AOL Tech

ojala

Member since: Feb 20th, 2006

ojala's Latest Comments

Blog Activity
Blog# of Comments
Gadling7 Comments
TUAW.com16 Comments
Engadget3 Comments
Switched1 Comment

Recent Comments:

What Google and Mastercard's new mobile payment system could mean for iOS users (TUAW.com)

May 30th 2011 1:47PM The article doesn't mention the smart cards used in Japan. They have also implemented them in the mobile phones (Mobile Suica/Mobile FeliCa). The mobile service has over a million users.

Some of the research are quite interesting to read as the usage is quite heavy in e.g. Tokyo public transport. Everything from angle of the card and reader to contactless vs. contact (the technology is contactless but they discovered that people prefer to have contact to get feedback).

Readers for those cards seem to be everywhere in Japan where one would traditionally use cash.

iPhone 4 prices from around the world (TUAW.com)

Aug 3rd 2010 1:34PM While the price for Finland is right, the phone is available just through one carrier and locked.

Italy was a big source for unlocked iPhone 3GS's. Perhaps the local carriers decided to cash the situation with the iPhone 4 -- without realizing that Apple would sell the phone directly unlocked around Europe..

Navigon updates MobileNavigator with iOS4 multitasking, new maps and parking info (TUAW.com)

Jul 11th 2010 7:42AM I have a mental problem with mobile navigation -- caused by paying a few hundred euros for a Europe navigation several years ago from NaviCore for my S60 phone at the time.

A standalone PND has basic value, you can re-sell it and it continues to work no matter what you do. You can even use 5 year old maps if you want to, or skip a few upgrades.

With a mobile app you're stuck with your mobile phone. I change mobile quite frequently, just moved from iPhone 3GS from last July to iPhone 4 (both unsubvented and unlocked, so I'm getting a decent money for the 3GS on an auction site as well). In this case the navigation app would move to the new phone but it's not guaranteed -- I tried Nexus One Android phone for a few months earlier this year.

The other problem are the maps. I don't need navigation at home. I usually need it here and there, occasionally, in a number of countries. I don't want to pay n x $100 for a number of countries or regions. Europe or US isn't enough, the last time I wanted navigation was in Australia. I would rather pay $50/year for global maps.

This is an area where Nokia has done the right choice. Ovi Maps is free with global maps. The cost is bundled in the phone. One can get Nokia 5230 for a bit over 100 euros, a large 3.2" hi-res 640x360 display and all the phone features as a bonus (buy a local pre-paid SIM for random surfing etc). A pity the software is so poor.

I really wanted to buy the Navigon now for my iPhone 4 but just couldn't find a map bundle that I'd like to pay the price for.

Video evidence of the iPhone 4 death grip -- this time with real numbers (TUAW.com)

Jul 6th 2010 4:08PM .. forgot to mention that I haven't managed to drop a call but that's not the point. Going from strong 3G to GSM will not drop the call but it makes the device as dumb as the phones from mid 90's.

Video evidence of the iPhone 4 death grip -- this time with real numbers (TUAW.com)

Jul 6th 2010 4:03PM I got my iPhone 4 on Monday and yes, I can agree after two days that there are issues with 1) the proximity sensor and 2) the antenna. I had read about the problems, thinking that it's more about AT&T's lousy network and I didn't learn any "death grip" in advance.

During a 30 minute phone call I managed to activate the keypad and press a few numbers and put the call on mute. Just by holding the phone next to my ear the same way I've hold other phones for the last almost 20 years, including iPhone 2G and 3GS.

If I hold the iPhone 4 as a jewelry, touching just the back, or keep it on the table I get full bars and my data rate is at 4.5 Mbit/s. The network performance has always been pretty good over here. If I use the phone in my hand the same way I used the 3GS, without even shortcutting the black stripes, without squeezing the phone, I can have the phone drop from 3G to GSM and around 45 kbit/s. Makes web surfing and other internet use pretty interesting. The reception on the 3GS may have dropped a bar but so far it has given a stellar performance in the same situation, never had to worry about what's happening with the reception.

Using Xtreme Labs Speedtest one can see how just touching the antenna will effect the speed almost instantly, and when you loose the touch, the speed starts to go up again.

I like the phone so I hope Apple manages to tune the software. Returning the phone to the store isn't really an option, I will be abroad on holiday for the next 6 week. I don't buy the PR release bs and I can understand that not everyone has the problem, the effect of touching an antenna isn't the same for everyone and the network is not same everywhere. And I don't see the problem either all the time. But going from pretty fast 3G to 1/100th speed isn't just a matter of adjusting the number of bars shown..

People haven't never touched the antenna of a radio or TV?

iPhone grabs 20%+ smartphone market share in the land of Nokia (TUAW.com)

Jun 23rd 2010 1:13PM That news flash is more a summer news than anything else. TeliaSonera can't access other networks handset details.

Just a few years ago it was illegal to sell subvented phones so the carrier sales figures don't really tell the full picture, a lot of people don't buy their phones from the carriers. Company phones are very common and many bigger companies still have a limited number of handsets approved, mostly from Nokia. Again, those phone come from resellers, not the carriers directly.

There's a Modeling of Mobile Internet Usage and Business project at the Aalto University (http://www.netlab.tkk.fi/tutkimus/momi/index.html) that has handset details from all the carriers but as Nokia is one of the partners, they don't publish TeliaSonera's iPhone details. But in 2009 Nokia had 88.7%, Samsung 5.7%, Sony/Ericsson 3.3%, Benq/Siemens 0.6% and others 1.7%. That 1.7% includes both iPhone and HTC's.

When it comes to the actual data traffic, with the cheap flat-rate data subscriptions and USB sticks, 98% of the data traffic is with computers / laptops. The growth has been quite substantial, from 2000 Gbytes/day in 2007 to 20000 Gbytes/day in 2009.

The #1 thing I want in the next iPhone: support for 900 MHz UMTS/HSDPA (TUAW.com)

Mar 25th 2010 12:06PM If you compare how Nokia, Samsung and the others work in the mobile phone market and Apple, you'll see that Apple runs it's business with a very US centric way.

AT&T doesn't like tethering? Ok, let's disable it for everyone. AT&T doesn't do MMS? Ok, let's not have MMS.

If Apple was a real mobile phone vendor, they'd offer the iPhone for all the frequencies used in the market and not play the stupid game with a carrier unlocks and limited availability. Most phones are available in a few variants to support all the frequncies, or even as a single model with everything.

NZ is lucky for having unlocked, non-contract iPhone in the first place. Although NZ was stuck with the CDMA network for quite a while, now you have a 3G network that has better coverage than most 3G networks anywhere in the world (with the rural 900 Mhz 3G).

Apple document details Target Display mode for 27" iMac (TUAW.com)

Nov 26th 2009 10:25AM Just wondering if one could have two 27" iMacs, the other using both displays and the secondary iMac running as a server w/o display..

Finland Moves to Guarantee Universal Internet Access (Switched)

Oct 16th 2009 5:14AM The number 287 per 1000 inhabitants is a bit wrong actually, most broadband connections are shared by e.g. a family.

The latest (30.6.2009) figure is a total of 2,243,900 broadband connections, for a population of 5,326,314 that is a broadband connection for every 2.4 persons. Considering that families usually have just one connection for the whole family, the majority of the population does have broadband access already. One should note that of those broadband connections 664,300 are mobile so there is some overlap (DSL at home, mobile at summer cottage, ...) although quite a few have moved from DSL/cable to mobile for good.

For most telco's the minimum speed for a DSL is already 1 Mbit/s (or for double the price get full-rate ADSL2+) so I think the only problem in this legislation is the rural areas where DSL may not be available and the mobile would still be at GPRS speeds. 3G isn't widely available at the rural areas. The telcos have been moving rural landlines to mobile and the customers haven't liked that.

The 2015 and 100 Mbit/s is the real challenge. I don't see it happening at larger scale, fiber is coming to the new areas and city centres and cable TV offers 110 Mbit/s but that's pretty much it. Some rural areas are building local fibers but a lot of people live between cities and countryside.

Failure to launch: Apple bungles Snow Leopard distribution in New Zealand (TUAW.com)

Aug 29th 2009 7:03PM I'm not sure if I understand all these rants.

The fact is that whatever Apple or most other american manufacturers do, the press announcements are true only for the major markets in the US. If you live in New Zealand, Singapore, Italy, or any other "fine but not a major market" place you get things at some point.

For example I know a lot of people who are trying to get iPhone 3GS from the local selected carrier. Many of them have paid for the phone in the online shop but no one, not even the customer service, can tell when they might get the phone. And it's definetly not "max $199" phone. The real price for iPhone 3GS 32G is around 900 USD, it just gets subvented everywhere.

If Snow Leopard is announced to be available on 28th August, outside of walking distance to real Apple Store you will get it in about a week. I was suprised to see the UPS courier 28th afternoon with the Snow Leopard but that was never guaranteed (plus I paid extra for the delivery, about 30 NZD).

I would like to read about Apple in NZ but I don't see the point when you expect Apple things to happen in NZ like they happen in US. Apple is no different from other companies, they treat rest of the world like shit and don't care that half of their business comes from them. (No, I don't live (yet) in the NZ)