Category Archives: Mobile Devices

Category containing all posts that relate to mobile devices.

Cloud Unlimted Music review – unlimited public wi-fi for the iPod Touch

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Get unlimited wi-fi for your iPod Touch at a tiny price

I recently subscribed to The Cloud’s iPod Touch service, dubbed “Cloud Unlimited Music”. It is a service designed specifically for the iPod Touch and gives unlimited browsing and downloading at The Cloud’s wi-fi hotspots for just £3.99 per month.

I decided it was worth it as it is handy to have instant internet access in many public train station. The company’s hotspots can be found in many public places – such as train stations, pubs, hotels, restaurants and as most O2 stores. Considering the small price, I can head out and just catch my emails or finish a download.

I’m really impressed at how well the system works. I signed up and added my debit card as payment, and then 2 days later (today) headed out to my local town to try it out. I walked into an O2 shop and tried to connect. Straight away I was on the net – no need to log on or anything like that.

You don’t need to log on because the system works by checking your iPod’s MAC address rather than a username or password. When you sign up, you provide your device’s MAC address and your account is locked to that code. By doing this, it means that you no longer have to log on when joining a hotspot.

In addition, I was also really impressed at the speeds. My local O2 store gave me a download speed of over 8 megabits per second (which is more than twice the speed of my home broadband).

So overall, I’m very happy with it. It’s great value and works very efficiently. If you need wi-fi access for your iPod Touch in town – this is for you.

Review: Exspect In-Ear Earphones

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I went out today and actually bought my second pair of the Exspect In-Ear earphones. I know, you’re thinking who the hell are Exspect? To be honest, I don’t really know – but I do know that their bargain earphones are fantastic.

They sell in HMV for £6 and to be honest most people – including myself – would think that they are £6 and therefore are probably god-awful. Absolutely not the case.

When I bought them the first time, I was amazed at how amazing the earphones sounded. The sound is extremely crisp, the bass is very well balanced and they are also (importantly) very comfortable. From a set of earphones this cheap, you’d expect a tinny sound with a lack of bass but I have to say I was astonished to find they are much better than you can expect at this price.

I also love the great 3D effect you get from the earphones. Listen to a song like Pink Floyd – On the Run and you’ll see what I mean. It’s as if the music is playing in your head, not your ears.

They are available in two colours – black and white – and having owned both I prefer the black – but that’s just my own preference.

In summary – a definite must if you’re on a budget. There are better earphones around – but there’s no point in buying cheap, tinny earphones when you can get these.

Mediamote – free remote control for Windows Media Center, designed for iPhone and iPod Touch

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I recently stumbled across this free app, available on the App Store, which is designed to work as a remote control for Windows Media Center on Windows Vista and Windows 7.

The app works over wi-fi, so you’ll need a wi-fi connection for it to work. You’ll also need to download the Mediamote server from here and install the software.

Once it is installed, simply run the Mediamote app from your iPod Touch or iPhone, select the PC that it is installed on and then you are good to go.

Now it is up and running, you’ll see that the app has some quite concise options that allow you to control most aspects of Media Center.

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When I tried this with the Windows 7 Media Center, I was very pleased at how quickly it worked and how all of the buttons worked properly.

I would recommend this to anyone who can’t afford to shed out of a new Media Center remote but would like something simple and easy to use.

Spotify for Symbian out and available

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Yes folks, you are reading that right. If you are in possession of a Symbian mobile phone, you’ll be delighted to know that Spotify today launched Spotify for Symbian.

You’ll of course need a Spotify Premium subscription costing £9.99 per month, but I promise you it is well worth the money.

Sadly, I don’t have a Symbian phone so I wont be testing the new software anytime soon. However, if you have a Symbian phone, head straight over to m.spotify.com and you’ll be redirected to the right download. If you aren’t sure whether you have a Symbian phone or not, you can use that link anyway and the site will let you know whether you’re good to go or not.

This is good news for Spotify as the new release hugely broadens the market that Spotify can get to and will hopefully help the company to persuade more people onto their premium plan.

Mobile Broadband traffic shaping at birth with 3

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Three (3) UK, which reports it has the best 3G network coverage in the UK, has recently announced that from Monday it will be shaping the amount of traffic on its mobile broadband service.

It comes after reports that mobile internet is becoming increasingly popular in the UK. Three is obviously becoming concerned that the sharp rise in mobile broadband subscribers has meant that more and more people are putting strain on the relatively small amount of mobile broadband bandwidth available.

Three have said that it won’t affect you if you don’t use large amounts of bandwidth on the network and that the scheme is mainly being used to highlight very heavy users.

So, if you know you use large amounts of bandwidth on your mobile broadband, enjoy it for the last time. You’ve got 36 hours to knock yourself out! After that, you’re doomed to inevitable future of traffic shaping on mobile broadband!