2 Days Until My Trip To Northern Ireland

Not long now until I go to Northern Ireland for a long weekend, this is the first time I will have been there and looking forward to it. I'm going to be flying there from Liverpool and only taking carry on luggage, which is going to pose a slight problem as I'll have to cut back on any gadgets I take. So I've created a short list of what I will be taking for the four day trip, but once I start packing that list might need to be made even shorter. So far I plan on taking.

MacBook
iPhone
Mophie Juicepack Air
3UK MiFi and maybe a Voda broadband dongle as backup.
Sanyo Xacti HD1000 camcorder
Sony PRS-505 ebook reader

Got a feeling that the MacBook may not fit in my case along with clothes etc. so may have to sacrifice that and take the AA1 NetBook instead which is now running Windows 7.

Think I should do a trial packing before Wednesday, if I still can't fit it all in even after swapping the MacBook for a NetBook then the only option left will be to take less clothes :-)

[--Post From My iPhone]

3UK MiFi (Huawei E5830) Wireless Modem, A Quick Review

Today I picked up one of the new Mobile WiFi units from a 3 store to replace the Huawei E169G which I got last year. The trouble with the mobile broadband dongles are that they are easily knocked and banged when plugged in and sticking out of a laptop or netbook, and thats another thing, they can only be used with a computer as they require a usb port and software. The MiFi changes that. It can be plugged in and used via USB and also charged that way, but the big advantage is that it's battery powered and WiFi enabled, so once its turned on you can leave it in a bag or pocket and connect multiple devices to it wirelessly. 

This wireless capability is a huge advantage over the old style dongles as it allows nearly any wifi device to connect to it, I said nearly any and I'll come back to that later. So laptops, mobile phones, game systems, internet radios, media players etc can all use its internet connection. Sounds too good to be true doesn't it, well it is, there are a few drawbacks to the device, so here's a list of a few pro's and con's

Pro's

• It's small, slightly narrower and slightly taller than a credit card and the same depth as an iPhone.
• Reasonable battery life of up to 5hrs.
• Full access to all settings via PC software where you can change such things as SSID, encryption, firewall settings etc.

Cons

• PC only software, no Mac support. It can be used straight out of the box and comes with WPA encryption enabled but if you want to change any settings it must be done with a Windows PC.
• Only supports WPA encryption which means any devices that only work with WEP can't be used with it, an example of this is the DS Lite or even the DSi when playing older online games.

These types of devices could become popular with people that use wifi enabled portable media players such as ipod touch, Archos and Sony, allowing the user to have immediate access to the internet wherever they are. They are also handy even if you have a device that already has an always on internet connection, but the manufacturer has decided to limit certain features so that they cant be used with phones own data but require it to be connected via wifi....... yes Apple I'm talking about you. It enables you to get round all the limits imposed by apple as well as allowing BBC iPlayer to stream over 3G using the MiFi.

I've only had it for a few hours but so far very impressed with it, it was simple to set up and operate, very pocketable and will get a lot more use than my previous broadband dongle.

Bored With Wordpress, Moving To Squarespace… Probably.

I've never really been happy with a free wordpress.com account, the lack of being able to edit the layout (apart from selecting different pre-designed themes) and no video uploads has always frustrated me. I looked at the cost of adding these two features as well as alternative services. That's when I came across Squarespace. For a basic acount over the course of a year the cost is roughly similar to wordpress but no custom domain mapping or only 1gb storage compared to 3gb that WP provide. But the killer feature for me is their site design manager, it's so easy to use to quickly change any aspect of your sites design. I've played about with it a lot to try the different elements, then reset everything to start again. At the moment I've got the basic layout how I want it, but still plenty of tweaking to do when I get chance.

I've now paid for my first month and will test it thoroughly during that time, if all goes well and I'm happy with it (at this moment I can't see any reason I won't be) I'll be ditching wordpress for good.

[--Post From My iPhone]

Spotify Is Rocking My iPhone

Early last week Spotify released their mobile apps for both the iPhone, iPod Touch and Android. I’ve used both the PC and Mac desktop versions for a while but only with the free account, as I don’t listen music enough on my computers to justify a pro account. I’ve been eagerly waiting for the iPhone app for some time now, ever since it was first rumored and as soon as it was released I upgraded to pro in order to try it (the free version doesn’t work with the mobile app).   So how have I found it?......... AMAZING!! I haven’t listened to a single song from my iTunes library all week, everything has been via Spotify and I’ve listened much more than I would have normally done. Having on demand access to aproximatily 4.5 million tracks means that whatever mood I’m in, whatever genre I feel like listening to, if I feel like listening to something completely new, I can, it’s only a search away. The app allows you to stream music over 3G/Edge/WiFi or you can download playlists over WiFi to be stored on the phone for offline playback. This means that if you are in an area with a weak cell reception you can still listen to music that you have previously downloaded.

The only major downside isn’t a fault of the app, its a fault of Apple’s, yes once again lack of background processes for third party apps rears it’s ugly head, so once you are using the app you can’t do anything else at the same time, no writing emails, no using Safari, no checking that SMS that you just received. That is unless you have you iPhone/Touch jailbroken and use the backgrounder app. If anyone ever needed a reason to jailbreak this is it. As I said earlier, Spotify on the iPhone is an amazing app, so why has it got such a low rating on the app store, 2 stars out of 5 from nearly 8,000 reviews. Well thats because of all the pricks giving it 1 star because they’re either too stupid to read the description that clearly states that it requires a premium account, or they’re too cheap to pay for one and are taking their frustration our in the reviews, a few of those are posted below. If all 1 star reviews complaining that they need to pay for the service were removed it would become a 4 star app, that rating I agree with, for an initial release it is excellent but there is still room for improvement.

I'm sorry but you thought wrong, you do need to pay for something that you can get for free on your home PC, that's why you're writing a one star review idiot. Actually you're not an idiot I take that back, you're a genius if you can get a premium account for free on your PC? show me where to sign up.

This one makes me laugh..... "there are many more greater options than this, youtube for example" PMSL, oh yes because youtube on the iphone is so great at creating full artist and album playlists within a matter of seconds that can be reorganized to your exact listening preference and downloaded for listening at any time anywhere. Besides all those, just the fact that this person compares Spotify to youtube makes me chuckle

Excellent review, now run along and leave that same review for every album, tv show, film and app in iTunes If this takes off on the iPhone and Android (plus Symbian when it gets released) it could rapidly change the way we listen to music on a mobile device.

The True Cost Of The iPhone. #o2fail no they don't

Everyone is asking why are o2 in the UK ripping us off with the cost of the new iphone 3Gs compared to the US price. Well the fact is they aren't if you work it out properly.

In the US it is being sold for the same price as last years model but in the UK it has increased. Well there are no exchange rates to deal with in the US because Apple is a US company, exchanges rates between the $ and the £ have changes a lot since last year.

Secondly it is being said that even at todays exchange rate it doesn't compare and is more expensive than it is on AT&T in America. Well the truth is that it is actually CHEAPER in the UK. What alot of people aren't accounting for is the contract length, o2 have a choice of 18 or 24 months, AT&T only have 24 month contract. So let's compare like for like.

On a 24 month contract in the UK the 16GB version is £87, in the US it's $199. At todays exchange rate $199 is £120 and that's without even taking into account that the US price doesn't include sales tax, the UK price does include VAT. As you can see O2 are selling it for £33 less than AT&T are.

And it's the same for the 32GB version. On a 24 month contract it's $299 and £175. That a saving of £6 on the US price. Not as much as 16GB version but still cheaper.

Also take into account that the £ price I used is the most you would pay, the $ price is the starting price, I have no idea what price it goes upto, AT&T list it as from $199 and from $299.

So are O2 ripping us off compared to AT&T? far from it, so much for rip off Britain.

-- Post From My iPhone