Skip to navigation
   
Mike Skuse's Blog
Nokia N97

By Mike Skuse in Reader

Posted in Phones, n97, Software, Technology, Internet, Uncategorized on September 10, 2009 at 10:17 am

Permalink | Author Profile

I’ve said in the past that my n95 is my favourite gadget, however that is old news - step aside n95, the n97 is in town. The decision for me to get it was easy - its fantastic, from the qwerty keyboard that takes a bit of getting used to, to the touch screen and the browser. I’ve had the phone for a little while and whilst there are a few little issues these will almost certainly get sorted in future firmware versions (an update is due this month which will feature kinetic scrolling on all menu’s). For me the keyboard is one of the best features, I haven’t fully tested my typing speeds compared to the n95 but I’m fairly sure they’ve improved - without predictive text and the hassle of turning it on / off for words that are or aren’t in the dictionary.

I think biggest issue has to be the low amount of memory - when a couple of applications are running it reduces the amount left free to a level whereby error messages hinder usage. however this isn’t always an issue and can be resolved with a cleanup of items left in the browsers history, I also hear that it will be resolved by the firmware update due this month.

The browser on the n97 is another plus point for me, to be able to touch and move around the pages more naturally than on the N95 is brilliant and the loading time of web pages is much lower too.

Applications that make the most of the n97’s touch screen are currently in limited numbers but I hope that over time some more brilliant apps will be released - the Facebook widget is fantastic whilst its working and not crashing.

Overall I’m very glad that I got the n97 and hopefully I’ll get a video done demoing some of my favourite features soon.

12345
Not yet rated
Loading ... Loading ...

 
Gadgets Gadgets Gadgets

By Mike Skuse in Reader

Posted in Technology on September 3, 2009 at 12:46 pm

Permalink | Author Profile

Its recently come to my attention that I have too much crap - too many gadgets that I regrettably don’t use. It sounds logical to sell these on eBay after having them sitting around for a while but I just haven’t got round to it! By making this post I’m hoping to get motivated and get it done.

For example my Nokia N95 - at one time my most prized gadget but now, not so much - thanks to my N97 (which I’m yet to write about - it’s great by the way). Whilst I will be sad to see my N95 go and I would like to have it stay with me a little while longer, I don’t think I could handle selling it for next to nothing a while down the line. I’m also aware that a backup phone is always a good idea but I do have other phones that would not sell for much at all that I could use instead.

I’m also going to sell my Nokia 770 Internet tablet - its been outdated and replaced by a couple of other devices, and for me replaced by the N97 mainly due to its better internet browser.

Oh and my Zune - now that my N97 has got more storage space than my Zune (30gb)  its just unfair for me to keep it living in hope of being used.

More on my N97 soon hopefully.

12345
Not yet rated
Loading ... Loading ...

 
My Best Gadget ~

By Mike Skuse in Reader

Posted in N95, Phones, Software, Technology on April 2, 2009 at 11:21 pm

Permalink | Author Profile

I was just thinking to myself which of my reasonable collection of toys would be my best gadget and I found it easy to choose – my Nokia N95 8GB, it has now replaced a good few things in my day to day belongings but also replaced things that were even just for now and then.

Ironically I hardly make any phone calls on it at all but from the moment I get up till the moment I go to bed it typically is used for a good proportion of the day, On my way to work I use it to listen to the radio, whilst it isn’t a DAB radio or anything fancy and the reception tends to get a bit weak due to the fact I’m listening to Radio 1 rather than a local station I really like the convenience that it provides, from then I use it throughout the day for the obvious texts but also for keeping up to date on all my emails most of which I’ll admit are from play.com, ebuyer and the like but the Nokia Email client is a great addition to the phone, combined with Gmail IMAP it gives almost instant updates on emails.
Its also great for browsing the net, whilst the mobile network isn’t quite up to providing a lot of full websites it can cope with a few Googles now and then and more than copes with Facebook which is a joy to use on the phone on the bus etc.

Onto what it has practically replace – My camera, a while back my camera was a great tool, I’ve taken a lot of pictures on it over the last year but it has sadly been replaced by my trusty phone with its 5mp camera, its convenient and has a good enough quality to get me right through an evening out socialising and I don’t have to take multiple gadgets everywhere!.

Finally a function that whilst I don’t use very often I still enjoy a lot – the GPS, its a bit of a cheek of Nokia to charge for extra mapping facilities like directions within the Nokia Maps software but I get by using Google Maps just fine, especially useful for making sure the taxi you’re in is going in the right direction!
And that is why I think my Nokia N95 is easily my best gadget and well worth the money I spent on it!

12345
Not yet rated
Loading ... Loading ...

 
The OQO Model 01+

By Mike Skuse in Reader

Posted in OQO, Software, Technology on August 30, 2008 at 3:33 pm

Permalink | Author Profile

Yesterday Expansys had a deal on the OQO Model 01+ whilst the model is a few years old I couldn

12345
Not yet rated
Loading ... Loading ...

 
Firmware upgrades worry me

By Mike Skuse in Reader

Posted in Phones, Software, e65, Technology, Internet on August 8, 2008 at 3:58 pm

Permalink | Author Profile

Yesterday (admittedly almost today as it was at 11pm-ish) I updated my Nokia E65 to the latest firmware version, now this was released ages ago but I never installed it on my phone as I didn

12345
Rated: 60% (1 votes)
Loading ... Loading ...

 
The UK Loves blogs a bit more apparently

By Mike Skuse in Reader

Posted in Technology, Blogs, Internet on July 30, 2008 at 3:42 pm

Permalink | Author Profile

According to a recent study (don

12345
Not yet rated
Loading ... Loading ...

 
Optimus Maximus / Optimus Pultius Keyboard - WANT!

By Mike Skuse in Reader

Posted in Technology on July 22, 2008 at 1:36 pm

Permalink | Author Profile

I’ve seen the Optimus Maximus keyboard floating around the internet for a while - its a keyboard with individual L.E.D displays in each of the keys which can be customised to show different shortcuts and pc stats and so on. The Maximus is the full size mega expensive version which at a quick google seems to be about

12345
Rated: 80% (1 votes)
Loading ... Loading ...

 
What happens when you step away from a computer for 2 days?

By Mike Skuse in Reader

Posted in Fun, Technology, Internet, Social Networking on July 13, 2008 at 3:45 pm

Permalink | Author Profile

Over the past two days (Friday and Saturday) I haven

12345
Not yet rated
Loading ... Loading ...

 
EEE Pc Touch screen

By Mike Skuse in Reader

Posted in Fun, Technology on July 3, 2008 at 8:49 pm

Permalink | Author Profile

I saw this video a while back and its just popped up again in the good old rss but I still think its brilliant. The EEE Pc is charming me over evermore with its ability to run xp now and this touchscreen mod which would mean not having to use the tiny little touchpad. I was also looking into an oqo umpc but the eee with the touchscreen mod is cheaper and newer than the oqo model 1. Has anyone had any experiences with the EEE Pc

12345
Not yet rated
Loading ... Loading ...

 
iPlayer 2.0 Coming Soon

By Mike Skuse in Reader

Posted in Fun, TV, Technology, Internet on June 26, 2008 at 3:43 pm

Permalink | Author Profile

iPlayer Beta Screenshot ThumbnailUpdate:- I’ve just noticed that the iPlayer Beta is now available here and its looking amazing and the stuff below still applies, but to be honest I don’t want to update it all.

I’ve just heard through the grapevine of rss that the iPlayer will be getting a version 2.0 in beta form very soon which will run alongside the normal version for a while and then replace it eventually. The new version attends to one main feature - radio. The BBC Radio ‘Listen Again’ or iPlayer radio will be fused with the iPlayer potentially doubling iPlayer visitor numbers apparently. Other changes include:

12345
Not yet rated
Loading ... Loading ...

 
Advertisement
Advertisement