The Nokia E66 appears to provide impressive improvements on the already high quality E65 phone. Rob Evans has been evaluating the E66 and has posted several excellent articles and videos describing its features.
Rob’s articles and videos are highly recommended for anyone interested in the E66, or even just curious about how Nokia’s enterprise device line is evolving.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
More impressions on the Nokia E71 (from afar… I haven’t had a chance to actually use one. Yet š
It is surprising small. Watching this phone scoop video review, the phone is clearly quite petite — the reviewer’s hand seems huge in comparison. The E71 is clearly dramatically smaller when compared to earlier Nokia qwerty phones like the E61i.
Another interesting feature is the camera’s autofocus speed, as demonstrated in phonescoop’s video. I’ve used the Nokia N95 extensively (fantastic multimedia device, btw), and the E71 appears to autofocus even more quickly than the N95. Note, however, that the N95 camera is 5MP, while the E71 camera is only 3MP — still, a Nokia 3MP camera still far exceeds the quality of most camera phones, especially those on qwerty phones.
I’m still reading up on the E71, but it really tempting. I may have to get one.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I admit Iām a huge Amazon fan ā itās my first stop for anything I want to buy online. So, when Amazon announced the Kindle, I was intrigued. After researching its feature set, I decided that even though Kindle is an interesting product, I didnāt want to pay $399 for it.
This morning, I awoke to an email announcing that Kindleās price has been reduced to $359. Even for a 4-star product, $359 is too much.
The magic price point at which Iāll become a Kindle owner? $199.
Admittedly, Iāve found other options for digitally consuming books:
Of course, when Kindle 2.0 is released, Iāll be one of the first reading up on it. And if itās priced at $199 or less, Iāll finally buy one.
Posted in technology
At the outset, some context: Iām an enterprise and home user of Microsoft Outlook. That means that I use it to keep track of nearly everything in my life, and have used it since I canāt even remember when. About a year ago, I stopped ignoring Outlookās Journal feature, and got organized in a whole new way.
Journal is an easy way to document detailed notes for meetings (either before or after), phone calls, and other events. If used in this way, itās a great tool for archiving important details for later preparation of your half-yearly/yearly individual scorecards. You can also use it for time tracking (although I prefer tsheets for that). In addition, you can use Journal to track Microsoft Office items (like Word docs, Powerpoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets, etc.).
Microsoft offers excellent resources for helping users get up to speed on Journal, hereās one for starters. If youāve never tried Journal, its value add is definitely worth the brief learning curve.
This arrived in my email inbox this morningā¦ very enticing! I love the smaller E71 form factor. And, of course, itās a Nokia. See Boy Genius Report for their excellent and very detailed review.
I have purchased more bluetooth headsets in recent years than Iād like to admit, but never found one I really liked until recently. They were always too small, too large, too uncomfortable, poor voice/audio quality, etc., etc. However, I stumbled across the Samsung WEP410 about a month ago, and have been very impressed.
The hardware is small and simple. Thereās a large on/off/redial button on the side, with volume buttons on the periphery. Something nice about this headset that isnāt available on a lot of bluetooth headsets: Mute.
It doesnāt provide an over-the-ear hook but includes 3 sizes of ear gels so the user is sure to get a good fit. I find the fit snug, but very comfortable.
I have found voice/audio quality to be very good, without dropouts, static or other degradation. I tend to use it in fairly quiet environments, so canāt speak to its performance in noisy places like airports or stores.
Itās also quite inexpensive: $45.99 on Amazon.com, before a $30 rebate.
For me, the WEP410 has been perfect: Great call quality, comfortable, easy to use. I found it when I thought Iād never find a bluetooth headset Iād like, and wound up buying a spare (1 for laptop bag, 1 for handbag).
Posted in mobile, technology
Today, I saw M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening. It was eerie, creepy in a way that only those films that don’t show you the enemy can be.
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and John Leguizamo , the film starts out as an average day in New York City and that āaverage dayā ends as anything but. Mark Wahlberg has carved out a successful career as a resilient everyman ā the sort of guy who could be your next door neighbor — he plays this type of character in The Happening, as well. Zooey Deschanelās character seems to evolve dramatically over the course of the movie. John Leguizamo, a personal favorite, has far too little screen time ā he would have also made a great lead, playing Wahlbergās role. Note that The Happening deserves an honorable mention for Ferris Buellerās sidekick, Alan Ruck, as a New York City school principal.
I enjoyed most of the film. It wasnāt predictable, and certainly was an interesting ride. My only disappointment was the ending: It seemed a bit too pat.
Iāve been an M.Night fan for a long while, but am concerned that The Happening wonāt be the comeback event weād hoped for, especially since it doesn’t seem to appeal to most audiences. Nonetheless, you may want to read Richard Ebert’s review, and his view of The Happening as a parable of modern day apocalypse.
Definitely recommended for M. Night Shyamalan fans.
What I’ve always loved about George Carlin is that, although his language was a bit salty, he always told it just like he saw it. A very smart, very funny guy. He’ll be missed.
it is what it is 