Category: phoneboy

I think this picture speaks for itself.

Over the past couple of days, I’ve been playing with my Roku box. Primarily because I also bought an HDTV over the weekend, something I haven’t previously owned. While the Roku didn’t come with an HDMI cable–needed to get the full HD benefits from a Roku–I bought one separately at Fry’s.

It didn’t take too long for me to configure my Roku box to use the full 1080p goodness of my TV. I watched several netcasts from TWiT and they streamed beautifully on my large screen. The crap on The Daily GizWiz was crisper and clearer than ever before! I also watched some content from CNN, but it was clearly not HD-friendly, as things were a little blocky when upscaled.

My wife also managed to use the Roku box today–without my help. Apparently she wanted to watch something I had made available via a flash drive attached to the Roku box. After she figured out which input on the HDTV I hooked up the Roku box to and got over the fact the box (or the remote) lacked a power switch, she was able to figure out how to work it. I didn’t observe any of this as I was not home at the time, but it does speak to the fact that the Roku interface is fairly straightforward for normal people.

Meanwhile, the next step is to try Hulu Plus. I won’t complain if you sign up with my referral link, which will give you a two week trial instead of the standard one. However, I’m not hearing fantastic things about this service (namely, there’s still ads and not all the content is available on the Roku), but I’m going to give it a shot anyway.

More to come.

If you own a high-end smartphone, chances are, you want to put it in a case to protect it. I’ve used a few over the years and, honestly, I’m not happy with any of them for various reasons.

The latest case I’ve looked at came from the folks from MobileFun, whom sent me one for review: a leather case with a built-in battery. The case covers the front and back of the iPhone and includes a hole on the top for headphones. The 1440 mHa battery built into the case plugs into the bottom of the phone and has an on-off switch. At the bottom of the case is a mini-USB cable which can be used to charge the battery pack. If the switch is turned on, you can also sync and charge your iPhone at the same time.

In my testing, the battery in the case was sufficient enough to take the phone from 10% to roughly 90% while using the phone. It’s more than enough to top off your iPhone’s battery to make it through the day. It also does not appear to impeded phone reception, either. A huge bonus.

While it’s a great charging case, I generally find it too bulky for everyday use. I also believe the case needs a battery indicator letting me know how much juice is in there.

My quest for the perfect iPhone case continues…

As this post goes live on the web, I am giving a presentation on How to Choose a Smartphone at the West Sound Technology Association meeting. I’ve actually been working on this presentation since November. Nice to finally give it. You can watch me give the presentation on ustream and/or download the slidedeck:

• Choosing a Smartphone (PPT)
• Choosing a Smartphone (Keynote)

The presentation covers the various things that go into choosing a smartphone, which unfortunately includes a lot of other things than the phones themselves–the operating systems they run, the network operators that sell them, and so on. It is specific to the United States and the major operators (Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile). Smaller operators are not included because they are not available in this area. Prepaid operators aren’t included because, quite frankly, none of them are selling smartphones yet

One of the challenges I had with doing this presentation is that the information relevant to making such a decision changes almost daily. The phones change, either because new ones are introduced, old ones are discontinued, coverage changes, or even available software updates for existing phones. It’s hard enough for someone like me who tracks the industry to sort through it all, much less someone less informed who’s just trying to make an intelligent decision about what they should buy.

The problem is, no matter what you buy today, there’s always going to be something better tomorrow. Thus, whatever you choose to buy, buy the phone for what it can do today, not what you think it might do tomorrow.

One of my personal complaints with the prepaid industry in the US is the fact that while voice minutes have gotten reasonably cheap, data is still somewhat of a crapshoot. It’s expensive, if it’s available at all. Especially on mobile handsets. I’m looking at you, AT&T and T-Mobile.

Meanwhile, the folks from Virgin Mobile USA (which is supposed to be owned by Sprint any day now) have come up with a mobile broadband plan that is at least on-par with a typical contract data-only plan. For $60 a month, you can get up to 5GB of data that you can use for 30 days. There are lower-priced plans also ($40 for 1gb, $20 for 300MB, and $10 for 100MB). You have to buy their Broadband To Go stick for $100, though, but that’s a small price to pay for contract-free nationwide 3G data service.

I hope that when Sprint finally closes the acquisition of Virgin Mobile USA that they keep this plan. It’s seriously good. It’d be even better at a lower price.

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The beginning of 2009 had a rocky start for me. My employment situation was up in the air thanks to my long-time employer Nokia selling off the Security Appliance Business I worked in to Check Point Software. While I had an idea that I would probably have a job with Check Point, I couldn’t really breathe a sign of relief until I had a job offer in-hand, which did not come until April.

Even before Nokia announced the Security Appliance Business was getting sold at the end of September 2008, I had maneuvered my career into a comfortable, but rather limiting position. My job was not at risk, but I also did not see a way out of it either.

In a sense, this forced employer change was exactly the kind of fresh start I needed. Even though the entire process was downright scary–change often is–I am happy with how things are going now.

Even though it took me a couple of months to get plugged into Check Point, which is typical anytime you change employers, my true mission was known to me almost immediately. There wasn’t a whole lot of discussion about it, either. I just started doing what comes naturally.

I began the process of reconnecting with a community I helped to build many years ago, but more or less walked away from to pursue other interests. I spoke at Check Point events. I established Check Point’s official presence on Twitter, Facebook, and CPUG. I engaged our customers, looking for trouble, finding it, and did my best to find solutions.

What surprised me was that so many people remember the work I did all those years ago, both inside Check Point and in the larger Check Point community. The appreciation and generosity everyone showed was quite humbling. It made the transition back into the Check Point world that much easier.

Then again, I never really left it. Even though I spent a lot of years at Nokia supporting “everything but,” there was always the occasional need for obscure bits of Check Point knowledge that only I had. I also supported various aspects of the IPSO operating system and was the go-to guy when it came to analyzing security vulnerabilities. And yes, I had my hands in the knowledge base almost the whole time I was at Nokia

Mobile Change Happens, Too

One thing that ended with my employment at Nokia was easier access to “free” mobile phones. Between our normal replacement cycles and my contacts, I was able to get a few handsets a year to play with for varying lengths of time. This means, going forward, I have to buy my own stuff. However, for the first time in a decade, I am able to own something other than a Nokia device without feeling like a traitor

So what did I do? I bought an iPhone 3GS, of course. It was a bit of a leap of faith, as I wasn’t sure how I’d like it after playing with it in the Apple Store, but now I love it! It completely changes how and when I use my mobile phone. Not that my Nokia devices didn’t have all this same functionality ages ago, but the laser-like focus Apple puts on user experience, the speed of the iPhone 3GS hardware, and the plethora of applications really showed me what a mobile device could be!

And yes, I agree that the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music–a device I received as a “parting gift” from Nokia–touched more lives than Apple’s device did. It’s no iPhone, but it’s a hell of a lot cheaper and easy to get without a contract. However, the iPhone was the mobile device that rocked my world in 2009.

Increasing Social Currency In 2010

One thing I learned in 2009 was that relationships really matter. It is a form of currency–social currency, if you will–that everyone has, regardless of their station in life.

Meanwhile, my friend Ken Camp has a great piece on transforming the world by looking in the mirror. I encourage you all to read it and really let it sink in. My way of transforming the world will be by increasing the social currency in the world–one relationship at a time.

Increasing your social currency is easy. You improve your relationships with others through your words and deeds. Conversely, as you neglect your relationship with words and deeds, your social currency decreases.

The beautiful thing about social currency is that everyone can have it in limitless amounts. When you give your social currency away, you often get it back–with interest.

As I was reminded by Rob Wolpov, the CEO of Junction Networks when I chatted with him on Wednesday, the last time I wrote about them, I referred to the press release pairing their OnSIP hosted PBX service and the Fring VoIP client for mobile phones as a “publicity stunt.” I didn’t quite say that, but I wasn’t generally high on the pairing, only because it seemed a bit like a “no duh” to me. I did say it was a good PR move, though.

While Junction Networks provides PBX services using that “new fangled” VoIP technology, they are very “old school voice” when it comes to IP phones–they don’t care what you use so long as it is compatible with the service. Ok, restrictions on handsets are as old as the Bell System, but it’s “old school” for anyone who has had a landline anytime in the past two or three decades.

Meanwhile, as a result of selling their IP-based PBX service to smaller businesses–the 3 to 50 seat crowd–they have had to come up with handset recommendations for potential customers. There are hundreds of IP Phones, analog telephone adapters, and even software phones to choose from. How does the relative VoIP handset newbie choose?

Junction Networks has the answer: OnSIP Team Reviews. They review handsets based on a number of criteria–including compatibility with their own service–and post them for all to see. Currently, they have only 3 handsets reviewed on the site, but the plan is to write up the results of some of their other testing to give you a balanced opinion. The site will also include analog telephone adapters and VoIP client software.

Unlike, say, a company that sells IP phones, Junction Networks isn’t selling phones. The only interest they have is ensuring you choose the method of accessing their service that works best for you. The exceedingly clever part, though, is that while they are giving away free information that essentially anyone can use–even non-customers–they are getting free advertising and a lot of community goodwill. Having built a fairly successful career on that relatively simple concept, I have to say it’s a win-win-win for everyone.

Michael Graves also talked with Rob Wolpov and posted his take on this announcement.