Another 15 minutes » mobile phone

Tracking GPS location of friends with Google Latitude

Draupner — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:00:34 +0000

I Read about Google Latitude today and decided to check it out. Google Latitude is a free product featured in Google Maps that you can install on your GPS mobile phone which will then let your friends (which you choose who should be able to see your location) see exactly where you are, in real-time.

You will use Google Maps as usual in your phone, but you will see a flag indicating your friend’s’ location in the map also, which is very cool. Now I just have to try this out with some friends who also have GPS in their mobiles. Installing it was very easy, I just browsed to “mobile.google.com” on my phone and selected to download the binary file for Google Maps (I have a Windows Mobile phone) and then install the cab-file. It will automatically upgrade the existing version, and then you just follow the configuration of the latitude-feature on your phone, simple.

You can also use your computer to keep track of people, but unfortunantely this doesn’t seem to be available in Sweden yet. (Update: It is available in Sweden, you just have to edit your iGoogle settings and change location). I’m looking forward to a feature like this available as a blog plugin/widget, so I can show my location on a Google map on my blog all the time, just for fun =). It will probably be available soon.

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HTC Touch HD vs IPhone 3G

Draupner — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:17:15 +0000

A few months ago I posted a page about HTC Touch Diamond vs IPhone 3G but I think that comparing IPhone 3G with HTC Touch Diamond was not as appropriate as comparing it with the newer HTC Touch HD, which is really the “IPhone killer” right now. So here I will post the info about these two phones.

IPhone 3G: Nice design, touch screen and good interface. Overrated phone that doesn’t even have basic functionality like MMS (it has now/soon though) or radio. Also buggy with 3G in Sweden (fixed?). I don’t see what the hype with IPhone is all about. The screen is only 480×320. Dimensions are 115.5×62.1×12.3 mm and it weighs 133 grams. Only a 2 megapixel camera. It has a multitouch screen, which is nice. Keywords that apply: new (?), fresh design, overrated, no radio, expensive to own, appstore.

HTC Touch HD: Nice design, touch screen and good interface. The phone has all functions one would want from a phone these days; MMS, GPS, 3.5mm headphone plug, memory card capability (32 Gb I’ve heard, it comes with 8 Gb), high resolution screen (800×480), radio and more. It is pretty much the same size as the IPhone, but a millimeter shorter, narrower and thinner (115×62.8×12 mm), but it weighs abit more (147g). It has a 5 megapixel camera, but no flash. It gives very good battery time, I only charge mine once a week at most with normal use. I think it’s probably the most complete phone yet, allthough the touchscreen is better on IPhone with its multitouch etc, but this still is good enough for sure. The interface does not feel slow either, like it was reported to be on the Diamond. If you’re an advanced user you can tweak and customize this Windows Mobile 6.1 based phone alot. The screen on this phone really gives a crystal clear display and watching movies on it is very nice. I think the sound on it is very nice, much better than my previous Nokia N95. Keywords that apply: new, fresh design, has all functionality one want.

I think both of these are nice phones, but there are some things that gives the HTC an edge I think, like the display, memory, radio, battery time, design and that you are not forced to use iTunes and a specific network operator out of the box. One thing I would like for Windows Mobile though is an AppStore. But for me the winner is HTC Touch HD, and I got one that I’m really happy with.

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Panorama pictures with the phone

Draupner — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:30:51 +0000

I read an article today about cameras in mobile phones becoming more and more advanced and noticed a paragraph about taking panorama pictures directly in the phone and thought it was pretty cool. I looked around in the menues of my HTC Touch HD for this function and sure enough, there is one. Just click the camera icon when in the camera application and you’ll get a menu of some different camera modes; “photo”, “video”, “panorama”, “MMS-video”, “contact photo” and “themes”. Themes are when you put your photo in some humorous clipart frame, like the old ”most wanted”-poster for example.

I tried the panorama option and it allows you to take three photos from left to right to create one large panorama photo. When taking picture number two and three you will see abit of the previous image overlapping to the left so you can match them perfectly to eachother. However panorama pictures are best suited for distant objects since objects close to the camera will be bent, so taking a panorama photo over your desk for example will display the desk as curved, you’ve probably seen this before. I took the picture below of my livingroom and it came out pretty good despite of the poor lighting and close objects.

The vertical crossovers from each picture are through the lamp in the window and through the TV, those areas are abit fuzzy mostly because I took the pictures free-hand. I will take some more outdoors panorama pictures with my phone and post them of they turn out nice.

Bloggkartan.se

HTC Touch HD

My new HTC Touch HD!

Draupner — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:37:01 +0000

Today I bought the HTC Touch HD mobile phone I’ve been writing about :). Here are some pictures from the unboxing. Currently I’m syncronizing my music to the 8 Gb memory card that came with it, there’s probably tons of settings I need to do before everything is like I want it, which will keep be busy for some time I think. It’s a very nice looking phone, but it is pretty advanced and hard to get used to if you’ve been using Nokias for all your life, like me. But it will be fun to explore this, I’m sure I will write some more posts about it later on.

Gadget society

Draupner — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:38:55 +0000

Sometimes one just needs some new electronic gadget to play with, atleast me and most of my friends gets that urge a few times per year. As you perhaps already know I am looking for a new mobile phone, and I’ve had my eyes on the just released HTC Touch HD for some time now. It’s available on some Internet stores, but not in any real stores yet, however I found one that had a mock-up model so I could atleast have a feel on its size and weight. I really liked it, it wasn’t heavy, feels good in your hand and the size suits it well. I probably would’ve bought it today if I could, but now I have to wait until it arrives in the stores, it shouldn’t be that long though, I hope.

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HTC Touch HD coming soon

Draupner — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 13:41:53 +0000

The price and date for the new HTC Touch HD mobile phone has been set, currently the date in Sweden is 2008-11-21. This phone I think has it all; touch screen, microSD memory expansion, 3.5mm headphone plug, 5 megapixel camera, nice user interface (Windows Mobile 6.1 with TouchFlo 3D), big high resolution screen, better battery than the HTC Touch Diamond and more. I hope we can get it to my work to try it out, and then if I like I’ll probably get it. The only downside is the size and weight.

Its dimensions are 115 x 62.8 x 12 mm and weighs 146.4 grams.

Compared to:
IPhone 3G: 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm and weighs 133 grams.
Nokia N95: 99 x 53 x 21 mm and weighs 120 grams.

HTC Touch HD

Draupner — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:23:04 +0000

I just read that HTC will release a new mobile phone in the Touch-series before Christmas, HTC Touch HD. This model is abit bigger than the Touch Diamond, about the same size as the iPhone, but with a 480×800 display. The new model will include all features as the Touch Diamond, but also a microSD memory card slot, 5 megapixel camera, 1350 mAh battery and a 3.5mm headphone plug.

If all this is correct I’m pretty sure this will be my next phone, since it has the things the Touch Diamond lacked. This is a very interesting phone, I just hope it isn’t too big and heavy. Me wants!