The INQ Blog

Mar 08

Wifi sorted, Skype working. Calls over wifi have less crackle but more lag. On INQ1, Skype is like another phone call, this is internet chat

I believe the issue with disconnection on WM6 is because of WPA wifi encryption. Fact remains, I prefer using Skype on 3G.

Mar 07

Skype

I’m currently working on an assignment for my postgrad studies to assess the strategy of a chosen company. Like many assignments we are expected to complete, this requires us to work in groups. My group have chosen Skype as our case study, and I find it amusing that we are using Skype to collaborate through conference calls.

I’m using the INQ1 to participate in these calls, but I’m also signed into Skype on my machine (running Ubuntu Intrepid) to share text snippets and links. The INQ1 gives extraordinary call quality - I’m really pleased. We are connected for periods averaging 3 hours, and the phone handles this without any sign of struggle; I’m even able to access emails and Facebook simultaneously.

I have noticed one glitch, which I believe is a fault with Skype rather than the INQ1. If I connect to Skype on my machine before the INQ1, or restart the handset / reconnect to Skype, all calls are received on the computer but not always on the INQ1. What worries me is that I’m unable to consistently replicate this problem. I have missed two Skype calls so far because my computer took the call and not the INQ1.

For the mean time I’m just making sure that if I walk away from my computer, I sign out of Skype so that the INQ1 has exclusive access to calls. I’d like to try reproducing this problem using Windows XP next week.

Overall, Skype is extremely impressive and the INQ1’s “Merge Contacts” gives the experience added value. Perhaps I’m asking too much, but I wish I could start a Skype call with speed dial as well as through my Contacts.

Feb 26

Wonder if there’s a way to stop vibrate alerting me of msgs when INQ1 is pressed to my ear mid-call

Feb 25

Hold power button for 5 secs & release = power off. Hold for 10 secs & release = reboot.

I’d love to be able to change the order of items in the switcher.

Feb 24

[video]

RSS as a feature

erikschmidt:

mrgan:

marco:

@danielpunkass:

At a time when RSS is only getting more popular, the Safari 4 Beta RSS feature marketing section is void of “New” claims.

Regular people still don’t use or understand RSS, so it’s understandable why Safari wouldn’t play that up very much.

I think we’ll see more products and features that are based on RSS but don’t call it that. RSS is valuable, but like other underlying technologies and data formats of the internet (HTML, HTTP, IMAP, MPEG-4), it needs to be packaged into consumer-friendly and consumer-relevant concepts, terms, and products.

It would be nice, however, if Apple themselves decide to take a crack at some sort of consumer-friendly, RSS-based app. NOT a NetNewsWire, but something that used RSS as an underlying technology.

As they are currently, the implementations in Safari and Mail are almost literal format representations - “here’s a list of items in this feed. Have fun!” For my money, Mac OS X’s RSS screensaver is a better RSS app.

I love NetNewsWire. No matter how many alternatives I try, I always come back to it. But I’m not most people. It is very difficult to explain to most folks why RSS Can Help You, even people like lawyers, who consume huge amounts of information in their jobs. RSS needs a killer app.

RSS is still an acronym that leaves most people staring back at you blankly. In a lecture theatre brimming with netbooks, macbooks and dells, postgrad students are still new to the concept and filled with questions on its uses for business.

It is definitely gaining ground though. Evidence of this can be seen in the mass market handset from INQ. “Feeds” features in the main menu of the INQ1, and the home screen can run up to three RSS widgets that scroll through posts. It even integrates with the contact list, which has a field for a friend’s blog/site RSS.

Mostly RSS is helpful for condensing the reading of various sites into one page or viewing portal. It often cuts down the quantity of adverts that we’d normally be viewing peripherially.

What bothers me though is truncating feeds. Whilst I completely understand why it is often tuned that way, to me, the whole purpose of an RSS feed is defeated if I am forced to click through to the site to continue my reading.

The Twitter “Fail Whale” on the INQ1 at Twestival.
Twitter integration is on the horizon and will be coming to the “INQ2” according to this article on ElectricPig. I find this particularly exciting as I’m a twitter nut.
A handset that ties together all my contact lists and allows me to single out a person and then make a decision about which platform/service/medium I’d like to use to get in touch - that’s a dream come true.
INQ1 has me 90% of the way there. My Skype, MSN and Facebook usage has definitely increased, but purely because I’m less connected to Twitter than I am to those services.
I’m currently installing Twibble with the help of @jwillmoth, hoping that this Java app can improve upon the mighty @dabr website.

The Twitter “Fail Whale” on the INQ1 at Twestival.

Twitter integration is on the horizon and will be coming to the “INQ2” according to this article on ElectricPig. I find this particularly exciting as I’m a twitter nut.

A handset that ties together all my contact lists and allows me to single out a person and then make a decision about which platform/service/medium I’d like to use to get in touch - that’s a dream come true.

INQ1 has me 90% of the way there. My Skype, MSN and Facebook usage has definitely increased, but purely because I’m less connected to Twitter than I am to those services.

I’m currently installing Twibble with the help of @jwillmoth, hoping that this Java app can improve upon the mighty @dabr website.

A Mobile Phone for Facebook Lovers - by Om Malik -

Great article by my favourite Silicon Valley writer.

Om points out the key to the concept - it’s a mass market handset with a great UI that will ensure data usage growth continues on mobile networks.

Here in the UK we are usually left to queue behind American consumers for products to be released, especially technology / electronics; so this article made me feel quite smug when Om expresses his disappointment that INQ1 won’t work in the US.