I usually admire The Guardian's technology coverage (not least because they occasionally feature me!) but their latest article - The success of smartphones comes at a price - is ridiculously bad. It posits three arguments. More people are using smartphones to access the Internet than ever before. Smartphones are heavily locked down. Mobile Operators are "corporate control-freaks". …
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I'm not a big fan of URL shortners - bit.ly, t.co, goo.gl, ow.ly, etc - I understand the need for them, but they seem to offer a fairly poor service in terms of privacy and usefulness. Take this recent example from Vodafone. Aside from the obvious downsides (user doesn't know where the link will take them, if it's compatible, link looks like gobbledegook, etc) there is a rather more…
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I like predicting the death of the iPhone. I've been doing it since the device was first released - and I'm sure, one day, my doom-mongering will be proved correct! Apple is at an interesting nexus with its iPhone. It's hugely popular, vastly profitable, beloved by millions, and plagiarised by its competitors. The only fly in the ointment? It's just a little bit dull! Dull is, of course,…
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One of Android's great strengths is its openness. The source code is (mostly) there for anyone to see. If you're a hardware manufacturer, you can use Android on your devices with just a few mouse clicks. But there's a problem in Android-land, one which has been growing for several years. Open Software has many advantages - one is the maxim "Many eyes make all bugs shallow". If you have…
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As part of the Parliament and Internet Conference, there was a panel discussion about 4G networks. These are my notes on the session. I've applied the Chatham House Rule - mostly because I can't remember who said what, rather than any backroom skulduggery. Any errors are mine and mine alone. Neither Vodafone nor EE have signed up to the Network Neutrality pledge. O2 have. (Disclaimer, I work …
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So, a year after throwing the baby out with the bathwater by dumping its Palm WebOS software, HP has decided it wants to get back into the smartphone game. HP's position isn't quite as perilous as Nokia's "Burning Platform" was, but there are definite similarities. Apple sells more iPads than HP sells PCs, their traditional market for printers is drying up, its share price is on the wane, and a …
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Two years ago, a bunch of smart people told the BBC that its plans to build iPlayer for Android on Adobe Flash was nuts. We argued loudly, passionately, deployed logic and reason, and provided specific technical details. Naturally, we were ignored. Sure, Flash was only on a few high end devices now, but the BBC were confident that Flash would be soon be available on all Android devices and our …
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I was recently interviewed in The Guardian talking about the use of mobile phone in cultural institutions - museums, libraries, galleries, etc. I was talking about the QRpedia project I co-founded. During the course of the interview, a phrase fluttered into my head - "The Engagement Economy." It wasn't a phrase I'd heard before - although Jane McGonigal wrote an excellent paper in 2008 with…
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Sixteen months ago, I climbed a rattly staircase behind a restaurant to a fairly typical "start-up loft". My first taste of InMobi. I was enthralled! I've spent the last year driving the developer relationship process in the company, watching as we've grown from 15 people in a small room to 70 people in swanky London offices on the Strand. InMobi has sent me all over the world - South Africa, …
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This is a bit of a brain dump of how I got a 3G USB dongle working on the Raspberry Pi. Following on from getting the Raspberry Pi to send SMS. That's The Power Of Love The first thing to say is use a powered USB hub! I had lots of problems getting the modem working when it was plugged directly into the Pi. A 3G signal takes more power than the Pi's USB sockets can supply. In the above…
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I had a great time at the Homeless Hackday. This is a belated write up, because I wanted to let a few thoughts peculate. The Problem There has been a worrying rise in the number of people rough sleeping - especially in the capital. There are a number of charities and Government departments which are available to help people who are homeless. They wanted a smartphone app / mobile web site…
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Recently RIM contact developers asking for feedback on why we were or were not planning on developing for Blackberry 10. I was paid $50 for my opinion - in Amazon vouchers. I hope this hasn't comprimised the honesty of my answers. These are just my thoughts - I can't claim that they would solve RIM's problems, but I do think they would be a good way to help reclaim developer mindshare. What…
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