Amazingly enough, Wired, which usually is poorly written (in my humble opinion), has a fantastic new article on guide for looking into Smartphones (Boy Genius Report was close but theirs doesnt talk about the carriers and plans at all). With everyone writing about phones, phones taking over Times Square, $3 mill iPhones and that, phones are apparently the hip thing this year (pssst if you live in Nashville and want Sprint email me). Anyway, point being with all the damn clutter and multiple operating systems, it is nice to have summaries, reviews and what not. Wired’s was impressive enough that I felt it deserved a nod.

FYI, i do work at Sprint now, and I do think the Droid logo on Times Square looks too much like Lord of the Rings.

Also, random note, but I get extremely irritable of people touting the Android has a shitty camera and shitty music player. Don’t get me wrong, it DOES, but that is what an App store is for. Anyone with Android just search music and see what i mean, there’s like 5 upgraded players (i recommend TuneWiki) on the damn thing.

So what’re my recommendations?

Smartphones:Basically, if you are looking for multi-media, internet browsing and email/calander sync, and have google, i recommend Android (Palm is also cool if you are on Sprint). If you need hardcore business email, exchange support Blackberry is still fantastic (although WinMo 6.5 is at least getting updates). Note that Android does support Microsoft Exchange, but honestly if you want the safe, secure thing Blackberry is still the best bet.

Verizon: Moto Droid, Blackberry Tour if you need heavy exchange/business use.

Sprint: HTC Hero or Moment (I finally got to try out a moment, fairly impressive). Palm Pixi for first time smartphone users. Blackberry Tour for Business users.

AT&T- iPhone. Blackberry Bold 2 looks nice so far.

T-Mobile: Anything but a Sidekick. MyTouch 3G is still sweet and Cyanogen makes it even better.

And once you get a smartphone the key is customizing it, and making sure it does what you want it to. I should have postings throughout this blog for tethering and adding nice tidbits for iPhone, Android, Palm WebOS and Blackberry, so feel free to browse, I’ll try and add links and updates here in a day or two, this was just a quick rant in a sleepless night.

Hamar Skiklubb, min skiklubb, er en meget tradisjonsrik, aktiv og innovativ klubb! Om en drøy uke feirer skiklubben sitt femtiårsjubileum, med sprintrenn på Hamars storstue- Briskeby! Rennet er terminfestet, og klart for påmelding! Bli med på skifest i Hamar!

Hamar Skiklubb 1959-2009, femti år! HIPP HURRA!

Sjekk også hjemmesidene for info og påmelding, HER.

Pressemelding:

Lørdag 5. desember arrangerer Hamar Skiklubb jubileumsrenn for alle klasser på Briskeby stadion i Hamar. Men 100 meter sprint mellom dødlinjene på den nye flotte fotballarenaen, med bilder på storskjerm og publikum på tribunene, skal dette bli et spektakulært skirenn. Fullt på høyde med sprinten i Düsseldorf, som går på samme dato, sier rennleder Erik Neby.

Rennet er åpent for alle klasser fra 8 år, og vil bli gjennomført med heatstarter både i prolog og finaler.

Amerikaneren Andrew Newell har den uoffisielle verdensrekorden på 100 meter flatt på langrennski, med tida 12.47. Rennet på Briskeby blir gjennomført med startpistol og videotidtaking. Dermed ligger alt til rette for meget nøyaktige tider.

Rennet går i klassisk stil, med seks løpere i hvert heat.

- I dag er gresset grønt på Briskeby stadion, men førstkommende søndag setter vi i gang snøkanonen. Langtidsvarselet viser gode gammeldagse kuldegrader i uka som kommer, og vi regner med å få fantastiske skiforhold på Briskeby til renndagen, avslutter Neby.

Kontaktperson: Rennleder Erik Neby, Hamar skiklubb, mob 46923984; eneb@online.no

Black Friday is just around the corner, and you know what that means? Yeah, credit card time again

I heard Apple is having their Black Friday sale again too on their online store at apple.com. Don’t expect big price cuts though, price cuts are usually in the range of 3% to 7%. I also read that a bunch of cell phones (read: smartphones) like the Samsung Instinct and a few HTC phones are going to be free (and some will cost $0.01) on Amazon.

Gizmodo’s also got a hold of a complete list of deals on Black Friday.
Take a look at the list here.

I guess that after kicking AT&T all over the Map with their ads and in court (thus far), Verizon is getting bold. Now they’ve gone to the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus to get Sprint to drop their “Most Dependable” claim about their network. What do they have as proof? They have a study performed by Nielsen Co. that says that less calls are dropped on Verizon vs. Sprint. The funny thing is that the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus agreed with Verizon [Warining: PDF]. So now they’re 2 for 2. Sprint is going to appeal this decision, so expect a round two, or more.

So Verizon, you’ve targeted AT&T and Sprint. Who’s next for you?

Check out the newest chapter in the Battle of the Networks saga. This time, Sprint takes some ground, and Big V gets a taste of their own medicine.

Link: http://techsspace.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/battle-of-the-networks-sprint-steps-in/

Ok, you know the beginning. Verizon goes after AT&T, saying that AT&T’s 3G network is bad, and makes commercials about it. AT&T gets mad and tries to sue Big V, but fails. AT&T then attempts to fight back and makes their own ads…and to tell the truth, AT&T’s ads suck. Soon after, Apple makes iPhone ads that say “Can your phone and network do that?” or something like that at the end of them.

This time around, Sprint is saying that they have the most reliable 3G network, and Verizon got a taste of their own medicine. Verizon is trying to sue Sprint, and I’ll have more on that, next time.

Verizon “Map For That” ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZPjJI0K7Bk
Verizon “Misfit Toys” ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JgrBtn8XdU
AT&T “Side by Side” ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3PbBmElObI
Apple “Did you see my email?” ad: http://vimeo.com/7777019
Apple “What time’s the movie?” ad: http://vimeo.com/7777115
Sprint “Now Network: What’s Happening” ad: http://www.youtube.com/watchv=6wfo2ykakW4

Just copy and paste the links into your address bar.

Misión cumplida.
El piloto del Chevrolet nº 48 del equipo Hendrick Motorsport, Jimmie Johnson, ha logrado el objetivo marcado allá por el lejano mes de Febrero en Daytona: lograr su cuarto titulo consecutivo. Nadie lo había hecho hasta ahora. Ni siquiera los más grandes. Tanto Richard Petty como Dale Earnhardt lograron 7 títulos cada uno, pero nunca 4 consecutivos. Ahora todos los aficionados a la NASCAR se preguntan cuanto tardará Johnson en batir a los 2 grandes, y también hasta donde podrá llegar el gran piloto californiano de 34 años.

A Johnson le valía terminar entre los 25 mejores en la Ford 400, última prueba del Chase for the Sprint Cup, que se disputaba en el Homestead-Miami Speedway. Al final, su sobrada quinta posición le permitía escribir su nombre con letras de oro en la historia de este deporte.

Consciente de la importancia de clasificar delante, para evitar posibles incidentes al rodar en tráfico, y para elegir un buen box, Johnson se hacía con la Pole Position en la sesión del viernes, tras pedir consejo a uno de los pilotos con más experiencia en la pista de Homestead: Tony Stewart.

La carrera se iniciaba liderada por el campeón, que tras mantener la posición en la primera vuelta se llevaba 5 puntos de bonificación. De esa manera se aseguraba el titulo terminando entre los 27 primeros, abriendo su margen 2 posiciones más.

Después de encabezar las 10 primeras vueltas, Marcos Ambrose, que había clasificado entre los primeros, se colocaba en primer lugar, aunque 3 vueltas más tarde sufría un pinchazo tras rozar el muro, y cedía su plaza de nuevo a Johnson.

El primer tramo de carrera transcurrió sin incidentes, alternándose en cabeza Tony Stewart y Kevin Harvick, pasando todos los participantes por el pit lane para hacer el primer repostaje bajo bandera verde.

Los problemas para Marcos Ambrose se iban a reproducir, sufriendo un trompo en la curva 4, y provocando la primera neutralización de la prueba en la vuelta 81.

La carrera se reanudaba 5 vueltas después con Tony Stewart aún en cabeza, aunque iba a ceder la plaza ante el empuje de Kevin Harvick, muy activo en las primeras posiciones.
El que no era capaz de rodar en posiciones adelantadas era Mark Martin, único piloto que podía arrebatar el título a Johnson, y en ningún momento daba la impresión de poder inquietar a “Superman”.

Tras 2 interrupciones provocadas por John Andretti primero, y Marcos Ambrose después, ambos por golpear el muro, llegaba el primer asalto de la pelea entre Tony Stewart y Juan Pablo Montoya.
En la vuelta 115, el Chevrolet nº 42 del colombiano golpeaba por detrás al nº 14 de Stewart, y en la siguiente, este le devolvía el favor, golpeándose ambos lateralmente.
El contacto provocaba que Montoya sufriera un pinchazo, y se fuera contra el muro pocos metros después. Los daños en el Chevy nº 42 obligaban al colombiano a retirarse a su garaje para hacer reparaciones, perdiendo 28 vueltas respecto a la cabeza.

En la entrada al pit lane durante la misma neutralización, un choque en cadena dejaba a Elliot Sadler fuera de carrera, al destrozar el frontal de su Dodge tras golpear la parte trasera del 43 de Reed Sorenson.

Kevin Harvick volvía a liderar la prueba al llegar a su ecuador, momento en el que Kurt Busch hacía su aparición y se colocaba primero.

Mientras, Juan Pablo Montoya había vuelto a pista. Poco después, en la vuelta 155, volvía a golpear a Tony Stewart por detrás, provocando que perdiese el control del coche, y enviándolo contra el muro interior. Segundos antes, la NASCAR había advertido a ambos pilotos que su incidente anterior debía estar solucionado, algo que Montoya no debió de oír. Los comisarios le enseñaban bandera negra, y era penalizado con 2 vueltas, con la advertencia de que si volvía a golpear a algún otro piloto, su temporada se habría terminado.

Por delante, Denny Hamlin se había encaramado a la primera posición, demostrando ser uno de los candidatos a la victoria. Tras ceder la plaza a Kurt Busch primero, y a su hermano Kyle después, Hamlin recuperaba el mando de la prueba después del último reinicio, en la vuelta 223, y aguantaba la posición hasta cruzar la meta en primer lugar, obteniendo su cuarta victoria de la temporada, y ganando 3 posiciones en la clasificación general final.

En segunda posición terminaba Jeff Burton, seguido por Kevin Harvick y Kurt Busch.

En quinta posición, Jimmie Johnson veía la última bandera a cuadros de la temporada, y se convertía en el primer piloto de la historia en ganar 4 títulos consecutivos.

Con fuegos artificiales y una gran ovación del público de fondo, Johnson levantaba la Copa Sprint, rodeado de todo su equipo. La única ausencia era la de Rick Hendrick, que no estaba presente Homestead.

- “La verdad es que hacer lo que no se había hecho hasta ahora en este deporte – amándolo como lo amo y respetándolo como lo respeto – hacer algo que no habían hecho Petty, Earnhardt, Gordon…es magnífico. Ganar 4 campeonatos en 8 años, lo que ha hecho este equipo. No se por donde empezar. Es increíble.”

La competición se despide hasta el comienzo de la temporada 2010, el segundo fin de semana de Febrero en el Daytona International Speedway.

Clasificación Final:
1º – (—) Jimmie Johnson: 6652
2º – (—) Mark Martin: 6511
3º – (—) Jeff Gordon: 6473
4º – (—) Kurt Busch: 6446
5º – (+3) Denny Hamlin: 6335
6º – (-1) Tony Stewart: 6309
7º – (—) Greg Biffle: 6292
8º – (-2) J.P. Montoya: 6252
9º – (—) Ryan Newman: 6175
10º – (—) Kasey Khane: 6128
11º – (—) Carl Edwards: 6118
12º – (—) Brian Vickers: 5929

Eventhough Verizon won the “There’s a Map for that” court battle, AT&T won’t take Verizon’s attack lieing down. Recently AT&T recruited one of my favorite actors, Luke Wilson, to do a few ads comparing Verizon’s phones to AT&T’s.

While these ads may not have been very effective, I still feel the iPhone is the best smartphone on the market. The iTunes and App store along with the easy user interface makes this one phone i can’t put down. Apple has also come out with their own ads backing AT&T and as always shows why there is no other phone that compares to it. See the ads below.

Here’s one of the Luke Wilson AT&T Ads:

Here’s the new Apple iPhone Ad:

What’s your favorite smartphone?

UPDATE: Apparently Verizon wants to pick on everyone in the block. According to a recent engadget.com post, the service provider giant is now setting Sprint within their sights, stating their dislike for the “Most Dependable 3G Network” Tagline claim. View the article here: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/24/verizon-goes-after-sprints-most-dependable-3g-network-ad-clai/

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by Mark Walsh

Boost Mobile, Sprint’s prepaid unit, today touted the release of its latest handset-the Motorola i410-a no-frills flip phone for anyone not in the market for an iPhone. Boost offers several other Motorola phones, including the higher-end Clutch, sporting a full Qwerty keyboard. But like other prepaid services, it doesn’t offer a true smartphone, like the new Motorola Cliq or HTC Hero sold by Sprint for contract customers.

With its $50 a month all-you-can-eat plan covering voice, text and data, Boost has among the best service plans out there. Since launched last year, the plan has proven a hit with customers. Boost has added 2.1 million customers in the first three quarters of 2009 even as Sprint continued to hemorrhage contract subscribers.

T-Mobile has just come out with a no-contract BlackBerry offering as part of its new prepaid Even More Plus plans that start at $50 a month for unlimited voice.

The move capitalizes on two of this year’s biggest trends-widening use of smartphones and the consumer shift from contract to prepaid plans as a result of the economic downturn. Further, mobile consulting firm Chetan Charma estimates that 50% to 60% of those who’ve made the switch aren’t going back to contract plans anyway.

As more people become accustomed to no-contract plans, they’re also getting used to more versatile handsets. Boost could unite what are now seen as two distinct markets-prepaid customers and smartphone users-with the launch of a prepaid smartphone. As it is, Sprint and other wireless carriers want to use the hottest devices to lure more lucrative contract subscribers.

But a prepaid smartphone wouldn’t necessarily have to be subsidized. T-Mobile is selling the BlackBerry Curve 8520 for $299, for example. Consumer pay more upfront but perhaps less over the life of what would have been a one- or two-year contract. While the more limited range of Boost’s push-to-talk (iDEN) network could make adding a smartphone more challenging, analyst Avi Greengart of Current Analysis expects prepaid smartphones won’t be an oxymoron much longer.

“There is tremendous competition at the low end of the smartphone range, and Moore’s Law ensures continued falling prices, making prepaid smartphones more palatable over time,” he said. Call it the democratization of the smartphone.

Normally it aint cool being a turkey this close to Thanksgiving but this Hokie has some Friday game picks that you should gobble up.  I’ll leave the Saturday early games to TBone and late games to Blue. 

1. Temple -2.5 at Ohio
2. Rutgers -4 at Louisville

The Samsung Moment wasn’t a phone I’d originally intended on test-driving, but it was on display immediately next to the Pre and it runs Android, so I decided to give it a go.  Software-wise it seemed pretty similar to the CLIQ I tried at T-Mobile, though it is a slightly older version (1.5 “Cupcake” instead of 1.6 “Donut”) so there are some small differences.  After my hands-on I learned that the Moment has an 800MHz processor that is supposedly much faster than its competitors, but I couldn’t tell while using it.  The keyboard was a bit laggy and scrolling was sometimes a bit herky-jerky, putting its performance merely on par with the other phones I’ve tried.

Build-wise I was unimpressed.  While it didn’t feel shoddy, it also didn’t feel as solid as I’d like.  There was a bit of give in the body when twisted and buttons wiggled a little more than I’d like them to, but overall there was nothing that gave me serious concern.  I’m beginning to suspect I’m simply spoiled by the iPhone’s rigidity, but regardless it’s the standard I’ve come to expect in that department.  Also, the headphone and USB jacks had those annoying little rubber covers you have to pick at to get off, which I really didn’t like.  Related to the build, the phone felt kind of big.  In terms of raw measurements it actually isn’t much bigger than my iPhone and isn’t dramatically heavier, but something about it just felt kind of clunky.  It might be its less-than-slick design, or the presence of the massive keyboard, but whatever it is it does make the phone seem a little hefty regardless of whether or not it actually is.

The keyboard is indeed huge, and it really set this phone apart from the others I’ve seen.  The numbers get their own row (unlike the Pre and the CLIQ), the keys aren’t in perfect, vertical, un-keyboard-like rows (unlike the Pre and the CLIQ), and the keys are big enough and have enough space between them to be usable by my big hands.  I found it one of the more comfortable hard keyboards I’ve used, and a big improvement over the Pre’s.  The keyboard layout, however, really wrecks what otherwise could have been my favorite keyboard so far.  The space bar is annoyingly inserted between the V and B keys, and the letters on the bottom row are aligned with the letters above them differently than a normal keyboard layout.  So you basically have to learn a new keyboard layout to type on this keyboard.  While I’m sure that could be accomplished with time, it was maddening to try to use it initially because my fingers kept going to the wrong places.  While I understand the placement of the space key is made tricky by the welcome addition of a dedicated row of number keys, I felt it was simply unwise to put the function and shift keys on the left where they bump the top and middle rows of letters out of place.

The phone seems like it has some advantage over the others on paper, but the real-world implementation really left me underwhelmed.  I’d be willing to overlook the dull design and obnoxious port covers if there weren’t any functional problems (e.g. the keyboard was improved), but as it is it’s just another point against the Moment.  Hopefully Samsung’s future Android efforts will improve.

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