New Bright Shiny Object

Yesterday I purchased a Flip Video camcorder (http://www.theflip.com/) at Costco for only $89.99. It’s about the size of my Treo 700p and offers simply amazing performance for such a small device. It plugs into the USB port of a PC or Mac. At least with Windows, this actually causes video editing software to be launched on the PC that allows you to view, edit, and merge together video clips into a single movie, complete with background music. Check out my first usage of the device on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXUEF-YILfY) – recording a dinner I had with two colleagues from work last night at Oakley’s Bistro in Indianapolis. YouTube actually doesn’t do justice to the quality of the video, but it will at least give you some idea of the capabilities of this little jewel.

Should I Buy A Foleo?

You should all know by now what a huge fan on the N800 I am. I use it to replace many of the functions of a laptop or Tablet PC, and as a personal entertainment system. Nevertheless, the N800 does have a couple of deficiencies that bother me. First and foremost, it lacks the ability to easily handle Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint). Next, even if it could handle Powerpoint it doesn’t have a VGA output port on it that would allow me to give presentations from the device. As a traveling consultant these would be huge advantages to have in a mobile computer.

That’s why I’m thinking Palm’s new Foleo isn’t as bad as people are making it out to be. It does exactly the things I miss in my N800. In addition, the bigger screen and built-in keyboard would be very nice to have, too. It’s runs Linux like the N800 as has the same kind of “instant on” I’ve come to love with the Nokia device. Of course the bigger size means I can’t put it in my pants pocket like I can do with my N800.

What really burns me about the Foleo, though, is the fact that it has no multimedia capabilities. In fact Palm specifically says that the Foleo does not have sufficient CPU power to handle any mulitmedia functions. I make extensive use of my N800 to watch videos of movies and recorded TV shows, and listen to music on it - which I couldn’t do with the Foleo.

So here I am, a traveling business professional that fits right into Palm’s stated market segment for the Foleo, and I find myself lusting after, and hating the Foleo, at the same time. Should I get one and go back to using my iPod for multimedia? Oh, but the screen is soooo tiny compared to the wonderful screen on the N800. Should I carry an N800, Foleo, and Tablet PC? Gad, this means MORE stuff to carry when traveling, and not less. What’s a fellow to do?

How This Blog Came To Be…

I actually created this blog a couple of weeks ago as an experiment in using my N800 to update blogs. I then copied some of my old Flickr posts here to see how they would look. I didn’t mention the blog to anyone.

 Well in no time at all, Technorati had found it. Then other blogs started linking to this blog. All this results in more and more visits here by users.

 So it looks like it’s become an official blog and so I’ll keep updating it. I’ll stop using Flickr as my “blog” and post exclusively here now. Of course I’ll also keep up my “Today’s Nokia N800 tips” on Twitter (http://twitter.com/mconnick) as I long as I can think of more of them.

So I hope to see you here again soon!

Inked Posting from N800

I used Xournal to create the above posting. The resizing done by WordPress lowered image quality and actually doesn’t do justice to the original image, which is sharp and clear.

Pandora and the N800

Pandora and the N800Originally uploaded by Michael Connick

I’ve previously mentioned on Twitter (http://twitter.com/mconnick) that Pandora (http://www.pandora.com/) can work very well with the N800. The only problem that needs to be overcome is the fact that Pandora will stop playing when the N800’s screen turns off. Normally the maximum time you can set before the display shuts off due to input inactivity is 5 minutes. As I mentioned in a Twitter post a solution to this problem can be found at http://tinyurl.com/352ovr – and this “problem” can actually be viewed as a feature!

While traveling I like to listen to music as I’m drifting off to sleep at night. I have an iHome iPod speaker set up that has a “sleep-mode”. This allows me to have my iPod play through these speakers for 30 minutes at night and then automatically turn off.

Well, I wanted to replace my iPod music with Pandora and by using the fact that Pandora stops playing when the N800’s screen turns off I can have it play for 30 minutes while I’m falling asleep. I just set the display shut-off time to 30 minutes (using the technique mentioned above), hook up my N800 to the iHome unit, also set the iHome unit sleep mode to 30 minutes and I’m all ready to fall asleep to the sounds of the music I’ve come to love.

Obviously, you don’t need external speakers for this to work if you settle for the sound produced by the N800’s built-in speakers – which isn’t all that bad.

Using N800 Keyboard with Tablet PC

Using N800 Keyboard with Tablet PC

Originally uploaded by Michael Connick

I found myself wanting to use my nice Think Outside Sierra Bluetooth keyboard with my Tablet PC as well as my N800, but I wondered how I would avoid “pairing confusion”. So I decided to try using the VNC Viewer on the N800 to connect to my Tablet and see if the keystrokes on the N800’s Bluetooth keyboard wouldn’t get passed right through to the Tablet. Guess what, they did! So I’m now using the N800 as a keyboard driver for my Tablet. A little bizarre sounding, but it’s actually very handy!

Reading Word Documents on an N800

Reading Word Documents on an N800Originally uploaded by Michael Connick 

I’ve previously mentioned that if people email me Microsoft Office documents on my N800, I usually ask them to resend them as PDF files. That way I can read them using the built-in PDF reader and even annotate them using Xournal – http://henryykt.googlepages.com/xournalforn800. However, sometimes it just isn’t possible for them to be resent. In that case I can still read Microsoft Word documents sent to me on my N800 using the Doc Reader program – http://downloads.maemo.org/product/docreader. This program allows me to view the TEXT contained in a Word document. Graphics and font formatting are lost, but it actually does a great job rendering Word tables. I can then save the file as a text or PDF file, if needed.

I’m finding this to be a very handy program to have on my N800.

Big Screen Version of N800

Big Screen Version of N800

Originally uploaded by Michael Connick

One of the things I most like to do with all of the various computing devices I own (Dell desktop, Electrovaya Tablet, Sony U-750, even my Treo 700p) is to have them all centrally accessible through one common monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I’ve been able to do that with all my Windows- and Palm-based systems using software like Synery, MaxiVista, and PdaReach, but up until today I couldn’t do that with my Nokia N800. Well today I figured out how to accomplish this. I installed Mike Saunby’s VNC server (http://mike.saunby.googlepages.com/x11vncfornokia7702) on my N800 and as you can see from the picture above I can now display its output on a monitor and control its operation from the same keyboard and mouse I’m using right now with my Tablet PC. It even continues to work after the N800 display turns off in power save mode. That’s a major productivity boost for me!

Ten Reasons I Love My N800

Ten Reasons I Love My N800

Originally uploaded by Michael Connick

1. Size – It’s small enough to fit into my pants or shirt pocket, meaning I take it everywhere with me. Sometimes I pack it into a small Rhinoskin carrying case along with its Bluetooth keyboard, USB cable, a portable WiFi access point, and charger cable – but it’s still a small and very lightweight package that then provides me with a complete mobile office!

2. Connectivity – It connects easily and automatically to WiFi networks, and very, very easily through my Bluetooth EV-DO phone (a Treo 700p). So I’m always connected to the Internet and with good to great bandwidth.

3. Performance – The potent little CPU combined with the lean Linux operating system provide superb performance for any task I’ve thrown at the N800. Web browsing with Opera is comparable to what I achieve with my Tablet PC or desktop. Streaming audio and video from my home desktop over WiFi works and works well. Rhapsody music streaming also performs flawlessly.

4. Battery life – It lasts all-day with my typical usage scenario. Now if I do something like continuously stream video, obviously the battery life is very much shorter, but with my typical usage it actually lasts the whole day.

5. Screen – The 800X480 4.13 inch screen is vivid and clear. The zoom-in/out buttons on the top of the device make reading just about anything a breeze. It also makes an awesome video viewer. I’ve watched many videos on it, including full-length movies, and the very nice built-in stereo speakers make for a very enjoyable viewing experience even without using earphones.

6. Application management – The Application Manager is simply amazing. I’ve never seen anything quite like it on any other computer. It makes installation of software increadably simple. The Application Manager accesses a Web catalog of available N800 software and allows you select any software that catches your eye and with one click download and install it.

7. FBReader – A wonderful eBook reader that runs superbly on the N800 and supports more eBook formats than any other reader I’ve found.

8. Video calling – Works a little crudely right now, but it even works with calls to PCs as well as to other N800s. Adding Skype in the near future will make it a truly wonderful feature.

9. Integrated Google Talk – My company happens to use Google Talk as its preferred IM client and the implementation on the N800 is simply superb. Google Talk availability of all my chosen contacts is displayed right on the N800s desktop screen.

10. PDF reader – Wow, someone has finally come up with a PDF reader for a mobile device that’s actually usable, and it’s fast!

So, there are just 10 reasons I love my N800. I actually have lots more, but they will give you some idea as to why I’m so passionate about this little device.