The INQ Blog

INQ Mini First Impressions

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:04:55 +0000

@3mobilebuzz has given me an INQ Mini to look at. Cheers guys!

My first impressions are that this handset is a refined and updated release of INQ1. The hardware is fairly solid. I took the back cover off and there’s 1150mAh battery inside, so I’m expecting similar life to the INQ1. It’s red and shiny, but more importantly INQ+Art has spilled onto the Mini’s software much more than before, so the quirky box and packaging design feels like a theme rather than an addition.

The most noticeable change to the software (which seems faster at switching between apps) is the addition of a Twitter application. It was the first place I headed on the switcher and turned out to be a huge disappointment. The Twitter app only allows you to browse your entire feed and post an update. There’s a TON of functionality missing here. I was hoping that my friends/followers on Twitter would integrate with my phonebook as they do with Facebook and Skype. But where are my @replies, where is my message inbox, and how do I post photos and videos? - Move over, I’m using dabr.

More soon…

An evening with @3mobilebuzz

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:13:13 +0000

I went out last night with the team from 3mobilebuzz

Check out the hashtag #3ukspotifyparty for the highlights

We were there to celebrate the coming together of Spotify, 3 and Android on a HTC handset that I got a brief play with

@reyes had some good insights, preferring Spotify’s ability to run in the background - multitasking isn’t possible on his iphone thanks to Apple’s “one app at a time” philosophy to solving life’s problems

The Spotify app for Android is available to all pro subscribers, and works offline - a discovery made as we partied to Queen on the tube

I finally met @liamgh! I’ve been reading his very excellent greenhughes.com blog for aaages and chatting all things linux/open source with him on Twitter. It’s always nice to put a face to a name, making those connections forged online that bit more real

Anyway, with any luck, I’ll be getting my hands on an INQ Mini next week courtesy of 3mobilebuzz and reviewing that here… watch this space

Very many thanks to the 3mobilebuzz team (1000heads) for organising the event

RT @inqmobile Facebook update for the INQ1 released today, more information here -...

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:06:22 +0100

RT @inqmobile Facebook update for the INQ1 released today, more information here - http://ow.ly/jfHx, works great! Syncing details now…

… awesome! On the left: INQ Chat 3G This is the exact...

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:37:30 +0100

… awesome!

On the left: INQ Chat 3G

This is the exact phone I’ve been hoping for. It has a full QWERTY keyboard and a Twitter client. I’ve had a quick look around the net and found these reviews on it:

From ElectricPig, the Telegraph, Pocket Lint, Engadget, Slashgear, TechRadar, WhatMobile, and TrustedReviews

All saying much the same things - it’s an impressive offering. Although it’s worth pointing out that Pocket Lint has had a hands-on play with it, so there are some decent photos.

There are a few things I really want to know, and I’m going to have to wait for some video reviews (#reallymobile - hint hint) or someone’s going to have to send me one for review (pretty please):

What exactly does “push Gmail” include that Email on 3 didn’t?
Does the Twitter client beep or vibrate when you have a new mention, DM or keyword/hashtag search entry?
Have any advances been made with the calendar app? I’ve said before - I’d really like Facebook events and/or Google Calendar invitations integrated into the calendar
How intuitive is the new media syncing/playing brought to INQ by doubleTwist, and do we still have Last.FM scrobbling?

On the right: INQ Mini 3G

This is a smaller, keyboardless version of the Chat 3G. Browsing the bullet point lists of specifications, the only performance differences that leap out at me are:

20mb less on-board memory
2 megapixel camera instead of 3.2 on the Chat 3G
No GPS

So there we go. I’m looking forward to trying this out, writing a review on ThinkAboutTech and seeing what others have to say!

Email on 3 upgrade

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:11:25 +0100

I just upgraded Email on 3 to version 16.2.32.2887

That’s one hell of a version number!

Other than the application’s icon changing slightly, I’ve not yet figured out what the 5mb download has added.

I’m going to give my hotmail account another try. I was struggling to make the login stick. Every 48 hours a red error “!” would appear next to the account and I’d be asked to re-enter my username and password.

Check back in a week, there might be more to report.

Phones with keyboards

Sun, 17 May 2009 01:58:00 +0100

Last Thursday I attended the 3 mobile quiz. This isn’t like your average pub quiz because mobile phones are allowed and their use encouraged. The aim of the game is to Google for answers faster than anyone else, or just know enough to be able to put together a search term.

I took a Windows Mobile 6 handset along to the event instead of the INQ1 because I thought a device with a keyboard would be of more use in a quiz-type situation. And I was right.

Gordon Kelly joked that I must have picked up the Windows mobile handset from a museum, or even excavated it from a chunk of ancient rock. Sadly that’s true, it is an old handset, but it still works fine on 3G.

I don’t like the trade off I am forced to face. The INQ1 software is fantastic - it’s fast, light, simple to use, and the integrated nature of the applications is superb. I’m still waiting to see another handset that has a converged contact list.

One INQ1 battery is equal to three Windows Mobile 6 handset batteries!

But INQ1 doesn’t have a full keyboard. I am on my emails and Skype text chat all day, every day. A full keyboard would be really helpful and much quicker to use.

If the INQ software can be put on a device similar in style to a Blackberry or Nokia E71… in fact, who cares - ANYTHING with a full keyboard - I’d be the happiest man alive.

Tried to export contacts to Memory Card - superb. Importing them into Gmail - not good, lot of...

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:24:44 +0100

Tried to export contacts to Memory Card - superb. Importing them into Gmail - not good, lot of contacts lost phone numbers. Wrong structure?

WLM update is less reliable than before. Disconnects more often. It just crashed & restarted the...

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:33:57 +0000

WLM update is less reliable than before. Disconnects more often. It just crashed & restarted the phone :(

I have a facebook friend request stuck in the requests folder. I accepted on pc, but it’s...

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:25:07 +0000

I have a facebook friend request stuck in the requests folder. I accepted on pc, but it’s stuck on INQ1

Purely for interest, switched to latest skype on WM6 using wifi. TERRIBLE quality. Constant...

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:58:07 +0000

Purely for interest, switched to latest skype on WM6 using wifi. TERRIBLE quality. Constant disconnection. Moving back to INQ1 right NOW.

I believe the issue with disconnection on WM6 is because of WPA wifi encryption. Fact remains, I...

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:58:07 +0000

I believe the issue with disconnection on WM6 is because of WPA wifi encryption. Fact remains, I prefer using Skype on 3G.

Wifi sorted, Skype working. Calls over wifi have less crackle but more lag. On INQ1, Skype is like...

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:58:07 +0000

Wifi sorted, Skype working. Calls over wifi have less crackle but more lag. On INQ1, Skype is like another phone call, this is internet chat

Skype

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:28:35 +0000

I’m currently working on an assignment for my postgrad studies to assess the strategy of a chosen company. Like many assignments we are expected to complete, this requires us to work in groups. My group have chosen Skype as our case study, and I find it amusing that we are using Skype to collaborate through conference calls.

I’m using the INQ1 to participate in these calls, but I’m also signed into Skype on my machine (running Ubuntu Intrepid) to share text snippets and links. The INQ1 gives extraordinary call quality - I’m really pleased. We are connected for periods averaging 3 hours, and the phone handles this without any sign of struggle; I’m even able to access emails and Facebook simultaneously.

I have noticed one glitch, which I believe is a fault with Skype rather than the INQ1. If I connect to Skype on my machine before the INQ1, or restart the handset / reconnect to Skype, all calls are received on the computer but not always on the INQ1. What worries me is that I’m unable to consistently replicate this problem. I have missed two Skype calls so far because my computer took the call and not the INQ1.

For the mean time I’m just making sure that if I walk away from my computer, I sign out of Skype so that the INQ1 has exclusive access to calls. I’d like to try reproducing this problem using Windows XP next week.

Overall, Skype is extremely impressive and the INQ1’s “Merge Contacts” gives the experience added value. Perhaps I’m asking too much, but I wish I could start a Skype call with speed dial as well as through my Contacts.

Wonder if there’s a way to stop vibrate alerting me of msgs when INQ1 is pressed to my ear...

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:22:26 +0000

Wonder if there’s a way to stop vibrate alerting me of msgs when INQ1 is pressed to my ear mid-call

Hold power button for 5 secs & release = power off. Hold for 10 secs & release = reboot.

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:20:38 +0000

Hold power button for 5 secs & release = power off. Hold for 10 secs & release = reboot.

I’d love to be able to change the order of items in the switcher.

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:20:38 +0000

I’d love to be able to change the order of items in the switcher.

marco: Louis CK: “Everything is so amazing and nobody is...

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:19:06 +0000

marco:

Louis CK:

“Everything is so amazing and nobody is happy.”

A surprisingly in-depth criticism of modern society in the guise of a brief comedic interview on a late-night talk show.

(thanks, inky)

I’m reblogging this for some perspective.

In the past, when I’ve reviewed products, I’ve been known to recommend them even if they’re not the best device on the market. This is wrong, I know, as just because something works for me and fulfils my needs doesn’t mean that it is the best product in its class and thus worth being recommended.

With the INQ1 it’s really easy to explain what makes it a great handset and what could be improved upon. What’s challenging is finding where I am positioned relative to the rest of the market, and therefore what kind of recommendation it deserves from me.

So far, I see this phone as being as game changing to the mobile world as the Asus EeePC was to portable laptops / netbooks.

I feel that I AM the target audience for this handset so my review should be exactly as I see it. The video above compared what level of technology he had grown up around to where he stood now. I will compare the INQ1 to the device I just came from - 3’s Nokia 6120.

RSS as a feature

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:47:47 +0000

erikschmidt:

mrgan:

marco:

@danielpunkass:

At a time when RSS is only getting more popular, the Safari 4 Beta RSS feature marketing section is void of “New” claims.

Regular people still don’t use or understand RSS, so it’s understandable why Safari wouldn’t play that up very much.

I think we’ll see more products and features that are based on RSS but don’t call it that. RSS is valuable, but like other underlying technologies and data formats of the internet (HTML, HTTP, IMAP, MPEG-4), it needs to be packaged into consumer-friendly and consumer-relevant concepts, terms, and products.

It would be nice, however, if Apple themselves decide to take a crack at some sort of consumer-friendly, RSS-based app. NOT a NetNewsWire, but something that used RSS as an underlying technology.

As they are currently, the implementations in Safari and Mail are almost literal format representations - “here’s a list of items in this feed. Have fun!” For my money, Mac OS X’s RSS screensaver is a better RSS app.

I love NetNewsWire. No matter how many alternatives I try, I always come back to it. But I’m not most people. It is very difficult to explain to most folks why RSS Can Help You, even people like lawyers, who consume huge amounts of information in their jobs. RSS needs a killer app.

RSS is still an acronym that leaves most people staring back at you blankly. In a lecture theatre brimming with netbooks, macbooks and dells, postgrad students are still new to the concept and filled with questions on its uses for business.

It is definitely gaining ground though. Evidence of this can be seen in the mass market handset from INQ. “Feeds” features in the main menu of the INQ1, and the home screen can run up to three RSS widgets that scroll through posts. It even integrates with the contact list, which has a field for a friend’s blog/site RSS.

Mostly RSS is helpful for condensing the reading of various sites into one page or viewing portal. It often cuts down the quantity of adverts that we’d normally be viewing peripherially.

What bothers me though is truncating feeds. Whilst I completely understand why it is often tuned that way, to me, the whole purpose of an RSS feed is defeated if I am forced to click through to the site to continue my reading.

The Twitter “Fail Whale” on the INQ1 at...

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:04:00 +0000

The Twitter “Fail Whale” on the INQ1 at Twestival.

Twitter integration is on the horizon and will be coming to the “INQ2” according to this article on ElectricPig. I find this particularly exciting as I’m a twitter nut.

A handset that ties together all my contact lists and allows me to single out a person and then make a decision about which platform/service/medium I’d like to use to get in touch - that’s a dream come true.

INQ1 has me 90% of the way there. My Skype, MSN and Facebook usage has definitely increased, but purely because I’m less connected to Twitter than I am to those services.

I’m currently installing Twibble with the help of @jwillmoth, hoping that this Java app can improve upon the mighty @dabr website.

A Mobile Phone for Facebook Lovers - by Om Malik

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:38:39 +0000

A Mobile Phone for Facebook Lovers - by Om Malik:

Great article by my favourite Silicon Valley writer.

Om points out the key to the concept - it’s a mass market handset with a great UI that will ensure data usage growth continues on mobile networks.

Here in the UK we are usually left to queue behind American consumers for products to be released, especially technology / electronics; so this article made me feel quite smug when Om expresses his disappointment that INQ1 won’t work in the US.