PIM
Ovi on the NIT
25/February/2009 18:34 Filed in: Technology
I had this realization the other day: Nokia is
missing out on using Ovi on its lineup of internet
tablets.
I've written in the past that I really don't like the fact that the internet tablets don't have any PIM functionality out of the box. Well, OK, you've got your GoogleIM contacts, but if you don't use Google as your contact manager you're out of luck (well the contact management on the device needs improvement too).
Of course the lack of a notebook, todo, and calendar apps just adds to the lack of PIM goodness on a device that could really use it. After all, you get emails with invites, why not be able to schedule them on your internet tablet and have it sync to the could?
Ovi has been available for a while now with S60 clients and S40 coming out now (if I am not mistaken). It would make absolute sense to have robust calendar, todo, and contact management apps on the Internet Tablet that allow you to sync up to the Ovi cloud!
As an added bonus, the Comes With Music should be extended to the NIT. It's got the storage, it's got the media playback capability, and it's becoming mobile with GSM/UMTS being added to it for the future iterations.
I've written in the past that I really don't like the fact that the internet tablets don't have any PIM functionality out of the box. Well, OK, you've got your GoogleIM contacts, but if you don't use Google as your contact manager you're out of luck (well the contact management on the device needs improvement too).
Of course the lack of a notebook, todo, and calendar apps just adds to the lack of PIM goodness on a device that could really use it. After all, you get emails with invites, why not be able to schedule them on your internet tablet and have it sync to the could?
Ovi has been available for a while now with S60 clients and S40 coming out now (if I am not mistaken). It would make absolute sense to have robust calendar, todo, and contact management apps on the Internet Tablet that allow you to sync up to the Ovi cloud!
As an added bonus, the Comes With Music should be extended to the NIT. It's got the storage, it's got the media playback capability, and it's becoming mobile with GSM/UMTS being added to it for the future iterations.
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2009: Year of the cloud PIM+
23/February/2009 18:34 Filed in: Technology
There are many services out there that offer you
cloud based PIM+ (plus email, photos, storage, etc.)
Some are free, some are for pay. I think that 2009
will be the year that we see more competition for
consumer mindshare.
Yahoo has been in the game for quite some time. They've got Yahoo Mail, which has free 'push' to Apple's iPhone/iPod touch platform (last I checked anyway). They've got an OK addressbook, calendar, notebook, and photo management through Flickr. The problem is that they haven't put it all together. They do have Yahoo! Go but results do vary from smartphone to smartphone and it's not available for all platforms.
Google provides superior email service (in my experience) and their calendar is pretty useful - although lack of iCal sync (for free) makes it less useful for me. Their addressbook stinks - big time! I really wish they would fix it. They too have photo management through picassa. The one problem with the google verse is that is only available on Android devices -although I guess separate apps could be available on other platforms.
MobileMe is Apple's paid service (and sometimes I feel like a sucker for using it, but I can use my nokia phone and my ipod, and my mac to use it, so I guess it's valuable).
Ovi is Nokia's platform for all things PIM+ - haven't used it much, and the sync times out on my Nokia N80, so I guess I won't be fully using it until I get a new S60 phone.
Finally Microsoft has announced SkyBox, it's own version of PIM+ that is set to be unveiled sometime this month.
There is of course the Danger sidekick PIM+, but I am not sure if this is sticking around for very long (I think it would be better to integrate it with SkyBox...but what do I know?)
The one problem I've got with all of these services is that they don't play nice with one another. On my Mac I can sync my contact data with Google and Yahoo. Awesome! What about my ToDo and Calendar? What about an Ovi plug in? I don't mind having a different cloud provider for my PIM data, however it's imperative for this data to be interoperable with each other.
So what will happen in 2009? I think we will probably see an improvement of services in order to gain mindshare. I don't think we will see much cross-sync compatibility - as much as I would love to see this happen.
Yahoo has been in the game for quite some time. They've got Yahoo Mail, which has free 'push' to Apple's iPhone/iPod touch platform (last I checked anyway). They've got an OK addressbook, calendar, notebook, and photo management through Flickr. The problem is that they haven't put it all together. They do have Yahoo! Go but results do vary from smartphone to smartphone and it's not available for all platforms.
Google provides superior email service (in my experience) and their calendar is pretty useful - although lack of iCal sync (for free) makes it less useful for me. Their addressbook stinks - big time! I really wish they would fix it. They too have photo management through picassa. The one problem with the google verse is that is only available on Android devices -although I guess separate apps could be available on other platforms.
MobileMe is Apple's paid service (and sometimes I feel like a sucker for using it, but I can use my nokia phone and my ipod, and my mac to use it, so I guess it's valuable).
Ovi is Nokia's platform for all things PIM+ - haven't used it much, and the sync times out on my Nokia N80, so I guess I won't be fully using it until I get a new S60 phone.
Finally Microsoft has announced SkyBox, it's own version of PIM+ that is set to be unveiled sometime this month.
There is of course the Danger sidekick PIM+, but I am not sure if this is sticking around for very long (I think it would be better to integrate it with SkyBox...but what do I know?)
The one problem I've got with all of these services is that they don't play nice with one another. On my Mac I can sync my contact data with Google and Yahoo. Awesome! What about my ToDo and Calendar? What about an Ovi plug in? I don't mind having a different cloud provider for my PIM data, however it's imperative for this data to be interoperable with each other.
So what will happen in 2009? I think we will probably see an improvement of services in order to gain mindshare. I don't think we will see much cross-sync compatibility - as much as I would love to see this happen.
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
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?