Here is the Neo Freerunner, running openmoko.
Update: It’s a GSM device.
Filed under: Gadget, LINUX, Smart Phone | Tagged: cell phone | 3 Comments »
Simple is good
Posted on August 6, 2008 by Mark Urbin
A gadget doesn’t have to be high tech and fancy to be good. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s not critical. 🙂
Example, the simple coffee press. I’ve used different coffee makers over the years and have settled on a basic coffee press for home use.
Why? It makes damn good coffee quickly and easily. I’m not tied into buying a particular type of prepackaged, pre-ground stuff that the one shot machines require.
The trick is start with good coffee, whole beans, and fresh roasted. I get mind from Armeno Coffee Roasters, a local establishment in Northborough, MA, that actually roasts their own beans on site. They also carry Hawaiian beans. Which in addition to “buying American” is damn good coffee.
A course grind on the beans, hot but not boiling water, wait a few minutes, and my coffee fix is taken care of.
You may ask, “A discussion on coffee in a tech blog?” If you do, you haven’t worked in High Tech. The business runs on coffee. According to Bandit Six, so does the US Army, but I digress.
The latest issue of Wired had an article on a high tech coffee machine that Starbucks paid a lot money for. Perhaps it will help hide the fact that they over roast.
Filed under: Gadget | Tagged: coffee, simple | 1 Comment »
NetShare pulled from the Apple Store
Posted on August 4, 2008 by Mark Urbin
Netshare is a very useful iPhone app that allows you to share the iPhone’s Internet connection with other devices over the WiFi connection.
Too bad it isn’t available anymore. It was on the iTunes app store, but then it was pulled, put back, and then pulled again.
The app was produced by Nullriver Software.
No explanation from Apple on why this extremely useful app was pulled.
Update: Nullriver Software claims that they are “working with” with Apple about getting NetShare back in the iTunes Apps store.
Filed under: Apple, Gadget, Internet, Smart Phone | Tagged: Apple, smart | 1 Comment »
Why no decent camera app
Posted on July 28, 2008 by Mark Urbin
One of the glaring exceptions in the Apple iTunes application store is a decent camera app.
There are several “jailbreak” phone apps that add good functionality to the extremely basic camera software on the iPhone. Adding functionality to the camera is something that iPhone users would pay money for. Price it under $10, preferably under $5, and it would move.
The camera on the iPhone is the equivalent of an old Instamatic film camera. Not a modern one, you can get better pictures from a modern cardboard disposable.
It is not that bad, but getting a decent picture out it is a challenge. Like most photography, it is all about the lighting. Just don’t expect to blow that picture up to a poster.
Filed under: Apple, Gadget, Smart Phone | Tagged: app, Apple, camera, iPhone | Leave a comment »
Don’t fly without a pair!
Posted on July 28, 2008 by Mark Urbin
I picked up a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort 2 headphones on the recommendation of my friend Vic. In the interest of full disclosure, Vic is an employee of Bose in their product development group.
First off, these are really good headphones. I never liked ear buds for either the comfort (or lack there or) or the sound quality (or lack there of) These headphones will remind you what music is supposed to sound like. They might even cause you to go back and re-encode some of your music for better quality.
Recently I flew across the US and back. Over ten hours in noisy aircraft, including a small turboprop plane. These headphones really cut out the loud white noise that exists in passenger aircraft. These are over the ear headphones, as opposed to on the ear headphones, like the Quiet Comfort 3 headphones. For traveling, I prefer the over the ear because they are less likely to move off my ears as my head moves while I am sleeping on a plane.
Filed under: Gadget, Sound | Tagged: bose, Gadget, headphones, travel | 2 Comments »
More on PDAs and Smart Phones
Posted on July 10, 2008 by Mark Urbin
First off, I do see a difference between a PDA and Smart Phone. I haven’t seen a decent Smart Phone have decent PDA functionality, or a good PDA that has decent Smart Phone capabilities. To be honest, I haven’t tried the Palm Centro, but the small screen has two strikes against it. One, it makes it a sub-optimal e-text reader, and second, it limits the web browsing experience too much.
The WinCE (yet another example of poor MS marketing) OS was a kludge from the start. Ask anyone who has developed software for it for their opinion of it. Odds are it won’t be favorable. So any of the “Windows Mobile” OS based Smart Phones is a non-starter. Too much OS overhead and they all have tiny screens.
The Palm OS has stood up well over the years because of it’s clean design. It’s not trying to replicate a desktop OS. It was designed for data retrieval. That’s its primary function. Data entry on that platform was secondary (and the original graffiti is still my favorite). The device was designed to work with a less portable computer (either a desktop or a laptop), but with a full sized keyboard and a larger screen. It’s easier to update my calender or contacts on my PC and then sync that data on my PDA. Yes, I can enter that data directly on the PDA, but it is easier on the the PC.
A decent PDA must be easy to use, be easy to read, and fairly easy to enter data into independently. Most WinCE boxes strike out on option 1, and the small screens on most Smart Phones take them out of the running. After that, they need excellent contact and calendar management. This is one of the key things that kills the iPhone as a PDA.
Filed under: Apple, Gadget, Palm, PDA, Smart Phone | Tagged: Apple, iPhone, Palm, PDA, Smart Phone | 9 Comments »
Audrey Internet Appliance
Posted on July 8, 2008 by Mark Urbin
One of the original dedicated internet appliances, the 3Com Audrey. I picked up a couple cheap when they killed the product line.
There is an active Audrey Hacking culture.
Filed under: Gadget | Tagged: 3Com, Audrey, Gadget | Leave a comment »
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