Our testing personal are testing the new firmware of n520,and the above question you metioned will be soluted by this new firmware, and it will be provided in one or two weeks .

The N520 is the original name of the 511EB.

I also sent emails to Waterstone’s and Elonex, asking about the bugs with the device. Waterstone’s rather unhelpfully said…

Thank you for taking the time to write to us. I have looked into your query and regrettable you would have to contact Elonex in order to enquire as to their firmware release updates. I sincerely apologise that we have been unable to resolve this noted issue on your behalf. I hope this information has helped with your enquiry.

Elonex haven’t even bothered to respond. Please call or email Elonex and ask them when they will release the new firmware. While the N520 firmware should work with the 511EB, there’s no guarantee that it will.

Previous blog posts about the 511EB

• Review Part 1
• Review Part 2
• Firmware Update

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Peugeot’s new mobile advert has a couple of critical flaws – but has just enough innovation to redeem it in my eyes. Read on to find the two basic mistakes they made, how to solve them, and the cool feature you should be incorporating into your adverts.

Clicking on the advert takes you onto a fairly swish looking landing page. There are some clear calls-to-action, and some attractive graphics.

I find the text a little hard to read. Let’s zoom in.

Yikes! The whole site is an image! This is incredibly bad practice for several reasons.

• The page weight will be excessive. This means your site will be slow to load and possibly cost your customers more to access it.
• Inability to zoom in. With some smartphones like the X10mini having tiny screen, you need to consider how your site will look over a wide range of devices.
• SEO. Search engines can’t read images. Plain text will ensure your site is spidered.
• Reflowing – what happens when the user rotates the screen? Your image won’t scale and reflow as well as text.
• Updating. If you need to update the site, you’ll have to edit a series of images – one for each screen size. With text, one change and you’re done.

In Praise of…

The usual “Find A Dealer” service asks the user to type in their postcode or some other location based detail. I’m very pleased to say that Peugeot goes one step beyond this. They take advantage of the geo-location api of the phone so that the user doesn’t have to do any extra work. Brilliant.

This is a great use of the technology. Let computers do what they do best and reduce the need of your user to type data in.
You can use a cross-platform geo-location solution like Google Gears to detect your users’ location.

Ideally, the domain name should be that of the product.  The user probably doesn’t know who “sevenal-fit.com” are – but they would recognise “peugeot.com”.

Text Effects

This is the final fly in the ointment.
Is this piece of text a link? How about this one? What about this?

By convention – and good usability practice – links are styled differently than regular text.  Usually by underlining or displaying in a different colour.  It helps the user see what actions they can take on a page.  Have a look at this results page and see if you can tell what you can click on.

Not very intuitive – is it?  It looks like a list of results with no further information.

As it happens, you can click on the dealer names.

Again, there’s no text decoration.  While it’s good that they’ve used click-to-call for the phone numbers, there’s no indication until you’ve placed your finger or cursor over the text that it’s a link.

Don’t make your users think.  Clearly signpost the actions which are available to them.

It’s also worth including a map of the area – or even directions from the user’s current location.  Remember, the end goal of this advert is to make someone buy a car.  Make it as easy as possible for your users to go from advert to purchase.

Conclusion

Text is better than images.

Remember to decorate your text correctly.

Geo-location is awesome – but don’t forget to display a map.

Finally, consider which domain name the users will see and if they will trust it to store their data securely.

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One of the things I love to do is add images to my contacts. It gives me a visual cue when I’m scrolling through looking for a person, it prompts my memory when I see the face of a friend calling me, and it helps me remember what people look like.

As you can see, I’m pretty good at keeping everyone’s photo on my phone up to date.

Which Conditions Are Appropriate?

Google’s interface for uploading images has some rather confusing conditions attached to it…

“Do not upload pictures containing celebrities, nudity, artwork or copyrighted images.”

What? Those are some strange terms and conditions to have attached to a contact image. I’m not sure if they’re copy-and-pasted from another app – or if they’re intentional. Let’s take a look at each one.

• “Celebrities”.  If I’ve got a friend who is a celebrity – why can’t I have her image as her contact picture?
• “Nudity”.  It’s my phone.  I am not going to offend myself if I see a nude picture of a friend that I’ve uploaded.  This is before we get in to what defines nudity.
• “Artwork”. This is just bizarre.  If a street artist has drawn a caricature, I can’t upload it?  I can’t use a company logo to indicate where my contact works?
• “Copyrighted images”. Again – what? I own the copyright on images I’ve taken.  I may have permission to reuse a copyrighted image.  I may even be justified in using a copyrighted image for my personal use.  I suspect they mean “images to which you don’t have permission from the copyright holder to use for this purpose”.  But even that doesn’t cover the Fair Dealing provisions of many copyright laws.

If you try to use an image which is already on the web, you get this curious message.

“Remember, using others’ images on the web without their permission may be bad manners or – even worse – copyright infringement.”

This is an odd statement.  A mixture of folksy advice and legal warnings.  I don’t see how personal use of a thumbnail from even the most copyright laden of images could be construed as infringement.  As for “bad manners” – is it really Google’s role to advise me on etiquette?

People Don’t Read – But Copy Editing Matters

It’s been well known fact for over 13 years that users don’t read.  That’s especially true if the text is small and grey – as it is in these examples.

But if you do want to impart vital information, you need to employ a skilled writer to help you craft your message.  You need to understand what it is you’re trying to say, why you’re saying it and what you expect your users to understand.

In this case, Google has a very muddled and confusing set of conditions which seem illogical and users – if they read them at all – are likely to ignore them.

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I based this talk on Jonathan Zittrain’s excellent Future of the Internet – And How To Stop It. You can keep up to date with all of Zittrain’s work on network neutrality on his blog.

The gist of this talk is that keeping Android open is key to its success. We must resist the “AOL-isation” of this platform. How customers, MNOs, manufacturers and Google can work together to help keep this ecosystem flourishing.

I’ll be polishing the presentation – and my responses to the tough questions – over the coming months. In the meantime, here are the slides and a video of the event.

(All opinions expressed are those of the individuals concerned and may not reflect the views of their employers – past, present, or future. I believe all Creative Commons images have been attributed and licensed as requested. Please contact me if I have made any omissions.)

If you’re on mobile, you can view the mobile friendly version.

If you’re on mobile, you can view the mobile friendly version.

(Sorry for the volume levels – try turning your speakers up to 11)

All comments and criticism welcomed.

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It starts well enough with an animated GIF.

The site it links to is http://music.nokia.co.uk/ – cleverly, Nokia redirect mobile users to a specific mobile version of the site.  That’s where it all starts to go wrong…

Viewport Is Your Friend

This is what the user sees on visiting the advert.  Better hope they’ve got great eyesight!

This is caused by having an obnoxiously wide graphic at the top – but also by not setting the viewport correctly.

In the <head> section of your HTML, you can define how wide the page should display.  You can set the width of the page to automatically be that of the phone with this single line of code.

 <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/>

This will ensure your readers don’t have to manually zoom in to read the marketing message you’re trying to impart.

You can find more information about Viewport on Learn The Mobile Web.

Don’t Link To Non-Mobile Sites

On this mobile website – where do you think the links lead?

Not only do they point to large pages totally unsuitable for mobile – one of the sites requires Flash to work. Thereby further excluding millions of potential customers.

It’s one of the first rules of mobile advertising – don’t force your customers to download megabytes of unusable data.

What Are You Trying To Do?

Finally, what’s the point of this advertising campaign?

The main purpose seems to be to get me to download content on to my PC. An odd proposition for a mobile site, surely?

Given that it can’t be used by anyone without a Nokia phone – why is it being served to me?

If it is trying to entice me to buy a Nokia device so I can experience “Comes With Music” – why is it doing its best to treat me like a second class citizen?

Ask yourself this question – what are Nokia trying to acheive with this advert. Nokia’s effort doesn’t seem to offer any value or information for anyone. What a waste of time and money.

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Let’s count the errors in this atrocious attempt at mobile marketing.

• Where is my nearest Floors-2-Go store?
• What number should I call to find the nearest store?
• WHY THE random capitalisation of SOME words?
• Grammatical and spelling errors (“UKS” should be “UK’s”. “upto” should be “up to”)
• No return number – I can’t opt-out nor text them for more information.
• No mobile website.
• IT’S SPAM! HORRIBLE NASTY EVIL SPAM.  The mobile is the only battery powered toy I caress against my face and take to bed with me.  It’s personal and intimate.  If I haven’t given you permission to invade my personal space – I’m not going to be best pleased with you.

Look – don’t spam people.  But if you are going to – at least put some effort. This is a pathetic attempt at engaging the customer.

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Click for Full Size

Moo Cards seem to be the darling of the UK tech scene. Cute business cards which you can personalise with whatever you like. Some people are boring and use company logos, others dump their best flickr images on there.

Me? I’m all about phones and QR codes, so…..

Considerations

• Find some free templates or stock photos of phones you want to use.  I’ve used a Nokia 6680, two generic phones (roaylty free from Clker) and a Nexus One (from Mike Clarke).  Choose phones which are relevant to your industry.
• Make the images the correct size.  Mine are 873 * 378px at 300dpi.  The more detail in your images, the better they’ll look.
• QR codes need to be readable – make sure there’s plenty of white space around them.
• The data in the QR code should be simple – the shorter the better.  The less information there is, the simpler the code will be, and the quicker it will scan.  Mine points to http://shkspr.mobi/card

Feel free to use the above as a template – don’t forget to add your own QR code, not mine!  You can use my free QR generator.

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eBooks and eAudiobooks from Surrey Library (click to embiggen)

“Bet the site doesn’t work on my phone,” I thought.

http://ebooks.surreycc.gov.uk/

I was wrong!

Overall, this is a brilliant new service. A great initiative to get people reading more books and improving library services.  Take a look at http://ebooks.surreycc.gov.uk

There’s just one problem…

DRM

Digital Restrictions Management – as the name implies – prevents you from performing certain actions with a file.  As it happens, I don’t disagree with the notion that a rented work should have restrictions on its use.  These books are given to me for free – I don’t own them.  DRM serves to enforce the tacit social construct that – if I borrow a book from you – I’m expected not to lend it on and return it after a reasonable period.  That’s fine with me.

What I do disagree with is artificial scarcity.  In the “real” world, if you only have 3 copies of a book, you can only lend out 3 copies.  In the digital world, if you have one item, you can copy it an infinite number of times.  Pick a file, hit CTRL+C then CTRL+V – instant copy.  And you can do it as many times as you like.

In a physical library, only one person can borrow a book at a time.  In a digital library, it makes no sense to say there is only one copy.

The title can be lent out to as many people who want it.

Some books are – bizarrely – more available than others.  Why can some books have 7 copies and others only 1?

Which leads us in to the incredible situation of being on a waiting list for a digital file!

This artificial scarcity also has an impact on the number of books you can borrow.  If I’m going on a two week holiday, why shouldn’t I be allowed to borrow as many books as I like?  Taking those books from a physical library would stop other patrons enjoying the works – in a digital library anyone can borrow any work simultaneously.

Finally, we have the issue of copying.  One of the reasons I use libraries is for research.  In fairness, the DRM does allow for limited copying.  But different books have different allowances despite – presumably – being covered by the same copyright regime.

This is madness.  Why take something as amazing as the digital revolution and try to drag it down to the mundane level of the analogue world?  It’s like inventing the motorcar and insisting that drivers carry a bale of hay, replacement horseshoes and travel no faster that 50mph.

Compatibility

The side effect of this wasteful DRM is a lack compatibility with popular products.

The MP3 and WMA audiobooks require the OverDrive Media Console.  ODMC is compatible with PC and Mac – but not Linux.  It works on Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and Windows mobile – but not the billions of Symbian or J2ME handsets out there.

The DRM on the eBooks requires Adobe’s proprietary Digital Editions software.  It’s not available on Linux and – judging by the comments on my blog – it doesn’t work very well on Windows or Mac.  It’s also restricted to a few ebook readers – excluding Amazon’s Kindle.

So, due to DRM, we’re left with a library service which…

• Artificially restricts how many books are available.
• Forces people to buy a particular brand of eBook reader or mobile phone.
• Requires the use of Windows or Mac.
• Prevents the early return of some media (you can’t “return” some books early. Why?)
• Stops the quoting of passages for future use.

Overall – what Surrey Libraries have done is take an amazing service and cripple it.  The potential is there – they just need their mindset moved to the 21st century.

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So, why am I abandoning Elonex?

Simply put – Elonex abandoned me. Their staff and website promised updates which never came. We’re not just talking about additional features – there are some serious bugs in the device. They ignored emails when people complained about faulty devices – as, it would appear, did Waterstones.

In short, their business model was BOPO. Buy One and Piss Off. No customer support. No attempt to buy loyalty. No thinking of a long term investment.

Last year, the price of the EB511 was fairly competitive. It still sells in Maplin for £150 – that’s around half the price of some Sony models.

Yet the Kindle has the same price point, comes with 3G and – most importantly – customer support.  Software which seems regularly updated.  And it is backed by a company who don’t treat customers with outright disdain.

Elonex could have made a huge impact in the budget eBook market – but their attitude to customers has put me off buying any of their products.

The Kindle is not all roses, though.  There are some potential downsides.

• ePub – the most popular ebook format isn’t supported.  The eBook management software Calibre can convert the files into a suitable format.
• Over enthusiastic use of DRM – potentially to remove books you’ve already bought.
• Lack of expandable storage.  Only 3GiB.  I say “only” – because that’s more books than you could hope to read in a lifetime.

I’m sure there are some other issues which will surface over time. But for now, count me among one of the faithful. Kindle – HERE I COME!

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Model Not Included

How does it stack up against my wishlist?

Wishlist

• Micro-USB charger.  Yup – it uses the same port as the Nexus One.  Although it comes with a charger – the lead on it is really short.  The port is located under a rubber flap which I’m sure I’ll manage to break off.
• Stereo.  Yup.  Fully A2DP.
• Control of music and calls. Yes – the controls are a little trickier than the BT3030 – but I’m sure I’ll get used to them.
  

  Minimalist Controls

• Pocket sized.   It’s minuscule.  I look forward to looking for it all over the place before I remember that I left it in my pocket.  Indeed, there aren’t many gadgets I have which are smaller than their plug!
  

  The Jabra Clipper is tiny

All looks good so far…

Oddities

Jabra knows that Apple users don’t like to be lumped in to with the Hoi Poloi – so they’ve thoughtfully included a separate instruction manual for the fragile darlings.

Apple Users Are "Special"

The headphone leads are really short.

Short headphones

However – given this is meant to be worn close to the mouth, it makes perfect sense. Less to get tangled. Because they’re standard 3.5mm sized, you can plug in your favourite pair of cans.

The charging cable is short.

Short Charging Lead

Again, you can buy long micro-USB leads for a couple of quid, so it’s not the end of the world.

Controls

No one wants to faff around with loads of buttons. My old headset had six – play/pause, ff, rw, Vol+, Vol-, answer/hangup. The Clipper has three. Vol+, Vol-, Multi function.
Want to skip a track? Hold down Vol+. Want to switch the device on or off? Hold down the middle button. But not for too long, because that will put it into pairing mode. And don’t hold it down for too little time or you’ll answer the phone.
Confusing? Yup. There’s also no way to fast-forward from within a song. Nor, as far as I can tell, use voice activated dialling.

Pairing

I’m sure that there wasn’t anyone thinking about user-friendly operation when the BlueTooth specification was designed. Jabra have made it relatively painless to pair. Take a look at this video.

Sound Quality

If you’re the sort of audiophile who insists on oxygen-free, gold plated, magnetically aligned cables…. just fuck off.

For the rest of us, sound quality is as good as any BlueTooth headset I’ve used.  There are the usual crackles and drop outs if you wander to far away from your phone, or near a microwave.   The supplied headphones are fine – if you’re really picky, you can plug in anything with a 3.5mm jack.

Phone call quality is very good – take a listen to this AudioBoo.

Range is about normal. Obviously the further you are from the phone, the more interference there will be. Especially if your environment has lots of WiFi, or other BlueTooth headsets broadcasting at full blast.

Conclusion

At less than £30, the Jabra Clipper Bluetooth Stereo Headset is a great piece of kit and fantastic value for money.

While the UI is a mite confusing – I think it will become less so with use.
The lack of voice activated dialling is a minor weakness.

Overall? Highly recommended. Just remember not to put it though the washing machine…

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Last night I was fortunate enough to find myself addressing the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Digital Economy Act.  Eric Joyce MP managed to bring together a diverse group of people from all sides of the debate for a (mostly) civil discussion on the Act, its limitations, and potential problems.

MPs and Musicians in Perfect Harmony

This was exactly the sort of discussion which should have taken place before the bill became law.  Sadly, we’re left with trying to correct an extremely illiberal and technically infeasible piece of legislation.

I’ll recount the highlights to the best of my memory – any corrections or clarifications gratefully received.

Representatives of the BPI – a trade group who claim to be the “voice of the UK recorded music business” – were in attendance.

The BPI made an extraordinary claim that this act isn’t even needed.  They were confident that existing laws would be enough for them to pursue copyright infringement.  They weren’t challenged on this statement – why lobby for a bill if you don’t need it?

The BPI also claimed that their methods or evidence gathering are robust and proven in the high court.  I can’t find a good source for this claim – but, again, why lobby for a bill they didn’t need.

The representative from FAST seemed to say that they were speaking for the entire software industry. Many of us don’t mind our code being shared freely.  Having said that, FAST did make some good points about how Open Source derived a lot of its protection from strong copyright laws.

Representatives from libraries made an excellent point about their liability.  There seems to be no definition of responsibilities – are libraries communications providers? Are they liable for what their users get up to?

I love the smell of democracy in the evening...

Taking On The BPI

Not being a professional lobbyist – nor representing anyone other than myself – I was surprised to be allowed to address the room.

I made an unprepared and impassioned speech about the one sided nature of the bill.  Others will corroborate or correct, but the gist of what I said was…

• This bill is massively one sided.
• There has been no lobbying (or donations) by regular citizens – only by corporate interests.
• The bill contains no penalties for incompetent or malicious prosecution.
• ACS Law has already drawn the ire of many consumer groups for sending threatening letters with no apparent basis in fact.
• If I can be cut off the Internet after three accusations, why wont BPI members be cut off after three incorrect prosecutions?
• Given the criminal nature of the BPI, why should we trust them to bring prosecutions in a fair or just manner?
• Rather than relying on private enterprise to pursue these cases – why can’t the alleged copyright holders go through the normal legal channels?

One of the ways you know you’ve hit a nerve in a conversation is with the ferocity of the reply…

The response from the BPI was swift and harsh. To he best of my recollection they said

“if you were to write those allegations in a newspaper, we would sue you.”

In my haste, I had (erroneously) stated that the BPI was guilty of massive abuses of trust and had operated an illegal cartel which had been convicted of price fixing.

Crikey! Was I about to rely on Parliamentary Privilege extending to random blokes sitting in a committee room?

In 2002 the following record companies were fined a combined $143 million for illegal activity:
Sony Music – member of the BPI
Warner Music – member of the BPI
EMI Group – member of the BPI
BMG Music – now a part of Sony. I’m reasonably sure BMG were a member of the BPI at the time.
Vivendi Music Group – not a member of the BPI, although its subsidiary Universal Music is a member.

So, I had erred. The BPI has never sent a threatening letter. The BPI has never engaged in price fixing. The BPI – which is entirely funded by its members – has never engaged in illegal activity.

I am happy to set the record straight.

Furthermore, I am sure that my concerns about the standard of evidence which will be presented by these upstanding corporations are entirely unfounded.

Best view from any bar in London?

Next Steps

1. Please, respond to Ofcom’s consultation.
2. Write to your MP and tell them of your concerns.
3. Join the Open Rights Group.

You can find out more about the day at Eric Joyce’s Blog, Kerry McCarthy’s blog, Martin Brown’s Digecon, and no doubt more blogs to follow.

Huge thanks to Eric Joyce, Steve Lawson, James Firth, Hadley Beeman, Paul Clark, and all others who contributed.

Bootnote

As I was taking the photos you see in this piece, a very polite policeman told me photography wasn’t allowed.  While normally one to argue the toss on such matters – who knows what crazy laws protect Parliament.  As it happens, as soon as his back was turned, everyone started snapping pictures anyway.

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I’ve recently started using DynamicWP‘s Simple White Theme.  The theme is excellent, but generated around 60 validation errors.  Luckily these were caused by a scant half dozen errors in the source code.

Here is a quick summary of the errors, why they need to be fixed, and how to fix them.

footer.php – line 8
Why: Target isn’t a valid XHTML attribute
From: <p>Powered by <a href=”http://www.wordpress.org/” target=”_blank”>WordPress</a> | SimpleWhite by <a href=”http://www.dynamicwp.net/”>Dynamicwp</a></p>

To: <p>Powered by <a href=”http://www.wordpress.org/” >WordPress</a> | SimpleWhite by <a href=”http://www.dynamicwp.net/”>Dynamicwp</a></p>
index.php – line 63
Why: The & symbol should be escaped to &amp; when used in URLs. The element needs to be closed. The alt attribute needs to be included.
From: <img src=”<?php bloginfo(‘template_directory’); ?>/timthumb.php?src=<?php echo catch_that_image(); ?>&w=275&h=120&zc=1″>
To: <img src=”<?php bloginfo(‘template_directory’); ?>/timthumb.php?src=<?php echo catch_that_image(); ?>&amp;w=275&amp;h=120&amp;zc=1″ alt=”" />

line 69
Why: The element needs to be closed
From: <hr>
To: <hr />

sidebar.php – line 24
Why: The element needs to be closed
From: <img src=”<?php echo catch_that_image(); ?>”>
To: <img src=”<?php echo catch_that_image(); ?>” />

line 26
Why: The & symbol should be escaped to &amp; when used in URLs. The element needs to be closed. The alt attribute needs to be included.
From: <img src=”<?php bloginfo(‘template_directory’); ?>/timthumb.php?src=<?php echo catch_that_image(); ?>&w=40&h=40&zc=1″>
To: <img src=”<?php bloginfo(‘template_directory’); ?>/timthumb.php?src=<?php echo catch_that_image(); ?>&amp;w=40&amp;h=40&amp;zc=1″ alt=”" />

line 29
Why: The alt attribute needs to be included.
From: <img src=”<?php bloginfo(‘template_directory’); ?>/images/noimagesmall.jpg” />
To: <img src=”<?php bloginfo(‘template_directory’); ?>/images/noimagesmall.jpg” alt=”" />

line 42
Why: Error.  The <ul> should be </ul> to close the list.
From: <ul>
To: </ul>

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I remain convinced that Windows Phone 7 (WP7) will be a hit. There are so many delightful touches in the operating system that I won’t be surprised if it is ripped off before it is fully launched.

I was given an excellent overview of the software and proposed functionality.  I also played with a demo handset.  Even at this early stage the software is smooth and feature rich.

There are two sides to WP7 which I want to discuss here.  The split personality of the device could really shake up the mobile market place.

What Do You Want To Be Today?

Is this a business phone or is this a gamers’ phone?

The iPhone has always been a consumer device – support for corporate mail, networks and security policies has been added belatedly or not at all.

RIM’s BlackBerry is the opposite.  A hard core business phone which is now trying to woo younger consumers with non-corporate offerings.

WP7 is the first device that I’ve seen which has been designed from the ground up for both work and play.  It has an (unfair?) advantage working with Microsoft’s range of Enterprise software – OneNote, SharePoint, Outlook – as well as having the necessary range of security policies for a corporate environment.  On the play side, it has total integration with Xbox and a wicked set of 3D graphics.

I do wonder if there is sufficient overlap between the gamer and salaryman demographics.  Are corporates going to be able to justify giving their workers a powerful 3D games console (with built in phone)?  Will gamers resent having to buy a phone with a load of enterprise rubbish on it that they just don’t need?

Q&A

I received a bunch of questions on Twitter about the phone – so here is what I managed to glean…

• Q: We know 3rd party apps won’t be able to multi-task yet. But seems there’s some state saving going on, how well supported is it? (Fabian Sasson)
• A: There is some support for multi-tasking.  You can send push notification from your web-server to the phone (via Microsoft).  During an incoming call / email / etc, apps are “tombstoned” – they are essentially suspended and then “rehydrated” when the user clicks back to them.  If an app is terminated – it is able to save its state so when the user switches back to it, they can resume from where they left off.

• Q: Extra information on Xbox Live integration would be awesome. Does it need a subscription, for separate platforms do you buy twice? (William Morland)
• A: It will work with a free “Silver” subscription – you don’t need Gold membership.  While some games will be free, you will have to buy other content.

• Q: how many gamer points per Windows Phone7 title! Actually anything related to Xbox Live integration (Kevin Prince)
• A: You can’t use gamer points to buy content.  It’s credit card or Operator Billing.

• Q: just confirm that the copy/paste rumour is actually a joke :) (Matt Rawlinson)
• A: No. No joke.  The idea is that quality user experience comes first.  Is there a way to get rid of copy-and-paste for the most common uses?  For example, the OS should recognise a phone number in an email message and let you click on it to call, add to address book, text, send to a friend etc.  Where possible, that should be done automagically without the user having to manually intervene.  A fine stance, to be sure, but I would expect to see c&p in the next firmware revision.

• Q: Microsoft told us they have no devices for European markets. that wrong? (James Governer)
• A: Wrong. WP7 will launch worldwide.  US, EU, Russia, Australia, New Zeeland and a whole bunch of other territories.  Not all devices will launch in all markets.  Not all launches will be simultaneous.

• Q: if you can manage to stop laughing, you could ask them why bother… (Sam Smith)
• A: I cheated a bit and didn’t ask this.  It’s clear that MS are putting a lot of effort in to this.  They know that mobile is the growth space at the moment and that they have failed miserably with WinMo6.5.  They need to get this right.  If they can, they’ve locked in mobile, email, SharePoint, SkyDrive, Windows Live ID and Xbox games.  This could be the hub for all of MS’s products.  If it succeeds – and that’s a big if – it will reinvigorate Microsoft and consolidate all their products into one device.  That’s either awesome or terrifying depending on which team you bat for.  Regardless, it will set the mobile industry on fire.

Games

If you’re an Xbox games, you will buy this phone.  Simple.  I played with some of the 3D games on the handset and they are stunning. Sign in with your Windows Live ID and your Xbox Live stuff is accessible directly from the phone’s homescreen.

But let’s take it one step further.

Let’s say you’ve bought a racing game on Xbox live and the companion game on WP7.

• You can see your gamer score and achievements – and your friends’ – on your phone.  Neat.
• If you unlock an achievement on your Xbox – it will be unlocked on your phone. Sweet.
• If you unlock an achievement on your phone – it will be unlocked on your console and show up on your dashboard. Make your commute count for something!

So far, so good.  It’s a wonder this hasn’t been done before.  But what happens next will give you a taste of things to come.

• You unlock the “Ford Mustang” on your console.
• Want to customise the car?  Play the next level on your phone within 20 metres of a Ford dealership.  Click here to find your nearest location.
• Click here to book a test drive.

Integrating achievements, location, social networking and gameplay all in one package.

Game Over, Man! Game Over!

There are some limitations to the gaming service.  All of these downsides are “for now” – let’s wait and see what the future holds.

• No Xbox / WP7 live play.  Due to the latency of 3G networks, you can’t play against others on the Xbox live service.
• Some gaming APIs & Xbox Live integration are only available to registered publishers.  Not a big publishing house? No access for you.

Big Boys Only.

WP7 takes one “great” thing from Android – multiple vendors producing a variety of handsets.

It then marries it “great” thing from iPhone – fanatical lock down of applications and services to trusted third parties.

Want access to certain API functionality?  Only available to MNOs and manufacturers?

Want to run apps in the background?  Better be in bed with MS.  And not casually, either.

App development is “free”.  Well, the SDK and the compilers are free.  You’ll need to be running Vista or Windows 7 – no Macs or Linux.  Registration to the Marketplace – which includes code signing – is $99.  That will allow you to upload 5 free apps.  Subsequent free apps will cost $19.99 each to upload.

Why this restriction?  Quality.  MS doesn’t want their Marketplace to be cluttered with thousands of poorly developed freeware titles.  They believe that putting up a significant barrier to entry will deter sub-par applications.  I think, it may just cost them developers who want to dip their toe in the waters.

Want to offer a “lite” version for free and a “pro” version for $5?  You can’t do that.  MS don’t want duplicate apps cluttering their store.  What they will allow is for developers to build in “trial” modes.  So, rather than customers paying $5, trying the app, then applying for a refund – a developer sets what functionality will be available in the app for a trial period.  The customer can then upgrade in-app.  A really smart solution.

If you’re selling apps, you can price between $1.99 and $499.99.  That’s right.  Five hundred bucks.  There are professional apps for BlackBerry which sell in this range – that’s clearly one of the markets MS are gunning for.

The revenue share is 70/30.  I really think MS have missed a trick here.  It’s an “industry standard” price point because no one wants to get in to a price war.  Increasing the share that goes to the developer would be an excellent way to convince wavering developers to adopt the platform.

Paying for goods is via credit card or Operator Billing – no paying with Gamerpoints.  Operator Billing will be supported in most territories – the advantage of being Microsoft is that you can push the MNOs to open a few doors for you.  There will be no price descrimination between OB and CC.  Any difference will come out of MS’s 30% – so developers won’t be left out of pocket.

There is definitely the feeling that MS wants big, professional applications only.  A great way to ensure high quality experience on the device – but it may just cost them the next killer app.

Conclusion

I do wonder if MS should have made an Xbox Phone and a Business Phone.  Bundling the two together could be too confusing for customers – and ultimately dissatisfying.

The UI is fantastic.  Rather than copying the Windows 3.11 UI (a la iPhone and Android) they’ve come up with something which fits the form factor really well.

The Xbox integration will get every gamer wanting one.

The tight integration with Sharepoint and Exchange will get every Head of IT wanting to ditch their BlackBerrys.

The range of manufacturers will ensure that there aren’t shortages on launch.  A wide variety of form-factors and designs (all within the MS parameters) will help convince those who can’t live without a touchscreen / QWERTY keyboard / flip / slider – that this is the phone for them.

The limitations for developers will be frustrating – as will the high cost of development.  The MS commitment to high quality, revenue generating apps will stifle the number of applications available.  But if it means not having to wade through 5,000 fart noise generators…..

Microsoft knows that they have to score big with this operating system.  WP7 is due in the “holiday season” – up to 5 months from now – and they’re already trailing it massively.  They’re being hugely open about their plans for it (for Microsoft).  They’re listening to developers and users.  The whole Microsoft team – from Office to Xbox – has a stake in this phone. Come Christmas, I expect their media machine to be in full swing.

WP7 looks great.  It doesn’t have the openness of Android.  It doesn’t have the hype of Apple.  It doesn’t have the pedigree and mindshare of Nokia.  It doesn’t have BlackBerry’s simplicity. It successfully steals the best bits from each platform and improves upon them.

I’m not a big fan of Microsoft – as I’ve said many times.  If I were being uncharitable, I’d say that it has dragged along the worst features from the major mobile players – fragmentation, rigid QA, crappy revenue share, lack of multi-tasking.  But even I am forced to admit that it is attacking RIM, Apple, Android and Nokia at their strengths.

If nothing else, this is the phone the N-Gage should have been.

Integrity!

There are three things Microsoft specifically told me not to mention – because they’ll be making announcements in the coming months.

1. What happens when you hold down the “Windows” key.
2. How OS software updates are handled.
3. Zune.

This post hasn’t been checked, censored or spell checked by Microsoft. They did buy me a drink – but didn’t give me a free phone – so I don’t think I’m editorially compromised.  I still run Ubuntu on my home machines.

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Nokia phones "running" Android

Is this just a hapless Photoshop mistake – or a sign of things to come?!?!?!?!

It’s a daft graphic designer – obviously. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take the possibility of Nokia devices running Android seriously. Oh, don’t get me wrong, Nokia will never ship and Android powered phone – they’ve invested too much in Symbian and MeeGo for that. But Nokia devices will run Android.

A few years ago, I coaxed my Nokia N810 into running a prototype version of Android – NitDroid. The project has been resurrected by Stephen Hyde at NITDroid.com.

This latest video shows the Nokia N900 running Android’s FroYo.

Why Is This Useful?

Nokia coined the term “Mobile Computer” for its range of phones. Computers aren’t hermetically sealed consumer devices. They allow the customer to modify both hardware and software. You would be understandably upset if the computer you bought last year wouldn’t let you install the latest version of Windows, MacOS, or Linux. But that’s the situation mobile phone customers are faced with today.

The Android G1 has been abandoned by HTC and T-Mobile – much to the chagrin of customers.
The HTC Hero has only been grudgingly updated to Android 2.1.
Nokia left the N800 and N810 to rot. Nokia regularly stops development of its “mobile computer” software even when the devices are in active use.

Mobile phone manufacturers exist to sell phones. They don’t get any extra revenue for releasing new firmware. Indeed, the cost of developing, testing, and shipping new firmware is prohibitively expensive. Not to mention dealing with customer complaints when things inevitably go wrong.

We are finally in a position to change that mindset. Hackers (in the original sense of the word) are now able to create custom firmware for new phones. Take a look at the XDA Developer Forums. Almost every Android phone released can have an improved firmware running on it.

True, a significantly older phone may not have hardware capable of running bleeding edge code – but it’s enough to give it a new lease of life.

I’d love it if Nokia updated the N95 8GB firmware. The hardware is still incredibly capable.

In these tough economic times, it makes perfect sense to focus efforts on software, rather than hardware.

Look at the PS3 or the Xbox 360. A single model with firmware updates to increase its functionality.

Rather than tooling up a factory for a 6 month run of hardware – phone manufacturers should be looking to keep churning out a limited number of models of high spec phones for years. As manufacturing efficiencies improve, the hardware becomes cheaper and – like the PS3 and Xbox – cheaper models can be produced.

The PS3 came out in November 2006. Nearly 4 years ago. Can you think of a phone released four years ago which is still in production – let alone receiving firmware updates? The original iPhone was released in 2007 – it got a firmware update earlier this year but won’t be receiving iOS4. Also, you can’t buy a new iPhone 2G. Apple aren’t in the business of selling inexpensive hardware.

The Future

I predict – or rather, I hope – we will see the following pattern emerge. Either from Google or Nokia.

• An insanely expensive and over-spec’d phone will be released.  I expect in the £500 – £1,000 range.
• A public roadmap for its OS will be released – new features promised every 3-6 months.
• A guarantee that official firmware development will continue for at least 3 years.
• The OS will be sufficiently open to allow “homebrew” firmware to run.  Hackers will jump at it.
• The hardware will sell – poorly at first.
• As production efficiencies are found, the price will come down.  The hardware capabilities will stay compatible with older models.
• The firmware will progress based upon consumer need, manufacturer desire and what hackers manage to achieve.
• At around the 18 month mark, major new features in the firmware will be announced.  This keeps the MNO happy as they don’t have to subsidise the cost of new hardware for customers coming to the end of their contracts.
• At the 2 year mark, the next hardware revision will be launched.  More memory and megapixels – cheaper price.
• If the hardware is still selling, expect others to follow.

The fly in the ointment for this is continuous manufacturer profitability.  Apple, I understand, gets a cut of call and text revenue.  Google gets a cut of apps sold.  Microsoft and Sony sell licences for releasing games on their platform.

Would this “super phone” have to sell firmware updates?  Would MNOs subsidise firmware rather than hardware?  Would customers part-exchange  an unfashionably old phone for the latest model?

Or will we be stuck with phones that are thrown on the scrap-heap by their creator in order to force us into buying the latest model?

One thing’s for certain.  Where there are hackers – there will always be updates.

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Dead BT3030

The Jabra BT3030 was, without a doubt, the best BlueTooth headset I ever had. There were regular firmware updates for it. Sound and call quality were excellent. It could pair with two devices simultaneously – and automagically pause the music on one if you received a call on the other. Best of all, it had standard sockets. A 3.5mm jack so I could use my own headphones – and a micro-USB socket so I could charge it from the same cable as my phone.

Well. It’s now dead. My circumstances have changed, so I need to buy a replacement. Requirements are…

• Micro-USB charger.  All phones are standardising on micro-USB – and I don’t want to carry around two different charging cables for my devices.
• Stereo.  I don’t want a twat-earring – I want to listen to music.
• Control of music and calls.
• Pocket sized.   When I’m not using it, I want to be able to store it conveniently and discretely.

What I don’t need…

• I’m not a snake-oil buyer audiophile – I don’t need ear-phones that cost more than a tenner.
• Doesn’t need to be BlueTooth 4.0 – or even 3.0.  I’m taking it as read that it will be BlueTooth 2.1 compatible.  It would be nice if there were firmware upgrades available.
• Doesn’t need military grade noise cancellation technology.  I’m usually sat in an office or a park – not a war zone.
• Waterproof.  I’ve learned my lesson!

So, what’s out there that you would recommend.

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Here are the brief facts of the case.

1. A local councillor (John Dixon) has a Twitter account “CllrJohnDixon”
2. Last year, he tweeted: “I didn’t know the Scientologists had a church on Tottenham Court Road. Just hurried past in case the stupid rubs off.”
3. Someone in Scientology didn’t like this and raised an official complaint.
4. The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales investigated and found there was likely to have been a breach of the code of conduct local authority members must follow.
5. The ombudsman referred the case to Cardiff council’s standards and ethics committee. They will take a look at this case later in the year.

Are more detailed account is on The Guardian.
You can see John Dixon on Newsnight (40 minutes in).

So, is this an evil cult trying to repress free speech?  I don’t think so.

Imagine if John had tweeted “Going past a Synagogue – better watch my wallet.” or “Near a Church – hope they don’t molest me” or… well, pick a religion of your choice and a slur.

People are free to hold these opinions.  I don’t believe in thought crime.  If an elected official chooses not to socialise in her free time with Mormons, Hindus or Agnostics, that’s their choice. 

What is totally unacceptable is for an elected official to publicly say, in an official capacity “this group of people are totally unworthy of my respect.”

When I go and see my local councillors, I don’t want to think that I’m being badly treated because I’m an Apathist.  As stupid as Scientologists are, I’m sure once in a while they need to go to their council for planning permission or complain about noisy neighbours, etc.  How can they go to John Dixon knowing that he thinks their church is “stupid”?

The democracy we practice in the UK means that all people are equal in the eyes of officialdom.  Whatever views an elected official may hold, constituents must have faith that they will receive a fair hearing.  The (hypothetical) Scientologists in John Dixon’s ward now know that their representative publicly denigrates their faith through his official publications.

John Dixon needs to make it quite clear that his personal opinions will not affect how he treats people when he is acting as their democratically elected official. He also needs to understand that – for some people – separating their professional and personal Twitter accounts is a prudent measure.

For the record, I think Scientology is a devious, manipulative, lying, shallow front for a group of disreputable people who are only interested in money, power and control.  It’s no different to any other religion.

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Here’s some basic code for an Android app which will post the URL of your app to Twitter. Stick it in a button or menu item for easy sharing.

Some important things to note.

1. This is set to post to the mobile version of Twitter.  Your user is on a phone – don’t direct them to a site that won’t work on their device.
2. The second string is URI encoded.
3. Consider if you want to post a “market://” link.  I would advise against it.  Twitter won’t render it as a link and, even if it did, 90% of users won’t be able to click on it.  Make it a link that will direct desktop users to your website, mobile users to a mobile friendly site and Android users direct to the market.

Facebook also has an API for this sort of sharing.

http://m.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=example.com&t=test

Again, it points to the mobile site and needs to be URL encoded.

Happy sharing!

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So it was with great mirth that I went along to a BizSpark event a few weeks ago. Microsoft were going to be showing off their latest “innovation” – Windows Phone 7.

I went along expecting to hate it and, instead, found myself curiously drawn to it.

Take a look at the emulator for an interactive demo.

I played with the demo hardware and software and had my expectations blown away.  I’ll be honest – I expected crap.  I had horrible memories of the stylus oriented Windows Mobile 6.  The phone which would display an hourglass if you had the temerity to receive a phone call while playing solitaire.

Windows Phone 7 (WP7) was a million miles away from the old Microsoft experience.

Pros

The user interface is refreshingly simple and fun to use.  It’s like nothing else I’ve tried before and I really think that Microsoft has outclassed both Android and Apple.

Pushing so much information to the homescreen really makes you want to use your phone constantly. iPhone only does this half-heartedly and Android does it without much animation or UI consistency.

App Store.  One excellent feature of the MS app store is the “Try Before You Buy” model.  Rather than a developer putting out a free, limited version and a “pro” version they can publish a single app.  They can restrict the features and functionality of the “demo” version until the customer makes the purchase. Or, after a set period of time, the demo version can become non-functioning. Or have reduced function.  Brilliant.

Gaming on this device will be huge. It looks like it will be simple to port games from the Xbox to WP7 – that gives it a great competative advantage. Tie in Xbox Live (or whatever it’s called) and you’ll get gamers buying the same game twice – once on the console and once on the phone.  The 3D power of the phones was stunning.

Cons

There are some serious shortcomings in the Windows Phone 7 vision of the future which Microsoft urgently need to address.

• Expand the development options.  If you want to write for Windows Phone 7, you’ll need Windows installed on your computer.  Given that Android allows you to develop on Windows, Mac and Linux, it doesn’t make sense to make developers buy a new operating system.  Especially as iPhone development is tied to Apple.
• Open it up.  I love the idea of integrating my phone with my Xbox live account – but I don’t have an Xbox! Open it up so that my Wii or PS3 gaming experience can be pushed to the homescreen.
• The same goes for mail and IM – don’t restrict it just to Exchange and MSN.  Openness is hard for Microsoft, but it will attract more customers to the platform.
• Have a firm, public roadmap for enhancements which all manufacturers stick to.  Android is currently being stifled by manufacturers like HTC who refuse to update the software on their customers’ devices.
• Revenue share for developers needs to be better. At the moment it’s the same 70/30 split being offered by Android and Apple.  It needs to be lower for two key reasons.

1. Attract developers to the fledgling ecosystem.
2. To avoid any accusations of a cartel.  To have all three major platforms “independently” converge on the same revenue share deal looks suspicious.

Now What?

I’ve played with the prototype hardware and I’m impressed.  The software is really good. Much better that Microsoft’s usual standard.

It has to be.

Microsoft are betting their mobile future on this platform.  Win6.5 failed. Kin failed. They can’t afford another high profile failure like this.  Mirosoft are putting their best people on this project and, as far as I can tell, are revisiting their Xbox strategy; SPEND SPEND SPEND.

By the time the phones launch (holiday season 2010) you won’t be able to move without seeing an advert.  They will crank up their media machine to 11.  Just like the original Xbox, they will buy their way in to the market with a view that – like the Xbox 360 – the real prize is several years away.

I hope they succeed.  Not because I have any love for Microsoft, but because Nokia, Apple, and Google will all have to raise the quality of their software and hardware to compete against Microsoft’s marketing expenditure.

I’m a Linux geek – and I think Windows Phone 7 is the best thing to come out of Redmond in a very long time.

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There are five types of USSD Command

Activate – turn on the functionality: *USSD#
Deactivate – turn off the functionality: #USSD#
Register – set a particular condition: **USSD#
Erase – delete any settings set by Register: ##USSD#
Interrogate – check what it is doing: *#USSD#

Universal USSD Codes

I can’t find a definitive list of commands, so this is my scratch-pad for all the ones I’ve found which should work on all GSM networks.

Divert all Calls (21)

If you don’t want you phone to ever ring, you can divert it to voicemail or some other number.

Forwarding: **21*DESTINATION_NUMBER#
Activate: *21#
Deactivate: #21#
Delete: ##21#
Check Status: *#21#

DESTINATION_NUMBER should be in international format. So if you want to divert to your landline of 020 7946 0123, you would dial it as

**21*+442079460123#

Divert When Call Not Answered: 61
Divert When Phone Unreachable: 62
Divert When Phone Busy: 67

Caller ID (30 & 31)

Sets whether your phone displays caller ID information and whether it sends it to others.

30 – Incoming caller ID presentation
31 – Outgoing caller ID

Activate: *31# or *30#
Deactivate: #31# or *30#
Check Status: *#31# or *30#

Call Barring (33 & 35)

Sets whether your phone bars incoming or outgoing calls.

33 – Call barring (outgoing)
35 – Call barring (incoming)

Activate: *33# or *35#
Deactivate: #33# or *35#
Check Status: *#33# or *35#

Call Waiting (43)

Sets whether your phone alerts you when you’ve got a call waiting.

Activate: *43#
Deactivate: #43#
Check Status: *#43#

Vodafone UK Specific USSD Codes

The Betavine site has a list of USSD codes which only work on Vodafone UK.

Resources Used

• The Unwired
• Treo Central
• Cellular Online

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I’ve used this as the basis of a demo widget – “MI5 Terror Threat Level”. The widget displays the UK’s Threat Level on your homescreen. Clicking on it takes you to the MI5 page discussing the threat level.

The threat level is determined by parsing the RSS that the security services so helpfully provide. At the moment, the widget keeps a local copy of the graphics because the RSS feed contains references to “localhost” images.

You can download the widget by scanning in this QR code.

MI5 Widget - QR Code

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Samsung Galaxy S

The Galaxy S is Samsung’s latest Android handset.  There are so many Android phones out there that you need a really great advertising campaign (or a really great product) to stand out from the competition.

Let’s take a look at the Samsung campaign.

Small Isn’t Beautiful

Advert for GalaxyS on Guardian Mobile site

The advert is disproportionately small compared to the rest of the site.  The Android phone I’m viewing on has a screen width of 480 pixels – the advert looks tiny and pathetic.

At first I thought it was the Guardian mangling the advert – but a look at the URL shows that 4th Screen have decided to serve up a 168*28 image.

Tiny Banner Ad

Worse than that, they’ve blindly resized the image rather than rework it.  Take a look zoomed in – the text is illegible.

Tiny Banner Ad

The Micro-Site

The site behind the advert isn’t too bad.  But there’s nothing exciting about it.  Just a series of static pages.  You can visit it at http://galaxys.co.uk/

What Do You Want Your Customers To Do?

With every mobile advertising campaign, you need to think about what it is you want to accomplish.  This campaign is, presumably, designed to encourage people to buy the Samsung Galaxy S phone.  So, it would make sense if people could buy the phone from the site. No?

Try to buy the phone from this page

There are three glaring mistakes on this page.  Can you spot them?

1. No mention of price. Is this pre-pay or contract? Is this a premium product or a cheap and cheerful device?
2. No click-to-call.  Those phone numbers should be clickable and should take the customer straight through to the dedicated Galaxy S representatives.
3. Those images of the phone company logos are clickable – yet there’s nothing to suggest they are.

Still, clicking on those logos will let me buy the phone through a mobile-friendly shop. Right?

Mobile Companies Who Don’t Do Mobile

eTailing is hard.  Getting a web based shop up, running and profitable is tricky.  Getting a mobile version of that site can be even harder.  But if there were ever a company to do it well, you would expect them to be a mobile company.  Sadly, that’s not the case.

Vodafone's non-mobile website

Virgin's non-mobile site

So, our hapless user can’t use her phone to make a call to buy the handset, she can’t use the web browser to buy the handset.  Is she supposed to wander down to her local store to buy one? Way to make use of the mobile medium…

How To Fix It

All is not lost.  There are several easy steps which can be taken to fix this disaster.

• Serve up adverts which are correctly sized for the screen requesting them.
• Don’t resize adverts – create a unique advert for each screen size you’re targeting.
• Make you micro-site interesting. Add mobile YouTube videos.  Add wallpapers, ringtones, or competitions.  Give people a reason to visit the site and share it with their friends.
• Click To Call.  I don’t know how often I have to say this, but if your potential customers can’t place an order from your site – you will never convert them into a paying customer.
• Let the user know which parts of your site are clickable.
• Never redirect a user to a non-mobile website.  The user may have to pay the data charges and will get a site which they can’t use.
• Mobile e-tailing.  Three huge names in mobile – yet I can’t order this phone from my mobile. That’s just embarrassing. Either make a mobile friendly site, or give customers directions to their nearest store.

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My second app presents a series of buttons which call the USSD commands – so you don’t have to remember if it’s the HLR or VLR which is queried by *#103#.

Useful, I know….

You can download the app by scanning in this QR code.

Android App - Vodafone UK USSD Commands

The majority of these codes only work on phones with a Vodafone UK SIM who are on the Vodafone UK network. I’ve no idea what the codes do on other networks.

A detailed explanation of the commands is available on Betavine.

Sadly, Android provides no native way to capture or interprate USSD responses. Please star the feature request if you’re interested in seeing this in future versions of Android.

One last thing – this app was neither designed nor approved by Vodafone UK. It has nothing to do with them!

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The first app I’ve created is “Advanced Test Card”. You can download it by scanning in this QR code.

Scan to download Advanced Test Card for Android

At the moment, it just has 5 modes. Red, Green, Blue, White and SMPTE colour bars. All are useful for checking out any problems you may have with your screen.

I’ll be developing more test cards in the future – leave a comment if there’s one you would like to see.

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Pagination is the act of splitting data into logical  pages. Suppose I had a list of item, numbered 0 – 99.  If I want 20 items per page, it’s trivial to see that pagination looks like:

p1 = 0-19
p2 = 20-40
p3 = 41-61
p4 = 62-82
p5 = 83-99

If I wanted to start at, say, page 55 – pagination would look like:

p1 = 55-75
p2 = 76-96
p3 = 97-99

Easy, right?  So why am I telling you this?

Twitter Timeline

Imagine that those items are Twitter Status ID.  Each one represents a tweet in your timeline.

Twitter will allow us to “page” back and forth through our timeline. If we say status ID 80 is the most recent post in our timeline, and we want to see 20 tweets at a time, pagination would look like this.

p1 = 80-60
p2 = 60-40
... etc.

Normally, that would be fine.

The only issue is that friends are posting all the time.  Imagine we start with tweets 80-60.  We go to page 2, but in the meantime, 5 new tweets have been made.

p1 = 80-60
p2 = 65-45

The user sees 5 tweets she has already read.  Not desirable.

If 20 tweets had been made before clicking on the “next” button, this is what happens.

p1 = 80-60
p2 = 80-60

Max_ID To The Rescue (AKA, the easy bit)

Luckily, Twitter allows us to use a max_id parameter in our API calls.  This says “Get the tweets older than this number.”

http://api.twitter.com/1/statuses/home_timeline.json?max_id=123465789

So, using max_id we can ensure that the user never has to read the same tweet twice.  Instead of dumbly using pages, we call the specific tweets we want.

p1 max_id=80 = 80-60

p2 max_id=60 = 60-40

Easy!  We just use the oldest tweet on the page as the max_id parameter when we call the next page.

Looking To The Future (AKA, where it all goes horribly wrong)

So far, we’ve looked at stepping back in time.  Seeing older tweets.  Suppose we want to see newer tweets?

Twitter provides us with a since_id parameter for API calls.  This says “Get the tweets newer than this number.”

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work.  Well, it works but not the way I expected it to!

Suppose our user is deep down in her tweets, this is how I would expect since_id to work

max_id=60  = 60-40

 (So, let's show any more recent tweets)

since_id=60 = 80-60

We see the 20 tweets that occured since the since_id.  Right?  Wrong!  This is what happens?

max_id=60  = 60-40

(So, let's show any more recent tweets)

since_id=60 = 100-80

What?

An Explanation

The since_id retrieves tweets starting with the most recent.  It stops when it reaches the since_id.

I don’t know the max_id that I’m looking for, so I can’t call that.

I could call the most recent 200 tweets and look for the 20 I need.  That’s wasteful in terms of bandwidth and processing – there’s also no guarantee that the since_id will be in there.

So, I have a problem.  The “Older” link in my Twitter application will work.  The “Newer” links won’t.

Any suggestions?

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Mistake #1

Take a look at this rather charming advert on the Guardian’s mobile site. The more astute among you will recognise the problem.

I’m being advertised an iPhone game when I’m browsing the site using an Android phone. This is the fault of the Guardian – or, more likely, whoever runs their advertising department.

Well, let’s click on it.

Mistake #2

The image expansion doesn’t work. This is probably because it uses iPhone specific code.

Mistake #3

Let’s take a look at the raw image.

The image is a 135KB PNG. That’s massive. At a time when unlimited downloads are under threat, it is incumbent on the mobile web designer to minimise needless data usage.

If we convert the image to a JPG, the size goes down to 26KB. Can you spot the difference in quality?

Mistake #4

What happens if we visit the destination?

Ah. Apple send us to the desktop version of iTunes. This is better than what used to happen, where they tried to install iTunes!

Preventing The Problem

Every browser sends a User-Agent String. The advertising server should be configured to only send iPhone-specific adverts to iPhones.

It really is that simple. You can use services like WURFL and DeviceAtlas to automate this process if you like.

What Should Have Happened

• The advert shouldn’t have been shown in the first place. The Guardian needs to ensure that the advertising space it is selling is being correctly targeted.
• The click should have gone directly to Barclays – if they saw the phone viewing the content wasn’t an iPhone they should display alternate content.
• Apple needs to have a mobile friendly page. It really is that simple. A great mobile friendly page with a link that says “Want to play this games? Find your nearest Apple Store here“.

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Orange

Take a look at the latest offering from Orange – a large UK mobile network operator.

Orange Advert on Guardian

Spot it? It’s the microscopic banner hidden away on the mobile site of the Guardian newspaper.

The advertiser has little choice in the poor placement. And it’s not their fault if the Guardian has resized it. Let’s take a look at the full size animated GIF.

Orange Advert

Ah.

Still, I’m sure the rewards for the eager-eyed viewer are magnificent….

Orange Badvert - click to embiggen

Not so much.

The potential customer is presented with a poorly resized image. The only link at the bottom takes them to a seemingly identical page.

Orange Badvert 2 - Click to embiggen

What Else Does It Do?

So, let’s look at the purchase experience.

Oh, there isn’t one. No nearest store finder. No mobile YouTube video showing off the phones. No click to call so you can buy one right now.

Nothing.

To recap, a tiny banner takes you to a poster. That’s it. No though has been given to the unique opportunities that mobile affords. There’s no way to convert an interested browser into a paying customer. If we’re being honest, there’s not really enough information in this microsite to justify an advert.

It is small, feeble and pointless.

Lessons To Learn

Ensure that your advertising assets are available n a variety of screen sizes. Small adverts are hard to click on. Worse still, they may be completely ignored.

If you can’t resize your images, unplug your computer and go home.

Think about what you want to achieve from the advert.
Are you trying to increase sales? Give the potential customer a direct route to purchase from you.
Are you trying to excite or interest potential customers? Provide enough interesting information. This isn’t print. You’re not limited by page size – only by your imagination.

Take advantage of the medium.  Mobile is so much more useful than print.  Orange seem stuck in the mindset that a single image is all an advert needs to be.

Message To Orange

You’re a mobile company.  Make your adverts reflect that.  You should be promoting excellence – not mediocrity.

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You can see the full code on Dabr’s Google Code page.

First of all, you’ll need to have enabled OAuth for your Twitter client. I use Abraham’s excellent OAuth libraries for PHP.

This tutorial assumes you already have OAuth working. I’ll attempt to explain what I’m doing as I go along – but the code should be pretty readable.

Start by reading the Twitpic API documentation. You will also need to register for an API key – this only takes a few seconds.

We start by setting CURL’s headers to those required by Twitpic

Next, we create the OAuth credentials that we need. Essentially, we’re signing a URL request. We then pass that on to Twitpic and they verify it with Twitter. We never pass our OAUTH_CONSUMER_SECRET – so Twitpic can’t impersonate us.

We add these generated credentials into the header.

Add everything into CURL

The data we send to Twitpic (message text, image and key) have to go via POST.

All done, we now send the data to Twitpic.

If this has worked, Twitpic will pass back the URL of the image we posted. We then need to post the entire message to Twitter ourselves (Twitpic can’t do it for us).

This next part is specific to Dabr – your client may post things differently.

If it didn’t work, Twitpic will tell us why.

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The easy bit.

It’s easy to post the data to Twitpic

$media_data = array(
	'media' => '@'.$_FILES['media']['tmp_name'],
	'message' => html_entity_decode($_POST['message']),
	'key'=>'123465789132465'
);
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS,$media_data);

OAuth Credentials

Using Abrahams OAuth library for PHP, it’s easy to get the required OAuth data.

require_once('OAuth.php');
// instantiating OAuth customer
$consumer = new OAuthConsumer(OAUTH_CONSUMER_KEY, OAUTH_CONSUMER_SECRET);
// instantiating signer
$sha1_method = new OAuthSignatureMethod_HMAC_SHA1();
// user's token
list($oauth_token, $oauth_token_secret) = explode('|', $GLOBALS['user']['password']);
$token = new OAuthConsumer($oauth_token, $oauth_token_secret);

// signing URL
$fakeurl = 'https://twitter.com/account/verify_credentials.xml';
$request = OAuthRequest::from_consumer_and_token($consumer, $token, 'GET', $fakeurl, array());
$request->sign_request($sha1_method, $consumer, $token);
$OAuthurl = $request->to_url();

The Tricky Bit

I’m following the header example in the API documentation. Passing these variable to Twitpic is where I seem to go wrong.

$header = array(
'X-Auth-Service-Provider: https://api.twitter.com/1/account/verify_credentials.json',
'X-Verify-Credentials-Authorization: OAuth realm="http://api.twitter.com/"'
);

I then modify the second header so it reads

"X-Verify-Credentials-Authorization: OAuth realm="http://api.twitter.com/",
oauth_consumer_key="aaaaaaa",
oauth_nonce="bbbbbbbbbbb",
oauth_signature="ccccccccccccc%3D",
oauth_signature_method="HMAC-SHA1",
oauth_timestamp="123456798",
oauth_token="15948715-dddddddddd",
oauth_version="1.0""

The Error

401 “Could not authenticate you (header rejected by twitter).”

GAH!

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Using data from The Guardian, we can see if the Lib Dems cost Labour a majority.

In how many seats did a Labour candidate lose to a Conservative? 137.

But this doesn’t tell the whole story. In Clacton, even if all the 5,577 Lib Dem votes had gone to Labour, the 16,376 is still well short of the Conservative’s 22,867.

So, in how many of those seats, would the Labour candidate have won if every single Lib Dem voted Labour? 92.

Conclusion

If every Lib Dem voter in a Lab/Con marginal had voted Labour, the result would be
Con = 214
Lab = 350
Lib = 57

So, the Labour Party would have ~3% majority in Parliament. Only 24 seats. A majority, sure, but not a hugely useful one.

Remember, that’s assuming every single Lib Dem voter in a Lab/Con constituency voted Labour.

Would you call that the Lib Dems costing Labour the election?

The Stats

This table show every Conservative won seat where Labour came 2nd.
What would have happened if 100%, 75%, or 50% of the Lib Dem vote went to Labour.
As some have mentioned in the comments, there is no guarantee that Lib Dem voters would automatically vote Labour.
Given that support for the Lib Dems only went up 1% nationally, it’s hard to credit Labour’s defeat to the Lib Dems.



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It’s a Panopticon ’93 Officially licensed TARDIS – similar to this one on RetroTrader.

Click to embiggen images.

It’s a little scuffed, but nothing a lick of paint can’t fix. Of slight – very slight – annoyance is that it’s a fraction too shallow to hold standard DVD cases and have the doors tightly shut.  So I’ve decided to keep them open to show off my collection.

By my reckoning, each shelf can hold about 34 DVDs – so 136 in total.  With around 11 completely missing serials, from a total of 157, it looks like I might have to find a way to make this one ever-so slightly bigger on the inside…

Thanks to my ever loving – and ever patient – wife, Liz, for putting up with me.  She’s a far better companion than any the Doctor ever had :-)

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