<strong>question: can you install and run all the palm OS applications out there on the P800? or are palm OS apps not compatible with symbian OS? </strong><hr></blockquote>
Snaz,
Palm apps aren't compatible. But java apps are ... I think we'll be seeing a deluge of applications for this beast. Personally, there is nothing this can't do my Palm could. I sold it.
Aaaaalso ... the browser ...
I got it online yesterday by dialup (not GPRS because O2 are shit) and had a little look around the web. Apple.com rendered without a hitch. Looked small but beautiful, you could see the text incredibly clearly. Went to AI to see ... loaded slowly, told me they were javascript pages, rendered PERFECTLY (hilarious to see). I tried to log in, brought up the form, logged me in but took me back to the "FYI you're not logged in" page.
Hmm.
Browser can accept cookies, so I wonder what is up ...
<strong>How is the handwriting recognition/text input?
Also next time you're at a bar post some pics of some english babes for us...errrr just so we can see the quality of the pics ofcourse </strong><hr></blockquote>
It uses this "jot" gubbins. Real-shaped characters as opposed to the Grafitti nightmare ... for the first day I was making mistakes (and still occasionally make a capital by mistake) but it's like all these things ... you get used to them. In terms of speed it is incredibly fast. There's none of that thinking when you write an accented character. It's as fast as pressing a key.
I found out you can't set an MP3 as a ringtone. Get annoyed until I realised it does work with WAV. So, export some choice clips of your favourite music as WAVs and beam them over. Very loud, very cool.
There may be err PPP dialup bugs (sound familiar?). I've not worked out if it's my crap network (which won't let me have both MMS and GPRS data, thanks O2) or some configuaration issue or just a bug, but getting a connection isn't always a button push.
I can't begin to tell you how much I like this device. I don't miss the T68 even though it was more svelte. My girlfriend's not so keen on it though (purely for attention deficit reasons).
Any updated thoughts on the P800, Harald? You've had several weeks to test it to death now. Any progress on the Mac compatibility front now that iSync has reached 1.0? Did the P800 survive Y2k3?
<strong>Any updated thoughts on the P800, Harald? You've had several weeks to test it to death now. Any progress on the Mac compatibility front now that iSync has reached 1.0? Did the P800 survive Y2k3? </strong><hr></blockquote>
Eschska,
I can officially say I have tested it to death. I don't think there's one thing I've not done
So I know all it's little foibles (remarkably few) and all that's good about it (remarkable) and yes, iSync ... I know all about that little fellow ... In a nutshell, this thing OWNS ME. But ...
There's something weird with the P800 Bluetooth implementation, or possibly the SyncML implementation, and a huge and very technical thread on the Apple discussion boards. In a nutshell, you can send files back and forth and it works wonderfully. You can't sync it with iSync or successfully link it with Address Book. Some say they know a fix is coming. I know for a FACT (directly relevant SE employee) there's P800's syncing via iSync in this world ... I don't know who needs to release new software however. Timescale ... who knows.
HOWEVER, and this is the biggun, MAYBE tomorrow Apple will introduce a .Mac SyncML server so we can sync the phone via GPRS or GSM to our .Mac iSync server. Phew, acronym city. I am certain this will happen soon if not tomorrow as the phones support it, no-one's done it, Apple have mentioned Address Book --> iSync --> .Mac integration and it's innovative. I have no insider knowledge of THIS, it's just a no-brainer. In the short term, contacts can just be beamed over via BT and automatically get slurped up.
Apart from that ... this thing still surprises me. Insanely cool. I've been playing with the voice recognition stuff on the phone. The technology is vastly better then any other I've seen. "Magic Word" for example is now usable. You set the phone to permanently listen for a phrase (remember PlainTalk?) and when it hears it does what it's told.
Imagine this: walking down the road with the phone in your pocket and the headphones on. You're talking to other people, then realise you need to call a friend. You say, "My blower." It bleeps. You say "Hassan i Sabbah." It repeats his scurvy name back to you and phones him up.
No hands.
SO. DAMN. COOL.
The speakerphone is just great too. You're on the phone and need to take a note, so you just flip the flippy flip, let it go into speaker mode and use the jotter to write things down. Of course, it recongnises written numbers so you can dial with a single jab of the prong once you've hung up.
I also did my first "snap a picture and send it as an email instantly" the other day. Amazing. I have now got MMS working too, so I can send pictures in a jiffy to the one person I know on the same network with a capable phone.
I could just go on and on and on about the bugger. So many small details of usability and UI that are just great.
And there are no, I repeat, NO, little niggly usability issues that piss you off with common tasks (apart from the major issue of 'iSync doesn't work'). Maybe the fact that you're limited to MemoryStick which is expensive and reduced the ability of the device to act as an MP3 player (I mean, listen to me ... what a complaint!).
Apple aren't going to release a phone. I just don't see how they can compete in the way iPod pissed over other MP3 players.
Comments
<strong>question: can you install and run all the palm OS applications out there on the P800? or are palm OS apps not compatible with symbian OS? </strong><hr></blockquote>
Snaz,
Palm apps aren't compatible. But java apps are ... I think we'll be seeing a deluge of applications for this beast. Personally, there is nothing this can't do my Palm could. I sold it.
Aaaaalso ... the browser ...
I got it online yesterday by dialup (not GPRS because O2 are shit) and had a little look around the web. Apple.com rendered without a hitch. Looked small but beautiful, you could see the text incredibly clearly. Went to AI to see ... loaded slowly, told me they were javascript pages, rendered PERFECTLY (hilarious to see). I tried to log in, brought up the form, logged me in but took me back to the "FYI you're not logged in" page.
Hmm.
Browser can accept cookies, so I wonder what is up ...
<strong>image taken by the P800...
Harald mind saying where this is and what it is a picture of?</strong><hr></blockquote>
harald, is that down-town dalston?
<strong>
harald, is that down-town dalston?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Shoreditchio babee.
<strong>but three times... <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>
He's such a show off. Harald-- I don't know you, but you still suck.
I've been hitting the Vodafone website here in Germany every 5 minutes, but I guess I'll have to wait until January, eh?
If I ever said anything bad about this thing, I take it back. It's lovely.
Also next time you're at a bar post some pics of some english babes for us...errrr just so we can see the quality of the pics ofcourse
<strong>How is the handwriting recognition/text input?
Also next time you're at a bar post some pics of some english babes for us...errrr just so we can see the quality of the pics ofcourse
It uses this "jot" gubbins. Real-shaped characters as opposed to the Grafitti nightmare ... for the first day I was making mistakes (and still occasionally make a capital by mistake) but it's like all these things ... you get used to them. In terms of speed it is incredibly fast. There's none of that thinking when you write an accented character. It's as fast as pressing a key.
I found out you can't set an MP3 as a ringtone. Get annoyed until I realised it does work with WAV. So, export some choice clips of your favourite music as WAVs and beam them over. Very loud, very cool.
There may be err PPP dialup bugs (sound familiar?). I've not worked out if it's my crap network (which won't let me have both MMS and GPRS data, thanks O2) or some configuaration issue or just a bug, but getting a connection isn't always a button push.
I can't begin to tell you how much I like this device. I don't miss the T68 even though it was more svelte. My girlfriend's not so keen on it though (purely for attention deficit reasons).
Escher
<strong>Any updated thoughts on the P800, Harald? You've had several weeks to test it to death now. Any progress on the Mac compatibility front now that iSync has reached 1.0? Did the P800 survive Y2k3?
Eschska,
I can officially say I have tested it to death. I don't think there's one thing I've not done
So I know all it's little foibles (remarkably few) and all that's good about it (remarkable) and yes, iSync ... I know all about that little fellow ... In a nutshell, this thing OWNS ME. But ...
There's something weird with the P800 Bluetooth implementation, or possibly the SyncML implementation, and a huge and very technical thread on the Apple discussion boards. In a nutshell, you can send files back and forth and it works wonderfully. You can't sync it with iSync or successfully link it with Address Book. Some say they know a fix is coming. I know for a FACT (directly relevant SE employee) there's P800's syncing via iSync in this world ... I don't know who needs to release new software however. Timescale ... who knows.
HOWEVER, and this is the biggun, MAYBE tomorrow Apple will introduce a .Mac SyncML server so we can sync the phone via GPRS or GSM to our .Mac iSync server. Phew, acronym city. I am certain this will happen soon if not tomorrow as the phones support it, no-one's done it, Apple have mentioned Address Book --> iSync --> .Mac integration and it's innovative. I have no insider knowledge of THIS, it's just a no-brainer. In the short term, contacts can just be beamed over via BT and automatically get slurped up.
Apart from that ... this thing still surprises me. Insanely cool. I've been playing with the voice recognition stuff on the phone. The technology is vastly better then any other I've seen. "Magic Word" for example is now usable. You set the phone to permanently listen for a phrase (remember PlainTalk?) and when it hears it does what it's told.
Imagine this: walking down the road with the phone in your pocket and the headphones on. You're talking to other people, then realise you need to call a friend. You say, "My blower." It bleeps. You say "Hassan i Sabbah." It repeats his scurvy name back to you and phones him up.
No hands.
SO. DAMN. COOL.
The speakerphone is just great too. You're on the phone and need to take a note, so you just flip the flippy flip, let it go into speaker mode and use the jotter to write things down. Of course, it recongnises written numbers so you can dial with a single jab of the prong once you've hung up.
I also did my first "snap a picture and send it as an email instantly" the other day. Amazing. I have now got MMS working too, so I can send pictures in a jiffy to the one person I know on the same network with a capable phone.
I could just go on and on and on about the bugger. So many small details of usability and UI that are just great.
And there are no, I repeat, NO, little niggly usability issues that piss you off with common tasks (apart from the major issue of 'iSync doesn't work'). Maybe the fact that you're limited to MemoryStick which is expensive and reduced the ability of the device to act as an MP3 player (I mean, listen to me ... what a complaint!).
Apple aren't going to release a phone. I just don't see how they can compete in the way iPod pissed over other MP3 players.
Any Q's I'll be glad to answer.
<strong>Any Q's I'll be glad to answer.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Thanks for the update, Haraldska. Have you had any better luck connecting to your Mac via Bluetooth since your last post? If not, see if the information in <a href="http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=140001"; target="_blank">this MacNN thread</a> or <a href="http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=139614&highlight=p800"; target="_blank">this thread</a> will help you at all.
It's really a shame that Apple isn't moving faster on Bluetooth support. Can it really be that difficult?
Escher