Category Archives: Mobile Devices

Category containing all posts that relate to mobile devices.

Why does Apple block multitasking and wallpapers on iPod touch 2G?

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First of all, I’m back! Sorry I’ve been away for so long – I really wanted to make the most of the summer break to focus on a few other personal matters. But now summer seems to be rapidly fading into autumn, I’m back in business for the time being! There will be lots to look forward to with GEEK! this autumn – I’m going to be reviewing some cool new tech in the months up to Christmas and chatting about loads of new software!

In the mean time though, I’ll stick to the post at hand. It’s always baffled me as to why Apple decided to block out multitasking and wallpapers on the iPod touch 2G. I’ve been a proud owner of my iPod Touch for nearly 18 months now and was very pleased when Apple announced that they’d finally be supporting it in iOS4 some months back.

But then when Apple said that they wouldn’t support it on 2G, I was quite annoyed. They state that the lack of recent hardware made it difficult for them to implement the new features, but that doesn’t make much sense to me.

When the firmware was eventually cracked, I jailbroke my iPod and, to my surprise, multitasking worked perfectly. You have to close apps from time to time as it does get a bit slow if you leave too many open, but otherwise it works well.

I really don’t get why they wiped out the home screen wallpaper for the 2G iPod touch. What was the problem with that?

Alan Edwardes raised a good point in a blog post he wrote, asking why not just have a slider that could turn the features on or off in the device settings? The iPod Touch 2G can clearly cope with the new features, but it would be useful if you could choose to have them on or off. Some people could find it annoying that you do have to close apps from time to time. Still, why can’t I make that choice myself rather than having to hack my device in order to get the features?

3 UK (Hutchison 3G) to finally start offering the iPhone in the UK

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3 UK, the network which claims to have the best 3G coverage in the UK, has recently announced that it will start offering the iPhone 4 from June 24th.

There’s no news on pricing as yet, but 3 have said that they’re aiming to announce tariffs on June 15th.

I’m personally very pleased with the idea. Despite the fact that I left 3 earlier this year, it’s good that 3 are finally offering one of the most popular smartphones around. And it could be perfect time, as O2 are cutting their mobile internet down later this month, coinciding with the iPhone 4 launch.

With their extensive 3G coverage in the UK, this could see a lot of customers moving from other networks to 3 for the brand new iPhone, which claims to have a bucket-load of new features that will interest a wide range of smartphone users.

O2 cuts unlimited internet on it’s mobile tariffs – is that such a bad thing?

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It has recently been announced that as of June 24th, O2 will no longer be offering unlimited internet to it’s new and upgrading customers. The move has shocked many, but O2 has said that too many people use the network abusively and as a result they have been forced to take action.

O2 has mentioned in it’s press release that the changes will only affect about 3% of it’s customers who use the network excessively. The remaining 97% will not be affected as O2 claims that even the lowest internet package, providing 500MB per month, is more than 2.5 times the average monthly user usage.

Customers currently on contracts with O2 will continue to receive unlimited data until 1st October, but will have to watch for changes to their contract over the next few months to make sure they don’t receive horrendous charges.

The question is whether other networks will follow suit. Orange currently offers “unlimited” internet packages, but hidden in the FUP are limits restricting customers. As usual, Orange has forgotten the meaning of unlimited. Vodafone is slightly clearer, offering fixed plans with fixed usage limits.

It is also worth thinking about whether O2’s increasingly popular MVNO, giffgaff, will follow suit. The network announced today that they have no plans to change their unlimited internet offers with their goodybags, but stated that they couldn’t guarantee this wouldn’t change in the future.

Personally, I don’t think the news is all that bad – as customers will finally get a clear idea of what they can use each month in terms of data, but time will tell as to whether customers agree to the changes.

Nokia 5230 Review – The best budget phone I’ve had so far

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I recently acquired my first ever smartphone (at last!). It’s the Nokia 5230 – a budget phone that packs a lot of punch.

For the best part of £80 from the Carphone Warehouse, you can get the phone brand new and unlocked. It includes HSDPA internet, GPS, Symbian S60 5th edition and a 2 megapixel camera. Personally, I think that’s a great line up for such a low priced phone.

The phone is very similar physically to the 5800. It’s a very similar size (but slightly thinner) and has the same sized screen. In fact, the 5230 only lacks wi-fi and a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash compared to the 5800. The 5230 is very nice to hold and fits comfortably in my hand.

On the left side of the phone, you’ll find slots for the MicroSD memory card (up to 16GB) and a SIM card. Whereas on the right of the phone, you’ll find a volume control, a lock slider (to lock the phone) and a single press camera button. On the front of the phone, you simply have the 3.2″ touchscreen and 3 hard buttons.

The interface of the phone is very easy to use. The Symbian S60 firmware means you get great ease of use together with brilliant functionality. As part of Nokia’s recent changes, you also get free worldwide Ovi Maps to go in harmony with the GPS receiver. Overall, I found Ovi Maps to be very impressive with the latest firmware to date. It is very fast and is relatively good at following your movements. The GPS receiver is one of the best built-in receivers I’ve used so far, being very good at getting strong signals even when in the car or on a bus.

The 2 megapixel camera is slightly lacking in today’s standards, but I feel that it still performs relatively well. I was very impressed with video camera, which is capable of shooting 640×480 video at 30 frames per second. The phone was also very good at getting decent, well focused shots in fast movement. I wouldn’t use it for professional photography, but for casual out-and-about usage it is perfect for the job. There’s no front facing camera, so no video calls, but who ever did video calls?

You also get a mono speaker which I thought was pretty good, but putting my own earphones into the 3.5mm jack sounded much better.

In terms of what you get in the box, I was slightly disappointed. In the UK, you’ll get the phone, together with a charger, manual and wrist strap. It also includes a very low budget stylus in the shape of a guitar pick, however I can’t really complain at the price of the phone. You don’t get a micro USB cable for the phone, so you have to rely on bluetooth for syncing with your computer. However, you can get these on eBay for about £3, so it may well be worth budgeting for.

Overall, I’m very happy with the phone. It packs a lot of punch for £80, and I’m happy to take it as an upgrade for my old 3120 classic.

3 Mi-Fi – should I get it?

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I’m just not sure!

I’ve recently been considering the concept of Hutchinson 3G’s (3 in the UK) mobile wireless broadband service – dubbed “Mi-Fi”. It has really interested me because of it’s convenience. You simply slip in the SIM card and off it goes. It works as a portable wi-fi router, and can connect up to 5 devices at any given time.

On the pay as you go plan (which I’d prefer), you get the device for £49.99, together with all the kit and caboodle you will need to go with. You then pay for bandwidth separately and is priced as follows:

  • £10 for 1GB
  • £15 for 3GB
  • £25 for 7GB

Pretty expensive in my opinion – but that’s mobile broadband for you.

I think it would be really handy for me as I spend a lot of time in cars, on trains and in public places so it would be pretty convenient for me. I just need to justify whether the cost balances out the convenience.

If anyone has Mi-Fi, could they post a comment to let me know how they get on with it? It’d be nice to know what people think of it.