Friday, March 13, 2009

Anyone remember the Motorola Timeport P935 2way pager?



Anyone remember the Motorola Timeport P935 2way pager? Man these were hot about 10 years ago. This is one of my favorite gadgets of all time. All the celebrities and entertainers had one. I remember seeing Jermaine Dupri in Orlando and he had two. Retailing at $399.99 (if I remember correctly) you were considered the shit if you had one of these. They came in black and silver and I dropped the $400 to get me a silver one. Pretty much anyone you saw with one was related to some kind of business. To my observation they weren't very popular in the consumer crowd. Though it was bulky, it had a nice design and definitely turned heads while it was on your hip. It was perfect back then for what text messaging is now. The pager had its own email address similar to blackberries, and you could text mobile phones from it. Loaded with calendar, contacts, and a few games, this pager was your organizer on the go. Along with your pager number you could get a 1-800 number with the pager that will allow the caller to leave a message, and a operator would send your 2way the message in a text. Its like having a secretary take your calls for you 24 hours a day. I used this for my company Throneholder Productions while I had the 2way because I don't like to talk on the phone all day. With the 1-800 number I called clients back when I had time rather than having my phone ring all day. My favorite feature on the P935 was the beam feature. With the infa-red ports of two 2ways near each other you could beam your contact info by simply holding the enter button on both devices for a few seconds. Other info such as calendar events and ringtones could be beamed as well. I really would love to see mobile phones pick up this feature. Sure you can send contact info by bluetooth, but how long does that take to get set up? With the P935 you hold enter for 3 seconds and your contact info is on the way. Think how quickly you could add a new person's contact into your phone. No asking how do you spell your name again? Or how is that email address spelled? Sad to say the P935 only lasted a few years, but while it was hot it definitely made its presence in the gadget world. RIP Motorola Timeport P935. Oh yeh, who could forget Memphis own Three Six Mafia 2way Freak of the Choices soundtrack? If you had a 2way you had 2way freaks! I did

Thursday, March 12, 2009

my thoughts on my first Blackberry, the Curve 8900


So today is March 12th, which means I have now owned my Blackberry Curve 8900 for a month. Now its time to tell my likes and dislikes about my first Blackberry. Overall I absolutely love it and all my complaints I consider minor. The phone is sexy, slim, and the UI is sleek and fast. I mainly got this phone because I've always wanted to try a Blackberry, and I wanted something that will easily handle all my email accounts on the go. I didn't realize how popular Blackberries were until I got mine. On my trip to NY last weekend I swear I saw over 30 Blackberries. I mostly saw older models, a few storms, and plenty Bold 9000's. However, I didn't see anyone with my 8900. Every person who sat next to me on the flight to NY, and back to Nashville was rocking a Blackberry. Coincidence? Maybe. But here is what I love and hate about the Blackberry 8900.

Love about my Blackberry :)

1. Near push email to Yahoo, Gmail, and AOL
2. Apps improve the functionality of the phone (you can learn something here apple!)
3. Hands down the most customizable phone I have ever owned
4. Best IM messenger apps I've had since my Sidekick
5. Its a true smartphone, I'm a huge shortcuts fan
6. 3.2mp takes nice pics, best I've had on a mobile phone. I never really cared about camera's on my cell until I discovered twitpic
7. The Blackberry community is extremely helpful, specifically at www.crackberry.com/forums which is a lot more than I can say for the assholes I encountered at http://androidcommunity.com/forums/ while I was thinking of getting a G1.
8. Bedside mode is a genius move by RIM. Bedside mode kills the flashing LED light so you can sleep go to sleep peacefully.
9. The phone starts up in 7 secs! I've never seen a phone do this before.
10. Standby mode is another genius move by RIM. In standby you kill the battery usage of the phone while maintaining the ability to receive emails, SMS messages, IM, etc. which really saves battery power at the end of the day.

Hate about my Blackberry :(

1. I really wish when I reply to an email or SMS I could have a small arrow pointing backwards to let me know I replied
2. Can't save apps to media card
3. Can't download files over 2.7mb. I"m in the audio industry, I have clients send me audio files all the time and it would helpful to download these files on the go and here them.
4. The keyboard is just a lil too small for me, I often hit wrong keys but I will get use to it. I think I would enjoy the feel of a 9000 better since its bigger
5. Poor support for Macs, All I own is Macs and its sad that I can't even upgrade my OS without a PC.
6. Poor youtube quality, the 8900 screen is beautiful, just not when a youtube video is playing
7. RIM really needs a much improved notification system for alerts. Android has a great notification system as well as the Palm pre. Even my hated with a passion windows mobile phone did a good job of notifications.
8. No 3G. This for most people is #1, but I"m in Nashville and we don't have 3G anyway, but it would be nice to have it on the phone.
9. Can't add MMS pics to contacts, this seems like it would be a no brainer option for receiving a pic by MMS. Instead you have to save the pic, then go to pic, open it, and then save the pic to a contact.
10. You can only add two email addresses per contact, I have some contacts with more than 2 email addresses so I have to make two contacts for 1 person.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

apple's new airport extreme supports two wireless networks at once!


Now that apple's airport extreme has dual band wifi radios, the $179 price tag seems reasonable to me. I will probably be picking this up with my new Imac in a few months. With the airport extreme producing two wireless networks at 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands simultaneously, this can really help simplify my setup. I currently have two airport expresses. Since my wii, blackberry, and Ipod touch don't do wireless N, I have to leave my airport express network running on a G signal. Since my macbook and new Imac will be capable of using a wireless N signal, I'd rather use that for faster speeds and file transfers. With this new airport extreme, I can have one network running at N for my macs, and another network running at G for my blackberry, wii, and ipod touch. Two networks in one router is worth $179 to me.

my 3 favorite gadgets


On my way back to Nashville from Albany today my flight was delayed. Luckily I had my 3 favorite gadgets to keep me company: macbook, ipod touch, and blackberry 8900. Since I do a lot of audio work the macbook is a must for me. Loaded with Logic Studio, M-powered pro tools 7.4, and Reason 4, I'm always able to work on audio tasks on the go. Though the app store has taken a nose dive to me, the Ipod touch still remains on my top list. I have tried to use my t-mobile shadow and my blackberry for media, but they just didn't cut it. When it comes to media, nothing handles it like an ipod. The ipod touch has a beautiful screen thats great for viewing movies, podcasts, and even youtube videos. Other mobile devices I try to view youtube on (ex blackberry) the quality is very poor. The Ipod gives me desktop quality and the best youtube experience I have seen on a mobile device. My blackberry is the newest gadget I have acquired recently and I love it. My last phone was a windows mobile phone which I grew to hate more and more each month I owned it, but thats another blog. When it comes to email, nothing handles it like a blackberry, and with yahoo, gmail, and AOL now getting near push email service to blackberries its only getting better. Though the user interface isn't user friendly to me (took me half a day just to figure out how to change the ringtone) I still love the blackberry and learn more about it the more I play with it. I was real close to getting an Iphone but decided to hold out for t-mobile to drop the blackberry 8900 and I"m glad I did.