Mornin' Gents

at&t so big they don't care about their customers or service?

2009-09-30T05:39:00.000-07:00

Is at&t becoming the worst carrier in the U.S.?

I use to hold that title for Sprint, mainly because of their bad coverage, bad customer service and lack of GSM phones. Lately, at&t is doing a lot to change many of people's minds, including mine.

I use the Nokia N95 which has always had excellent service even in the fringe areas. I also have a blackberry Pearl 8120 that gets decent service as well...at least until about 6 months ago. I was driving home from work, talking to my wife about what was for dinner and all of sudden I hear those familiar beeps. I look down at my phone and see "call disconnected". I think to myself "How odd. I never drop calls with at&t." but every carrier gets a few drops now and then. The next day, same drive, same conversation...same results. "Okay, must be a tower issue?" I'm thinking to myself. I used to work for at&t and know issues with towers happen but get fixed.

The following weeks I found myself dropping calls in more spots all over town on a daily occurrence. I've been to the store and called customer care to report the problems, but they act like the issue is just temporary. Lately I haven't been receiving calls at all...just voicemails asking why I don't answer my phone anymore.

at&t your once great service couldn't have degraded this quickly?

Today I find myself out of contract, two phones, $100 plus plan, and service that's only usable half the time, but I feel like I can't leave. Why you ask?

- Good company discount through at&t
- Most of my friends and family on at&t, use about 1100 minutes for mobile to mobile.
- Love using my Nokia N95, so CDMA services are last resort.
- Coverage in Texas where I travel is limited to two carriers, at&t and Verizon.
- Cost of switching would be high (activation fee, new phones, etc...)

Don't believe the words of a lone blogger? Read up on other people's experience with not only bad mobile service, but also customer service:

iPhone's fault?
iPhone Customers Speak.
Just how bad is at&t?
Ripoff Report
JD Powers Award for Service
Laptop Mag Rates Customer Service

There's quite a few articles (professional and not) speaking to the bad service, and most are blaming the iPhone's popularity, combined with the high data usage and the inability for at&t's network to handle it.

So alas, I'm stuck with this horrible service...at least for the moment. Has at&t really gotten so fat on it's on customers that it feels it doesn't need to improve the network or customer service at all and still make a profit? Maybe you've had good service with at&t, let me know what your experience is in the comments.

Nokia X6 little late on the whole "X" thing...

2009-09-05T07:43:00.001-07:00

So Nokia has announced their new X3 and X6, part of their new X series. It's a full screen touchscreen phone similar to the 5800 Xpress. Gen X was like so two thousand and late...and yes I just quoted a pip poppity song.

I actually the look of this phone, slim design, nice screen (Capacitive like the iPhone), but am I the only one who still digs actual buttons?

blah.

I kinda felt the same way when I heard....

2009-09-01T08:06:00.001-07:00

Hitler isn't too excited that Disney bought Marvel. I would like to see Deadpool meet some Disney characters though, preferably the with a gun.

What I hate most about the gym...

2009-08-29T10:00:00.001-07:00

People who don't know what the heck they are doing and look they they are having a seizure while lifting. People it's all about form, not how much weight or how fast you can do it.

Back hurt much?

The thing I hate most is the guys (and ladies sometimes) that have to yell like they are passing a Richard Simmons size turd or are having an orgasm.

/rant.

Ever wonder what your pets do when you're gone?

2009-08-29T06:48:00.001-07:00

Yeah, me too.

Xbox 360 getting price cut!

2009-08-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Go out and get one...or two. I admit I've only had the red ring of death 7 times, so now I can afford to buy 1 or 2 backups so I can continue sitting on my butt not working. Hoorah for Microsoft!

Linky-poo:
Joystiq

Nokia Releasing a Worthy iPhone Competitor?

2009-08-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

Will this be the iPhone killer that the Palm Pre, Blackberry Storm, and G1 haven't been? Probably not, but hey Nokia I love your phones (not literally, more of a lust thing) and I actually dig Symbian. This phone does...what do you mean no Symbian? Maemo? What the hell is that? Some Linux based OS? Who am I kidding, this thing won't see the shores of America anytime soon and if it does it'll probably be a jillion more dollars than I have to spend on it. (I think about $700)

Hey Nokia, is it too much to ask to have a carrier subsidize this bad boy?

Official Link
http://maemo.nokia.com/n900/

Bloggity Blogs with more info:

Engadget Mobile
Gizmodo

Hey Nokia, you should totally make this phone:

2009-08-22T00:16:00.001-07:00

I really dig my Nokia N95. I kinda dig touch screens too. Wouldn't it be cool to have an "n95" type phone with a touchscreen instead of a goofy front?

Don't need the front camera or any buttons (although the proximity sensor would be nice).

I submit this poorly photoshopped design you see on the right. If I had more skills I would make it smooth looking like a Palm Pre or a very cool rock you might find if your into rocks.

Keep the specs similar to the N95. We don't need more megapixels honestly, just put a blazin fast processor in it, enough memory to save a ton of stuff and work on the UI. (overhaul the music player! it's terrible seriously)

I know what your saying, "why no QWERTY keyboard?" Well I dig the size of my N95, and I honestly have an easier time using the keypad than I do using a QWERTY similar to the E71. I do like buttons and tactile feedback, so this would please me quite nicely.

Feel free to steal this idea Nokia, the only thing I ask is you send me a dozen to use and give to friends. A man can dream right?

at&t to require data plans ($30+) on smartphones.

2009-08-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

The Execs at at&t decided they each need a new gold plated bathroom. Ripped straight from internal memo posted on BGR:

Beginning September 6, 2009, customers who activate or upgrade to a Smartphone will need to sign up for an appropriate data plan. Existing Smartphone customers active prior to September 6, 2009 will be grandfathered and exempt from the new policy.

Why we are making this change?
We want our customers to have the best possible experience with their Smartphones. A predictable bill is a key factor in customer satisfaction, so effective September 6, 2009 Smartphone customers will need to subscribe to a data plan, as the vast majority of customers already do. Data plans let customers fully utilize their device, without the worry of bill shock.
How we will ensure an extraordinary customer experience?
The sales representative is the customer’s expert resource in helping select the right device for their needs. When a customer does not want a data plan, we will position other devices in our industry leading portfolio for the customer to choose from, as many devices do not require a data plan.
Action Required:
Sales Managers will review the Know the Facts, Job Aid, and FAQs (found under Related Links) with their sales teams and ensure all sales representatives fully understand the new policy and how to position the Smartphone data requirement to customers. A Sales Coaching Session will be available on September 5, 2009 (document to be distributed in advance).

My Xbox 360 is back....

2009-08-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

this is only the 7th time it had to get repaired. Damn you Microsoft for having such good games, otherwise I'd buy a wii.

Ants ate our brick mailbox

2009-04-29T17:52:00.001-07:00

Ants ate our brick mailbox - BASTARDS.

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Nokia N78 Review

2008-05-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

well kiddos, i've spent some time with a pre-release version of the Nokia N78, (thanks again to womworld.com) and I can honestly say that I'm impressed, mainly because I'm a cheap bastard and wouldn't shell out $500 for a phone. I also decided since it's not mine to hand the phone to random strangers and gauge reactions. I also tried this with dogs, a circus peanut, and a statue of the terminator...they seemed less impressed.

First off let's start with some quick specs:

-Quad band GSM, HSPDA (u.s. and euro variants, I demo'ed the euro)
-3.2MP camera with autofocus, carl zeiss optics
-GPS, voice guidance with subscription
-Nav wheel, ala Ipod
-WiFi
-3.5mm headset jack
-FM stereo transmitter
-~~love that only a mother can give~~

at first glance, what sticks out with most people is the unusual keypad. The keypad design is actually pretty elegant for a phone that still uses an actual keypad, if you can even call it that. I may invent a new word for weird Nokia keyboards ala Nokia 3600. I can't think of anything witty at the moment so moving on... When the lights kick off it looks pretty flush and streamlined. The keypad is a double edged sword though, the design making it hard to type out by feel, although it gets easier as time goes by. The send/end/soft keys are flush with the phone though and make it impossible to accurately push the right one 100% of the time. The D-pad is great though, rocking nicely and feeling made for my thumb, but yet again Nokia added the much ballyhooed "Nav-Wheel", almost like an Ipod. You can't adjust the sensitivity though, so when you are trying to use the D-pad, you end up all over the screen. This can be turned off, which is the way it ended up after the 2nd day of use. There is also dedicated music key next to the end button, an up/down key for volume and dedicated camera button on the side; and a power button on the top.

The first thing you notice when you start using the phone is the snappy menus. Almost everyone who played with the phone loved the speed of the UI, transitioning from different screens to programs fairly quickly. The animated icons and themes also received many kudos.
I would go as far and say that I've not used a smartphone with a faster UI, and I've used just about every OS available. (except the very snobbish UIQ)

The phone also feels good in your hand, many people liked the size and the smoothness of the phone (although it might be too slippery for my taste). Although I liked the size and the feel of the phone in my hand, the build quality felt a little to plastic, especially the back cover which felt like it would pop off or break...and it did pop off a couple of times.

I'll try to keep a bit on the positive side from here out, the best thing about the phone is of course what it was originally built for, talking. The sound quality is actually really good, callers on the other end also claimed the sound to be good. The speakerphone was so-so, sounding a bit tinny out of the speakers, and I found that I was having to speak into the top of the phone for people to hear me clearly, but not unusable. I dropped signal only twice, so I would say signal is good for what I'm used to, I've only gotten better from a RAZR2 and a Nokia E62. Too bad those phones sucked

The camera takes pretty good pics in good lighting, I took a few at a lake trip I recently went on this weekend. Check em out: www.ovi.com/xj911 The pictures in darker lighting were not as good unless you switch to night mode which helped quite a bit. The flash was very bright and can be used to light up a room, or blind your wife so she doesn't get the last taquito. I also posted a video, which wasn't too bad, but isn't as good as the Nokia N95, only recording at 15fps. The usual fare in options are there, contrast, color, white balance, and the standard scene modes. (potrait, night mode etc...)
Although I was impressed with the camera, it didn't seem to be much better than my N73 photo wise although opening the camera app and shutter speed were much faster. I did like the fact that you can tag your position, and upload strait to Ovi or Flickr directly from the handset.

The music player is suprisingly good, the sound is pretty clean over the headphones. Nokia is starting to understand that media-centric phones not only need to sound good, but also be able to use good headphones thanks the build in 3.5mm adapter. (please nokia make this a standard feature) The stereo speakers also produced a pretty good sound, although it sounds a little distorted at the highest volumes. Womworld included a pair of Nokia Mini MD-4 speakers, which are actually pretty cool, the problem is they don't get much louder than the speakers on the phone so I'm not sure why you would carry them with an N78. I really like the music player, although still not and Ipod replacement, it's really good for an all in one device.

Another cool addition that ties in with the music player is the FM transmitter. I'm not sure why other media phones haven't thought of this in the past, but oh well. If you've ever used an FM transmitter you have a good idea of what to expect, getting decent but not great sound quality. Overall it wasn't a bad experience, it probably would of been much better if I could find a station that didn't fight for signal with the actual radio. Maybe an AM transmitter next time? LOL Also I would add, scary voice recording + FM tuner + friends car = prank opportunity.

On my drive to the lake this weekend I also tested out the GPS, which worked swimmingly! (I was at the lake, get it, okay stick to my day job...which is not reviewing phones) The GPS picked up in about 5 seconds after I started Nokia Maps, and the voice guided navigation was pretty accurate. I didn't spend much time with this, because my friend Bud Light convince me to stay in the same place for much of the weekend.

While I was there I tested out the WiFi, which connected fairly quickly and allowed surfing on the built in Nokia browser at high speed. No hand offs between EDGE and WiFi though, you get a popup asking you how you want to connect when you lose signal. I like the updates to the new nokia browser...did I mention you can see flash videos built into the browser? No more watching ~~youporn~~ youtube just from your PC! I still don't think the built in browser is as fast as Opera Mini, but some of yous guys swear by it...of course Opera Mini doesn't do ~~youporn~~ youtube either so color me converted. EDGE speeds are slightly faster than my N73, although the difference is probably in the processor. There are rumors that there will be a North American 3G version, let's hope so!

Speaking of WiFi, I'm diggin the Home Media sharing setup. I was able to setup and stream music, compatible vids, and pics to and from my home network.

Overall I digg the phone, I like the features, the UI, and definitely dig the look. The major drawback is going to be the keypad, you have to sort of retrain your way of typing, and you'll never get used to hitting the send/end/soft keys. The features outweigh the keypad IMO, definitely worth a look at least if you're searching for a replacement phone for the that has a slew of added features and a much faster UI. Would I buy one? Definitely..if I wasn't waiting for the damn E71 to come out.

Nokia N78 Hands on!

2008-05-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well kiddos, looks like http://www.womworld.com found it in there hearts to send me a Nokia N78 Pre-release to trial and talk to you about. I'm not sure why they chose me, It probably involved grain alcohol, but I'm grateful nonetheless. I'm still reviewing the phone and trying to get the most out of it, so I don't have a full review yet. I will be reviewing the phone coming from an N73, so expect some exciting shouts over features that might not be new.

I'll post more pics as I have time, I may even do a review in chunks, you'll have to check back and see.

The phone is a fingerprint magnet, and apparently causes you to grow hair all over your hands.
It's pretty close in size to the N73, other than the thickness. It feels really nice in my hand, and I love the D-Pad. I'm not too fond of the Nav-Wheel though, I guess for browsing the gallery it's okay. Feel free to post some questions in the comment section and I'll try to get to them during the review.

+ check out a few unboxing pics, plus pics I took with the N78's Camera:
xj's Ovi Share

My New Baby, The Nokia N75

2007-08-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

Many of you may know that I am a mobile phone enthusiast. No, I am not a steamboat operator, you know so little about me! LOL

Well, if you don't know, my weapon of choice is a Nokia phone loaded with Symbian Series 60 OS. In layman's terms, that is the operating system that runs the phone. (just like Windows for your PC) If you have never used a Symbian phone, or even know what the heck that is, simly put it is the best configuration of phone, multimedia and business PDA device out there. There are some people that would debate this, but once you've used one you know why. My latest Symbian Device is the Nokia N75. Here is my short and sweet take on Nokia's latest American flip.

Call Quality- Nokia's have always had a great reputation for outstanding reception and quality, and the N75 is no different. I live out in the boonies, and only two phones hold any reception, Nokia's and the Motorola RAZR V3xx. This to me is the most important part of the phone.
Grade A , fell short of holding reception as well as the Nokia E62, but still great.

Next up, features and function. There is quite a bit here, so bear with me.

Music - Cingular/at&t has chosen to market this phone as a music device. Well, truth be told it is a great music device but does so much more. The built in music player is great, has the ability to create playlists, shuffle, repeat, display album art, and has a built in equalizer. Controlling the music is made simple with the flip closed by play, fwd and reverse buttons on the front. The internal memory on an N75 is piss poor, (40mb) so if you want to listen to music, you're going to have to get a Micro-SD. The good news is the 1 and 2GB variations are relatively cheap, so you can get enough music to listen to on a road trip.

Unfortunately I have a few gripes. The music player has an annoyingly useless habit of adding your mp3 ringtones to the music playlists. It kills your buzz at the gym when you get into your favorite song to only find out that it is only 30 seconds long.
My second gripe, is with the outer music buttons. One reason you buy a flip is to be able to not have to lock the buttons. Well, this one has buttons on the outside, so don't forget to lock them...otherwise you may be in church one day and accidentally turn on Metallica's Devil's Dance in your pocket. That is a 10 Our Father violation! Last and most disappointing, the headset connection. The headset connects on the side and is what Nokia refers to as a "pop port" I refer to it as much more annoying than a 3.5mm plug.
Grade B+

Camera - Nokia has made some inroads with their latest camera phones, but the N75 is a horrible horrible step backwards. Don't get me wrong, for a camera phone it is not bad. The N75 sports a 2.0 megapixel camera with LED flash. If you don't know, I'm informing you now...megapixels do not equal quality, just size. The N75 takes some great shots outdoors, but indoors it produces a fuzzy nightmare of a picture. If you want a good camera phone, the N75 is not for you. Video, on the other hand, is decent among other phones in this class. The N75 records at 15fps, which isn't bad for a phone. Don't get me wrong, it's not great, but for recording that kick in the nuts or a boobie or two...not bad.
Grade C- still shots Grade B- Video
Click the sample pic for a bigger image:

PDA features - The N75 has great PIM functionality. The calendar, contact management, notes and task list are one of the best I've seen on a phone. This is one of the major reasons I own this phone, because it is great tool for business. The main screen has an "active disply" which shows your calendar entries for today, as well as your task list. Comes in handy when getting organized (when you have ADD). You also have the ability to multitask, so you can surf the web, check your calendar and then make a call all at the same time. Ultra hip! (Kinda like what the implanted in steve austin when he turned 70)

The ability to sync with Outlook or Lotus Notes is a huge plus in my book, especially when backing up and adding contacts. PC suite is a whole other tool all together offered FREE OF CHARGE (take that, Motorola Phone Tools!) and allows you to backup your phones content, sync with Outlook, download pictures, music, text message back and forth from phone to PC and a number of other cool things.
Grade A+

3rd Party Software- Another big reason Symbian is a great platform. Anything from Nintendo Emulators (playing tecmo bowl on your phone...woah!), to music downloaders, task managers this phone can do it all.
Grade A+
What I would recommend:
Symella - download your favorite music via the gnutella network. (freeware)
handy taskman - must have app, let's you kill unecessary functions and save RAM. ($10)
salling clicker - one of the coolest apps around, control your pc via phone + bluetooth. also controls media player, pauses when you are away from the computer or a call comes in, and also shows caller id on the screen. Very cool! ($30)
shozu - upload pix and video to your blog or hosting service. (freeware)
Opera Mini - View full web pages on your phone.

There are a ton of others out there, these are just a few of my favorites.

I give the N75 a Grade B overall. It's a great phone, the call quality is superb, and PDA functions work well. There are many other cool things I didn't go over such as the voice activated dialing, the ability for the phone to read your text messages out loud, among others. The phone is great for browsing the web, watching videos, and listening to music (if you can find and get used to the headphones) The battery life is so-so, can be bad at times depending on use.

I love the call quality, PIM features, Nokia's PC suite, and the variety of third party apps. I loathe the camera, the pop port, and the battery life isn't the best. If you want a good phone that does many things well, pick this one up. If you are looking for a great camera phone or something with more office functionality, you may want to look at the Nokia N95 or the Blackberry Curve.

Other Reviews:

CNET
Mobile Burn

Phonescoop

----John