Part three of the All About Symbian Challenge

Time for the first full challenge on my $250 to get all my smartphone needs while in America. But before I can do that, I need to get myself a SIM card and a data plan.

 

More discussion at All About Symbian.

# March 17, 2010; Leave a Comment.

Part two of the $250 smartphone challenge

Travelling through Heathrow, I picked up the MicroSD card that many would assume would be in the box of the Nokia 5230 and started to load up the phone for the trip across the Atlantic. how did I get on? Let’s find out.

All the details, and my in-depth diary post on the subject, can be found at All About Symbian.

# March 12, 2010; Leave a Comment.

How to get in touch with me at SXSW

I’m all hooked up with a US mobile now (you’ll find out exactly how in an upcoming All About Symbian Video Diary), but the good side of this is that I am now far easier to reach while i am in the US, and around the conference halls and clubs of South by Southwest from Thursday evening.

My UK mobile will be on at all times, and I’d naturally prefer texts to that. The number is +44 7966 152772. I’m also carrying a US mobile now, and the number is 415-370-6542. If you need to call me from the US, that’s the number to use. I’m not picking up voice mails.

I would prefer you text me in the first instance, unless it is urgent, or to confirm or alter an interview time.

I will be checking in on Twitter at regular intervals (roughly every 20 minutes during the day) so you can DM or reply to @ewan. Email is a last resort, don’t expect an immediate response, but if you must, ewanspence@gmailcom.

I will be in my kilt for SXSW, and I look a bit like this…

Ewan Spence

# March 10, 2010; Leave a Comment.

How hard can it be? The $250 smartphone challenge

Normally in March I carry some of the latest smartphone prototypes for a two week, real world review of the latest tech for All About Symbian. This year it’s slightly different, partly because the latest devices aren’t quite ready for me to test, but also because we wanted to try something a little bit different.

You might recognise the ‘Challenge’ format from a popular BBC TV show, but there is a serious point to what I’m doing. Smartphones are increasingly reaching into the low end market, and a Pay as You Go handset with Symbian and S60 appears to be achievable.

So Rafe and Steve have given me a budget of $250 for all my mobile needs while travelling. That includes having to buy the phone, the SIM card, the airtime, the minutes, texts, peripherals, third party applications… the lot.

 

More at All About Symbian!

# March 10, 2010; Leave a Comment.

Walking Over a Digital Grave

As part of SXSW, I contribute to the SXSW Baby website with a daily podcast from the conference floor. Because of that, and like many at SXSW, I came under the wonderful embrace of Brad Graham. Brad suddenly died in January, which has put a tinge of sadness over SXSW for many, including myself.

The tradition of “Break Bread with Brad” on the first night of SXSW ran for almost ten years, and while he won’t be with us this year, Break Bread For Brad will be on the first night of SXSW as usual. More details are on the SXSW Baby blog.

Because of his unplanned departure, SXSW Baby, which Brad took over from a long line of people, including Evan Williams, was still mostly a Brad running and co-ordinating all the writers effort. And there was only one super-admin to the blog, the forums and all the bits and pieces behind the site (it was rather tightly tied to the rest of Brad’s rather expansive hosting of sites).

So I had one last thing to do before leaving for the US today, which was to get back into control of the blog, and make sure two or three people had full access to the site to keep it running over this SXSW, then we can decide who it will be passed on to.

It’s rather like the Dread Pirate Roberts, and now I’ve thought that, I can clearly see brad in the Westley outfit. Or in Westley.

Essentially doing some white-hat hacking into someone else’s life is very strange and unsettling. It’s done now, and I hope that Brad doesn’t mind.

# March 8, 2010; Leave a Comment.

Download your SXSW Music Highlights

While you could sit on the SXSW Music website and listen to all the bands there (or be pushed towards their MySpace pages), that’s a lot of music to listen to. With SXSW rapidly approaching you might not have the time to get through all the bands. But never fear, the web is here.

Simon D, on his Outroversion website, has went through the bands and culled out 85 tracks that he believes are the highlights of SXSW. Not only that, but he’s wrapped them all up in one archive file for you to download onto your MP3 player of choice:

Two things you should remember if you have the very gall to complain- 1. This took me ages 2. It’s just my opinion 3. If you don’t like it do it yourself… Ok 3 things!

If you like the musical stylings that I’ve offered over the past 1 year and 18 days then chances are you’ll like my selections. I’ve left off a few of the better known artists like Eisley, Boxer Rebellion, She Keeps Bees, etc.

More information on Simon’s selection here, or you can head straight for the archive file on Multiupload.

(Cross posted from the SXSW Baby blog).

# March 6, 2010; Leave a Comment.

The PSP Show #117: Invizimals


MP3 File – Show Notes – RSS Feed – iTunes Link

What happens when you take your PSP Go-Camera, add in some ARG fighting with a Pokemon style system, graft on a massive storyline and Fight Club style combat? Well you get an interesting game.

Add in a splash of Brian Blessed teaching you how to play, and you get something a little bit special called Invizimals. How special? Listen to this week’s PSP show to find out.

As well as our Facebook Group and here, you can listen and subscribe to the show in Apple’s iTunes – and leave your own review there as well.

# March 6, 2010; Leave a Comment.

Geeks on a Plane

When you have so many people converging on one location, such as SXSW Interactive, there’s always some synchronising of travel plans, and it looks like the Brits have decided that flying in to Dallas, and then taking the American Airlines hop to Austin is the way to travel.

It’s the Dallas to Austin to flight at 1615 on Thursday 11th March (AA 1701), and strangely enough, even though I’m travelling from San Francisco and not Heathrow, I’ll be joining this flight with at least six other Brits. There may well be others that I don’t know about, as well as people from the Bay Area, given I leave California at 9.30am (American 48) and Virgin America hasn’t laid on a special San Francisco to Austin flight (missed marketing opportunity there!) I wonder if we can have a mini-geek off during the Trans-con before the main event in the skies over Texas?

image

Are you on the Geeks on a Plane flight?

# March 5, 2010; Leave a Comment.

The little things needed for an American trip

With the US trip for SXSW  and GDC approaching, I’[m working down my list of packing, and as usual it’s getting the little things right that make all the difference for the trip. Little things like these:

In-flight entertainment

It’s been a long time since I was at the mercy of whatever gets put on the monitors or seat back video machines on an aircraft, thanks to the Sony PSP. In the run up to a trip I’ll be thinking about what would be good to watch on both the big eleven hour trip from London to the West Coast but also on the domestic flights at either end end and in the middle of the trip.

Once you put on a few new films, some old favourites, and a season of Spooks and Hustle (I joined these shows late, so I keep the older seasons to watch while travelling), and my view habits are sorted.

I’ll also have a number of PSP games to review for The PSP Show (including the delights of Eye of Judgement, Half Minute Hero and my continuing enjoyment of the Densha De Go train simulators from Japan), as well as the latest qualifiers for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest to research and enjoy.

Failing that, I’ll just read Ascent by Jed Mercurio.

Power

Part of the fun on a long trip like this is bringing all the electronics up to 100% battery charge just as I leave the house, and then managing the power levels all the way to a smooth landing at the other end. A bit of familiarity and the occasional spare battery have seen me through, but this trip should be a little different.

If all goes well I’ll be doing a head to head review of Proporta’s USB Turbocharger and the Power Traveller’s PowerMonkey, two rechargeable battery packs with multiple connectors to recharge battery powered devices on long trips. I know I can get to my destination half way around the world with very little topping up, these two should allow me to let my hair down a bit more in using things like the PSP, the pocket computers and mobile phone/MP3 players.

Travel essentials

I still remember popping into a 7-11 in San Diego and watching the look of horror cross the pharmacists face when I asked for some paracetamol for my headache. Since then I’ve always thrown in some boxes for self-medication… and they tend to get used by other people with hangovers who realise I have stock. If people would just keep their fluid levels up without alcohol at conferences, it would be some much easier for everyone

Dairy Milk

Because I’m going to be in America and Hershey bars don’t touch my mood swings.

4-bar power strip

Not just in the Conference Centre, because SXSW isn’t the conference to be toting around a huge laptop in your bag (heads up, say hi to people, is the order of the day), but I do carry a fair amount of electronic kit while on a trip, and it’s far easier to carry one US to UK plug adaptor on the end of the four plug power strip. Much easier to use, and it also has an extra fuse in the strip, just in case.

A pack of cards

Because a good pack of Bicycles is incredibly versatile – on top of that a Fluxx deck will be in my bag, net to some Akoha cards

# March 3, 2010; Leave a Comment.

The PSP Show #116: Fifa 10


MP3 File – Show Notes – RSS Feed – iTunes Link

Yes another year, another EA Sports update, but bear with me. While I liked Fifa 2009, I’m loving Fifa 10. Why? You’ll have to listen to the show to find out.

And before you get to the review, the latest news and views, including some home truths about which is the greater evil… piracy on the PSP or the growing enticement of trading in older UMD titles.

Don’t forget to join The PSP Show’s Facebook Group, which can be found here) to chat with other listeners of the show, head on over. If you just want to listen, then make sure to subscribe to the show in Apple’s iTunes – and leave your own review there as well.

# February 28, 2010; Leave a Comment.

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