It’s playa time

Tomorrow I’m leaving for my yearly 10-day vacation in Black Rock City…

I’m going to miss Nokia World and the live reports on the super awesome Nokia N900, but it’s OK – I’ll be back just in time for Mobilize (my readers get a 15% discount).

If you’re also going to the desert, look for me at Center Camp Cafe, where I’ll be volunteering most evenings. If you’re not going, follow me on Twitter, where I’ll try posting when possible :)

Beyond satellite service, and the occasional flaky WiFi, there’s extremely minimal mobile service at Burning Man for the first time this year.

I’ll be using my Samsung Memoir & the Nokia N97 for pictures, and my iPhone 3GS for videos.

It’s playa time – catch you later!

Pictures taken with the Nokia 6790

On paper, the Nokia 6790 (Surge) camera looks like a whole lot of “meh“! With only 2 megapixels, no auto-focus, and no flash, it’s nothing to write home about… Or is it?

The lens and sensor are relatively decent, color balance and exposure are generally good. Other than the lack of macro, the resulting pictures are pretty nice for this class of device.

Just like the iPhone/iPhone 3G and the Blackberry 8320 (Curve) cameras, the 6790 camera surpassed my expectations, and that’s something to write home about :)

Podcast: Talking with Matt #14

It’s time for another podcast (25 min) with Matthew Bennett:
- Audio version
- Video version

This week (episode 15 14) we discussed the Nokia N900, the Nokia N97 (which I accidentally drop), and the Nokia 6790 (Surge)!

Other topics include Matt’s clever hack, the Toshiba NB205, and a few other things, all while sitting outside of Farley’s…

Click here to subscribe to this podcast.

Unboxing the Toshiba NB205 (Mini)

Inspired by Kevin Tofel’s tales and other positive reviews, I decided to purchase a Toshiba NB205-N310 (aka. Toshiba Mini in brown)…

It’s an attractive and inexpensive 10″ netbook that’s well equipped with features like Bluetooth, a huge trackpad, and a fantastic battery life (8-10 hours).

Check out my unboxing pictures, including some side-by-side shots with my Toshiba Portégé 3110CT 10″ subnotebook from 1999!

It’s amazing how 10 years later, despite almost identical size and weight, the Toshiba NB205 offers 10x the performance for 1/10th of the price.

Perhaps there’s even some hacking potential hidden within :)

Nokia 6790 (Surge) iSync plugin

There’s apparently no iSync plugin yet from Nokia for the 6790 (Surge), so I used my developer skills and whipped one together. Simply download, unzip and copy to the /Library/PhonePlugins folder! After pairing your 6790, run iSync, and select Devices|Add Device…

Enjoy :)

Unboxing the Nokia 6790 (Surge)

Well look what FedEx dragged in – it’s the Nokia 6790 (Surge), a Symbian smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard running S60v3 Feature Pack 2 that’s exclusive to the US market (AT&T) – at least for now :)

Think of the 6790 as a reduced cost/feature version of the 5730 (itself similar to the E75), just like the E63 is scaled down from the E71/E72.

So what’s been axed from the usual pile of Symbian goodness? WiFi is missing, the camera is only 2 megapixels (without auto-focus or flash, but with QVGA video recording), the audio connector is of the 2.5 mm variety, and the 3G is US-only (instead of tri-band)…

Everything else is there, the 2.4″ QVGA display, the GPS, the accelerometer, the awesome BP4-L 1500 mAh battery (2 weeks standby), the quirky Nokia industrial design, and tons of available apps, both built-in (like the POP3/IMAP email client) and third party (like Qik).

Interestingly, the European version features a better camera (3.2 megapixels). Is the US market getting the shaft again? Stay tuned as I put the 6790 through its paces.

In the meantime, enjoy my unboxing pictures and video!

Podcast: Talking with Matt #13

It’s time for another podcast (35 min) with Matthew Bennett:
- Audio version
- Video version

This week we discussed the Nokia N97, the Samsung i8910 (Omnia HD), and the Nokia E75!

Other topics include Matt’s adventures on the N97 24/7 Tour, plus a few other things, all while sitting outside of Cafe Flore…

Click here to subscribe to this podcast.