Thursday, May 28, 2009

Moving...


That's right, the NET9 lab is expanding and needed a larger area to grow in. Over the next week or so, we'll be getting settled in to the new place. Afterwards, we'll be back on track and ready to work. Onwards to the future...

Monday, May 25, 2009

Ovi Store And New Nokia Tablet Coming

Nokia's Ovi Store has begun to make it's way around the globe and has launched in Australia, Ireland, and Singapore. I've been excited about Ovi Store since it was announced earlier this year. Nokia's Ovi Store will offer content ranging from applications to games to video clips and more. It will finally bring content discovery for Nokia devices in a more organized and dynamic way. Ovi Store is expected to launch in other countries over the next few days, and you can bet we'll be checking it out as soon as it hits the states.

There's tons of news about the latest Nokia Internet Tablet, and it's enough to make anyone planing to purchase the upcoming N97 take a second look. The biggest problem with the new tablet is that it hasn't even been officially announced and will likely be quite some time after the announcement before it comes to market. The advantages of a device like this is that it will be the first Nokia tablet to incorporate HSPA. Sure, the N900 or "Rover" or whatever the official name of the device will have some features that will make future N97 owners envious, such as the 800x480 resolution screen and a more powerful processor, but the similarities between these two devices are so overlapping the it will be a wonder why anyone would want to wait for the new tablet.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Past Meets Future

Yesterday I bought a 1972 Ford F100 for $300. I think I got a really good deal. It starts and runs like a champ, has a bit of an oil leak, and some rust spots and a few small dents. It's my new project, and will require a good amount of my time, energy, and money. It won't take me everywhere, but it will get me around town with no problems. This is the latest NET9mobile and I'll try to post updates to it's restoration progress here on the site.

It's great to have a fresh new project to work on again, and this is a big one. We welcome the challenge and we're excited about the old champ. It's always great to see old tech and new tech come together, and I think each and every one of us should reach into the past and bring a piece of it back to meet the future every once in awhile.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Chaos Reigns Supreme...

I'm sure just about everyone has heard about the latest Oprah giveaway of coupons for a free KFC meal. Well, we went to our nearest KFC today and was about to use our coupon until we observed the madness that ensued. Race, age, and gender are blurred when it comes to getting free food during a recession, especially when that food is fried chicken. Had I thought about it, I would have recorded the event with my phone, but I was in shock and ashamed at the same time.

How could something like this happen in 2009? KFC doesn't exactly have the healthiest food anyway, and I don't understand what is so free about the deal...

You first need a computer (many have this already), electricity (most have access to this, I hope), Internet access (here's where it gets interesting...), a printer (wait, what!?...), ink and paper (that's not free by any means!), a mode of transportation (last I heard, you'll pay for that big time), and time (ah, the most precious thing of all). Sure, these things are had by most of us or we know someone that can get some of it for us to complete our free chicken expedition, but is it really worth the wait? Oh, and if you don't think it's a big deal, you haven't seen the lines. You'll wait, and you still may not get anything due to the barbaric way this event was handled.

There were people being turned down for everything from having printed the coupon from the wrong site to the restaurant not having enough chicken. It's certainly a bad day for chickens all over, but it's humanity that has lost it's mind today. Colonel Sanders would be rolling in his grave to see such things.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

5th Day In May

It's Cinco de Mayo (for a little longer anyway), the Nokia N97 is available for preorder at a cool $699, and tomorrow is my birthday (I turn 28). Of course the most exciting bit of news is the N97 and it's lower than expected price. Sure, there have been doubts about the final performance of the N97 considering it's lackluster processor specs, but it's still a marvel of mobile design and still capable of more than most of the desktop computers of yesterday. I see the N97 not as an end all solution that will never be beat. It is merely a progression of where mobile technology is headed, and a good start to a new way of computing.

We've seen a lot of improvements of the software and some interesting tricks with various combinations of the hardware features in previous Nokia handsets, and I have no doubt we'll see even more with the N97 and future Nseries devices. Mobile technology is growing and developing at a break-neck pace, and it is an exciting time to be a part of it all. It was a mere two years ago when the N95-3 entered the NET9 lab. The N97 will be the next NET9 device of choice come June. Two or three years from now, who knows what cool new device will join the collection of awesome mobile tech here at NET9. One thing's for sure, we can't wait to see what's next from Nokia.