Mobile SlingPlayer(s) updated

A few updates have hit SlingMedia SlingBox mobile users today.

The new versions are:

SlingPlayer Mobile for Pocket PC 1.6
SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Smartphone 1.6
SlingPlayer Mobile for Symbian OS 1.01
SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm 1.0.1

I have only tried the Symbian 1.01 - and the new features seems to be limited to bug fixes and a few extra handsets supported. (Nokia N82 and N95 8GB)

But still no support for E90 - so E90 owners still have to live with stamp-sized video on their E90s.

Access Points can now be defined as “Ask Everytime” which is nice since the E90 is quite stupid in its Network handling.

Buhuuu SlingMedia for not providing support for more phones. (And for not releasing the SlingPlayer 2.0 and SlingCatcher!)

Special offer - 3G data - $6.500/hour

It can be expensive to surf away from your normal network provider. The Swede – Kristoffer Sandberg got a bit of a surprise when he received a bill for Mobile Data Roaming for SEK 40.000 (About US$ 6500)

In Sweden Kristoffer pays SEK 99 ($15) pr. month for unlimited data on his 3G subscription with Mobile Operator 3. But on a trip to Norway Kristoffer surfed on YouTube for about one hour on Telenords 3G network via the roaming agreement with 3.

One hour use – resulted the bill of $6.500.

So now telecoms critics in Scandinavia are scratching their heads – since why should something that costs SEK 99 for one whole month – cost $6.500 just because you are on a “roaming” network.

Well we can just hope this leads to lower roaming charges across the world. But pour Kristoffer….

Story from IDG Norway (in Norwegian)

Skype for Mobile Java

Finally – Skype for Java is available in Beta. This means native skype support is not longer just for Windows Mobile.

So far quite a few mobiles are supported from Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson!

So head over to (on your mobile) http://skype.com/m

Or from your browser: http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/mobile/

BUT – In this beta version, anyone can receive calls, instant message and see who’s online. If you want to call phones, mobiles, or any of your Skype contacts, this is limited to people in Brazil, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Sweden and UK

So go over and try it. Unfortunatly it is not available for my E90 :-( yet. So still Fring Dependent…..

A few more i-mate Ultimate 9502 comments

Now I have used the device for a few days. And it is a nice device. But despite the 1660 MA battery – the battery life of the 9502 is not very good.

A charge lasts maximum a day with my usage. That is 1/2 of my E90 – and I use them in the same way.

I installed Opera Mobile 8.65 on it – and it works fine – apart from every time I start up the application I get an Error message with a fault in Opera.exe file. Ignoring the error and pressing continue – gets me straight into Opera and everything seems to work.

Then I checked the Micro SD. And what a sunrise – only supports standard Micro SD – no capacity higher that 2GB. Come on i-mate – this is 2008 - and 12GB Micro SD cards are available. My 8GB SDHC card does not work in the Ultimate 9502.

I don't really care about “VGA” output for presentations. I want a Phone that works like a charm.

I guess i-mate lost out great when HTC pushed them out and so far I can’t really see a recovery for that – apart from buying your phones from HTC and not i-mate.

The screen is nice though – but gets damn greasy – and does not really work well in the sun. Even though it is nice and bright indoors – outdoors you can hardly read it on highest brightness settings. And this is despite i-mate HQ is in a very sunny city of Dubai.

The Power button has problems as well. Very hard to press to get the screen to turn on. It is in an awkward place for most people – and really annoy me. After pressing it it takes 0.5 – to 1 second before you have any reaction.

So in my book -the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – is not really a winner. At maximum a limited device to a very limited user group. So on to Souq with this one (the eBay of the Middle East..)

Now SSD available with Lenovo T-, X, and X series Tablet

First we had the X300 with SSD drive – now Lenovo is offering the same SSD drive for a few more laptops – including my favorite at the moment - the X61t (Tablet)

Yes – I can´t live without my tablet and OneNote – and now with an SSD option I might upgrade before the X200 tablet or X300 tablet comes out – or what ever the name will be.

The SSD drive option of 64GB adds another US$1030 to a standard X61 Tablet (in exchange for the 80GB 5400 RPM option)

The SSD drive should hopefully give you a bit more HD speed and battery juice. But some SSD implementations are not the best (like OQO that wont play HD movies from SSD drives)

But since Lenovo usually delivers – I’m hoping for the best. (Yes I'm colored – but have had about 10 different tablets so far - and my X61t is clearly the best of the bunch so far)

But unfortunately it seems like it is not available in the high res screen option. Another thing I can’t live without….

So Dear Lenovo – I want 4:3 1400x1050 screen for with your next tablet edition – AND SSD drive - and a screen that does not smudge so much… and :-) :-)

Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502

Just found a new gadget in Dubai. Expensive L but got it anyway. Available in Sharaff DG in Times Square Mall Dubai as of today. I do already know I'm not keeping it – but just wanted to try it for a few days. J

Here are a few un-boxing pictures for your pleasure J

Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – The Box	Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – The Phone
Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – Phone and Accessories	Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – Front and Back uncovered
The Belt Pouch	The Belt Pouch
Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 -Charger and Tips	Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – the Ugly Headset
Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – AV Cable	Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – Software
Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – The Manual	Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – The Spare Pen
Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – The Battery	Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – Side View
Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – Side View	Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – Top View Power and Pen
Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – First Boot	Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – Date Setting
Unboxing the i-mate Ultimate 9502 – okay - READY

 

So here you have the Ultimate 9502 – with pictures. I have now used it for 12 hours – and my initial thoughts are:

1. Nice with real headset mini-jackplug (works with my nice Nokia Headset)
   
2. Screen is very nice – but a bit small for this big device – and it is a shame it does not tilt like the TyTN II.
   
3. Buttons are a bit "cheap" - but keyboard inside is great despite its small size.
   
4. The device feels slow. Slower than my Nokia E90. Changing from Landscape to Portrait can take a while
   
5. My SlingPlayer works fine with it – and very stable – and uses the full screen. Not like the Nokia E90 version…
   
6. Battery cover has small (very small) pins for locking – I think they will break if you are not careful.
   
7. Speaker is crap compared with my E90s – low in volume and distorts.
   
8. Call quality is nowhere near the E90.
   
9. The nice dialer i-mate had with HTC is not there anymore –and there are not really a lot of "punch" software in the pack like HTC provides
   

So in general – if you want Windows Mobile – this is a great device for you. One of the best out there – HTC does a better design job – but no normal sized HTC phones are available with 640x480 screen. Some of the design elements seem like crude Russian mid 1970s inspired. So it is built like a tank apart from pen and battery cover.

Windows Mobile is Windows Mobile – so not a lot to say about that apart from it supports the 1970s built like a tank (in Russia)

Thanks for taking the time to look in on us J and if you want to buy a slightly used i-mate Ultimate 9502 – ping me.

Top Danish IRS Director Sacked – for Tax Evasion

Well isn't it great. One of the reasons I left Denmark was the tax system – where only the rich and wealthy can afford tax advisors who know the loopholes to avoid paying tax and your top tax bracket is 68%. Yes you read right – 68% of your last earned Kroner go to the IRS.

Now it seems like a Danish Top Executive (Now Ex. Director Claus Kaaber) in SKAT (The Danish version of IRS) have been sacked for … "Aiding Tax Evasion"

The bugger bought a piece of land from someone in Spain – and agreed to pay part of the purchase price "non-disclosed" to the Spanish IRS. So the seller did not have to pay tax from the proceeds.

The truly disgusting part here is – SKAT has sacked him – but with 8 months pay, 2 months' pay for the years he was employed – and 6 months dismissal pay. How come that someone in such a high position can get so much severance pay – for aiding potential tax evasion? Unreasonable!

Damn the Danish society looks nice on the surface – but beneath the surface it is muddy waters.

Links to the Story in Danish from Boersen (Danish kind of "Financial Times")

Sorry this does not really belong here on a Tech blog – but I had to get it out J

Nokia E90 Review – Longtime opinions

Now I have used my Nokia E90 for a long time (for me more than 2 months with a Phone is a very long time)

So despite the E90's shortcomings in many fields – it is a great phone. I bought my first E90 in Dubai – with Arabic keyboard –but went back to Denmark and bought another one – just to get a keyboard with fewer items on each key. (With Arabic keyboard you have both English and Arabic signs on each button – and makes it quite a lot harder to use in the Dark with Backlight)

So why is it still my primary phone?

Well here are the "long time pros and cons"

I love the E90 because:

1. The full keyboard
   
2. The internal screen is absolutely great
   
3. RoadSync for Exchange Sync (despite its shortcomings)
   
4. I can use SlingPlayer (again – despite SlingPlayers shortcomings on the E90)
   
5. WiFi works most of the time (except for a few WPA2 issues)
   
6. I can use Voice over IP without extra software
   

I hate the E90's shortcomings though. Here are a few

1. The browser keeps breaking down. (Try to do a search from iGoogle….) –
   
2. JavaScript is not 100% Google compatible (iGoogle that is)
   
3. The WiFi range is very poor compared to HTC phones (Not too funny when using VoIP…)
   
4. WiFi is not always WPA2 compatible
   
5. The detection of the E90 is in Open mode or Shut mode – is NEVER right – giving you the wrong keys on your keyboard in Open mode. Really a bummer when entering Passwords. Then you need to close your phone – and open it again – and then find your way back to the web browser or email you was about to write
   
6. The Internet Connection system. Internet is not "On or Off" – no each application has its own opinion on how to control and use your internet. Some applications are hard-coded to a profile (like RoadSync or SlingPlayer) – other applications can't co-use the internet if something else is using the internet. ("Internet Connection is in Use… Please disconnect and …")
   
7. Where is the VPN? It is a Business Phone for crying out loud. Even the iPhone got PPTP VPN from v1….
   
8. No firmware updates in 5 months to correct even the obvious bugs in the phone. (I know we are dinosaurs for using the E90… but come on…)
   
9. Yes my phone is wobbly when placed on a flat surface.. (Made in China..)
   
10. Yes my phone gets finger print markings on the screen from touching the keyboard
    

    
     

Someone in Nokia Management should be FORCED to use the E90 for 3 months… Then the bugs would certainly be fixed.

But I hope future firmware will solve the issues – and Nokia once again will be seen as a company that takes their business customers seriously. But I think Nokia is far too busy to fix the "iPhone" problem – to spend so much time on the E90.

But despite the cons list being twice the length of the pros's.. I still love my E90. The only thing that might change that… Is the Xperia X1 from Sony Ericsson or a 3G iPhone with Exchange Sync and a usable keyboard/keypad.

 

Ups - Nokia releases beta E90 Firmware 200.34.72

Someone in Nokia has goofed up. A Beta firmware for the E90 was accidentally set free to users of the Nokia NSU (Nokia Software Update).

A few people got to install it before it was pulled from the NSU site.

It seems like it was not the feature complete firmware since it have Maps 1.2 in it – and a few bugs. But in general an improvement, with faster application load. But more to be seen over the next few days.

Check in on My-Symbian for more info