Insert Clever Title Here

As Promised here are a few photos to compare the cameras on the Nokia N78 (3.2 Autofocus Camera) and the Nokia N95-8gb (with its 5mg Autofocus Camera).

Both of these were done on default settings and because I am ambidextrous I took the photos simultaneously as well.

Note to self: Must stop doing that in public makes me look even more of a tosser than I actually am.

Oh and click on images for bigger versions as well

This photo is looking at the N78 having just taken a photo of the n95…. Notice the Finger prints on the black plastic already.

Long View - N95

Long View - N78

Plant - N78

Plant - N95-8gb

The only other thing to note is that the only two photos that was nativelly geotagged was the N95 Plant and the N78 window, the rest of the Tags I have added in Flickr.

With the N78 it geotagged the window shot, even with out the Assisted GPS turned off using the new Auto Geotagging built into the firmware.  I do think it is a bit faster at getting a fix that the N95 but it was using Location Tagger which is still the only way to do it on the N95.  Evidently it will be coming in the next firmware update.

The N95 Plant shot was tagged as I had the GPS already running using Sports Tracker for logging my driving in the car.

I will try some geotagging tests soon.

Tags: Photos, n78, n95 // Add Comment »

Got this email this morning from Twitter…..

Short version outside the US and the UK direct SMS updates will no longer come to my phone. I can still send updates but not receive them away from my computer.

Two things could happen.
1- Twitter is about to suffer a major blow outside countries that have SMS updates now.
2 - If they are fast and australian telco’s aren’t greedy things will be back up to normal very soon.

I am afraid that here in Australia with the way that data charges are that a sms gateway for Twitter may not eventuate for quite some time.

This is a major concern for me. Sure I can still send sms updates, but the receiving of them is vitally important to me to keep the service viable as people have come to use it. If people want me that are not in my circle of physical friends in the last few months I have “DM Twitter” friends for news, information and social gatherings. All sitting in a state of flux.

One of the biggest advantages of twitter was that it broke the IP Model. I can be outside of an IP controlled space (and ironically the IP costs) sitting on an old Nokia 8250 and still follow the world and have to world follow me (not that many did :-()

I only hope that this gets addressed quickly as the Twitter Space was nearly at threshold to break out into true mainstream globally.

I’ll write more later on this subject!

….. The Letter ……
Hi,

I’m sending you this note because you registered a mobile device
to work with Twitter over our UK number. I wanted to let you
know that we are making some changes to the way SMS works on
Twitter. There is some good news and some bad news.

I’ll start with the bad news. Beginning today, Twitter is no
longer delivering outbound SMS over our UK number. If you enjoy
receiving updates from Twitter via +44 762 480 1423, we are
recommending that you explore some suggested alternatives.

Note: You will still be able to UPDATE over our UK number.

Before I go into more detail, here’s a bit of good news: Twitter
will be introducing several new, local SMS numbers in countries
throughout Europe in the coming weeks and months. These new
numbers will make Twittering more accessible for you if you’ve
been using SMS to send long-distance updates from outside the UK.

Why are we making these changes?

Mobile operators in most of the world charge users to send
updates. When you send one message to Twitter and we send it to
ten followers, you aren’t charged ten times–that’s because we’ve
been footing the bill. When we launched our free SMS service to
the world, we set the clock ticking. As the service grew in
popularity, so too would the price.

Our challenge during this window of time was to establish
relationships with mobile operators around the world such that
our SMS services could become sustainable from a cost perspective.
We achieved this goal in Canada, India, and the United States.
We can provide full incoming and outgoing SMS service without
passing along operator fees in these countries.

We took a risk hoping to bring more nations onboard and more
mobile operators around to our way of thinking but we’ve arrived
at a point where the responsible thing to do is slow our costs
and take a different approach. Since you probably don’t live in
Canada, India, or the US, we recommend receiving your Twitter
updates via one of the following methods.

m.twitter.com works on browser-enabled phones
m.slandr.net works on browser-enabled phones
TwitterMail.com works on email-enabled phones
Cellity [http://bit.ly/12bw4R] works on java-enabled phones
TwitterBerry [http://bit.ly/MFAfJ] works on BlackBerry phones
Twitterific [http://bit.ly/1WxjwQ] works on iPhones

Twitter SMS by The Numbers

It pains us to take this measure. However, we need to avoid
placing undue burden on our company and our service. Even with a
limit of 250 messages received per week, it could cost Twitter
about $1,000 per user, per year to send SMS outside of Canada,
India, or the US. It makes more sense for us to establish fair
billing arrangements with mobile operators than it does to pass
these high fees on to our users.

Twitter will continue to negotiate with mobile operators in
Europe, Asia, China, and The Americas to forge relationships

that benefit all our users. Our goal is to provide full, two-way
service with Twitter via SMS to every nation in a way that is
sustainable from a cost perspective. Talks with mobile companies
around the world continue. In the meantime, more local numbers
for updating via SMS are on the way. We’ll keep you posted.

Thank you for your attention,
Biz Stone, Co-founder
Twitter, Inc.
http://twitter.com/biz

Tags: Uncategorized // 3 Comments »

30 Minute play review…

Candybar Bar verses Slider. I actually prefer the candy bar design. Sure it may be in most cases slightly bigger in your pocket, but one it is open the N95 is longer and thicker and heavier than the n78. And after 7 months my slider is not as tight at is used to be and the whole phone has a bit of a wobble, something that is not going to happen with the n78.

TV Out or FM transmitter… tough call, I have used and would use both. TV out is great in that you can make a presentation and take just your phone to a location and show clients something, or just review your holiday snaps on a big screen at the hotel. The FM transmitter means that you can listen to your music in the car straight from your phone. I’m still deciding which would be the more useful… work or pleasure.

The Camera is a big thing and so the N95-8gb camera wins hands down just on megapixel count and both phones have the same LED type flashes anyway so there is nothing in that.

The GPS is better located sitting at the top of the device as is the headphone socket (some thing that I really wish the N95 did) And it is good if not better at getting a fix as well. Also the Australian version came with a 3 month trial of the navigation.

I don’t see the problem that a lot of people seem to have that navigation costs more. I have paid for it and did so over buying TraveRoute for the R2H for the simple reason that I have my phone on me more than the R2H 9oh yeah and it is cheaper. Plus you are only paying for Navigation not the maps. You can see where you are and how to get somewhere for free anyway.

I have updated the Firmware straight away (came with 11.043 out of the box, going to 12.046),.  There was an issue with the updater saying it didn’t work, but it had The Maps version has not been updated to Maps 2, as from a quick series of google looks there are issues with FP2 and the latest maps. (Pity)

The other great pity is there no Games or N-Gage on the phone. Games are great for one thing killing time on your phone. There is not even a version of snake for example. Power users will have no problems finding and installing free games, but Joe Average might end up paying for things that he didn’t need to.

The heart beat thing is also not upsetting me… I thought it would but given that the phone looks off when it is resting it is reassuring to know that it hasn’t died

Conclusion… If you want to get into the smart phone game the N78 is a winner. Sure the case will be used by CSI at some point in time to lift your finger prints.. but the geotagged photos will prove you were not at the location anyway. It may not have the screen and grunt of the N95 8gb, but it is a worthy device never the less.

I will put together some photos over the weekend to compare the devices and also the cameras as well.

Tags: n78, n95, nokia // Add Comment »

Good news went passed the Chadstone Vodafone shop today and was served by the assistant manager (nice lass and should have remembered her name but didn’t :-))

Anyway quick swap and check of the paper work and a fire up off the new phone and I was done. Turns out on further inspection, it wasn’t just the camera, it was also the volume controls as well that were borked… Just a dud off the factory floor.

Anyway back to updating firmware.

One thing I have noticed that is bugging me already… and this one is really going to bug me.. The USB plug is different to my N95. WHY NOKIA WHY…. what it means is that when my wife and I go on the road, we will still need to USB plugs one for her phone and one for mine.

And one thing that is not bugging me… the battery for the n78 is the same 3.7v BL-6F as for the N95 8gb. So purchasing one spare battery will mean either phone can work (try and do that on your Iphone!)

Tags: n78, nokia // Add Comment »

“Losing his best friend in a freak boating accident was bad enough.
But Google’s Street View has made a bad situation worse for Bill, from Victoria.”

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/08/11/1218306724273.html

Yes, but having the story as the front page on The Age (FAIRFAX) is not just as bad, it is worse.

Google pulled the image, I suspect that they are monitoring Streetview and repeated spikes of traffic to places may get their interest tweaked.  The geo-ref for this was doing the rounds on Friday, by that night the image had been pulled.  And it would have stayed gone, occasionally doing the rounds of email in boxes I am sure, but now main stream media pulls up the screenshot, puts it on the home page for a major newspaper and screams about privacy.

If Google can blur photos and details, why can’t “The Age”.  Sure the story has more impact with the image, but by having the image the story also has hypocrisy! And that is why I blurred out the main part of the image!

Tags: Annoyances, General, Media // Add Comment »