Nokia 770

Expansys are selling Nokia 770 Internet Tablets at an irresistible price (~74 quid). Needless to say, I bought one and it arrived this morning.

I've only had time for a quick play, but so far it's the best gadget I've bought in a long time. The screen is sharp - you can actually read full size web pages on it (this is the first handheld device I've had where websites look like they're supposed to). The BBC and Slashdot load reasonably quickly (not as fast a desktop, but fast enough).

I found WiFi configuration to be reasonably pain free and would have been painless if my network didn't use a hidden SSID. The network browser (which pops up during initial configuration) could only find my neighbours networks, most of which were still set to the default SSID, telling me exactly what bit of hardware they're using. I still remember when I was the only wireless network in the building (assuming there weren't any hidden ones), now there are several. In order to connect to my network, I had to go through the control panel and inform the tablet of my networks existence.

One of the first things I did was install Gizmo and I was able to call TellMe, so VOIP works. I'm in the middle of building a new asterisk server (I've tagged project 1 here), but gizmo should work with it once that's built.

I know many feel the device has it's flaws (most of which have been corrected on the N800), that Nokia's long term support might not be there (ie, OS updates are hidden away under the title of "for developers only", and those updates have been few and far between since the arrival of the N800) and that it's not fully open (ie, like a Tivo, you can't download and rebuild the OS) - however I don't care (at least for now) about such matters - at this price point the device is astoundingly good.

BSkyB Buys Amstrad

According to Broadband TV News, BSkyB have bought Amstrad. I wonder what (if anything) will become of the emailer.

Linux Magazine Issue 82

Linux Magazine Issue 82 is going to have several articles on VOIP (I just got the preview email yesterday). Not sure when it hits the stands or (more importantly for me) drops through the letterbox.

A Link On Installing Asterisk on FreeBSD

Here's a link to a how to on installing asterisk on FreeBSD. My current plan is to get Asterisk running a FreeBSD VM, and from there into a nanobsd image (which will, hopefully, also initially run in qemu for test purposes)

Installing nanobsd on freebsd

I haven't actually seen this explicitly stated anywhere, as I'm guessing it's obvious to FreeBSDers how to get the nanobsd tool installed. For those of us who are more into linux, it's not so obvious or straightforward (ie, it's not sudo apt-get install nanobsd). Instead, you have to log in as root, run sysinstall, choose Configure, then Distributions, then src, then tools (I added base and sys as well - dunno if they're actually needed or not). sysinstall will then install nanobsd into /usr/src/tools/tools/nanobsd (yes, tools is twice).

Nanobsd

Another option for my tiny asterisk server may be Nanobsd. It might be easier to get Asterisk 1,4 running on it. This evening, I've been trying to create a FreeBSD virtual machine for qemu/kvm, so that I can try building a nanobsd image. That's taking awhile.

Astlinux

I've got a slow project on the go the build a new asterisk server out of a neoware thin client. Astlinux looks good, but it's still using the 1.2 series of Asterisk. I want 1.4. I'm trying to build it using the latest versions, but I can't get zaptel to build.

PhoneGnome Box

I'm not sure why I haven't come across this before - the PhoneGnome Box. It looks like it's a standalone SIP based FXO/FXS. It's $99 - I've sent an email to try and find out what shipping to this side of the Atlantic would be.

update - Well, I would get one - shipping is $40, so it's only £70 total, but I can't seem to get them to process my credit card. I know I have enough credit, I know I entered the right details, but I keep getting "Declined - Matched AVS/CVV2 Filter"

update - my bank phoned me up - they noticed that they received several authorization requests at once (that they authorized). I've tried to phone PhoneGnome, but nobody's home. I've sent an email - I'm guessing no one will be in till monday. This is pissing me off.

update (2007-7-24) - I got the order through, but phonegnome had to put the order through manually. Now I just have to wait for it to turn up (but I guess I'm going to have to pay VAT when it does)

Google May Bid For US Spectrum

Ever since the net nutrality debate in the US started to kick off, with words from a telco executive (iirc, from AT&T) along the lines that Google owed them money, I've figured that there was going to be war between Google and the telcos in the US.(A quick aside - I've always felt that the executive got it the wrong way around - if anybody owes anybody extra money, it would be the telcos owing Google, Yahoo, etc - as without the content then no one would subscribe to their internet services, but I digress). First Google acquired GrandCentral and now they're commiting to compete in a US spectrum auction. They want the spectrum to be open, so they've said they would put thier hat in the ring if the FCC follows principles of openness around the spectrum. I have no idea if 4.6 gigadollars is a serious competitive bid or just a warning shot (apparently, it's the reserve price), because I have not been following the 700 Mhz sell off as I don't live in the US. Either way, war is coming.

The F3 Appears to be unlocked.

I noticed that the can the Motorola F3 came in didn't mention a specific provider. So I thought I'd see what happens when I insert my Orange SIM - it worked!

Homechoice Goes Tiscali Green

I had to restart my Homechoice Box this morning - it appears that Tiscali have re-themed the menu system - now it's a (somewhat disgusting) shade of green where it used to be red and the font used also looks different (at least at first glance - I'll check more tonight)

Tesco Internet Did 999 Calls?

I got an odd email from Tesco's Internet Phone service saying that 999 calls were going to be temporarily unavailable - I was unaware that they were ever supporting them in the first place. I distinctly remember reading a "this will not work with 999 calls" warning on TIP product at some point in the past.

Motorola F3 - A Phone In A Can

Today I picked up a Motorola F3 from Carphone Warehouse (I ordered it on their website, as online it was only £9.99). I had wanted to get a dirt cheap phone on T-Mobile and this seems to fit the bill.

It's not much thicker than the L6, though it has about 1/10 of the features. I'm guessing this is Motorola's phone for the elderly - large, easy to read black and white screen and all the menus items have voice prompts - so the phone tells you what the function is (such as "read messages"). Otherwise it's fairly feature free - it makes phone calls and sends texts, and thats about it (though it does have a speakerphone).

The "in a can" bit comes from the packaging - it comes in what can best be described as a can.

BT Launch Tell'M

BT have launched what I can only describe as GeoTwitter, though they're calling it Tell'M. More at my Geo Log.

Something Silly On Farncombe's Site

I continued looking around Farncombe's site and on their careers page I found this:

If you are passionate about your work, a self-starter, innovative, entrepreneurial and not afraid to self manage situations often requiring several people to handle, then land your plane at Farncombe...

Surely, if you really are all those things then shouldn't you be starting your own company?

Farncombe to manage Tiscali triple play expansion

According to Broadband TV News, "Farncombe Technology has been appointed to assist Tiscali UK with the rollout of its triple-play rollout project".

By "triple play roll out", they mean the expansion of the Homechoice service. Who Farncombe Technology are or what they do is not detailed. A quick google search brings back www.farncombe.eu - they appear to be "suits for hire" (ie, a consultancy group) who specialize in TV/Telecoms/Space etc, though as they're consultants I'm still left wondering what it is they actually do.

Google Buy GrandCentral

Google have bought GrandCentral

I wonder if gizmo will be next.

BT Openzone Price Plans

I'm glad I signed up for BT Openzone when I did - they no longer appear to have the "BT Openzone for BT Subscribers" deal. The cheapest subscription plan is effectively 4 times more expensive than the plan I'm on (half the minutes for twice the price).

Sky Coming To Tiscali

According to Broadband TV News, the basic Sky channels are coming to Tiscali!!!!! Sky 1,2,3, Arts, Travel, News and Sports News.


About time.

PictureBox on Tiscali

I saw this a few days back on Broadband TV News, Universal PictureBox, a new on demand movie channel. Apparently it went live on June 7, but it didn't pop up on the EPG for me until tonight (as I had to reboot the Tiscali box tonight).

It's £5 a month for a library of films (similar to Movies Now Club). At the moment, there are 27 films, nothing particularly new or exciting or seemingly worth a fiver a month (just like MN Club, but with fewer films).