This Week in…

I wish I could come up with a catchy title like TWiT (This Week in Tech)  but Leo Laporte already has most of the acronyms in use on his Netcast Network.  Oh, well guess I’ll have to stick with The Wandering Lunatic.

Lots of stuff going on this week.  First off is a move by the Cell Phone Industry (except Apple) to adopt a universal phone charger based on micro-usb.  If you own a Blackberry or Razr, among others you are already familiar with this kind of connector.   It’s a green initiative coming out of the Mobile World Congress this week.  No more bazillions of chargers floating around the house and not remembering which one is which.  We will have “One charger to power them all…”.  Okay LoTR references aside this is a beautiful thing and I am a bit surprised that an industry is getting together to do something that makes sense.

Michelin comes out with the e-wheel and not that I think this is the end-all-be-all for future drive train replacement but it is a step in the right direction.  The old gear boxes and drive shafts served a purpose but may no longer have relevance in the coming world of electric cars.  I hate to use old Apple marketing slogans but isn’t it time to “Think Different”?  Operating on the status-quo needs to come to a screeching halt.  The automobile industry is one great example.  They (all US car makers collectively) have done very little to innovate and make serious use of new technology or deliver product that makes sense for the changing world and all of the people that live in it.  Oh wait, they did start to use robots to make cars…  30 years ago!  Now the US taxpayer has to spend billions to dig these companies out of the holes they have created.

I can’t find the link for it now nut apparently Verizon is thinking about offering a $5/month inbound only (except 911 and support) service.  How this differs from the “metered” line that they have had for years, I am not sure.  A “metered” (charged for every call) line cost about $8 a month although I’m not sure that Verizon liked people knowing about it.  One day soon consumers will figure out that they don’t need to pay for internet and phone and TV.  All we need is Internet and all the rest is readily available.  I just hope that consumers figure this out before the phone/cable/satellite companies do, so that they don’t have a chance to weasel their way into the equation when they are no longer needed or financially feasible for consumers.

I also have a note here to check out Elisa, the free media player.  I have played with Boxee and I really like it even more than Xbox Media Center (XBMC) even though Boxee is based on XBMC.  Unfortunately Boxee is in an invite only alpha stage right now.

The GooPhone and what I would have done

The T-Mobile G1 phone is a pretty sweet piece of tech.  I have come to think of it more as a communication device than a mere phone.  I have even thought about just calling it my “communicator” instead of “phone”.  Yes, that would sound insanely geekish, so I haven’t done it yet.  Since I have had the phone for a few weeks now I’ve started to think about what I would have done with the design and specifications of the device.  Keep in mind that what we have in hand is a pretty good device for under $200 and the price could easily double in an effort to make it faster and prettier.

One thing I’ve come do dislike is the hardware camera button and the fact that I have to hold the device landscape in order to use it.  When the device is closed I usually hold it in portrait and I think it would be cool to not have to turn it just to take a picture.  Maybe I really am an Apple guy at heart cause the buttons just kind of irritate me.  The G1 could just as easily have a software button so that I could hold the phone more naturally and take a photo.  The upside is that actually having to hold the G1 as if it were a camera makes me think of taking a photo rather than just pointing and clicking.  Does it help me take better pictures?  I doubt it but it does help me to be a bit more mindful of the fact that I’m taking a photo.  The fact that the camera can also be used as a bar-code scanner is just frakkin’ awesome.

I mentioned in a previous post that I really didn’t like the way the mini usb connector was used both for the charging and headset.  I said that if someone could come up with an adapter that allowed you to do both at the same time, they would have my money.  I clearly didn’t look before I leapt.  There are a number of different splitters and adapters for this purpose and I just need to look over the options and choose the best one for my use.  There are a number of sites for the G1 and the one that I have been looking at recently is onlyG1.  Covers, cases, skins, batteries, screen protectors, charms?!? (ugh) Lots of stuff to look at.

I have liked T-mobile for years now, their service is pretty good and they are one of the very few carriers that I can get a good signal from in my house.  The data speed on Edge (non 3g) is nothing to write home about but it is definitely usable.  Speeds on wi-fi are very good and getting wi-fi setup is pretty painless if you already have access to wireless networks.  I believe that access to the various T-mobile hotspots comes with the data service so enjoy that trip to Starbucks just that much more.  I have not had a chance to test the hotspot stuff yet, I don’t hang out in Starbucks unless my sister is buyin’.  I live in Pittsburgh so we have no 3G love yet.

The processor could be faster and the internal storage is a bit meek at 2 gigs.  Now it is true that upgrading the internals at the offset would have made for a more powerful device but it may have also pushed the price just out of reach of people like me.  A $300 phone is just not something I will be buying in the near future, if ever.  The headset that came with the G1 is not my favorite.  The ear buds are attached by really thin wire and they get tangled up really easily.  The good part is that it is really easy to switch out the headphones with something that you may already have since the microphone and mini-usb connector are on a seperate detachable cable from the headphones.  And by the way, why has no one made a Star Trek TNG communicator badge using bluetooth?   Okay, I’m a giant geek but I NEED IT.

The G1 is far from perfect but what we do have is an outstanding device in my opinion.  The developer community is expanding and there are a bunch of apps in the Marketplace, as long as you don’t mind wading through all the fart generators, although I must admit I kinda like the baryard animal sounds generator.  There are also some useful reviews of the software in the Marketplace left by those that have downloaded but the number of people that leave “first” or just plain insulting comments is a bit annoying.  There is also an update for the Android system coming out soon.  I don’t know when.  It is codenamed “cupcake” and I have seen rumors that it will include a flash player.  The one thing this phone is really missing to be an intenet device is flash for online video, sure you can look at youtube but many sites create a very cool experience that requires flash to browse their site.  Once this device sees a couple iterations of firmware updates that address the battery and flash issues, we will have a markedly improved device that will deserve some real presence in the market.

G1, GPhone, Google Phone… Whatever you call it

I have had the T-Mobile G1 Android phone for a week.  I still love it.  As much as I like the phone (it seems really odd at this point to call the G1 or the iPhone, among others, a phone because they are so far beyond a mere verbal communication device) it is not a flawless device.  I feel I should say that I have never used an iPhone so I can’t do any kind of comparison between the two.  What I am going to do is provide my own opinion of the device as well as some of the things that my wife has pointed out to me, we both have a G1.

My first gripe with the G1 was that it is completely unusable until the data service is activated and you are then prompted to connect the phone to your Google account.  I thought they could have at least let me make phone calls with it but no such luck.  I did end up missing a couple of phone calls but I already had service with T-Mobile so the calls just went to voice mail.  The one nice thing was that if I had an emergency during this initial setup I could have just hit the “emergency call” button so I found that a cool little detail.  Since I’m griping I might as well get them all out of the way.

The keyboard is a bit odd to me.  This probably has more to do with the fact that I have used a Blackberry for the past 4 years rather than any actual issue with the G1 keyboard itself.  My issue is more with the size of the part of the phone that holds the trackball and the home, back and phone buttons.  It makes me reach a bit with my thumb to get to the keyboard.  My hands are a bit large so it’s a minor issue at best but my wife thinks it’s a pain, she has small hands (it is not a deal breaker for her though).  The battery life is crap.  If you like to play games, watch video or use the expanded functionality of having GPS, Blue-tooth etc. then you should carry a charger with you.  There are programs available in the Market Place that help to conserve battery by turning off extra bells and whistles.  <rant> So, until we ditch the ancient battery technology that we have been using for the past hundred years or so for something far more efficient like a super cap (google it…) we are going to be heavily limited in the form and function of our electronic devices. </rant>  The fact that the phones charger and headset both connect to the same mini-usb port is kinda dumb to me.  I like to listen to music while I write or check various news aggregaters or check on what my friends are doing on-line and I don’t want to end up with a drained battery when I’m done.  If someone could develop an adapter that would accept both the charger and headphones, they would have my money.  It is a real PITA to use the keyboard when the charger or headset is plugged in so I end up pulling the plug while I type.

Out with the bad in with the good.  The trackball works surprisingly well.  I wasn’t sure about how well it would work when I first heard about it.  The keyboard doesn’t have some completely bazaar layout that makes me relearn where everything is every time I use it.  The phone is smaller than I thought it would be although it is kind of thick.  The touch screen works really well although it seems like some programs work better than others using the touch interface.  the fit and finish of the units we have is very good.  Everything feels really solid and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to snap in half in my meaty paws.  I like the HTC mini-usb to headphone cable.  It has the microphone in it so if you don’t like the supplied headphones you can swap in another set or even use a straight through cable to plug it into a line-in on whatever audio equipment you may have that you want to play your G1 audio through.  I am in an area that does not yet have 3G and the data stuff is still usable.  I am pretty happy about that.  It is not blazing speed but it works and is usable.  There are a bunch of applications in the Android Market already and it is strictly free stuff right now.  Let’s all say it together “I love free”.  The phone can easily pay for itself if you make good use of programs like Shop Savvy.  You use the G1’s camera to scan bar codes and it will compare prices for the item online and locally.  I scanned a book I bought not to long ago and found it used on Amazon for $2.  I paid $15 for it new and would have been more than happy to save $10 for a used book.  Easy money.  One thing I’ve noticed is that the program does not find matches for store brand stuff that you might be buying in your local grocery store.  I like the camera on the G1 but the pictures are not of great quality.  Now it is true that it is only a 3mp camera so you won’t be sending these beautties off to National Geographic but for a phone the camera works pretty well.

I am probably leaving out one of two details but this post is getting a bit wordy, so I will end with this…

G1 phone = $179

T-Mobile Data Service = $25/month

Being able to watch Monty Python on Youtube while standing in the line at the grocery store…

Priceless!

Lights out for the Analog Cellular Network, FINALLY

     We here in the States seem to have an absolute fascination with technology and infrastructure that is outdated.  In almost any other area of our society, if something is more than a year old, we don’t want anything to do with it.  Except for our infrastructure.  Today marks the day that the Analog Cell Network is finally shutdown.  This is an infrastructure that is over 20 years old, which in technology terms might as well be a horse and buggy.  If I were the carriers involved (AT&T, Verizon, All-Tel etc) I would be trying to figure out how to upgrade those analog towers to digital and thereby increasing the coverage of the digital network.  Maybe it won’t be possible but more likely the carriers won’t make the jump in order to keep customers looked into getting the absolute minimum that the carriers can get away with.  *sigh*