N800
iPod vs. Newton (round 2)
02/February/2009 16:41 Filed in: Technology
Here's a third post in a series of reposts of
interests from the NewtonTalk list. My commends are
in
Joe Riley Wrote:
This is a continuation of the iPod touch talk from the "[NTLK] [ADMIN] This is only a test" thread.
I just got a 1st Gen refurb iPod Touch from apple (looked brand new!) and I've been very amazed with it. I'm not a newton power user in terms of the calendar/contacts and the info linking the newt can do so I could see me using the touch as its replacement for those functions. I also can do without the HWR since I usually end up using the onscreen keyboard on my newt because most of my data to enter doesn't like the HWR (gear charts for race cars, web addresses, etc.). If you use blackberry, treo, winmo, etc, getting the hang of the touch's keyboard shouldn't be too hard. The first data entry might be a pain if you do it manually but the touch can sync with address book and ical.
Someone also mentioned the small screen, which I do agree is a little annoying but scrolling is easy with the touch screen and it keeps the device small. The multimedia and web on the touch is awesome compared to the newt. Some of the interface touches even remind me of the newt, like how the keyboard and some other boxes glide on/off the display and the clicky sounds it makes when you type (although it doesn't have the overall interface sounds the newt has).
It does have some serious flaws though. First and most important to me is the lack of a good notes app. The built-in notes app looks similar to the newts but lacks folders. I'm going to try some 3rd party apps but reviews I've read so far don't give me hope.
Second is battery life. The battery life of the touch really sucks if your punishing it with lots of web surfing, app downloading, or worse online gaming. It seems to do ok if you've got the wifi off but its still no where near the newt, you need to charge it atleast every night if not sooner. Maybe if they made it as thick as the iphone 3g we'd be set.
Third is the lack of copy and paste. This one really bugs me because I use C&P on my blackberry and newt all the time. And last it lacks the Agent and overall search funtions of the newt although it does have in-app searches for some apps. Lack of HWR may be a deal breaker depending on if you are really fond of it.
If the notes and copy & paste problems are solved this may be a decent 'new newt' for some. It does the web, multimedia, mail, contacts and calendar, its not a brick, it syncs easily with modern apps and its easy to use IMHO. I do wish it had a green backlight and could be put into greyscale mode, maybe an app could be made to give all the white on screen a green tint and switch the rest of the colors to greyscale? I guess I'm saying it needs theme support too
Do you have an IPod Touch/iPhone? What do you think?
Code format
Joe Riley Wrote:
This is a continuation of the iPod touch talk from the "[NTLK] [ADMIN] This is only a test" thread.
I just got a 1st Gen refurb iPod Touch from apple (looked brand new!) and I've been very amazed with it. I'm not a newton power user in terms of the calendar/contacts and the info linking the newt can do so I could see me using the touch as its replacement for those functions. I also can do without the HWR since I usually end up using the onscreen keyboard on my newt because most of my data to enter doesn't like the HWR (gear charts for race cars, web addresses, etc.). If you use blackberry, treo, winmo, etc, getting the hang of the touch's keyboard shouldn't be too hard. The first data entry might be a pain if you do it manually but the touch can sync with address book and ical.
I synced everything with my MobileMe account
and al info was there. I found the only problem to be
the iPod's auto-correct. I write in Greeklish (Greek
in latin characters) on twitter and it keeps wanting
to correct everything. English typing was no problem,
even from the get-go.
Someone also mentioned the small screen, which I do agree is a little annoying but scrolling is easy with the touch screen and it keeps the device small. The multimedia and web on the touch is awesome compared to the newt. Some of the interface touches even remind me of the newt, like how the keyboard and some other boxes glide on/off the display and the clicky sounds it makes when you type (although it doesn't have the overall interface sounds the newt has).
It does have some serious flaws though. First and most important to me is the lack of a good notes app. The built-in notes app looks similar to the newts but lacks folders. I'm going to try some 3rd party apps but reviews I've read so far don't give me hope.
This is a serious problem (as is note sync).
I've written about this in a previous post.
Second is battery life. The battery life of the touch really sucks if your punishing it with lots of web surfing, app downloading, or worse online gaming. It seems to do ok if you've got the wifi off but its still no where near the newt, you need to charge it atleast every night if not sooner. Maybe if they made it as thick as the iphone 3g we'd be set.
You know, I don't think that battery life is a
problem. Yes if you keep using the web and playing
games it's going to drain your battery fast. It's a
cost balancing situation. I use my iPod mostly for
media playback, and I keep it charged while at work.
I never run out of battery. I also don't hop on the
net with all the time. I check my email, check my
twitter and facebook, and turn the WiFi off. You
can't compare the newton battery life-span to that of
the iPod. The Newton does not go online, and it
doesn't do media playback. I know people have created
apps to let you do just that, but if you do this,
your battery will drain equally fast as the iPod
Touch.
Third is the lack of copy and paste. This one really bugs me because I use C&P on my blackberry and newt all the time. And last it lacks the Agent and overall search funtions of the newt although it does have in-app searches for some apps. Lack of HWR may be a deal breaker depending on if you are really fond of it.
If the notes and copy & paste problems are solved this may be a decent 'new newt' for some. It does the web, multimedia, mail, contacts and calendar, its not a brick, it syncs easily with modern apps and its easy to use IMHO. I do wish it had a green backlight and could be put into greyscale mode, maybe an app could be made to give all the white on screen a green tint and switch the rest of the colors to greyscale? I guess I'm saying it needs theme support too
LOL, a green backlight and a Newton theme would
be awesome (maybe the jailbreak community can help
out). The fact that the iPod is not a brick and can
accomplish so much (despite its limitations) is why I
choose it over the newton for my needs. Lets not
forget that the newton is 14 years old and it's been
more than 10 years without official support!
Do you have an IPod Touch/iPhone? What do you think?
|
iPod vs. Newton
29/January/2009 16:30 Filed in: Technology
Continuing my series of reposts of mailings that I
find interesting about the future of the newton from
the NewtonTalk list, here's one from Carlos Santiago.
I've added some comments and personal views in
Carlo's Post:
I was prompted by the 2010 timeframe barrier I'd heard about but I made the switch after v2.0 of the system software which had abilities much better in regards to email than the earlier version; at 1.x it most mostly an ipod but the 2.0 software brought it close to a pda but 100% and no where, anywhere close near a Newton.But I then sold off my iPAQ and BT GPS unit as we also gotten a Garmin GPS which made the switchover possible.
It took a while for me to make the switch, mentally, everything important I had on my 2100 and PDA. Key apps there I vitally needed and used.
I'm not a twenty something wanting a gaming only device (but not that there's anything wrong with that! - these folks in part fueled Apple in recent months and this platform after all) but needed a PDA which approched Newton status. My iPod isn't a Newton but I'm finding less is more in some areas.
What I like:
What I dis-like
And neutral items...
Would like to see items
Overall I'm happy I made the switch; but miss my 2100.
code format
Carlo's Post:
I was prompted by the 2010 timeframe barrier I'd heard about but I made the switch after v2.0 of the system software which had abilities much better in regards to email than the earlier version; at 1.x it most mostly an ipod but the 2.0 software brought it close to a pda but 100% and no where, anywhere close near a Newton.But I then sold off my iPAQ and BT GPS unit as we also gotten a Garmin GPS which made the switchover possible.
It took a while for me to make the switch, mentally, everything important I had on my 2100 and PDA. Key apps there I vitally needed and used.
- cut-n-paste! poor man's inter-app messaging
- Newton notes; still no clear replacement
- Newton calendar; Pocket Informant on the PDA made that platform a good transition but the Newton was the gold standard so it'll be tough to replace
- Newton inter-app slip messaging; but things are slowly improving within key apps
- PDA Pocket Informant; a PIM that's coming this month!
I'm not a twenty something wanting a gaming only device (but not that there's anything wrong with that! - these folks in part fueled Apple in recent months and this platform after all) but needed a PDA which approched Newton status. My iPod isn't a Newton but I'm finding less is more in some areas.
What I like:
- speed; I now juggle 6 email accounts; evan google and yahoo along with work, etc.
- apps availability; I often buy apps I like hoping support will spur further advances; most feature 'free' subset versions which is vital since all sales are final - and tied to you; you can't resell.
- web browsing - full screen and fast; however in recent months some sites take to dumming down their site when then see an iPOD; wrong approach; some offer a choice of classic or iPod site view; much better
- GREAT - f-n-GREAT (so far) app s/w provider support; I think they see the future ahead of most users and are running in droves to the unit; I can only hope some exNewton titles make it here.
I have all of my email accounts (except for my
Hotmail account) on my iPod Touch and it's great! On
my N800 I don't have everything. The again, I
purchased the device for web browsing, not email
handling. I only have my mobile me account on the
N800 since I can't use the browser to check the mail.
Hotmail, yahoo and gmail are all easily accessible on
the maemo browser.
What I dis-like
- small sceen resolution with BIG UI interface controls means display real estate is an absolute premium; most apps either waste space or feature too much whitespace. There are some PDA style apps which try to cram too much info but I think within the next year the UI and developers will come to terms and deliver great apps - my hope anyway.
- poor apps sometimes crash the unit; recent I took to emailing one developer on their latest update and was totally floored at the response; *GREAT* had a new, fixed, app in a few days. Oh, and this app was *FREE*
I really would like to see some category for
gag apps. I don't care that people are making fart or
bouncing boob apps, but it really makes it hard to
look for good apps when the gag apps are taking up so
much space.
And neutral items...
- it's not a PDA let alone Newton. In the 2.1 s/w release Apple heard first hand that some folks actualy rely on their units for something other than on demand music purchase and play. Given the wider, non-game app availability, I suggested they spend a bit more time in QA; they appear to be.
- yes there's no stylus; it's up to the app the
make the UI transition to gesture based input. it's
funny to see HWR attempts etc. on this unit. IMHO
those apps just don't get it (aka those don't dogs
won't hunt
It's hard but you do need to
rethink things from scratch.
Would like to see items
- Newton notes; folders, outlines, todo, style sheets, etc. partridge in a pear tree...
- universal platform issues; cut-n-paste, messaging, 'back' ability. Each app execution replaces rather than pushes current apps. You can return to the former app after pressing the home button and navigating to it but I'd like to see a 'go back' button or gesture to do this. That would go a long way to addressing inter-app slip passing as app design all feature a fast save state ability you pick up just where you left off.
- built-in camera
- speaker (2nd gen unit already has this)
- dump AT&T in favor of generic provider support; this is part of larger soap box to have all cell phone carriers compete by using a U.S. then world-wide cell phone network topology and technology; we'd then see real competition vs. the fiefdoms we have now.
- overall h/w improvements; 3rd party storage & batter upgrades - don't try this yourself
Overall I'm happy I made the switch; but miss my 2100.
I agree. I still have my 2100, I don't use it
and I miss it. But I am happy to be using an iPod
Touch and N800 instead
What I would like to see in Canola
27/November/2008 19:01 Filed in: Technology
I've been using canola a lot in the past few weeks as my media player of choice when I am using my N800 as a PMP and not as a tablet for browsing. Canola is a great piece of software that's missing some user interface elements, or some functionality that would make it event better. I've created some categories for improvements:
Radio
Internet Radio Directory - Inputting addresses for internet radio stations is a royal pain in the butt with Canola. What canola needs is an interface for a directory of internet radio station so that you can just add your favorites to a quick access list
More format support: Now this may be something that's out of reach, but I would love to see windows media, real and quicktime streaming formats supported (maybe work with VLC?)
FM Radio - The N800 sports a built-in FM radio (sadly no RDS support). Why can't I access the radio from Canola?
Podcasts
Podcast Directory integration - This is the same problem as the Internet Radio. Adding a podcast is a royal pain. Even when I export an XML file from iTunes Canola doesn't import it! Maybe Canola can work with podcastalley or podcaster to have a built-in directory for easy subscription and podcast exploration
Support for Video Podcasts - This is one of my bigger problems with the tablet. I am not sure if the N800 supports video podcasts that work on iPods (my tablet has played videos a bit choppy), there should be video podcast support in Canola.
Better TVersity support - Recently I discovered TVersity, and supposedly this work with Canola, but when I try to get G4's TVersity channel added to canola I run into problem.
Photos
Photo service Support - I know that there is a third party Flickr plugin (which doesn't work with the recent beta), but I would like to see Picassa support as well - officially
Television
IP TV support - I guess the model for this is Equinux's Media Central for the Mac. I would like to be able to see television from the channels available on Media Central, but I would also like to be able to access my Hulu and Joost accounts and view video from there, as well as CBS, ABC, and BBC websites. This would be pretty cool
Imagine how great of a PMP the internet tablet could be with these canola modifications!
Nokia should build more chat conduits
19/November/2008 03:56 Filed in: Technology
Now I know that it's easier to create a conduit for Nokia Chat for the N800 because nokia chat works on the XMPP/Jabber which the internet tablet already supports, BUT nokia should really create some conduits for other popular IM platforms like ICQ, AIM, Yahoo and MSN so people can use the built-in chat client to chat and video/voice chat! (and exchange files).
I've got nothing against Pidgin. It's a great app! But... I would liketo see some alternatives!
The Internet Tablet as an iPod replacement
07/August/2008 20:14 Filed in: Technology
My second attempt to use what I have as an iPod
replacement is my Nokia N800. On the surface it kind
of looks like an iPod touch, so it should work, no?
Well, yes and no. Compared to my N80 and the PSP the
N800 requires the least amount of investment. It came
with 4GB worth of SD memory, and I had 2GB from my
now defunct HTC Blue Angel, so I have a total of 6GB
to play with. It has been a bumpy road, but I am
working with it.
So what are the tools of the trade? I use the built-in media player to play back my music and podcasts, I use gpodder to subscribe and download podcasts and the USB cable to connect the N800 to my PowerBook whenever I want to load more music on it. Just like most things, it's got its good, its bad and its ugly.
The good: I can play my MP3s, I can listen to my podcasts. The volume is acceptable - it compares equally to my 4.5 year old iPod but when I am on the train I sometimes have trouble hearing. I like that I can download podcasts directly to my N800, so if I run out of podcasts during the day, I can hop on to a hotspot and download a few more for my commute home.
The bad: gppodder lags a bit. There are times that the application is simply non-responsive and you need to just let it do its thing. This can be *very* frustrating. Another frustrating thing is that you can't do a partial keylock. You can either lock the touchscreen and all keys, or you can leave it unlocked. This is frustrating because there are times that I simply want to increase or decrease the volume and I have to remove the unit from my bad, unlock all keys, adjust the volume, re-lock, and put it back in my bag. The device is not very media friendly in this way.
The ugly: Well, there aren't many ugly things about it. The one thing that I would shoehorn in this category is the lack of adequate video support. I was looking forward to downloading video podcasts again and viewing them during my commute. Unfortunately the video lags A LOT, it's badly out of sync when it does start working and it's choppy. So much for video podcasts...
Now I know that it is an Internet Tablet, and not a media player, but the N800 is a great device! I really wish that Nokia had pumped up the video processing on this unit device and that they had created a media profile where the screen locks automatically after X time, the wifi/BT are turned off automatically and certain keys are mapped for media functions (next song/previous song/volume up/volume down)
All things considered, the N800 is a great media player IF you don't watch video podcasts AND you don't have the urge to keep skipping to the next track.
So what are the tools of the trade? I use the built-in media player to play back my music and podcasts, I use gpodder to subscribe and download podcasts and the USB cable to connect the N800 to my PowerBook whenever I want to load more music on it. Just like most things, it's got its good, its bad and its ugly.
The good: I can play my MP3s, I can listen to my podcasts. The volume is acceptable - it compares equally to my 4.5 year old iPod but when I am on the train I sometimes have trouble hearing. I like that I can download podcasts directly to my N800, so if I run out of podcasts during the day, I can hop on to a hotspot and download a few more for my commute home.
The bad: gppodder lags a bit. There are times that the application is simply non-responsive and you need to just let it do its thing. This can be *very* frustrating. Another frustrating thing is that you can't do a partial keylock. You can either lock the touchscreen and all keys, or you can leave it unlocked. This is frustrating because there are times that I simply want to increase or decrease the volume and I have to remove the unit from my bad, unlock all keys, adjust the volume, re-lock, and put it back in my bag. The device is not very media friendly in this way.
The ugly: Well, there aren't many ugly things about it. The one thing that I would shoehorn in this category is the lack of adequate video support. I was looking forward to downloading video podcasts again and viewing them during my commute. Unfortunately the video lags A LOT, it's badly out of sync when it does start working and it's choppy. So much for video podcasts...
Now I know that it is an Internet Tablet, and not a media player, but the N800 is a great device! I really wish that Nokia had pumped up the video processing on this unit device and that they had created a media profile where the screen locks automatically after X time, the wifi/BT are turned off automatically and certain keys are mapped for media functions (next song/previous song/volume up/volume down)
All things considered, the N800 is a great media player IF you don't watch video podcasts AND you don't have the urge to keep skipping to the next track.
Nokia Internet Tablet - is there anything it can't do?
04/August/2008 20:12 Filed in: Technology
I was recently in the public transport system, and I
pulled out my internet tablet, fired up the GarnetVM
(PalmOS virtual machine), and looked up the times of
the upcoming trains to get back home. At this point I
recalled that someone had been able to get a
developer's build of Android to run on Maemo and I
started pondering: is there anything this device
can't do?
The folks over at OpenEinstein are working at getting the Newton emulator (called Einstein) to run on the newest Maemo (diablo), I can run PalmOS applications through GarnetVM, I can install ubuntu on the tablet (the first OS hacked to run on the NIT), and now Android.
Pretty slick I must say! Now if only it had a more powerful A/V processor!
The folks over at OpenEinstein are working at getting the Newton emulator (called Einstein) to run on the newest Maemo (diablo), I can run PalmOS applications through GarnetVM, I can install ubuntu on the tablet (the first OS hacked to run on the NIT), and now Android.
Pretty slick I must say! Now if only it had a more powerful A/V processor!
Upgraded to Diablo!
09/July/2008 18:21 Filed in: Technology
I upgraded my Nokia N800 to the newest firmware a
while back, and I have to say that I am pretty
pleased! Initially I was not going to upgrade because
I was really not looking forward to reinstalling my
applications. Thankfully, the backup that I did also
captured most of my config files so I did not have to
configure more of my upgraded apps.
My overall impression of Diablo is favorable. I am really liking the new email client, and the browser seems snappier than before but maybe it’s just new-OS-it is that I am experiencing, so we’ll see how that goes.
I decided to upgrade the firmware on the N800 for one reason: Over-the-Air upgrades! (OTA). This means that in the future, when there are new OS upgrades, I can just download them over the Wifi network and install them without needing a PC, and without needing to reinstall all my apps again – which is something I hate to do. I just want my device to work, not to make me work in order for it to work.
My overall impression of Diablo is favorable. I am really liking the new email client, and the browser seems snappier than before but maybe it’s just new-OS-it is that I am experiencing, so we’ll see how that goes.
I decided to upgrade the firmware on the N800 for one reason: Over-the-Air upgrades! (OTA). This means that in the future, when there are new OS upgrades, I can just download them over the Wifi network and install them without needing a PC, and without needing to reinstall all my apps again – which is something I hate to do. I just want my device to work, not to make me work in order for it to work.
GarnetVM Beta 2
08/June/2008 00:33 Filed in: Technology
Garnet VM beta 2 was released
last week for the Nokia Internet Tablets. I
decided to give it a try and see what’s new
since beta 1. I do not have that many apps for
palm since I was never really a user of the palm
platform. I have the local commuter rail map and
schedule application, google maps, and some
freeware games that I downloaded a while back to
test the virtual machine.
The first thing I did was to check the hotsync. As you know, the N800 does not come with a PIM suite, and I would really love to sync my mac with the addressbook, calendar, and notes of the garnet VM PIM apps. Nope, you can still only sync over the air, not over cable, so that leaves iSync out of the picture.
The second thing I checked was the control panel. I wanted to see if there are any changes (or improvements) there. Nope, same old stuff. I know that the VM allows you to use the N800’s wifi connection, so google maps just works, but what about Bluetooth? Can I send and receive stuff using the VM?
The last thing I checked, and it wasn’t there, was the inclusion of new apps. When someone gets a palm PDA, there are usually a number of useful apps such as blazer, versamail, and documents-to-go. I know that the N800 comes with a web browser and a mail client, but why not package those in with the VM (at least as alternatives)
I look forward to beta 3, maybe things will improve
The first thing I did was to check the hotsync. As you know, the N800 does not come with a PIM suite, and I would really love to sync my mac with the addressbook, calendar, and notes of the garnet VM PIM apps. Nope, you can still only sync over the air, not over cable, so that leaves iSync out of the picture.
The second thing I checked was the control panel. I wanted to see if there are any changes (or improvements) there. Nope, same old stuff. I know that the VM allows you to use the N800’s wifi connection, so google maps just works, but what about Bluetooth? Can I send and receive stuff using the VM?
The last thing I checked, and it wasn’t there, was the inclusion of new apps. When someone gets a palm PDA, there are usually a number of useful apps such as blazer, versamail, and documents-to-go. I know that the N800 comes with a web browser and a mail client, but why not package those in with the VM (at least as alternatives)
I look forward to beta 3, maybe things will improve
Mylo 3 should be a phone
28/May/2008 20:10 Filed in: Technology
Just for kicks I was looking at the Sony Mylo 2 the
other day.
Don't ask me why, I don't know why. I was just looking.
Anyway, I was looking at the specs, and at the video demonstration bellow, and the device did impress me, even though it still lacks a lot of features.
I started thinking that this device might make a great SonyEricsson Phone. The OS seems to be refined at every iteration, it had widgets, it has an RSS reader and podcatcher (which need improvement), and it has skype (therefore it has a microphone and a speaker). This device would make a great phone, and a good competitor to the Danger Sidekick, the Helio Ocean and possibly to the Nokia N8xx and iPhone devices.
If you added Quadband HSPA, Quadband EDGE, opened up development so that people could write apps (such as games) for the device, included a good PIm suite, and tidied up the existing collection of apps that the device comes with. It could make SonyEricsson money.
Don't ask me why, I don't know why. I was just looking.
Anyway, I was looking at the specs, and at the video demonstration bellow, and the device did impress me, even though it still lacks a lot of features.
I started thinking that this device might make a great SonyEricsson Phone. The OS seems to be refined at every iteration, it had widgets, it has an RSS reader and podcatcher (which need improvement), and it has skype (therefore it has a microphone and a speaker). This device would make a great phone, and a good competitor to the Danger Sidekick, the Helio Ocean and possibly to the Nokia N8xx and iPhone devices.
If you added Quadband HSPA, Quadband EDGE, opened up development so that people could write apps (such as games) for the device, included a good PIm suite, and tidied up the existing collection of apps that the device comes with. It could make SonyEricsson money.
Debating the Maemo upgrade
13/April/2008 10:37 Filed in: Technology
I saw on the (RSS) wires recently that there is a new
version of ITOS2008 available (or is going to be
available soon) for the Nokia N800 and N810 tablets.
I am debating whether or not to upgrade now, or wait
for future upgrades. I haven't seen any compeling
(for me) reasons to upgrade, and the hassle of
reinstalling all my applications after an upgrade is
too great for "stability improvements"...considering
that I already find my N800 stable for my tastes.
Now if a good PIM with iSync (SyncML) support were part of the upgrade...then I would upgrade in a jiff!
Now if a good PIM with iSync (SyncML) support were part of the upgrade...then I would upgrade in a jiff!
Loving my N800...still miss PIM
24/February/2008 08:26 Filed in: Technology
It's been a month or so that I've had my upgraded
N800 and I must say that it sees a lot of use
throughout the day.
It has become the de-facto e-mail client for my .Mac account.
It has replaced my laptop as the instrument with which I browse the internet on my sofa.
It's great for Last.fm
This weekend I saw that the GPE PIM has been updated to work with ITOS2008...but unfortunately it still does not scratch my PIM itch.
Nokia can't you integrate PIM functionality that is SyncML (iSync) compatible? please?
It has become the de-facto e-mail client for my .Mac account.
It has replaced my laptop as the instrument with which I browse the internet on my sofa.
It's great for Last.fm
This weekend I saw that the GPE PIM has been updated to work with ITOS2008...but unfortunately it still does not scratch my PIM itch.
Nokia can't you integrate PIM functionality that is SyncML (iSync) compatible? please?
Nokia N800 Review – sort of…
25/January/2008 17:57 Filed in: Technology
I was going to write a lengthy review of my N800
experiences, but why bother? The device is not really
new, I am not an early adopter (for this device
anyway), and there have been many, many, reviews of
the unit. So, in lieu of a review I decided to write
(mostly) about what I like about the N800, since I
have already aired some of my criticisms (or
recommendations for improvement) in previous blog
posts.
Hardware
When it comes to hardware, I really like the form factor. It fits easily in my coat pocket, it is sort of like a slimmed down Newton 2100. It has a nice desk stand, which I thought I would not like, but I do! It’s rather convenient for when I want to listen to music, or just keep at eye level to see incoming email notifications.
The battery is nothing spectacular, but it is nothing to whine about. I generally (for my usage) recharge the unit once a day, and it sees a full day’s use, usually email, IM, and some last.fm
The 0.3MP Camera is a novelty (for me at least) since Pidgin does not support A/V chat, and I do not have many contacts on GTalk that would video conference.
The FM Radio is a nice addition. Granted I do not often listen to the radio these days, but there have been moments of sheer boredom (caused by silence in the room, in an area without WiFi), and the FM radio has championed the anti-boredom cause!
Of course the reason I picked an N800 instead of an N810 are the two SD Card Slots! These are great! There is one internally (under the battery cover) and one ‘external’ which can be accesses normally like other SD cards. This option gives my N800 almost endless storage (someone quoted 16GB can be had by two 8GB SDHC cards in the N800), my storage is three standard SD cards, 2GB each (non HC). Thus far it has not disappointed me!
Software
The software component of the N800 has two dimensions, the ITOS2007 dimension and the ITOS2008 dimension. I spent about two weeks with ITOS2007 before I upgraded. Generally I feel like the upgrade to ITOS2008 was worth it. The OS is more finger friendly, the RSS application handles embedded HTML in a better fashion, and the browser…well the browser is a mixed bag. I liked Opera (ITOS2007 browser) but it did not render everything correctly. Firefox Minimo (ITOS2008 browser) is much better at rendering pages that I visit, however it is slow to start, and it generally takes more time to accomplish tasks.
What I like
Applets – I love the applets on the main screen. It is so convenient to access information using applets. My only ‘gripe’ is that there aren’t more applets available! My wish list for applets would be: a stocks applet, a gmail applet (similar to the MacOS X widget), an applet that tells you what new mail has come into your mailbox (similar to the RSS applet). Finally a ‘current coordinates’ applet that would tie in with a Bluetooth GPS unit to let you know approximately where you are (based of course on the map application or maemo mapper)
RSS Reader & Mail - Great applications, they have really untied me from my desktop and my laptop! I have written in previous blog postings that I wish that the Mail app supported Google Threaded emails, and that the RSS reader had some sort of podcatcher feature so you could subscribe to audio and video podcasts.
Application Manager – I have used linux machines in the past, and installing apps was a royal pain in the (you know what). Granted I haven’t used linux in the last year or two so I may be out of date but the Application Manager kicks butt! I like that I can easily install applications from a repository, that I can easily remove applications, and that I don’t have to worry about dependencies (at least this has not been an issue up to now).
Vagalume – a Last.fm client. This app is single handedly responsible for my usage of Last.fm. Simply great!
Skype/Gizmo – Crystal clear (and cheap!) calling! Now there is no excuse to not call my grandmother (in Greece) more often. Now, I only wish that Skype supported video conferencing on the N800 just like on the
Pidgin – I have Pidgin running all the time on my N800. It’s a great IM application that integrates well with the ITOS2008 dock/status area. My only ‘gripe’ is that video and audio conferencing (and doc sharing) is not available as a feature. Otherwise, I’ve gotten back to the IM world that I had put aside for such a long time due to my inability to use IM on my regular computers.
Video Center – A nice application that allows you to subscribe and download video podcasts. Videos from some RSS feeds are choppy, but if you get your podcasts from ‘video center approved’ feeds, the videos play just fine.
Maemo Mapper – A nice free map application that I haven’t played a ton with. Supposedly you can get door-to-door directions. Need to play more with it.
Transmission – I don’t download torrents on my N800, but just the fact that a fully functional version of Transmission is available is incredible!
What I don’t like as much:
Input & Localization – I am a bit torn on the input front. I haven’t used the handwriting recognition (I suppose I should). I generally rely on the virtual thumb board for typing which in my experience (thus far) has been a little slow. Additionally, as I have mentioned in a previous blog post), there is no way to input asian scripts such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean. I know that there are people outside of Nokia working on it, but it’s at best a third party solution, and it could de-stabilize the system. Localization also falls a bit short for my tastes. You can input text in a number of different European languages but the OS (and applications) are not localized for all of those languages. There is no Greek localization for instance.
Web Browser – As I mentioned in the introduction, the Minimo browser needs some work. It is a bit slow to start up and sometimes it is a bit unresponsive (you need to wait, it hasn’t actually crashed). It does render pages better than Opera (ITOS2007) but it does need some speed improvements. Additionally, since it is based on the Firefox code, I would love to see some plug-ins that are available for Firefox to be available for Minimo.
Control Panel – The control panel is great, however the ‘lock’ function is not. I bought my unit third hand, and somewhere along the way the default lock code was changed. There is no way to know what this lock code is (in order to reset it), so I have to send my unit to Nokia for a complete reflashing (or something) in order to get it back to factory settings. This also means that I probably won’t be able to use my backups as a restore file because the old lock code is in there somewhere in that restore file. I wish there were something like a ‘pin 2’ or ‘puk’ that allowed you to reset that lock code without needing to reconstitute your data!
Contacts – I am not going to speak much about the contacts application since I have written about it in one of the N800 improvements blog posts. I think that PIM functionality is woefully under-developed in OS2008.
Notes & Sketch – Nice apps, but they really should be integrated. I think the Newton Notepad model is the model that I think Nokia should be striving for. MaemoPad+ is a good substitute but it’s still not a Newton Notepad.
Maps – I haven’t had much use of the Maps application. Mostly because it is a pain in the butt to download maps! The maps for USA East is about 700MB. I have started to download these maps, but my N800 ALWAYS crashes! Luckily after some googling and searching I found a work-around, but if you offer an option to download maps to your device over the air, you better make sure it works!
Canola – I recently discovered canola, an application which allows you to make your N800 into a personal media player. I really (really) like the user interface of canola, however the way it operates leaves something to be desired. You can use it as a podcatcher, but you must manually add in each address (PITA!) and this only works for audio podcasts. It supports photocasts, but again – no easy way to subscribe. It supports internet radio, but it doesn’t incorporate a shoutcast (or others) directories to easily add radio stations or browse them. It does not support the built-in FM Tuner in any capacity
Joost – Where’s my joost client?
GarnetVM – Recently Access, Inc. released a virtual machine for its legacy Garnet OS (formerly PalmOS 5). I think that this is great, but it is missing a considerable amount of functionality. I installed a few palm apps, and it borked the VM. I had to uninstall it an reinstall it again. There is no way to do USB or Bluetooth hotsync. It does not offer features found in Palm handhelds like the SMS app, the world clock app, a full control panel (with BT and WiFi options), Blazer, and so on. I know it’s still in beta – so I am patient. I can’t wait until the final version.
MS Office doc viewer – or the lack thereof. I receive emails with excel, word and powerpoint files attached to them. It would be nice for an internet tablet to include some sort of viewer for these files.
Final Thoughts
It may sound like I do not like the N800 based on what I have written, but in actuality I really do like my device, despite my complaining and its shortcomings I think that it is actually quite a nice device to own and use! I would recommend it to anyone who just wants to browse the internet, chat and check mail in the living room (or on the go) without wanting to whip out the laptop.
Hardware
When it comes to hardware, I really like the form factor. It fits easily in my coat pocket, it is sort of like a slimmed down Newton 2100. It has a nice desk stand, which I thought I would not like, but I do! It’s rather convenient for when I want to listen to music, or just keep at eye level to see incoming email notifications.
The battery is nothing spectacular, but it is nothing to whine about. I generally (for my usage) recharge the unit once a day, and it sees a full day’s use, usually email, IM, and some last.fm
The 0.3MP Camera is a novelty (for me at least) since Pidgin does not support A/V chat, and I do not have many contacts on GTalk that would video conference.
The FM Radio is a nice addition. Granted I do not often listen to the radio these days, but there have been moments of sheer boredom (caused by silence in the room, in an area without WiFi), and the FM radio has championed the anti-boredom cause!
Of course the reason I picked an N800 instead of an N810 are the two SD Card Slots! These are great! There is one internally (under the battery cover) and one ‘external’ which can be accesses normally like other SD cards. This option gives my N800 almost endless storage (someone quoted 16GB can be had by two 8GB SDHC cards in the N800), my storage is three standard SD cards, 2GB each (non HC). Thus far it has not disappointed me!
Software
The software component of the N800 has two dimensions, the ITOS2007 dimension and the ITOS2008 dimension. I spent about two weeks with ITOS2007 before I upgraded. Generally I feel like the upgrade to ITOS2008 was worth it. The OS is more finger friendly, the RSS application handles embedded HTML in a better fashion, and the browser…well the browser is a mixed bag. I liked Opera (ITOS2007 browser) but it did not render everything correctly. Firefox Minimo (ITOS2008 browser) is much better at rendering pages that I visit, however it is slow to start, and it generally takes more time to accomplish tasks.
What I like
Applets – I love the applets on the main screen. It is so convenient to access information using applets. My only ‘gripe’ is that there aren’t more applets available! My wish list for applets would be: a stocks applet, a gmail applet (similar to the MacOS X widget), an applet that tells you what new mail has come into your mailbox (similar to the RSS applet). Finally a ‘current coordinates’ applet that would tie in with a Bluetooth GPS unit to let you know approximately where you are (based of course on the map application or maemo mapper)
RSS Reader & Mail - Great applications, they have really untied me from my desktop and my laptop! I have written in previous blog postings that I wish that the Mail app supported Google Threaded emails, and that the RSS reader had some sort of podcatcher feature so you could subscribe to audio and video podcasts.
Application Manager – I have used linux machines in the past, and installing apps was a royal pain in the (you know what). Granted I haven’t used linux in the last year or two so I may be out of date but the Application Manager kicks butt! I like that I can easily install applications from a repository, that I can easily remove applications, and that I don’t have to worry about dependencies (at least this has not been an issue up to now).
Vagalume – a Last.fm client. This app is single handedly responsible for my usage of Last.fm. Simply great!
Skype/Gizmo – Crystal clear (and cheap!) calling! Now there is no excuse to not call my grandmother (in Greece) more often. Now, I only wish that Skype supported video conferencing on the N800 just like on the
Pidgin – I have Pidgin running all the time on my N800. It’s a great IM application that integrates well with the ITOS2008 dock/status area. My only ‘gripe’ is that video and audio conferencing (and doc sharing) is not available as a feature. Otherwise, I’ve gotten back to the IM world that I had put aside for such a long time due to my inability to use IM on my regular computers.
Video Center – A nice application that allows you to subscribe and download video podcasts. Videos from some RSS feeds are choppy, but if you get your podcasts from ‘video center approved’ feeds, the videos play just fine.
Maemo Mapper – A nice free map application that I haven’t played a ton with. Supposedly you can get door-to-door directions. Need to play more with it.
Transmission – I don’t download torrents on my N800, but just the fact that a fully functional version of Transmission is available is incredible!
What I don’t like as much:
Input & Localization – I am a bit torn on the input front. I haven’t used the handwriting recognition (I suppose I should). I generally rely on the virtual thumb board for typing which in my experience (thus far) has been a little slow. Additionally, as I have mentioned in a previous blog post), there is no way to input asian scripts such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean. I know that there are people outside of Nokia working on it, but it’s at best a third party solution, and it could de-stabilize the system. Localization also falls a bit short for my tastes. You can input text in a number of different European languages but the OS (and applications) are not localized for all of those languages. There is no Greek localization for instance.
Web Browser – As I mentioned in the introduction, the Minimo browser needs some work. It is a bit slow to start up and sometimes it is a bit unresponsive (you need to wait, it hasn’t actually crashed). It does render pages better than Opera (ITOS2007) but it does need some speed improvements. Additionally, since it is based on the Firefox code, I would love to see some plug-ins that are available for Firefox to be available for Minimo.
Control Panel – The control panel is great, however the ‘lock’ function is not. I bought my unit third hand, and somewhere along the way the default lock code was changed. There is no way to know what this lock code is (in order to reset it), so I have to send my unit to Nokia for a complete reflashing (or something) in order to get it back to factory settings. This also means that I probably won’t be able to use my backups as a restore file because the old lock code is in there somewhere in that restore file. I wish there were something like a ‘pin 2’ or ‘puk’ that allowed you to reset that lock code without needing to reconstitute your data!
Contacts – I am not going to speak much about the contacts application since I have written about it in one of the N800 improvements blog posts. I think that PIM functionality is woefully under-developed in OS2008.
Notes & Sketch – Nice apps, but they really should be integrated. I think the Newton Notepad model is the model that I think Nokia should be striving for. MaemoPad+ is a good substitute but it’s still not a Newton Notepad.
Maps – I haven’t had much use of the Maps application. Mostly because it is a pain in the butt to download maps! The maps for USA East is about 700MB. I have started to download these maps, but my N800 ALWAYS crashes! Luckily after some googling and searching I found a work-around, but if you offer an option to download maps to your device over the air, you better make sure it works!
Canola – I recently discovered canola, an application which allows you to make your N800 into a personal media player. I really (really) like the user interface of canola, however the way it operates leaves something to be desired. You can use it as a podcatcher, but you must manually add in each address (PITA!) and this only works for audio podcasts. It supports photocasts, but again – no easy way to subscribe. It supports internet radio, but it doesn’t incorporate a shoutcast (or others) directories to easily add radio stations or browse them. It does not support the built-in FM Tuner in any capacity
Joost – Where’s my joost client?
GarnetVM – Recently Access, Inc. released a virtual machine for its legacy Garnet OS (formerly PalmOS 5). I think that this is great, but it is missing a considerable amount of functionality. I installed a few palm apps, and it borked the VM. I had to uninstall it an reinstall it again. There is no way to do USB or Bluetooth hotsync. It does not offer features found in Palm handhelds like the SMS app, the world clock app, a full control panel (with BT and WiFi options), Blazer, and so on. I know it’s still in beta – so I am patient. I can’t wait until the final version.
MS Office doc viewer – or the lack thereof. I receive emails with excel, word and powerpoint files attached to them. It would be nice for an internet tablet to include some sort of viewer for these files.
Final Thoughts
It may sound like I do not like the N800 based on what I have written, but in actuality I really do like my device, despite my complaining and its shortcomings I think that it is actually quite a nice device to own and use! I would recommend it to anyone who just wants to browse the internet, chat and check mail in the living room (or on the go) without wanting to whip out the laptop.
Maemo: Where’s my CJK?
21/January/2008 09:27 Filed in: Technology
One of the things that bugs me in my internet tablet
is the lack of (what I consider to be) important
scripts. Nokia has not included Chinese, Japanese or
Korean (CJK) in ITOS2008 (and it was not available in
ITOS2007 either). Now, my knowledge of these
languages is limited, but I am learning, and it would
be helpful if I could go to websites that have text
in CJK to be able to have it legible. It would also
be nice to type in CJK scripts - quite useful for
last.fm or looking up something in a dictionary.
On a related note, no Hebrew or Arabic is supported by the internet tablet OS. Why? I know that a lot of people speak English, but there are websites out there that use these scripts, and it would be nice if they rendered properly for the people who can read those scripts!
On a related note, no Hebrew or Arabic is supported by the internet tablet OS. Why? I know that a lot of people speak English, but there are websites out there that use these scripts, and it would be nice if they rendered properly for the people who can read those scripts!
Tablet Improvements: PIM, Mail, IM
13/January/2008 12:46 Filed in: Technology
Having used my internet tablet with OS2008 for about
a week now, I wanted to sing a little to the choir
and echo some of the community’s comments regarding
applications that one would expect to be included in
the Internet Tablet, but are not.
PIM Suite:
PIM suites used to be the bread and butter of the PDA, not any more. PIM suites exist on desktop computers (Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.) on smartphones of all sorts, and even good ol’ regular cellphones. IT behooves anyone to think that an Internet Tablet does not have a good addressbook (that includes snailmail addresses!), a good calendar, and a good to-do list. These are almost a necessity these days, and Nokia should have included them as part of the product. They have experience with PIM suites (look at their S60 phones, they all have PIM).
A PIM is not only useful for referencing information, or reminding you of an appointment, it’s important because it can tie into your IM client and identify your contacts, it can tie into your mail and you can have easy access to all of your contact’s information. If you receive an email invitation it can go directly into your calendar, and so on.
On top of the PIM suite, I would say that there should have also been synchronization (USB, Bluetooth, and/or wireless) capability via SyncML to synchronize this PIM data with your computer, nokia mobile phone, and/or online services like Google and Yahoo (sort of like what the iPhone does).
Mail:
I like the mail application, I won’t write much, but there are three things that I would like to see implemented: Hotmail support, Exchange Support, Yahoo IMAP support (like the iPhone). Other than that, I am a happy camper thus far
IM:
Pidgin is a great app, I really wish that it were part of the package and not a separate download. I wish this were the case because then it would be integrated with the status indicators on the top of the screen, and I could set my accounts in the control panel. On thing that I would like to see implemented in Pigdin (or if the built-in IM supports all of the protocols that Pidgin supports) is to have both video and audio chat. There is a built-in camera in both the N800 and N810, why not use it? It seems kinda silly to ask my friends on Yahoo to fire up Skype or GTalk in order for us to voicechat.
PIM Suite:
PIM suites used to be the bread and butter of the PDA, not any more. PIM suites exist on desktop computers (Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.) on smartphones of all sorts, and even good ol’ regular cellphones. IT behooves anyone to think that an Internet Tablet does not have a good addressbook (that includes snailmail addresses!), a good calendar, and a good to-do list. These are almost a necessity these days, and Nokia should have included them as part of the product. They have experience with PIM suites (look at their S60 phones, they all have PIM).
A PIM is not only useful for referencing information, or reminding you of an appointment, it’s important because it can tie into your IM client and identify your contacts, it can tie into your mail and you can have easy access to all of your contact’s information. If you receive an email invitation it can go directly into your calendar, and so on.
On top of the PIM suite, I would say that there should have also been synchronization (USB, Bluetooth, and/or wireless) capability via SyncML to synchronize this PIM data with your computer, nokia mobile phone, and/or online services like Google and Yahoo (sort of like what the iPhone does).
Mail:
I like the mail application, I won’t write much, but there are three things that I would like to see implemented: Hotmail support, Exchange Support, Yahoo IMAP support (like the iPhone). Other than that, I am a happy camper thus far
IM:
Pidgin is a great app, I really wish that it were part of the package and not a separate download. I wish this were the case because then it would be integrated with the status indicators on the top of the screen, and I could set my accounts in the control panel. On thing that I would like to see implemented in Pigdin (or if the built-in IM supports all of the protocols that Pidgin supports) is to have both video and audio chat. There is a built-in camera in both the N800 and N810, why not use it? It seems kinda silly to ask my friends on Yahoo to fire up Skype or GTalk in order for us to voicechat.
Tablet Improvements: Welcome to the Social!
10/January/2008 07:24 Filed in: Technology
Our recent internet lives have been inundated with
social this, and social that. We all have a LinkedIn,
Facebook, mySpace (or whatever) account to keep in
touch with our buddies, our colleagues and our
family. Given the abundance of these services that we
are part of, here are some suggestions for apps (or
integration) that would make Maemo even better.
Blogging Client:
It would be nice to have a robust, blogging client so that you can blog without going to the webpage of your blogging service to do so. Off the bat, I would say that Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, Twitter, and Tumblr should be supported. You can sync up your x-recent posts, you can create new ones, edit old ones, and so on. I tried using WordPress on the browser that is supplied with ITOS2007, and I was having issues. A blogging client would side-step these issues and provides greater functionality.
Social Network Client:
Facebook has made a special interface for the iPhone, and MySpace is a downloadable application on the Sidekick/Hiptop. It seems like a great idea to create a Social Network Client that supports the top 5-10 networking sites and allows you to at least do some rudimentary stuff like accept/reject connection requests, see who recently joined (example: new classmates or colleagues in LinkedIn), check your email, change your status, browse through your friends list, send messages, and so on.
Podcast Client:
The RSS reader (with the exception of aforementioned improvements) does a good job for text and image based RSS feeds. It would be nice if a podcast/vidcast client were available for the ITOS2008 platform. You could subscribe to your favorite podcasts, choose which ones to download, and have seamless integration with the media player for the playback of those podcasts. I know that canola offers this kind of functionality, but it would be nice to have the functionality of a podcast client as a separate app. I don’t use my tablet as a media center, and therefore don’t want to fire-up my media center app when I want to browse or listen to a podcast.
Flickr/Picassa Manager:
Many people store their images online these days, either as a backup, a way to share with friends, or a way to easily post them on their blogs and websites. It would be a great if a Flickr (and/or Picassa) manager type application were available for this platform. You could browse through your photos, add or change tags, create and add to collections, and have the ability to upload from your device. I know that the neither the N810 nor the N800 have great cameras, but with Bluetooth you can always transfer images taken from phones or cameras that have built-in Bluetooth or SD slots.
YouTube Manager:
In similar fashion to the Flickr Manager, the YouTube Manager would allow you to browse and play through videos that you have marked as your favorite, it would allow you to change your account preferences and information, search for videos (like the iPhone YouTube client) and finally allow you to upload videos to YouTube (taken with a phone or other device, or videos available in your SD card)
Bookmark Manager:
The built-in bookmark manager is OK, I generally don’t get thrilled about things such as bookmarks, however there would be a nice killer feature that this app can have: Integration with del.icio.us (and/or other bookmark repository sites such as Yahoo and Google). You can save new bookmarks locally to your tablet; you can save them on the network on your preferred service(s); and you can access bookmarks already saved on those services without needing to fire-up the browser and navigate to those sites!
Blogging Client:
It would be nice to have a robust, blogging client so that you can blog without going to the webpage of your blogging service to do so. Off the bat, I would say that Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, Twitter, and Tumblr should be supported. You can sync up your x-recent posts, you can create new ones, edit old ones, and so on. I tried using WordPress on the browser that is supplied with ITOS2007, and I was having issues. A blogging client would side-step these issues and provides greater functionality.
Social Network Client:
Facebook has made a special interface for the iPhone, and MySpace is a downloadable application on the Sidekick/Hiptop. It seems like a great idea to create a Social Network Client that supports the top 5-10 networking sites and allows you to at least do some rudimentary stuff like accept/reject connection requests, see who recently joined (example: new classmates or colleagues in LinkedIn), check your email, change your status, browse through your friends list, send messages, and so on.
Podcast Client:
The RSS reader (with the exception of aforementioned improvements) does a good job for text and image based RSS feeds. It would be nice if a podcast/vidcast client were available for the ITOS2008 platform. You could subscribe to your favorite podcasts, choose which ones to download, and have seamless integration with the media player for the playback of those podcasts. I know that canola offers this kind of functionality, but it would be nice to have the functionality of a podcast client as a separate app. I don’t use my tablet as a media center, and therefore don’t want to fire-up my media center app when I want to browse or listen to a podcast.
Flickr/Picassa Manager:
Many people store their images online these days, either as a backup, a way to share with friends, or a way to easily post them on their blogs and websites. It would be a great if a Flickr (and/or Picassa) manager type application were available for this platform. You could browse through your photos, add or change tags, create and add to collections, and have the ability to upload from your device. I know that the neither the N810 nor the N800 have great cameras, but with Bluetooth you can always transfer images taken from phones or cameras that have built-in Bluetooth or SD slots.
YouTube Manager:
In similar fashion to the Flickr Manager, the YouTube Manager would allow you to browse and play through videos that you have marked as your favorite, it would allow you to change your account preferences and information, search for videos (like the iPhone YouTube client) and finally allow you to upload videos to YouTube (taken with a phone or other device, or videos available in your SD card)
Bookmark Manager:
The built-in bookmark manager is OK, I generally don’t get thrilled about things such as bookmarks, however there would be a nice killer feature that this app can have: Integration with del.icio.us (and/or other bookmark repository sites such as Yahoo and Google). You can save new bookmarks locally to your tablet; you can save them on the network on your preferred service(s); and you can access bookmarks already saved on those services without needing to fire-up the browser and navigate to those sites!
Upgraded!
08/January/2008 07:23 Filed in: Technology
Tablet Improvements: RSS Reader & Webmail Notifier
06/January/2008 13:12 Filed in: Technology
I've been using my new N800 for a couple of weeks
now. I've been thinking of what software features and
improvements can make the tablet an even better tool.
Now I know that I am using Internet Tablet OS 2007 (I
may be upgrading in a little while), so some of the
ideas may be integrated in ITOS 2008, and I know that
I am late to the party, so some ideas may not be
completely original. Having said this - don't get
bored if you've read something before.
I will be addressing improvements in chunks - today I will write about two 'small' things, the RSS reader and the Webmail notifier.
The RSS reader:
I really like this program. I've imported my OPML file from Google Reader, and I keep up with my RSS feeds on the go, or when I don't have access to my computer. There are two things that I think would make the RSS reader even better. First I think that Google reader (and/or Bloglines) integration would be great. Sure you can read your feeds on the device, but it would be great if I could star and share news stories of interest within the reader, and if I've read something it will automatically be marked on google as being read, so when I go to my computer, I don't have to go through articles I've already read. Now before you say "well, why don't you just use Google reader through the browser?" - first off, that's not the point, and secondly I have tried - it's too slow and it doesn't work well with Opera on the Tablet (I don't know if ITOS 2008 is any better).
The Webmail Notifier:
This is a great extension that is hindered by only being able to check one account. I don't know about other people, but I have a couple of Google mail accounts, as well as Yahoo, AOL and Hotmail accounts. It would be nice if the notifier were able to check multiple accounts, and if it were able to check Yahoo, AOL and Hotmail accounts as well. I know that Pidgin allows you to do this, but why run a full fledged app to do this?
More suggestions to come
I will be addressing improvements in chunks - today I will write about two 'small' things, the RSS reader and the Webmail notifier.
The RSS reader:
I really like this program. I've imported my OPML file from Google Reader, and I keep up with my RSS feeds on the go, or when I don't have access to my computer. There are two things that I think would make the RSS reader even better. First I think that Google reader (and/or Bloglines) integration would be great. Sure you can read your feeds on the device, but it would be great if I could star and share news stories of interest within the reader, and if I've read something it will automatically be marked on google as being read, so when I go to my computer, I don't have to go through articles I've already read. Now before you say "well, why don't you just use Google reader through the browser?" - first off, that's not the point, and secondly I have tried - it's too slow and it doesn't work well with Opera on the Tablet (I don't know if ITOS 2008 is any better).
The Webmail Notifier:
This is a great extension that is hindered by only being able to check one account. I don't know about other people, but I have a couple of Google mail accounts, as well as Yahoo, AOL and Hotmail accounts. It would be nice if the notifier were able to check multiple accounts, and if it were able to check Yahoo, AOL and Hotmail accounts as well. I know that Pidgin allows you to do this, but why run a full fledged app to do this?
More suggestions to come
Nokia N800 v N810
03/January/2008 09:51 Filed in: Technology
I had been looking around in the past month or so for
something that would allow me to browse the internet
wirelessly for those times that I was in the living
room and feeling the need to look up some factoid
about some movie or television show.
My laptop became an 'ethernet-only' device last summer when it started malfunctioning, and while I could just go out an buy a new laptop, my current laptop - despite its state, can still do 90% of what I need it to do - word processing, presentations, spreadsheets and browse the internet - the old fashioned way. I was thus trying to decide whether to get the older N800, or the newer N810. After a period of reviews and contemplation I got the N800, 'like-new' plus four gigs of SD memory off eBay for about $260. Why go with 'older tech'? Quite a few reasons actually:
1. Not much changed under the hood
WHen one looks at the N770 and the N800, you can see quite a few differences of importance. The same cannot be said about the N800 and the N810. Yes the built-in GPS, Keyboard and 2 GB of storage are nice...but not for double the price (amazon.com quotes)
2. No need for GPS
A couple of years back I bought an external bluetooth GPS unit. The built-in GPS unit of the N810 seemed a bit reduntant considering I already have a GPS unit which can work with the N800 (provided that I get some software).
3. Skeptical of the Keyboard
I've had a number of portable devices in recent years with built-in keyboards, and quite honestly none of them left me completely satisfied. I did not think that the built-in keyboard on the N810 was really worth the extra money (or that I would use it all that much).
4. Need for SD, not mini SD
The N810 comes with one mini-SD slot, which is not for people who haven't used SD cards before, but over the years I have accumulated a number of SD cards from older PDAs (that are no longer with me). The Mini-SD slot would require me to scrap my existing SD cards, and pay yet more to get mini-SD cards. The N800 on the other hand has two standard SD slots so I can reuse my existing cards.
5. FM Tuner
Not a major deal considering that I do not listen to FM radio much these days, but the N800 comes with an FM tuner, the N810 does not.
6. Price Difference
As stated earlier, the price of the N810 is about double the price of an N800. Given the perceived expandability of the N800 (compared to the N810), I did not think that the features warranted it. Also, since the N800 can be upgraded to the Internet Tablet 2008 OS (the same as the N810)...the N800 seems like a better purchase (for my needs). All things considered, I thought (and still do) that the N800 was a better value for the money.
My laptop became an 'ethernet-only' device last summer when it started malfunctioning, and while I could just go out an buy a new laptop, my current laptop - despite its state, can still do 90% of what I need it to do - word processing, presentations, spreadsheets and browse the internet - the old fashioned way. I was thus trying to decide whether to get the older N800, or the newer N810. After a period of reviews and contemplation I got the N800, 'like-new' plus four gigs of SD memory off eBay for about $260. Why go with 'older tech'? Quite a few reasons actually:
1. Not much changed under the hood
WHen one looks at the N770 and the N800, you can see quite a few differences of importance. The same cannot be said about the N800 and the N810. Yes the built-in GPS, Keyboard and 2 GB of storage are nice...but not for double the price (amazon.com quotes)
2. No need for GPS
A couple of years back I bought an external bluetooth GPS unit. The built-in GPS unit of the N810 seemed a bit reduntant considering I already have a GPS unit which can work with the N800 (provided that I get some software).
3. Skeptical of the Keyboard
I've had a number of portable devices in recent years with built-in keyboards, and quite honestly none of them left me completely satisfied. I did not think that the built-in keyboard on the N810 was really worth the extra money (or that I would use it all that much).
4. Need for SD, not mini SD
The N810 comes with one mini-SD slot, which is not for people who haven't used SD cards before, but over the years I have accumulated a number of SD cards from older PDAs (that are no longer with me). The Mini-SD slot would require me to scrap my existing SD cards, and pay yet more to get mini-SD cards. The N800 on the other hand has two standard SD slots so I can reuse my existing cards.
5. FM Tuner
Not a major deal considering that I do not listen to FM radio much these days, but the N800 comes with an FM tuner, the N810 does not.
6. Price Difference
As stated earlier, the price of the N810 is about double the price of an N800. Given the perceived expandability of the N800 (compared to the N810), I did not think that the features warranted it. Also, since the N800 can be upgraded to the Internet Tablet 2008 OS (the same as the N810)...the N800 seems like a better purchase (for my needs). All things considered, I thought (and still do) that the N800 was a better value for the money.
Debating the purchase of an N800
20/June/2007 17:27 Filed in: Personal
With the unfortunate breakdown of my mac, despite the
fact that I can still get online with it, and
accomplish much (if not all) of the work that I need
to accomplish with my computer, the last four years
I've been completely wireless. I've been using WiFi
to get online, thus the notion that I would go and
seclude myself to another room every time that I want
to check out something on IMDb (or something else
online) seems rather foreign.
I spend far too much time everyday looking things up, checking forums, responding to email - making it inefficient to have have to seclude myself when I need to do one of these things. I was thus considering buying a Nokia N800 internet tablet. I can browse, have my RSS, my email, my internet life all at the palm of my hand. There are a few things though that I don't like about it though:
1. No PIM! I know that it is not meant to be a PDA, but a device of such size, and abilities, should have both a robust addressbook and calendar application! I know that there are a number of open source programs that can be installed, but some of these utilities should be pre-installed on such a device.
2. Apparent lack of mac compatibility. I would like to easily import and sync addressbook, calendar, notes, music, videos, and bookmarks with my Mac. Even though this device is mean to be used by itself, without the need for a computer and synchronization, it would be nice to be able to accomplish these tasks!
3. No TomTom! I would love to get a software navigation package for North America. I already have a bluetooth GPS unit, but no software is available (just software)
I spend far too much time everyday looking things up, checking forums, responding to email - making it inefficient to have have to seclude myself when I need to do one of these things. I was thus considering buying a Nokia N800 internet tablet. I can browse, have my RSS, my email, my internet life all at the palm of my hand. There are a few things though that I don't like about it though:
1. No PIM! I know that it is not meant to be a PDA, but a device of such size, and abilities, should have both a robust addressbook and calendar application! I know that there are a number of open source programs that can be installed, but some of these utilities should be pre-installed on such a device.
2. Apparent lack of mac compatibility. I would like to easily import and sync addressbook, calendar, notes, music, videos, and bookmarks with my Mac. Even though this device is mean to be used by itself, without the need for a computer and synchronization, it would be nice to be able to accomplish these tasks!
3. No TomTom! I would love to get a software navigation package for North America. I already have a bluetooth GPS unit, but no software is available (just software)