Mobile phones & tablets thread

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Originally Posted by donKey jote

I had everything saved too, or so I thought :s
I even bought an App backerupper, to be on the safe side...
Did the OS update, resynched, and hey presto ! Everything was there.
... Except a years worth of app data (settings, game status, etc). :dozey:

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I'm still new to this so you'll have to excuse me for not "getting it". If I understand what you're saying, you didn't lose the apps themselves, but the settings and some of the data associated with the apps?

Just for giggles, I reset my iPod Touch last night to see what would happen. I had a bank app that wasn't working right so I figured I'd play around to see if I could fix it. I backed up everything with an iTunes sync and held the power button and the home button on the screen (as my girl suggested - she's the iExpert in this relationship) until I saw the Apple symbol on the screen. It reset the apps, everything started working again (including the bank app and another app that had been in "wait" mode for several days) and my settings and data were still there. I guess that's considered a "soft" reset and not the total reset though. :confused:

But I guess you actually upgraded to a newer iOS, right? And that's what made the apps, settings and data go hinky? Yeah, that would be a problem. When I go to iOS 4.2, I'll see what happens. Like I said, this is all new to me. And right now, any data that's on the iPod Touch is also in at least two other locations - coming from the MicroSux Windows world, I've gotten used to devices crashing, freezing up and losing my data. But that still sucks what happened to your son.

Like the caveman who saw fire for the first time, and then figured out that he could cook his dinner with it, I just made my first series of stock trades on this thing. So in an indirect way, I guess you could say that it's already paid for itself. So far, so good. :up:

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Originally Posted by Daniel

I mean FFS Gridgirl is talking about having to rebuild her iPhone EVERYTIME TomTom release an update and she still wants to buy a new one

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She has an 8GB iPhone 3G I believe. On which she has lots of stuff stored, certainly more than 6GB worth.

The TomTom application with Western Europe maps weighs in at around 2GB. But whenever there is an update you get the entire 2GB download again! The way updates work it downloads it into a temporary area, then deletes the old app and installs the new one. But GridGirl doesn't have the 2GB space required to download the new app, so she's forced to download the app on her PC and then wipe the phone and reinstall everything.

Now the problem here is TomTom insisting on giving you the maps every single time. I have another iPhone app called ViewRanger which has around 1GB of maps with it and when they publish updates you just download the very small app and update that, the maps are not touched, so it can be done!

The problem here isn't a specific "ooh Apple is bad" fault, it's a combination of TomToms giant size and update policy and the fact that she's got too much stuff in flash memory!

Myself I've successfully updated TomTom when an update is released, because I have sufficient free storage.

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Originally Posted by Daniel

I mean FFS Gridgirl is talking about having to rebuild her iPhone EVERYTIME TomTom release an update .....

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To be fair Daniel, I only have to rebuild it because I only have an 8GB iphone that doesnt have enought memory because I've used it all. At the time of buying my iphone I thought that 8gb would be more than enough memory space and 18 months down the line it obviously isn't. I wouldn't have to rebuild my iphone when TomTom updates if I had a 16gb or 32GB iphone. The problem is not Apple's. Its mine for underestimating how much stuff (apps, music, photo's etc) I would want to keep on the phone. :)

Edit: Yeah, like Mark said. :p :)

When I bought my phone I wasn't sure if going for 32GB would be worth the extra cash. But looking at my usage I have 12.8GB of stuff at the moment, and I believe the 16GB model has something like 14GB usable capacity. So already I'd be in a position where I couldn't update TomTom either!

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Originally Posted by Daniel

So you went against the advice you were getting.... because there were too many people telling you to do something?

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No, I got the iPhone because the people 'advising' me to get the Desire were largely just being dicks and slagging the iPhone rather than telling me what was so great about the Desire. Since owning my iPhone I have had no problems with it either.

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Originally Posted by Mr Jan Yeo

No, I got the iPhone because the people 'advising' me to get the Desire were largely just being dicks and slagging the iPhone rather than telling me what was so great about the Desire. Since owning my iPhone I have had no problems with it either.

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Indeed. You need to objectively weigh up the pro's and con's of whatever you decide to purchase - this applies to all purchases of course.

It does seem that objective advice for mobile phones is hard to come by as it gets drowned out by the 'fanbois' and the 'haters'.

I hear Nokia is coming up with a new model, Nokia myBad.

Go to shop. Try lots of phones. Go away and think about it. Don't listen to anybody else. Make your own mind up. Buy the one you like.

Easy peasy.

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Originally Posted by Mark

Indeed. You need to objectively weigh up the pro's and con's of whatever you decide to purchase - this applies to all purchases of course.

It does seem that objective advice for mobile phones is hard to come by as it gets drowned out by the 'fanbois' and the 'haters'.

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Originally Posted by Andrewmcm

Go to shop. Try lots of phones. Go away and think about it. Don't listen to anybody else. Make your own mind up. Buy the one you like.

Easy peasy.

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Excellent advice from both of you. The same is true of computers, cars and I would say a great many other consumer items.

We all probably have brand preferences for various items. And there may be some companies that we don't like. But at the end of the day, to get the best product, you really need to rely on objective advice and accept the how's, what's and why's of your purchase. The tough part is, until you buy a particular type of device, you may not (fully) realize what that class of device is capable of doing. Though I still have more negatives than positives on getting a smartphone, and I knew the basics of why I wanted this iPod Touch instead, almost everyday I find some new, unknown (to me) business related app that makes it possible for me to save time and/or make money. Who knew???

Ugh! Fire good! Rain bad! :D

I have always found Aps a fascinating add-on.

First, it allows creative geeks to come up with sometimes amazing applications and also make a profit out of it.

The latest one my son got is this:

Finding a place to go to the bathroom in NYC is a pain in a pain in the butt (literally).
Our city does not have public/pay lues like you find in some european cities so when you have to go you have to seek restaurants (where only patrons can use the facilities) or go to one of the mayor transportation hubs or risk an arrest when you are forced to go behind a tree.

The ap my son purchased uses your phone's GPS to let you know what bathroom facilities are around where you are and it also posts pictures of them and gives them star ratings.

How useful is that!

But my all time favorite is the one that comes included on my iPhone called "maps" (and probably on other smart phones) which is the live map that shows where you are and can take you to places that you want to find (like a restaurant or a bank, or a particular street address). I love that I can see where I am and how I literarily 'move' in the map.

What's your favorite ap?
:s mokin:

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Originally Posted by race aficionado

The ap my son purchased uses your phone's GPS to let you know what bathroom facilities are around where you are and it also posts pictures of them and gives them star ratings.

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sounds like markabilly's favourite too :laugh: :erm: :s ailor: :p

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Originally Posted by race aficionado

Finding a place to go to the bathroom in NYC is a pain in a pain in the butt (literally).

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What I found in NYC even harder was finding a vacant parking spot. And keeping the car in the parking area of a hotel cost about as much as a motel room+parking in California desert.

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Originally Posted by Eki

What I found in NYC even harder was finding a vacant parking spot. And keeping the car in the parking area of a hotel cost about as much as a motel room+parking in California desert.

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That's why I don't have a car in NYC. It is nuts.

Just wait, soon there will be an application called iPark.


:s mokin:

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Originally Posted by race aficionado

I have always found Aps a fascinating add-on.

First, it allows creative geeks to come up with sometimes amazing applications and also make a profit out of it.

The latest one my son got is this:

Finding a place to go to the bathroom in NYC is a pain in a pain in the butt (literally).
Our city does not have public/pay lues like you find in some european cities so when you have to go you have to seek restaurants (where only patrons can use the facilities) or go to one of the mayor transportation hubs or risk an arrest when you are forced to go behind a tree.

The ap my son purchased uses your phone's GPS to let you know what bathroom facilities are around where you are and it also posts pictures of them and gives them star ratings.

How useful is that!

But my all time favorite is the one that comes included on my iPhone called "maps" (and probably on other smart phones) which is the live map that shows where you are and can take you to places that you want to find (like a restaurant or a bank, or a particular street address). I love that I can see where I am and how I literarily 'move' in the map.

What's your favorite ap?
:s mokin:

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If I lived in a large city with restricted bathrooms, I think that bathroom app would be pretty useful... er, necessary!

And if I was touring a major city, I think the map app sounds useful. I might go to the ALMS race in Baltimore next year. And it's been almost 20 years since I spent any amount of time in that city - so I'm sure that between my fading memory and changes to streets, I would get lost faster than a blind man in a maze. So I can imagine that such an app would come in very handy. If my girl goes with me, since she has an iPhone, we should be able to make use of that.

Right now, apart from news and weather, I guess the app I use the most is the stock market app that my broker developed. Getting into it and navigating around is significantly faster than using my laptop or desktop. I can grab a price and execute a trade at least twice as fast as I can on the PC. :up: I'm using the same Wi-Fi network on all these devices, but the iPod Touch executes commands MUCH faster - probably because the OS is cleaner/more efficient? :confused: I'm not sure. I don't ask questions. It just works. :D

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Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

If I lived in a large city with restricted bathrooms, I think that bathroom app would be pretty useful... er, necessary!

And if I was touring a major city, I think the map app sounds useful. I might go to the ALMS race in Baltimore next year. And it's been almost 20 years since I spent any amount of time in that city - so I'm sure that between my fading memory and changes to streets, I would get lost faster than a blind man in a maze. So I can imagine that such an app would come in very handy. If my girl goes with me, since she has an iPhone, we should be able to make use of that.

Right now, apart from news and weather, I guess the app I use the most is the stock market app that my broker developed. Getting into it and navigating around is significantly faster than using my laptop or desktop. I can grab a price and execute a trade at least twice as fast as I can on the PC. :up: I'm using the same Wi-Fi network on all these devices, but the iPod Touch executes commands MUCH faster - probably because the OS is cleaner/more efficient? :confused: I'm not sure. I don't ask questions. It just works. :D

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Might be the fact that the Touch doesn't support flash I guess.

I will go for the Nokia N8, most reviews are positive about it and sound quality is excellent, which is the most important thing for me as I will use the music-player a lot :D

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Originally Posted by pino

I will go for the Nokia N8, most reviews are positive about it and sound quality is excellent, which is the most important thing for me as I will use the music-player a lot :D

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Seems a good phone

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/14/nokia-n8-review/

But I'm done with Nokia till they go with Windows Phone 7 or Android OR they make Symbian worthwhile, it just isn't up to it for me at least. Nokia hardware with a proper operating system would be unbeatable.

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Originally Posted by pino

I will go for the Nokia N8, most reviews are positive about it and sound quality is excellent, which is the most important thing for me as I will use the music-player a lot :D

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Good stuff! I hope it turns out to be a good phone. It's a second generation for touch Symbian so hopefully they'll have learned the lessons of the N97 and things will be much improved for you.

But I'm with Daniel that I'm done with Symbian, it's just too old and too clunky and not fit for purpose any more IMO. I hope their Linux based (just like Android!) OS pans out and we can see a rebirth of Nokia smartphones rather than just another tarted up Symbian.

I don't think we'll ever see Nokias with WM7 or Android however!

For what I am using my mobile the N8 it's the best choice at the moment (also considering the price) so I am looking forward to add it in my mobile-collection :crazy: :p :

But if they did do one it would be awesome....

The problem is that unless Nokia do some omgwtfbbq type amazing or go with an established OS then they're boned in terms of high end smartphones.

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Originally Posted by Daniel

But if they did do one it would be awesome....

The problem is that unless Nokia do some omgwtfbbq type amazing or go with an established OS then they're boned in terms of high end smartphones.

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Well they are going to release a new version of Symbian in 2011, which will have an entirely different setup to the current one which was developed back in 2003, so we'll see!

I hope it's good. But I suspect it'll be too little too late and unless inho7 flops they'll always be behind the rest. Ffs Nokia, just use Android or WinPho7, you'll be back up at the top.....

I have 106 apps! hmm I think that's a lot...

I can't think of 106 bits of functionality I'd want :-s

Oh dear. On the day that Apple announce quite phenomenal profits, Steve Jobs had a slightly neurotic attack at Android, criticising it for calling itself "open" and predicting that the new wave of 7" tablets would fail.

My favourite part was this:

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In addition to Google's own app marketplace, Amazon, Horizon and Vodafone have all announced that they are creating their own app stores for Android. So there will be at least four app stores on Android, which customers must search among to find the app they want and developers will need to work with to distribute their apps and get paid. This is going to be a mess for both users and developers. Contrast this with Apple's integrated App Store, which offers users the easiest-to-use largest app store in the world, preloaded on every iPhone.

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So plurality and choice are bad, are they? Or could it be that Steve's freaked out by the idea of users and developers not being shackled into iTunes?

Suppliers and shoppers seem to cope pretty well with having more than one supermaket chain or bookshop, so I'm sure we'll all cope with having alternatives to the Android Marketplace.

Full story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...iphone-android

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Originally Posted by Mark

I have 106 apps! hmm I think that's a lot...

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Originally Posted by Daniel

I can't think of 106 bits of functionality I'd want :-s

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48 here, but I've installed then deleted many more. Of those 48, I probably use about half of them on any kind of regular basis.

I can see both points. Competition between app stores is good for the consumer, but having a single point of access is also good!

Right now I'm loving the Sainsbury's and nectar apps. Having received back somewhere in the region of almost £500 via nectar points in the last 12 months any excuse to get more points and therefore more money back is a good thing to me. :D

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Originally Posted by Dave B

Oh dear. On the day that Apple announce quite phenomenal profits, Steve Jobs had a slightly neurotic attack at Android, criticising it for calling itself "open" and predicting that the new wave of 7" tablets would fail.

My favourite part was this:



So plurality and choice are bad, are they? Or could it be that Steve's freaked out by the idea of users and developers not being shackled into iTunes?

Suppliers and shoppers seem to cope pretty well with having more than one supermaket chain or bookshop, so I'm sure we'll all cope with having alternatives to the Android Marketplace.

Full story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...iphone-android

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The guy's an effing moron. If he genuinely thinks what he's saying he's a moron and if he's saying it just to scare people off then he's also a moron.

Now I know the products they make are generally decent, but ffs have some brains people! Don't send your money to Steve Knobs, all he does is go off on rants like this, deny that there's any problems when there are actual problems and being a generally unpleasant person.

This sounds like the exact sort of person I DON'T want getting his hands on my money.

Word is that they are releasing an updated version of the iPhone 4 - mostly for the American market and Verizon (who for some reason don't use the world wide standard of GSM?! :confused: ) but chances are this model will include an antenna upgrade.

I've got 12 Apps in my Nokia N96 and that's more than enough for me :p :

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Originally Posted by Mark

I can see both points. Competition between app stores is good for the consumer, but having a single point of access is also good!

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But at some point it becomes like Sainsburys/Asda/Tesco/Morrisons etc etc where if you want a loaf of bread or whatever you could go to all three :)

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Originally Posted by Mark

Word is that they are releasing an updated version of the iPhone 4 - mostly for the American market and Verizon (who for some reason don't use the world wide standard of GSM?! :confused: ) but chances are this model will include an antenna upgrade.

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It's widely believed that the delays in supplying the white iPhone are down to an internal design - and that almost certainly means the antenna. There are few other credible reasons - after all how hard is it to switch the colour of the case?

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Originally Posted by Daniel

But at some point it becomes like Sainsburys/Asda/Tesco/Morrisons etc etc where if you want a loaf of bread or whatever you could go to all three :)

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Yep, as long as they are all equally as accessible then it's fine!

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Originally Posted by Dave B

It's widely believed that the delays in supplying the white iPhone are down to an internal design - and that almost certainly means the antenna. There are few other credible reasons - after all how hard is it to switch the colour of the case?

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Maybe white and magic aren't as easy to combine as you'd think Dave.

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Originally Posted by pino

For what I am using my mobile the N8 it's the best choice at the moment (also considering the price) so I am looking forward to add it in my mobile-collection :crazy: :p :

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This review of the N8 can't speak highly enough about the hardware itself. The OS, and the user experience, though....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...ia-n8-reviewed

The same applies to the majority of the other reviews quoted towards the end of the article.

How long before Nokia cave in and launch an Android handset?

Sums it all up really. Nokia can make great hardware but their operating systems totally suck! Whereas Apple use competitively average hardware but have an excellent OS.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the future when the Symbian CEO departs on short notice... and the smartphone team leader is hot on his heels running for the door.

Symbian CEO leaves own foundation on short notice

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The Symbian Foundation faced another setback today as Symbian CEO Lee Williams has resigned his Executive Director position effective immediately. He would only give "personal reasons" for the departure. Tim Holbrow, the Foundation's CFO, is replacing Williams.

Symbian has suffered multiple blows in recent months as some of its key proponents at Nokia have made both voluntary and involuntary exits. The Finnish phone builder suddenly replaced its CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo in September over what's commonly thought to be dissatisfaction with an inability to reverse sliding market share. Its smartphone team leader Anssi Vanjoki is also exiting soon.

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I also read that Microsoft's chief software architect, Ray Ozzie, just resigned. Reports are that he was tired of butting heads with Steve Ballmer, for whom he apparently had very little intellectual respect.

The way it looks right now, Microsoft, RIMM and Nokia/Symbian are going to be little more than fringe/niche players in the smartphone segment in the years to come. They keep coming up a day late and a dollar short in the market, and iOS and Android are capturing the imagination of consumers and businesses globally. If Windows Phone 7 doesn't catch fire (and I don't believe it will) and the stock remains a dog, I look for Ballmer to be ousted from Microsoft within 18 months. Since he took over in 2000, the company has gone from being a technology front runner to a stumbling, bumbling also-ran.

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Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the future when the Symbian CEO departs on short notice... and the smartphone team leader is hot on his heels running for the door.

Symbian CEO leaves own foundation on short notice




I also read that Microsoft's chief software architect, Ray Ozzie, just resigned. Reports are that he was tired of butting heads with Steve Ballmer, for whom he apparently had very little intellectual respect.

The way it looks right now, Microsoft, RIMM and Nokia/Symbian are going to be little more than fringe/niche players in the smartphone segment in the years to come. They keep coming up a day late and a dollar short in the market, and iOS and Android are capturing the imagination of consumers and businesses globally. If Windows Phone 7 doesn't catch fire (and I don't believe it will) and the stock remains a dog, I look for Ballmer to be ousted from Microsoft within 18 months. Since he took over in 2000, the company has gone from being a technology front runner to a stumbling, bumbling also-ran.

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Huh? Since 2000 Microsoft have launched 2 very successful desktop OS's, become a big player in the mobile market, then become a minor player in the mobile market and have now launched what looks to be a very good phone OS. Microsoft have also broken into the gaming market which was pretty much dominated by Playstation.

What a failure that Ballmer guy is :rotflmao: Perhaps in terms of overhyped and overvalued share prices Microsoft isn't doing well, but Microsoft is an integral part of what makes the world operate. Remove all Apple stuff tomorrow and will the world stop turning? Nope, remove everything that Microsoft has made and there's a whole lot of hurt.

Microsoft may not generate the headlines that Apple does but they're everywhere.

I'd seriously LOVE to meet Steve Ballmer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKTnQYScpyk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGvHN...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-8IufkbuD0

He may have made some mistakes, but he's one awesome crazy sweaty man :up:

New software plans for Nokia :

http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_reveal...-news-2016.php