Recent Comments:
iPhone and Windows 7 don't play nice, Intel P55 chipset to blame {Engadget}
Nov 1st 2009 11:19AM NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO why did this have to be publicised? I was looking forward to a sudden flurry of outraged Mac purchasers :D
Echostar's new DVR UI kills the number pad, long live the touch pad {Engadget HD}
Jan 10th 2009 9:15PM Ugh, what the bollocks? from a usability standpoint, this makes no sense whatsoever. Remotes are designed to be used without ever having to look at them - tactile response is essential. Even if the touchpad had slightly raised separator lines in the shape of a noughts-and-crosses grid (to mimic the grid of a 0-9 keypad), that would be an improvement on this design (which looks like a poor concept design which broke out of the labs).
I can navigate to channels far quicker just by tapping in their three digit channel number far faster than I could by having to navigate through a UI and tap on its logo. Even with the on screen keypad, I bet I wouldn't be able to quickly tap in the numbers - just as I do with two thumbs on our Sky remote. I can change the channel in about a quarter of a second, and I bet the software on the box and the remote's touchpad wouldn't be able to handle anything approaching that fast!
Buttons have remained popular through all these years for a reason - they work. Why reinvent the wheel for no real benefit whatsoever? What a monumentally stupid idea.
Neonode AB, maker of the N2, files for bankruptcy {Engadget}
Dec 10th 2008 2:01PM Small addition to my first post - was slightly out on the touchscreen description. I coulda sworn that it was something funky, and indeed it was - remember now, it employed IR sensors in the X + Y axes to calculate your finger's position, and you could do context-sensitive stuff depending on whether you pressed the screen when swiping or whether you held your finger above the screen and swiped. Clever, but again, a bit too dainty for me. When I need to find a number and dial it quickly with my phone when driving, I much prefer the scrollwheel on the left over swiping repeatedly just over the surface of the screen (and then if your finger knocks the screen when you go over a bump / hit a homeless person / drive off a cliff etc, you have to start all over again)
I'm sure it was ludicrously clever stuff, the rep was adamant that it was technology unlike that in any other touchscreen phone. I think they got a patent for it eventually but I've not heard of any companies using it.
Neonode AB, maker of the N2, files for bankruptcy {Engadget}
Dec 10th 2008 1:55PM Neonode were pimping this little phone at Midem last January. I got to play with one at the little demo stand they had, and although quite drunk at the time I still managed to do a fairly thorough whip through of the UI and asked the important questions.
I was all set to love this device, considering it was a fairly good price even before the Midem discount they were offering. (I had a Vario 2 at the time, which I still have!) Unfortunately, what made the Nenode a non-starter for me:
• Windows CE, not Windows Mobile
• The touchscreen was 'odd' - it detected your finger's motion across the screen instead of it being a plain ole resistive screen, I think it was a Projected Capacitive screen certainly by the way the rep described it. To use it you just swiped lightly with your finger - no heavy tapping or pressing needed, but it was a little too 'dainty' for me
• GPRS ONLY - the lack of any kind of 3G was the real buzzkiller for me
• Really quite tiny! I'd probably put it in my back pocket, sit on it and break it far too quickly.
• No keyboard (dur), too fiddly to input characters
plus • their custom UI was nice, but I couldn't see any way to rejig or improve upon it. I don't want to conform to somebody else's paradigm, I want to continue with my own thank you please! At least if I get a device with HTC TouchFlo, I can disable it if I want and bingo, back to the regular WinMo start screen (you laugh, but I have a nice theme and I have loads of info which I need all the time staring me in the face, a much better use of the space).
If I'd had the cash, it would've been a great second phone to play with, but aside from the smaller flaws it was the underlying age of the tech which disinterested me. Shame, because it was a nice design and had an ok heft to it considering the size of the device. Unusual styling, too.
Google Maps for mobile gets Street View and walking directions {Engadget Mobile}
Sep 19th 2008 9:36AM I've heard that these new Street View features don't work on the iPhone version... Hurhurhurhur
My coat's the one with an HTC Hermes in it (did I mention Google Gears gives me Cell ID-based geolocation now, which also works with Google Maps and Google Mobile search?)
European Commission gives approval to in-flight calling over Europe {Engadget}
Apr 7th 2008 10:23AM Yay, hopefully soon I can use 3G data with my laptop while I travel ;) imagine that - you could surf youtube on a longhaul flight! Bollocks to the expensive in-flight PPV films :D
SiRFprima GPS receiver platform boosts sensitivity, adds 3D acceleration {Engadget}
Feb 9th 2008 9:28PM Wow, the intelligent commenters are out tonight.
;)
I think I may actually get a receiver with one of these chipsets in when they come to market, my old SirfSTAR III-based receiver doesn't always cut it in urban areas for accurate log-taking (and now I've started doing OSM stuff (streetmapping) it's sometimes not accurate at all).
Here's hoping that the new chipset devices come to market soon :)
Qtrax goes "live," tracks nowhere to be found {Engadget}
Jan 29th 2008 11:39PM I'm actually at Midem at the moment (where they launched), and all of this is amusing me GREATLY. To put it one way, the Qtrax execs are making themselves bloody scarce right now! It's a good job they have offices upstairs, away from the madding crowd - if they had a stand downstairs or on the Riviera level, they'd be being swamped with press and other attendees constantly. This does make me wonder whether it was just a bit of publicity, even if it ostensibly looks like they've made a big miscalculation...
... But if this wasn't deliberate, all this happening in the space of just two days - as cockups go, this was a pretty good one!
Qtrax promises unlimited, legal P2P downloads from all major labels. Probably too good to be true. {Engadget}
Jan 28th 2008 9:12PM Qtrax have been (quite literally) spamming Midem with their 'viral' (read: crap) ads for their service... And to be honest, I don't think it looks that great, either.
The Prefueled "Fuel Pumps" (browsable kiosks with media card interfaces and wifi hotspots to connect your machine to access the web sites on your own device) look really quite similar in UI design, but they're a really nice smooth experience (although they still offer DRMed content, a big no no with me).
If Spiralfrog is STILL struggling to reach critical mass in both usership and reputation, and they've been going for ages now, what makes anybody think that this ocmpany's any different?
Amazon MP3 store to spread DRM-free love global in 2008 {Engadget}
Jan 28th 2008 9:00PM I've had a chance to attend Midem this year, and I've potentially seen the future... AmazonMP3's a good contender for the time being, and it fills a void, but don't expect it to be around in its current incarnation for ever and ever.
Retailing of static audio content is a dying art, just like physical sales... What's really going to kick the market into gear are things like wrapper formats allowing for the combination of audio, video, text, alternative versions of songs with fan-produced remixes and the ability to switch between them in a musical way, the ability for the artist to subsequently send their fans remixes or alternate versions without having to download another file at a later date...
I'm not saying that'll be the be all and end all for digital music, but it's where the industry should be ending up - not a perpetuation of the old habits of selling the very same format audio files that people were sharing freely more than a decade ago.
