Are Nokia mad or shrewed when it comes to the operating system for their new line of smartphones?

Nokia, that once darling of the mobile telephone market, has released new smart phones in to the crowded market place.

These are running the Microsoft Windows Phone operating system, the 3rd player in the big OS battle (the others being Apples iOS and, Googles Android).

This comes as quite a gamble for the mobile giant, as it has seen its profits drop, and demand for it’s products reduce, in the light of the iPhone and other Android based devices. It would seem that Nokia have placed their flag and their new CEO, Stephen Elop, said the “Lumia is the first real Windows phone” and predicted the company would be the leader in “smartphone design and craftsmanship”.
- Erm, there might be a little competition in that Mr Elop!

My GF has a Windows Phone based model and, having played with it extensively, in my opinion, the Windows Phone OS is really clunky in comparison to the other 2 products. It’s the usual case of Microsoft massively over complicating the thing.

Where the Android and the iOS phones win, is in the simple intuitiveness (is that a word?) of the OS when using the phones. Something that Microsoft seem to be way behind in. With iOS and Android you can just do what you want, with the MS phone you’ve got to think for a moment.

Key among the differences offered by Nokia, is the integration of location-based services like Nokia Maps, real-time navigation software Nokia Drive, a live-streaming music service Mix Radio and Liveview, an augmented reality service.
The biggest innovation, though, could be Nokia Pulse, a service that combines elements of social networking with location services. It allows users to share with friends and family experiences – from pictures to whereabouts to activities, integrated with Nokia’s mapping service.
Sadly things that I am not interested in ~ I guess I’m getting old!

Still, only time will tell, there’s a huge amount of competition in that particular market, so it’s just a matter of time to see what we, as consumers, think of Nokia’s products.

(Thanks to the BBC for some of the information posted here )

Filed under : General  |  Be the first to comment! »
2 views

=============== ===============

There is a silent war going on in the courts

There are several technology giants currently at war in the courts over the IP (Intellectual Property) rights for smartphones and tablet computers.

Here’s a smattering of the recent news reports:
Samsung to pay Microsoft royalties over Android
Samsung and Apple warring over patents again
T-Mobile wants to prevent U.S. ban on Samsung products
Microsoft ‘extorts profits from rivals’, claims Google
US trade body to probe HTC’s Apple technology complaint

So currently we seem to have several protagonists in this technology war:

• Samsung
• Apple
• T-Mobile
• Verizon
• Microsoft
• HTC
• Google

Samsung and Apple are locked in a legal wrangle over technology patents; It’s a ‘who owns what’ tit-for-tat battle, triggered by the release of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, tablet PC.
Now I know a client who has one of these little beauties and I can see that it is significantly different from the iPad, in both look and feel – the very thing that Apple have launched the case over.
It’s interesting that both T-Mobile and Verizon have asked that the Apple case be set aside – both of these companies are massive telecom companies –  and come to stand side-by-side with Samsung.

In the case of Samsung and Microsoft it seems ridiculous that they [Samsung] are having to pay Microsoft royalties when their device runs the Andriod operating system – i.e. not running Windows.

To give a personal insight, I have been involved in a lengthy case regarding these very issues and know just how murky they can get. The work ‘complex’ doesn’t even get close to the reality of what can be called in to question. It took me a long time to defend a legal claim which we finally won. What a waste of everyone’s time… 

The ridiculous laws concerning copyright and IP are also partly to blame in the way these things are conducted, as it’s sometimes necessary to replicate something to achieve something else.

Imagine if I wanted to design a car and someone had IP rights for the wheel, or a bolt, for instance. Would I expect to have to pay someone for the use of that wheel or bolt? In the case of programming and electronics, without creating a whole new way of writing code, or making a component, it is impossible to make something without infringing someone’s rights.

Want to know something really scary? In the USA they have started protecting DNA, the fundamental building block of life. Soon you may not even have the right to your own DNA ~ how ridiculous is that??

I think the bottom line is simple – ditch these stupid laws. They don’t stop copies being made and simply make the legal practitioners lots of money. Consumers never get a better product as a result of these cases, and it harms the progression of technology.

One day perhaps…

Filed under : General  |  Be the first to comment! »
4 views

=============== ===============

Some projects are a continual uphill struggle - We'll get there though!

We’re on with a new project :)
It’s one of my favourite types – bringing technology to a business that’s been struggling with things for a while.

Now on the face if it that looks like a good thing – and don’t get me wrong here – it IS a good thing.
BUT
There have been a few ‘niggles’ along the way:

The original plan was to install a peer-to-peer network, then proceed to a server network once funds allowed this ~ not an unusual request here.
This meant that some of the engineering would need to be repeated, but the client was happy with that.

DAY 1
Off I go to install a new, peer-to-peer network…
At the beginning all was fine – until I tested the broadband: CONNECTION FAILURE ← No broadband
This meant I could not download the Microsoft Office package the client had purchased, nor activate any software or get any of the little tools I routinely add to client PCs for security (Antivirus, cleaning utilities etc…)
I had to leave site with the system usable but missing some key components…

DAY 2
Back the day after – Broadband UP
The client has also decided that their new server might as well be added now so it’s all done
The broadband is only connecting at ½Mb – this is bloomin’ slow! It took about 3½ HRS to download ONE of the Microsoft Office packages.
I managed to get one PC up and running fully before leaving, and left the others missing the Office software while it was being downloaded.

DAY 3
Phone call – “My PC says it has no Antivirus software on it…”
Oops! My fault this one – in all the confusion, I missed it…
Not to worry – the network is down for some reason anyway, so there’s no chance of getting a virus. I start to suspect that there’s a cabling problem. Phone calls finally reveal a “quick ‘n’ cheap” job was installed by the phone company – they do agree to go out to have a look at it though…
I’m due to go back tomorrow anyhow to install the server

DAY 4
Microsoft in their wisdom are moving to a different way of supplying software – mainly it’s all going online. Licenses for the ‘Open Licensing’ system are delivered via eMail and through partners licensing website.
Great if you’ve got fast reliable boradband (can you see where this is going?)
All the software was ordered, but for some reason it’s taking longer than usual to come through – I discover why when it becomes apparent that Microsoft have sent the licenses for Server 2003, when we ordered licenses for Server 2008.
Many phone calls later and were now at the mercy of Microsoft to get this sorted ASAP.
No server install today then

DAY 5
I’m taking the server to site today regardless – lets see what’s lurking in the dark for me today then…
Amazingly the client is being more than understanding, for which I praise the Lord!

Filed under : General  |  Be the first to comment! »
6 views

=============== ===============

More fixes for Micro$oft's flagship product

Once again I start having more ‘fun’ with Micro$ofts flagship product – it seems to be the usual M$ release program:

1) Release buggy, untested software to the masses
2) Convince technicians that paying M$ to be beta testers for their software is a good thing.
3) Expect technical folk worldwide to solve the most basic issues.
4) Reap the rewards and make big Bill even richer…

Sigh…

This time it’s a stupid little error with the Windows 7 Desktop not refreshing ; By that I mean that the icons don’t disappear when you delete something, or appear when you create something new.
On to the fix…

• Click Start → Run (or press the Windows flag key and the ‘R’ key together)
• Type the word ‘regedit’ – without the quotes
• Keep clicking the ‘+’s and navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{BDEADE7F-C265-11D0-BCED-00A0C90AB50F}\Instance (make sure you are in the exact value noted)
• Look for the ‘DontRefresh’ value and double click it
• Change the value from 1 to 0
• Reboot

Enjoy the rest of your life

Filed under : General  |  Be the first to comment! »
29 views

=============== ===============

Installing SP2 for Exchange - NOT a fun experience

On a brand new Small Business Server 2008 installation, there are quite a few ‘tweaks’ to do before it decides to run smoothly.

Running the ‘Windows Small Business Server 2008 Best Practices Analyzer‘ tool produces lots of ‘problems’ to be fixed.
Nothing new there then – Thanks Micro$oft, most of these were reasonable easy to fix (some simply require you to run a command in a elevated command prompt), the recommended installation of Service Pack 2 for Exchange 2007 wasn’t very much fun AT ALL.

Basically it goes like this -

• Running the SP2 installation package itself, produces an error.
• Running the SP2 installation ‘as administrator’, gets a little further, but produces an error

It seems that the SP2 installation won’t work unless it gets a clean bill of health from the BPA tool – something which wont give you that clean bill of health because the Exchange system doesn’t have SP2 installed – Catch 22.

To fix this, and get SP2 installed, you have to:

• download the SP2 package, (at 870mb it’s more a rewrite than a patch!)
• unpack the SP2 files into a folder,
• download and run this Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP2 Installation Tool for Windows SBS 2008 (as administrator)
• Point it at the expanded SP2 files
• Wait about 2 hours

Voila – a SP2 version of Exchange
An ‘effin long day fighting just to install a bloomin’ Micro$oft patch!
Thanks LOTS…

P.S.
If you get an error about ForeFront not being disabled – stop all the Exchange services and uninstall it.

Filed under : General  |  Be the first to comment! »
5 views

=============== ===============