A lot has changed since the last post nearly a year ago, and that’s where I’m going to start.

Work in IT is hectic and keeps me busy, that’s probably one of the things that has peaked my interest in ramping up content and discussions here on TML.  In the past year, I’ve done a lot of tech and mobile changes personally, and have added a lot of that to the technical solutions I offer, with the perspectives and learnings to go with it.

Some of the changes in the past year:

• Less emphasis on social media
• Greater emphasis on technology and mobility
• Purchased iPad 2 (16GB)
• Upgraded phone (Sensation 4G)
• Switched main OS on laptop to Linux (Ubuntu)
• Migrated netbook to Linux
• Sold iPad2 and upgraded to Asus Transformer Prime

There’s a lot that a person doesn’t mention as well.  Like slimming down the mobile kit (another potential post), and increasing mobile data usage with is potentially costly, but a great experiment to share pro’s and con’s with you!

Also, I’ll be working on a side project to bring Android to the dash of my truck, choosing a 7″ tablet as a replacement for the OEM stereo and in place of an aftermarket audio solution.  This one should be fun as I really believe Android to be the best option for the elusive “carputer”.

Bear with me as I get things in order.  I’ve already updated the WordPress install and current plugins, so the next step is fixing a few of the “broken” issues here on TML, then going for a new look and feel.  That’s always fun.

More real soon!

Hi there!
Ok, the short of it is that I’m getting enthused to write about mobile tech and the way our lives our highly mobile again this year.  Perhaps I’m coming out of a three year writing slump, maybe not.  It may have something to do with selling my iPad2 and replacing it with an Asus Transformer Prime (with Dock!) and getting even more mobile than in the past.

In any case, the next few days will see this site revised, updated, and new content added.  Slowly at first, but it will be a start.  So stick with me on this new adventure – there’s a few other ideas kicking around in my head and I may talk about one of them (a new mobile product idea) here.  Let me know if you’re interested in hearing that one.

Oh, the Transformer Prime?  IMHO, it’s the best tablet out there.  But that’s another post.

Its been awhile since I’ve posted here. Heck, it’s been awhile since anything was written and posted here, and that’s just a darn shame.

This past year I’ve gotten off track on a number of things, one of them being the writings and content of this blog. I originally intended to talk about incorporating affordable mobile technology in today’s lifestyle. Of course, we’re all doing that every day of our lives… each to their own needs to be sure.

That’s probably the great thing about technology. It’s fairly approachable, and allows each of us to find the right solution or combination of solutions to get the job done. Whether that’s the basics of communication, or highly productive mobile offices, there are a ton of options out there.

Mobility seems to be impacting other areas as well. Take the home market and people that haven’t always been on the cutting edge of mobile tech. The rapid pace of change and innovation has touch life at home too. My wife, for example, recently moved from a 15″ full size, dual-core laptop to a 10″ netbook. She loves the experience, with the form factor, weight, and performance meeting all needs without really any compromises.

I too am have found amazing productivity with a tablet, yes the iPad 2, rather than toting my laptop around. The ability to connect the iPad to my phone as a mobile hotspot and get writing, reading, or some minor video editing is absolutely amazing.

So that’s what I think I’ve found recently is a revised intersection of mobile technologies that a person can assemble to meet their needs. This is what I hope to write a bit about in the coming weeks here on TML. I’m hoping that will be an ongoing result of some new investments in mobile tech, and my longtime passion of the industry, stretching back nearly two decades and reaching far into the future.

The top two social networking services updated their Android Apps today! Have you updated yours yet?

On Facebook:

Zuckerberg said it was a really small shop that Facebook had contracted to make the app — he was quickly corrected that it was actually more like one developer. “But it was the main thing they were working on. It wasn’t like it was some shop and that’s why Google had to buy them,” Zuckerberg continued, clearly still holding a bit of a grudge about it.

On Twitter:

One of the biggest new upgrades was the pull-to-refresh, which iPhone users had been using for a while now. This feature allows you refresh on an option bar that is shown after swiping on a tweet. There are some new quoting features available for retweeting and avatar pictures are now high resolution. One minor problem is that all the avatars don’t load right away while you scroll past them. Its just a minor problem and no reason not to upgrade or switch clients. The update is free so go ahead and scan the barcode below or find it in the market.

Learn more on the Facebook update and the Twitter Update.

Today, T-Mobile announced its holiday contingent of phones including the T-Mobile Comet, LG Optimus T, and Motorola DEFY.  While most details of these phones, and their association to T-Mobile has been known for awhile, here’s the official release from T-Mobile.

T-Mobile Is Making It Easier for Families to Stay Connected This Holiday Season and Beyond

 

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Nov. 1, 2010 PDT T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced new products and service plans designed to help families stay connected without busting their holiday budgets. Beginning Nov. 3, T-Mobile is planning to offer a variety of new Android™ smartphones, including the T-Mobile® Comet™, LG Optimus T™ with Google™ and Motorola DEFY™ with MOTOBLUR™, each for less than $100.

 

“We’re heading into this holiday season with our strongest and most affordable lineup ever of Android-powered smartphones,” said Cole Brodman, chief marketing officer, T-Mobile USA. “Combine that with low-cost data service plans and even easier ways to give T-Mobile products as gifts, and we believe families will make the move to smartphones — enriching how they communicate in the new year.”

 

Affordable Android Smartphones for All

 

T-Mobile’s compelling suite of affordable Android smartphones appeals to each member of the family, even first-time smartphone users. In addition to providing access to the mobile Web while on the go, Android-powered smartphones provide customers with one-click access to their favorite Google services, such as Google Maps™, Gmail™, YouTube®, and over 100,000 applications in Android Market™. For less than $100 with qualifying rate plan on a two-year agreement (plus taxes and fees), T-Mobile customers can purchase any of the following devices during the holiday season:

 

The T-Mobile Comet offers a compact form factor, 528 MHz processor, 2.8-inch full touch screen display and a 3.2 megapixel camera. Perfect for customers who are ready to make the affordable transition to their first smartphone, the T-Mobile Comet is also available for prepaid customers at less than $200 (plus taxes and fees), the lowest-priced 3G Android smartphone in the T-Mobile portfolio. The T-Mobile Comet is available in a black finish.
The LG Optimus T is an easy-to-use smartphone with a user customizable home screen, 600 MHz processor, 3.2-inch full touch screen display and a 3.2 megapixel camera with video capture. Featuring Voice Actions for Android pre-loaded on the device, the LG Optimus T allows customers to perform commands through voice entry, such as calling, texting, e-mailing and navigating to a specific destination. The LG Optimus T is available in a burgundy or titanium finish.
Slim and pocket-able, the Motorola DEFY is equipped to withstand all that life throws your way. The DEFY is scratch- and water-resistant, as well as dust-proof, combined with MOTOBLUR™, an 800 MHz processor, a 3.7-inch full touch screen and a 5-megapixel camera with flash and video capture. The Motorola DEFY is available in a black and linen finish.
The Motorola CHARM with MOTOBLUR features a full QWERTY keyboard for easy messaging, a 2.8-inch touch screen paired with a BACKTRACK™ pad for simple navigation, and MOTOBLUR, making it easy to keep up with family and friends. Also featuring a 600 MHz processor and a 3 megapixel camera, the Motorola CHARM is available in a golden bronze or cabernet finish.

Services Families Can Afford

 

In addition to affordable Android-powered smartphones, T-Mobile is delivering new low-cost data service plans expected to be available this holiday season, making data even more accessible for families. New value offers include these:

 

Mobile data plans. With T-Mobile data plans, customers will have two options for data: the Web – 200MB plan or the Web – Unlimited plan. The Web – 200MB plan will be available for $10 per month with a new two-year service agreement or contract extension for a limited time or for $15 per month, which will not require a two-year contract extension. The Web – Unlimited plan will be available for $30 per month. Both data plans will be sold paired with a new or existing voice and text message plan.

 

Tethering and Wi-Fi Sharing service plan. T-Mobile is offering a new tethering service plan that enables select smartphones to function as wireless modems for connecting devices, such as laptops, tablets and netbooks to the Internet through the T-Mobile network. Customers can add the Tethering and Wi-Fi Sharing plan to their Web – Unlimited $30 monthly plan for an additional $14.99 per month.

 

Availability

 

The T-Mobile Comet, LG Optimus T and Motorola DEFY are expected to be available starting Nov. 3 at T-Mobile retail stores, select dealers and online at http://www.t-mobile.com. The T-Mobile Comet will also be available as a prepaid Android smartphone at Best Buy, Radio Shack and Target. T-Mobile expects its new mobile data plans and tethering service plan will be available this holiday season.

 

Making it even easier for consumers to give T-Mobile devices and accessories to their friends and families this holiday season, T-Mobile Gift Cards can be purchased and redeemed at select T-Mobile retail stores nationwide.

 

For more information on T-Mobile products and services, visit http://www.t-mobile.com.

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Ah, a favorite piece of software from my Windows Mobile days!

Ilium Software’s ListPro is now available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  Here’s more info on listpro.

ListPro® is your blueprint for the perfect list. From simple shopping lists, to customized lists for your own specific needs, ListPro has you covered.

Plus, thanks to iAds, ListPro is completely free! And whether you have an iPhone® or iPod® touch, you’ll only need to download once to use ListPro on all three devices.

Build a Fully Customized List Library: If a simple checklist won’t suit your needs, don’t worry! ListPro can handle whatever you throw at it, from a quick to-do list to a complex micro-database, and everything in between.

Make Lists That Perfectly Fit Your Needs: You want a list with checkboxes, dates, and calculated columns, to name a few? ListPro can do that. You need outlining, indenting, and highlighting in your list? It’s all at your fingertips. ListPro can be customized almost any way you can imagine.

Create Your Lists in a Few Simple Steps: List Portals make it easier than ever to create some of the most popular types of lists. Each portal is geared toward a specific type of list making experience, with templates, controls, and features specially selected for lists of a particular type.

And if you find you want to take your portal lists to the next level, you can use the Windows PC version of ListPro to turn your Portal lists into full-featured custom lists.

Rick Mahn from The Mobile Lifestyle starts video blogging again, and talks briefly about direction of TML going forward.

(No, he wasn’t snoozing at the beginning.)

I’m going to keep this one short – real short.

I’ve been contemplating lately about mobility and the reality of our current selection of devices available.  I’m not going to say we don’t need them any more powerful, but I want to ask the question about why we even need things like Netbooks and iPads.

I’m not discounting their appeal, or their abilities – heck I have a netbook and I want an iPad.  I see how I can use them daily in many, many situations rather than a full blown laptop.

What I mean to point out is how much we all live in our smartphones.  I mean, we have mobile devices with broadband connectivity, 1GHz processors and near-HD displays.  We have hundreds of apps to solve any problem and web services tailored (mostly) for many other tasks.

The future is hear and it’ll only get better with two great competing platforms of Android and iPhone.

Photo courtesy of airgap

Let me preface this review with a disclaimer. I am not a geek. Nor am I a nerd, a techie, or a professional anything. I like my phones to make calls, and occasionally receive them (except when my mother is calling, but that’s another story.) I’m not fussy about connection, the concept of 3G and 4G and the bizarre conglomeration of letters and numbers that some companies use to describe their network – it all means nothing to me. So when my husband handed me the Verizon HTC Droid Incredible and said, “Here, play with this a little and tell me what you think” I rolled my eyes and sighed. Another gadget invading my happy home.

You see, I’ve traditionally been anti-Smartphone, almost to the point of belligerence. My (admittedly antiquated) notion was that a phone should be a phone, not a laptop or a PDA or any other overly-technical device. But after spending a day or two playing with the Incredible, I started to understand. When the little chirp alerted me to the arrival of a new email I had been waiting for, I began to appreciate the functionality. I was reading Tweets from friends while traveling down the freeway at speed (in the passenger seat, of course – never play with a Smartphone while driving, folks. Bad things can happen.)

I’m sure I’m preaching to an overly-technical choir here, though, and my Smartphone Epiphany is probably laughable to those of you who converted to the faith years ago. So I’ll get right down to the facts of the phone and let you snicker at my ignorance under your breath.

The Incredible isn’t the first Smartphone I’ve played with. My husband, being who he is, has paraded a plethora of devices under my nose in our years together. Android is another word for joy in this house, and because of him I’m no stranger to the various shapes and styles and features available in the market today. The Incredible, compared to the T-mobile G1 that was just retired from use this month (another story that I’ll get to in a bit) is a sexy little device, slender and supermodel gorgeous. It’s the Porsche Carrera GT to the G1’s Mustang. Both perform beautifully, but the G1 is just a little chunkier, a little meatier and not quite as racecar sleek. The Incredible streaks down the road while the G1 lumbers a bit.

The Incredible’s screen resolution and graphics are just as pretty as the outside, and while I’d love to delve into the technical specs of the device, I’ll leave that to the pros. I like the wallpapers. And the sound quality that comes from the tiny little speaker. It has a lot of features that I hadn’t really explored in-depth before. I love the pinch-zoom feature, which Rick calls “Multi Touch” – whatever, it’s handy and I like it. It scrolls smoothly and the little tiny knobby thing (I’m told this is called an Optical Joystick…ok, sure) is very responsive and sensitive. I tend to fat-finger everything I touch on a Smartphone, but I didn’t have any trouble adapting to the interface on the Incredible, which is – to risk having tomatoes thrown at me – incredible.

The Incredible isn’t all wine and roses, though. The biggest complaint, and this is a big one for someone as particular as I am, is “The Creak.” The case makes a strange little creaky-groaning noise when you hold it, and it can be a bit disruptive during a call when your phone sounds like you’re holding a demented bullfrog up to your ear. Now, I’m not sure how many hands were on this model before I got it, so it’s possible that the wear and tear of many folks putting it through its paces has taken its toll on the phone, but still, I’d expect a bit more sturdiness in a device of this caliber (and expense.) If it were my phone, I’d be disappointed.

The other issue that I have is with the volume buttons on the side of the phone. They are hypersensitive, and I have more than once accidentally either almost muted the call or deafened myself (especially in calls with the aforementioned mother…) so care needs to be taken not to hold the phone with your thumb on the buttons.

Other than that, I’ve been tickled pink with the performance. Battery life is outstanding – even where we live in the boonies, where signal is weak and the phone has to struggle to find it sometimes – the battery would consistently last well over a day, where the G1 and the Nexus One both require charging on a daily basis. And that brings me to the comparison that I’ve been building toward: How does the Incredible stack up against its sister phone, the Nexus One? Yes, we have one, and I had a few minutes to sit down and compare the devices side by side.

The Nexus One is a gorgeous little bundle of happy, and I was impressed enough with it when I finally saw it that I was half tempted to purchase one for myself. The Incredible carries the same sense of “whoa!” and while its body lines are slightly different, it’s difficult to pick one over the other regarding the overall sexiness of the phone. They perform equally magnificently, at least for a greenhorn like me, and aside from the battery life there are virtually no differences between the phones in performance. Both phones have done amazing things with the technology, and have gone a long way toward changing my view of Smartphones.

Ultimately, the decision between the Incredible and the Nexus come down to personal taste and, of course, provider. Would I drop our provider to get an Incredible? Probably not, since I’ve got access to the Nexus with ours. But if I had to choose which phone to buy and I had no network loyalties, it would be a very difficult decision indeed.

Signed,

A Reformed Smartphone-phobe.

Actually I picked up my first Acer Aspire One 751h at the end of June, so I’ve been living with one for over two weeks.  First you ask? Yep, I’m on my second unit, so what does that mean?

Let me get back to the beginning first.  I’ve been thinking about picking up a netbook for the last 18 months.  There have been several units through the various iterations from the original Asus EEE PCs, to the current crop of popular units from multiple vendors.

I happened to choose the 11.6 Acer Aspire One, which has the model number 751 here in the U.S.  There were several reasons for choosing this unit instead of the 10in. units that are available everywhere.  Key among them was the 1366×786 HD resolution and the full-size keyboard.  The fact that this unit shipped with 2GB of memory and a 250GB drive was only further inducement.

Now, those specs are pretty impressive for a netbook, even with the 3-cell battery included in this unit.  There are 6-cell versions out there too.  The downside for this model is the Intel Atom Z520 processor which clocks in at 1.33GHz.  It’s slightly underpowered in comparison to the N270 Atom chip (or so I’m lead to believe), even though it features hyper threading.

Even with the slower processor, the larger screen, higher resolution, and fullsize keyboard make up for the mediocre performance.  The key to that perspective also has to do with what I use the netbook for as well.  Since I no longer have need for high-power computing functionality like I used to, the system fits my needs quite nicely.  Heck, that’s what these things are for anyway, browsing, reading, writing, and more are the main functions anyway.

Interestingly, that Z520 chip is slightly underpowered for a reason, to squeeze more life out of limited power sources.  Such as the 3-cell battery included here.  I’ve not done any timed or load tests since I’m not into system testing, but rather I can give you some ideas on real-use battery life.  Simply, figure about 3hrs for normal use.  That’s including running either WiFi or a 3G USB modem.  Another nice thing in the power department is the super-small and lightweight AC adapter which, while not pocketable, is quite easy to pack along in smaller bags.

Overall, I’ve been quite pleased with the unit as a whole.  I’s less than 3lbs – 2.8lbs to be exact – and less than an inch thick.  There’s 3 USB ports, Ethernet, and VGA ports, and a switch for toggling WiFi quickly and easily.  Finally, the built-in webcam and memory card reader top off a pretty well rounded netbook.

So, what about that “first” one thing?  That was kinda strange, as it’s the first computer I’ve had that actually had an issue right out of the box.  At least a few hours from opening the box anyway.  Within about 3 days of light use it simply would power off after about 1 minute.  It literally would begin booting and then shutdown.  Even if I went into the BIOS, after about a minute or so, it’d shut down.  I think the first one was damaged or impaired in some way.

So, yes, I’m on the second unit, a nice pearl white one this time, and am quite happy with the swap.  The change from my 2 year old 15in. dual core monster is profound, and rewarding for the work I do.  As both a mobile professional and consultant, having a more portable solution with me everywhere is a huge improvement in productivity.