Sunday, November 30, 2008
BadBerry
It had to happen - my first problems with the BlackBerry Bold. I've run into the well-documented 999 songs issue, despite only copying 827 so far. The native media player, which is otherwise pretty excellent, has problems with large playlists and some albums resolutely fail to show up despite appearing on the SD card itself...
Strangely, though, although the album contents appeared to be blank when browsing by artist, they're there when browsing by album. Seems that the music player software could do with some more development.
It's much better though, than the freeware x-player. I had high hopes at first but it is sadly lacking in basic useability, for example in sorting tracks by number instead of in alphebetical order, and its playlist navigation is, frankly, poor.
I'm sticking with the bundled BB music player for now. It's clear that the Bold is first and foremost a communications machine and secondly an entertainment device but yeah, I did want the best of both worlds.
Strangely, though, although the album contents appeared to be blank when browsing by artist, they're there when browsing by album. Seems that the music player software could do with some more development.
It's much better though, than the freeware x-player. I had high hopes at first but it is sadly lacking in basic useability, for example in sorting tracks by number instead of in alphebetical order, and its playlist navigation is, frankly, poor.
I'm sticking with the bundled BB music player for now. It's clear that the Bold is first and foremost a communications machine and secondly an entertainment device but yeah, I did want the best of both worlds.
Labels: BlackBerry, mp3, music
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Phone phailures
According to a report today, RIM BlackBerry devices have a higher failure rate than Apple iPhones. The other way around for me. In fact it's been a double failure since T-Mo still have not quite grasped the point - and are trying to bill me for the few days in which my faulty iPhone airtime contract was live.
I need to go back and explain. The. Phone. Did. Not. Work. I. Could. Not. Use. The. SIM. I. Am. Not. Paying.
I need to go back and explain. The. Phone. Did. Not. Work. I. Could. Not. Use. The. SIM. I. Am. Not. Paying.
Labels: BlackBerry, mobile, tech
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Return of the Oktoberfest bombing memorial
In March I noted that the memorial to the 1980 bombing at the Oktoberfest was being torn out - to close the loop here, I should note that it was refurbished and restored, and re-dedicated before the beer festival started this year.I finally remembered to take a picture of the new-look memorial. The old pillar is back, but surrounded now by a half-moon wall of steel, with random-shaped pieces missing. I can only conclude that this is supposed to represent shrapnel from the bin bomb blast. As a reminder of the horror, it's very effective indeed.
Labels: beer, oktoberfest
Sunday, November 23, 2008
I think, therefore iPhone
Hopefully concluding the sorry tale of the DoA iPhone ... the episode cost T-Mobile a customer who regularly spends more than EUR 100 a month on mobile telephony and data: although many people spend much more, it's still a decent enough revenue.
I'd really wanted to keep my old mobile number - but it wasn't to be, as to do so after T-Mo's bungling would have meant being without my mobile for a week - so I was going to have to send out that round-robin email about my new / temporary mobile number in any case.
So I quit T-Mo and stomped along to the nearest of many Vodafone stores in Munich - and 10 minutes later walked out with a new airtime contract with a better calling plan than the iPhone, along with a BlackBerry Bold. And no, I did not want to wait for the Storm. The touch-screen was a sacrifice I was going to try and make with the iPhone only.
After a week with the Bold I'm pretty happy. Just about to board the plane on my first roaming trip - and interested to see how the mobile charges will rack up in comparison to what I've been used to with Debitel / T-Mobile ... my final bill from Debitel was EUR 250, a good reminder why I have cut out the middle man.
I'd really wanted to keep my old mobile number - but it wasn't to be, as to do so after T-Mo's bungling would have meant being without my mobile for a week - so I was going to have to send out that round-robin email about my new / temporary mobile number in any case.
So I quit T-Mo and stomped along to the nearest of many Vodafone stores in Munich - and 10 minutes later walked out with a new airtime contract with a better calling plan than the iPhone, along with a BlackBerry Bold. And no, I did not want to wait for the Storm. The touch-screen was a sacrifice I was going to try and make with the iPhone only.
After a week with the Bold I'm pretty happy. Just about to board the plane on my first roaming trip - and interested to see how the mobile charges will rack up in comparison to what I've been used to with Debitel / T-Mobile ... my final bill from Debitel was EUR 250, a good reminder why I have cut out the middle man.
Labels: BlackBerry, iphone, mobile
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Die-phone
My iPhone arrived today - and the honeymoon lasted all of around 5 minutes. It's already on the way back, as T-Mobile and Apple sent me a faulty unit.
How very disappointing. I've only been waiting since July for the order ... because my airtime contract expires in mid-November and I wanted to transfer my cellphone number, I had to wait.
What was wrong? Well, something pretty fundamental since the touch-screen interface simply stops working around 5 seconds after it has been switched on. Turn on, swipe to unlock, and then the screen just doesn't respond. Cycling the power allows a few more taps each time before it freezes again.
The staff in my local T-Mo shop were perplexed - after at first finding it hard to believe. I just handed it over and wondered if their fingers would work better than mine. They didn't. But maybe that's it: My fingers need a software upgrade.
Anyway, the bloody thing doesn't work and has been sent back.
How very disappointing. I've only been waiting since July for the order ... because my airtime contract expires in mid-November and I wanted to transfer my cellphone number, I had to wait.
What was wrong? Well, something pretty fundamental since the touch-screen interface simply stops working around 5 seconds after it has been switched on. Turn on, swipe to unlock, and then the screen just doesn't respond. Cycling the power allows a few more taps each time before it freezes again.
The staff in my local T-Mo shop were perplexed - after at first finding it hard to believe. I just handed it over and wondered if their fingers would work better than mine. They didn't. But maybe that's it: My fingers need a software upgrade.
Anyway, the bloody thing doesn't work and has been sent back.
Labels: iphone
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