This Week at Mobile Tech Manor #44: Phones and UMPCs

This week has raced to a close as fast as can be, which means it’s time for another heart-to-heart about how the week was spent. It seemed to speed by at a dizzying pace, no doubt due to a new phone and updates to an old one. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs) and reviews and read three full novels. Sheesh, no wonder I’m tired. Come on in and let’s visit for a while.

A Week for Software

This week saw the big iPhone update to version 3.0 which turned my iPhone 3G into an… iPhone 3G almost S. The new phone model will be getting to folks’ hands by the time this column gets out but I am happy to keep on keepin’ on with my old iPhone. The new OS version has added some pretty cool features that extend the life of the phone into the foreseeable future for me.

I love the ability to use my Bluetooth stereo headphones with the iPhone due to the update, something far too long overdue. Wireless headphones must be experienced to be fully appreciated; those who have never foregone the wires simply must try it. There is something liberating about listening to music with the player out of sight, in the pocket. I have listened to more music this week since the update than I have in a long time. It’s very timely on Apple’s part, too, as the Palm Pre has been able to do this from day one.

I have taken advantage of the Pre’s ability to masquerade as an iPod with iTunes and have been syncing it up via USB. It worked flawlessly the very first time I connected the Pre to the MacBook. The cool thing is how it only syncs up my music that’s DRM-free. Since DRM-infested tunes will not play on the Pre, I was concerned that Pre memory would be wasted by bringing over songs that wouldn’t play but I need not have worried about it. The iTunes/Pre combination is smart enough to know which songs will play and which won’t, so it only copied the ones that are DRM-free to the Pre. Since my music library is too big to fit on the Pre, iTunes made a playlist called “James Phone Selection” and copied enough to almost fill the Pre. I can edit that playlist and make sure I get the music I want within iTunes. It’s a very slick implementation and I am happy with the way it works.

Speaking of the Pre, I broke down and paid the $30 for the Palm emulator, Classic. I use eReader for Palm in the emulator so I can read e-books on the Pre and even though I was going to forgo paying the high price for Classic, I just couldn’t do without having e-books with me, no matter what. I do think the program is too expensive and the price should be lowered. Better yet, I hope Fictionwise gets a native Pre version of eReader out soon. They have told me they intend to produce one so I hope it’s soon.

I had been using the HTC Advantage to read e-books and I still do, but the convenience of having my e-books on the phone cannot be beat. Having a reader in the Pre is the reason I read more e-books this week than in the recent past and I just can’t forgo having eReader on the phone. Reading e-books on the phone is not the best experience, but it’s good enough and it’s always with me.

One issue I encountered with the iPhone 3.0 update is that it broke the bookshelf functionality of eReader. I had intended to carry the iPhone in addition to the Pre for the better eReader experience and also for the iPod functionality with the wireless headphones. The broken eReader prevented me from reading e-books on the iPhone, but there should be a fix for it soon. The screen of the iPhone makes for a very good e-book reader with either eReader or Kindle for iPhone.

One new program I have been using this week is Tweetdeck for the iPhone, and it is simply the best Twitter app for the iPhone today. The multiple column format is well done and I find they did a great job optimizing the layout and interface for the iPhone, although the font is almost too small to read comfortably. I have been using Tweetdeck on the Mac for a while and I find it to be just as good on the iPhone, which is a tribute to the good job they’ve done porting it.

This week I went back to using Firefox as my main browser. I love Firefox, but since Safari 4 went gold I had been using that due to its speed. I updated Firefox this week to 3.5 Beta 4 and switched back to using it as my sole browser. I don’t know if it was the time spent away from Firefox or the new beta version but let me tell you, it is so darn fast! Safari 4 impressed me with its speed when it appeared but this version of Firefox does everything faster. I was almost shocked when I switched back to experience how much faster Firefox is than Safari. If you haven’t looked at Firefox in a while you’ll be amazed, too.

Unbiased Reviews

I have done a lot of soul-searching this week about the hardware review business I am in. This was sparked by the Michael Arrington/Leo Laporte fight that I won’t go into here, but it led to discussions all over the web that got me thinking. You know how I am when I get to thinking. At the heart of this whole debate about gadget reviews was the recurring opinion that reviews done with loaner gear are not as trustworthy as those reviews of gear the reviewer has purchased, as the reviewer can’t help but be biased.

I read so many statements by folks that they can only trust reviews done by reviewers who purchase the gadget being reviewed. This stopped me dead in my tracks and really put my mental processes into overdrive because it goes against my professional ethics. There are a lot of people who think that any review they read covering a loaner gadget is going to be biased. This is so counter to the way I work that it bothers me a great deal. I can honestly state that I approach every review the same way, whether it’s of a device I have purchased or a temporary loaner gadget. I am completely honest in my appraisal of the gadget, no matter where it came from or how it came to be in front of me. I wouldn’t be a good professional reviewer otherwise nor could I live with myself if I did that.

It’s important for folks to understand the way the tech review business works. A lot of the gear we review is sent to us on a temporary basis, the terms of which vary but are almost always defined in advance. We know we have set amount of time with a gadget before we send it back to the entity that provided access. We put the gadget through its paces, usually by using it doing real work, and we share that experience as it goes. When the time is up the gadget goes back to the owner. No exceptions.

I approach this process exactly the same as I do with coverage of the gear I buy myself, and that’s quite a bit of gear, as those who follow my work will attest. Other times I am so impressed with a loaner gadget that I buy one for myself. No matter how a device comes to be in my hands my coverage of it is the true impression I get of using the device. This is unwaveringly true in all instances. Offering a biased review or coverage of a gadget doesn’t ever occur to me; that’s not professional.

This is such an ingrained part of the way I work that when a company I have never followed offers an evaluation of a gadget I make it clear up front. They are told, in no uncertain terms, that the coverage will be solely based on my opinions of the device and those opinions may not be favorable. Anyone who has a problem with that is turned down — no exceptions. Companies that offer an evaluation unit are also told that we receive a lot of loaners and we do not even guarantee we will have time to evaluate their product. I can’t tell you how often a device is returned to the owner with the box unopened. The point is that providing an evaluation device gets no guarantees nor promises. I call them as I see them, no exceptions.

Now you hopefully understand why the conversation around this notion that loaned gadgets beget biased reviews bothered me so much. The idea that I would do a “good” review of a device because someone graced me with a loaner had honestly never occurred to me. I simply cannot work that way no matter what; the concept is foreign to me. I can understand why some would not believe that and thus the notion that only reviews of duly purchased equipment can be true opinions. Maybe there are unprofessional reviewers out there, but not here.

I know for a fact that doing so many reviews and providing coverage of mobile tech for so long breeds familiarity with my work. I am pretty sure that should I offer favorable coverage to a gadget that didn’t live up to that coverage then readers would pick that up immediately. My readers are too smart for that and would smell it out right away. You deserve better than that and will always get that from me.

The Best OS for UMPCs

I have been using UMPCs for as long as anyone I know, from the very first ones that appeared years ago to the current crop. One thing that good UMPCs have all had in common over this time is the OS, Windows XP. WinXP works well on devices with processors that are considered slow by today’s standards and 1 GB of RAM is more than enough for a good experience. The fact that WinXP works so well on “low-end” hardware is why it won’t go away, Microsoft has to keep it around to keep consumers happy.

UMPCs run very well on Windows XP, as I’ve said, but with Windows 7 just around the corner there is a lot of excitement about the new version running on them. I get asked every day how Windows 7 runs on this UMPC or on that UMPC and if I recommend upgrading as soon as Windows 7 will be available.

The fact of the matter is that Windows 7 is very cool; I like it very much. The interface is nice and it’s a lot more modern in appearance than Windows XP. At the very heart of it, though, Windows XP runs runs more efficiently than Windows 7 on just about every UMPC or netbook I have compared with the two OSes. WinXP is not as cool or modern but it runs just fine and whether a given device should be upgraded to Win7 or not comes down to personal preference. If you cannot live without the latest and greatest, then upgrade away. If it’s not that important to you, then WinXP is good enough.

E-books of the Week

This week I read a lot, mostly because the books were so good I couldn’t put them down. I found myself reading late into the night every single night. I read the last three books of “The Williard Brothers Collection” by Darell Bain that I first mentioned last week. The madcap adventures of the three brothers kept me entertained for hours on end and I loved the entire collection. If I had to pick a favorite novel of the four I’d go with the last in the collection, “Three for the Money”. There’s just something about having the brothers facing the CIA, the Mafia, the mysterious Mr. H and the Mexican army that keeps the action flowing until the very end.

I love a good thriller and follow the writings of quite a few authors who specialize in good thrillers. When I saw the “Thriller 2: Stories You Just Can’t Put Down” collection of short stories edited by Clive Cussler I had to pick it up. As the title indicates ,the problem really was putting it down as it’s an outstanding collection of thriller short stories of every kind. The author list of “Thriller 2″ is a who’s who of thriller novelists. It’s one of the best books I’ve read in a very long time. If you like thrillers you simply must pick this up.

I have mentioned my desire to write fiction and good short stories like these really get me in the mood to start writing for real. I simply must make time to write the short stories I have kicking around in my head. A couple of them are just busting to get out, the one about the last stew and the one about the regular guy who has the unexpected opportunity to get revenge years later against the creep who bullied him all through school. Those stories just have to get out of me. Maybe soon.

Weekly Wrap-up

This brings us to the end of another week at Mobile Tech Manor. It’s been a wild ride of a week, which has meant it’s flown by quickly. I hope you enjoyed sharing it with me and since this Sunday is Father’s Day, may those of you fathers in the audience have a great day. If you are fortunate enough to still have your father with you, pay him a visit or call him up and spend some time with him. For those of us whose fathers are not still with us, let’s take a few moments to remember the good lessons our fathers taught us and appreciate what they mean to us. Until next week, peace out.