News
Sunday 20th December 2008
PAC. When you move numbers from your old telephone network to the new one they issue you with a PAC code which you give to the new network and they swop your number. I've done it lots - from EasyMobile to Orange to FRESH to ASDAMobile to Three to T-Mobile to O2. Never been any problems. T-Mobile where particularly efficient and helpful.

Having been lucky so far with a helpful and hardworking PAC team from the various networks, what a shock to try porting my number to Vodafone. Fifteen minutes, three departments, a lot of hold time. I've been told that I cannot change my Vodafone number. That I should have changed numbers before I ordered my phone. That I would have to return my BlackBerry Storm (at a premium cost) and get a new contract. All balderdash and I told them so...

Finally someone in Customer Services tried putting me through to another department and I discovered that Vodafones' PAC team work Monday to Friday. Not a good start guys. A Business Customer here expecting better service than this.

Wednesday 3rd December 2008
My BlackBerry 9500 arrived this morning. The 9500 turns out to be an even nicer phone than I expected. The touch screen has a satisfying "click" when u press it and feels more like typing on a keyboard than the unresponsive screen of the iPhone. Like my last BlackBerry, the 9500 was a breeze to set up and I was getting my emails and sending texts within minutes. I was pleasantly surprised at how small and well made the BlackBerry 9500 was.

Thursday 27th November 2008
A couple of weeks thinking time is plenty right? I ordered a BlackBerry 9500 from the Vodafone site. The deal was a free 9500 with 700 anytime, any network minutes with 250 texts and unlimited landline calls and includes Mobile Internet and BlackBerry® email. It's kind of cool to have unlimited calls to landlines... most of my business calls are to offices so the landline thing rocks. More news when the "Storm" arrives.

Friday 14th November 2008
I've been looking at ending my contract with O2 and moving over to Vodafone to get my hands on the lovely BlackBerry 9500. Things move so fast in the world of Information Technology that the so cute little BlackBerry 8800 I got in March looks quite dated by November. Ok there isn't a mark on it and it still performs magnificently - but the new 9000 and 9500 are SO shiny!

It will cost around £400 to buy out of my O2 contract - which surprised me. Then again buying a BlackBerry 9500 sim free will cost at least that so I am tempted. Why haven't I already got my hands on the 9500? Working weekdays makes it really hard to get anything delivered by anyone other than the good old Post Office! Looks like I will have to take a day off if I want a new BlackBerry!

Sunday 12th October 2008
Expansys have the BlackBerry 9500 on their website on "pre-order". How cool is that? Expansys are my favourite site for buying gadgets! The "Storm"" (has they are advertising it) looks really nice. The 9500 comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera according to Expansys. Check the picture from their site.

Friday 5th October 2008
Gadgets goes through a long development stage and it's pretty common for names to change before the final release. It's somewhat more confusing when different names are used for the same product as in the BlackBerry 9500 - its called the Storm by some suppliers and still called the Thunder by others. Perhaps when it finally releases there will be some clarity.

Vodaphone will be carrying the BlackBerry 9500 exclusively in the UK (apparently) and have a competition on their website to win one if you register for "Launch News". The competition ends on 25th October with the draw being made on the 27th. At a guess I'd say the BlackBerry 9500 is coming this month. I have to say the artists impression of the 9500 on the Vodaphone site isn't as nice as the KiwiBerry version - but I'm hoping reality will be as good.

Friday 22nd August 2008
Three have updated their very successful Skype phone to a new shiny model the S2. Like the original, Skype is fully integrated into the phone which for me was a huge selling feature. Skype allows you to make calls and send messages to anywhere in the world absolutely free, just as long as you and whoever you’re trying to get in touch with has a Skype ID. You would think it’s crazy for a mobile phone company to sell a phone that allows free calls and messaging but for 3 with its huge 3G capability it makes a lot of sense. Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Bebo and Windows Live Messenger are all easily available on the S2.

The keyboard on the S2 has been revisited and looks rather like the Nokia N82 with slim bars instead of buttons. It’s quite small - 102.7 X 45 x 14 mm and the spec looks very good – HSDPA, 50Mb internal memory, support for 4Gb micro SD memory cards and a very respectable 3.2Mb camera. The phone can double as a USB HSDPA modem so maybe I can do away with my current USB 3 Modem and just carry the phone? I’ll let you know how that goes. The S2 is advertised on 3’s website at £79.99 PAYG including a £10 top up or free on monthly contract.

I’m quite a fan of 3. I like the way they arrange their menus with Plant 3 and I like the content that is easy to access with the “Internet” button. I’ve also used my 3 Mobile Broadband modem all over England and it’s been brilliant – great coverage and an excellent connection speed. I’m a huge fan of Skype (if you haven’t tried i yet you definitely should!). I really enjoyed my Skype phone last year and will definitely be upgrading to the new S2.

Monday 11th August 2008
I noticed that Expansys have moved the BlackBerry "Bold" 9000 from its "Coming Soon" page. That sometimes means a delay in a product as in the BlackBerry 9500 which has disappeared off the site, but in this case was good news as the unlocked BlackBerry Bold is expected at the start of September. I really want one of the new Blackberry's but I'm sure the BlackBerry 9500 "Thunder" will be awesome when it arrives... even better than the Bold? Only time will tell!

Wednesday 16th July 2008
RIM have the cutest touch screen Blackberry planned -  The Blackberry 9500. It's aimed at the excitable Apple iPhone market now that the 3G version of the iPhone has been released. Given the huge lead time for the 3G iPhone (it was rumnoured last year) it's kind of strange that RIM didn't plan to release their 3G touch screen phone this summer. By the time the Blackberry 9500 hits the Vodafone shelves (oh Vodafone have an exclusive on the 9500) it will be Autumn. Such a shame because it looks so nice!

Saturday 31st May 2008
The enormous popularity of the UMPC has been fuelled in an interesting direction by the Asus Eee PC. Tiny sub-notebooks with just enough memory to edit a spreadsheet or two and surf the net. They are cute and fairly functional and most importantly cheap. I suppose the small storage space - early models had only 2GB - which always put me off even trying one, had a kind of pioneering feel about it and has made the Eee PC a must have gadget icon.

Now that other manufacturers have gotten into the act, storage space is becoming more realistic and with a 120GB hard disk the little HP 2133 Mini-Note has caught my eye. Advertised as "Coming soon" for quite some time on the Expansys website - I was surprised to find it advertised as "In Stock" by MISCO and I weakened and ordered one. I also ordered a smart leather cover for the Mini-Note from Hong Kong which I think will look really good - rather like a Filofax from the 80's. I'm so looking forward to a new gadget!

Tuesday 27th May 2008
It's a really nice feeling when a new gadget comes my way - I finally got a car kit installed in my shiny (not so new) car. I went for the THB Bury kit which had a cradle for my Blackberry 8800 and can be updated with a new cradle when needed. Given how often I update my phones I thought that would be a good idea. My last car kit was a bit of a nightmare because the mic was so far from me I ended up having to bellow to make myself heard. Having learned from that mistake I got the engineer to put the mic halfway between the A and B posts and I can chat perfectly normally. Great little car kit and I'm very pleased. When you spend a lot of the working day in your car it's nice to have nice gadgets!

Friday 16th May 2008
I discovered the free WiFi service at a McDonalds restaurant this week. What an excellent idea - you pop in for a coffee before work and can send emails and catch up on news (The BBC website is a personal favourite) with the free WiFi. Apparently McD rolled out free WiFi throughout the country in October. I quite enjoyed trying out the Safari browser on my new iPhone and having a very nice coffee in McDonalds. I must admit to a little ignorance because I do associate McD with the Big Mac burgers and fizzy drinks - Cappuccino and a muffin in Starbucks being more my "style". A very civilised cappuccino and free browsing in the quiet before 8am was a very nice way to start my working day!

Monday 12th May 2008
Oh my - RIM have come up with a very shiny new Blackberry - the "Bold". Running high speed 3G (HSDPA), Wi-Fi connectivity and with GPS the 9000 series looks really brilliant and I'm sure it will be an absolute winner. Another big plus is a nice little 2 megapixel camera with a 5 x zoom. I'm on the waiting list at Expansys (of course) but there is no release date given for the unlocked version yet. Looks like the price will be around £545 though. Oh my!

Friday 2nd May 2008
Oh my... I have a new iPhone! 16Gb, shiny and amazing interface! Very, impressed with the setup and how easy it is to type on the screen. This one "replaces" my beloved Nokia E61i as a personal (as opposed to business) phone. I was thinking about buying an iTouch (which is essentially the iPhone but without a SIM) to watch the large number of TV shows and video's I've purchased from iTunes... and then I thought - well why not have a look at getting an iPhone! More about the new iPhone on my Blog.

Will it replace my Blackberry? No, not a chance. They are very different gadgets which have quite different strengths. The Blackberry is a wonderful email device - the push email behind the scenes means I never miss an important email. The great little keyboard makes typing replies a realistic task. The Safari browser on the iPhone is generations ahead of the Blackberry and of course the integration with iTunes means I can play my music and videos without any conversion - although to be honest with an 8Gb memory card my Blackberry is pretty full of good music already. The iPhone screen is a major plus when viewing websites or movies and the interface is a lot of fun.

Monday 28th April 2008
It's really nice when a company you use a lot comes up with a nice discount. Handango offered a fat 20% off for introducing a friend. I know enough gadget addicts to take them up on the offer and promptly ordered eOffice (which lets you view and edit Word and Excel documents) and bbSmart email viewer for my Blackberry. Both pieces of software that I've been intending to buy but how nice to have 20% knocked off! The built in spell checker is brilliant (very like MS Office) and works in Blackberry applications - spell checking SMS or email messages as well as eOffice documents.

The above screen capture from the dynoplex.com website gives you an idea of how eOffice looks on the Blackberry and its been good fun working with it so far!

Saturday 5th April 2008
My Blackberry 8800 has been a really excellent gadget - I've set up half a dozen email addresses on it and life has generally been really good. You really appreciate the device when you're totally relying on it for all your work emails and it never lets you down!!! The only minor glitch has been getting O2 to recognise my ported mobile number as the one which should have all the Blackberry services that I'm paying for. I've been buying lots of accessories for the Blackberry and I'm especially pleased with the RIM ones - the charger and spare battery charger are excellent quality and the 8800 slides in and out effortlessly. I love the lime and orange silicon skins I got for the 8800 too!
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Thurs 20th March 2008
My 8800 arrived this morning - first impressions are very good. The keyboard is really nice and positive, the screen is bright and clear. The 8800 was pre-charged - which is a blessing because you always want to play with a new phone. I installed the fiddly little 8Gb memory card and the O2 sim (following their advice to copy all my contacts off the old phone onto the sim before I did so). Not fond of the basic themes, but then those are customisable and I will download some alternatives. The setup wizard was really intuitive and I had added half a dozen email boxes in as many minutes and set up an O2 email address too.

Browsing on the Blackberry is so easy and I installed a dozen games from Gameloft.com (my favourite mobile games website). Downloads were fast and trouble free.

Thurs 13th March 2008
I ordered a Blackberry 8800 on contract from O2 this week. I spent quite a long time thinking about getting a Blackberry and what tipped me over the edge was the data offered by O2. I like the sound of "unlimited" although what they really mean is 250Mb. Still its a lot more than Orange (6Mb) and more minutes than T-Mobile or Vodaphone. Actually I think 3 would make an excellent Blackberry provider by regrettably Blackberry are not strong on 3G models yet.