internet tablets

Apr 27 2009

Poor Man’s iPhone (Half Price!)

Let’s start off by saying the iPhone is a very cool and unmistakably innovative product. What I’ve got put together here can in no way replace Steve’s gift to the mobile world. But, I think you’ll be interested to find that while you can’t match the style of the iPhone, you can mimic and even best many of its features for less.

The Device

If you remember, the iPhone is billed as three devices in one. One of those is a mobile web browser. To date, the mobile web browser with the best browsing experience short of a laptop would have to be Nokia’s series of Internet Tablets. With the new n800 out, you can score the original 770 for about $200. At press time, Amazon had them for $140 with free shipping.

770 Poor Mans iPhone (Half Price!)

The Nokia 770 has a slightly larger screen (4 inches) and a greater pixel depth (800x400x225dpi) than the iPhone (480x320x160dpi). It browses with a version of the Opera browser that displays web pages in roughly the same way you’d see them on your desktop.

The 770 also does internet radio in addition to playing mp3s – so while its no iPod, multimedia playback (including mpeg video) is there too. And, not to pour salt in the wound – the Nokia runs open Linux, so 3rd party applications are available.

The Phone

Yes, you say, but where’s the phone? This comes in two parts. First, we’ll get the service by signing up for a free account with GrandCentral (rumored to have just been bought by Google). This will give us a free local call-in number.

770grandcentral Poor Mans iPhone (Half Price!)

Now part two: the software. Download the Gizmo Project app for the Nokia 770. After signing up for your Gizmo account, you can set up your GrandCentral number to forward calls to your Gizmo Project SIP account. A call comes in while you’re online – take it on your Internet Tablet. Call comes in while you’re offline, Gizmo Project’s free voicemail takes a message and sends you the .wav which you get in your email on your 770 in a very “visual voicemail” way. For free.

770gizmoproject Poor Mans iPhone (Half Price!)

Now take free mobile calls at any free wireless hotspot. You can buy call out credit for 1.9 cents a minute, or call out free to certain contacts using the Gizmo free calling plan.

And, though this isn’t as convenient as a phone with cellular coverage, you can cut and paste text not to mention, download and edit Word and Excel files (with Abiword and Gnumetric installed). And, yes, Internet Tablet OS 2006 has an onscreen finger-friendly keyboard.

So maybe you don’t feel like dropping $500 on an iPhone. Or maybe you just don’t think they are all that. That doesn’t mean the features aren’t worth ripping off.

Brian

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Oct 25 2007

iPod touch–5 Things it is and isn’t

I would not have thought to post a review of the touch after so many others, except that I keep running into review after review that does nothing but list the iPhone features not in the touch. So, in an effort to promote good, rational buying decisions and give the iPod touch a fair look I’m going to run down my impressions of the new iPod.

ipodTouch1 iPod touch 5 Things it is and isnt

The touch is NOT an iPhone

If you dig down into the comments on most of the reviews where the touch gets beat up, you find someone pointing out that the touch is not an iPhone minus the phone. It does not include the same feature set or applications and never will. As much as we can demand as consumers that everything Apple makes have every feature we can dream up and still be stable, there is something called product differentiation. And our slim friend must sink or swim on his own virtues. That doesn’t mean things aren’t missing, though, read on.

The touch is the Sexiest iPod Ever Made

If you haven’t held one in your hands, you just don’t know how well crafted this iPod is. It makes the iPhone look fat. I can (and have) spent ten minutes just holding the thing, admiring the weight, balance and smooth surface. And that’s before you turn it on. Coverflow and animations in the OS make the interface a match for the exquisite shell.

The touch is Almost the Best Internet Tablet on the Market

Safari on the touch is fantastic. It is the best handheld browser available. It is more stable, faster and easier to navigate than Opera on Nokia’s Internet Tablets. And it makes Pocket Internet Explorer look ridiculous. Thanks to great developers making the most of the “webapp” guidelines from Apple, just-for-iPhone web interfaces are almost as good as the iPod’s own interface. So why almost? Wifi takes its toll on the battery (about 2x the drain of off-line use) and without support for Bluetooth tethering – so you can use your phone’s internet access – once the wifi goes, so does the fun. But that leads me to my next point:

Off-line, the touch isn’t Half as Fun

ipodTouch2 iPod touch 5 Things it is and isnt

The iPod touch is an iPod right? So we should be listening to U2 and watching episodes of the Office, right? But that’s no fun. We could do that on our old iPod videos. Unfortunately, the new added functionality we love on the touch (including webapps) vaporize with our internet connection. What do we need? Off-line applications (the kind that come from 3rd parties hacked now, or legit SDK in February) to allow us to play with downloaded content while saving battery life between hotspots or on a plane. Until then, its nothing but boring podcasts, songs, videos and photos.

The touch isn’t a PDA, but will Replace the PDA

With the smart-phone and personal media + browsing device duo, Apple brings doom to the product category is created. Introducing the web (and soon 3rd party apps), Apple has turned the gadget everybody is dying to have into the gadget that can do anything. From corporate intranets to Facebook, the fruits of a web interface in a grown-up browser make the touch infinitely more powerful than a PDA.

Go, now and buy! Or don’t. Either way, be sure to evaluate the touch on its own merits.

Brian

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