Most of the app’s communication with the Path servers is over SSL. This means that no-one can see the data you’re sending and receiving. If there are snoops on your network, they will only be able to see the encrypted data flowing back and forth. In general, this is a good thing.

Apart from images. If your friends are posting images, they are sent over http. No security. Anyone monitoring your network connection will be able to see all the images you’re viewing.

Now, that’s bad enough – but it turns out that all the images you send are visible to the the world even if you’ve set your post to private.

The images are sent over SSL, but as soon as you return to your “Path”, a thumbnail is shown of what you’ve just posted!

Here’s a picture of the logs, so you can see what’s happening.

So, every image you post or see – including the avatars of your friends – are visible to all. A rather serious security and privacy problem.

Oh, does anyone know what the unencrypted call to “sendgrid.net” is all about?

Today, I present to you three very different QR codes and their statistics. These are all taken from the Metro newspaper on Tuesday January 10th.

Wowcher

First up is “Wowcher”, a big quarter page advert on page 28.

Wowcher’s statistics show a consistently good performance with QR codes. Between 30 – 80 scans per day, and 87 yesterday.

Sparks

Next is a QR code for “Sparks Marathon” tucked away on page 50.

Sad to say, Sparks’ statistics are very poor. Just 16 scans. This is the first time this particular QR code has run. I wonder if its location (next to the TV listings, rather than by a news story) has something to do with its poor performance?

BlueSquare

Finally, on the bottom of page 63 is a QR code for BlueSquare’s iPhone app.

The BlueSquare statistics show a regular scan rate of 10 – 20 per day. Although yesterday they got 28.

Notes

It’s hard to assess just how successful these codes are. The numbers are low, no doubt about that. As I mentioned in my interview for Econsultancy, a company needs to perform proper A|B testing to see how many calls, email, or website visits they would have got without a QR code.

• These were the only three QR codes in the Metro using bit.ly – so they are the only ones I can get statistics for.
• I have assumed that each code is unique to the paper it is printed in. That is, the same advert in the Guardian should have a different code.
• There are no handset statistics provided with bit.ly – unlike goo.gl.
• The statistics have been taken from the day after the adverts were published. The Metro tends to hang around on trains long after the morning rush.
• I have no connection with any of the companies shown here.

If you would like a bespoke QR consultation, contact me.

Over to Ben Smith:

… a frequent complaint is that we don’t want thinner phones. We’d rather manufacturers used space savings to provide larger batteries. You know… ones that last more than a day like they used to.
Wireless Worker

Damn straight! Do I care if my phone is a bit thicker if it means I can go all day without a charge? No. No I do not.

My Samsung Galaxy S barely gets half a day of “real” use. I tend to browse the web for an hour while commuting, listen to music over BlueTooth, make a few calls and texts, FourSquare, and take a few photos. Come lunchtime the phone is whimpering in the corner just begging to be plugged into a USB socket. So, I either have to keep my phone sucking at the teat of my laptop, or severely curtail my usage. Unacceptable.

So, I bought myself an extended battery for the SGS. Specifically, the CostMad Samsung Galaxy S i9000 3500mAh Extreme Extended High Capacity Quality Spare Replacement Backup Battery with Battery Back Rear Cover Case Quite a mouthful, but here’s how the wee beastie looks:

Total cost? £9. Less than a tenner from some random factory in the Far East.

Now, the first thing that you’ll notice is that the battery is so massive that it requires a new backplate. It bulks up the phone, but does have some advantages.

It feels heftier. The weight isn’t very different from the original, but it feels more solid. The slippery and flimsy backplate is replaced by a rubberised and solid case which fits snuggly.

I let the battery charge while the phone was off. Once done, I proceeded to use it as normal. At the end of the day, this was the result.

Whoa! 8 hours of, if anything, heavier than usual use and I’m still have over half of my battery power available.

So, I went home, browsed the web, watched some YouTube, played some games, and generally tried to force the battery into submission.

By this time my regular battery would have been dead and buried, but this one just kept going!

Get One Now!

I could never buy a phone with a non-removable battery unless I was sure that it was of sufficient capacity to keep me going throughout the day. Sure, you can buy portable chargers, solar chargers, even hand cranked chargers – but that’s just a stop-gap as far as I am concerned.

I could keep my phone plugged in – but that rather defeats the purpose of a “mobile” phone.

As I head off to Mobile World Congress, a battery like this is a must.

Some Notes On Testing

• I’m running a beta build of ICS. That may not be particularly well optimised.
• I keep my screen brightness on lowest rather than auto.
• I’m usually in WiFi coverage.
• I have push notifications for Gmail and Exchange set on.

As a mobile Internet consultant, companies often ask me which QR generator to use. There are many worth considering, but I always tell clients to avoid bit.ly.

The security of Libya Internet organisations are probably not an immediate concern (you did know that’s what .ly stands for, right?). What is worrying is how bit.ly exposes your QR campaigns to your competitors.

How Does The Bit.ly QR Generator Work?

You can use Bit.ly to shorten URLs. Add a “.qr” at the end to get a QR code. Simple, easy, and insecure.
http://bit.ly/uRmAhs.qr

Exposing Your Statistics

Here’s a handy trick. Take any Bit.ly URL and add the + symbol to the end.
https://bitly.com/nTTo9j+

Congratulations! You can see all the clicks, referrers, and other statistics.

There is, as far as I am aware, no way to prevent this. If you have used Bit.ly to generate a QR code – everyone can see how well your campaign has done.

Revealing Your Future Campaigns

Bit.ly’s open access means anyone can see all the short URLs and QR codes you have ever created. Here is a list of all the QR codes created by Southeastern Trains. Here are all the FT’s “How To Spend It” short URLs. It’s amazing what you can find by rummaging about…

Imagine that you’re preparing for a print-run for a future campaign. With several weeks lead time, you’d better get those Bit.ly links created before you send things off to the printers.

So, now any of your competitors can see what QR codes you are creating, what promotions you will be running, and how well they do in the future.

You can make your profile private by changing your settings – but it is public by default.

It’s Not Under Your Control

Once you’ve created a Bit.ly link, it is unchangeable. If you’ve made a mistake with the link – tough. If you’ve printed thousands of posters with the Bit.ly code which points to the wrong place, you’re out of luck. Bit.ly codes cannot be changed.

While Bit.ly has proved stable so far – what happens if the service breaks? You’re reliant on a 3rd party – without an SLA – for your campaign.

Incomplete Statistics

Which phones are using the QR code? Bit.ly won’t tell you – and there’s no way to get the information. So, there’s no way to tell which phone platforms you need to target.
You do get some country by country breakdown, but that’s it.

Conclusion

I would advise all companies to use their existing web infrastructure to create short URLs. If your web team can’t create simple rewrites – fire them. Seriously, it’s incredibly easy, it means you control the codes, to where they redirect, service levels, and get all the statistics you need.

Time to delete your Bit.ly links? Sorry, you can’t do that either.

Feel the need for some bespoke QR consultancy? Contact me for details.

It’s rather hidden – you have to go in to search (not camera) then click the eye icon.

However, it is one of the fastest and most accurate scanners I’ve ever used. It knocks Android favourite ZXing into a cocked hat simply by by speed alone – it’s also very fault tolerant and was able to scan in low light and at strange angles.

There’s only one problem I have with it – the user interface really isn’t very good. Part of this is the design constraints of the Metro interface, but that’s no real excuse.

Let’s compare WP7 and Android.

Scanning

WP7

The scanner is quick and efficient – but doesn’t let you see the whole destination URL.

Because it can barely fit in a whole bit.ly link, this could lead to some confusion when scanning: are you going to example.com/video or example.com/games for example.

There’s also the (remote) possibility of a security problem; www.hsbc.com.evilsite.xxx will only show as www.hsbc.com

Android

The layout of Android is quite different. I prefer the vertical arrangement of WP7 but Android provides better and more useful information.

(The screenshot doesn’t show the camera view in the background.)
As well as the full URL, we’re given

• The destination URL for any shortened URL.
• Sharing buttons.
• A bunch of extraneous techy stuff (meta data about the code).

History

It’s often useful to go back and see what you have scanned. Both WP7 and Android have a history feature.

WP7

Again, WP7 looks gorgeous – especially with the photo thumbnail of what you scanned.

But, again, there’s no way to see the full URL. And, again, the only thing you can do it click on it – no sharing options available.

Android

Android is more Spartan – but more useful.

Although there’s no thumbnail, we can see the full URL and any redirection. Clicking on a URL allows us to share it.

Conclusion

Windows Phone 7 has a faster and prettier scanner – Android has a scanner which has more useful features and presents less of a security risk.

I’m not a massive fan of short URL services like bit.ly – but for shrinking the text you want to fit in a QR code, they are invaluable.

I want to take a look at a particularly interesting example from Nat West Bank.

The Poster

Despite having the QR too close to the ground (more of that in a later blog post) this seems like quite a good campaign.

The QR code is large and clear, it’s not too dense, and the copy shows the app is available on Android, iOS, and BlackBerry. A single scan on any device should redirect the user to the correct destination.

The Scan

This is where things start to fall apart.

The URL

I know some of the guys behind ScanBuy. It’s a good service, but I don’t think it’s suited to this usage.

http://SCN.BY/9T7N6HN0RDQPUO

1. No “https”. Users are being trained not to trust banking URLs unless they go via SSL. I wonder if people will notice on QR codes?
2. It’s not a Nat West domain. How does a user know that this goes to the real app and not some mobile-malware?
3. Nonsensical path. At the very least, ScanBuy should let this be customised to scn.by/NatWestApp or similar. That way, people looking through their history will know what the URL is meant to go to. (See scanning while underground).

That said, the code does successfully redirect users to the correct app store to download the app.

What I Would Do

I would use a url like

https://natwest.com/GetApp

It’s the same length as the previous, is human readable, and is secure. If Nat West can’t run the redirection and analytics service themselves, it could easily redirect to ScanBuy to do the heavy lifting.

The Good

One thing to say, if a non-compatible device scans the code, they get taken to Nat West’s mobile friendly site.

I understand the need that network operators have to protect themselves from bad headline and give people some control over what they see online. What I dislike is the way it has been implemented.

On trying to access Untappd on my mobile, I got the following error:

Which, when zoomed in, gives me this:

Let’s count the ways this is unhelpful…

1. Non-mobile friendly site! Loses extra points as you’d expect a mobile company to get this right.
2. Formatting is screwy. Take a look at the source of the page.
3. Why don’t Vodafone say who my “mobile service provider” is? They know if it’s them or an MVNO.
4. How do I contact Vodafone from this page? Where’s the click to call link?
5. Why can’t I switch off content control from here? A link through to Vodafone live or some other service so I can change my preferences.
6. Drinking beer while under 18 is not illegal. Given that the Vodafone Content Control is designed to prevent under-18s from seeing “unsuitable”content, why is it blocking an alcohol site?
   

   It is not illegal for a person under 18 to drink alcohol at home or at a friend’s house. Parents can choose to give young people some of their own alcohol when at home.

If pages have to be blocked – at least redirect to a useful page like this:

(I may be biased, I helped to create My Web and My Account).

Last night, I received this unsolicited message.

Now, I can try to unsubscribe using STOP ALL – and I have forwarded the text to VSPAM. But that’s not enough for me. I want to stop them sending any more spam SMS to anyone.

Let’s do a little stalking investigating and find out what we can.

Who Supplies Their SMS Gateway?

The people who provide the SMS gateway services ought to do a better job of policing who uses them.

PhonePayPlus allows us to look up any SMS short code and see to whom it belongs.

We can quickly see that the people responsible for sending the message are

Switchfire Ltd

2nd Floor
66 Wilton Road
London
SW1V 1DE

Tel: 020 7798 2800
support@switchfire.com

I rang them and got them to block my number from their system.
I also asked them where they got my number from – they are going to try and find out.

They wouldn’t tell me who they are sending the campaign on behalf of, so I set about trying to find out…

Where Do They Live?

The domain name “hoho.me.uk” redirects to the not-exactly-confidence-inspiring “blablabla.me.uk”.

A quick WHOIS gives us

    Domain name:
        hoho.me.uk

    Registrant:
        EKASure

    Registrant's address:
        Masons Yard 34 High St
        London
        UK
        SW19 5BY
        United Kingdom

    Registrar:
        eNom, Inc. [Tag = ENOM]
        URL: http://www.enom.com

    Relevant dates:
        Registered on: 07-Oct-2011

    Name servers:
        dns1.registrar-servers.com

The results are identical for blablabla.me.uk

A little dig around Companies House gets their phone number.
So, the registrant is EKASure of 34 High St, Wimbledon, telephone +44 208 946 6739.
Main URL http://www.ekas.co.uk/.

Who Provides Their Web Presence?

Again, from the WHOIS, and a little gentle pinging, we can see who the domains were registered and hosted with.

I’ve sent some abuse reports.

Other Complaints

PhonePayPlus are the regulators for these services, they have a handy complaints form.

Who Is Behind This?

Although I can’t find out who has authorised the sending of these spam messages, it would appear that the person who has registered all these dodgy sites is one “Stephen Clive Hedley Jennings”.

Various official filings have him either as “Stephen Jennings” or “Clive Jennings”.

Jennings – who is the owner of HotSexChat.info among many others – is the director of several companies.

A phone call to the Ekas offices confirmed that – although they are accountants – they do register domains for some of their clients.

I’ve dropped Mr Jennings a mail, linking to this blog post, to try and find out more information.

Preamble

• Many people download BitTorrent files.
• There are no BitTorrent search engines which are mobile friendly.
• Users have to try to navigate non-mobile-optimised websites.
• This is slow, inefficient, and may cost the user money in bandwidth charges.
• People who run Bit Torrent sites are often sued.

The Problem

BitTorrent search engines have a nasty habit of being sued (not something I want to happen to me!)

Lawsuits arrive based, usually, on one of the following factors:

• The site is hosting material which infringes a complainant’s copyright.
• The site operates a tracker which tells users how to access copyrighted material without permission.
• The site distributes .torrent files which tell users how to access trackers.
• The site operates a search engine for Bit Torrent files.

The Challenge

Is it possible to create a mobile friendly torrent search engine which neither hosts, distributes, nor searches for .torrent files?

This is how the usual client / server relationship works

     +------------+           +------------+          +------------+
     |Browser     |           |Site        |          |Server      |
     +-----+------+           +------+-----+          +------------+
           |                         |                      +
           | Request for HTML page   |                      |
           +------------------------>|                      |
           |                         |Search Request        |
           |                         +--------------------->|
           |                         |                      |
           |                         |                      |
           |                         |  Search Response     |
           | Generated page sent     |<--------------------+|
           |<-----------------------+|                      |

The browser asks the torrent site, the torrent site asks a search engine, the search engine responds to the site, and the site returns a page to the user’s browser.

This opens the site owner up to all sorts of risks. She knows what her users are searching for and she knows what response the torrent provider is sending.

Is there a way around this? Well, using jQuery Mobile, I believe there is.

     +------------+           +------------+          +------------+
     |Browser     |           |Site        |          |Server      |
     +-----+------+           +------+-----+          +-----+------+
           |                         |                      |
           | Request for HTML page   |                      |
           +------------------------>|                      |
           |                         |                      |
           |                         |                      |
           | Generated page sent     |                      |
           |<------------------------+                      |
           |                                                |
           |                                                |
           | Search request direct to search engine         |
           +----------------------------------------------->|
           |                                                |
           |                                                |
           |      Response sent directly to phone browser   |
           |<-----------------------------------------------+

Here’s what happens:

1. The user’s mobile browser requests the search page.
2. The site delivers the search page to the browser.
3. User types “Ubuntu” into the search box and hits “search”.
4. The text “Ubuntu” is not sent to the site!
5. jQuery Mobile “intercepts” the request.
6. The browser sends the search query directly to the search server.
7. The browser downloads the search results directly. (JSONP)
8. The JavaScript on the browser renders the results on the screen.
9. The user downloads the torrent directly from the source.

So, in this way, all the service does is send some HTML and JavaScript to the user’s phone.

The majority of the logic is stored on the jQuery CDN.

It is the user’s phone which then communicates with the search engine. The user’s phone which receives the results. And the user’s phone which renders them.

In this case, the server doesn’t see any content – legal or otherwise – nor does it see any search requests.

Technical

The code itself is fairly simple.

There are no reliable Bit Torrent search APIs which respond via JSONP. However, Yahoo Pipes provides several “recipes” which query APIs and return correctly formatted data.

Here’s the skeleton code:

To reiterate, all of this runs on the mobile phone. There is nothing happening on my server.

Now, I’m not sure that this is a cast iron legal defence – hence I am not making the site public – but it moves the action squarely on to the user.

In this case, the phone contacts Yahoo, Yahoo then contacts a Torrent search engine, the phone does all the sending, receiving, rendering, and downloading. The server doesn’t even see the search request.

What Does It Look Like?

The initial page.

Searching

The results.

The user is then free to download the torrent. Of course, the only torrent client I know for mobile phones is SymTorrent – and that only runs on older Symbian phones. So this project is of no practical purpose.

I think I’m turning into a Luddite. I see all these shiny tablets and… I just don’t want one!

Don’t get me wrong, I drove myself crazy trying to get an HP TouchPad because a) Massive discount and b) under a hundred quid.

You see, everyone I know with a tablet has one of two accessories.

1. A bluetooth keyboard. Because it’s really hard to do any sustained typing on a touch-screen.
2. A dock. Because it’s really hard to do any sustained typing on a touch-screen.

You see, I like to use my computer. Tablets are perfect for a consumer who wants to see pretty lights and occasionally prod at a large target with their fat, sweaty thumb. But that’s not me. I want to type, to blog, to code, to comment, to design. I want a laptop. And, indeed, that’s what I have.

If I want to do something passive, I’ll watch TV. Or my laptop screen. Or my phone. If I want to read, I’ll use an e-ink screen. My Kindle is lighter and has better readability than any tablet.

Why do I need another expensive device? Especially one I can’t create on?

Oh, and don’t tell me about the camera on these devices – does this look anything other than ridiculous?

So, Samsung have released the Galaxy Tab 10.1 – see Samsung’s YouTube Channel to see it in action – and once again I have gadget lust. It’s big, shiny, runs Android (and will run even better when Cyanogen is ported to it).

But once more, I shall have to turn it down. It’s lovely, I’m sure, but just not for me.

To help me justify my descision to forgoe this beautiful fondleslab, here are the top three worst things about the Galaxy Tab.

1. Non-standard charger. It uses some awful “media port” rather than micro-USB. (Note: it’s not even PDMI
2. No USB OTG – so I can’t use a keyboard, mouse, or external drive with it. Well, I can, but I have to shell out for a dongle that I’ll invariably lose.
3. No external storage – so if I want to take a bunch of movies and music with me on a trip, I’m limited to internal storage.

You can gaze at Samsung’s FaceBook page but it won’t improve things.

Am I crazy? Is there any reason to own a tab if I’ve already got a (great) Samsung Android phone and an (awesome) ThinkPad running Ubuntu?

What on Earth do you people do with a tablet that I’m missing out on?

Last year I blogged about how easy it would be to pay for parking via QR code. Now it looks like Islington Council have partnered with Verrus to make this a reality.

But is it any good? Well…. nearly. Let’s take a look.

The Initial Impression

The QR code is fairly clear and I was able to scan it without issue underneath street lighting. Sadly, there is no call to action. What does scanning the code do?

(My camera has somehow mangled the photo. Sorry!)

Code Density

They’ve used the highest level of error correction (“Q”) which is a good idea. In an external environment codes can get damaged or dirty. The higher the EC, the more chance the code will be readable.

However, they’ve shot themselves in the foot by using an absurdly long URL for analytics purposes.

http://m.paybyphone.co.uk/?
   utm_source=islington&
   utm_medium=qrcode&
   utm_campaign=mweb

Surely this could be made more efficient?

http://m.paybyphone.co.uk/?s=islngtn&m=qr&c=2

Or even better

http://m.paybyphone.co.uk/123456&s=qr

Because, you see, the code only goes to the main payment site – leaving the user to type in the parking bay’s ID number.

Code Destination

After scanning the code, this is what the first time user sees.

Annoyingly they’ve hardcoded the zoom – so users with impaired vision (or fat fingers) won’t be able to use the site.

<meta name="viewport" content="width=320,
   target-densitydpi=160,
   maximum-scale=1.0" />

The site is a little bland – and the “sign up” button is hidden out of the way – but it’s the functionality which concerns me the most.

Registering

If you’ve never used the system before, you need to register on this screen.

While it’s good that they’ll take payment from international users, it’s plain dumb to require someone to type in a credit card number.

What if there’s a gang of vicious hoodies waiting to snatch credit cards from unsuspecting users?
How fiddly is it to type out a 16 digit number when you’re in a hurry to park?
Who is going to remember yet another password or PIN?

(Incidentally, take a look at the above screenshot. Is their branding “paybyphone” or “PayByPhone”?)

Solutions?

Here’s how I would set the scheme up…

1. URL in the QR code reflects the location it is in. E.G. http://m.paybyphone.co.uk/123456
2. User scans code, selects the amount of parking they want to pay for. Clicks “Pay”.
3. A mobile payment solution charges the amount to the user’s bill, or deducts it from their credit.
4. User walks away happy. No need to register or remember a Personal PIN Number for identifying herself.

Scan, select, click. No typing, no memorising, no hassle. Surely that’s better than fiddling around with credit cards?

Overall

A little disappointing. A great first step, but it could be made so much easier with mobile payments.

Disclaimer:

I currently work for InMobi who have a product called SmartPay. There are several other cross-network payment solutions like Boku or Beem.

This blog is personal and does not represent my employers in any way.

First thing’s first, this is a great idea for a QR Scanner. It saves all your scans – so you can retrieve them by category, it checks to see if links are safe to click on, it allows you to share scans with friends, and it also has a gameification element.

But I really don’t like it. It’s slow to start up, has a UI which is only really suitable for iPhone users, and has some basic usability flaws.

On With The Review!

The first thing you have to do is set up an account? Why? I just want to scan me some QR codes!

I now understand that there are a bunch of social features – but that’s not explained here. Just “give us all your personal details for some unspecified purpose.” Hardly encouraging.

The email field doesn’t tell the Android system that it’s for email – so there’s no @ key present on the keyboard. Annoying oversight.

It gets worse. There’s a password field which doesn’t tell the user the password parameters! How long does my password have to be? Do I have to use mixed case, numbers, symbols? What?

So, of course, after submitting, it tells you that you did not pass the stringent password requirements.

As a side note – if you were sending an email to people who had registered on your mobile app, would you make the email mobile friendly?

QR Pal didn’t. I don’t understand why. They know this email is probably going to an Android phone, why didn’t they make sure the email looked perfect on the device?

So, on to the app itself…

This, may I remind you, is an Android app. Yet their UI has been lifted wholesale from their iPhone app.

The UI will be totally unfamiliar to anyone who is used to Android apps and the way they work. Pressing the Android’s menu button does nothing.

Even the settings page is iPhone-styled.

Scanning codes is as quick as any other scanner – and seems to work as well.

Now, I say “quick”, but you have to wait a good 5-10 seconds after clicking the app’s icon before you can scan. Why? Because you have to see their splash-screen.

Now, there are a few nice features – checking to see if a URL is likely to be harmful is one.

Of course, it means that you are sending all your scans back to the QR Pal mothership. I wonder what they do with them all?

Once a code is scanned, it’s saved in your wallet. Scans are grouped by category.

Sadly, they don’t check for duplicates.

Conclusion

The thing is, QR Pal is chock-full of good ideas.

Integrating with Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook is a smart move.

Checking links for safety is a bit of a gimmick, but a good differentiator.

Their live map of scans is cute – although the app never asks for my location.

They have a “points” system – but it’s never really explained why, how, or what it’s for.

You see – every idea they have is good, but none of them seem fully realised. Making the whole UI look like an iPhone app makes Android users feel like they’re an afterthought. I doubt it will play well on BlackBerry and WP7 when they launch.

But the absolute killer, for me, is the start-up time. When I want to scan a code, I want to scan it right there, right then. I may be on a busy street, about to get off a train, or taking someone’s business card. I do not want to watch QR Pal’s splash screen.

My preferred scanner ZXing for Android starts instantly. It doesn’t do all of the fancy stuff of QR Pal – but it doesn’t need to. It’s quick, simple, and all the features work.

QR Pal is a great idea for an app. But they need to fix the UI, start-up speed, and finish the features they’ve started. Once it’s done that, it will be an excellent app.

But today comes the news that Ribbit is shutting down. Or is it?

The email specifically says:

“this notice only refers to Ribbit Developers and does NOT impact Ribbit Mobile or Ribbit for Salesforce users”

Indeed, there are still a few signs of life. Their helpdesk status was updated at the start of the month

At the end of last month, the signature of the emails changed to say “Powered by BT Ribbit” – perhaps suggesting a relaunch?

Something is definitely up. But I don’t know what. The service keeps working – but the helpdesk hasn’t returned any of my calls. There are changes going on in the background – but still no word on when or if it will be relaunched.

Does anyone know for sure what’s happening?

I was wondering what the rates are going to be for roaming. I could get a local SIM – but as I’m only there for a few days, it seems a bit pointless – no one will have the number & I’ll lose any credit at the end of the trip.

So, how do the various roaming SIMs stack up against my Vodafone SIM?

TruPhone’s list of prices is very simple

GiffGaff’s list of prices now include data roaming. Again, a simple tariff.

MaxRoam’s prices are slightly more complicated

Vodafone’s price plans for roaming are very competitive.

Conclusion

Stone the crows! It looks like my domestic Vodafone SIM might just be the cheapest way to roam in Africa!

MaxRoam has some really innovative features – but the costs are insanely high.

TruSIM is good in UK, USA, and Australia, but not so good elsewhere. While the rates are marginally cheaper in Kenya and Nigeria, the data costs really are prohibitive.

The new MVNO GiffGaff has some great prices – and the cheapest SMS price.

But, overall, it has to be Vodafone. Not least because of the pricing model for data. A fiver for 25MB is much more generous than the other providers – and using email or GTalk will be much cheaper than SMS. While the costs are marginally higher in Kenya and Nigeria – I’ll be spending the majority of my time in South Africa. Crucially, I get to keep my number – so I’m not out of contact.

Have I missed something? Are there any better roaming deals?

Wouldn’t it make sense to use a QR code as well? That way people could quickly scan, and be taken straight to the discussion, rather than have to fire up Twitter and do a manual search.

As it happens, it’s slightly tricky to make a QR code which searches for a Twitter hashtag.

There are two things to note:

1. Twitter’s search URLs are annoyingly different from every other search URL on the planet.
2. You will need to take care of URL Encoding for special characters.

Building The Search Query

A typical Twitter search URL is

https://mobile.twitter.com/#!/search/

With the query at the end, so a search for “Transformers” would be

https://mobile.twitter.com/#!/search/Transformers

Encoding Correctly

Hash symbols (#) need to be URL Encoded. In this case, the hash becomes “%23″

https://mobile.twitter.com/#!/search/%23Transformers

However, there is a “gotcha”. Because of the… special… way Twitter constructs its search URLs, we have to URL Encode the percentage sign! So, the “%” becomes “%25″.

So, our final URL becomes

https://mobile.twitter.com/#!/search/%2523Transformers

Finally, if you want to use something like Google Charts to create your QR codes, you’ll need the URL Encode all of the : / # ! and other special characters.

https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chs=200x200&cht=qr&chl=
   https%3A%2F%2Fmobile.twitter.com%2F%23%21%2Fsearch%2F%2523Transformers

The Final Result

We end up with a QR code which can be scanned to take the user directly to the hashtag they are searching for,

Rather than using an external service like Embed.ly to retrieve thumbnails, all the data is embedded within Twitter Entities.

So, if you request a status using “include_entities=true“, you will be able to grab the image and display the thumbnail using the following code.

So, a tweet like this:

#Photos on Twitter: taking flight http://t.co/qbJx26r

02/06/2011 18:53 via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@twitter

Twitter

Notes

This is very rough and ready proof of concept code. Beware of the following:

• This will only take the first image from the tweet.
• Only images are supported – I’m not sure how their proposed video sharing will work.
• There’s no error checking.
• In the above code, the https URL is used – if you want a non-SSL link, you’ll need to remove the “_https”

Enjoy!

The first thing to note is that WP7 still looks gorgeous – the front tiles (aka widgets) are smart and add a real feeling of fluidity to the phone.

Juicy

The second thing is rather more depressing. Windows is still playing catch-up. It’s a standard joke that neither the iPhone nor WP7 had copy-n-paste on release – what’s not a joke is the number of “new” features that Microsoft announced are things which have been around for years.

• Groups of contacts. I don’t know about you, but I was able to group contacts on my ancient 6310i.
• Multi-Tasking. You know, like all those Symbian phones had years ago.
• Facebook events now appear in your calendar. Again, just like on BlackBerry, Android, etc.
• Music pauses when you receive an SMS – the phone reads the message to you and you can use voice recognition to compose a message. Nice that it’s all integrated, but hardly revolutionary.

Cognitive Dissonance

Compare and contrast the following two statements made by Microsoft.

The way in which people browse the web on a phone is different to how they browse the web on a desktop PC.

…and…

Windows Phone 7 uses Internet Explorer 9. The exactly the same rendering engine as desktop IE9. So pages look the same on both Desktop and Mobile.

While it’s admirable that there’s just one set of quirks for developers to code for – and potentially the same exploits on both – I can’t help but think this is misguided. Do users really want all pages to render the same, or would they rather have a mobile specific rendering?

Here’s a sample image provided by Microsoft.

Forget your troubles, come on, get ‘appy

And so, finally, on to apps.

Where WP7 really excels in in 3D. The sample BA app had a 3D seat checker which, while gimmicky, was incredibly smooth.

With a claimed 18,000 apps, WP7 has overtaken BlackBerry and is catching up on the other platforms. There are just two flies in the ointment.

Private Apps

If you’re a big business and want to put “employee only” apps on to your employee’s phones, you can! Well, you upload the app to the marketplace, set it as private, then distribute a secret URL to your employees. Anyone with that URL can download the app – so if an email accidentally gets forwarded…

It’s a rather unsatisfactory kludge. Why not allow developers to deploy direct to handsets? (I know, I know… it breaks the MS control.)

Developer Tools

So, you’re competing with Apple iPhone. Presumably you want to attract iPhone developers to your platform, right? So, why aren’t WP7 development tools available on the Mac?

Windows 7 runs perfectly on a Mac. Buy a licence. We’ve no interest in making our tools available on other operating systems.

That is, almost verbatim, the answer I received. I can understand not making the tools available on Linux. But iOS developers can only use a Mac. Why should they have to fork out for and install an entire OS just to run WP7 development?

Microsoft Office is available on Mac – so someone in Redmond has an eye on that market.

It just seems silly that you’d ignore all the iOS developers.

Overall

WP7 is a great platform. It’s finally catching up with features that other phone users take for granted. The hardware and software work well – especially when tied in to Microsoft services like Xbox and Sharepoint.

I’m just left with a feeling of “so what?” As a platform, there’s nothing I can do on there that can’t be done on other devices. Yes, the 3D XNA / Silverlight thing is nice – but any better than OpenGL?

As a consumer phone, it’s perfectly acceptable.
For Xbox gamers, this is the only phone to consider.

As a business device, it ticks many of the right boxes.
If you’re heavily invested in the Microsoft way of working (Sharepoint, Office 365, Outlook), you’d be hard pressed to find a better phone.

But for everyone else, there’s no “wow” factor. Nothing that makes me think “I have to get this phone because it does something nothing else does.”

Perhaps I’m being slightly cynical. The hardware and software is great – it’s nice to see them catching up with all the other phones. WP7 is a welcome addition to the ecosystem, even if it isn’t driving forward innovation.

the world’s first ad-supported Kindle, going on sale within Target and Best Buy locations for $114. That represents a gentle $25 savings compared to the price of today’s cheapest Kindle, but those 2500 pennies don’t come free — you’ll be asked to endure “advertisements on the bottom of the device’s home page and on its screen savers.”
Engadget

Can It Work?

On the strength of the current evidence – no.

Browsing on the Kindle’s web browser is a slow and frustrating experience. It’s slow at downloading, takes ages to render, and scrolling is a nightmare. That’s ok – it’s primarily a book; not a browser.

But that’s not the worst thing. The worst thing is that advertisers just don’t know how to advertise on this medium. Take a look at the crap that goes on in mobile advertising. Do you think that advertisers will have the wherewithal to make a Kindle-friendly advert?

Not even Amazon can make it work. Take a look at this.

While browsing on the Kindle, I spotted this banner advert. What struck me was that the advertiser had clearly target the Kindle – probably via User-Agent sniffing. Intrigued, I clicked on it, only to be greeted with this monstrosity.

Yes – not even Amazon’s store renders well on the Amazon Kindle. While the mobile version of the site may work, there would still be no way to buy the book. Even if it did, I’m in the UK and can’t buy from the American store.

So, I ask again: If Amazon can’t write a website which works well on a Kindle – what makes you think an advertiser can?

What Would Work?

Many years ago – I was in discussion with the people who almost got the Kindle on their mobile network. There were a number of different business models floated – many completely unsuitable – but some only waiting for the right time.

1. The hardware for the Kindle is (reasonably) expensive as an upfront cost.
2. Most customers are mathematically challenged

Would people buy the Kindle in the same way that they buy a phone? Give customers a £111 Kindle FREE! (on a £9.99 per month contract).

Of course, the missing piece of the puzzle is what you get for the £9.99. Amazon book tokens? Free OTA podcasts? Subscriptions to newspapers?

I don’t have the answer – but I suspect Amazon wants to lower the cost of the hardware and increase the attach rate (number of Kindle books a user buys).

Why not do an offer similar to this.

• Kindle costs £111
• Comes with £200 worth of Amazon book tokens!
• The Amazon vouchers are in the denomination of 2*£10, 6*£7.50, 20*£5, 35*£1
• Or, perhaps the vouchers are in the form “50% off”, “25% off”, etc
• Vouchers are provided to the user over 12 months
• Vouchers expire after 3 months

The purchase price is all of a sudden much more palatable given the FREE vouchers. The discounts could probably be eaten by some publishers – or at least partially. The “risk” of buying an eBook is significantly reduced in the eyes of the customer – leading to an increased attach rate. Most customers aren’t going to use the full value of the vouchers.

Just sticking on banner adverts for perfume seems so… lazy!

Amazon’s Strengths

Amazon has a great record on “people who bought X also liked Y”. Why not bring that to Kindle? Instead of this incredibility lame screen…

…why not recreate this page for the 21st century?

Amazon has my credit card details and my address – they don’t need advertising from third parties!

• Finished reading Pride and Prejudice? Buy the DVD!
• Enjoyed Brick Lane? Get this great balti dish set delivered to your door!
• Wow! Oryx and Crake was pretty good huh? Download the sequel – The Year of the Flood

Subsidising the hardware cost with enforced banner adverts is a flabby and uninventive 1990′s business model. It also places the Amazon brand at risk of a crappy user experience.

I don’t think readers will welcome a turgid little banner for perfume. But I think they will embrace relevant and contextual advertising which adds value to their reading experience.

What’s It All About (Alfie)?

The basic idea is this…

• Museums have lots of interesting exhibits.
• The explanatory texts are usually fairly short.
• Often, exhibits are only in English.
• Wikipedia has mobile friendly, multi-language pages for just about every exhibit.
• If only there were a way to link museums to mobile friendly Wikipedia pages so visitors could read about exhibits on their phones….

Could I create a service which allows a single QR code to redirect museum visitors to a language-appropriate mobile Wikipedia article for the exhibit they are looking at? Only way to learn is to do…

So, after a few nights of hacking away at the Wikipedia API, my Glamorous Assistant (Liz) and I snuck off to the British Museum to see if the prototype works. This is us at the Rossetta Stone (my favourite exhibit in the museum).

It works! Scanning the QR code, directs the phone to http://qrwp.org/Rossetta_Stone . The QRpedia service then redirected the phone to the mobile version of the Rossetta Stone article!

No Rossetta Stones Were Hurt In The Making Of This Movie

I then set the phone to a different language. First Korean, then French.


Flawless! In both cases, the QRpedia service detected the phone’s language and redirected it to the appropriate page. And it’s pretty speedy!

IT’S ALIVE!

Should you wish to take a look at how I’ve done it, the code is available for perusal and reuse.

I’m not great with Wikipedia’s “Toolbox”. This code I’ve created should allow you to generate a QRpedia code from any Wikipedia page (it’s based on Fæ’s excellent code).

Now What?

We’re still refining the code and the design. I’m actively looking for feedback on the project. The first step is meeting with Museum staff and Wikipedians at Derby Museum’s Backstage Pass.
Secondly, we need feedback from you. Drop a comment on this blog or over on Twitter.
Thirdly, I’ll be discussing this work at Mobile Monday London and OpenTechUK – please come along to both if you’re interested.
Finally, chatting with museums, galleries, libraries, and other cultural spaces. If you run one and would like to know more about QRpedia – please contact me.

I’d Like To Thank The Academy

The QRpedia service is still a little way from being production ready. Soon, I hope, it will be in use in museums across the world. Actually, I’d settle for just the British Museum and Derby Museum – but you’ve got to dream big!

I wouldn’t have got this far without co-creator Roger Bamkin – his knowledge of Wikipedia and of the UK Museum scene has been vital. Michael McNeela who has generously let us use the QRpedia.org domain and is, as we speak, designing a more professional user-experience for it. Also due credit are Fae, Andy Mabbett, Nick Moyes, Tom Morris, and everyone else who contributed to the discussion and testing of the service. Finally, a big thanks to Liz, my wife, for letting me drag her to the Rossetta Stone and repeatedly film her scanning in QR codes.

I’d love to know what you all think of QRpedia – please drop a comment in the box below.

In early March 2010, my beloved BlackBerry Bold took a tumble out of a cab and died. I’ve been an Android man ever since. Magic, Hero, Nexus, Galaxy – all great phones, but none could hold a candle to the ‘berry.

Or so I thought.

A Torch In The Night

A good friend of mine – who updates his phones as frequently as I do – offered me his discarded BlackBerry Torch. How could I refuse a chance to get back to a real phone?

The main thing that was bothering me about Android was the lack of a physical keyboard and the general instability of the platform and radio software.

The Torch is a phenomenal BlackBerry. The action on the slider is exquisite. The keyboard is a joy to pound away on. The email and calendaring are rock solid with a powerful and practical UI. The browser has improved immeasurably. The range of apps is much broader than a year ago – and includes the all important trifecta of Foursquare, Dropbox, and Expensify.

And I hate it.

Everything That’s Wrong With The BlackBerry

There are some minor niggles – that’s fine – you get them with every phone. But the Torch has some fundamental flaws which, in my opinion make it unsuitable for day-to-day use. They are as follows.

The Price

The handset itself isn’t particularly pricey compared to other smartphones – but the cost of extra services is extortionate.
For the first day, I couldn’t work out why I wasn’t able to get any email – then I realised, you have to buy a special BlackBerry data plan in order to get email and Twitter. What the…?

I just don’t get it. Ok, it’s only an extra fiver a month but… for what? My Android and Symbian devices don’t need a magic data plan. The Sainted iPhone has many precious qualities – but it doesn’t care what price plan it is on. Data is data is data! Why is BlackBerry any different?

Then, I realised that I couldn’t get my work email through. This hadn’t been a problem on Android – I just clicked on “Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync” on the device and my Calendar and Email were all set. Want that on a BlackBerry? That’ll be an extra £28 per month.

WHAT THE JUDDERING FUCK?

I understand that BlackBerrys use some weird VooDoo to connect to the Interwebs and have mail sent to them faster than a speeding bullet. But is it necessary to spend an extra £336 a year on them? No.

The Restarts

It seems every time I uninstall an app, or add an email account my phone wants me to reboot. The BlackBerry is famed for having a “suspend” function – when you switch it off, it just goes to sleep and can be woken instantly. Something Android would do well to copy.
But for cold restarts, it takes a bloody age.
What makes it worse, is that official advice after provisioning the service is to pull the battery out, wait a minute and put it back in again. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to pull a battery out of a handset on a crowded train.
I’m not the biggest fan of Apple – but they’ve got some things right. If your platform needs constant reboots – you’ve failed. If your hardware regularly had to be disassembled – you’ve failed.

Data Connectivity

Network coverage is always variable – that’s a given. But BlackBerry adds another complication into the mix. Sometimes I can have perfect data reception and still not get any email! Why? Because the phone has lost connection to the BlackBerry mothership.

I don’t know if this is the fault of my network provider, the BlackBerry servers, or the handset. I don’t much care. It doesn’t work.

Again, I don’t have this problem with any of my other phones.

This is coupled with the radio’s obsession with 2G. I can be in an area of perfect 3G coverage and the radio will still lock on to 2G. Restarting the radio usually wakes it up and it can find 3G – but I’m reliant on speed; I can’t spend my life in the radio settings menu.

OS6.0 and Speed

I’ve been using BlackBerrys since the black and white days. I’m now running the very latest 6.0.0.448.

Despite the marketing hype, there’s no practical difference between OS6 and OS5. The kinetic scrolling is adequate – but slow. The browser renders better – but is slow. App world has more functionality – but is slow. The range of apps is great – but they take ages to start up. The camera has more mega-pixels and a bunch of great focus modes – but it’s slow to start, slow to focus, and slow to take pictures.

Slow slow slow slow slow slow slow! Both BlackBerry maps and Google Maps wheeze through the motions like they’re about to collapse at any moment. That’s assuming the (slow) GPS has locked onto anything even vaguely resembling a signal.

I get that this isn’t a multi-gigahetrz device. But it crawls along like an old Nokia.

I think the comparison is apt. BBOS is, now, as out-dated as Symbian and just not fit for the modern age. While I hope RIM don’t got down the WP7 route – they need to move their next generation of handsets to their QNX platform. The BlackBerry OS is highly practical – unless you want to work with any sort of speed.

Minor Niggles

Those are the big ticket items. The ones which ensure that on Monday I’ll be on the search for a new phone. Here are the minor annoyances.

Screen

The screen isn’t AMOLED. After spending a few months with an AMOLED screen, there really is no going back. Blacks and blacker, colours are more vivid, they’re easier to read in sunlight, and they dim down to a level that’s easy to read in the dark.

Key Proximity

The “answer” and “BlackBerry” keys are on the same plastic button.

It’s one of those design flaws which really grates after a while. A simple dividing line would make unsighted use of the buttons so much easier

On-Screen Keyboard

The letters on the OSK don’t change chase when you hit the shift key. That’s really annoying. Added to the fact that the OSK just isn’t as precise as other keyboards really lets the phone down.

Contact Synchronisation

I’m not sure if this is the fault of Almighty Google – or RIM, but when I sync my contacts, their photos don’t come across.
I’ve got a dreadful memory, so I’ve spend ages making sure each of my contacts has an image associated with them. Compare and contrast…

Pre-Installed Crap

Bloatware has always been a problem on mobiles. The annoying pre-installed software which you can’t delete. BlackBerry is better than most, in that it will allow you to delete some of the crap – but not all.

Most annoying is the podcast app – mostly because it doesn’t work in the UK. Why pre-install something that won’t work? More to the point, why is a simple podcast downloader region locked?

A special mention to Vodafone UK for continually pushing out service books for the (discontinuted) Vodafone 360 service, and the non-working Poynt service – even in the face of hostile customer feedback.

The Good

There are a few great points about the BlackBerry that make me sorry to see it go.

• The battery is stonkingly good. I got through a whole day of surfing, emailing (on 2G) and the battery was still at 45%. On Android I’m lucky if I get to lunchtime with half my battery intact.
• The keyboard. I had a play with the HTC Desire Z – it has a fine keyboard – but it’s nothing compared to the ergonomics of the Torch. In addition, the shortcut keys make using the phone a pleasure. Hitting M on the homescreen to go to messages, hitting T in the browser to go the top of the page, etc. Great for power users.
• Auto on-and-off. Useful if, like me, you don’t want your phone waking you up in the night – but do want your emails waiting for you as the alarm goes off. This is tempered by the fact that you can’t suspend email delivery. On my Galaxy, I set a peak schedule so I don’t get work emails interrupting me at the weekend.
• Multiple sound profiles. Again, beats the pants of Android. I can quickly select different ringtone profiles, set custom alerts for different people – even have an emergency call over-ride my silent settings.
• Tabbed Browsing. My Galaxy seems to top out at 4 browser windows, the BlackBerry doesn’t seem to have a limit that I’ve hit.
• BlackBerry Protect. This is an excellent free service which lets you track your device if it has beeen stolen, back up your data, send it messages, and wipe it if needed. Yes, there are apps available on Android, but nothing as comprehensively good as this. The only problem being that it doesn’t work on BES.
  

  BlackBerry Protect

• Finally, a niche example. Hitting ALT+RBVS in the browser brings up the source code of the page. Invaluable for web-nerds like me and not something I’ve ever seen built in to any other phone.

Now What

Paying an extra £28 per month for a device which is no quicker at receiving email than my Android? No thanks.
When RIM rejoins the real world and realises that it doesn’t own the push email market any more – and can’t charge like it’s the only game in town – I’ll be back.

For now, it’s off to find a phone with a great physical keyboard and good battery life.

The Windows Phone 7 Dell Venue Pro?

The Android Motorola Pro?

I don’t know yet – but at the moment, the BlackBerry platform has lost its way – and I’m not making any more compromises when it comes to my phone.

QR codes on packets of coffin nails have appeared before as concept advertising. I thought it would be interesting to see if QR codes could be used for good.

Here’s my attempt (I’m not a graphics designer!)

Original image via WeMadeThis.

The first QR code goes to Direct.gov.uk’s mobile friendly Smoking Calculator.

The second goes to a site which lets your enter your postcode to find help near you. The resultant page has maps and click-to-call links.

The NHS has several great mobile pages for smokers who wish to quit – but these were the only ones I could find with a simple URL.

So, whaddaya-think? Will QR codes save people from the evil grasp of Nick O’Teen?

Of course, some people have other ideas…

Screw health warnings on fag packets. They should just print them with embarrassing messages. "I have VD" "I touch kids" "I voted Tory"

10/03/2011 13:37 via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@robmanuel

Rob Manuel

Like many people, I no longer wear a watch. I’ve got a phone which tells me the time and data – why do I need something cluttering my wrist?

The Evolution of the Watch

I wasn’t always this way, I used to love high-tech watches. Throughout my teenaged years I had one of those calculator watches – enabling me to add up my pocket money and write “5318008″ for instant humour.

In 1999, I graduated to the seriously awesome Timex 78401.

This was an immensely cool bit of kit. It could store hundreds of phone numbers and memos on its internal memory. Rather than wear your fingers out pressing buttons on the phone, you typed your data into a computer. The computer would make the CRT pulse in such a way that the data could be retreived by the watch’s optical sensor. Futuristic!

Finally, a few years ago, I picked up an MP4 watch from eBay. Stuffed with a 2GB USB disk inside (large, for those days) the watch could play mp3 audio and mp4 video! Well, video had to be converted to something lo-res and low-bit rate – but it played video! On my wrist! It would also pick up FM radio, act as a voice recorder and – just about – tell the time.

The Mobile Phone Watch

Long considered the holy-grail of the phone world. Can you cram a GSM phone into a watch? The answer is a resounding yes… but…

The watch itself retails from anywhere between US$70 and US$200. My parents picked it up in Hong Kong for £50 – which is factory gate price. Thanks ma and pa!

The first thing you should know about this phone, is that is is shit. I don’t mean “it is the shit”. I mean it truly is one of the worst devices I have ever used. The touchscreen in unresponsive and inaccurate – even if it wasn’t, the UI is a clusterfuck of every design mistake you’ve ever heard of. It’s hard to use, has poor battery life, is far too fiddly for day-to-day use and has a non-standard USB plug.

But, it’s only fifty quid – and you do get to impress girls at parties* by saying “I’ve got a mobile phone in my watch!”

In short, it’s cheap Chinese tat. I love it :-)

*I don’t go to many parties. Is that how things normally work?

Camera, Video, Sound

The camera seems to be 640*480 – although it will interpolate up to 1280*1024.

Sample Image - click for full size

Audio is limited to 8KHz mono – good enough for voice, as this demo should prove.

Web Browser

After diving through 3 different menus, I finally got the Vodafone GPRS settings into it. It came pre-set with the APNs of a number of Chinese and Hong Kong providers.

So, what’s the web browsing experience like? Well, experience is a bit of a strong word. Imagine using the original Netscape Navigator, while peering through a tiny window, on sub-dial-up speeds, waiting for the inevitable crash.

The results from the W3C Mobile Test Harness show it supports virtually nothing.

For fans of browser statistics, the highly detailed User Agent String is

MAUI WAP Browser

Take a look at how unbearably bad the web browser is.

The Specs

This is a surprisingly feature packed phone. Although you’ll be hard pressed to find all the features easily; who would think of looking for the BlueTooth settings within the “Organiser” menu?

A run down of the major features includes

• GSM Compatibility: 850MHZ, 900MHZ, 1800MHZ, 1900MHZ. So it should work everywhere that there is 2G coverage
• Language: English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Arabic and Chinese. What’s most impressive is the handwriting recognition. It’s marginally faster than multi-tapping on the tiny keypad.
• Screen: 1.4 inch, QICF touch screen, 176*144 pixels. Touch-screen is a bit optimistic. Use your fingernail to point vaguely at the screen hoping to elicit a response doesn’t have quite the same ring. It does come with an integrated stylus.
• Vibration: Support
• Memory: MicroSD Card Support.（Up to 16GB in size). Didn’t come with one, but happily accepted a 1GB card I had. Just as well; the internal memory is limited to 400KB. That’s not a typo – less than half a megabyte of storage.
• Connection Methods: Mass Storage, Webcam, COM Port. Works on Linux, claims to work on Windows and Mac. Mass storage works well – if slow. Can also be set to be used as a webcam. I assume the COM port is if you need to connect to the Internet.
• Accelerometer. Well… sort of. There’s a compass function built in – but it’s hit and miss.
• GPRS Support: Browse WAP Website. Ha! Brilliant! Possibly the worst browser I’ve ever encountered.
• SMS/MMS/Email. SMS send and receive worked perfectly. No support for delivery receipts.
• E-Book Reader: TXT. Yes! Throw away your Kindle and read .txt files on this minuscule screen.
• Bluetooth Support: Bluetooth (V2.0). Pretty impressive, actually. Paired with my Jabra Clipper and worked as both a music player and headset/mic. Claims to support Handsfree, Headset, SPP, DUN, OPP, FTP, A2DP, AVRCP. It played music through my bluetooth headphones – although the decoder is shockingly bad.
• Net weight: 65g. Chunky – but not too heavy.

Conclusion

I asked my parents to buy me a knock-off phone for under £50. This doesn’t disappoint. I think it’s kinda nifty looking – if you dig that retro vibe.

As a phone, you expect it to make and receive phone calls. You can either hold it up to your ear – like a spy in a bad movie – use the supplied headphones, or BlueTooth. Call quality was adequate. As a basic phone, the best I can say about it is “it works”.

The S16 will frustrate you and horrify you in equal measure. But, there’s no denying – taking a phone call from your wrist is cool!

Assuming it doesn’t give you cancer of the wrist. Which would be bad.

Oh…

On the back page of the 25 February 2011 edition of the City AM newspaper, is this lovely specimen.

Thankfully, City AM have placed their paper under CC BY NC.

Let’s take a zoom in on the code and the instructions that accompany it.

You Know What’s Coming Next, Don’t You?

I knew, before I even scanned in this code what the result would be. I bet you do too.

Just… why bother? How much of our money did this atrocity cost? A full-fat web page that’s expensive to download, slow to render, complicated to navigate, and generally useless.

RBS – rather than paying millions in fines for your rotten practices and investing in the highly polluting Tar Sands project – why not spend a few quid on a decent mobile website?

With that said – here are my top five predictions for what we’ll see at Mobile World Congress 2011!

1 – Nokia To Announce Android Handset

All the engineers at Nokia are busy pouring their hearts and minds into MeeGo. What better way to kick back and relax than by posting Android onto some of Nokia’s amazing hardware. A company can’t focus on too many software platforms, that’s for sure.

2 – Airnegy To Revolutionise Charging

Imagine charging your phone using nothing but WiFi….
The Airnegy may look like a scam – and like it violates the laws of physics – but that’s no reason to give up!

3 – Apple Produces Game Changing Accessory

Apple are the “Wild Child” of the mobile industry. They do what they like, when they like! That’s why I’m quietly confident that Apple will release a small, perfectly formed cube, with blinking lights on it.

You’ll queue all night to buy one.

4 – Nintendo DS Phone

With WP7 breathing new life into the Xbox and Sony Ericsson’s PlayStation phone revitalising the industry – there’s only one major console left out of the mobile revolution. A Sega Dreamcast phone? That would be swell! But far more likely that Nintendo will release a 2G – not UMTS – phone. Low cost, low power, ability to play MarioKart…. what’s not to like?

5 – LTE Rebrand

With all the confusion over 4G – it makes sense for the ITU to rebrand LTE into something customers can easily understand and identify. My highly placed sources tell me the likely name is “Amplified Radio-Sonic Engine for Worldwide Internet Phone Experience”. I’ve no idea if the acronym will catch on.

Got any other sure fire predictions? Stick ‘em in the comments.

I’m not sure if Oxfam were in the audience that day. But if they were, they missed the point. QR codes are a solution for quick interactions with mobile phones. Let’s investigate the Oxfam QR code seen in Metro.

The Advert

So, can donate by scanning the code? Well, it’s not really made clear what the QR code is for. There’s no text associated with it.

The Code

Let’s take a closer look at the code.

That’s a huge URL stuffed into a tiny code – making it hard to scan. Ideally, codes should use black ink – the blue used here shouldn’t cause too many problems, but coupled with the small size reduces the scanability.

The URL

Let’s take a quick look at the URL before moving on.

https://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/paypal/index.php?ito=4373

Good: Use of https for a secure connection.
Bad: Just about everything else. Why is this so long? Why didn’t Oxfam set up a redirect so that oxfam.org.uk/4373 went to the right place? If that’s not feasible, drop the redundant index.php.

https://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/paypal/?ito=4373

Even better, just direct to the target page. In this case

https://giving.oxfam.org.uk/

Doing that would have resulted in this smaller and more easily scanned code.

The Website

This is where things go from bad to worse.
The first thing I saw – on several phones – was this certificate error. Given that Oxfam are expecting me to give them money, this doesn’t give me confidence.

But, it gets worse.

Yes, that’s right. Oxfam have decided to send my mobile phone to the full version of their website. Rather than provide me with an optimal experience, they’re making it slow, costly, and awkward for me to give them money.

PayPal Mobile

After clicking through a few screens to try and give them some cash, we get to PayPal.

Perfect. At this stage of the transaction – if the user has even got this far – PayPal provide their optimal mobile user experience.

Conclusion

• Poorly formatted code.
• Mobile unfriendly landing page with security issues.
• Multiple clicks to donate.
• Overall, why bother?

If anyone from Oxfam is reading, the interaction should go:
Scan – mobile friendly landing page – straight to donation. No more than 3 clicks including the original scan of the code.

Wonga, the payday loan company, has found itself in a bit of hot water recently. They’ve had an Advertising Standards Authority adjudication against one of their adverts and they have raised the ire of Stella Creasy MP over their sponsorship of the Tube on New Years.

Even London’s mayor has said

people should be aware of the extortionate rates of interest that they can charge and people should not enter into irrational or unwise debt obligations

Now, I’m not convinced that payday loan companies are bad per se. If you need a few hundred pounds to avoid being thrown out of your home, these companies can provide a service which traditional banks can’t – or won’t – provide. That said, taking out a loan is something which should not be done lightly – and should only be done with the full facts at your disposal.

That’s why I’m confused by Wonga’s latest advertising campaign on mobile. Here are three adverts that I’ve spotted recently.

None of them display the APR – even though there is sufficient room to do so.
I suppose they could argue that they are advertising the Wonga Android App – not a loan. Therefore they don’t need to display the APR. I’m not convinced that’s a sound argument – more on that in a moment.

Within the marketplace description, there’s no mention of the APR.

Only one of the screenshots mentions the APR.

I’ve been taking a look at the CAP guidelines and recent adjudications, and the OFT FAQs on this subject and I’m left a little confused as to whether hiding the APR in this way is allowed.

Is it simply enough to say

“I’m not advertising [banned product] – I’m advertising an app that lets you get it.”?

If so, I think the guidelines need to change.

Two Questions

1. Are Wonga in breach of the ASA and OFT codes governing advertising for financial products?
2. Does this trivialise money lending?

I’m not saying that Wonga are in breach of the rules. I don’t even wish to raise a complaint against them. I will be asking the ASA and OFT for clarification on this matter.

As for the app itself, it’s reasonably well crafted. While it’s great that you can do so much with a phone, I remain a little uneasy about applying for complex financial products while on the bus. But perhaps I’m getting old. I’m sure that next year I’ll be applying for a mortgage via a mobile website and not think it anything strange.

Now With Extra Irony

In one of those delightfully serendipitous moments, a Wonga advert popped up as I was reading Stella Creasy’s tweets.

This time, on a poster for high-brow art-house flick The Mechanic.

Quite close to the bottom of the poster – so low, I had to kneel to scan it – is a QR code.

Scan it and it takes you a mobile friendly trailer on YouTube.

Issues

It wouldn’t be a Terence Eden blog post if I didn’t criticise the approach taken by the advertisers.

• QR code is far too low down – who wants to stoop to scan (other than nerds like me)?
• No call to action. No one knows what this QR codes goes to until they scan it. You need to give someone an incentive to scan. Here’s a very quick mock-up I’ve made to show how I think it should be.
• 
• Short URL – even if you do scan the code, you still have no way of knowing where it’s going. The qrs.ly service is provided by QR Stuff who don’t offer editable URLs. Their premium service does offer all sorts of statistics and other options. But for a customer facing code, a friendly URL would probably be better. http://qrs.ly/Trailer for example.

So, overall, great use of a QR code to direct people to the trailer – but a little more effort on the call-to-action would have made people much more likely to scan the code and view the trailer.

The Metro is a London-based UK newspaper national newspaper which is distributed in 33 cities across the UK.
Around a year ago, I reviewed the Metro’s mobile website. It wass a perfectly fine mobile site and I’m pleased to see that over the last 12 months it has undergone substantial improvements. You can visit it at http://metro.mobi/

This morning, I spotted this prominent QR code – placed on page 2 of the paper.

Photo by Benjamin Welby

So far, so good. There are a couple of flaws in the implementation which I’ll come to. But first, the biggie.

Despite having a mobile site – guess what happens when you scan the QR code….?

Yes, that’s right! Rather than pointing directly to metro.mobi, they’re pointing to their main website metro.co.uk. Worse than that, the main website doesn’t do any user-agent sniffing. Their front-end servers (or CDN) ought to detect mobile traffic and automatically redirect mobile devices to the mobile-friendly website.

Most phones will find the main site hard to navigate, flash adverts won’t render, and the large data size will make downloading the page slow and potentially expensive.

Using Bit.ly

The main problem with this QR code is that it doesn’t point to a mobile friendly site – but there are a few other gotchas.

Yes, you can use bit.ly to generate QR codes, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

• Anyone – even your competitors – can see the statistics of your campaign. Visit http://bit.ly/gM06V2+ to see how many clicks the QR code has received. Where possible, you should use your own, private QR generating service.
• The short URLs are ugly! “gM06V2″ is neither pretty nor memorable. Worse, a user typically has no idea what’s behind that random string of characters and may be put off simply because they don’t know where they will be sent. If you must use bit.ly – be sure to edit the code. For example, I’ve just created http://bit.ly/MetroMobile which looks nicer and points to the correct destination.
• What happens if the bit.ly services goes down? Your customers won’t be able to access your services.
• What happens if Libya – the owners of .ly – decide to shut down bit.ly?
• Finally, do you need a URL shortner? http://metro.mobi is 17 characters, the URL used in Metro’s QR code is http://bit.ly/gM06V2?r=qr – 25 characters!

I’m really pleased that the Metro is embracing QR codes. Much like the early days of URLs, we’re bound to see a few mistakes – let’s hope the kinks get straightened out before the public lose faith in these little magic squares.

Update

Just got this in from Martin Ashplant, the Head of Content at Metro.co.uk…

We are in the process of developing our offering so readers can choose whether they want to visit our website, which has richer content, or our mobile site. This choice will be available within a month.

We are comfortable with bit.ly for this particular campaign as it is our data and we are not concerned about it being public. However if we were to run such a campaign for a client we would of course make sure that the data remained private.

As I discussed last year in “The Future of Android – And How To Stop It” there is a fundamental tension between users, manufacturers, Mobile Networks, and Google when it comes to the Android Operating System.

First up, a common misconception…

Some Android Phones Are Too Slow For Updates

Bull. Shit.
The HTC Magic – the second Android phone to be released – has been updated to 2.2 (Froyo). By any measure, the Magic is slower compared to the mighty X10 – but that shouldn’t matter. My dog-eared old laptop can still receive updates for Linux. Apple’s ancient iPhones still, I believe, get some bug fixes.

So, for how long should a phone be supported?

The Lifetime of a Phone

The Magic was released in mid-2009 – and it is still being actively supported 18 months later. This is important. Most smartphones (in the UK) are sold on 18 – 24 month contracts. That means the customer expects them to be supported while they are still under contract.

Given that the Magic was probably sold by Vodafone for ~6 months (including at 3rd party retailers), the consumer will expect this device to be supported at least until the beginning of 2012.

The Xperia X10 was sold in the UK from March 2010. Sony Ericsson haven’t even given it a year’s worth of support. Barely 10 months after release and it has been abandoned.

Even if you bought it on a 12 month contract, the day it was released, Sony Ericsson have decided you’re not important any more.

The question now is, see that shiny SE Arc – do you want to buy it knowing that within a year there will be no more enhancements, no more bug fixes, no more love for you?

Old Phones Don’t Die

It’s rare that a phone just goes into a drawer when a customer gets an upgrade.
Let’s take a look a the typical life of a mobile phone.

• 6 months sitting in a warehouse waiting until the customer can afford it
• 24 months being used on a contact
• 3 months used out of contract until a good upgrade has been found
• 3 months sat in a drawer
• 12 months given to a kid / niece / nephew who doesn’t mind an old bit of kit
• Sent to the developing world where the cycle starts again.

At the very least, that’s 3 – 4 years use for the average phone.

Now, you may change your phone ever 12 months whether you need to or not. Recognise that you are the exception. Most people are not rich enough to get a new phone whenever they feel like it. Most people can’t ring Nokia’s press department and ask for a review model.

Phones need to be supported for their lifetime – even if it is just fixing bugs.

The Community Will Fill The Gap

I am in awe of VillainRom, Cyanogen, XDA Developers and all the other Android hackers. The amount of (often unpaid) work they put in to developing custom ROMs for Android handsets is incredible. They’ve got the latest version of Android – with all the bells and whistles – for nearly every Android handset out there.

Surely X10 owners can just use these guys for updates?

Well, yes, with two caveats.

1. Technical Know-How. It’s hard for the layman to find these sites, let alone risk their warranty by invoking the command line magic needed to perform the update.
2. Fragility of the Eco-System. Who tests these mods? What happens when something goes wrong? What happens when VillainRom decides he has better things to do with his time?

The community should not be treated as an unpaid help desk when a corporation decides to divest itself of all responsibility.

Android Updates Are Fundamentally Broken

If you’ve ever used Linux – you’ll be familiar with this sort of screen.

Windows and Mac also behave in a similar fashion.
Rather than updating the entire OS – only parts of it are updated. If there is a bug in, say, the way timezones are calculate – only the timezone program needs to be updated.

If FireFox needs updating on your computer – that’s all you need to update. No need to reload your entire software suite.
In some ways, Android is like this. The email, maps, and market all act as standalone apps and can be individually updated.

I think Android should go further.

A Proposal

We’re now in a crazy situation where a critical flaw in Android SMS capabilities will be fixed – but may never reach customers’ phone because manufacturers and networks have decided to no longer support a particular device.
This time it’s an SMS problem – what happens when it’s a serious security issue?

I suggest the following way to mitigate it.

• Google should develop, test, and release updates to core Android components – including security fixes. These should be updated directly to the Manufacturer.
• Manufacturers should do the same for their customisations (UI etc). Then release to the customer.
• Mobile Networks should be responsible for testing and releasing any radio firmware.
• If a manufacturer won’t release an update, Google should do it directly.

Google needs a way to send critical updates to customers without waiting for 3rd parties to muck around. Microsoft don’t wait for Dell to test a patch, and Dell don’t wait for PC World to monkey around with it before it hits you – the customer.

I’m aware this approach is not perfect, and I’d be very pleased to hear any suggestions on how to make it better.

…There’s Always A But

Imagine you just bought a lovely new SE Arc. A software update comes along which bricks your phone.

Who do you ring / sue?

• CarPhone Warehouse who sold you the device?
• Vodafone – to whom you pay £40 per month?
• Sony Ericsson – the manufacturers?
• Google – the developers?

Who do you think cares most about you? Who do you think can fix your fault? Who approved the update and did QA in the first place?

It all gets very messy, very quickly.

I think Android will thrive in 2011 – but it will be despite Sony Ericsson.

A nice simple set of banners.

Let’s gloss over the missing apostrophe in this one though…

Which leads to the Groupon mobile friendly site.

Well formatted mobile site. Free text field for an email address and a drop down list of cities they support.

There’s no notion of what they’ll do with the email address – which is very naughty – but the worst is yet to come.

After filling in the form and clicking “Discover Deals” this is what the customer gets.

*sigh* So depressing. Why do this?

If you don’t have a mobile friendly site, don’t run a mobile advertising campaign.