Audible.co.uk Recommendation: The Second Coming Of Steve Jobs

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This book can be found here.

I'm going to start making recommendations from Audible.co.uk every once in a while. Leo Laporte has been making Audible.com recommendations through his TWiT and Windows Weekly podcasts for long time now but for those of us in Europe we can't access the TWiT free book and many times the book recommended does not appear on our version of Audible. So I am going to start making recommendations for Audible.co.uk.

My first recommendation is a book about the leader of Apple called The Second Coming Of Steve Jobs. The book covers Steve's career after he was ousted by John Scully and the Apple Board. It talks about his time in NeXT and the growth of Pixar and finally his triumphant return to the company he co-founded with Steve Wozniak.

This is an excellent book and is certainly up to the exceptionally high standards of Audible in regards to the presentation. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in either Steve Jobs or just an underdog story.

VNC Lite On Touch

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I'm trying out the VNC Lite application from Apple's app store. Recently I've been trying to make my laptops as easy to use as possible. This has involved trying to find a way to control them remotely.Apple's own remote app for controlling itunes is great but what about the OS itself? For example if I get an IM I need to get up to answer it. To solve this I got VNC Lite onto my touch.

It was extremely easy to set up and really only needed the IP and password. I got my full desktop and can access any applications. It even has a keyboard, I'm actually typing this through it and it works well. The delay, especially when hitting delete is a little annoying but otherwise this is a great app that does what it says on the tin. I've to try it now on XP and Vista but I've full confidence that it'll work well. From OS X viewpoint this is a great app and I highly recommend it.

4/5

The Samsung Tocco: So Close Yet So Far

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Samsung's newest generation of touch phone had a great opportunity to be the iPhone alternative but unfortunately it falls too far short to be any real contender.

UI and Design

This is where the phone excels. The physical phone looks fantastic with it's glass screen and brushed metal finish. The UI is equally impressive and exceptionally easy to use. The menu is bright and a breath of fresh air in a world of black and silver. When entering text messages or emails, or any other text for that matter, you can choose between an onscreen QWERTY keyboard, a two letters per key keyboard or the more familiar 3 buttons per key keypad. The first of the drawbacks of the phone however appear when entering texts. I used the 3 letters keypad because it was the least fiddly but even then I often hit the wrong key and ended up sending texts that were only half finished. This can get frustrating but once you get used to the keypad the phone performs well. The haptic touch functionality works extremely well on the phone and when you hit a button on the interface you get a slight vibration from the phone which actually makes you feel that you're using a physical keypad. An excellent achievement by Samsung.

I can't finish a section on UI without mentioning the widget home screen. This screen allows you to use some built in shortcuts in an interesting way and is a great novelty. I liked the way new texts and messages displayed as a little widget on this home screen. I'm not sure if the novelty will wear off and this will turn into something to show off to your friends and that's all but I liked it while I used it.

UI and Design: 4/5

Functionality

Unfortunately this is where the phone runs into major problems. I used the phone as my main phone since I got it and had no issues with messages. In the city centre it managed to pick up 3G with a strong signal. This meant that I had a great browsing experience even with the phones built in browser. You can download Opera Mini and this works nicely on the Tocco. However once I moved 1/2 a mile out of the city, where I was supposed to have a strong signal according to the coverage map, I lost 3G altogether and was stuck on a 2G connection. The experience was more painful and slow. This turned out to be an issue with the phone and not the network so if you want 3G then I would be cautious about choosing this phone.

Now the major flaw: phone calls. I made 2o calls on my Tocco and it managed to stay connected in 4 instances. It dropped 16 out of 20 calls and had a similar success rate with received calls. Remember this is supposed to be a phone and part of being a phone is making calls. For any parent out there considering a Tocco for their child this has the making of being a nightmare. The phone drops calls within the first 15 seconds. Any child phoning home and asking for a lift and suddenly the phone going dead during the call is a horrible flaw. According to 02 they have pulled the phone due to "major manufacturing issues" and this is one of those issues. Until this issue is fixed the phone is virtually useless as a phone.

Functionality: 2/5

Conclusion

The Tocco had the makings of being a great phone. For those people interested in a touch phone and not interested in the iPhone this could've been a great alternative. Unfortunately I cannot recommend it due to the dropping of calls and the inability to pick up 3G unless your sitting on top of the mobile mast. If Samsung get these issues fixed then this is certainly worth a look but until then I would urge people to consider something else.

Total Score: 3/5

Images from www.3g.co.uk

Technorati Tags: Samsung Tocco,Tocco,Review

Twibble For N95

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For those of you who use Twitter regularly, I'm sure you'll be interested to hear that there's an excellent Twitter client available for your N95. This client is called Twibble and can be found here. There's both a mobile client and a desktop client. The mobile client is easily installed onto your mobile phone and can be set up to use GPS. I have yet to send an image to Twitter using it yet but I do regularly Tweet from it and I find it works perfectly virtually every time. With direct messages as well as replies all forming part of your personal timeline it's easy to keep track of what your contacts are doing.

There are some problems with it and the most obvious is the fact that it can fail to connect or to update correctly and while you get an error message back it really isn't that helpful. To be honest though this is not a major problem because usually trying the action a second time will result in a success. This is certainly an application that I would recommend to any N95 users who are fans of Twitter. Oh and it's free.

Score: 4/5

The N96 Will Stay

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Well it’s been a long haul but I think I can safely say that I’ve found the phone for me. You see I’ve already gone through a Tocco from Samsung and a Storm from BlackBerry and while I initially gave the Storm quite a good review I’m afraid it ended up going back. It’s replacement however is a great phone. The N96 from Nokia is not touch screen and I think this is actually one of it’s greatest benefits. The problems that I had typing out a text message on the other two phones went away completely and I was able to fire out messages and Tweets at the same speed as I could on my N95. So lets look in more detail.

Firstly I’m going to look at the actual call quality and the phone functionality. During my use of it so far I’ve had no problems with calls with both myself and my caller coming through loud and clear. The phone also doesn’t drop calls and picks up excellent reception in areas where the Storm couldn’t find anything. The 3G network from Vodafone seems to be fast in Belfast City Centre but disappears very quickly as you move out of the city. This is however a Vodafone problem and not a phone issue. Texts are very easy to type and e-mail can be setup as long as you know the connection information for your provider. Unfortunately the N96 only supports POP3 and IMAP so no Live Mail for me. Since Live Mail will be introducing POP3 shortly this is no big deal and I’m happy to wait.

The browsing experience on the N96 is probably it’s weakest point. While the large screen does make website viewable and the cursor makes them easy enough to navigate the experience is certainly not as good as that on the touch screen phones and certainly not as good as the iPod Touch. The mobile versions of sites display well though and since I only ever use the Mobile Live Mail, BBC News and Google Reader sites I’m happy with what I get. You can choose to download Opera Mini but this is something I’ve yet to do.

The application list for Nokia is starting to grow with the addition of iPlayer from BBC really being a huge selling point for the N96. I tested iPlayer on the phone in Belfast City Centre and the quality was excellent with absolutely no lag and I was able to watch through an entire episode of Top Gear. I also added Twibble application which gives me access to Twitter on the move and I’ve found it a joy to use so far. I is certainly one of the best Java best Twitter applications and one I would recommend for the N96. Games are also starting to become more plentiful on this phone with the N-Gage application for running some pretty high spec and attractive games. I’ve only really had an opportunity to play the demo games so far but I’ve been impressed with what I’ve played. Nokia certainly do not have the application variety that Apple’s Application Store has and I would like to see an increase in the number of apps that can be accessed from the central Download location.

The phone itself is well built with a 3.5 inch headphone jack, memory card slot for extending the already plentiful onboard memory, USB port for computer hookup and sync with Outlook as well as a 5Mp camera which can take some excellent images. The lack of a lens cover is a pity so be careful not to scratch the lens. The keys are flat and similar to the Motorola Razor design which is not entirely my cup of tea but still they are much easier to use than any touch screen phone. Overall the N96 is an excellent evolution from the N95. It may not be a massive step forward but it is a step forward and with the exceptional multimedia power of this phone Nokia have a real competitor that should attract everyone who still has doubts about the touch screen devices.

SCORE: 5/5

Updated: The Blackberry Storm Reviewed

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  The Blackberry Storm is RIM’s first attempt at a touch screen mobile and they’ve done an excellent job with it. I’ve been using the Storm constantly for a few days now and while it isn’t perfect it’s certainly a worthy competitor for the iPhone and a great addition to the Smartphone market.

The first thing I’m going to get out of the way is the screen. There has been a lot of talk about the Storm’s touch screen and the fact that you must click the screen down to make a selection or to type. This is a departure away from the light touch the iPhone needs but it is one I in particular favour. It does take some getting used to at the start but it grows on you very quickly. The biggest benefit of this new technology is the removal of accidental selections. It gives you confidence when navigating the menu or web. You move around using a light touch and when you find something you want you press down.

It does have a disadvantage though. You see the screen on the Storm is basically a big button. This can lead to slower typing speeds because you have to let the button come back up before you press down on the next key. It’s not massively slower but it does slow you down a bit. Also I’ve heard people saying that it takes some effort to push it down. I personally haven’t found this to be the case and using my thumbs to navigate and type is a breeze.

The next thing to look at is the internet experience. The Storm performs extremely well in this field and I found that it performs well on both the GPRS network and 3G network. The lack of Wi-Fi does strike me as a big mistake by RIM but since I didn’t use it often with my N95 I don’t miss it. For those people who make use of Wi-Fi or who live in areas with bad signal strength this is something you should bare in mind. The big screen displays web pages very clearly and it does load quickly. There is no multi-touch pinching in the Storm though so to zoom in on a piece of screen you double tap lightly, not press down, on the screen and the browser zooms in. I find the experience equals the iPhone browsing experience.

The Storm’s UI is easy to navigate and, while I’ve never had a Blackberry before, I’ve heard that this is pretty standard Blackberry fare. It’s easy to add and navigate new applications such as Facebook and Windows Live Messenger. As you would expect it’s also easy to add Gmail, Windows Live mail and Yahoo mail accounts and get push e-mail setup. In fact the wizard that launches from the setup menu means you should be getting your e-mail in a matter of minutes.

However the UI does suffer from some lagging. There are times that it can take a second for the UI to respond to a key press. I’m assuming this is something RIM will fix with later updates but it’s still a slight annoyance at the moment. The other bug I’ve noticed is the accelerometer, the device that tells the phone if it’s in landscape or portrait mode. Switching between these modes is certainly not as quick as with the iPhone and on three occasions it didn’t switch at all. Again I’d imagine this will be fixed in due course in an update but I’ve taken a point off the Storm for these UI glitches.

Finally the most important part of a mobile phone, battery life and call quality. The battery life has been impressive so far and while constant use will drain the battery it should get you through the day. The call quality seems to be good with no dropping of calls and the people I contacted had no problem hearing me and visa-versa.

In conclusion with the Storm RIM is making a big move to block the iPhones path to the Enterprise. Any Blackberry customers who have been looking forward to the first touch screen from RIM will not be disappointed. Consumers should also give the Storm a look thanks to it’s media capability, it can sync non-DRMed music from iTunes, camera which at 3.2 MP is better than the iPhone’s and even the built in YouTube application. The only thing the Storm really lacks at the moment is third-party application support but if the sales figures are as impressive as they look like they could be RIM should have no problems getting more developers on board.

Updated: I had to update this review to say that after using the Storm for a week it’s gone back to the store. The phone starting slowing and crashing with too much regularity. The screen made typing slow and at the edges of the screen clicks were no longer registering. I’m afraid I can no longer recommend the Storm until BlackBerry have fixed the flaws with this beautiful but imperfect device.

SCORE: 2.5/5

Images from Blackberry.com

Beginners Guide No. 1 - Email Security

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Welcome to the first in a series of beginners computer guides. Over the next few articles I will be covering PC purchasing, setup, security and every day use. I hope these guides will help the newcomers among you to get more out of your= new purchase while also being useful to the more experienced user. So let’s get started with the first guide.

Over the past few days I’ve been considering which topic to cover in this first guide and was intending to start with the obvious, basic PC setup, but then a kind person sent me an email and I decided that security is where I must begin. The email in question arrived a few days ago and informed me that I had won the British National Lottery and only had to reply to the email in order to receive my £1,000,000. I’m quoting the email here with the addresses removed:

NATIONAL LOTTERY HEADQUATERS
CUSTOMER SERVICE,
LONDON
UNITED KINGDOM
Ref: ******
Batch:*******

WINNING NOTIFICATION.

We are pleased to inform you of the final announcement of 15th April
2008 of winners of the National Lottery Promo International program.

You were entered as dependent clients with: Reference NUMBER: *****
and Batch number *****. Your email address attached to the ticket
number:******* that drew the lucky winning numbers
02,03,23,33,40,46 and bonus ball 30 which consequently won the Jackpot

in the first category,in four parts.

You have been approved for a payment of One Million Great British
Pounds in cash credited to file reference number:*********.

Congratulations!!!
Please contact the under listed claims release office for immediate pay
out of your winning fund:

Name: *****
Email:*****@googlemail.com

To avoid unnecessary delay and complications, Please quote your
Reference /batch numbers in any correspondences with us or our
designated agent.

Congratulations once more from all members of staffs, management team
and directors of this program.

Yours faithfully

This email might seem reasonable at first glance but there are at least 6 things in it that should raise suspicions.

1. I didn’t buy a lottery ticket and I didn’t attach my email address to anything even remotely connected to the lottery. This is a good first indication that this may not be a legitimate email.
2. The email was sent from a Gmail account, @googlemail.com, and the reply was to be made to a Gmail account. The National Lottery website states that a= ny email communications are from addresses ending in @national-lottery.co.uk.
3. The amount of money won is stated in the email. Again, the National Lottery site states that it does not inform players how much they’ve won in an email.
4. The title of the email is WINNING NOTIFICATION. The National Lottery does not send any emails with this title.
5. The lottery headquarters postal address at the top of the email does not contain any specifics like a Post Code.
6. Finally, notice that my name never appears anywhere in the email.

As you can see there are a number of issues with this email making it suspicious and certainly not something you want to reply to. For more information on how to spot National Lottery fraudulent emails please visit www.national-lottery.co.uk/player/information.do?info=commonscams.

OK so that’s a specific email but what about the rest. Well there are some guidelines on how to spot potentially fraudulent emails:

1. Look at the URL being used in the email. On the web a URL is simply the address of a website such as http://www.22hundred.net/ or http://www.microsoft.com/. These are legitimate websites. Scammers will sometimes place URL’s in emails that have typos in them, such as www.micosoft.com. For more information I recommend reading http://blogs.msdn.com/securitytipstalk/archive/2007/11/06/approach-links-in-e-mail-with-caution.aspx.
2. If the email is offering something that seems too good to be true then a good general rule is that it normally is. Approach these emails with extreme caution.
3. Look at the senders email address. The address will end in @<something>.<something>, e.g. @22hundred.net or @national-lottery.co.uk. If the email is claiming to be from a legitimate company then expect the address to end with the company’s website address. If it doesn’t then treat it with caution.
4. Scams are often listed on sites like http://www.snopes.com/. You can go there and search for information on a suspicious offer, such as "fee for Hotmail".

That’s fraudulent emails but what other dangers can emails have. The biggest threat to your computer coming from emails is that of the attachment. Attachments are great if you know who the email is from and what it is. However if you do not know who sent the email then you should never open the attachment. From the wrong person an attachment can be a virus or similar piece of malware. Malware is the type of software that can cause damage to your computer and/or steal private information. If you do now know who sent you an email or if you're suspicious about an attachment that was sent to you by a friend then do not open it. It’s better to say that you didn’t see the picture he or she sent than to have your information, such as bank details, stolen. If you are not sure how to tell if you have an attachment then look at the little envelope icon beside the email in your Inbox. If it has a little paperclip on top of it then the email has an attachment.

So to recap on everything covered so far. If an email arrives into your Inbox and you do not know who the sender was then treat it with caution from the beginning. Do not open any attachments and under no circumstances reply to the email with personal information. Remember you have probably not won the Spanish/British/American lottery.