Teknovis

Telefónica has launched a new mobile app that allows free calls and messages to other users! The app is TU Me (I do not “get” the name), and it is described in Introducing TU Me: the free all-in-one communications app from Telefónica.

It is an interesting move, because it would appear to be an over-the-top app launched by a mobile network operator!

Tags: Telefónica

I have just noticed that Vodafone Ireland are offering a new tablet called the Vodafone Smart Tab 10.

I think that for an unbranded tablet it is overpriced!

Tags: Vodafone

I just learnt that Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion, according to Facebook Buys Instagram for $1 Billion!

Wow! I am surprised by the price! I am also surprised that Facebook are interested in Instagram!

I do not use either service!

Instagram positively annoys me when I come across people using it to tweet photos!

Facebook itself does not annoy me, but its users annoy me :( Several times recently I have been asked to look at some content (either marketing material via an email list from a company that that I buy from, or from a personal contact who asks me in person), only to find that a Facebook account is required to view the content. No – I am not going to log into Facebook just to see your latest advert!

Tags: Facebook, Instagram

I read an interesting article about the differences between mobile wallets and digital wallets today – Mobile Payments: Life Is More Secure In The Cloud. I was not aware of the distinction!

There was one argument that I did not agree with:

Look at it this way: if your phone gets stolen and all your financial information is on the device, and the thief began making transactions, it would almost be impossible to tell if it was really you. With the cloud approach your account is constantly being monitored. So, for example, if a transaction is made by you in San Francisco on your desktop computer, then 10 minutes later one is made in Paris on your phone, it will immediately be clear that something’s wrong.

The author argues that the digital wallet is more secure, because it is easy to detect the fraudulent transaction being made in diverse locations. I would argue that such fraudulent transaction are inherently impossible with a mobile wallet.

I use Pulse on my Motorola Xoom. I love it, and it is possibly the most used application on my tablet. The combination of Pulse and the tablet has definitely enabled me to become more knowledgeable in everything from current affairs to hobbies!

Unfortunately, there are one or two limitation of the application that really annoy me :( I commented about this last week on Twitter, and the good people who develop Pulse read my comment and asked me to suggest how the application could be improved. So this is why I am writing this :) (I also love that Twitter enables interactions like this to occur between the application developers and the users.)

Catagories

Imagine that I am interested in following feeds that fall into seven categories, for example, Economics, Politics, Sport, Travel, Lifestyle, Technology, and Property. Currently, Pulse allows me to have a maximum of five categories! So inevitably this limitation forces me to mix completely unrelated feeds together :( This looks wrong, and it makes it difficult to find the feeds that I want when they are bunched in with unrelated feeds.

The fix to this is very simple – allow an unlimited number of categories! There is plenty of space across the top for more categories! If this space become full, then let the user swipe to move from category to category (just like moving from port to post within a feed)!

While I am writing about categories, I remember that it used be possible to click on the category title to hide the row of categories. This was great, because it freed up some extra screen space. Unfortunately this feature has been removed :(

Feeds

Imagine that I am interested in following more than ten feeds within a single category. Actually, for three of the five categories that I have on Pulse there are more than ten feeds that I would like to follow! Currently, Pulse allows me to have a maximum of ten feeds per category :( Since I am limited to five categories, I cannot divide my categories any further to overcome this limitation :( This is particularly annoying when I follow several feeds that are updated infrequently :|

To fix this simply allow an unlimited number of feeds per category!

Screenshot

The diagram below (that I took from APP OF THE DAY: Pulse review (Android Honeycomb)) shows how both of these improvements could easily be incorporated! (Click image to see larger version!)

Pulse Improvements

I do not see any technical reason why these limitations exist. My guess is that somebody hard-coded a number into an array somewhere!

It is probably worth remembering that these comments are coming from somebody who uses Pulse on an Android tablet with plenty of processor and memory resources, and a really fast WiFi Internet connection.

Hopefully this is useful!

Tags: Motorola, Pulse, Twitter

Another (after Tablets At Work) nice tablet infographic (click image to see larger version):

Tablet Use

This one is taken from How we use our tablets (Infographic).

After reading Apple granted patent for using apps during calls over the weekend, I realise that I have been infringing this patent for years :)

Actually the article seems misguided:

At present, smartphone users can either make calls or use apps – they can’t do both.

And

… for example, being able to take part in a conference call over your smartphone and interacting with information or data contained within a specific business app.

I have actually been doing both of these examples for years on my HTC P3600 (with the help of a hands-free kit)!

Tags: Apple, HTC

Google has been buying more patents to strengthen its IP portfolio. This time it bought over a thousand patents from IBM, according to Google buys another round of IBM patents as its Oracle trial nears.

I have heard that buying patents from IBM is like buying sweets in a sweet shop :) IBM is very willing to sell patents (albeit at a high price), and there are plenty for sale, but the difficulty is actually finding one that is useful!

Tags: Google, IBM

When I wrote Motorola Xoom – First Impressions I noted that I was disappointed that Skype did not support video calling. During the Christmas holidays I installed the latest version, and I am delighted to report that it works perfectly!

I am delighted with this, and I have already used it for several hours during the holidays! I now have one less reason for turning on a computer :)

Tags: Motorola, Skype

I came across an article containing many interesting facts and figures today – The mobile web in numbers.

I am sure that I will have many occasions to reference this article in the next few months!