Annoying Smart Phone
Are smart phones all they are cracked up to be?
I’ve recently bought myself a Samsung S3 Mini smart phone, so how do I like it?
It does the three things that I want it to do, which is make and receive calls, send and receive text messages and check the weather, news and sport on the Internet to a good standard.
I quite like the text message interface, as it enables me to do things, like send long texts to Radio 5 Live with ease, by typing them on my computer and then sending them to the phone for forwarding.
I don’t use any Apps, as the sort of App-like applications I need, I do on my computer.
But it has two main faults.
Starting it up is a nightmare and usually takes more than a few seconds.
And then there is of course battery life.
It also tries to lead me to use applications and things I don’t want. I bought a phone not an advertising medium!
Touch the wrong place and you can get lost.
If I’d designed something as poor as that, I’d be disgusted with myself.
At least though, it’s better than a Junkberry.
But as has been said often about people. Must try harder!
I still keep swapping my sim into my Nokia 6310i, when that would be a better phone for the day.
My Birthday Present To Myself!
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to go back to the only mobile phone, I’ve ever been comfortable with; a Nokia 6310i.
My Birthday Present To Myself!
It arrived today and after charging it up, I can’t understand, why I didn’t buy another one earlier!
It does the things I need, like make and receive phone calls and texts and store useful pieces of information.
It’s also comfortable in your hand, in a way that modern phones just aren’t.
I got it on the Internet for £90, which may seem a lot for a twenty-year-old phone.
But then there is no substitute for good design.
Just Sent A Text From My Landline
A guy rang me and a text was the best way to send him some info. So I used my BT6500 to send him a text.
Up Yours Scammers And PPI Callers!
My BT phone bill was put on-line today and an advert on the site talked about a new BT 6500 phone, which has an answerphone and also blocks nuisance calls.
BT 6500 Phone
It would appear to have all the benefits of trueCall in one package.
I’ll see how I get on with it, as I must get about ten or so unwanted calls on some days.
ARM Fire Another Shot
My trawl last night picked up this news item about ARM. ARM’s chief marketing officer, Ian Drew, is reported to have said:
Mobile users expect a range of devices at different price points, and for a mid-range mobile experience to include some high end mobile features. With a billion smart phones predicted to ship in 2013, and tablets projected to out-ship notebook PCs, device-makers can now provide quality, high-performance mobile products with the features that matter the most, at a range of price points.
I probably would agree. I for instance don’t use a smart phone, but carry a £10 Nokia phone and a Fuji Coolpix camera. For notes, I carry a small notebook and a couple of pens. So I don’t need a smart phone. I just want something to make and receive calls and text messages. In London, I’m never far from home and there are maps everywhere, so who needs on-line information and maps and the constant terror of e-mail, much of which is spam?
So a mid-range phone might just be the right one for me. But what would be better is a camera, that was wirelessly connected to my phone, so that I could post pictures quickly. If a camera is part of the phone, you inevitably end up with something that is just too big and the sort of device, that is regularly nicked.
I don’t think I’m alone either, in that several of my friends don’t have smart phones.
So have ARM come up with a winner in their new range of processor designed for smaller smart phones and tablets?
I think they have!
So What Is M-Pesa?
In the post on the Scottish currency, I mentioned M-Pesa. So what is it? I started by reading the Wikipedia entry. Here’s the initial paragraph.
In April 2007, following a student software development project from Kenya, Safaricom launched a new mobile phone based payment and money transfer service, known as M-Pesa. The service allows users to deposit money into an account stored on their cell phones, to send balances using SMS technology to other users (including sellers of goods and services), and to redeem deposits for regular money. Users are charged a small fee for sending and withdrawing money using the service. M-Pesa has spread quickly, and has become the most successful mobile phone based financial service in the developing world. By 2012, a stock of about 17 million M-Pesa accounts had been registered in Kenya.
The initial work of developing the product was given to a product and technology development company known as Sagentia. Development and second line support responsibilities were transferred to IBM in September of 2009, to where most of the original Sagentia team transferred.
It sounds a lot more sophisticated than anything we’ve got here! Especially, as it works on the humblest of Nokia mobile phones!
It’s developments like this, that will empower individuals and kill off the unnecessary wunch, that some still call bankers.
The Phone Problems Of The Channel Tunnel
Years ago, I met the guy, who had project managed the installation of the telephone system on the Channel Tunnel. It wasn’t as simple as you’d have thought. I remember one problem he outlined in particular.
Say you are an engineer, customs officer or whatever, employed by the Tunnel and because you are French, you live in France, but your major place of work is on the British side. You want to make a phone call to your wife, husband or partner, to say that because of a problem, you’ll be late home for supper. Obviously, the same problem would apply to British employees working in France.
So is your call home a local call, which it would be if you lived and worked in the same country or an international call, which of course would be at a higher rate.
The solution was to make for telephonic purposes, the Channel Tunnel, its own country.
The guy who managed the installation was British, but he had a French-speaking mother, so BT probably made a good choice, as to who managed the installation of a rather complicated project.
The White Cliffs Of Dover Have Moved To France
According to this article in the Metro, if you use your mobile phone on top of the White Cliffs of Dover, you may get charged as if you’re in France.
Landlord of the Coastguard pub and restaurant on the beach Nigel Wydymus, 53, said: ‘We are a little telecommunications enclave of France here.
‘It did not cause a huge amount of trouble for a few years with mobile phones because you got a message saying welcome to France but since smartphones have come in it’s more of a problem.
No-one has checked, but I wonder if you’re on the French side under the cliffs there, you might find the British signal is your phones preferred choice.
i do remember, when I would fly back in my Cessna from France, I was quite surprised at how far beyond the French coast, I could pick up a UK signal. Not that I made a call, as I probably needed two hands to fly the plane, but some of my passengers did. And of course that was well before smart phones.
PPI Pests Annoy A Lift
W all hate those callers trying to sort out our non-existent PPI problems. If I get one, I give them the number of the mini-cab firm, that fills up my letter-box with junk, as obviously they deserve each other.
according to The Times and The Telegraph, they are even calling the emergency line in the lift at Secure Trust Bank. Here’s the story in the Telegraph.
A Warning Not To Rely On Your Phone
Ed Sheeran must feel a right chump this morning, after losing his phone at the Brits. This is from the BBC’s report of the show.
A double award-winner at last year’s Brits, Ed Sheeran suddenly went white with fear at this year’s show.
“I’ve lost my phone,” he said, panic building as he patted down the pockets on his suit.
“It’s not locked. It has the whole of my new record on it. And it has quite a few phone numbers that shouldn’t be released.
“That’s not good, is it?”
I suppose many will excuse him, as he is from Suffolk, a county that the locals often pair with silly. But generally, they are just using it as self-promotion.
The Anonymous Widower 