So I’ve been using the Nexus One for just over a month now, and I’d thought I’d write down some quick thoughts about what I think of the device so far.
As far as the device itself goes, I’m extremely satisfied with it. The Android user interface is snappy on the Nexus One and the operating system itself is a huge improvement over Windows Mobile 6.5. But let’s not turn this into a review of the phone — that’s not really what I’ve been thinking about in terms of the Nexus One.
After using Windows Mobile for a good 4 and a half years, I’ve finally decided to call it quits. While part of me wanted to wait for the new Windows Phone 7 launch, it seemed that Windows Phone 7 was just too little, too late. So instead, I ordered a Google Nexus One last Thursday (which is currently en route to me here in Toronto). The Android user interface was what really sold me on the phone (see below for a short video of that interface — not created by me).
Thinking back, my original decision to go with Windows Mobile was largely based on interoperability — I run Windows at home and at the office, and I wanted a phone that would work seamlessly with my work and home machines. Funny enough however, my Windows Mobile phone ended up having pretty much zero interaction with any of my machines, except occasionally moving some music from my home computer to my phone.
The services I did end up interacting with the most on my mobile were almost all Google services — I use Gmail, Google Maps and Google search by default, and ended up using pretty much nothing made my Microsoft (I access my work email through Outlook Web Access on my phone, since my firm doesn’t support non-BlackBerry mobile devices here in Canada).
Engadget posted a bunch of info and analysis on Windows Mobile 7 yesterday (now called Windows Phone 7 Series — no more Windows Mobile), and the new OS looks pretty serious. It’s a complete minimalist, monochromatic departure from Windows Mobile 6.5 (which in my opinion is a very, very good thing).
Microsoft has desperately needed to reinvent themselves in the mobile marketplace, and it looks like this may be exactly the sort of dramatic change they needed (and hopefully indicates the direction they’re heading in).
While I’m not crazy about the inability to install apps not sanctioned by Microsoft inside their Marketplace, the visual appeal and improved user experience of this new OS may still be enough to win some folks back to the Microsoft mobile platform.
Here’s a video from Engadget showcasing the Windows Phone 7 Series and some of its features.
I was sitting on the subway last week (which is unusual for me, as I tend to avoid the subway at all costs), and during one of the brief moments where the train goes above ground, was sending a few emails. After giving myself a mental pat on the back for being so productive, I took a look around the subway car. Guess what everyone else was doing?
Exactly the same thing I was.
It was then that I had a sudden realization about productivity: while technology may enhance our productivity when compared to how productive we used to be without (or with a ‘lesser’) technology, I seldom think about how little my productivity actually increases compared to others.
I’ve been looking at the HTC HD2 for a few weeks now (unfortunately when I say looking at, I don’t mean live — I mean reading about) — and I have to say, HTC has put out one impressive device. One of the best features on this feature has to be the 3.5mm headphone jack (which was also present on the HD), but is sorely, sorely lacking on my HTC Diamond (which often means ordering cheap adapters from eBay, which break far too easily). In case you haven’t already come across the device, here it is:
I never really thought about using Google Voice, until I read this nifty little post on the Official Gmail Blog. I think some kind of integration between email and voicemail would be great, and I’d like to explore this a bit more when I get some time. Has anybody used Google Voice or any other email-voicemail integration? Anything that would allow me to hear my email while I drive would be especially cool.
According to Ari Balogh, Yahoo’s CTO, “I can guarantee you there will be some acquisitions, and we will do some stuff in-house.” Yahoo’s also not doing so hot financially. According to the article:
Yahoo’s profits are down, as are most search companies in the current economy. Yahoo earned $118 million in the first quarter of 2009, a drop of 13% year over year with sales totaling $1.58 billion.
While the article points out that Google has overtaken Yahoo as the destination of choice for people conducting web searches, one and a half billion dollars of sales still gives Yahoo quite a bit of weight in the search arena, right?
I’m not sure how a presence in the social networking sphere is going to help Yahoo at this point. While it may lend Yahoo some credibility in terms of social networking, there doesn’t seem to really be a real plan as to how that social networking presence is going to translate into increased profitability.
OK, I admit it. I don’t like FaceBook. I know it’s hard to believe that there’s someone who actually doesn’t enjoy using the incredibly popular social networking tool — but I don’t.
It’s not that FaceBook isn’t useful or doesn’t allow me to keep up with people — it’s actually been quite useful for that. I’ve reconnected with people that I would have never had the chance to meet up with again otherwise, which has been fun. It’s also fun to check out people’s pictures and connections and see who knows who.
My problem with FaceBook is that I can’t really keep up with the messages and notifications. A long time ago I just assigned all FaceBook messages a particular priority in my email (which essentially is ‘I will never actually look at this’). Instead, I occasionally log in to FaceBook to see if I have any messages — which I often do. I then have a ton of non-personal invites to things (like associations’ groups I belong to on FaceBook, don’t ask me why), which I try to ignore.
I’ve been going through some of the videos from the Technology, Entertainment, Design conference that I talked about last time. While I’ve come across some interesting videos, one of the coolest videos I’ve seen was sent to me by a reader (who wishes to remain anonymous). The video below is Pattie Maes demonstrating a wearable technology that could allow you to physically interact with the web (and web-based metadata) in the real world.
One of the most interesting things about this demo is that the device she talks about is really just assembled from a bunch of technologies that already exist. It’s a good reminder that innovation and invention are not always the same thing, but are still sometimes tough to tell apart.
As you can probably guess, I love gadgets. So while Canadian telecom companies like to lock you into 3 year cellular phone contracts, I usually find myself getting tired of the device I have after about a year. So much to my delight, I decided to geta new HTC Diamond (after a great deal of hassle) from Rogers (my phone provider).
I was upgrading from the HTC Touch — and in many ways the Diamond is just a (very) upgraded HTC Diamond. There are quite a few improvements in Windows Mobile 6.1 as well (the Touch had 6.0), as well as some great new features on the Diamond that the Touch didn’t have (GPS is a nice touch, as is 4 gigs of internal storage, a much better browser etc.).
I always end up loading a bunch of games and DVD movie backups onto my phone to play or watch during those mandatory down-time moments (waiting at the doctor’s office, taking the bus, those kinds of things), and as I was loading up a copy of an old version of SimCity, I realized that this was the same version of the game that I once played on the PC about 10 years ago.
