* Posts by RKS

6 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Oct 2010

Nokia Lumia 900 WinPho 7 smartphone

RKS
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Android/Nokia

I took the plunge earlier this year to get an Android phone, my E71 being a little too old for good photos and web browsing. My older N95 would have been fine for the former and Opera usually did a good job of the latter.

Now here is what I found in the last week with Google's OS:

Can't make SIP calls on 3g without installing a third-party app.

Can't make a SIP call directly from my contacts unless I first saved an internet number for them - no long press or option menu like my 4 year old phone.

No option at all to make a SIP call from a manually entered phone number.

No ability to directly send DTMF of a contact when already in a call - for using local access number of SIP provider when no 3g or wi-fi was available.

Irrespective of why Android leaves me wondering why I can't do things my old trusty phone could do, can the new WM7 do these things?

Nokia N8 smartphone

RKS
Black Helicopters

@Giles Jones: Not bad

Processor speeds are not important, it's what they do that is important. The CPU is underclocked, the OS is very resource functional (always has been) and has a separate GPU for the intensive graphics. Battery life for me is about 2-3 days on a charge - push email is on 7am till midnight on 2 accounts, browsing the web, telephone calls and music in the morning and evening. So I am very pleased. There some faults but hope they fix them soon.

I always wonder why some of the tech people reviewing this mobile phone constantly rubbish the processor for being clocked slower than the competition. Remember the days when the Apple OS was always said to be better and more resource efficient than Windows and hence the slower processors? Remember also that almost all video and photo editing used to be done on Macs for that very reason? Short memories....

RKS
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@Tom Chiverton 1

"So, it won't even lie flat on the desk ? Geez..."

In fact it does. It's very slightly raised at the back (approx 2mm) but you can very comfortably use it on a desk or table.

RKS
Gates Halo

Need help

"You can't place a shortcut to a person"

You can by adding the Favourite widget to the home screen. You can then add up to 10 people to this list and the widget multiple times - one for work, one for family etc. You can also open your contact list and long press on individuals and mark them favourite - this will bring them to the top of your list whenever you write a message or open contacts again. The only problem is that you can't organise your favourite in any order you might like - only in the order that you added them to your favourites.

"you can't drop applications wherever you like."

You can to a certain extent by adding the Shortcut widget, but then you HAVE to select 4 apps to use. But putting individual app shortcuts is not possible.

"You can't set a shortcut to activate a particular setting, either"

You can for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Sip, to different menu shortcuts. Which one do you want that is missing?

"it won't use the spacebar to accept suggestions unless you change another setting"

Really, how? I have been looking for this and can't find it anywhere. Using the right arrow to accept the work and then hitting spacebar is a poor design.

"E-mail now uses Nokia's server-side Intellisync software, but for obvious reasons of security (Nokia knows your passwords) I didn't test this extensively."

This can be bypassed. If you reject the terms and conditions right at the end of the email account set-up the emails won't go anywhere near Nokia's servers. This also helps because you can send attachments larger than 2MB in size the latter imposes.

There are other fiddly little problems to the ones you mention in this article. In many menus if scroll to the bottom item and select it when you go back the phone automatically takes you back to the top of the list. Notes and files of this type cannot be scroll without first selecting and marking all the text. I can customise my home screen by long pressing the screen, but I can't do the same when inside menus. Why? Instead I have to click on options and then organise. I then can list the items in alphabetical order - instead you have to move each individual icon to the location you prefer.

Mail for Exchange crashes on replying when using Gmail. IMAP email doesn't work as push email, so if your settings are set to retrieve soonest the app won't work until you open it. These things have been smoothed out over years by Nokia so why they should stop working properly is anyone's guess.

Three is voted the best UK network

RKS
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My Experience with 3

My experience with 3 has been somewhat different than some. In a good way.

Initially when I joined them 4 years ago it was pleasant but the phone I chose for myself and my wife was not great. It was a Nokia Slide and it was rubbish. Getting it changed or cancelling the contract became a nightmare and confusing as it and a new handset and contract also became live at the same time. Resolving the problem, plus the fact they had done 5 credit searches, became too much of a problem. Eventually after pulling out all my hair we fixed it. Got an N95 8GB and SE C902.

Then came time for an upgrade. Got an E71 for myself and C905 Plus for my wife. Great. Problem came for me when I could hardly use my phone at work due to a lack of signal. I was in a blind spot (I had moved jobs). After having signed the new contract only 2 months earlier it wasn't looking good. 3 telephone calls later and I had a great result. They cancelled my contract with no penalty to pay. Lovely.

However, they now were adamant they wanted the handset back. Told them regular stuff about contractual issues and that the phone was not their property. 9 calls worth of frustration later they eventually relented. They also offered me a loyalty discount to make my 500 X-network credit and 1GB only cost me £5 so I could use the phone in the evenings where I did have a signal.

2 months ago I lost 3g signal at home. Called tech support and the first guy although trying to be helpful wasn't. Eventually got a call from their level 3 tech who diagnosed the problem to be with their cell and arranged the dispatch of an engineer. Offered me 7 days of credit without asking for it, even though I was now connected to T-Mobile's 2G network.

Recently got my N8 on the One Plan, plus an extra 2GB of data all for £18/mth. Great deal! First handset turned out to be 'made on Friday' and was promptly replaced. New one arrived and old taken back.

So all in all it has been a mixed bag for me. I am generally satisfied with their service. I like their new policy of not publishing unlimited data plans and I have enjoyed their 3G signal, which on the whole has been steady and stable. Calling them for service and support hasn't always been easy, but then I can't remember calling any major company and having my problem addressed promptly - Nokia, BT, my bank, ISP, local council and the list goes on.

Guardian super-blogger flames Reg boffinry desk

RKS
Stop

Title of your article was misleading

Why can you not accept that?

When you say "much" of the warming was caused by the sun's activity I understand it to mean the majority or more than other factors. You should accept that instead of writing some stupid excuse "Much of recent global warming - as much as was caused by human carbon emissions, anyway". That would mean they are equally responsible. One is not MUCH more of the cause.

As to all the recent issues on climate change I am still waiting for good authoritative research. Papers that study 3 year periods or even 100 year periods are inconclusive and not representative in the grander scale of things that happen in our solar system. To talk about what the sun is doing now is not fact as to how it was behaving 10,000 years ago. It is not a machine with specific output, it is subject to a lot of physics and evolves over time.

We also need to understand the causes of the past ice ages and meltdown, without which we will not know if this is part of the same cycle. There is so much more to this than just human, of that I am fairly sure but stand to be corrected.

Then we have the 'Lay Scientist' proclaiming "Either way, it has little effect on the reality of man made climate change" is another type of assertion I vehemently dislike. Where is the reality? Has it been proved beyond all doubt or objections? And are we the ONLY cause of this change?