Surfing the data waves
Today, it’s all about data, data, data and waves. First up at Hydrapinion, I opined about the odd nature of Optus’ latest data promotion:
Hydrapinion: Half price data pricing makes half as much sense: “I mean, really, which sounds better to you — the ‘fake’ 4 to 8c per MB, or the actual 0.5-1c per MB?”
I’m not done with data analysis yet, though, as Internode’s announced changes to its broadband plans go under the analytical hammer at PC Authority:
How do Internode’s new mega-allowance plans stack up? “How do Internode’s new plans compare to Telstra’s recent drastic price drops? We crunch the numbers to assess the real value.”
And then finally at Geekspeak, I go over the basics of Google’s soon-to-be-defunct Wave product:
Geekspeak: Waving Goodbye: “Not every tech product is an instant hit, even when it’s backed by a big brand name.”
Data ain’t data…
That’s broadband data, that is. Not so much Brent Spiner, if you know what I mean. In this case, another analysis of broadband plans article for PC Authority, looking at this week’s announcement by Optus of “off-peak” mobile broadband plans:
Optus launches off-peak Mobile Broadband – but is it good value? “We crunch the numbers on Optus’ latest broadband deals.”
I’m a washerwoman. Doesn’t stop the words, though.
For the record, I spent today vacuuming, tidying toys, washing clothes, hanging clothes, drying clothes, mopping floors, putting clothes away and entertaining a three year old in the middle of it all. Basically, by midday today, I looked astonishingly like this, only with less hair.
That didn’t stop plenty of my delightfully hand-crafted words from hitting the Web, however. More of the PC Authority Mobile Broadband guide is available online for your reading pleasure. Today’s targets: Optus and Optimisation.
Terrible plan values put a dent in the high speed offerings of Optus wireless broadband: “Optus defies our speed expectations, but plan values are woeful.”
5 ways to boost your broadband speed: “Wireless broadband speeds can often be hit or miss. We take a look five simple steps that should help improve your broadband speeds.”
Then over at GadgetGuy, I’ve cast an eye over this year’s most heavily hyped gadget category: eBook readers.
Top Shelf: An eBook reader round-up: “Electronic books have been around almost as long as electronic text in one form or another, but with the imminent launch of Apple’s iPad, the category is undergoing something of a renaissance.”
Broadband tests and vintage browsers
First up, today’s Vintage Tech column at PC Authority, which looks at the granddaddy of the modern graphical browser:
Vintage Tech: Looking back at Mosaic: “The DNA of Mosaic runs through pretty much any modern Internet browser. So what did it look like, and why was it so special?”
It might be obvious that I’ve been pretty flat out of late. But it’s nothing in comparison to a month ago, where I was running all over town (and across several states) testing wireless broadband solutions. Testing them at home. Testing them in Queensland hotel rooms in the middle of a monsoon. Testing them by a river in the middle of regional New South Wales. Testing them (to the amazement of the staff) in a coffee shop in the CBD of Sydney. There’s nothing quite like pulling out half a dozen netbooks and firing them all up at once to run tests to draw stares. Well, more stares than I draw normally, anyway.
The end result of all this bandwidth burning and city hopping? A comprehensive guide to mobile broadband performance and mobile broadband deals, in this month’s print edition of PC Authority which should be on sale now. Tell them I sent you, and you’ll get no discount whatsoever, but may get stared at funny, just like I tended to while testing!
In the future, all travel will be by Mothra…
Just think of the environmental benefits — Mothra‘s self powering, essentially non-polluting, large enough to carry multiple people (so you’d qualify as public transport, and thus could fly above the bus lanes) and silent when in motion. Accidents would be a thing of the past, as Mothra can protect you from incoming traffic, and any stray Godzilla-related activity.
And who really wouldn’t want to arrive at work astride a mighty lightning-breathing winged steed? Nobody, that’s who. And you don’t look like a nobody to me.
Oh well, I can dream, can’t I?
And that’s an incredibly clumsy segue into my latest review, live now at GadgetGuy:
HTC Dream: “HTC’s Dream merges the generally excellent Google-backed “Android” phone operating system with a handset that is in many respects rather average. The result is still an enticing phone, but we can’t help but think that future Android-based offerings might be even better value.”
100,002
Yep, it’s this week’s hot-button topic, again, this time at PC Authority:
iPhone Plan Picker: Best deals for Light, Medium and Heavy users: “To go with Telstra, or not to go with Telstra? Weigh up the decision with our full analysis of the best deals in three scenarios, as well as the best overall iPhone 3G plans from Optus, Vodafone, and Telstra.”
Let the floodgates open!
Apple’s NDA on the iPhone 3G expired this morning at 12:01am, local Sydney time, and predictably, there’s a flood of reviews online right now. Like, for example, mine, live now at GadgetGuy.com.au:
Apple iPhone 3G: “Apple’s 3G iPhone isn’t quite as revolutionary as the hype might have you believe. Indeed, an awful lot of what it does is replicated on any number of other phones. Where it absolutely leaves those phones in the dust is in ease of use, thanks to the slick interface, excellent embedded browser and ease of adding applications to the phone. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a phone that’s also genuinely fun to play with, either.”
(as a side note, can people please stop referring to it as the “Jesus Phone” now? By definition, when Jesus returns, he’s not going to need a phone. He comes, as it were, with inbuilt communications facilities…)
