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Admittedly I think much of my problems stem from me having to use it through a virtual machine which doesn't help. But that's only because the iTunes install messes up other software on Windows!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave B
Most of the time I can get away without using iTunes but things like transferring audio books and installing firmware I can't avoid it. I just about managed to get one audio book copied, took me about 3 hours of messing on..
yep, my main gripe is of course iTunes related. The iPod/ iPhone is cool enough :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave B
Sorry to hear that but on the other hand a tad relieved to see I'm not the only donkey around here :laugh:Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
My iPod was alright but the iTunes software is just moronic and craptastic. The Zune software lets me transfer stuff to and from my phone easily.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
It's official - Nokia to switch to using Windows Mobile
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12427680
I think it's a great deal for both sides, it's going to instantly give Microsoft a massive market for it's phone OS product, as despite what some stories say, Nokia still has a very large and loyal consumer base. And of course these days it's all about the apps, and more users means more developers so better apps for everyone.
So it looks like we might finally have a three way fight on our hands, Microsoft/Nokia vs Apple vs Google.
That's a big cup of win for both of the companies. It'll be very much a three battle now
It might be a great deal for those companies but not for those thousands of people who will be layed off as a result of this deal namely those who are involved in Symbian development. But it's all good as long as share owners are happy and will get their dividends...Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
Will take though close to two years before we see the real results of this deal.
Symbian is a dead end, and it's been that way for several years now. Unfortunately you can't keep flogging a dead horse.Quote:
Originally Posted by DonJippo
Agreed, it will take time to see what products Nokia come up with, and how they are received.Quote:
Will take though close to two years before we see the real results of this deal.
Definitely, I haven't really followed the whole MeeGo thing but to me I was never going to buy a Nokia phone again. My Nokia 3230 was rubbish, my N95 was decent and my e71 was a fantastic phone for email and texting but in terms of web use, applications and interface it just wasn't up there with the competition. It really pained me to buy a non-Nokia but it was just something I had to do.Quote:
Originally Posted by DonJippo
The N8 looked nice, but the interface and integration with things like Facebook just didn't seem nearly as good. 1 click, a swipe to the side and another click and I'm updating my status on my Windows Phone 7 device.
Ofcourse it is and has been known for several years it's just pity others are paying the price for the decisions made by people who have had their heads up in arse for way too long... This is just a result of having a CEO of financial backround in a company supposed to be creative and innovative. Sooo many new innovations have been turned down during the last years that it is unbelievable... And most of those have been since introduced Nokia's competitors... Let's see howthe new CEO can guide company to better direction just hoping it's not too late...Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
Another note is that Nokia will still use both Symbian and Meego for the time being together with Windows Mobile as long as they have such products in use that are based on Symbian or Meego.
I think if anyone can turn things around it's Nokia. I really look forward to buying another Nokia. My Samsung is well built, but still not as good quality as my E71.Quote:
Originally Posted by DonJippo
I really liked my N73 - probably one of the best phones I've owned vs the technology available at the time. Worked great with maps etc.
My N96 was good too, if a little plasticky.
The disappointment for me was the N97, now I think there were some hardware aspects which were faulty which will colour my views, but I'd bought it hoping that it would give me an iPhone like experience but with the familiarity of Nokia. But it just failed, it was dog slow, the screen didn't respond properly and was full of bugs. Websites which take under a second to load with my iPhone took over 5 minutes with the N97, if they loaded at all. And little annoyances like having to pay for a .pdf viewer whereas one is included on the iPhone.
It was a difficult decision to ditch Nokia in favour of Apple, I wasn't, and still aren't a particular fan of the company and the way it does business, but after using my iPhone 4 I was completely amazed at the difference, and I shouldn't have been!
If I'm not mistaken, donKey Jote is working with Windows, just as I am. Unless I misread his post, he doesn't have a Mac. His complaint was about iTunes specifically, not Apple or Mac software in general. This is the first time I've worked with iTunes. And while I don't find it to be the most user friendly software I've ever used, I have worked with software that is MUCH more difficult to master than iTunes. Spend an afternoon on AutoCAD, MasterCAM or TeleChart and see how intuitive you think those monsters are. I'm still trying to figure out how to import some TeleChart 2000 files into TeleChart 2011. But that's a software issue, not an OS issue. I just accept that some software has a steeper learning curve than others. If I don't like it, I have to search out other solutions, applications or platforms. I just had to reboot a Windows machine WHILE I was working on something! That is an example of an OS issue that I plan on getting away from as soon as possible. In the future, I'll only use Windows when I have to (as a secondary OS on the Mac). A hundred times bitten... twice shy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
As far as iTunes is concerned, personally, I'd prefer a simple copy and paste approach. I don't care for the Genius feature (and I shut it off), as that apparently allows outsiders to see inside "your world". That's the very reason that I do not have a Facebook account or log-in to most Google services.
Had I not bought the iPod Touch, the one device that's coming out that I might have considered is the Samsung Galaxy Player (iPod Touch clone). I have no idea how Android FroYo(?) works, but I hear the U/I isn't bad and it will apparently have access to the Android app store (although I read that Google didn't want it to at first). The only problem with it is... I don't think it's going to be available outside of South Korea for quite some time. But it got pretty good reviews at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas recently. If competitively priced, that's the one device that could potentially challenge the iPod Touch.
Yes, but who made that software? Apple! Apple who are the supposed masters of everything! People have been critical of iTunes for as long as I can remember, I got my iPod for Christmas 2004 and people were complaining about it then!!!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
I think you're slightly paranoid regarding Facebook or Google. Don't want people to know certain information? Then just don't put it on the internet.
My profile on Facebook has my name as Daniel vn and it has my date of birth and that's it. Not much people can do with a name that is obviously incomplete and a date of birth :) My date of birth is only visible to my "friends" on facebook anyway so the most information 99.99999999% of people who look at my profile will see is Daniel vn and a picture of a new Lancia Stratos. I do laugh at people whose profiles are public for all to see and contain a mountain of information though :laugh:
Possibly I am. But I am able to use the services I need without (willingly) giving Google, or any of the others, ANY personal data. That doesn't mean that they can't and won't "data mine", but there's nothing I can really do about that. My girl got a surprise when she learned that her FaceBook pics had locations embedded. I told her she better not ever cheat on me or lie about where she's been, because from her posted photos I can track her like a hound tracks a rabbit! :eek:Quote:
If someone truly believes that Apple is incapable of making wonky software then they are simply unrealistic in their expectations. People have been complaining about Windows since 3.0 - and how long ago has that been? About 20 years? But people still bought it. Once other market players begin producing software/hardware platforms that consumers would rather have (instead of iOS/iTunes), then either Apple will modify iTunes or they will lose share. That's the wonderful thing about the free market: consumers have choices. And IMO, the more choices the better. Just as Apple's iOS made the competition work harder, Android is now making Apple work harder. If there had been a stronger competitor to Windows years ago, I feel that the OS market would be much more advanced than it is now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
I thought that Windows NT was pretty good (was very stable compared to 95 and 98). And I was OK with XP Pro. I (luckily) skipped ME, but Microsoft lost me forever with Vista, and Win7 just isn't enough to get me back. And since I'd have to "learn" Win7 anyway, my choice is to migrate to Mac OS X and use XP Pro as a secondary. Now that Apple's Mac line has Intel processors, I'm no longer restricted to just one OS on a computer. Heck, maybe I'll get real jiggy and learn Linux and use it too. The MacBook Pro line offers me all those options. :)
[quote:1xw8dkw0]I think you're slightly paranoid regarding Facebook or Google. Don't want people to know certain information? Then just don't put it on the internet.
[/quote:1xw8dkw0]Quote:
My profile on Facebook has my name as Daniel vn and it has my date of birth and that's it. Not much people can do with a name that is obviously incomplete and a date of birth :) My date of birth is only visible to my "friends" on facebook anyway so the most information 99.99999999% of people who look at my profile will see is Daniel vn and a picture of a new Lancia Stratos. I do laugh at people whose profiles are public for all to see and contain a mountain of information though :laugh:
I guess I've just never caught the social networking bug. Posting on message boards is about as close as I want to get to social networking. I probably will join LinkedIn this year though. I can see a real (economic) benefit to being on there.
My phone does that too. Slightly annoying but you can strip location data off fairly easy :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
My point about Apple is that they're so caught up in the hype that they and others build up for them that they're unable to see things objectively. At their product launches the cultists cheer on as Steve trots something out which has already been done years ago but which is presented as groundbreaking or when he presents a product which is merely a rehash of one of their current products but with x feature added which other products from other manufacturers have been doing for years, but for some reason the Apple product is "magical" and the other products ordinary :mark:
Then there's their dishonest side like the slander campaign against Vista. Vista wasn't perfect I'll admit, but Apple latched onto the early critisms of Vista and consumer confidence in what was a much better OS than XP went straight down the toilet. Admittedly it could have been better but it was nowhere near as bad as it was painted. Then there's the iPhone 4 antenna issues which were talked about for weeks and weeks on the net with no official line from Apple other than Steve saying "You're holding it wrong" and then there was the press conference -> http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/16/l...ss-conference/ which was a complete cop out. First they began the conference with this rather lame song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKIcaejkpD4 which includes the rather silly line "in terms of daily useage I've yet to drop a call so this whole damn thing is stupid". That was pretty pathetic really when there were plenty of people reporting dropped calls and youtube footage made by clever people with signal testing equipment which showed the signal dropping out. Fair enough the issue only seemed to affect a smallish group of people but to respond in the way they did (saying "we're not perfect and phones are not perfect") was petty and silly. They went on to say how other phones have the same problem (they don't!!!!!) and then when challenged in the Q&A part of the press conference offered an answer which wasn't really satisfactory....
I don't expect everything to be fault free but it's nice when a manufacturer takes responsibility and even better when a manufacturer comes out and admits that there's a fault with their product like Intel have done with the Cougar Point chipset for their new Sandy Bridge processors. They've not come out and offered a bandaid fix which is what the offer of a bumper or 3rd party case was with the iPhone 4, they've come out and said "Oh crap! There's a problem with our product, this is what's wrong, here are the technical details, here's what to do in the meantime to avoid the fault affecting you and here's when you can expect your product to be replaced". It's that sort of corporate honesty that makes me respect companies like Intel and makes me consider buying their products again.
Inexplicably Apple seem to be able to act in ways which should really alienate their users but a good proportion of their users keep coming back for more.
I don't think Intel had any choice but to admit there was a problem. As far as I know, there is still a debate about what the problem was concerning the iPhone 4. And Jobs/Apple DID take heat for that press conference and the way he responded. Most recognize that it was a rare PR stumble for the company. But the bottom line is, people were given the opportunity to return their phones and get their money back or get a free bumper. As far as I know, the basic design was not changed and the phone is still selling in record numbers. In fact, I read yesterday that the Verizon version doesn't experience the issue in the way that it was experienced on AT&T. But anyway, I don't know what the problem was. I only know that people had the option to get their money back if they wanted to. Most did not do that. In fact, the retention rate for iPhones is higher than for any other brand, the last I read.
One thing I think you have to remember is, Apple is not just a successful technology company. It is also a successful marketing company. And successfully managing PR is part of that. So yes, Apple does (actively) cultivate a certain image. Is BMW really "the ultimate driving machine"? Really? ;) I think I posted it here a year or so ago. But Apple was one of the top ranked consumer brands in the world - and I'm sure it still is. So yeah, in addition to wanting (mostly) well engineered products, people are also willing to pay a premium for certain brands. That's also true of Rolex, Porsche and Gucci (other premium brands that ranked high in the piece that I linked).
Worth a repost, IMO. This one is hella fun!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
While sitting in the parking lot yesterday, I used this app several times. And I've found myself often using it while watching TV, and a snippet of a song plays during a scene and I don't know what it is. It's great! Now I know the name of the theme song to Luther. And the app also pulled up YouTube links for various versions and remixes of that song (Paradise Circus by Massive Attack). :up:
Anyone download the Windows 7 update and got an unstable phone in return? It's now been withdrawn.
You would think they would get that stuff sorted. Phone firmware being updated and then bricking them goes back a decade or more.
They're (mostly) not bricked :) It's been blown very much out of proportion, the vast majority of phones have taken the update just fine and the small percentage that have had issues, have required a hard reboot or in some very isolated cases, yes they have been bricked.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
Not like Apple's ever bricked iPhones or anything is it? http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&q=iph...1123905e79d67a
I updated my phone, followed the instructions and it worked fine and I've got a Samsung Omnia 7 which was the model which was meant to be affected :p
Apple haven't bricked my iPhone, but only because iTunes failed me way before the OS upgrade even got started :crazy:
Maybe I'm wrong but if this had been an Apple problem there would have been a page full of posts worth of Apple bashing. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
Not really, Microsoft people don't claim that Microsoft is perfect unlike Steve
I've corrected your post.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
OMFG!!!!! That's disrespectful to me! Change it back NOW! :angryfire :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Mark
Have to say I'm not particularly impressed with stuff like this.....
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/25/m...g-surfaces-an/
Contactless transfer has been around for ages, it's called Bluetooth.
Of course, obviously they're talking more about gesture control of another system, basically using the phone as a gesture remote control.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
Here's a fun and useful free app for those who own dogs: Dog Whistle (free version). It allows three customizable settings, in case you have multiple dogs - you can vary the frequency and pattern, plus it has a sound meter on screen. What it basically does is generate a whistling sound that only dogs can hear, and as I found out, they WILL respond to it. To set it up, you just wait for the dog to lay down or take a nap, then you find the setting combination that makes him perk up his ears. And that's it! I have a dog that tends to wander, and especially if there's a thunder storm coming, he'll just run in odd directions in fear. Even at a distance of 50+ feet (depending on which way the wind is blowing), using this app makes him snap out of it and return to me.
Another good one is the new HBO Go app. If you're an HBO subscriber, you can use this app to watch HBO shows from seasons past and present: Game of Thrones, Entourage, Rome, The Wire, The Sopranos, etc. If you're not an HBO subscriber, then I guess something like iTunes or Netflix would be a better deal. I don't use either of those to watch TV or movies right now, so I don't know how they compare.
Here's a fun and useful free app for those who own dogs: Dog Whistle (free version). It allows three customizable settings, in case you have multiple dogs - you can vary the frequency and pattern, plus it has a sound meter on screen. What it basically does is generate a whistling sound that only dogs can hear, and as I found out, they WILL respond to it. To set it up, you just wait for the dog to lay down or take a nap, then you find the setting combination that makes him perk up his ears. And that's it! I have a dog that tends to wander, and especially if there's a thunder storm coming, he'll just run in odd directions in fear. Even at a distance of 50+ feet (depending on which way the wind is blowing), using this app makes him snap out of it and return to me.
Another good one is the new HBO Go app. If you're an HBO subscriber, you can use this app to watch HBO shows from seasons past and present: Game of Thrones, Entourage, Rome, The Wire, The Sopranos, etc. If you're not an HBO subscriber, then I guess something like iTunes or Netflix would be a better deal. I don't use either of those to watch TV or movies right now, so I don't know how they compare.
Ironically what you came up with is nonsensical.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
Looks like I am not the only one having problems with double posts.
Any apps for our forum to avoid this?! :p
Seems to be getting me when I use the Quick Reply option. The screen freezes for awhile and if I click away too soon, I get a double post! Annoying!!!
Same here. Freezes for a while and then comes up with an error message about waiting another x seconds due to forum policies not allowing messages at intervals shorter then 30 seconds. If I click on Post it will be a double post, if I cancel there is one post as it should be.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
Very annoying.
Here we go again!
Don't worry: from feedback I've been hearing Lion is very much Apple's Vista moment, a minor upgrade which seems to have more problems than benefits. Still, at least they've got a few standard Windows features now like hibernation and fullscreen apps :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
Vista, a MINOR upgrade?!?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave B
Anyway, my first impressions of Lion have also been fairly bad, and I've tended to try to make it feel like Snow Leopard again wherever possible. Probably just because I'm afraid of change though.
Just switching between fullscreen apps seems to hog the processor though, or maybe it's the graphics core, and gets the fans running on my MacBook pro... very annoying.
I meant that Lion is a minor upgrade, I wasn't clear enough. Us Windows users call them "Service Packs".
Not really. We Windows people don't have to pay for our service packs now do we Dave? :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Dave B
Iphone is my favorite. Iphone is most attractive and fully featured cellphones it is easily available in the local markets. Iphone gives easy internet browsing activations.