ULTRAVIAS - Notebook, Laptop and mobile device reviews

Ultraportable Vaio with superb wide screen: Sony’s Vaio Z series is not for the faint hearted. Even the least expensive notebook in the range will set you back 1,399 inc. VAT and if you want the top notch specifications you are able…

vast and varied fantasy RPG: All is not well in the land of Ancaria. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is chronologically a prequel to the events of the first Sacred game and concerns the consequences of the angelic warriors of the Seraphim…

We’ve been expecting you, Mr Bond, to be a bit better than this: Excluding the time when Nintendo 64 owners got to enjoy the majesty of GoldenEye, James Bond and videogaming haven’t really got on. A never-ending collection of lacklustre titles from Electronic Arts seemed content to bastardise the…

When I originally took this photo in Chicago (on La Salle, near the CBOT) it was a snapshot of a film crew. I took a few more shots of the crew but I was intrigued by the camera. Panaflex, what’s the specs on that then? Turns out it’s a product of Panavision, you know, that name that’s in practically every American film’s credits? Interesting history too although how they consider that big lump small enough to be handheld is beyond me!

Related Posts

• No related posts

Tags: Black and White, Candid, Canon 18-55, Canon 20D, Chicago, film crew, irishblogs, la salle, Panavision, People, Photography, Photos, Street, Urban

No bums on seats in this cafe in Maidenhead in the UK.

Related Posts

• Empty road on Slea Head
• Public Seating
• No. 2400

Tags: cafe, Canon 10-22, Canon 40D, chairs, irishblogs, Maidenhead, Photography, Photos, restaurant, seats, Signs, street furniture, table, United Kingdom, Urban

WordCamp Australia at the Red Box in Sydney, and dinner afterwards (including an arm wrestle).

function pollPop() {
pollwin=window.open(”,’pollwin’,'width=400,height=270,status=no,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,toolbar=no’);
document.forms["myForm"].submit();
}

A lighthouse stands guard near Baltimore in Co Cork.

Related Posts

• Keep a lookout

Tags: Baltimore, Black and White, Canon 40D, Cork, Cork Photos, countryside, Ireland, Irish photos, irishblogs, Landscape, lighthouse, People, Photography, Photos, Sigma 18-200

I was planning to skip the BlackBerry Bold and wait for the Javelin (the updated Curve), but decided to go ahead and get the Bold for a variety of reasons:

1. I wanted 3G
2. I wanted a faster processor for JavaScript, etc. in the browser
3. I played with it a bit and found the keyboard wasn’t as bad as it looked
4. The screen rocks
5. The device I really want (touchscreen WebKit browser with a BlackBerry keyboard and OS) is a ways out still

After using it for a day, I’m pretty pleased with it.

Applications

I run pretty lean on the BlackBerry. I mainly rely on e-mail and the browser, but there are some apps I install. All are free.

• TwitterBerry - the latest version is really nice.
• Google Maps - just keeps getting better. Love the GPS integration.
• Gmail - for quick pruning of my junk mail and web service notifications.
• Google BlackBerry Sync - OTA sync for my calendar, don’t sync contacts (yet).
• Google Mobile - mainly to track upgrades for Google Maps, Sync and Gmail.
• Yahoo Go - this is primarily a Flickr uploader and browser for me, but I should also mention that the graphics look stunning on the Bold.
• WeatherBug Direct - the icon looks like crap on the Bold, but it’s handy.

Notes

Some quick thoughts from the day and set-up.

• Set-up was easy.
• The battery life seems good (70% after a day and in bad coverage for much of the time).
• The included belt-clip case is a big improvement over the classic plastic holsters.
• The GPS really is pretty handy (over cell tower triangulation).
• The keyboard isn’t bad - the ridges on the keys make it work.
• It’s big - wide. It makes the iPhone feel tiny.
• The screen is gorgeous (though I was seeing some weird image banding in places, need to test more).
• The Zen theme seems to have a fatal flaw - the icons on the abbreviated home screen don’t update with status properly so you don’t see the little alert indicators.
• Network speed seems pretty good so far.
• Wifi was easy to set up. I used it until I switched the SIM card into the device, then turned it off. Not sure I’ll be using it much.
• If you’re doing anything that is more than a 1 step process, go to a real AT&T store instead of an authorized reseller. Trust me on this one.

Questions? Let me know in the comments and I’ll try to answer them.

ShareThis

entry-level 10.2-megapixel digital SLR: In a world that’s now swarming with entry-level digital SLRs, Pentax is in a crowded market with the K-m (known as the K2000 in the US). It’s a 10.2 effective megapixel model that comes with either…