Archive for January, 2007|Monthly archive page
One of those “duh” moments
Leave a CommentSo this morning as I was getting ready for work, I had an epiphany about something that has been bugging me for the past few days. Let me start at the beginning of the story so you get the full effect. This year for Christmas, I received a beautiful 21 inch flat panel LCD widescreen monitor. I am absolutely in love with the quality and the form factor is fantastic. One of the things though that was initially wrong was that my onboard Graphics card on my 5 year old HP pavilion didn’t support wide screen resolutions. After a while of using it where I had the entire screen stretched out to fill the wide display, I decided that it was time to get a new graphics card. One of the issues that I encountered was that almost all of the cards out there now are PCI-express or in some cases AGP. Well, being a 5 year old machine, I don’t have either one, only PCI. My PCI slots were all full, so I figured I was out of luck.
After reviewing my system, I decided that the TV card that I had in one of the slots wasn’t really being used anymore since I now use the slingbox. Once I decided this, the search was on for a PCI graphics card. Let me tell you, it isn’t as easy of an endeavor as you would think! When I searched online, I found that many people don’t use these cards anymore, and that there aren’t too many options! In fact, I really couldn’t find much info about PCI graphics cards, and so I had almost given up on the upgrade. Then, I was talking with Joey last weekend and he mentioned that he had seen some 128MB PCI cards on clearance at Walmart and to check with them. So, last Saturday, I went to 2 different Walmart locations and found a 128MB Nvidia one! While it’s nothing really fancy, it supports including and above the 1680 by 1050 that my widescreen is. So, I came home, installed it, swapped the monitor cable from the onboard to the PCI one and like magic, I was now seeing my screen in the proper resolution! One thing I noticed though was that I occasionally couldn’t find my mouse on the screen. After moving it around, it would eventually come back, but I figured there was a problem. Now I know what you’re thinking, and yes, you are correct, hence my epiphany this morning.
What I had done was enabled both graphics cards, and so my desktop was extended to both. What was happening, was that the flat panel was the primary screen, so my desktop looked correct, but I had a whole other screen that was available for my mouse, windows and such. So the fix is pretty easy, just disable the one monitor and I have been good to go! Just one of those “duh” moments where I just shook my head at my ignorance to an issue that really was a simple fix!
New gadgets for TCPJ!
On a personal note, I have to comment about a few recent items I have picked up. For Christmas this year, my father in law got me the ultimate in personal entertainment units, the 80GB iPod. I have just now started to play with it and learn all of the great things that it can do, but so far, I am happy! Of course you can’s just pick up an iPod and think you are going to be ready to go, I had to get accessories! There are 3 items that I feel are important to get the most out of your iPod. These are; a power plug for charging at home, an FM transmitter for listening to your iPod in your car if you don’t have an AUX jack, and good headphones. Here is what I got:
- Standard Apple wall charger with USB cable for those trips when you are away from your home computer to charge.
- The Monster iCarPlay Wireless Transmitter for iPods with dock connectors. I tried 2 different “iTrip” devices and was disappointed with the outcome. The Monster unit works very well and lets you go to any frequency to pick the clearest one for your area. In the different ones that I have used, they are all chronically static filled and useless in my opinion. This one works well compared to the others, and so far I have no complaints about it.
- The Bose TriPort In Ear headphones. These headphones were recommended to me through Steve’s site and his review of them, as well as he and Dave talking about them on episode 85 of the Mobility Today podcast. They are cheaper than the high end Shure headphones, but have great sound quality. Since I picked them up last weekend, I have truly enjoyed my music experience with the new iPod!
Of course they are other things that many people get when purchasing a new music player, but for me, these were the items to have.
When ebay purchasing doesn’t go quite as planned.
Over the past few weeks, I have been purchasing things on ebay left and right. I have purchased a range of items from a desktop charger for my cell phone to a christmas ornament and a few things in between. Well, one of the things that I decided to do was buy a new set of headphones with a boom microphone for The Cell Phone Junkie podcast. I found through research that Plantronics has made a number of quality headsets over the last few years, and ones that I really liked were the Plantronics DSP 550. Well, I found a seller that appeared to have everything in order, and did a Buy it Now for around $60. The headset has been going for well over $100 retail, so it seemed like a good idea.
The listing looked something like this and so it seemed that it was in the US. Little did I know until I got my confirmation email, that the headphones were drop shipped from Hong Kong. Over 3 weeks later (today) my wife tells me that I have a package waiting at home from Hong Kong. My hope is that the contents are a Plantronics DSP 550 headset, but who knows!
All I have to say is that buyer beware when it comes to purchasing on ebay. The headset was going to be used for the past few shows, but if you have been a listener, you can tell that i sound very poor due to the setup that I have been using temporarily. I will definitely have to write an update when I get home and see what is waiting for me!
More about the iPhone from Apple
My buddy Steve over at Mobility Today and his personal blog posted this additional info on the iPhone. I agree with you Steve, I wish it was HSDPA compatable and had more storage, but it can only get better!
Read Steve’s post below:
Macworld kicked off with a bang today. Steve Job announced the new Apple iPhone which is a pretty good looking device. I was a little disappointed with it having only EDGE speeds and 8GB of storage but it can only get better from here.
From the Apple website
iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, 
a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.
Multi-touch
iPhone features the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse. It’s an entirely new interface based on a large multi-touch display and innovative new software that lets you control everything using only your fingers. So you can glide through albums with Cover Flow, flip through photos and email them with a touch, or zoom in and out on a section of a web page — all by simply using iPhone’s multi-touch display.
Intelligent Keyboard
iPhone’s full QWERTY soft keyboard lets you easily send and receive SMS messages in multiple sessions. And the keyboard is predictive, so it prevents and corrects mistakes, making it easier and more efficient to use than the small plastic keyboards on many smartphones
OS X
All the power and sophistication of the world’s most advanced operating system — OS X — is now available on a small, handheld device that gives you access to true desktop-class applications and software, including rich HTML email, full-featured web browsing, and applications such as widgets, Safari, calendar, text messaging, Notes, and Address Book. iPhone is fully multi-tasking, so you can read a web page while downloading your email in the background. This software completely redefines what you can do with a mobile phone.
More info available from Apple
For more in-depth coverage of the iPhone visit Mobility Today
All about Canadian Cell phone providers
One of the listeners of The Cell Phone Junkie (Steve) was kind enough to write this fantastic review of Canadian providers for the show. Here is what he had to say:
First off, there are 3 companies who own and operate all of the networks in Canada. These companies are:
Rogers Wireless: a division of the much larger Rogers empire that own cable TV service, TV stations, radio stations, and magazines
Bell Mobility: a division of Bell Canada, who in turn is owned by Bell Canada Enterprises. BCE owns the CTV television network and most of the landline systems in Ontario and Quebec. They are also the parent company of Northern Telecom
Telus Mobility: who is a conglomerate of western telephone and technology companies that sprang from AGT, which was at one time owned by the Alberta provincial government (though Telus is no long affiliated with any provincial governments).
There are 4 physical networks: A GSM system owned by Rogers, a CDMA system owned by Bell Mobility, CDMA system owned by Telus Mobility, and an iDEN system (like Nextel) also owned by Telus Mobility.
There are countless virtual network providers, just like in the US (including a number of names that will be familiar to you down there). The largest of these virtual providers are:
Fido: Fully owned by Rogers, but it was once a distinct GSM network. The Fido network no longer exists, but Fido lives on as a defacto virtual operator that LOOKS LIKE a full network, just like they were before they were bought.
Virgin Mobile: The same company as you have down there, but not totally owned by flamboyant billionaire Richard Branson. They are in part owned by Bell Mobility, the CDMA network on which they operate in Canada.
7-11: I’m not sure if this US-based store also runs a virtual network down there, but they do up here (on the Rogers GSM network). They call it “Speak Out Wireless”.
Amp’d: Same people as in the US, but they don’t technically run a true virtual network. Instead they operate as a kind of division of Telus Mobility, whose CDMA network they use. Phones sold under the Amp’d name are sold by Telus with the Telus name on them.
President’s Choice: This a name used by a very large food store chain called Loblaws. Some of your US listeners in the northeast might know them, as they do operate stores in that part of the States. They use the President’s Choice name on tons of different products (most of them food items, but they also offer financial services and insurance under that name as well). They decided to extend the name to pre-paid wireless, which operates on the Bell Mobility CDMA network.
Solo: I’m not sure you can call this a real virtual network, as it’s a separate identity that Bell Mobility uses to market all of their pre-paid services. I suppose that it’s a bit like Fido, but restricted only a small niche market.
Canadian cellular phone services are subject to federal tax (known as the GST, which is presently 6%) and provincial tax. The latter varies from province to province, but in Ontario is it presently 8%. The federal government also mandates a 50 cent charge for support of nationwide 911 service. There are no local taxes beyond this or surcharges taken by any level of government.
However, all of the providers that offer monthly service also charge something they call the System Access Fee. They’ve been raked over the coals for calling it this, as it has nothing to do with system access and is nothing more than an added fee they separated out of the monthly charges to make them look lower. Presently everyone but Bell Mobility charges $7 per month (Bell put it up to $9 per month). Oddly, none of the prepaid services charge this fee, but prepaid is subject to federal and provincial tax, as well as the 75 cent 911 fee.
While it is true that Canadian providers are in love with 3-year contracts, I should note that contracts ARE NOT MANDATORY and all customers have the choice of paying month-to-month (no contract) or opting for shorter contracts (1 or 2 years). Contracts rarely affect the monthly cost of whatever plan you choose, but instead they offer a varying degree of discount on the price of a new phone. Not surprisingly, the discount given for 3-year contracts is often disproportionate to those of the 1 and 2 year contracts. This is to ENTICE buyers to opt for the 3-year terms.
There is a lot of discussion on Canadian cellular forums (especially HowardForums) about whether Canadian prices are higher or lower than those in the US. If you study the various packages offered in both countries you’ll find that both points of view are valid, but in different areas. Canadian providers seem to offer better value to low-end users on both prepaid and monthly plans. US providers offer better deals to heavy users and for data access.
In fact, a number people even discovered that, under the right circumstances, getting a particular US cell phone plan and the ROAMING with it in Canada was actually cheaper than getting a Canadian plan. Obviously there were drawbacks, not the least of which was forcing everyone to call a US number to get in touch with you, and any possible restrictions that the US provider might have placed on 100% roaming under the plan.
To their credit all of the Canadian providers honor GRANDFATHERED plans indefinitely. Even when not on a contract, companies will allow subscribers to stick with whatever price plan they started with so long as they don’t change it. There are users on Telus Mobility for example that have plans dating back almost 10 years that include pricing (and per-second billing) that is no longer offered on current plans. I don’t know if this is required under Canadian law, but I suspect that it is not. It might just be a Canadian business ethic that the companies graciously stick to (despite some of the other less palatable things they seem to do).
Wireless number portability, as you noted in show #28, is not yet available in Canada, but it has been mandated for March of 2007. About 2 or 3 years ago however, when Fido was still a distinct GSM network, it went to the trouble of getting local provider status. That gave them the ability to migrate a landline phone number over to a Fido cell phone, and we’ve had that available (on Fido at least) for quite some time.
Now I know you guys aren’t really interested in iDEN, mainly because it offers exceedingly slow data rates, but as a phone network it does exceptionally well here in Canada. This is because Telus Mobility has wisely chosen NOT to mass-market it to the general public. This is not to say that it’s difficult to get or is expensive. Telus Mike phones are sold in the same stores as Telus PCS, come with the same 30-day money-back guarantees, and they have low-end plans that the equal of anything offered by other PCS providers. What they don’t do is ADVERTISE it.
Their core customer base is made up of businesses that give Telus Mike an ARPU higher than any other service in Canada. They do sometimes run ads in business magazines, but there are no TV ads and no general radio or newspaper advertising. This keeps the network from getting overbooked, so to speak, and so it works exceeding well in the areas where coverage is available.
Also in show #28 you talked about store having or not having LIVE phones for people to try. Going back about 3 years we’ve had a number of Bell Mobility stores that kept activated phones up on their walls so you could actually go in the store and call people on them. This wasn’t a companywide policy and it was completely up to the dealer in question. Yes, many of the stores do leave out dummy phones, which are useless to a buyer to compare, but most stores usually have operational (but not activated) phones out on display.
Neat site about retail
I had a friend send me this site that is called Labelscar. This is of interest to me, and I wanted to share it with others. Here is a bit about them from the site. Enjoy!
If you’ve ever seen a store go out of business and remove the signage from their old building, then you’ve seen a labelscar. It’s more or less the equivalent of a watch tan; it’s the mark left on a building, where weather and the elements didn’t take their toll on the facade because it was once covered by signage for the occupants of the building, but is no more.
It’s a fitting title for this blog. Launched in May 2006, Labelscar seeks to be the culmination of years of research for myself, Jason Damas, and Ross Schendel. Since the mid-1990s we have intently researched North American retail development, including retail industry trends, commercial architecture, and retail history. In the process, we’ve visited hundreds of shopping malls and thousands of shopping centers each, across nearly every state. We’ve been to stunning, thriving, modern shopping malls and lifestyle centers and we’ve been to some of the most derelict “dead malls” in the country. Together we’ve visited more than 2/3rds of the enclosed malls in the United States.
It’s amazing what a little software upgrade can do!
Most of you know that as The Cell Phone Junkie, I enjoy my cell phones very much. One of the best phones that I have used is the one I have right now, the Motorola Q. When I first got the phone, one of the things that I constantly complained about was the battery. I had chronic issues with the phone running out of juice well before the end of the day with the standard battery, and was barely able to make it through with the extended. Then along came the MOL2 software update back in December and things have changed. I am now able to use the standard battery no problem for well over 24 hours and the extended for 3 days! Yes, 3 days!!!
When I got home on Friday afternoon from work, I decided to put the extended battery on the phone. This morning (Tuesday) I finally had to switch the extended out for another extended, this was 84 hours on one charge!!! I’m sure most of you are thinking that this may be a silly thing to be impressed with, but honestly, it is things like this that make me happy. If you have any questions about this or other things on the Q, let me know!
Happy New Year!
I wanted to take a moment today to wish everyone out there a happy new year! I was reading over at Mobility Today.com and found this fantastic overview about why January 1st is the day it is. Enjoy!
But why January 1st? Well, to fully understand this we must travel back in time, back to antiquity. During this time the start of the new year was in the middle of March. This was quite logical since it is at this time of year life begins to emerge from the dead of winter. Leaves begin to turn green, flower buds begin to open, and there are signs of new life everywhere. Hibernating animals begin to make an appearance and the birth of baby animals may be found far and wide.
Then along came Julius Caesar with his own ideas. During a trip to Egypt, Caesar had seen a marvelous calendar. He brought it back to Rome where he and his scholars began to interpret and tamper with it to create the Julian Calendar. Unfortunately, while making these changes they completely lost the accurateness of the Egyptian calendar. They decided on January 1st to begin the year.
After years of the calendar being edited and corrupted by various people, Pope Gregory XIII established the Gregorian Calendar in 1582. This calendar solidified the dates and was thought to better encompass the four seasons. We use this calendar today.
It is important at this point to mention that there were and are other calendars: the Aztec, the Hindu, the lunar, and the Jewish calendars to name a few. Asian countries follow the lunar calendar and celebrate the New Year in January or February. Diwali begins the New Year in India around October/November and Rosh Hashanah commences the Jewish New Year in late September-early October.
When all is said and done the New Year still remains a time of celebration. It is a time to reflect on our past, to forgive others and to make amends. It is a time to look forward to our futures and to cherish our family and friends.
