Exchange and Push Email

Optus confirms iPhone plans

Dave Caddick — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:17:57 GMT

So here in Australia we might be one of the first countries to have the iPhone unlocked and provided by two Carriers? (Optus and Vodafone) BUT - only if you are prepared to wait until the end of the year? Please..... anyone I know who is seriously interested in the phone has already arranged one from elsewhere.

BTW, a colleague recently found out how delicate the glass screen is, OUCH!!

So I would have provided more of a quote for this story but it appears that MISaustralia.com has come up with a mechanism where when you highlight a section of text it then drops every second character .... :-)

Optus confirms iPhone plans

MISaustralia.com - Optus confirms iPhone plans

Change of location

Dave Caddick — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 23:08:46 GMT

Hi All,

I have been posting both at this site as well as at my new blogging home of www.techagility.info for a few weeks now, and although I still have some tweaking to do on the graphics side of things, it's time to open the doors for all. I will probably still drop the odd post this way, but essentially all is now going to the new site.

So the home page is at www.techagility.info and if you are after the feed then you can find it at www.techagility.info/feed

See you there? ;-)

A lengthy plea to Apple, Microsoft and Nokia on how to improve their SmartPhones and PDA's from Stephen Fry?

Dave Caddick — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 01:17:38 GMT

I have long been a fan of Stephen Fry's work even before our stint living in London and his ability to set forth on a diatribe on any number of topics is almost unsurpassed. Here in what I gather is only his second blog post he describes what he considers the faults of all manner of SmartPhones, and I do mean ALL as he is a self-confessed addict for PDA's and SmartPhones

Stephen Fry

Blessays, blogs and blisquisitions

Let Fame »

Device and Desires

All the big guns want an iPhone killer. Even I, mad for all things Apple as I am, want an iPhone killer. I want smart digital devices to be as good as mankind’s ingenuity can make them. I want us eternally to strive to improve and surprise. Bring on the iPhone killers. Bring them on.

YOU might, somewhere along the way, have picked up the impression that I am a passionate Mac advocate: I bought my first 128K machine in 1984, the second Macintosh to be sold in the UK - at least so I’ve always maintained and believed (the first went to the still desperately missed Douglas Adams) and I have never had fewer than ten working Macs on the go since the late 80s. It is true that I value both the platform and the hardware, that I admire the imagination, flair, elegance, quality and pioneering spirit of the Apple corporation. All quite true.

HOWEVER……..

I have, over the past twenty years been passionately addicted to all manner of digital devices, Mac-friendly or not; I have gorged myself on electronic gismos, computer accessories, toys, gadgets and what-have-you's of all descriptions, but most especially what are now known as SmartPhones. PDAs, Wireless PIM's, call them what you will. My motto is:

I have never seen a SmartPhone I haven’t bought

After all, the Mac itself was founded on a notional smart device, the Dynabook, fruit of the many brains of the legendary Xerox Palo Alto Research Centre (PARC). The Dynabook concept gave us the WIMP user interface, (Windows, Icons, Mice, Pull down menus) and thence the Apple Lisa and its successor, the Macintosh. The Dynabook was a posited form, a notional device that would deliver information to its user with the greatest ease and intuitive functionality. As a result of this mission statement, the command code line found in all standard computing of the time was made to yield to a Graphical User Interface (GUI). Apple took up the call (poached some PARC staff) and produced the Mac OS; IBM and latterly MS took years and years to get the message. But that is how the GUI was born, out of a quest for a better relationship between man and machine, individual and digital device.

much, much more at source.... ;-)

Analyst's love the Touch Phone concept

Dave Caddick — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 04:44:13 GMT

Since around late 2003 I was getting fed up with Vodafone's service at the time in London and was looking to switch, I was also getting somewhat fed up with Nokia's offerings with it's monochrome screens while everyone else was offering colour screens.

So I switched to Orange and the MPX 200 from Motorola, not only for it's colour screen, but also the fact that it was a Microsoft device that seamlessly (well sort of....) synched Outlook contacts etc....

Anyway, the point is that since switching to MS devices some while back I have never looked back, and I now think that it would be very hard for me to shift back to Nokia, although I should never say never? ;-)

But you can't fault the way that Apple has launched the iPhone, and it's clear that not only do we all want something like this, but the Analyst's think so as well?

500 million touch-phones to ship by 2012

More than 100 million handsets with touch screens will be shipped in 2008, and more than 500 million will ship by 2012, according to a new study by ABI Research. Citing recent product introductions, the research firm says intuitive user interfaces are now becoming a critical ingredient in smartphones.

The 18-page report, "Mobile Phone User Interfaces," specifically discusses products such as Apple's iPhone and the Windows Mobile-based LG Prada, HTC Touch, and Samsung F700 devices, as well as various handsets from Sony Ericsson. Touch screens and touch pads make the handsets more intuitive, pleasant, and efficient to use, the study's authors note.
According to the report, there is a difference between a standard interface, which may or may not respond to a touch screen, and one that has specifically evolved to employ touch. The firm says that for a handset's user interface to be considered "advanced," it should offer the user or programmer the following elements:

A dynamic layout
Skinning/theming
Animation
Support for 3D effects
At least one specialized authoring tool
Window management ABI Research's abstract gives examples of seven different frameworks for creating advanced handset interfaces. These are Adobe's Flash, Bluestreak's MachBlue, Mizi's Prizm, Qualcomm's uiOne, Trolltech's Qtopia, Tat's Kastor, and Symbian's UIQ interface layer.
Of these, only Flash has commonly been associated with Windows CE and Windows Mobile-based products, though Windows-based implementations of Kastor are also cited on Tat's Web site. Though not directly addressed in the ABI Research report, Microsoft Research has created its own advanced user interfaces including, but not limited to, the "zooming" ZenZui, and the Microsoft Surface concept initially applied to table-top devices.

This promotional video shows Microsoft's ZenZui user interface

According to ABI Research industry analyst Shailendra Pandey, "Handsets with intuitive user interfaces ... can result in higher ARPUs [average revenues per user] for mobile operators by generating greater usage of their value-added services." In the past, many smartphones and high-end handsets with a good number of attractive features have been commercial failures, simply because their user interfaces were too complex, she adds.
ABI's research report is available now, though pricing was not released. More information is available on the firm's website, here.

HP BladeSystem c3000 for SMB's

Dave Caddick — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 04:54:43 GMT

Something very interesting came across the desk today that looks very neat for the SMB space

HP challenges Dell in the SME market

Colin Barker ZDNet.co.uk

After Michael Dell on Monday launched his company's first storage system targeted at small and medium-sized enterprises, HP responded with a system of its own on Wednesday.

Both systems are low-cost. The Dell system is priced at £5,497, while the HP BladeSystem c3000 (pictured, left) costs just under £5,000.

But there was a difference between the two launches. Dell could supply an exact figure for a "typical system", yet despite questioning, its executives proved reluctant to provide a detailed specification of what a customer would get for that price. HP, in contrast, offered a reasonably detailed specification of what an exact system for an SME could look like (see diagram below).

HP offers a system with 1TB of shared storage, two Citrix application servers (one for security and one for messaging), a tape system for backup and a unit carrying core software, including services, management and collaboration software.

According to HP, that system is capable of supporting 500 users each with 500MB mailboxes. HP insists that the system, which sits on its c-Class blade chassis, has been optimised for the SME market and is based entirely on HP's own blade components such as its tape system for blades, which was launched last year.

The c3000 is compact, leading to HP dubbing it "Shorty". While the components are standard, "in a blade server, the clever bit is all about the enclosure", said Peter Mansell, HP's business development manager for blade systems.

Users can choose from a range of storage options, network options (Cisco, or others) and processors (Intel or AMD). There is no premium for having a SME configuration, HP said.

Mansell said that the aim is to find economy in things such as the use of space and power. "This unit has integrated cabling, shared power and systems," he said. "[The result is] it will run off standard power with no special cabling or power required."

HP offers two systems for SMEs, with Shorty for smaller companies and the full-height c7000 for larger companies. Shorty is available now, with the c7000 touted for availability in the first quarter of 2008.

SMEs can choose from four different configurations optimised for business intelligence, three configurations for CRM, one for disaster recovery, two for high-performance computing, and one for mail and messaging (the example system shown in the diagram below).

According to HP's Mansell, the system is easy to set up for users. "This is not a product we have dumbed down," he said. "It has been designed from the ground up for this market."

The chart shows the configuration of an HP BladeSystem c3000 setup for mail and messaging support for 500 users. Each of the components is one of HP's standard ones for use with a blade server

Files in iPhone reveal overseas plans for T-Mobile, Vodafone -and- iPhone coverage roundup - courtesy of Engadget

Dave Caddick — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 00:06:00 GMT

So for those of you who have one, or are interested in how this is progressing it might be worth while checking out http://hackint0sh.org/forum but it's quite clear that Apple's blaze of Hype and Publicity could be bringing with some rather unwanted attention? ;-))

Files in iPhone reveal overseas plans for T-Mobile, Vodafone

Posted Jul 4th 2007 3:09PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Cellphones

That iPhone firmware leaked this week? Well, as found on the iPhone Dev Wiki it's been cracked open, its files laid bare, and deep within the system one can find four very special, very telling files:

Default_CARRIER_ATT.png
Default_CARRIER_CINGULAR.png
Default_CARRIER_TMOBILE.png
Default_CARRIER_VODAFONE.png

We know AT&T / Cingular have a 5-year exclusivity agreement on the iPhone in the US, but if this doesn't make clear Apple's plans to launch on Vodafone (presumably for UK and much of Europe) and T-Mobile (presumably for Germany) we don't know what does.

P.S. -Sorry, those iPhone images are encoded all funny (something about flipped R and B pixels?), we couldn't get 'em working. Anyone with some hacking skills want to make 'em readable for us?

P.P.S. -Apple can stop calling the iPhone's browser "Safari" now, we know they differentiated by calling it MobileSafari.app in the iPhone (and it's only 640KB, oddly).

[Via Hackintosh]

iPhone coverage roundup

Posted Jul 4th 2007 1:32PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Cellphones

It's Independence Day here in the states, and while for some that means the inner desire to blow up an iPhone has peaked, for others it's a great time to catch up on your reading. We know there's plenty to see with what amounted to the most blown out CE launch in recent memory, but take your time, peruse it at your leisure, we're not going anywhere.

The review
iPhone review (plus bonus: one liners)

Features
iPhone and iPod accessories: what works, what doesn't
Switched On: Comparing Apples and Blackberrys (Part 1)
iPhone doesn't work with most 3rd party headphones
iPhone: pottymouth friendly
The definitive iPhone user interface gallery
We've got iPhones, what do you want to know? (aka the FAQ)
iPhone first hands-on and unboxing
iPhone multi-city lineblog
iPhone facts from the first reviews
How does the iPhone stack up in total cost?
Fake iPhones: a retrospective

Video
HD video: iPhone interface complete walkthrough
HD video: iPhone on-screen effects
iPhone first hands-on video in HD!
Video: interview with Steve Wozniak!

News
iPhone processor found: 620MHz ARM CPU
iPhone firmware hits the internets -- let the hacking begin!
Teardown reveals iPhone parts cost two bills
iPhone not supported under 64-bit Windows XP or Vista -- oops

Hacking
DVD Jon whips up a way to activate iPhone without AT&T
iPhone hackers turn up a few vulnerabilities
iPhone firmware hits the internets -- let the hacking begin!

Activation
AT&T says iPhone activation is improving
Poll: got iPhone activation problems?
iPhone activations hosed until morning?

More news
iPhone can handle Google Video as well
Teardown reveals iPhone parts cost two bills
Reporter has mic stolen during iPhone interview, recovers ungracefully
iPhone can handle Google Video as well
Helio pits Apple's iPhone against Ocean
The DIY iPhone belt: please don't
iPhone stress test: how did it do?
iPhone splayed for your pleasure
BMW warms up to Apple's iPhone
Happiness is... owning the iPhone
Meanwhile, at the other carriers' stores...
iTunes 7.3 released: pre-req for your iPhone
iPhone accessories unveiled: Bluetooth headset (with dock) is $129
Jobs pulls an Oprah -- $12M in iPhones for all Apple employees
iLoser retains place in line, crisis averted (see also: First iPhone camper smelled at Apple's 5th Ave store)
Apple's iPhone dock includes Bluetooth headset charger -- but is it free?
iPhone ain't even an iPod without service
iPhone syncs with Outlook and Entourage
iPhone rate plans revealed, at-home activation announced

Sales
Can Apple meet iPhone demand?
500,000 iPhones sold so far -- but can Apple keep up?
iPhones sold out at a few Apple stores, many AT&T stores
iPhone stock update: go get 'em

Rumors
T-Mobile announcing German iPhone deal tomorrow?
Microsoft working feverishly on answer to iPhone?
3G iPhone for Europe to be announced Monday?
Apple, Microsoft to push Exchange Direct Push to iPhone?

Ouch
Smashed iPhone "not so cool looking"
Apple buys iPhone.com for seven figures
Reporter has mic stolen during iPhone interview, recovers ungracefully
First Engadget iPhone returned

Huh?
Apple iPhone vs HTC Touch vs LG Prada: battle royale
Apple iPhone vs LG Prada: separated at birth? (part 2)
Hands-on with Crystal Film for the iPhone
How many iPhones did Engadget snag?
So, did you get an iPhone?
How far we've come

WTF
The crystal Jesusphone

No-one can avoid the hype, even I'm taken in by the video - but Apple iPhone or Windows Mobile phone ? here's a comparison of the features

Dave Caddick — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 04:06:59 GMT

So from MSmobiles I found this very neat comparison of the features - I'm actually considering replacing the trusty Orange C600 that I have been using for some while now and everytime I catch the video of the interactive display of the iPhone I do think it looks great, but.....

I have to remind myself that Mobiles (even more that Laptops) are a very tactile choice and before you make the commitment you should definately have the chance to pick one up and touch and play with it - jump in too quickly and you could be regretting it later?

Apple iPhone or Windows Mobile phone ? Truthful answer here!
June 29, 2007 [General] | By Edward J. Rutkowski.

The most over-hyped device in history of mankind - Apple iPhone - goes on sale today in USA, and by the end of 2007 also in Europe and in 2008 also in Asia. Some analysts say that iPhone is a "game changer" and it changes everything when it comes to mobile phone industry - so hype is widespread and not limited to Apple fan boys...

Many people are asking themselves whether it is worth waiting for, is it worth purchasing instead of a Windows Mobile powered phone for example? Here you can find truthful and objective answer:

We present hereby a feature comparison between iPhone and Windows Mobile phones, so that people can decide for themselves, which one is better, which one is more suitable for their needs...

multi-touch technology (display detects more than one point of contact)
- iPhone : yes
- Windows Mobile : no
touch screen with "drag, throw, lift the finger and observe scrolling" technology
- iPhone : yes
- Windows Mobile : yes (now: TouchFLO technology available only in HTC Touch phone, soon more phones available with it)
built-in GPS
- iPhone : no
- Windows Mobile : yes (in some models)
can run 3rd party stand-alone applications
- iPhone : no (so no SlingPlayer, no eBook readers, no other 3rd party software!)
- Windows Mobile : yes (both native code and managed code [.NET, but some models also Java])
can run AJAX web applications inside of the Internet browser
- iPhone : yes (limited to abilities of Safari browser)
- Windows Mobile : yes (limited to abilities of various browsers, for example: NetFront or Opera Mobile)
voice over IP
- iPhone : no
- Windows Mobile : yes (including original Skype Mobile and several SIP clients)
support for 3G cellular networks = wireless broadband speeds
- iPhone : no, only EDGE (2.5G technology, slower)
- Windows Mobile : yes, including HSDPA 3.6 MB/s, UMTS, CDMA EVDO
display resolution
- iPhone : 480x320 pixels
- Windows Mobile : depending on model : 800x480, 640x480, 320x320, 320x240, 240x240, 176x220
camera
- iPhone : 2 megapixel without autofocus
- Windows Mobile : depending on model : 2-3 megapixel, some models with autofocus and macro mode
internal storage
- iPhone : 4GB or 8GB
- Windows Mobile : memory card slot with support 2GB or 4GB in case of the standard cards (some models support though SDHC and thus 8GB and more - no limits)
stereo audio over Bluetooth
- iPhone : no
- Windows Mobile : yes
physical keyboard
- iPhone : no
- Windows Mobile : yes (some models)
virtual keyboard
- iPhone : yes
- Windows Mobile : yes (in some models also with T9 predictive text input)
scroll wheel
- iPhone : no
- Windows Mobile : yes (some models)
visual voice mail
- iPhone : yes
- Windows Mobile : yes (available as 3rd party download)
Wi-Fi
- iPhone : yes
- Windows Mobile : yes (some models)
viewing and editing Microsoft Office documents
- iPhone : no
- Windows Mobile : yes
Microsoft Direct Push email
- iPhone : no (only IMAP connection to Microsoft Exchange)
- Windows Mobile : yes
instant messaging (I.M.)
- iPhone : no
- Windows Mobile : yes (Live Messenger with file transfer ability built-in + several 3rd party I.M. programs available)
ability to connect external hardware
- iPhone : no
- Windows Mobile : yes (through SD/SDIO interface + through USB host feature in some models)

Conclusion: as you can see above in several areas Windows Mobile phones are superior to Apple iPhone.

Netgear promises 3G femtocells by end of year - talk about convergence?

Dave Caddick — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:21:28 GMT

So what is a femtocell?

Femtocell Definition

According to Mae Kowalke, femtocells are small cellular base stations that provide enhanced coverage at the far edge of the network. They will enable wireless providers and others perhaps to provide services such as IPTV and definitely FMC.

Perhaps most importantly femtocells will allow service providers to shore up their coverage without the need for expensive towers. T-Mobile is rolling out this technology as we speak and there seems to be lots of opportunity for this market as ABI predicts that, by 2011, annual worldwide shipments of femtocell products will reach 19 million units.

Specifically, ABI predicted that “by 2011 there will be 102 million users of femtocell products on 32 million access points worldwide.”

Conclusion

This news from Netgear means that sometime next year (maybe) you could potentially but a new ADSL/Wireless Router that can act as you own personal "booster" to your 3G handset

Now if you take that idea a couple of steps further this could also allow:

The Telco to use your Router to boost coverage from your location without adding additional towers
You could potentially negate the 3G charges while you are home by bypassing the 3G and having the signal/data trunked across the ADSL

So more at:

Netgear promises 3G femtocells by end of year

Still hedging bets with Wi-Fi included, too

By Bill Ray → More by this author

Published Tuesday 26th June 2007 16:25 GMT

Netgear has announced it will be using technology from Ubiquisys to embed 3G femtocells into a home gateway product by the end of the year, though the box will also have Wi-Fi; in addition to being a DSL modem and VoIP router.

Femtocells promise to spread 3G connectivity into homes, allowing your 3G handset to connect to your own local cell and have calls routed over your ADSL line, when you're at home; but that's only the beginning of what they can offer.

The femtocell also connects to the home network, enabling content on the phone to be streamed to devices around the home, such as TVs and stereo systems, as well as giving the user access to all the normal 3G services at up to 7.2Mb/sec (assuming their handset supports HSDPA).

Wide scale deployment of femtocells has the potential to make Wi-Fi networks redundant: why use a power-hungry, short-range, technology when the addition of a femtocell provides all the same functionality without the drawbacks?

Of course, such technology will only be available from network operators; they own the licences covering the frequencies that 3G operates in, and network operators are surprisingly conservative when it comes to new technologies, not to mention business models.

This announcement from Netgear puts the femtocell firmly in the consumer-electronics bracket and presents a real opportunity for network operators to unbalance the dominance of Wi-Fi. But if they have the nerve to take advantage of that opportunity remains to be seen.®

iPhone syncs with Outlook and Entourage

Dave Caddick — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 01:23:27 GMT

iPhone syncs with Outlook and Entourage

By Ryan Block on sync

Filed under: Cellphones

It was definitely quickly glossed over in today's iPhone activation and sync walkthrough, but Apple pretty clearly stated that Mac users with Entourage can sync their calendars with the iPhone through iTunes, and PC users can sync their Outlook calendars the same way. That's totally heartening for any corporate calendar users wondering how they were going to get their datebooks on their new phone, but there was no mention whatsoever of contact syncing via Outlook / Entourage for Active Directory, just Apple Address Book and Yahoo Address Book (which could potentially leave PC users in the lurch). So, your thoughts?

Update: According to Mossberg's early review it does in fact sync contacts too! Not the same as live, over the air AD access like on WinMo, but definitely close enough!

View Poll

Apple iPhone review roundup

Dave Caddick — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 01:22:50 GMT

Apple iPhone review roundup

By Paul Miller on iphone

Filed under: Cellphones

With just a few days to go before launch, Apple has apparently lifted its embargo on the lucky few journos to get their hands on an iPhone a couple weeks early, and David Pogue, Walt Mossberg and USA Today's Edward C. Baig are doing the first honors. And honors abound: three out of three reviewers agree that the iPhone is pretty much the sexiest phone to ever hit the market, and there was no small amount of praise for the high resolution screen, svelte form factor and sturdy construction -- nano scratchers rejoice, nobody managed to make a mark on this thing. The iPhone turns out to be a bit of conundrum, excelling and even revolutionizing certain phone functions, while utterly failing at others. First the bad: call quality is only average, and AT&T's weak sauce signal wasn't doing the iPhone any favors. It also can be a rather multi-step affair to even make a call, since there's no home screen speed dial or voice recognition, and the phonebook can't be searched, only scrolled through. Other failings like the lack of MMS, IM chat and video recording are even more mysterious. And that EDGE data? Pogue found himself longing for the days of dial-up, while waiting 1-2 minutes for popular sites to load, and while WiFi was quick to save the day in many instances, that's hardly an excuse in the year 2007. Luckily, there's plenty to love about this new approach to phoning, like an excellent web browser, mail client, visual voicemail and Cover Flow-enhanced iPod functions -- they're what Apple has been tooting its horn about, and they all seem to work as advertised. The keyboard more or less requires "faith" in the word auto-correction -- an Apple rep likened it to using The Force -- and while all three reviewers were able to get up to speed sooner or later, it's most certainly agreed that this is no BlackBerry-killer. Battery life was a non-issue, outstripping most smartphones, and nearly meeting Apple's claims.

Read - David Pogue "The iPhone matches most of its hype"
Read - Walter S. Mossberg and Katherine Boehret "Despite its network limitations, the iPhone is a whole new experience and a pleasure to use" (Check out Walt's video review after the break)
Read - Edward C. Baig "Apple's iPhone isn't perfect, but it's worthy of the hype"

Continue reading Apple iPhone review roundup