Bye Bye N900. I’m returning you.
Feb 7th
The N900 is a phone and mobile computer all rolled into 1 device. I started to fall in love with it after seeing so many videos on youtube showing off all the things it was capable of doing. The specs of it are awesome too. So I did something that I normally don’t do which is just splurge on something I really don’t need. Unfortunatly it was a bad decision on my part because the n900 was kind of a fail. Thankfully I had an easy time returning it.
I’m not saying the n900 is an epic fail. There are lots of great things about the device. But overall the N900 is not ready to be my phone. Maybe sometime in the future we will meet again and fall in love but the device is going to need a lot of software for that to happen.
I liked a lot of things about the device but the negatives outweighed the postivies in the end. There is a lack of applications for the device since the Maemo 5 platform is still in its infancy. It is the same thing that happened when the 1st android phone came out. We had a limited number of decent applications to choose from but after a while the android market starting filling up. I imagine Maemo 5 will be the same way. Another thing missing from the n900 is wifi tethering to a laptop. It is in the works but at the moment there is no way to setup an adhoc network. Right now my t-mobile 3g is my only internet. So it is kind of big deal that it has no tethering via wifi. One other thing that was disappointing was the performance of flash video in the browser. Everything would load up very choppy, audio not in sync with the video and constant buffering. An upgrade to the new 10.1 version of flash should help out this issue though. There was no time frame given when the n900 will get 10.1 though.
If you want to know more about the phone just ask. I’m not trying to write a review of the device. For the time being I am back with my useful but aging G1.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Google Phone…My next phone?
Dec 16th
It has been 12 months since my last phone purchase. For a year I’ve been using the HTC Dream aka G1. The phone’s been awesome to use and it has been fun to watch the evolution of android. The G1 is a special phone because it was not only the 1st android phone but it has a huge amount of people developing custom roms and themes for it. The phone has also been my only internet connection for many months. I’ve even started using it to connect my ps3 and play Call of Duty online. There is not much the phone can not do. The only downside I’ve seen to the phone is the camera. But that is a problem with many cell phones. Something I hope HTC and the rest of the phone makers work to improve. Parting with my G1 will be hard but I think it is time for a change.
Photo Credit: Boy Genius Report
Rumors have been going around for months about Google coming out with its own phone. Those rumors have turned out to be true. Over the past few days lots of information and even a few pictures have been leaking out about the Google Phone dubbed Nexus One. It really is a sexy looking phone. All the specs and pricing haven’t been released yet but many people are saying that it will be released on January 5th with the price tag of $199. Inside the phone is a speedy snapdragon processor. The camera on the nexus one should be a big improvement from my G1. It is supposed to be a 5mp camera. The only thing that could make this phone even bigger and better for me was if it came with Flash 10 on it. But I don’t see that happening since it is taking Adobe forever to release an updated version of Flash for smart phones. I will be getting this phone the day it is released unless of course the pricing is wrong. Hopefully Google and HTC release some official information about the phone soon.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Cutting Out Cable Television. My Alternatives.
Jan 21st
Over 2 weeks have passed since I called up Cox Communications and told them to cancel my cable television service. You would think that this would be a hard transition for someone like me. Considering almost my whole life I have lived with cable tv. But it has been pretty easy and I am actually liking my entertainment options better. There are only 2 downsides to not having cable tv. I miss having TNT and ESPN to watch basketball. I also miss just channel surfing through over 100 channels. Yes I was one of those people who would change the channel all the time. During commercials or just because I was bored with what I was watching. So I don’t have the option to flip through channels anymore. So how am I keeping myself entertained these days? Here is how I am cutting out cable television.
On my first day without cable I decided to go out and buy an antenna. Thanks to AntennaWeb.org I was able to see that I would pick up a decent amount of local channels with just a cheap antenna. So the antenna takes care of local channels. It picks up FOX and MY45. Both channels show Family Guy. So I am a happy. The rest of my entertainment options come via the PS3.
Sony added flash 9 to the PS3 browser a few months ago. This lets me enjoy videos from the internet on my TV. So I am able to watch movies, sports games and video podcasts right on my TV by utilizing the PS3 browser. Another thing the PS3 does is it connects to media servers. I am then able to watch videos that I have stored on my computer.
My favorite alternative so far has got to be Netflix. Many of my friends use Netflix so I knew it was a good service. But what I didn’t expect was the amount of content they offered for you to watch instantly. Once I started browsing what you could watch instantly I immediately signed up for an account. I am using a program called PlayOn which lets me watch content from Netflix through the PS3. The program also lets you watch content from Hulu, Youtube, ESPN and much more.
If you have any other suggestions on alternatives please leave them in the comments.
Popularity: 78% [?]
Saying adios to CableTV. A long relationship ends.
Jan 2nd
Well Cable we have had a long and at times fun relationship. I can remember in my younger years spending all my time watching Nickelodeon sitting 2 feet away from the TV. I can still remember when I actually watched MTV. As I look back on my many years of having cable tv one thing really sticks out which is I don’t watch that many channels. At the moment I normally stick to a few channels. Comedy Central for shows like Southpark, Futurama, Daily Show, Colbert, and occasionally I will watch a movie or some standup. Cartoon Network for the new Star Wars cartoon and for Adult Swim. ESPN for sports (duh). TBS for Family Guy. When you look at what I just wrote you will notice that all those shows are available for me to watch online with the exception of sports.
So when the New Year hit I asked myself the question. Why am I paying over 60 dollars a month for 200+ channels if I am only watching 6 channels. The way the cable companies have their pricing does not fit how I watch TV. So I am going to stop giving them money until they change the way they do their pricing. My local cable company is Cox Communications. At the time of writing they only have 2 different packages available. One is for basic cable which costs $22 a month. Their basic cable channels are a joke. Channels 2 to 22. The majority of the channels you can get with antennas. The next package they have is for digital cable which is for 60 dollars a month. This package gives you over 250 channels. Why so little customization? I want options! Why am I paying for channels I will never watch? I can’t think of any other service that works this way.
Goodbye to you Cable TV. Maybe one day you will give your customers more options. Maybe one day you will let your customers pay for only the channels they choose. You have the technology to do it so stop being greedy.
In my next post I will show some alternatives to having cable.
Popularity: 86% [?]
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