Mikael Creson's personal blog - Technical Stuff

How many Jaffa oranges to power an iPhone?

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:26:18 +0100

HowTo Sync Gmail as Microsoft Exchange

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:43:27 +0200

You can today synchronize your mobile phone (BlackBerry, Android, iPhone, WiM, Nokia etc) with your gmail account as Microsoft Exchange which enables push on calendar, contacts and mailbox. You can get the instructions here: http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/topic.py?topic=13584

If you have your own gmail domain (like I do) you need to enable Google Sync. Instructions is found here http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=135937.

Enjoy your push!

/Mikael

Zune 3.0 released

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:11:19 +0200

Microsoft's mp3 player Zune just got updated to version 3.0. At the same time all Zune users get wifi access at 9,800 McDonald's restaurants.

Links:

Zune

Neowin

How to create your own ringtones with iPhone and iTunes 7.7

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:48:47 +0200

A friend of mine told me there is away to have your own ringtones on the iPhone without paying for them so I thought I should share it:

What to do:

1. You need to convert the file to AAC. Do that by dragging your ring tune to your iTunes program. Then right click on the file and choose "convert selection to AAC".

2. Now you need to change the extension of the file to .m4r so look up the file (you can right click on it in iTunes and choose info, you will den see where the file is under "Where". Change the extension to .m4r and drag it back to iTunes.

3. You should now have a section called "Ringtones" in your iTunes. Plug in your iPhone to your computer and then (in iTunes) left click on "DEVICES" and your "iPhone". Click Ringtones and mark [x] Sync ringtones.

4. Sync your device

5. Choose it in your iPhone by going to Settings -> Sound -> Ringtone.

Note: ring tunes can't be longer than 40 sec (I have tried shorter which worked, maybe longer works I haven't tested it)

Apple Iphone 3G - I GOT IT

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:36:31 +0200

or as it's written "jag har den". I had it before it was launched but wasn't allowed to show it for anyone. I don't know how the big news papers got theirs 10 days before launch and why they were allowed to write articles about iPhone the day before launch but one thing I do know is the Newspapers are newspapers and they write a lot of crap. Yepp, that's right, this is my blog and I am entitled to write whatever I want I don't need to be objective like the news papers! Not that they are since they write exactly what they want. But enough about shitty newspapers. I got the iPhone and lots of more phones (like the HTC Touch Diamond which I had 2 weeks before launch, and yes I got a sharp Diamond too) I work at a telecom company with cell phones and here is my personal feedback/comments/thoughts about the Apple iPhone 3G.

PROS

· Lovely interface which is very logic and easy to understand and use

· Smooth feeling

· Good design

· Very good Touch Keyboard (HTC Touch Cruise or Diamond cant be compared to it)

· Lots of email settings like POP3/IMAP, gMail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL and Microsoft Exchange

· Exchange synchronization includes subfolders, contacts (and contact photos), calendar, GAL etc

· Built in VPN (Cisco etc)

· Safari works very well! Its like surfing on a PC! Best mobile browser I ever used

· Lots of cool applications in App store.

· HSPDA 3.6 mps

· You can choose between many languages as phone language (Windows Mobile can only handle one)

· iTunes, very easy (and not the least) legal to get songs to your iPhone

· 3.5-mm stereo connector!

· Very good music quality

· 8 or 16 GIG (HTC Touch Diamond only got 4 gig)

· Lots of accessories for your stereo, car etc

· WLAN (Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g)

· Nice SMS conversation program (just a little - you dont got smiley icons)

· iPhone SDK its very easy to create and test Iphone applications

CONS

· No multitasking except from playing music

· GPS geo tagging is not so good, I took a photo of the Telia Store at Kungsportsavenyn, Gothenburg, Sweden, but the geo tagging says the location is in the middle of the ocean far away

· MMS doesnt work

· You cant change APN or add another APN which is something I really miss.

· No Proxy support over the APN (would be better for operators if they can be used with a proxy)

· No radio (HTC radio is almost useless but Sony Ericsson and Nokia has ok radioes)

· No video call

· You cant use your iPhone as a 3G modem

· No GPS voice guide as Apple doesnt allow it

· No support for JAVA applications

· You need to hold down A or O to get to ÅÄÖ (Swedish characters)

· Only Bluetooth mono headset support (no support for other Bluetooth connections)

· You cant edit Microsoft Office documents

· You cant put in a spare or new battery yourself easy.

· You can't easy change ringtone or SMS sound to your own (for example a mp3 song). You need to buy those with iTunes.

· Copy and paste dosn't work (maybe with some application but not as default)

What I have noticed is that many people have complained about lots of things but mainly three things.

1 The camera is only 2 megapixels

This is true, but, they are good two megapixels! Would you rather have 5 bad megapixels? Check out my comparison of some cell phones I have I have. (note, all photos are taken fast without thinking of light etc, this to show the quality as people normally take fast photos with their phones). http://photos.creson.com/micke/CellPhones

2 No MMS in the phone

Correct, but email works even better. I can understand that you would like the function but I dont see it as a problem. If someone sends you an MMS you will get a notification that you have an MMS to pick up. (in Sweden its http://www.telia.se/visaMMS).

3 The price, lots of people says its very expensive in some countries. Well, the price is little like the price Nokia N95 had from the start. Its not cheap but then again, its an iPhone. To be honest, Apple sold 1 million iPhones in 3 days so the price cant be that wrong? Or do we have 1 million suckers in the world? Might be so, but those so called suckers have an iPhone. I think the discussion is stupid. If you want one, you buy one. If you want one and cant afford one, dont buy it. Buy a phone that is something in your price range. Its important to understand what YOU want and what you can afford. Maybe the price is high right now but then again, 1 million iPhones sold in just 3 days! If Apple can deliver more iPhones to the operators the operators might take the price down if they dont sell so good in a few weeks or months. Who knows? If you want to wait and see, wait and see. I bought Panasonic 42 plasma. After one year a better model cost half the price. This is life! Stop complaining!

Do I still want it?
YES, indeed, I love the phone! Mostly because the interface works so well. Its absolutely lovely to press on the touch screen and also because of App store which provides you with good applications like myspace and facebook applications. I have used both Symbian, Java phones, Windows Mobile from smartphone and pocket pc to 6.1 and I havent seen so simple and easy programs for them. So today I think Apple iPhone 3G is a really cool phone! I hope Windows Mobile 7 will take up the competition and integrate Zune (yes I got a Microsoft Zune 30 gigs too which looks really good).

Guitar Hero Aerosmith

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:43:45 +0200

Just got Guitar Hero Aerosmith (for PS3) in my mail!

Haven't tried it yet but it should be good since I like Aerosmith.

Cheers

PS. got some new phones, HTC Touch Diamond, Nokia E66, Nokia E71, Sony Ericsson W890 and Sony Ericsson G900, might write something about them later DS.

Unboxing my little new friend

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:36:45 +0200

It's not just good, it's beautiful!

To find out what, click on my little Alien!

Windows Vista USB audio fix

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:58:58 +0200

I installed Windows vista on my gaming computer last week. Everything works fine except my Plantronics USB headset. The problem I have (or had since I found a fix) is that the sound crunched all the time.

Plantronics US has a chat where you can ask support questions and get live help. I asked them about the problem and they replied that it was a Windows Vista problem and told me to contact Microsoft. I asked them if they had a solution for the problem but they kept referring to Microsoft. My next question was, "do many people have the same problem as I do?" and the answer was "yes". I then asked them if it wasn't in their interest to contact Microsoft in order to get a solution for their customers but they just said that it was a Vista problem.

So, I did. Not.

Who is your friend? Of course Google. A couple of key words took me to a blog that described the problem and not only that. It also had the Microsoft hotfix KB933262.

I installed the hotfix, rebooted my computer and it seems to work. The crunching is gone (at least I haven't heard it yet )

Of course, I went back to Plantronic's live chat to tell them how to solve the problem instead of telling people to call Microsoft. I also recommended that they should put the info in their FAQ.

Source: http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/microsoft/windows-vista-usb-audio-driver-problem-fixed.asp

Playstation 3 Firmware (v.2.30) Details and Store Walkthrough

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:17:55 +0200

PlayStation Store video walkthrough

Microsoft Surface - The Possibilities

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:01:09 +0200

Windows everywhere

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:01:41 +0200

You don't always think of what operative system ad displays in stores use. Most of them seems to use Windows and sometime it shows really good

This one is taken yesterday in Coop, Avenyn, Gothenburg, Sweden.

(picture taken with my HTC Touch Cruise and shrinked to 640x853)

HTC Cruise

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:25:12 +0100

I got a HTC Cruise for test today and I must say I am very impressed!

3 MegaPixel Camera, fast GPS (even a Quick GPS program to speed it up more), built in RDS FM radio, WIM6, HSPDA and much more. It is also loaded with lots of nice features.

HTC P3600 to the left and HTC Cruise to the right

For more info http://www.htc.com/product/03-product_htctouch_cruise.htm

How to Charge an iPod using electrolytes and an onion

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 15:25:56 +0100

Problems installing the new Zune 2.0 software?

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:27:46 +0100

Microsoft released some new Zunes the 13/11. With the new Zunes a new version of the Zune software came out. I had problems updating with my Zune software since Help -> "Check for updates" just told me that I was running the latest version and the Zune program from zune.net gave me some kind of installation error.

The way I fixed this was doing two things.

I ran windows updates and installed the latest Windows patches.
I downloaded, unpacked and installed http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/5/7/4578afd6-a0b6-4724-89e5-ba9395ea6a6d/ZunePackage.exe

That worked for me. I am now running the latest Zune software on my Swedish Windows XP SP2 and my Zune is running the latest firmware.

Guitar Hero III - Legends of Rock

nospam@example.com (Mikael Creson) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 12:47:03 +0100

Guitar Hero III will be released 2007-11-23 in Europe. I just orded it for the PS3 today.