Downgrade from iOS4

Have just "successfully" downgraded by iPhone 3G from iOS4 back to 3.1.3.  I saw "successfully", but the process leaves me with no contacts, no calendar entries, no email, no SMS messages, no pictures - a completely blank phone.

Thankfully, all my contacts, calendars and email as synced from an Exchange server and they can be restored, but it would have been nice to have been able to keep my SMS message.

NOTE TO APPLE:  If you bring out a software upgrade that effectively bricks a key component of your loyal customer bases daily lives, at least provide an official route back to the previous version with which they were happy. My experience over the last few weeks with a phone that was unusable has seriously damaged by opinion of you.

Posted via email from Kenny's posterous

Heather Mills Joke

In an interview about his failed marriage, Sir Paul McCartney was asked if he would ever go down on one knee again

In response he said, "I'd prefer it if you called her Heather."

Yesterday, I had an idea - with some mobile phones now incorporating a light sensor to control screen brightness, why do they not make full use of this circuitry and use if to control the volume of the ringtone on the device?

Often, we find ourselves having to set the volume of our ringtone at an anti social level so that it can be heard when buried in a jacket pocket or handbag then forgetting to reset it once it's been deployed onto the desk/table beside you at your destination - why not use the light sensor to increase the volume when the handset is in complete darkness? Come on guys, surely this isn't too difficult a thing to achieve?

Slightly more far fetched, but still a good idea I believe - why not fit an RFID reader in the handset and supply a set of stickers in the box (they could even be called "self adhesive RFID location identifiers" or geeks). The handset could then be programmed to perform different tasks when it identifies it is nearby on of the stickers, much like a laptop detecting different docking bays. Examples of the use of theis functionality could include diverting all calls to a land line number when at your desk in the office or set a profile that makes it only ring for friends and family when on your bedside cabinet.

Come on Mr Handset Manufacturer - somebody step up to the challenge and give us some useful functionality instead of more interchangeable facias or another trick imossibly small keypad!

Well, it was only a matter of time before Apple bumped up the MacBook Pro line to Core 2 Duos -- after all, we've seen laptop after laptop after laptop already packin' the Merom love. AppleInsider reports that anonymous sources have told them that within the next few weeks, Apple will make start production of Merom-powered notebooks in time for the holiday season. That said, there's no mention in their latest article of the MacBook getting the bump as well, but it makes sense that Apple would upgrade the higher-end products first. Still, even though we want to believe this rumor, we've been burned so many times before that we're, like, beyond jaded when it comes to Apple gossip.

Read more at source...

It looks like Michael Arrington’s report last night that Google is in talks to acquire YouTube may have been more than what he called “40% likely to be at least partially true.” The Wall St. Journal is reporting this morning that those talks are in fact underway, according to “a person familiar with the matter.” Journal writer Keven Delaney writes that the talks are in early stages and could break off. The Journal reported the same price tag that Michael did earlier, $1.6 billion. Hitwise, by the way, just posted some interesting traffic stats and discussion on Google Video vs YouTube. The gist of it is that YouTube is much bigger and growing faster and that Google sends lots of traffic to YouTube already, reportedly more than anyone but MySpace.

In a recent article in the LA Times, Google CEO Eric Schmidt has made reference to a Google Office Suite:

"The initiative's primary goal is to make Google products easier to use, especially by packaging disparate products. For example, said Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, Google plans to combine its spreadsheet, calendar and word-processing programs into one suite of Web-based applications."

Read the original source here (signup required)...

Alternatives to big LCD's

When I win the lottery, I don't want a big telly on my wall - I want my wall to be my telly!

"Versa^® TILE from Element Labs turns ordinary spaces into visually mesmerizing environments. Walls and floors come alive with colors, patterns and moving images. Versa TILE’s flexibility enables endless moods from subtle and ambient to intense and pulsating."

technorati tags:LCD, TELEVISION, DISPLAY, TILES

Electric Roadster announced by Tesla Motors

Tesla Motors recently announced the availability of its first electric vehicle, the Tesla roadster. The powerful little two-seater, which shares a lot of parts with the Lotus Elise except its price, which is roughly double of the Lotus at around $100,000 USD. Hopefully getting a few crazed Web2.0 millionaires to buy the first few models should allow Tesla to recoup some of it's R&D costs and offer an entry level sportscar at a more reasonable price.

technorati tags:Tesla, Electric, Car, Lotus, Elise

Favourite Smells

Okay, bit of an odd post this, but it's in my head at the moment and I fancy making a post about it...

My favourite smells?

1. Freshly cut grass
2. Just ground coffee beans
3. Bread baking
4. The smell of rain on tarmac

Anybody think of anything else? Post a comment and let me know...

KP

technorati tags:Favourite, Smell, Smell, Grass, Coffee, Baking, Bread, Rain, Scent

Songbird (http://www.songbirdnest.com/) is an example of how the firefox engine can be mashed up with some additional functionality and a website to create an excellent tool.

Still in the early stages of development, once this gets all it's bugs ironed out (and provides some method of syncing with portable media players) I think it could become and important player in the online media market, providing the indie labels with a workable alternative for distributing their own music.

DHTML example

Have a look at this page for an example of what can be achieved with DHTML and a little imagination...

http://www.seb.cc/particles/

Interestingly, the page says it was last updated on the 19th August 2001! I wonder what the guy has done since?