O2 XDA Exec: A brief review

Well I’ve been using my new XDA Exec for a few days now, and apart from the eternal argument about size & weight (although it escapes me how it could get any smaller and still be as functional) I can honestly say that at moment (nice get out there for later posts) that I have only two complaints (apart from the also eternal requests for more speed/memory/storage/kitchen-sink-integration).

What’s wrong with it then?

The most obvious defect is that when the device is closed, you have no way of knowing who is calling. You either have to answer on faith, or open it up. This is an oversight on HTC’s (the manufacturer of the Universal, which is branded the Exec by O2) part, and something I hope will be addressed in future designs of this type.

My only other complaint is a software one: Skype doesn’t support Bluetooth headsets. You can of course use the wired headset, but it’s still a valid annoyance (although of course this has nothing to do with the device itself which is what I’m reviewing here).

Is it really that perfect?

For me? Yes. For you? Well, that depends now doesn’t it.

I’ve always been a PDA “power user”, and the Exec is definitely designed for people like me. If you primarily use your phone for talking or your PDA as a diary, then this isn’t the device for you. If however – like me – you want a device that keeps you connected pretty much all the time, then you really want to consider it.

Although I use my phone for voice calls a fair bit, I’ve always preferred asynchronous methods of communication: email, text messages and IM (not asynchronous, but a least you can generally tell if the other party is open to contact). The Exec allows me to easily do all these, plus voice calls and web browsing from a single device. In addition it allows me to use Skype for (much) cheaper calls anywhere I can get WiFi (and presumably 3G) coverage. Then throw in the fact that it uses a single contact list (something that’s always annoyed me about using separate devices), has all the usual PDA trappings (calendar, tasks etc.), and is extensible (either by off-the-shelf or homebrew software) and – for me – you have an extremely compelling device.

So, how are you using it?

In a number of ways:

I can’t really think of anything else positive to say about it, so I’ll just reiterate how pleased I am with it. I’ll also point out that this post was composed offline in Word Mobile and posted via Pocket IE.

¹ A film that I find the concept behind genuinely terrifying, because something like that could happen and we could do nothing (or at least very little) about it.

Flock-ing annoying

The other day I posted about the new browser Flock. Well I’ve tried it for a few days, and I’m getting annoyed with it.

Since essentially it’s just Firefox with some extensions bolted on, you’d have thought the added bits would be polished. Instead I’ve found the del.icio.us integration a poor second to the Firefox extension, and blogging is a chore – it produces a screwed up HTML post that you can’t even edit the source before it’s published, and you can’t categorise your posts at all! Of the few I’ve done via Flock, I’ve had to go into the admin side of my blog to tweak and categorise them afterwards.

So ofr the time being, good old Firefox is my browser of choice again.

New toy!

I’ve finally caved in and bought myself a new handheld/phone – an O2 XDA Exec.

This little thing packs in an amazing amount of functionality into one unit:

All running on Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0, so I can have great fun writing applications to use on it!

So far all I’ve done is unbox it (from its very clever box – see below) and plug it in. When it’s fully charged (8 hours!) I’ll start configuring it.

Career Advancement

I know I’ve been quiet of late, but there’s a reason for that… I’ve become management! (cue ominous sounding music)

I’ve been considering a change of direction at work for a while now as I’d reached the stage where I was becoming bored in my job – I knew I could easily do everything that was asked of me. I’d considered (and indeed taken steps toward) moving into project management, but before I could go too far along that track my team leader decided she’d had enough and took an extended leave-of-absence. Her role was offered to me, and I decided to take the plunge.

I’ve been officially in my new role for a week now (although I’ve been doing for a week and a half as my predecessor wound down), and thoroughly enjoying it. It can be frustrating dealing with the politics, but I’m constantly occupied (which is a good thing) and learning a lot. I’m also relying on my team members a lot as there is no way I can do everything now – I suffered from an inability to delegate before mainly because I believed no-one else could do as good a job as me, but now I have no choice.

Hopefully this will also give me chance to step back from focusing on the tech that I required for my job (e.g. .NET) and focus on the stuff that actually interests me – something I’ve felt a lack of recently.

Flock Me

This is post is brought to you by the latest browser on the block: Flock. OK, so it’s a not a new browser per se – it’s a customised version of Firefox that includes blog, del.icio.us and flickr integration, so really it’s a new browser concept.

So far I’ve only played with it, and had to jump through hoops to get it to support my (admitedly non-mainstream) blog engine, but I will say it looks interesting and I look forward to seeing how it develops.

Impressed

A friend of Mrs. Schwuk wants to go wireless so her computer can go back upstairs. After looking at various options, I found a deal on eBay that was just to good to pass up for her:

…for less than £70 including delivery.

Once they arrived (the day after I paid for them – great service!), I unpacked the router and fired it up.

Setup was painless: Unpack, plug in and turn on; enter your ADSL username and password, and you’re surfing. That’s it. Touching nothing else, I did a full Shields UP! and it passed with flying colours. I then played around with some of the options and it’s a very full featured device – there’s enough there to satisfy the tinkerers amongst us, but it works extremely well out of the box.

I’m so enamored of it I’m considering replacing my IPCop and green frog combo with one. If that’s not endorsment enough, I don’t know what is!

Look before you leap

Next time I should check a bit more thoroughly before shooting my mouth off.

Turns out spam filtering works sooooo much better if you actually have the SpamAssassin daemon running.

D’oh!

I hate spam

Not so long ago I boasted about how good it was running my own solution for handling mail inc. spam filtering and virus scanning.

It was good while it lasted…

I don’t know what has happened, but all of a sudden most obvious spam is reaching my inbox and virus scanning is not happening at all. The worst bit? I can’t figure out how to fix it.

I am this far away from just forwarding all my mail through GMail and being done with it. I refuse to give up though!

At least for a couple of hours…watch this space!

Bloglines, meet GReader

I’ve just stumbled across Google Reader. This is Google’s online RSS aggregator, in direct competition with Bloglines. As expected for any modern web application, there is a healthy helping of AJAX (although Google normally refer to is as plain old JavaScript).

There’s a (very brief) tour for the nervous/curious, but it’s just as easy to sign in with your Gmail ID (which is fast becoming the Google Passport) and start using it. I’ve already imported all my subscription from Bloglines, so I’ll see how I get on…