Not really much to see here.
The interface is quite twee but aside from that, nothing to write home about. I’ll keep playing and see what else it can do.
The adventures with the Nexus One continue…
Moleskine entry: July 18th, 2009
I’m sat at the back of Virgin Atlantic flight VS039 en route to Chicago. I’ve never been to the windy city before, for all intents and purposes it looks like I’m not going to see much of it either.
We’re just passing through…
Our final destination today, July 18th 2009, is Billings Airport, Montana. From there we are to be transferred to The Hideout ranch some four hours drive outside of the airport, over the state line into Wyoming.
All this travel is for challenge two of Lucozade’s Summer of Energy Challenges and time we’re Cattle Ranching.
Last week we were sand-boarding in Namibia which, it has to be said, was simply breathtaking. There are hundreds of photos to look at and just a few videos too. As you may know, I have a very, very hectic Summer lined up ahead of me and to say that I’m clocking up ‘a few air miles’ might be somewhat of an understatement.
Strange. I have a note here, it says:
‘Experiment with adjusted images’.
I think I know what I mean. I’ll have a play with that that later…
Moving on…
Through a rather strange set of circumstances, I find myself not sat next to my traveling partner in crime, Sam. But in face next to a young student going by the name of Grant Rostad. He spots my N97 and asks after a play. I offer it up gladly, and also go onto explain how, in my opinion, the N86 (which I’m also carrying) is the far superior device.
“Oh no!” he says “I’m all about having a qwerty keypad, and a touch screen. Those things make a phone for me. “
Americans are such strange creatures.
We talk more and eventually at the very last minute, we grab said N97 and throw a quick podcast together for The Really Mobile Project.
It’s all a bit incidental and a bit geeky too, but I kind of like it.
Later that day, on a different page…
Chicago came and went.
We board the 1547 United Airlines flight to Billings, Montana.
THEN a 3hr drive into Wyoming.
Headed for a place known as ‘The Hideout‘ at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains.
No.
Really.
Q: “You ever been on a horse before?”
……
A: “Um… I’ve seen one, does that count?”
This is going to be fun 
The clouds are different here…
…stretching lazily across the acres of sky…
…I could take photos of clouds all day.
.
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About six or seven weeks ago now, I said a sad goodbye and a fond farewell to Mobile Industry Review (MIR). My weekly column ‘Whatley Wednesday’ was at an end and the team’s online video counterpart, The MIR Show, was no more.
But this much I’ve covered already. It’s what happened next I want to talk about.
Post closure, Ewan kindly gave me an export of all my prior MIR work, which you can now find in the newly created Whatley Wednesday category on the right hand side of this page. Please feel free to browse at your leisure, there are some pieces in there that I am deeply proud of and I’m really happy that I’ve been able to preserve them.
Even still, I was left wondering where my mobile content was supposed to go. I’ve long maintained that I have three main streams of blogging output:
With one of those streams now closed, I wasn’t sure what to do. I could’ve started putting the content here, but I didn’t want to alienate any of my readers. I wasn’t sure you’d appreciate it to be honest. This blog isn’t about mobile news, views and opinion. It’s about – for me at least – starting interesting conversations.
The real question was; ‘what to do next?’ and, well ‘start something new’ was the immediate answer.
When it came to restarting Whatley Wednesday, I took up Rafe Blandford on his offer to write a piece for leading mobile site All About Symbian (AAS). Entitled ‘Should Gravity come down?’ the piece questioned the price of a particular Nokia Symbian app and on top of that, Nokia apps in general.
Hand on heart there were a few opportunities like the one above from Rafe, and originally I had planned to accept them all. Not out of greed or ego; I merely felt a certain sense of displacement or maybe homelessness. I figured that Whatley Wednesday could become a travelling road show of sorts (for want of a better comparison), each week resurfacing on a different publication and taking on a different subject matter.
That was the plan anyway.
However, in the furore surrounding my debut on AAS (seriously, check out the comments – all 67 of them), I questioned the validity of this idea and, when it came to writing up some thoughts about the incoming Nokia N97, I went against my instincts and published them here.
It was at this point that I realised that I needed my own mobile channel, something that I had (at least in part) ownership of and somewhere that I wouldn’t have to apologise for my own opinion. It turned out that I wouldn’t have to wait for long, as in the background, work had already begun on what was at that time only referred to as: ‘Secret Project X’.
So it was, the day after MIR announced its closure, and under the cover of darkness, three men met somewhere along London’s South Bank.
In a coffee shop not far from Hungerford Bridge – EAT I think it was, to be precise – Ben Smith, Dan Lane and I sat down to work out what our next steps were.
What I initially had pencilled in as a rather macabre and somewhat gruesome post-mortem turned very quickly into the conception of a new idea.
The general consensus was that we could rant and rave about how annoyed we all were, or, spend what little time we had planning our next moves.
It was unanimous.
We were going to build something new, really soon.
In the days and weeks that followed that fateful night, emails were exchanged, further meetings were had and plans were made. Further to that, a rough go-live schedule was put in place.
Vikki Chowney – mooted as a potential additional contributor at the initial meeting – was asked to join the three of us pre-launch. It also fell to me to reach out to the other remaining members of the old team; Samantha Kidd, Ricky Chotai and Jonathan Jensen. All of whom were immensely forthcoming with their support and immediately signed on.
Soon after Vikki joined us, on a late night conference call with the rest of the team, the members of Secret Project X finally agreed on a name.
That name was…
The Really Mobile Project
Interestingly, with a new moniker came too a new sense of direction and purpose.
Dan Lane pulled together some of our old MIR footage and excelled himself by putting together a rather awesome trailer. This short video (embedded above), which we made live one week after launching The Really Mobile Project (TRMP) holding page, was shared with the sole purpose of letting people know that no, this wasn’t the end and yes, we would be back.
Even more meetings followed, yet more emails were exchanged and TRMP was coming. By the time we put the trailer out, we’d pretty much made a promise that we intended to keep. Thing is, it turned out to be a lot harder than we first thought.
Building a site?
Gaining access to high quality equipment?
Finding the time to get all members of the team together to film content?
All of these things proved to be less than easy.
Two days before filming was due to kick off, the whole project was put on hold. The equipment wasn’t good enough, the site wasn’t right and on top of that, we had no content.
From the off we had all agreed that whatever it was that we ended up producing, it would be high quality. Our work at MIR had set the bar high and we knew that at the very minimum, we had to match it.
As any decent advisor will tell you; if you over promise and under deliver, failure will greet you with open arms.
So we took a step back and regrouped. What would we REALLY need to do to make this as good as we wanted it?
The project plan was re-written, a wiki was created, and tangible steps were taken to ensure that creating a quality site with even better output would be a nigh-on guarantee.
After all of this, on April 28th at approximately 3.00am, seven weeks since that initial coffee, The Really Mobile Project launched onto the (un)suspecting world.
Now, at long last, we finally have our own place on the web to talk mobile.
One of the things we noticed during our time in the wilderness was just how strong, passionate and caring the mobile community is. Keeping that firmly in mind, we established that from day one ‘Really Mobile’ would be about the conversation.
It’s the community that makes a site, so we want our readers and viewers to feel a part of something. 2009 is the year of conversation after all, right?
I’ve talked long enough and if you’ve made it this far, you have my thanks.
All I have left to say is this; if you follow me because you’re mad about mobile then please, get yourself over to The Really Mobile Project today.
It’s new, we’re still making changes and fixing bugs, but it’s out there.
And it needs you.
Browsing through my Google Reader this morning, I came across this article from the guys over at NokiaUsers.net reporting that Vodafone has just confirmed a July release date for the Nokia N97 here in the UK.
You can read more about the handset over on Vodafone’s dedicated N97 page, but needless to say, this announcement is very good news indeed.
As some of you may or may not know, I am a card-carrying Vodafone member, I have been for some time and, upon hearing that the N97 was en route to my network of choice, I am very happy indeed.
Since it was first announced at Nokia World in December, the initial buzz has been largely positive.
In fact, I remember putting virtual pen to paper at the time and exclaiming how much the the prospect of this handset excited me; even going as so far to say:
“I firmly believe that the Nokia N97 is the replacement for my N95 8GB.”
However, as I mentioned, I wrote that at the tail end of last year and since then?
Well, some things have changed.
Since Nokia World, not only have has there been several opportunities for me to have hands on time with the N97, but also Mobile World Congress (MWC), has come and gone. This conference, previously known as ’3GSM’ and held in Barcelona each February, is the largest telecommunications event in the world and this year saw the unveiling of the Nokia N86.
This 8 megapixel beauty took me completely by surprise at MWC, and although originally pitched as the successor to the much-overlooked Nokia N85 (the N86 test model above was in fact labelled ‘N85 8MP’ on its debut in Barcelona), to my mind the N86 is the true replacement for the N95 8GB.
I carry two phones. I have done for some time now and I have no doubt that this habit will carry on into the future. My current ‘handset strategy’ is made up of the aforementioned N95 8GB which acts as my personal device, and a Nokia E71 as my work/business phone. Whenever I’m testing new devices I always, always swap out my E71 and swap in whichever piece of gadgetry I happen to be reviewing (the latest of which being the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music).
However this was not the case with the Nokia N86. Two weeks after Mobile World Congress, just in time for MGoL VI in fact, I happened to find myself in possession of said 8MP wonder and I was that impressed I instantly made it my personal device of choice (if only for the few days that I was able to test it anyway).
This. Speaks. Volumes.
If you’ve read any of my mobile stuff in the past you’ll know how much I love my N95, it’s certainly been through the wars over the years and for any device to come anywhere near taking its mantle, it has to be something pretty special.
The N86 is that phone.
The N97, as wonderful as it is, to my mind could have well been labelled the ‘E97′. What with the full qwerty keyboard and ‘communicator series’-like design, the N97 bears more relation to the E90 than to any Nseries phone I’ve ever seen. When I read that Vodafone were going to be shipping the N97 this coming July, I immediately got on the phone and registered my interest. Fortunately it turns out that I am due an upgrade around the same time as the N97 is scheduled to release.
Fantastic.
While I was the phone with Voda, I also enquired after the N86…
“It’s not one I’ve heard of Mr Whatley” …came the reply.
“Oh, would you mind checking for me anyway? I work in mobile you see and I really like the look of the N86, it has an 8MP camera and well, it’s very similar to my N95 8GB…”
“Oh here it is Mr Whatley, I’ve found it on our systems.”
“You have?!”
“Yes. Nokia N86. Got it. Now… Ah.. Ok.”
“Yes, yes, what is it?”
“Well it is here, but it has a question mark next to it.”
“Oh. Is that bad?”
“Oh no Mr Whatley, it just means we’re still testing it. I can’t confirm that we are going to get the N86 in stock but I can tell you that we have it here internally and we’re testing the software to make sure it works correctly “
“Really?!”
“Yes Mr Whatley. While I can’t go on record and say that it’s definitely coming, we are still testing. I can tell you that nine times out of ten, when it’s testing, it normally means we’ll be getting it sooner or later.”
“That’s great news, thanks!”
“You’re very welcome Mr Whatley, thanks for calling Vodafone.”
So there you have it. The N97 is coming to Vodafone in July and, from the sounds of things, the N86 won’t be too far behind it.
Hey there folks!
Can you believe it?!
We’re not two months into the start of 2009 and it’s already time for the next…
- WOOP WOOP -
I can’t believe it’s come round so quickly. It seems like only yesterday that we were all meeting up for the last gathering of 2008…
But No!
It wasn’t yesterday! It was November! Bleedin’ AGES ago!
Let’s crack on with it shall we?
This time round, with Mobile World Congress still fresh in the memory there should be lots to talk about, drink to and of course secretly discuss… Heh.
I know I’m bringing a whole host of phone-based toys to play with, what are you bringing?
If you’re new here then you’ll find all the details you need on the facebook event page.
If you want to keep up with future events then by all means join the facebook group page to stay in the loop.
However, if you’re not a facebook person – and I know some of you aren’t – the basics are as follows:
Date: 26th February 2009 – That’s TONIGHT!
Time: 18:30ish – 23:00ish
Location: All Bar One
Street: New Oxford Street (nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road)
Town/City: London Baby!
If you like beer and you like Mobile then you are very, very welcome to join us.
“lt’s not about buying stuff.
It’s not about selling stuff.
It’s about mobile geeks having a genuine discussion about using stuff…”
See you tonight boys and girls.
Ps. If for some reason you can’t make it along. Keep an eye on the Qik video window on the top of the right hand coloumn over there —–>
I’ll try and take some video for you
See ya!
So, the Nokia N97 eh? What do you think of THAT?!
Me? Hmm… Well, you all know what I thought of the last Nseries I laid my hands on and so when it comes to the newly announced Nokia N97, I approached with a certain amount of trepidation…
And my initial impressions? – I’m maybe just a little bit excited…
(but maybe not for the reasons that you’d think)
At first glance the N97 looks like the lovechild of the E90 and the Nokia 5800 but from the outset the QWERTY keypad looks like it’s not too dissimilar from that of the Eseries sister device, with the only change being the directional pad shifting from the right to the left side of the keys…
It’s worth pointing out this far into the piece that I am yet to actually get my hands on this device (the image above was taken a month after I originally wrote this piece), SpinVox commitments keeping me in Blighty for this year’s Nokia World, (more on what’s been keeping me so busy coming up soon). So my thoughts and words are totally and utterly my initial gut reactions/impressions from specs, reports and pictures that have been flying out of Barcelona since late last night…
Moving on…
The touch screen UI, S60 5th Edition for those that care, is perceived to be the same as that in the Nokia ‘Tube’ device that we saw launched earlier this year as part of the Xpress Music range with key DNA from both that and the E90 shining through so far so we’ve got one massive multi-combo mash-up of a device…
However, you could argue that there’s nothing new here.
You could argue that yet again Nokia have failed to innovate.
That Nokia have merely put two and two together and are hoping they hit four, not five – *cough* Like they did with the N96 *cough* – but again, and in complete polar opposite to the the N96, and as I mentioned at the outset – this device actually excites me.
Yes, the form factor is new and is certainly interesting; One of the G1 characteristics that I actually enjoyed the most was the ability to flick the screen up at any point you got bored/annoyed with the touch screen and do things properly as it were, so the addition of the full keyboard under the screen is a welcome feature here on the N97.
The camera is 5MP – standard fare for Nokia flagship devices although; interesting to note that they [Nokia] are not, as yet, leaping on the 8MP bandwagon that Sony, LG and Samsung seem so keen to pursue.
The music – With echoes of the Xpress range being in abundance, the Nokia N97 will of course support Comes With Music (fingers crossed anyway – yes Vodafone, I’m looking at YOU) when it arrives and, if the music quality is anything like the 5800, then Nokia will have that sewn up too. With a WHOPPING 48GB of storage space, (32GB onboard, 16GB expandable memory), I must admit that filling that bad boy up with content is going to be a struggle for even me…
Parking all of that to one side, is there still no real innovation? Is it ‘just’ evolution.
Not that this is a bad thing mind, the N95 8GB was a great ‘evolution handset’, the N97 it seems is another step forward from Nokia (not sideways, or even backwards – again, I refer to the N96).
One thing needs to be made clear right here and right now:
I firmly believe that the Nokia N97 is the replacement for my N95 8GB.
..and here’s why:
One of the great things I love about my N95 8GB is the way it keeps me constantly connected. Constantly. As Ewan Spence quite rightly pointed out,
“Staying in touch seems important to James in his choice of applications. Many of them are concerned with getting information off his device and onto the internet, either to small social groups, or to individuals. Within two or three button presses, Whatley is off communicating to pretty much anyone he chooses. The smartphone for him is all about getting the word out.”
The more data I can consume the better. Anyone who’s seen me at any conference anywhere in the world this year knows that I just don’t carry my laptop anywhere. My E71 and my N95 8GB give me all the connectivity, information and data sharing functionality that I need.
The N97, with its brand new ‘widget homescreen’, presents a real opportunity to get things right; One of my favourite features of Apple’s iPhone is the main menu and homescreen being one and the same.
The N97 looks like it could be going down that route… and then some; Pulling in information from RSS feeds, Share on OVI (although I’m hoping this can be swapped out for Flickr), Facbook, Email etc…
This is the active standby screen that dreams were made of.
Obviously, to keep things in perspective, as with any Nseries device – the proof is in the pudding. More often than not these devices arrive with shoddy firmware that is slow, buggy and prone to freezing/crashing. I’m still researching into the N97 and will no doubt have a follow up piece in the works very soon, but I’m crossing all my fingers and all my toes that at last Nokia may actually launch something with final (or at least half-decent) software.
For the time being at least, the queue for the N97 starts here.
Get behind me folks – we may be here a while.
Whatley out.
And November is going to be very busy indeed…
I’m hoping to get as much in and done as humanly possible this month but, as it stands?
It’s not going too bad so far
This week I finished work on another project with MTV’s HIV and AIDS awareness charity, the Staying-Alive Foundation.
This time building around and about their online activity for their latest campaign, (the full details of which you can read over on Big Talk), …and by way of a thank you for all the hard graft, the guys at Staying-Alive secured me a VIP ticket to the MTV European Music Awards!
- Yep. That’s right. V. I. P. -
The Killers, Kanye West, Take That… (no, really).
All. Brilliant.
No pics unfortunately, but I did take a bunch of video mind – like loads – so will have to get some up sharpish I guess.
In the meantime however, back to that busy November I was talking about;
What with today being Sunday, thus follows – tomorrow shall be Monday and tomorrow night is in fact, 
Mobile Monday (MoMo) London.
Not just any old MoMo event mind, oh no.
Tomorrow just so happens to be MoMo London’s 3rd Birthday Celebrations.
They’ve been going for THREE YEARS! Fair play to them.
Should be a giggle.
We, (as in ‘We, the team from Mobile Industry Review‘), have been asked along to film the show there throughout the night… and I just have to give you this quote that went out on the invitation:
…We will have the MIReview Show joining us too and in the spirit of the evening, they will be presenting and filming some of their show LIVE on stage. (If you don’t know them already, think Top Gear but about mobile technology instead of cars)…
Best. Compliment. Ever.
Love it.
So yeah, MoMo tomorrow… Then worky work work until Thursday, whereupon I’m off to Europe for a few days to meet up with Journalists and Bloggers alike, spreading the SpinVox gospel as it were…
(and I think… I THINK… that may well be my overseas travel for the year… Done!)
All being well, I should be home the following Sunday and the Monday after that, (November 17th), I’m straight into The Future of Mobile Conference, where I’m taking part in the ’6×6 UK Bloggers Perspectives’ section speaking alongside five other [and I quote]
…of the UK’s most interesting technology and mobile bloggers present a short insight into a mobile topic. This session will provide truly independent points of view on some of the major topics of continuing discussion in the mobile industry.
Yeah. So no pressure then.
Not when I’m in with such fantastic ‘names’ as Helen Keegan, Jemima Kiss, Vero Pepperrell, Andrew Grill and my Editor-in-Chief over at Mobile Industry Review, Ewan Macleod.
There aren’t really any words to describe how flattered I am to be bundled in with such esteemed folk, all of which I have masses amount of personal and professional respect on many levels… and that’s before we even start on the way I’ve been pitched!
Yeah, no pressure whatsoever. Heh.
Where was I?
That’s right. Monday 17th November. Future of Mobile. Check.
That same week, on the following Friday actually, November 21st, I celebrate my birthday.
Yep. My birthday falls on a Friday. Rock on.
I’ve no idea what I’m planning on doing yet but I’m sure I’ll talk about it eventually…
Moving swiftly onward to the evening of Wednesday Nov 26th I’m hosting Mobile Geeks of London V. Woo!
MGoL has always been one of my most favourite things to do and this, the fifth event in London of its kind, is no exception. I’ve talked about my love for MGoL at length before and no doubt will again soon.
In the meantime, if you’re interested in attending, get yourself along to the MGoL V facebook event page, put your name down and MAYBE I’ll see you there! Wheeeeeeeeeee!
Bring it.
Hangover depending, November 27th sees the first everevent themed around ‘The Network of Networks’, notionally entitled ‘Amplified 08‘. I HONESTLY do not know enough about this event to do it justice.
All I know is that there’s some bloody interesting people pulling it together and that I will move hell and high water to be there.
I might nip over to their About Page once I’ve finished this post actually, do some reading… Hmm.
And finally, bringing November to a close I’ve actually gone and booked myself a well-deserved weekend relaxing holiday break to somewhere secret, secluded and so completely offline I’m midly concerned I’ll get withdrawal symptoms…
Heh.
Joking aside, this rest has been a long time coming… and I can’t wait.
Buckle up kids, November’s gonna get hectic!
Last week I received a Nokia N96 on loan from the those lovely folk at Nokia WOM World.
As I mentioned a couple of days ago:
…whenever I do have something mobile-related to say, I use my platform over on Mobile Industry Review (MIR), formerly – and now incorporating – SMS Text News, to get the message out…
So if Mobile is your thing, or if you’re just curious about Nokia’s new flagship handset, why not jump over and read my thoughts…
Your comments are as always, very welcome.
Lots of love,
Me.
