The wire services have a story about a Canadian oilfield worker whose $10 unlimited browser plan with Bell Mobility has resulted in $85,000 in charges for surfing and downloading.
Silly guy. What part of ‘unlimited browsing’ made him think his plan enabled unlimited internet use? Instead of reading the fine print in his contract, he was set straight by his November bill of $60,000. Imagine the kind of surfing luxury he got for $2000 a day!
Oh, sure, Bell has said it will let him off the hook for a mere $3400. We all know what big hearts the telcoms have. They’re getting a lot more than $80,000 worth of free publicity from that goodwill gesture!
The iPhone is Time magazine’s number one entry in its Top 10 Gadgets list (50 Top 10 lists of 2007 too).
Me, I prefer the Nokia Internet Tablet, but the iPhone is an understandable first choice.*
Neither the Nokia N810 (almost, sorta, but not really released) and the N800 (a big surprise way back in January!) merited a place on the list.
I’ve said it before: With Skype cam calls, the internet tablet is a mind-blowing culture-changing device. (It would easily supplant the cordless Skype phone that’s number three on this list.) Think about it: walkaround visuals on a voip call. Not tethered to a computer, not paying exorbitant fees, not having to type a la IM, incredible display not a tiny phone screen, not restricted to just what the vendor will let you do. Like I said, mind-blowing.
Until then, it’s all potential, no paradigm-shift.
Knock, knock! eBay, Nokia, anybody there? What’s holding you up? Light the fuse, please.
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* This is what’s known in the writing business as understatement, a first-cousin of irony. I don’t think anyone stood in line for hours to be first to buy gadgets two through ten.
Nice post at wxBlog about Hildonizing wxGTK. Obviously, apps won’t be as small as using GTK natively, but it should make some ports more likely.
Since XML Copy Editor, the open-source XML editor I am fanatic about, is built with wxWidgets, this might be a way to bring that fabulous app to the Nokia Internet Tablet.
I don’t want to make the N8×0 my primary device, but being able to edit when I need to without lugging around the laptop is one of the NIT’s selling points.
I’ll post more about this as events develop with wxGTK.
Added later —
Andrea Grandi has some follow-up at Maemo Geek. He writes: “The result? I think that a screenshoot is better than thousand words :)”
Rumored to be the app that will replace the out-of-the-box internet tablet email application, Modest for OS2008 is now out in beta.
Modest is a small e-mail program targeting hardware with modest resources, such as low-end PCs and Nokia N800/N810 internet tablets. Modest uses the Tinymail e-mail framework.
Modest supports multiple email accounts using POP/IMAP/SMTP and works far better than the current buggy email app. It currently cannot be set as the default email client and menus are only in English as of the moment.
If you have read itT’s Canola2 preview article and has been patiently waiting for the Canola2 beta launch, the wait is almost over. Tomorrow is the day the guys from iNdT are releasing the first public beta of Canola2. Marcelo Oliveira (aka handful) has released some last minute status updates over at his blog — showing the different components of Canola2’s UI, as well as why Canola2 is being released as an ‘open beta‘.
We have also created an itT Canola2 Beta discussion thread to discuss our overall experience, problems, and suggestions as we get to try Canola2 tomorrow.
I’ve used the Nokia-branded external GPS with the N800 Internet Tablet, but I pretty much only did that in the car and headed somewhere.
So I’m a bit mystified by the reports of poor GPS performance in the N810. Some of these are for “I was moving around indoors” situations which I never tried.
I can usually keep a 5-satellite lock on a bus or near a building window. I can usually keep a 7-satellite lock when driving my Xterra or Forester. Acquisition times when warm/hot (near/at last location) have been 30sec-2min, and 2-6min when “cold” (unknown location)
Um-m, up to 6 minutes to acquire one’s position? (OK, from 2 to 6 minutes.)
Is this something that can be improved by software? Or will it only be fixed by a change to the hardware (eg, doing something with the antenna)?
Or is this a non-problem that isn’t going to interfere with real-world GPS use?
TomTom, the world’s largest maker of car-navigation equipment, will use Google’s maps program so customers can send addresses for shops and restaurants to their devices. Users can search for business addresses through the Google Maps site and then send that information wirelessly to a navigation device with a click of a button, the Amsterdam-based company said Wednesday in a statement. Drivers can then view that information on the device’s map and save it. TomTom is adding features to stay ahead of rival Garmin.
I hadn’t thought about the advantage a device like the N810 Internet Tablet has in this regard, with both Google Maps (or any map site) and the GPS available in the same device.
But I guess a “send this address to the GPS” seems like a useful feature. What would it take for someone to work that up?
The New York Times has a GPS focus in its Circuits section today — ten articles about GPS devices, free-standing and built-in, from accessories (solar panel charger) to innovative use (pet locator) to data-tracker (think: where did I take this photo?).
Hundreds of column inches. Not a word on the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, by the way.
One article describes one family’s use of GPS in cellphones to help monitor their children’s whereabouts. It mostly describes Sprint’s $10 monthly Family Locator service (Verizon has something similar).
When Mr. Gray uses the service, he turns to his computer and clicks on the Sprint Web site to locate either child. “Within about a minute, an icon appears on a map showing where the phone is,” he said.
The story goes on to quote Charles S. Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research. The location services complement “one of the main motivations adults have in giving their children cellphones — to get in touch with them in an emergency.” And GPS ties into this because, he notes, “it’s a comfort to have a bit more information.”
Parents may find an N810 a better present, if only because it combines location and internet calling with a full range of computing. And it seems to me that cam calls are bound to be more frequent and more reassuring on an internet tablet than using the costly telecom alternative.
