" move - (cingular soon to be called at&t which sounds because it is a dinosaur telco) some though apple would launch their on MVNO but that didnt happen, instead they have an exclusive contract with cingular limiting non-cingular customers from getting it ...
-No VoIP: mobile VoIP is "revolutionary" and the future - the fact that its a WiFi phone but with no VoIP built in to make internet calls overpassing cingular's network is disapointing
-8 GB is nothing - once you start saving movies, songs, podcasts, along with sms messages, adress books and other stuff pretty soon you'll be running low.. doesnt seem like enough to me..at least 30 GiGs shouldve been - nokia released the 4-8GB n91 last year..
-closed system: even though the phone runs mac OS X it wont allow users to install their own software..so porting of any os X software over it may be totally out so no skype or gizmo like i preveiously though
-no enterprise love: i read somewhere that blackberries were doomed with the iphone.. wrong! when it comes to push email they own the space (their phones look like crap) but they do email well..a major disadvantage here
-2mpx flashless camera: no flash and only one.. what about a 2nd camera on the front for ichat video conferecing on wifi (this is where 3G wouldve come in nice)

so there you have it.. the iphone is just not that great..maybe the 2nd version will be a bit more truly "revolutionary"

Get your iphone

2007-01-10T12:26:00.000-05:00

if you are like me and already know youll be spending around $600 to get the iphone (ive already called my contacts at apple and cingular and hope to have one by april ) you should probably get yourself on the "waitlist"over at cingular.com/iphone and get ready to extend your contract for another 2 years or get ready to cancel whatever service you have so that you can get this baby for around $499 for the 4GB or $599 for the 8GB version.. for more info visit www.apple.com/iphone

Steve does it again! the iphone exists

2007-01-09T13:25:00.000-05:00

and its super sexy!! and it will revolutionize the way we communicate and entertain ourselves
First let me say how bugged out I am at apple( I was really hoping it was just a rumor but I knew better).. I had been fighting in getting an ipod for years because I wanted one device! But sadly came to realize it was impossible so I finally gave up and decided it was time to get one.. for xmas I received an 80GB ipod from jess along with my Nokia E61 I was set and now this? Well even though Ill probably get the iphone - it cant match what I have – the iphone looks like it only has 8GB of space,which isnt bad at all.. and also comes armed with quadband, wifi, EDGE and a bunch of other features.. let me stop by just saying its sick.. take a look for yourselves http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Today is the day!

2007-01-09T07:27:00.000-05:00

Today we find out if that rumored apple cell phone is a reality or just an imagination..the latest rumor comes from the wall street journal through engadget
"People familiar with the situation" have apparently informed the WSJ that Apple is launching the Applephone (or whatever it's called) as early as tomorrow." and supposedly with cingular as its wireless partner.. macworld's keynote takes place today 9:00AM PST / 12:00PM EST. I know where I'll be during lunch....

myspace for mobiles!

2007-01-04T07:45:00.000-05:00

the social phenomenom myspace.com has been more popular than ipods or redbull.. its the see and be seen place of the online world.. they had a nice agreeement with helio when it first launched -helio's cell phones would have a preloaded myspace application for easy access to those very important messages and friend requests.. Cingular wanted a slice of this so they recently lauched a service that for $2.99 a month you can download a myspace application to your cell phone... anywho.. myspace at 2.99 is ridiculous!.. let me introduce you to a very cool social networking application for the mobile world which is free of charge - I came across bluepulse through mark'sblog .. The application is very nice and easy to use- its very much like myspace.com but on your cell phone and its easy becacuse you are not using your phone's browser which sometimes doesnt display myspace that well (the app lets you set up your "myplace" profile, visit chat rooms, find friends, and the widgets section is the coolest it inculdes your basics rss reader, email, and also a webcam feature of different cities!) anywho check it out and dont even think about paying cingular or myspace more $ than they already make!

More Peer to Peer for mobiles

2007-01-03T07:55:00.000-05:00

I wrote about symtorrent a cool P2P-torrent application for symbian phones before.. and used it a few times and it works well... I came across another one recently that works with more phones.. peerboxmobile
" is a peer-to-peer file sharing service for the mobile devices. PeerBox™ allows searching for music, video and pictures in open P2P networks, downloading the files onto the phone and sharing the files with other users. PeerBox™ also allows downloading premium content from Nareos servers. PeerBox™ is integrated with 3rd party Robust Audio Hashing (fingerprinting) technology to recognize copyrighted content and collect payments for it."
the application works well..and its free and most of the content is too.. so far Ive only downloaded a few video clips for free..you got to look for the free stuff.. ive done a few music searches and some/most are "premium content" from them which you have to pay.. give it a try though

book your flight online but on your mobile..

2006-12-26T07:49:00.000-05:00

if you are in the UK or travel over there a bit and have a flash enabled phone check out shopqwik.. they offer a cool little flash application that enables you to quickly view, book and manage flights, car rentals, hotels and more... the application runs nicely on my e61 but Im in the U.S so I dont see myself using this that much..

if you want kids - put your cell phone away..?

2006-12-19T21:45:00.000-05:00

cell phones recently got cleared of causing cancer.. (who knows how true that is? since its been on and off for years) however I was reading the nov issue of network world where it mentions that a new research shows that men who use cell phones frequently have sinificantly lower sperm counts than those who dont... the electromagnetic radiation from cell phones and the heat they generate are among the factors according to the american society for reproductive medicine..I wonder that if dualmode (gsm +wifi) handset users like myself have to double worry about this..since theres been recent talks of wifi causing cancer too (withoug much back up) earlier this year a canadian university banned the use of Wi-Fi...hmmm no little Sam jr for me anytime soon I guess..