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?

A New Jolicloud Later This Year

Last night a tweet popped up in my Twitter stream from the official Jolicloud account.
"A new Jolicloud is coming this fall, register for the beta: jolicloud.com"

Of course the first thing I did was head over to http://www.jolicloud.com/ and register. The Jolicloud homepage is now openly inviting users to register for the beta of the service.


I registered and updated the details of which platforms I use and will be using Jolicloud on, and that was it! Easy Peasy! (No pun towards the Ubuntu Netbook derivative intended...)

So as I continue to use Jolicloud through the web browser on my Desktop/Laptop machine, and as an OS on  a partition of my netbook, I'm looking forward to seeing what Tariq Krim and the rest of the clever people working on Jolicloud are going to come up with.
You can read more about Jolicloud 1.2 here. As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions at the end of this post. If you liked and/or found this post useful, please also Google +1 it. 

ComScore's snapshot of UK Smartphone Users [May 2011]

Interesting data from Comscore regarding smartphone use in the UK.


"In May 2011, 42 percent of UK mobile consumers used a smartphone compared to only 27 percent a year ago."


Yes, charts and bar graphs make it easier to visualise. Who ate all the pie charts...?

Not only is it interesting to see that more people in the UK are using smartphones, but I think that the growth rate of the platforms is interesting: year on year Nokia's Symbian is down 10%, Apple's iOS is up 46% and Google's Android is up a staggering 634%. If those year on year growth rates are applied to the three months since that survey was completed (in May 2011) it is safe to say that Apple's iOS platform has been toppled as the market leader by Google's Android platform by now (End of July 2011).


RIM, maker of Blackberry smartphones and software, recently announced that it was cutting 2000 jobs in autumn 2011. Analysts are disappointed with the company's growth. The Comscore data indicates that in the UK things aren't that bad with a 59% year on year growth.


Well, I am smiling at the fact that the Android platform is doing so well. As most readers of this blog will already know, I'm and Android fanboy. (Consider this a sort of disclaimer)


Here's a link to the Comscore source.


As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions. If you feel like it please Google +1 the post too.

Joli OS' Teaser

I was browsing through my feeds in Joli OS earlier and I came across what to me seems like a teaser on the official Joli OS Blog.
In the blog post entitled "Some News About Joli OS" dated July 19th 2011 the opening is quite a teaser:

"It’s been a while since you’ve had an update from us but we’ve been working hard on something big. We will tell you a bit about that very soon! In the meantime, we have some updates for you on Joli OS."

The blog post then goes on to list the updates that are currently being pushed to the Joli OS local and web apps.

The post is then closed by another teaser:

Stay tuned… More coming soon!

Could this be a teaser to Jolicloud 1.3? Or maybe even a shift in platform from the older Ubuntu Netbook base to a Chromium OS base? Tariq has never been shy of praising Chrome and the Chromium and Jolicloud is available as a web app in the Chrome Web Store. This is pure conjecture on my part. I am excited, and  look forward to seeing what happens "soon"!

MoDaCo Forums' Facelift

One of the online forums I use most is MoDaCo. MoDaCo is a forum where a lively and friendly community of people such as myself discuss, communicate and exchange information regarding mobile phones (mainly smart ones), tablet computers and their operating systems (both official and unofficial). Founded and run by Paul O'Brien, the MoDaCo Forums have just had a facelift.
  
Android @ MoDaCo's New Board Index.
The MoDaCo Forums' new cleaner inerface is in my opinion much cleaner and smoother than the older slightly clunky interface. The right panel is easier to navigate and search seems to be working better for me.
The HTC Desire New Board Index.
The best part of the general facelift Paul gave the MoDaCo forums in my opinion is the new mobile interface. I can now use the forum from my mobile devices more easily and using much less data than before. The mobile forums interface is optimised for touchscreen smartphones and is simple and clean.
Android @ MoDaCo's New Mobile Board Index

The New Mobile HTC Desire Board Index
Well done to Paul and all who were involved in the facelift of MoDaCo Forums. If you have never been on the MoDaCo Forums and are into mobile technology in general, why not spend some time there? The friendly and helpful MoDaCo community will be there to help you get started.

As usual, feel free to add comments and/or questions here. If my blog template is now fixed, you should also be able to Google +1 this post too.

Tesco Kindle Covers

For a few months now the UK retailer Tesco has been selling the Amazon Kindle in its larger stores. As well as the Kindle, in both the WiFi and WiFi+3G variants, Tesco have also been selling cases and accessories for Amazon's e-book reader.

Yesterday I spotted two new reasonably priced accessories in my local Tesco Extra store. Amusingly they are both Tesco own-brand products.
Tesco Neoprene Sleeve and Tesco Finest Leather Folio Case for Kindle.
First up is the Tesco Neoprene Sleeve for Kindle. Currently priced at £4.97, this sleeve is a basic neoprene sleeve. As with most Tesco own-brand products good value for money and not too expensive.
Tesco Neoprene Sleeve for Kindle.
A step up in the market is the Tesco Finest Leather Folio Case for Kindle. Currently priced at £7.97, this folio case has been blessed with the Tesco Finest branding. Tesco Finest is Tesco's premium/luxury own-brand, which still has an affordable pricing. This case is made of soft leather and does have a good feel when held.
Tesco Finest Leather Folio Case for Kindle.
The fact that Tesco is selling own-brand Kindle accessories is interesting to me for many reasons. Firstly it shows us how deeply Tesco is moving into being a serious non-food retailer in consumer electronics. As well as selling the Amazon Kindle, Tesco also sells the Sony e-readers and on Tesco Direct (the online service) the Bookeen e-book readers. Tesco obviously sees potential in the e-book reader market.
Secondly, the fact that Tesco has started selling own-brand accessories means there have been enough Kindles sold to make it worth while offering cases and pouches. This is also an indicator of the fact that the Amazon Kindle is a very, very successful device and platform.

I myself now have an Amazon Kindle and will be releasing a series of blog posts about the Kindle device and services and how to make the most of them.

A quick disclaimer: I do work for Tesco, but am in no way remunerated or rewarded by Tesco for writing content on my personal website about the company or its products. I would also like to point out I was not given a Kindle as a freebie, I bought mine. Disclaimer over and done with, we can avoid any Leo Laporte vs Mike Arrington moments in the comments section.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below, and if you want to go ahead and Google +1 this post.

What is MIUI? [Android ROM]

I have often asked myself the question "What is MIUI?" when reading mentions of it in forums such as XDA Developers and MoDaCo. This morning I decided to investigate and noticed the answer to my question had been very close to me for a while.
My MIUI Homescreen on my HTC Desire
MIUI is a CyanogenMod based Android distribution (ROM) with emphasis on creating and implementing a different user interface paradigm from the standard Android one. If you are already using CyanogenMod and/or have ROM Manager installed on your Android device, you may be able to download and install MIUI from ROM Manager. That is the way I installed MIUI on my HTC Desire this morning.
MIUI in the "Download ROM" section of ROM Manager.
Here are some more pictures of the MIUI homescreen with my choice of layout of widgets and apps. The MIUI launcher does not have an app drawer and as you should be able to tell looks like Apple's iOS user interface. The MIUI user interface does keep the classic Android notification pulldown bar, and has its own framework of fonts, colours and UI frames.

MIUI lockscreen. Very sleek!
The version of MIUI I am using at the moment is 1.7.15 which is based on Android 2.3.4. Performance is good, and I'm won over by the shiny and responsive interface. Well done and thank you to all those involved in the development and distribution of this fantastic ROM.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions and Google +1 at the end of the post!

The New Google Android Market

I've just updated the Android Market on my HTC Desire (running CyanogenMod 7.1 RC).



 The new Market application has a very Metro UI (Windows Phone 7) similar interface. I am already a fan of the Metro UI interface (you can get Launcher 7 for Android from the Market for free), so this update is well received on my phone.
Could this be an indicator of UI changes still to come in Android? Let the rumour excitement and speculation begin.

As usual, feel free to leave comments/questions at the end and Google +1 this post.

"Like" for Murrayburn On Facebook Please!

Here's a clever marketing scheme that actually gives out something useful to a community: Ronseal UK's Project Playground. On Facebook, Ronseal UK is running a competition for schools. Whichever school playground in their photos gets more Facebook "Likes" wins a £30000 playground makeover.


Here's the official speil from Ronseal UK:
"We have teamed up with the market leader in play equipment manufacturing, Timberline, to give one lucky primary school or nursery in the UK the ultimate playground makeover. If you don’t currently have an outdoor play area or think your play equipment is in need of attention, we want to hear from you. With hundreds of schools suffering as a result of Government spending cuts your current playground may be affected. Whether it is tired and outdated or there simply isn’t enough to keep everyone occupied at playtime, whatever the problem Ronseal, in partnership with Timberline, is here to help."


This is, in my view, a very opportunistic, clever and low cost marketing scheme. Parents, children and entire communities have been very involved in getting it to go viral on both Facebook and the rest of the web. 


Usually I discourage people from using Facebook's "Like" button, for various reasons. In this case I encourage you to do so because I am personally supporting one of my local schools: Murrayburn Primary School, Edinburgh.
If you are a Facebook user and would like to help Murrayburn Primary School, please go to the Ronseal UK Facebook page and "Like" it. Once you've done that, please also "Like" the picture of how Murrayburn Primary School's playground currently looks. (It's the third image in the album) This counts as a vote.


Please place your vote for Murrayburn Primary School as soon as you can, the voting closes on July 15th 2011 at midnight in the UK. Thanks in advance!


As usual, feel free to post comments/questions and Google +1 this article...

I received an invitation to Google+ from Niall

I'm just writing a quick post to let you know that I am now on Google+ thanks to an invitation from my friend Niall Scott.
A screenshot of my homescreen in Google+.
If you are one of the many enthusiastic people who wrote comments on my previous blog post about Google+ and would still like an invitation, please leave a comment at the end of this post or Direct Message me on Twitter (my Twitter handle is @Todoleo).

As usual, feel free to leave comments/questions and why not +1 this article with the button at the end?

Google+! I'm awaiting an invitation...

Well well! The news has broken! Google's efforts to launch a social network have come out of the cover of the Googleplex and hit the public parts of the web.
The Google+ project webpage.

I visited the Google+ project page and got all excited when I followed the link through to the Android Market and installed the application on my HTC Wildfire S. The installation was smooth, and I ended up with a few new application icons in my Android app drawer.

Sadly, once launched, the Google+ app asked me to select a Google account I want to use to sign in and I ended up with this message:
Google+ is still in active development and not yet available to everyone. You need an invitation to sign in. Please check back later.
If anyone reading this post who can send me an invite would, I thank them in advance. I'm really looking forward to using this social network layer to Google services which should make Facebook become the next MySpace and Friendster. I'll update this post as things develop.

Feel free to send me an invite to Google+, and as usual to leave comments/questions as well.

Todoleo Tech Blog Now Available on Kindle

I'm proud to announce that the Todoleo Tech Blog is now available as a subscription on Amazon Kindle.
Todoleo Tech in the Kindle Store.
You will be able to download the blog and read it even when you are not wirelessly connected with your device.

To find it in the Kindle Store just search for the word "todoleo" and Todoleo Tech should be the one and only result.

The subscription has a free 14 day trial and is then £1.99 per month.

Don't fret! I won't be putting up a paywall! You will still be able to read the Todoleo Tech Blog for free here on Todoleo.com.

leg0fenris' Photostream [Flickr]

Since I was a child I have always been a fan of Lego and Star Wars. leg0fenris' photostream on Flickr is one of my favourite ones partly because it brings together Lego and Star Wars, partly because of the great quality of the photo compositions and the sense of humor.


Here's a slideshow of leg0fenris' photostream, from Flickr:




As well as Lego Star Wars compositions, leg0fenris creates compostions with Lego Special Forces figures. My favourite one is "Under Fire" which seems to have been taken in a high risk situation for the Lego figures...


"Under Fire" by leg0fenris. (2011) Some rights reserved
Feel free to click through to leg0fenris' photostream on Flickr and check his work out for yourself.


"Awesome" by leg0fenris. (2011) Some rights reserved
As usual, feel free to leave comments/questions below, and if you have found this interesting, please Google +1 the post.

This Week in Google reaches episode 100! [Netcast]

Yesterday evening I watched episode 100 of This Week in Google, one of my favourite netcasts.
TWiG Episode 100 as viewed on my Ubuntu laptop.
This Week in Google, also known as TWiG,  is a netcast (or podcast if you prefer the term) available as a live video stream at http://live.twit.tv/ at 2000 UTC weekly on a Wednesday and later as a download from http://twit.tv/twig. TWiG covers the news and views on Google, cloud computing and social networking. The netcast often heads off on tangents that inevitably lead conversation to subjects such as the TV show Glee, the Chipotle fast food restaurant and food, and Jurgen Habermas (a favourite of Jeff Jarvis).

TWiG is usually hosted by Leo Laporte, Gina Trapani and Jeff Jarvis. Often there are guests involved in the websphere of cloud computing and social networking such as Kevin Marks, Chris Di Bona, Kevin Purdy, Matt Cutts and others.
As was said both in the love-fest that was the beginning of episode 100 and in the chat room, congratulations to Gina, Leo and Jeff and all involved in the show. I find it pleasant to watch/listen to and also enjoy the interaction the hosts and guests have with listeners in the chat room and on Twitter.

Here's to another 100000 episodes of This Week in Google!

When In Egypt: Don't Get Ripped Off!

I've just got back from a vacation in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt. I'm writing this blog post as a bit of advice for people travelling to Egypt who want to use their smartphone and/or keep in touch with friends and family via the internet.

While on holiday I took my HTC Desire Android smartphone with me. The plan was to use the device to navigate (using Google Maps Navigation) and translate (using Google Translate) my way to an easier less stressful holiday. I also used GMail (for Google Mail), Seesmic (for Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz and Identica) and Picplz (to share snaps taken with the HTC Desire's excellent camera).

All these wonderful applications and services require a working data connection, and for that I was going to need a local SIM card so as to avoid horrendous roaming charges from my UK operator 3 UK. Bear in mind that you will need a GSM/UMTS device with no sim-lock to use an Egyptian sim card. After internet research before arriving in Egypt and then choosing in a local shop, I decided to go with a Vodafone Egypt Holiday SIM card. Vodafone Egypt offers the Holiday prepay SIM card for travellers visiting Egypt. As well as competitive rates for local and international calls this SIM card and plan offer relatively cheap data rates at 1 Egyptian Pound per MB of data.
A summary of the Vodafone Holiday tariff.
The Vodafone Holiday SIM card should cost 20 Egyptian Pounds (with 5 Egyptian Pounds worth of credit included) and you can buy credit top up cards in denominations of 10-15-20-50-100 Egyptian Pounds. When buying the credit from a Vodafone store you should pay face value for the top up cards. If buying your credit from another store (not a Vodafone one) it is fair to pay 10%-20% extra for the top up card. As usual in Egypt you will have to haggle with the shop keeper to attain that price.

All in all my Vodafone SIM card did me well while I was in Sharm El Sheik. I only had to top up 50 Egyptian pounds worth of credit during my week there (at the time of writing £5 UK). This was mainly used outside the hotel grounds, because I used the HTC Desire with WiFi on while in the Hotel.

At the time of writing this post the exchange rate of the Egyptian Pound to the UK Pound Sterling is 0.1 so every UK Pound gives you approximately 10 Egyptian Pounds.

Feel free to leave comments/questions.

HTC Wildfire vs HTC Wildfire S [photos]

Today I got a brand new HTC Wildfire S. I will be writing a full review of the device after I get back from holiday in a fortnight.


Here are a few snaps of my black HTC Wildfire S next to Candice's HTC Wildfire.
The HTC Wildfire S is slightly smaller than the older HTC Wildfire, but has a higher resolution screen (320 x 480 pixels vs 240x320 pixels). The camera and processor are the same, while the Android version is 2.3 Gingerbread vs 2.2 FroYo.


Feel free to ask any questions you would like answered in the full review.

Tesco Mobile Mojo Chat - Fail!

This is a handset that I was really excited about: the Tesco Mobile Mojo Chat...

On paper it looked really good: QWERTY keyboard, 1.3 MP camera, colour LCD screen, Facebook and Twitter and a memory card to use as storage for the inbuilt Mp3 player. I was expecting to have the holy grail of "feature phones" (or for the less politically correct: "dumbphones"). All this cheap awesomeness for £24.97 without having to buy a credit top-up (I was going to use my Tesco Mobile Pay Monthly SIM-card).

Sadly all my expectation that had been built up by the delayed release of the handset was deflated within minutes of turning the device on. The clickety keyboard I could have lived with, but the performance on the mobile web and the Java apps I wanted not working were so disappointing I almost went shopping at Iceland for a large tub of ice cream and torrented Field of Dreams. I felt like crying.

The user interface is not terrible at higher menu level, as long as all you want to do is make voice calls and send text messages. The camera is pretty intuitive to use as well, so not all is bad. Sadly the results with the camera are. Here's a sample of the snappers imaging capabilities:
It looks as if Wobbles (@fatoldgingercat) has been painted by an impressionist.
One of the most important things I wanted to do with the Tesco Mobile Mojo Chat was keep up to date with Twitter (and if possible Identi.ca too). I wish I hadn't wasted time trying to do that. The Twitter icon in the main menu raised what was left of my enthusiasm just enough to make me feel the disappointment even more.

Clicking on the Twitter icon in the main menu takes you to the mobile Twitter website on the phone's web browser. Once I had found the "Sign In" button on the terrible screen and clicked it, 3 times out of 5 I got an error message. The 2 times out of 5 I did get through to signing into Twitter I then got a message telling me that the website was not supported or that the connection had been interrupted by the host. This was the "deal breaker" for me. (thanks Liz Lemon!)

I tried to salvage the situation by installing Opera Mini on the Mojo Chat. It was simply not possible through the web browser on the device, so I tried loading the java file on the microSD and installing form there. As you can probably expect with the way this review is going, it was not possible.

I made a last effort and tried installing the GMail java application because the Mojo Chat seems not to have an email client. As with Opera Mini, getting GMail installed didn't work both through the browser and sideloading it through the microSD card.

I really wanted to like this device. I really, really did. I had hopes this device would be similar to the INQ Mini Chat. Sadly the Tesco Mobile Mojo Chat has disappointed me. In terms of usable functionality it is on a par with the Royal Wedding phone. When it makes an attempt at doing cleverer stuff it fails miserably. If you want a phone that just makes calls and you you use lots of texts, this may be an affordable option with a QWERTY keyboard. The Tesco Mobile Mojo Chat is not for me. Tomorrow morning it's being returned to the Tesco Phone Shop.

Feel free to leave comments and/or questions.

Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal - Unity

On April 28th 2011 the latest version of my most used Linux distribution was released. Version 11.04 of Ubuntu, also known as Natty Narwhal, has brought some major changes to how the main Ubuntu distribution works and in the forms it is available in.

We bid farewell to Ubuntu Netbook Edition. There is now simply Ubuntu (available in 32bit and 64bit versions) and Ubuntu Server (available in 32bit and 64bit vesions). In a way I am sad to see the Netbook Edition cease to be. Ever since the early days of netbooks I had been running Ubuntu Netbook Remixes on a first generation Acer Aspire One and on my trusty EEE PC 900A. As time went by both the interface and the features evolved as a branch of the Ubuntu Desktop Edition, experimenting with new user interfaces and optimisations for smaller screens. Interestingly many of the developments that were experimented with in Ubuntu Netbook Remixes and Editions are now features of the unified Ubuntu.

In Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal the Unity Interface (first used in Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition) is the default one. Unity is powerful desktop and netbook environment that brings consistency and elegance to the Ubuntu experience.

Unity is designed for netbooks and related touch-based devices. It includes a new panel and application launcher that makes it fast and easy to access preferred applications, such as the browser, while removing screen elements that are rarely used in mobile and netbook computing.

Unity has a vertical task management panel on the left-hand side and a menu panel at the top of the screen. Using a sidebar for task management conserves vertical screen space, which is much more valuable on a widescreen netbook. The task panel displays icons for commonly-used applications and programs that are currently running. Clicking on an icon will give the target application focus if it is already running or launch it if it is not already running. If you click the icon of an application that already has focus, Unity will activate an Expose-style view of all the open windows associated with that application.
I really am enjoying using Ubuntu with the Unity interface. I must admit that from October last year I was quite skeptical about the shift from a Gnome interface, but now that I am used to the sidebar, the instant search services and notifications I am won over. As well as the UI changes Ubuntu 11.04 brings the usual boatload of bug fixes, more hardware support and faster boot times.
You can download and try out Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal from http://www.ubuntu.com/ for free.
Feel free to leave any comments and/or questions.

What is Google Chrome OS?

Google Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. This means that when you turn it on you don't boot into a traditional operating system like Microsoft Windows or Ubuntu, you boot into Chrome OS.

The best way to explain this is how Google have done so in this video:

Even on a three year old netbook Chrome OS boots up in less than 15 seconds. It's fantastic.

Feel free to leave comments and/or questions, any feedback is appreciated.