tech.am

I could not resist, having video on an iPod the size of the new Nano was just too tempting…so I got one. As soon as I connected it to iTunes, it prompted me to install the software update that was made available a couple of days ago, after that it synced music & videos, and off I went.

Much to my surprise, this afternoon it started behaving erratically – whenever I pressed the fast forward or rewind buttons, the iPod would keep skipping in the same direction until either the end or the start of the song was reached respectively. One annoying thing is that the skip steps are much bigger than on the previous Nano, and so it makes the process less accurate. Combined with this bug, it’s unusable. The only way to stop it is to pause, and resume playback, and since the steps are so large, it’s a hit-and-miss proposition.

Here is a short video showing the behavior.

It actually indicates GPRS attachment status, the capability (or lack thereof) of sending and receiving data, be it over plain old GPRS, or the faster EDGE. I was going to comment on the original Engadget blog post, but after seeing a few pages of comments already, I doubt they would have noticed it. This is where they get it wrong:

You’ll notice the iTunes WiFi Store icon, and an O2-UK network symbol up top. If you look carefully, you’ll see that the E logo for EDGE is missing: we guess that 30% network coverage on O2 don’t quite stretch inside the Apple Store.

A bit further down, they mention this again:

O2 iPhone on the left, unlocked US iPhone on the right (running on T-Mobile’s UK network). Note that the O2 iPhone doesn’t show the EDGE logo, but the unlocked phone on T-Mobile does. You can probably guess at what we’re getting at here: O2’s EDGE coverage sucks.

In this particular side-by-side photo, T-Mobile’s coverage is marginally lower than O2’s, but they should both be capable of sending GPRS traffic. Another reason they get this wrong is that the waves icon ‘overwrites’ the E symbol while the iPhone is connected to a WiFi network, so you could still have GPRS/EDGE attachment in the background, so-to-speak. In my particular case, the iPhone is happily registered on Vodafone Spain, and is attached to GPRS (no EDGE here at all), showing the E while I’m not in range of WiFi.

The iPhone also does something very clever – when you open an application that requires a data connection, it will start a GPRS attach and session, while it asks you if you want to join any of the nearby WiFi networks (if any). In case you say no, the alternative data connection is already established, cutting down on extra waiting time before you start seeing content on your screen. This may seem stupid to Europeans, by default stuck with hugely expensive pay-as-you-go data (50 Euro cents per 250kB!!), but with the original AT&T voice + data plan, it does not really matter.

And Telefonica, who owns them, just as much. If the rumors are true, they will be surrendering around 40% of revenue (not profit, revenue) from each client using an iPhone, in exchange for an exclusive distribution deal in the UK. What is going to be the likely problem for end users here? Traditionally, when you buy a phone in Europe that is tied to a contract, you have to sign the papers before you can even smell the phone, and thus are bound by the terms. In the US, you can just buy the phone at the store, take it home, and get the contract set up with AT&T through iTunes there while sipping a coffee.

Unlocking your $400 iPhone is now possible, and so you’re no longer bound by an AT&T contract. In Europe, however, you may be able to unlock the phone just the same, but you will have to stay with the contract or pay the cancellation fee. Either way, operators stand to have better deal than AT&T.

Last Saturday, while reading through my feeds, I noticed this post on TechCrunch by Duncan Riley, where he tells the story of an attempt by scammers to get his Skype credentials (and wonders why they’d want to do such a thing), much in the same way we’re accustomed to receive emails from PayPal, eBay, and almost any bank on earth. These emails claim there is a problem with your account, and you should ‘confirm your details’ in order to stop said account from being suspended. This will of course do nothing other than give your credentials to these criminals for unhealthy purposes.

Today, a friend that I had not chatted with in some time comes online, and sends me this:

My first thought has been “Uhm, why would Mike send me something like this?”. He’s not prone to even send smilies, always very short and to the point. I go to ask him about it, but I then notice he is in do-not-disturb mode, so I cannot even warn him about the now-obvious scam! It seems that phishers and other scum are realizing people fall for email traps less and less, and are attacking other more trustworthy systems. In this case, the attacker is sending a screensaver, most likely loaded with a trojan. Beware of -any- communication, even from friends, that is unusual in timing, behavior or content. Also, beware about being asked for your IM details, and use strong passwords.