Thursday 26 March 2009

What Does A Blogger Take To Cover A Show?

We all see and follow the tech blogs that cover industry events and live blog Apple Announcements. But what tech do they take with them to do all this? Very rarely do we get to peak behind the curtains to see what they are using.

So I thought I would write about what tech I take with me to cover outdoors events like The Outdoors Show at the NEC. This kit has grown and changed since I started blogging. By that I mean I didn't start out with all this stuff, IIRC my first show I live blogged I used only an MDA Pro (it's a PDA/Smartphone).

Phone: iPhone 3G

I love my iPhone, it is a dream blogging device. Mainly due to the apps you can put on it. Using the free Wordpress app I am able to write a blog post and attach a photo without having to rely on a third party (as I did previously) to post a photo from the show floor. But I can also update social media sites as well such as Facebook and Twitter if I want with the appropriate app. I also have a voice note app on there that I can record notes on or do an audio interview with. Oh and it makes phone calls apparently as well ;-)

But all the above on the iPhone takes power, and eats up the battery. So to increase the battery life so I can get through the day I have just got a mophie juice pack.

Camera: Olympus SP-565UZ

I don't have an DSLR at the moment (that is planned, but way off in the future). But as folks have seen I have been getting some pretty decent photos with this camera on my walks (see whitespider1066.com for examples). So this is the camera I will be using at the moment.

Video Camera: Flip Mino

What a great little video camera. Not much I can say about this really. It showed it's worth last year at a trade show I went to when I was able to capture demos on the stands. If it arrives in time there maybe a second video camera going along as well which will allow me to record in HD!

Laptop/Netbook: Compaq 702 10.2-inch Mini Note

Last year I took a eee pc with me. It is a nice little netbook (it has a new home to go to), so I have replaced it with this XP based netbook from Compaq. Built in webcam, able to use Windows Live Writer, if need be I can do a quick video edit, or crop a photo. The netbook allows me to write longer better posts, and get them up. Last year the eee pc was used in the evening to write up that days blog entry ready to go up when I got home or net access (I spent two days at the show last year, and screwed up with no net access at the hotel).

Notepad and pen

Well you still can't beat the old pen and paper. It's the format I have been making my pre-show notes on ready for the day.

Well I hope that has given folks found that brief list helpful and informative.

Wednesday 18 March 2009

iPhone 3.0

Yesterday evening  (5pm GMT) Apple held their big press conference to announce the next version of the software that runs the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Like some sad Apple groupie I was following the gdgt live text feed from the event. So sitting at a pc (yes not a Mac, I was at my aunts for the evening) for the duration of the event. As the presentation progressed I got more and more excited at was appearing on the screen.

I'm not going to go into much detail about what was announced, that is getting some excellent coverage elsewhere.

The software on the iPhone was good, there were one or two features folks wanted, but it was the best on the market by a long way. Add on to that the amazing amount of applications you can get for the iPhone and none of the competition was getting close to the iPhone.

Now it is over two years since the iPhone came out. In that time we have seen two interactions of the hardware, and now the third version of the operating system.

In the same time the competition has tried to catch up and compete with the iPhone. Which frankly I don't think they have done. Market leaders Nokia have had two years to come up with a smartphone to compete and their effort announced at a Nokia world event last year will only have just made it to market by the Summer. It was already looking like it was an also ran then, but even more so now.

BlackBerry bought out an "iPhone killer" last year that promised much, but just didn't deliver. Google released the G1 to much acclaim, and is still in my opinion at the moment the main competition to the iPhone. But the G1 has been hampered by poor battery life. Which has been due to the fact it can run apps in the background, and these apps cause the battery to run down even faster. Which I think is the reason why Apple said they wouldn't allow it. Somehow ironic I think that the phone aimed at beating the iPhone proves Apples point.

I will briefly mention that fact Microsoft with Windows Mobile are being left behind. They are still talking about their next release of the operating system, which is still about a year away. It will have to be something something very very special to move folks away from the iPhone, and to compete with everyone else. I think the next release will be more evolution than revolution, and may well be the last version we see of this OS.

Finally we have what could be a true "iPhone killer" coming to market very soon, the Palm Pre. The Palm Pre is the last roll of the dice from Palm to save the company. Which looks like a very good last roll as well. The Pre was worked on by some ex-Apple iPhone guys, which as we know from using the iPhone they know a thing or two about smartphones.

The Pre is bad news for Nokia, as it makes their poor effort look even worse. I still can't believe that Nokia have got it so wrong after taking so long to come up with that phone. The Pre was good news for iPhone users. It is (or could be) the first competitor to get close to the iPhone. Competition is good.

I think it is with one eye on the Pre that Apple released version 3 of the iPhone OS yesterday. The best just got even better. The bar has been raised again, and it will be interesting to see how the competition reacts.

In the meantime I am getting excited about all the 100 new features added for users. But also about the new apps that third parties will be developing that will come out making use of the new 1000 API's they can use.

This Summer it's going to be great playing with these new apps and features, I can't wait.

Tuesday 17 March 2009

Don't Forget Apple Event This Evening

Don't forget that this evening (UK time) that Apple will be holding a press conference to announce details of the iPhone 3.0 software. This new release is rumoured to have the long awaited and demanded cut and paste.

Other chatter/rumours on the net also say that this release of the iPhone software takes it up to the same level as the new Palm Pre. Although it will not apparently have MMS or video in this release.

So I can't wait to see what new additions I will have for my iPhone 3G, which I LOVE. All these great apps you can get for it make it the best "smartphone" on the market.

More later...

Sunday 1 March 2009

Frustrated At Fleet Pond Blog

I've been getting very frustrated over at the Fleet Pond Blog as they will not allow me to post a comment with links in.

The intent of the posting was to answer a question they had asked, and also to point them to some recent links that I have done about Fleet Pond that I think they would like.

Heck some of my favourite pictures are in these links I was suggesting.

Anyway I would dig out the links, click post and the comment just disappears off into the ether.

They use WordPress, same as I do. It is easy to configure to ask for approval of comments with links in, it's what I do. WordPress also can email you letting you know when comments have been made, or need approving. Once again this is what I do.

I suppose what is also frustrating is there is no way to email the guy running it on the blog either. Which is a major no no. There has to be some way for folks to contact you directly via the blog. Not everyone wants to leave a comment, and as in this case if there is a problem how do they contact them?

So while the Fleet Pond Blog is a nice little blog about Fleet Pond. It does fail a bit in encouraging and facilitating discussion. Yet by making some very simple changes they could make things easier for their readers to comment and communicate with them.

For those interested here is what I tried to tell them, but it won't allow me. It may sound a bit short tempered, and to the point. That's just the frustration coming through.

"Well for starters, it appears there are no CountryFile magazine readers following this blog. In the February issue there was a mention of Fleet Pond in the Rural Retreats section.
I also suggested that the fungi was Yellow Brain Fungus. Which I had photographed at Fleet Pond as well here http://whitespider1066.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/p2110068.jpg

I also suggested you might be interested in some of my other posts about Fleet Pond
http://whitespider1066.com/2009/02/more-fleet-pond-indulgences/
http://whitespider1066.com/2009/02/recent-fleet-pond-pictures/
http://whitespider1066.com/2009/01/more-water-fowl/
http://whitespider1066.com/2009/01/black-swan-of-the-family/
http://whitespider1066.com/2009/01/rain-stopped-play/"