Gmail

New Yahoo Mail Is Shiny!

This morning I logged into my Yahoo Mail account. I don't do it often, but I just wanted to check and see if the new Yahoo Mail had been rolled out to my account.
Lo and behold, I now had the new Yahoo Mail. I've played around with it for a while now and must say I'm quite enjoying the web interface. As with other webmail services, you can personalise themes with background images. The real added value no other webmail providers offer is the 1 terabyte (yes! 1 TB!) storage. For me, that's potentially one TB of Wobbles image and video emails that Candice and I can send each other. The new Yahoo Mail works great on my old laptop running Lubuntu on both Firefox and Chromium.
I'm tempted to install the Yahoo Mail Android application and use it on my Android devices too. I suppose this is a good way to keep me out of trouble while I wait for the Nexus 5...

Are you using the new Yahoo Mail? Do you have any comments and/or questions? Feel free to leave a comment below through the Google Plus commenting system. I wonder how long it will be before there will be a Yahoo Plus commenting system...

Breaking Up With My Lumia

At the end of January Microsoft started rolling out the Windows Phone 7.8 update for devices that had previously been running Windows Phone 7.5. Windows Phone 7.8 is an update that gives you a Windows Phone 8-like homescreen, a slight rebranding to make the UI more similar to Windows Phone 8 and some other minor features. Once again, my Nokia Lumia 710 seems to be one of the last devices to be updated in the rollout.
Lumia - No SIM
I have a Nokia Lumia 710 which until not long ago was one of my main mobile devices. The frustration of not receiving the Windows Phone 7.8 update and my acquisition of an Intel powered Orange San Diego and a Google Nexus 4 made me stop using the Lumia 710. This is because as well as not having enough SIM cards to run all these smartphones simultaneously, I have fallen out of love with Windows Phone.

I really liked Windows Phone. This time last year I really had hope and expectation that Windows Phone on Nokia devices would be a success and satisfy my smartphone needs. I was so enamoured with the potential of the platform that I got a Nokia Lumia 710 which had Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) running on it. One of the promises of Windows Phone on the Nokia Lumia line was that it would always get updates promptly, as the updates are pushed by Microsoft, so that there shouldn't be delays due to carriers and/or manufacturers. I was really enjoying using Microsoft's new mobile operating system, and the idea that there would be less of a fragmentation issue. (I had previously been scarred by my experience with an HTC Desire and slow updates to new Android versions)
Almost a year on I have fallen out of love with Windows Phone. When Windows Phone 8 was announced in 2012, it was also made abundantly clear that existing hardware running Windows Phone 7.5 would not be upgraded to Windows Phone 8. Details of the Windows Phone 7.8 update leaked and then were announced, but I still was disappointed by the no Windows Phone 8 issue.

Using the Nokia Lumia 710 on a daily basis, alongside at least one Nexus device (a Nexus S, then a Galaxy Nexus and now a Nexus 4), I had a few little things that kept on annoying me. First off using Gmail was overall a pretty good experience, apart from slightly slower updates than on my Android devices and that any time I replied to an email from the Lumia 710 I broke the conversation in web view for myself and everyone else. Secondly there is a lack of apps to satisfy many of my online needs. No Google Plus app, and having to fall back to a horrible web experience through Internet Explorer mobile was a real pain. No Instagram, painful Twitter experience, no Google Maps app and for a while no Google Maps through Internet Explorer mobile was annoying. The lack of an always on instant messaging client made things worse. One of the few reasons I stuck with the Nokia Lumia was that I always had an Android fallback device to do what I really wanted to do.

This time last year the user experience on the Nokia Lumia 710 was better than on most Android devices. The device and UI seemed more responsive and fluid. The Live Tiles UI was interesting and different as well as great for one hand use. Now, through Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and Android 4.1/4.2 (Jelly Bean) updates, lag on Android seems to be a thing of the past. The Android User experience is now superior and polished. The appeal of Windows Phone has faded.

It is sad, but on Saint Valentine's Day 2013 I'm officially breaking up with Windows Phone. I hope we can still be friends. I may make a booty call from time to time and pop my Micro SIM card into a Windows Phone to try it out or to review an app or service on it. My Nokia Lumia 710 may try and win me back if it ever updates to Windows Phone 7.8, if it succeeds I might blog about it through the Official Blogger App for Windows Phone (unlikely to ever be released).

I have to admit, I really am in love with Android.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below.

Hotmail is dead! Long "Live" Outlook

So, last week Microsoft launched Outlook.com, a refresh/relaunch of their webmail service. Outlook.com replaces existing Hotmail and Live user interface, beefs up the service and even gives users the opportunity to change their email domain from Hotmail.com to Outlook.com.
I've been using Outlook.com both through a new email address and with my existing Live account, so here are my impressions almost a week in.

The user interface, once you have either signed up or agreed to have your existing Hotmail/Live use the new UI, is clean. At launch, everyone was referring to the UI as the Metro one.

Metro UI is the design language/style used by Microsoft for their smartphones (running Windows Phone), the Xbox dashboard and on Windows 8. Later in the week, news broke of the fact that Microsoft staff and partners have been explicitly told not to use the term Metro UI, due to threat of legal action from Metro AG, a German retail group. Until Microsoft come up with a replacement name for their UI, I'll call it Metro UI.
My Winodows 8 Start screen. I call it Metro UI.
The clean UI on Outlook.com is a definitely better. The larger, more readable fonts and cleaner screen seem to be snappier than the now clunky Hotmail webmail. Media, such as images and video, can be set to open automatically within the email itself and images can also be viewed as a slideshow too.
An email with an image as an attachment.
A gallery view of the image attachments.
From the Outlook.com webmail page you can also chat with your MSN/Windows Live chat buddies, integrate your Facebook chat and soon you will be able to make and receive Skype voice and video calls. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Skype from Outlook.com compares to Google Talk from Gmail.
I have refrained from transferring my Live account over to the Outlook.com domain because of all the other services tied to my Live email address, mainly Xbox Live and my Windows Phone Nokia Lumia. Apparently switching your address to an Outlook.com one can break those services and accounts.

Outlook.com is obviously not finished yet. Clicking on the logo in the top left corner of the page, you get to switch from your webmail to other services such as People (contacts), Calendar and Skydrive. People is using the Metro UI design language, but Calendar and Skydrive are still using the old Hotmail/Live UI. I look forward to seeing how those services behave using the Metro UI.
Metro UI switcher to the other account services.
My Outlook.com email address synchronises perfectly with my Nokia Lumia 710, and it is as good an experience on the Windows Phone platform as Hotmail was. Essentially, nothing is new there. On Android, you can add an Outlook.com email account to the Hotmail application and get your email on the go there. My personal view on the Hotmail for Android app: it's pants, don't bother trying!

This Outlook.com webmail refresh is a good start for Microsoft, I like the shinily simple UI and service. Is it enough to win me over? Currently I'm locked into Google's services and webmail service, GMail, so it will be tough for Microsoft to do so. Check back in a few months time and see if I have changed...

These are the views of an Android fanboy, bear that in mind. As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below.

How To Install Offline Google Mail

Today Google announced that Google Mail, Google Calendar and Google Docs will be available as offline web apps. Offline Google Mail is available now in the Chrome Web Store. This means that you will be able to read, organise and write emails while without an internet connection. Awesome!
The Offline Google Mail interface!


Make sure you have the three main requisites for this "How To":

  1. A working computer with an active internet connection
  2. Google Chrome or Chromium web browser
  3. A Google Mail account...


Here's how to install Offline Google Mail in a few easy steps:


Go to the Offline Google Mail Chrome Web Store page. You can use this link to do that.

You will be asked confirmation to install Offline Google Mail. Go ahead and click "Install"
Once the Chrome app has installed, you can run it from your Chrome new tab screen.
When you do that you will be asked for confirmation to allow offline mail.

Go ahead and tick the box next to "Allow Offline Mail" and then click the blue "Continue" button.
And that's it! You should then have access to your GMail when offline and the funky new UI!

Thanks to Google and the GMail team! I think this is a great new improvement to their services!

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions. You can Google +1 this post too.

INQ Cloud Touch [Review]

As many regular readers of this blog know, I'm a big fan of budget Android devices. Google's Android OS is an open source operating system that manufacturers (and users) can modify to their liking and adapt to needs and/or devices. Many of you may have heard of or seen HTC Sense, HTC's take on Android's UI, or Motorla's Motoblur, or Samsung's TouchWiz. In a similar fashion to how these major players in the smartphone market skinned and adapted Android for their smartphones, INQ did so to create a new Android experience on the INQ Cloud Touch.



The INQ Cloud Touch is a relatively inexpensive Android smartphone which has social media and the mobile internet at its core. Facebook passes from being an application (and/or web app) to an integral part of the device. People who use/live on Facebook will feel right at home with the INQ Cloud Touch as it is probably more of a "Facebook Phone" than the HTC Cha Cha or the HTC Salsa in my opinion.
The Main Homescreen - Facebook Rules!
The main homescreen of the INQ Cloud Touch is comprised of a group of custom Facebook widgets: a large Facebook News Feed (browsable) and above it a widget of your favourite Facebook contacts, one of your integrated Facebook and Google Calendar, one for your Facebook notifications and one for Facebook Places (Facebook's answer to Foursquare and/or Google Places). At the bottom of the homescreen there is a static dock that appears on the other homescreens you can slide through. The other homescreens are customisable but come pre-populated out of the box with a Spotify widget and the most popular pre-installed apps (Twitter, Windows Live Messenger, Facebook Messaging, Youtube, GMail).

Facebook is not the only service that INQ wove into the DNA of the INQ Cloud Touch. I was pleasantly surprised to find Spotify as the default media player on the INQ Cloud touch. As well as playing media files stored locally you can also stream your Spotify playlists if you have a Spotify Premium account.
Spotify Playing TWiG (local file)
Plugging my favourite headphones into the INQ Cloud Touch wasn't a problem as the device has a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack. In the funky box you also get a very iLike white set of headphones with microphone. I definitely liked the headphones that come with the INQ Cloud Touch as they are earplug style ones. They even come with size adapters for the plugs!
The INQ Headphones Bundled With The Cloud Touch
Sadly I can't afford Spotify Premium at the moment, so all my cheesy Spotify playlists have been there in the Spotify media player reminding me of their existence (and teasing me as well as tempting me to subscribe to Spotify Premium).
Tempting, oh so tempting. Spotify Premium Needed!
Battery life was pretty good on the device. In my day to day use it lasted long enough to get me through the average day. Mainly I use the device for social networking (Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter), Email (GMail), IM (GTalk) and as an mp3 player for listening to podcasts while I walk to work. Managing battery life was easy with the power and service monitor launched by the dedicated button on the left hand side of the phone.
The Power Control Screen (Launched by Info button)
As well as everything that comes set up and ready to go on the INQ Cloud Touch, it is an Android phone, so installing your favourite apps and games from the Marketplace is easy peasy. Angry Birds played smoothly and was entertaining on the INQ Cloud Touch. I must admit that I have almost stopped using Facebook and reduced my usage of Identica and Twitter since the launch of the Google Plus field test. As well as the Google Search widget, I installed the Google Plus widget and a few more apps such as Foursquare. Performance of all these apps was great and I didn't really have any problems with them.

I have now been using the INQ Cloud Touch for more than two weeks as my primary smartphone and have not really had the want (or need) for anything more powerful (or expensive) than the Cloud Touch apart from in the camera department.
The shiny red back of the INQ Cloud Touch with 5MP camera.
On the shiny red back of the INQ Cloud Touch there is a 5 Mega Pixel snapper (without flash of any kind). I didn't like the results of the camera and the lack of flash for it is definitely a negative point. The nightclub frequenting iPhone or Blackberry user (who Frank Meehan mentioned...) wouldn't be able to take very good pictures if they were to upgrade to an INQ Cloud Touch. Sharing and sending the pictures would be extremely easy with whichever service you please. Google Plus Instant worked a dream with the pictures taken, but sadly not many were worth sharing.
A Picture of @fatoldgingercat taken in optimal light conditions with the INQ Cloud Touch
Here's the geeky technical paragraph of the review you can skip if tech specs don't rock your boat: the INQ Cloud Touch runs on a 600 MHz processor, which is pretty smooth and responsive on Android 2.2. The crisp 480x320 screen is encased in solid feeling plastic and the chin at the bottom of the screen has three buttons (Menu, INQ Home and Back). The smartphone comes with a 4GB MicroSD card and you can expand the storage on the INQ Cloud touch up to 32 GB (I tested it with my card and it worked fine). The smartphone is a quad-band GSM device so it will happily work in the US of A on GSM networks too, and it also does HSDPA (3.5G for us Europeans, 4G for Yank marketers...). The speaker on the back and speakerphone performance are excellent. The INQ Cloud Touch is available in red (as my review unit is), white and black.

Right then, time to wrap up this long review with some sort of conclusion. I have been a fan of INQ since my experience with the INQ Mini 3G. I liked using the INQ Cloud Touch and enjoyed using it as my main smartphone. Battery life was good, performance was good and once I got used to INQ's UI I forgot I was reviewing a phone most of the time. If you are a Facebook addict or someone who is afraid of technology but are used to Facebook, this is definitely the phone for you. The INQ Cloud touch is easy peasy to use and a fantastic first smartphone. It is affordable, fashion conscious and powerful enough to last a while. I'll be sad to send the INQ Cloud Touch back.

Quick disclaimer: the INQ Cloud Touch I have been using is a review unit provided to me on loan by the friendly people at INQ. I received no payment for this review and remained as impartial as any INQ fan can when reviewing their products. Leo Laporte vs Mike Arrington moment averted...

Find out more about the INQ Cloud touch here.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions. If you liked this review please Google +1.

INQ Mini 3G [Blast From The Past]

Here's a small blast from the past: almost two years ago I got an INQ Mini 3G phone from a Three store in the UK. It was cheap (£39.99 at the time) but what interested me about the device was how easy it was to use Skype, Facebook and Twitter on it. In the second half of 2009 Android was still in its infancy and a Nokia was still my main handset (the mythical E71). The INQ Mini 3G offered easy access to Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Windows Live Messenger and GMail. It was cheap and when used with my Three UK SIM card didn't cost me anything extra on data charges.
The INQ Mini 3G's front


In the second half of 2009 using Skype on a mobile phone was not as easy as it is today. The network operator Three UK made it simple by having their own system which used a normal voice call to a portal that then did all the clever VOIP stuff. If you wanted to use Skype (and I used it a lot) Three was the network to go with and usually relatively expensive Nokias were the handsets to go with. That's why the INQ Mini 3G caught my attention. Skype was just as easy to use on the INQ Mini 3G as it was on the much more expensive Nokia E71.
The INQ Mini 3G's back
The INQ Mini 3G is a simple candybar with a QVGA screen, a numeric keypad and a bright red back cover. I enjoyed using it and it was one of the devices that helped me get away from Facebook use and more into Twitter. It served me very well for a long time before being passed on to my parents who now use it when they visit the UK (Free Three to Three calls rock!).
The INQ Cloud Touch
Now INQ Mobile have moved onto making and selling inexpensive Android smartphones with deep Facebook integration, easy access to Twitter and Spotify. Soon I will publish my review of the INQ Cloud Touch here on Todoleo.com, so be keep your RSS reader and eyes peeled for the upcoming review!

Google Voice UK Is Here!

I've just made my first Google Voice call from my web browser and called my parents in Italy. Call quality was good, there seemed to be no latency.

In GMail, in the Chat section down the left hand side of the screen, a "Call Phone" option appeared today.


When clicked, the option gave me a chat pop up with a different interface from the usual one.
I used my trial credit ($0.10) and tried a couple of test calls from here in the UK to Germany and Italy. Both times call quality was good and there was no latency.

I also topped up my account with £10 pounds credit through Google Checkout. Easy Peasy.


I'm happy Google Voice has finally arrived in the UK. This will shake up the VOIP market more than the Tesco Internet Phone service did a few years ago... How long before I'll be able to use full Google Voice on my Android phone like my friends in the USA do?

Virgin Media Email: Rebadged Gmail

Here's something you may not know: if you have a Virgin Media email address (ending @virginmedia.com) you actually have a rebadged Gmail address.

The user interface looked very Googly...

I found this out because I subscribe to Virgin Media's excellent cable broadband service and recently started using one of the email accounts that come with my subscription. The user interface of the webmail service looked/felt very familiar (Googly...). There was also the tell-tale "Copyright Google 2011" bit at the bottom of the page.

Just to confirm it all, I tried adding my @virginmedia.com email address to my Gmail client on one of my Android smartphones. It works perfectly and also synchronizes my contacts with the account.

You can add your @virginmedia.com email account to the Android Gmail client.

So if you are a Virgin Media subscriber and you are getting a new Android device and you don't have a Gmail account, there is no need to set one up. Your @virginmedia email address will be ideal for setting up and using your new Android device.

Feel free to leave comments/questions below!