The fact that Amazon is so good with books, computer parts and computers has gotten me excited about a new web site that they have put up for selling wireless phones and service plans. You can get to it by clicking here. I recently purchased a Mi-Fi router for my iPad through Amazon and can tell you that I was very satisfied with the transaction. It cost me $.01 with a two year plan. This was cheaper than the price on Verizon’s web site. You can get any of the following popular phones for $.01:

If instead you want the Motorola Droid or HTC HD2 Windows phone, you can get the Droid for $19.99 as of this writing and with HD2 for $99.99.

Motorola Droid A855    

HTC HD2 Windows Phone

Happy shopping!

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

The iPad is a device that I have wanted for over two years. I own Sony’s e-reader, but have always been disappointed by the black and white screen and speed. I wanted a supercharged e-book reader that could also be used for other purposes. In my opinion, the iPad was a dream device. I envisioned it as a large iPod Touch or iPhone and in many ways it is. There is one way, however, in which it is drastically different—it is blazingly fast. Yes, super fast. The new processor that Apple designed and put in the device is super charged. When you move your finger across the screen, it responds instantly. This makes the iPad a joy to work and play with.

Much has been made about the 150,000 iPhone apps that are available. The iPad will let you run these, but they look horrible. Apple doubles every color dot on the screen to make it bigger on the iPad screen. The graphics and letters look terrible in this mode. Fortunately, there is a mode that lets you run these apps in the original size. This gives you an app centered in the iPad screen with a huge black border. This being said, I do not think that this is a major problem for Apple or for iPad buyers. The reason I don’t think so is that there is so much money to be made in making iPad-specific applications, that many developers are hard at work on these. Some of the early iPad apps that I have tested are elegant and useful, others are just spectacular. I recommend GoodReader for storing documents, photos, PDFs, ZIP files and any other type of data that you want on the iPad and need to have password protected. GoodReader does an excellent job at file management and at connecting to a variety of servers using a multiple protocols. It is $.99 well spent. Two free apps that are spectacular are Yahoo! Entertainment and ABC Player. These are just beautiful apps that can be used for obtaining entertainment information or watching ABC shows in gorgeous quality.

If these first apps are any indication, the iPad will have hundreds or thousands of applications that will make the device even more useful over time. I am so convinced of this that I have created a new company called, AirSplash, Inc. just for the development of applications for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. You can visit the web site at http://www.airsplash.com. This is a preliminary web site that will be enhanced over time. Our first application for the iPad is out in the App Store now. It is a simple, easy-to-use and graphically stunning calculator. (Yes, it is weird that Apple chose not to include one with the iPad.) It has been on sale for four days so far and the sales results are encouraging. You can view it (or buy it for $.99) by clicking here.

 
We are working on many more apps. This one was our way of testing the market.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting &
AirSplash, Inc.

The user interface is no longer an underpowered version of the Windows desktop with a “Start” button and menu system. Instead, it is a series of large colorful tiles that expand into spaces. Each of these spaces is a window into a large pane that is full of information. Some of these spaces are dedicated to People, Music & Videos, and Pictures. Others are more business oriented like e-mail, search and office connectivity. The People space includes information gleaned from Facebook and presents a constantly updated view of your friend’s updates and profile pictures. This will attract the socially voracious younger crowd. The Xbox Live platform that is integrated into the device will also appeal to the younger user. Everyone loves Music, Videos and Pictures so these spaces will have broad appeal and are so well designed and tightly integrated with the phone that they surpass the iPhone. The business oriented space contains sophisticated Outlook-like e-mail that is constantly synchronized with Exchange server. It also synchronizes with Microsoft Office OneNote and SharePoint Server. These business functions put it ahead of all other phones and makes the Microsoft server offerings even more appealing.

The hardware that is planned for the Windows Phone 7 must adhere to a hardware specification that Microsoft has created. All the phones must have multi-touch screens, a powerful processor and three buttons for navigation. This is a departure from Microsoft’s laissez faire attitude from the past. Fortunately, it should help create a Windows Phone 7 experience that rivals Apple’s iPhone experience. The viewing spaces are all larger than the viewing area of the screen and are navigated by dragging them across the viewing area with your finger. Responsive hardware is critical to making the Windows Phone 7 navigation work well and feel like a quality product.

I am excited about Windows Phone 7, but not because it is a new generation device that integrates personal and business information seamlessly. I am excited about it because it is a new software platform that demonstrates Microsoft can still be creative when challenged. It has the potential to be much more than a phone platform. I believe that Microsoft could use it as a new tablet operating system. I can see it being more useful on a tablet form factor than the iPhone (or iPod Touch) operating system. It is more intuitive, more beautiful and encompasses everything that the vast majority of people would want to do on a tablet. I also think it is better than having Windows 7 on a tablet. It is perfectly geared for touch computing. I give Microsoft an A+ for Windows Phone 7 and for the potential that it has on other form factors.

To see demos of the user interface: http://www.windowsphone7series.com/

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

I purchased a CardScan 800c based on a recommendation from a colleague. I saw him scanning a stack of business cards effortlessly and asked him what he was using. He told me that he was using a scanner called “CardScan Executive.” He stressed the “Executive” part because he said that he had purchased a lower end unit from the company that he did not like. The “Executive” version is also known as the CardScan 800c.

The scanner is extremely easy to use. You connect it to your computer, load the software and start placing your business cards into it one by one. The unit will scan the card, save the image of the card and then recognize the relevant company, address, phone, fax, web site and e-mail fields. The data is automatically entered into the included organizer software. You can then verify that it has obtained the correct data by looking at it and the image of the card on the screen. From experience, I can say that it is over 90% accurate. It sometimes gets confused with elaborate logos that are placed on cards in lieu of the spelled out company name.

Once the data is in the organizer software you can have it synchronize with Outlook manually or automatically. This is a great feature and a time saver. I have it set up to automatically sync with

Outlook. Since I have my iPhone automatically synchronizing with my Outlook contacts, all it takes a simple and quick scan of a card to get all its data into my iPhone. This is how gadgets should work.

I am very happy with the scanner and with the results. I am even happier with the customer service that the company provides. Dymo is the company that sells the CardScan. My unit would not work after an upgrade to Windows 7 on my machine. I am not sure what happened to it, but after suggesting I try a new driver, reinstalling the USB cable and other things that I had already tried (I am a computer consultant.), the customer service representative thought that it might be a hardware failure. He sent me an RMA number so that I could return it to the company. Being without the unit for a few days and having to pack it up and send it were not an exciting prospect for me. However, the next day I was pleasantly surprised to receive a box from the company with a replacement unit and a prepaid Fedex slip to use for sending the defective one back. I unpacked the new unit, plugged it in and it has been working perfectly. I sent the other one back in the new unit’s box. That is what I call excellent service. I will buy products from Dymo before I ever buy from a competitor based on this excellent experience. Kudos to Dymo!

I wholeheartedly recommend this product.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

Despite the strange name, the device is desirable. It comes with a 9.7 inch screen, runs all existing iPhone applications and comes with direct iTunes and App Store access. Even more exciting is the iBook application that allows the reading of books in ePub format and that integrates into a new on-line book store. The application looks very polished and easy to use. It even has animated page flipping and a book shelve for the books that you have already purchased. You control it using the multi-touch technology. Slide your finger across the screen and you are on the next page. Take that Kindle and Sony Reader.

The iPad is half an inch think and weighs 1.5 pounds. It runs up to 10 hours on a charge and can be purchased with a case that doubles as a stand. Also available as an option is a stand that includes a keyboard. The hardware and software looks very slick and will probably draw a lot of attention from gadget lovers as well as productivity seeking executives. Apple will also release $9.99 versions of the applications in iWork. You will be able to create documents with the word processor, spreadsheet or presentation application without having to take a laptop on your trip or without using a desktop computer. It also has a slick version of the Safari web browser that is a larger version of the one in the iPhone. Unfortunately, it still does not have support for Flash.

During the introduction, Steve Jobs showed off mapping, video playback and a new slick iLife-inspired photography application. You can now see albums easily and group them according to people, events or even locations. You can show the photos off in slideshow mode and can even use the iPad as a photo frame when it is not being used for some other productive task. Since I am an amateur photographer, I loved this functionality. I also have to admit that I saw great promise in the e-mail, calendar and contact applications. I can see this becoming my primary computing device around the house and on trips.

The iPad will be available in 60 to 90 days. The Wi-Fi only version will come out first with a price of $499 for the 16GB version, $599 for the 32GB version and $699 for the 64GB one. The Wi-Fi and 3G (unlocked) version arrives thirty days later and costs $130 more for any of the memory configurations. The plans are through AT&T and require no contract. They are $14.99 for 250MB or $29.99 for unlimited data. Plans include free AT&T Wi-Fi and are activated directly from the iPad.

That’s it for now. I’ll tell you more once I buy one in 60 days…

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

There was no amazing technology or flashy e-mail or project management software like the vaporware shown in the Courier video demo. Perhaps this was Microsoft attempt at beating Apple to the punch and then delivering a real product after Apple announces what its new tablet can do. I guess we will all have to wait and see if that is the case.

Apple will be introducing its product near the end of this month. It is speculated that it will not be available until late March.

Once the announcement is made tonight, I will report the details here.

You would think that the United States military would be smarter than sending live video streams from multi-million dollar aircraft without encryption. Unfortunately, they are not. You can see the unencrypted, live feeds using this inexpensive software.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

I am providing 26 easy steps to upgrading your Mac Mini. I hope this helps you. Please remember to be careful and gentle. The case is delicate and it is better to spend a little extra time to get it right than to damage your case.

Step 1. Buy Memory and get a spatula, small flat head screwdriver screwdriver and kitchen knife. One of the technicians her at Alonso Consulting was able to forgo using a spatula. However, I think it is easier with a small, sturdy spatula. Before you proceed, unplug all cords from the Mac Mini and place everything on a padded surface. You can use cloth for this purpose.

Step 2. Start opening case by prying it open with spatula or kitchen knife. Be careful and take your time. You do not want to break any of the plastic tabs that grip into the sides of the Mac Mini case.

Step 3. Use hands to pry the case off once you have popped off the sides.

Step 4. You can also use the small screwdriver to hold a side up so that it does not clip back into place as you work around the case.

Step 5. You will start to see the bottom separating from the top of the unit.

 
Step 6. Continue to move around the case until you pry it apart completely. Apply pressure away from the upper section with your fingers. Be gentle.

Step 7. Once this is done, you can  lift the bottom section off the top and see the insides of the Mac Mini.

Step 8. You can place the bottom of the unit which contains the electronics on a flat padded surface.

Step 9.  Locate the wireless antenna. It is in one of the corners. Remove it gently without separating the cable from the rest of the unit.

Step 10.  Remove screws that are found on each corner. Be careful about placing these somewhere in the order that they were removed. They are not all the same length.

Step 11.  Now lift the electronics off the bottom plastic very gently.

Step 12. You can lift from the side using your thumbs.

Step 13. As you lift, you will see the memory sockets. There are two SODIMM sockets.

Step 14. Here is a better look at the memory.

Step 15. Remove the installed memory and replace it with your two SODIMMS.

Step 16. You should buy memory that will max out your Mac Mini so that you will not have to do this again. I installed two 2 GB memory modules for a total of 4 GB on my Mac Mini. Please note in the picture that the modules were inserted sideways under the electronics with a lot of gentle care.

Step 17. Here is a closer look at the memory modules in their slots.

 
Step 18. In this step, the technician is putting firm pressure on the two memory chips so that they snap in place. You will hear a slight click.

Step 19. Set the electronics back into place in the plastic case.

Step 20. Replace the screws that you removed earlier.

 
Step 21. Replace the wireless card that you removed. Make sure that it clips into place and is not sticking out. If it is, then you will have problems putting on the cover or getting wireless networking to work.

 
Step 22. Here is a picture of the Mac Mini electronics ready to be put back together with the upper portion of the plastic Apple cover.

Step 23. Start by placing the electronics into the case as pictured. Make sure you line up the back potion with the cable ports correctly. You will not be able to close the case any other way, so this should be intuitive.

Step 24. Apply gentle, but firm pressure all around the case. Please note that a padded surface was used to avoid scratches on the case.

Step 25. For the final steps, squeeze the upper portion of the case down around the back with the connectors. For some reason, this section required more pressure.

Step 26. You are done. Relax, plug in your Mac and watch a nice movie on it from iTunes.

The same steps can be used to replace the hard drive. It is located behind the memory in the electronic core. I hope this has been helpful.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

I have a data center in my office and power consumption is now my third largest expense after payroll and rent. It has become such a large expense that I have been looking at ways to trim it. My efforts have been concentrated on replacing older servers that were less efficient with newer ones and also consolidating wherever possible. With this news, I now have another avenue to explore.

MySpace’s move is smart. It is economics coupled with ecological responsibility. Bravo!

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

The device has one button and has indicators along the edge of one of the tablets for displaying battery power and Wi-Fi connectivity. At this time, it is unknown how the device will be charged. The back side of one tablet has a camera with flash. Pictures of the camera lens indicate that it will be 3 megapixels and that it will also have a 4X zoom. It is not clear whether the zoom is digital or optical, but I’d bet on the former. I can easily see this device being used to read books or newspapers in full color and with a page flipping metaphor. (Watch out Amazon Kindle and Sony PRS-505.)

If and when Microsoft releases this as a product, the device could eliminate the need for notebook computers while travelling. From what is visible in the video, it has excellent handwriting recognition. The tablet user in the video writes an Internet address in the browser and is taken to the site. Perhaps this will also work with some yet undisclosed email client. If you can have your schedule, a note taking device, a web browser and email in this handy form factor, why would you lug around a notebook or even a netbook. It is not known if the device will offer any entertainment options, like the ability to play music. If it does, then Microsoft will have a hit on its hands and will finally have a tool that can take away the “cool” designation from Apple.

For pictures click here.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

Amazon has said that they mistakenly sold copies of the digital books without having the right to sell them. This may be true, but it still does not give them the right to delete them from personally owned devices. If this were allowed to stand as something that is acceptable corporate behavior, it would enable other companies to delete items from your computer, iPod or iPhone if they deem it to be pirated or objectionable for whatever reason. Now imagine a future where there are no paper copies of books, just electronic ones on devices like the Kindle. The government is taken over by, lets say left wingers, who want to eliminate all copies of Bill O’Reilly’s conservative books. They remotely delete them and all other conservative authors that they abhor. In that scenario, what can the regular guy do to get a balanced view of the world?

Amazon’s ill advised deletion should be the catalyst for congressional action. We need a Digital Rights Amendment that specifically details the rights of purchasers of digital content. It is outrageous to allow a corporation to go into our property and delete or take back something that you have paid for. It is also dangerous to a democratic society.

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon has apologized for his company’s action. Here is a quote from his apology:

Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.

I accept his apology, but I do not accept his promise that Amazon will not delete books from end user devices going forward. I believe that the time is right for a law that prevents this type of abuse from occurring again in any form and from any source. What do you think?

I have grown accustomed to several open source applications on the PC. Three of these are TrueCrypt, FileZilla and VirtualBox. These are for encrypting volumes of files, using the FTP protocol for file transfers and creating virtual machines on the PC, respectively. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there were Mac versions of these available. I installed them and a few other very useful applications including Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac and am at the point where I could do all my work on the Macs and ignore the PC completely.

I am quite pleased with the way the Mac OS X works. It is pleasant and fast. I find the performance on a 2 GHz, dual core Intel processor with 1 GB of memory to be superior to the 2.4 GHz Intel quad core processor with 3GB of memory on my Vista PC. The only thing that I can’t stand is the crappy Mac keyboard that is flat and missing tactile feedback. I found a way of using an old IBM Model M keyboard with a Belkin USB to PS/2 Keyboard adapter and now feel more comfortable typing on the Mac.

Apple has a good thing going for itself requiring a Mac to develop apps for the iPhone. As we make progress on some applications, I will keep you posted on the progress. If you are looking for iPhone development, please consider my company; Alonso Consulting. We will deliver excellent results at a very reasonable cost.

New functionality in the iPhone 3.0 software eliminates this hassle, albeit not perfectly. It now synchronizes the notes application on the phone with notes on your Outlook client, but only when the phone is physically connected to the machine with the Outlook software. It does not synchronize over the air like it does with email and contacts. This is an unfortunate limitation, but one that I will live with. To me, this was one of the most pleasant surprises of the new 3.0 software.

One improvement which is not getting a lot of attention is the built in Stocks application. This application allows you to track a portfolio of stocks. You simply look up the symbols and save it to the interface of the application. Figure 1 shows a sample portfolio with Ford Motors (F) highlighted. The upper part of the interface shows the stocks in your portfolio and their current prices (delayed 20 minutes.) You can press your finger on the colored area that shows the change in price and it will show you the percent change. This has always been the case, but the new software gives you an additional level of information. If you press a second time, you get the market capitalization of the stock.

Fig1. Stocks Base	Fig 2. Stocks News	Fig 3. Stocks Summary

The bottom portion of the screen shows a graph of the selected stock’s progress. You can select various time periods by pressing on “1d,” for today, “1w” for a week and continue increasing the time period as necessary by pressing the appropriate time period button. The new software adds the ability to scroll the entire graph region with your finger to obtain news on the selected stock. Figure 2 shows news for Ford.

Another scroll  to the right will display a summary screen on the stock. The summary screen shows the opening price, high, low,  volume, highs and market capitalization of the company. This is a very handy addition since getting this information in the past  required going to Yahoo! Finance. Figure 3 shows the summary screen.

Perhaps the most interesting improvement is the new landscape mode of the application. If you flip your iPhone (or Touch) on its side, you will see an enhanced graph of the price of the stock over time. You can then press your finger down on the display and move it to the left  or right on the display to get the price at any given point in the graph. The image to the left shows the graph with a vertical line through it showing the price at that point. That vertical line represents where my finger was on the screen when the screen was captured. If you use two fingers and spread them in opposite directions, you can  get the change in price for any period of time. The image below and to the right shows a range with a drop in value of 3.13% for Ford’s stock.

You can see the other stocks in your portfolio and stock indexes, by moving your finger along the top of the graph (where the symbol and date is displayed) to the right or left and the graph will change to the next or previous stock or index in your portfolio.

The functionality that this little application offers is just incredible. Just about the only improvement that you could ask for is real-time quotes. If that happens, then the iPhone will become and indispensible tool for anyone trading stocks seriously. My congratulations go to the developers of this handy tool. Bravo!

For the many who were probably caught unprepared for this, the FCC has established a hotline staffed by 4,000 operators to help you, You can call: 1-888-CALL-FCC. Alternatively, you can visit this government website: http://www.dtv.gov/

Does anyone remember analog cell phones, Betamax, VHS, LP record players, tape players, or heaven forbid, 8-Track players? If you do, you probably own a Sony Walkman tape player and need to upgrade to an iPod Touch. Get with it.

The answer to ever growing storage needs is an external hard drive. Western Digital makes a very good 1 Terabyte drive, with USB 2.0 connections that typically sells for under $200. This drive has enough space for over 200,000 photographs, or 1,000 compressed movies. My recommendation is that you buy two identical drives and keep two copies of everything. You might even want to keep one drive at a remote location and only bring it home to keep it up-to-date.

Think about it–those pictures of your loved ones are definitely worth $400. If you are a patient shopper, you can even find the drives for about $149. The good news is that they work with both PCs and Apple computers.

Apple is the new Sony when it comes to portable music devices. Sony lost its dominance by allowing Apple to be hipper and to deliver a better music experience. It is doubtful that Sony can dethrone Apple any time soon. Apple appears to have learned from Sony’s folly and competes with itself by introducing new more exciting products each year–something that Sony did not do.

When Sony achieved some attention in the computer business, it sold expensive desktops and notebooks called VAIOs. This acronym stood for Video Audio Integrated Operation. I thought it was an excellent idea. Sony was going to make the PC an exciting platform for audio and video. This acronym was introduced in 1998, years ahead of the PC becoming a multimedia platform. Here, Sony would have had the lead and perhaps dominance if it were not for the fact that the machines were and continue to be prohibitively expensive. You can get a PC or notebook with equivalent specifications for a third to a half what Sony charges.

It seems that Sony is abandoning the original meaning of VAIO. They are now saying that it means, Visual Audio Intelligent Organizer. This new meaning will be applied to a new level of software and product integration. Who knows, maybe there is hope for Sony still? It will undoubtedly be difficult for them to catch up to Dell, HP, Lenovo and Acer in terms of products and market penetration. They have also expressed their unwillingness to compete in the netbook area where Asus and Acer are now dominating.

The Sony record on video is also haphazard. It lost the Betamax vs VHS format war in the mid 80s. This in spite of the fact that Betamax was introduced one year before VHS and was a superior format. The HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray format war has been won by Sony, but the format has not caught on. The high price and market dominance of DVDs have stalled Sony’s efforts in this market. The fact that you can purchase a DVD player with technology that scales the video to high definition levels for under $50 has certainly had an impact on Blu-Ray sales.

Likewise, Sony failed to anticipate the popularity of flat-screen televisions. It was so dominant with the Sony Trinitron TVs, that it ignored the demand for the newer technologies. It entered the market late and was forced to repackage Samsung LCDs with the Sony logo on it. When they did this, the market was dominated by Sharp–a company that was always known in the past as a tiny, low-quality competitor. Now, Sony is faced with many competitors that have better or equal products for half the cost of an equivalent Sony product.

The last consumer oriented segment that Sony is losing is the game machine market. Sony got into this market late, but managed to beat out many very successful competitors with its PlayStation (1994) and PlayStation 2 product lines. These game machines were the first to exceed sales of 100 million units. Unfortunately for Sony, it now has two very significant competitors in this market. Microsoft has entered the market with its Xbox and Xbox 360 product and Nintendo has entered the market with a low cost game machine called the Wii. Sony is getting squeezed from the bottom by the Wii and is getting pressured by Microsoft to lower the price of the PlayStation 3. Sony is in a very difficult position. The inclusion of Blu-Ray in the PlayStation 3 helped it win the format war with HD-DVD, but makes it difficult for the game machine to be competitive with Microsoft and Nintendo. We will see how this works itself out in the next year.

So I go back to the title of this post, Sony, what happened to you? How could you be dominant in so many consumer electronics product categories and lose on almost all counts? What will you do to regain your greatness? Maybe you should merge with Apple and have Steve Jobs direct your efforts.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting, Inc.

As you might expect, all is not perfect–it never is. Apple has demonstrated remarkable greed with the release of the iPod Touch and iPhone 3G. One example of this is that many of the cables that worked with previous iPods do not work with the new iPod Touch or iPhone. These include car chargers and USB docking stations not sold or licensed by Apple. The iPod Touch and iPhone do not have a way of outputting video to a TV set without an Apple purchased cabled that plugs into the flat connector at the bottom of the unit. The standard AV mini plug only outputs audio. Previous iPod generations sent audio and video out through the jack. The cables were swapped around to encourage people to pay extra for the Apple branded cable. The new setup apparently checks for some Apple chip or signal and requires the Apple part. This is just greedy on Apple’s part.

The cable situation made a video cable that I owned, a car charger and travel charger obsolete. Needless to say, I am not happy about this. Since I have owned several iPods over the years, I also own a Bose SoundDock for listening to music in my kitchen and dining area. It also has served as a charger for the kids iPods and my wife’s iPod. Unfortunately, the new iPhone will not charge on the Bose device. It says that it is not a compatible device. This is one of the premier third party products for the iPod line and Apple has now made it less useful to me. It can play music from my iPhone, but will not charge. Again, this is Apple greed.

One would think that Apple would not have made the Bose SoundDock user base experience any problems, since they now resell the dock on their web site. Perhaps newer models do not experience the issues that I am experiencing. These signs of Apple greed will make me think twice about further purchases from the company.

Other issues that I have experienced with the iPhone include poor data connectivity and no signal for calling. At seemingly random times, I cannot access web sites or my e-mail through the device. It often seems that it is not the connections, but instead some sort of DNS resolution issue. DNS resolution is when a server is called upon to convert a web site address like alonso.com to the numeric address for the server on which it resides. The “no signal” issue has plagued the iPhone from the very first day that I had it. I will get a message that there is no signal and will need to restart the device for it to find a signal. This is reminiscent of restarting a Windows PC that is running a bit slowly.

Although every issue I’ve mentioned so far takes away from what could otherwise be a perfect product, the one issue that really rankles me the most is that you cannot buy applications from anyone other than Apple. This was presumably done to guarantee the quality of the applications. I can tell you that having downloaded dozens of applications (some of which I have removed now) most of them are full of bugs and crash all the time. I use the New York Times application to read articles from the paper on-line and have to load it at least four times to get through a lengthy article. It continually crashes without any error message. Apple is not delivering a quality experience with the third party software. Unlike music which you can buy from Apple or from any third party and then install on your iPod with the iTunes software, the applications have to purchased and downloaded from Apple. This give Apple the ability to prohibit certain types of applications. One application that was released on the Apple store–presumably by mistake–called Netshare was removed and has not been seen since. It enables an iPhone 3G owner to share the 3G connection using WiFi so that a laptop can connect to the Internet through the iPhone. I managed to get a copy while it was listed, but now have no way up getting upgrades. This is horrible market control and should be investigated by the Federal Trade Commission.

Now it is up to you to decide whether you can live with Apple’s greed and ridiculous control.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

The Airport Express takes this a step further. This inexpensive device lets you stream music from any iTunes installation to a distant location in your home wirelessly. You can set these up in your living room and family room and iTunes will recognize them and allow you to send music to one or more of the devices. But the best part is that you can control the music from Remote on your iPod or iPhone.

I purchased two of these after I saw how useful the Remote application was. I did not have high expectations for the devices since I know how imperfect a wireless connection can be. I was pleasantly surprised. The devices are incredibly easy to set up. You plug one into the wall and you see that an LED flashes yellow. You insert the Apple CD into your wireless notebook and it automatically finds the device. You then tell the software wether you are setting up a new wireless network or integrating the device into an existing one. If it is an existing one, it allows you to pick which one from a list and to then enter the password for it. After this step is completed, you name the device. In my case, I called one, "Living Room" and the other one, "Family Room." The configuration is saved to the device and the LED begins to flash green. That’s it. You are done. You can now unplug it and put in the desired location and plug an audio cable from it to your stereo. iTunes will find the Airport Express and display it as a viable speaker set. You can also see it from Remote.

I wish all software and hardware combinations were this easy. It is truly remarkable.You can buy one hereat Amazon.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting, Inc.

Another improvement is that when you are entering a URL like: http://www.alonso.com into the Safari browser, you can now enter the “.com” or other extensions like “.net” and “.edu” by pressing and holding down the “.com” button at the bottom of the on screen keyboard. It will present you with a menu that allows you to make the correct selection. This is an improvement over the previous software that only had the “.com” shortcut. I consider this a great time saver.

You can now save pictures that you see on a web site by touching the picture and holding your finger on it. An option for saving the picture is displayed. If you press it, the picture is saved to a folder called, “Saved Photos.” You can later copy it from the device when you connect to your PC using a USB cable. Your computer will now treat your iPhone or iPod Touch as a hard drive. Unfortunately, Apple does not allow two way copies. You cannot write to the drive with the photos–only read from it and copy the pictures to your PC.

You may also find the ability to take screen shots of the device useful. Let’s say you are on a web site with some graph or news that you want to capture. You can do so by pressing the “Home” key followed by the “Sleep/Wake” button on the top of the screen. This will save an image of the screen to the “Saved Pictures” folder.

This is great software. Enjoy!

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

I have only used it for a day, so there will be more detailed posts in the future. My testing so far has revealed that the software synchronizes with an Exchange Server remarkably well. It can use the push or fetch method for getting your information. When you get e-mails, the mail icon on the home page of your device tells you how many messages you have received. You click on the icon with your finger and start reading your e-mails by clicking on a mail item with your finger and navigating through the message with finger motions. All e-mail messages are displayed in their full HTML. You can magnify a message if it looks too small by using two fingers to expand away from a center point. The converse motion, shrinks the message. It is easy, beautiful and intuitive–the way software should work. (Are you listening Microsoft?)

Your calendar is also synchronized and displays pending appointments on the startup screen you see when you turn on your iPod. You can also browse through your calendar by using finger motions. For example, if you want to see tomorrow’s appointments, you simply drag your finger across the screen towards the right and they are displayed.

You can browse through contacts from multiple contact folders in your Exchange Server and also from contacts that are discovered and not necessarily entered into a contacts folder. I am not sure how this works yet, but it appears to scan e-mail addresses of people that you have communicated with. You can select which group of contacts to display or you can select to see them all at once.

Another interesting feature in the new software is that you can now save images that you see on web pages in Safari. These images can then be synchronized to your desktop when you connect the iPod. They appear as an imager folder would when you are using a camera. I love how this works.

The App Store is a feature that Apple likes to talk about. The reason is obvious–they will make money off the purchases made. I have tried the App Store directly from the iPod and can tell you that it is elegant. You can browse by category of applications and download and install them with two clicks and your iTunes password. I installed a few free applications. These were the New York Times, Paypal, Bank of America, Facebook and Remote applications. The names are self explanatory, except for the Remote application. It allows you to use your iPod as remote control application for your iTunes library. You can access all of your music and pick songs to play on your computer from anywhere that you have a wireless connection. If you have your computer connected to stereo equipment you have the makings of an unbelievable jukebox. The Remote software is free.

So far, my experience has been so magical that I am considering getting an iPhone so that I can use all the functionality while out of range of my WiFi signal.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

It turns out that the real culprit is that the server’s time was 40 minutes behind the time that was displayed on client machines. This sort of disparity is not allowed and results in the Exchange Server services not starting. The error messages that Exchange displayed were not that helpful. Setting the time correctly fixed the problem and the services started immediately. I am adding this blog entry, just in case someone else runs into this problem and finds this simple solution through a search engine.

I think that the problem lies with a faulty server that has timing issues. We will have to look into it.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting, Inc.

It turns out that it was a big mistake on my part. I received an e-mail from preferredphoto.com asking me to call them to clarify something in my order. I called repeatedly and got a voice mail box that was full for the extension that I was supposed to call. I also go a full mailbox for their main extension. Three days later, a representative called me and offered to sell me add on products. When I declined, I was offered an extended warranty since "the manufacturer hardly covers the product at all." I told the caller, I had certain expectations when placing an order and one of them was not to be called with additional offers. The rep told me not to get preachy with him and that the total would come to $129 and some change including the "handling fee." I promptly told him to cancel my order because I did not want to do business with a sleazy company. He, of course, said I would not find the product at that price anywhere. Even if that is true, this kind of behavior cannot be encouraged. I would rather go without the product.

Here is my recommendation: Steer clear of preferredphoto.com and give your money to a company that will deliver what they say they will at the agreed upon price.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

The newest Tivo’s allow you to use features from the Internet. Mine is connected to the Internet using a high-speed cable connection. With it, I can access Yahoo! functionality, I can purchase or rent Amazon movies from Unbox, or even transfer video to and from my PC. This latter feature is accessed using a piece of software called Tivo Desktop.

The latest version of Tivo Desktop allows you to send Podcasts to your Tivo for watching on your TV. I have subscriptions to a few technology Podcasts trough iTunes that my Tivo Desktop software transfers to my Tivo. It is a winning combination. The software comes in two versions–a free version and one that is priced at around $25. The paid one let’s you convert movies that you record on your Tivo to your portable devices–including your iPod. This makes it an excellent tool for two way use of your media.

As if these features were not enough to make me love my Tivo, there are two more features that you should know about. You can watch your pictures and listen to digital music files that are on your PC or home network on your TV. These features make the Tivo/Tivo Desktop 2.6 combination the ultimate (legal*) home entertainment system.

*The reason I say legal is that you can get many of these features in a more refined form from XBOX Media Center. This software runs on modified XBOXs and is free open source software. Additional versions of the software are being worked on by volunteers now.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

You can buy Apple’s cable and pay $19.99 or you can use a standard 3.5 mm A/V cable with a three plug RCA output. Contrary to what Apple would want you to believe, a standard cable will work. It is just a matter of deciphering what Apple did to make it look like it wouldn’t.

Apple changed the order of the signals sent out from its jack so that the video signal would not come out of the standard yellow RCA plug. Instead it comes out of the red one. If you have a standard A/V cable (You can buy one for about $5.97 at Amazon.com.) you simply plug the cables in as follows:

Red RCA to Yellow jack
Yellow RCA to White jack
White RCA to Red jack

A more recent example of this nickel and dime attitude is evident with the iPod Touch–a device that costs several hundred dollars. To watch video on a TV, it requires an expensive cable that connects to the special Apple port on the bottom of the device. It costs $49 and was designed so that people like me would not circumvent the Apple tax on an already expensive device. To force you to buy the cable, Apple crippled the 3.5 mm A/V port on the Touch so that it would only output audio. As silly as it may sound, I refused to buy this cable and decided to forego using the iPod touch with a TV. It wasn’t the $49 so much as Apple’s price gouging. Fortunately for me (and Apple), a person who knows how stubborn I can be, decided to buy it for me as a gift. (I still have not opened the box and have considered returning it.)

The most egregious gouging that Apple is guilty of is charging $20 extra for five applications that were shipped with the iPhone, but not on the iPod Touch. These applications are stocks, weather, notes, mail, and maps. These are small widget-like applications and not extensive tools. Thousands of Touch owners have complained about this extra charge and signed an on-line petition, but Apple has not budged on this extra fee. It is particularly galling since these new applications are now included in the 32 GB iPod Touch at no extra cost. Those of us that supported Apple from the start and purchased the 8 GB and 16 GB versions are basically told “too bad.”

There is a rumor that the 2.0 version of the iPod Touch and iPhone system software will be free for iPhone users, but cost another $20 (maybe more) to current iPod Touch users. This update will include Microsoft ActiveSync technology for synchronizing with an Exchange Server. Many users will want this upgrade. Apple is counting on this so that it can once again nickel and dime another $20.

Don’t get me wrong, charging for upgrades is fine. I have no problem with a business making money. I just get the feeling that Apple tries to get ancillary revenue on many small and often ridiculous items. I think that it should clearly announce its intent to charge for all minor upgrades and to admit that it treats iPod Touch customers as inferior to iPhone customers. We can then decide to go along with the program or select a competing product like the Microsoft Zune.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

Without getting into every detail of the device I will tell you the good, the bad and the ugly and let you decide whether you want one or not.

The Good

The Maestro does and excellent job of guiding you from one location to another. It synchronizes with GPS satellites almost instantly and works well even inside a building that has notoriously bad reception of all other radio signals. I love that it chimes at the exact spot that you have to make a turn and warns you in advance verbally when you need to make an upcoming turn. The voice it uses is pleasant. It also understands voice commands and has an excellent user interface for entering destinations. You can start with a Zip Code, enter the first few letters of the street name, select the right one from a list and then enter the numerical address and you are on your way.

It has so many excellent features that it is impossible to describe them all without turning this into a user’s manual.

The Bad

Unfortunately, like all good things, there is a bad side to this GPS device–it sucks as a speaker phone. Please note the strong use of the word, “sucks!” The speaker is tiny. The volume is inaudible and the device never reconnects with your phone when you leave and reenter your vehicle. You have to go through the menus and find your phone and reconnect manually. This renders it completely unusable and makes it a gimmick rather than a feature. It is perplexing that the sound is such a problem since the sound for the street directions is crystal clear and adjustable. I read in on-line postings that this would probably be fixed in the next firmware. The current one is 2.24.

The Ugly

After reading that a firmware update would fix the problem, I searched the Magellan web site to find an update and could not find one. I then searched for a customer service number and called it. Their customer service sucks more than the speaker phone issue. Apparently, the customer service department is outsourced to a foreign country and the people there are complete idiots. The woman who spoke with me was more interested in getting information about who I was and where I was calling from than solving my problem. This little fact is particularly annoying since she did not use this information to call me back as she said she would at the end of the call. The support agent’s idea of customer service was looking up what I was asking about on the web site. I told her that I had already searched the web site and needed to know when a new firmware release would be forthcoming. All she could say is that one was coming, but that she did not know anything about the timeframe. I then asked her what the current version of the firmware was to see if I had the most recent and she could not answer this question. When pressed, she agreed to call me back with the information. It has been a week and no call back yet. This is pathetic and should not be called “customer service.”

I have some advice for consumer goods companies; bring customer service departments back to the United States and give them real information so that they can help customers. This is not the first time that I have experienced horrible support from off-shore call centers.

If you are interested in finding out more about the device, reading other reviews or buying it, go here.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

Card Size

SD cards are the larger of the cards and are typically used in cameras and portable GPS devices. The miniSD cards are the mid sized cards. These were mostly used in PDAs and various Smart Phones. Recently the PDA and Smart Phone market has moved to using the microSD cards. Since the phones and PDAs have shrunk in size, so have the memory cards for these devices.

Most computer stores and camera stores now sell adapters that allow you to use the smaller cards in devices that take the larger cards. This is useful for transferring data from a micro or miniSD into a computer that only has an SD reader.

The image above on the right shows the comparative size of these memory cards. (The image comes from Wikipedia’s site via the GNU Free Documentation License.)

Memory Capacity

The “HC” that is appended at the end of a card name stands for High Capacity. The capacity limit of non-HC cards is 4 GB. HC cards start at 4 GB and have a specified limit of 32 GB although theoretically larger capacities are possible. However, most devices have limits that are far smaller than that. For example, a Smart Phone that I purchased recently has an upper limit of 8 GB for microSDHC cards.

Speed Ratings

The 12x, 150X, various multiples in between, and Class ratings refer to the transfer speed of the cards. The number preceding the X is multiplied times 150 KBs. This usually refers to the highest speed that you can read data from the card. Writing to the card is usually slower. Faster write speeds are required by cameras that record video or take pictures with more megapixels.

The Class ratings refer to the transfer speed for HC cards. The number following the Class refers to the MBs that the card transfers. The three numbers that are used at this time are 2, 4 and 6.

Conclusion

Hopefully this has made it a little easier for you to decide which card to buy. Just remember to read the user’s manual of the device that you purchased and buy a card with the right size, capacity and speed for that device.