Chippy's Hiblue Lab

Finally, after some 8 months or more of speculation and rumors that the N8 would get a 2.0 firmware update, it happened. ‘Anna’ arrived.

For customers that spent 500 Euros on an N8 last year it’s a huge sigh of relief. For those thinking about a new cameraphone, I can tell you that there’s very little to moan about now. The software is mature, the price is right.

Portrait keyboard, simpler browsing, a re-worked icon set (that my wife says is cheap ‘like Linux’, I think it looks good!) and fixes all-round. For example, my OVI store now works again after being out of action for a month or more.

The N8 is still no high-end smartphone but as a media phone, the value for money here is amazing. Recent price drops have brought the device down to near €300.

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My masterful plan to use the Nokia N8 and the Galaxy Tab for some photoblogging for Carrypad and UMPCportal via the wordpress application failed at CES in Las Vegas. Internet connectivity was terrible (despite having a Sprint MIFI) and so I abandoned it quickly. Barcelona should, if last year is anything to go by, be a lot better so stay tuned for a lot more posts. I’m going to be trying hard no to post photo after photo without any information. That would be boring.

Again I’ll be dragging along my trusty old Canon S2IS with its simple video capability that allows me to edit on Windows Movie Maker and to connect via USB for live blogging. I still can’t find a combination that beats it. It should allow me to upload some videos fairly quickly too.

Total kit list goes something like this:
Nokia N8
Samsung Galaxy Tab
Gigabyte Touchnote netbook (with ssd and 2Gb upgrade)
Canon S2IS
Universal power pack (50wh)
USB cables
SD cards

Total weight is still going to be in the ‘backpack’ range unfortunately.

One extra service I want to try out this time is Audioboo. I’ve been testing it on the Galaxy Tab and I’m impressed. The audio quality is fine and it slots nicely into my Twitter stream. I won’t be including it on the website though as I want it to be something unique for my Twitter followers. If you haven’t heard of Audioboo,  check it out. It allows you to record a piece of audio, in my case through the Samsung Galaxy Tab built-in Mic, and send it to their servers in a single press. They then send it into your Twitter stream and make it available, with RSS, in your own channel. You can find a few segments I’ve done with the Galaxy Tab here

Join me over at Carrypad and UMPCPortal over the next week. It will he fun!

[This post written on the Galaxy Tab]

What a perfect test it was to be away from home for 5 days. I took the Nokia N8, the Galaxy Tab and my Gigabyte netbook with me for Christmas in England and all three were needed. Convergence doesn’t exist.

The N8 makes a perfect phone. Voice calling is strong and reliable. It’s a perfect pocket, internet-connected camera too. In typical low-light, moving kids scenarios it beat my old N82 hands down. Video footage has been great too. I’m confident that there isn’t a better personal camera out there. Try having a compact camera ready for all the moments I captured! As for maps, well it wasn’t the best. I didn’t have to do much with turn-by-turn and when I searched for an address offline. I couldn’t find it. I had to go online to resolve that problem. Clearly I need to download the local map again but with Google maps supporting caching now, the advantages for OVI maps are fading. MP3 capabilities are good, the always-on clock is useful and timed profiles are a winner. Structurally I feel its going to last and although internet is relatively slow compared to my Galaxy Tab, it’s there if needed in an emergency. I used Gravity quite a few times.

The Gigabyte netbook came out twice in the last 2 days and I’m glad I had it because I had a server issue. Try ssh, server testing, ping, traceroute and submitting a ticket on the Tab. Under pressure, it’s no use in these scenarios at all. For admin work, there’s no way you can survive without windowing,  a full browser with mouse and keyboard. No way!

As for the Tab, it became my buddy. Used way more than the phone or netbook it was used for comment handling on my blogs, emails, chat, sms, Facebook, Twitter, maps, contacts, calendar, ebooks, casual web, RSS reading, games, photo presenting, pdf reading (stored itinerary) and this – blog writing. I even used it for remote access to my PC although that was more of a more webcam experiment than anything else.

I knew there was a space. Carrypads are here, are valuable and show just how much fits into the ‘tweener’ space. The Origami concept of 2006 was spot on.  Shame they didn’t have the technology to actually make it happen back then!

Anyone else out there, enjoying the three-device strategy?

The N8 arrived and I’ve paired it with the Tab. Photo taken, Bluetooth sent and now ready to be added to this post. Time, well under a few minutes. It’s working well so far!

Text written using WordPress application on Galaxy Tab.

My mobile reporting kit will change dramatically for CES 2011. I’ve just heard that ill be able to borrow an N8 to partner with my Galaxy Tab which, considering I’m doing a lot of mobile blogging on the Tab now, gives me the opportunity to try something very different indeed. How about a no-bag challenge? The would mean leaving the Netbook and main camera in the hotel during the day and doing everything on the N8 and Tab. Of course its possible but the question is, what is the quality going to be like and will it be efficient to try and write posts on the Tab.
Considering I just wrote this one in under 5 minutes using the wordpress app. on the Tab, while sitting on a sofa keeping an eye on my baby, I think it will be surprisingly good. Watch out for a detailed post on Carrypad soon.