NorthGeek

Mr. Totally Awesome 2009: My Ellsworth Epiphany

‘Nuff said. Enjoy! Sorry about the dark video, I’m no pro with my MacBook…

Is working from home fun? It is with OfficePOD!

This is an awesome concept: The OfficePOD [http://www.officepod.co.uk]

I would move to the UK if an employer there would hire me and give me one of those. Ya hear that, UK? I will move to you.

How is technology changing our lives?

I’m sure many (or most) of you have already seen this, but still, it gives me goosebumps almost every time I watch it. What an interesting look at the way technology affects us all. Hmm, I wonder what our kids lives (and gadgets) will be like…

How "Live" is Qik?

I often us a free app for my BlackBerry 9000 called “Qik” – it allows me to “broadcast” live video from my phone. However, it never seems to be truly live. There is always a slight delay – but still, really cool for a mobile app! Maybe the delay is due to the not-so-fast Rogers 3G network? Has anyone tried this on AT&T in the States, or Sprint? Or even Telus or Bell here in Canada?

[UPDATE] Hey, where’s the audio? Gonna have to try this again…

OK, so there’s no time stamp… This exercise didn’t help me much!

The BlackBerry Bold Unboxing – not today!

Today Rogers launched the Blackberry Bold. Yipee! But to actually get your hands on one, you’ll need to either find one of the four stores across Canada that actually have them in stock, or you’ll need to order it from Rogers online or over the phone and wait for the package to arrive.

LAME.

Also a minor disappointment, the Bold will cost me $399 on a 3-year term. Even with my corporate account and upgrade discount of $100, it will cost $399 – very steep. The 3G speeds better be… uh… 3G-esque, and the GPS better be useful, or I’m going to be one unhappy camper.

I have a great idea for how I’m going to reveal the Bold to NorthGeek readers – stay tuned!!

And now the Nokia E71

We at NorthGeek aren’t just about iPhones and BlackBerries. Have you seen the new E series E71 from Nokia? It’s the E61 but boosted with GPS, camera, and a delicious chrome build. For those who love Symbian, this is one hot iPhone competitor. It’s doubtful that Nokia will once again strip out WiFi for the Canadian crowd.

Canada gets bold on Sept 19

The Blackberry Bold is already being sold worldwide. France Telecom’s Orange started selling it this past weekend, before AT&T in the US. Who else? Carphone Warehouse in the UK, Movistar in Chile, Germany, Austria… Canada’s Rogers will begin selling it Sept 19.

I touched it! I played with it!

That’s right ladies and gents and more gents, I played with the BlackBerry Bold 9000 last night, at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament here in Montreal.

It is sweet. Absolutely cool. A little big, but really sexy. The guy from Rogers said it is coming out August 6, but immediately following that statement, someone in the background (another Rogers person) said “ha, no way!”

Not too promising, to say the least.

In other news, I upgraded to the 6GB plan for $30 – awesome deal. I highly recommend getting on that bandwagon before August 31, when the offer expires.

Good luck to all of us BB Bold NorthGeeks.

Hints on the BlackBerry Bold release date?

I called Rogers yesterday because I was having issues connecting to EDGE on my BlackBerry Curve (as previously mentioned, the boring Curve – the 8300).

I smooth talked my way into some hints surrounding the much anticipated BlackBerry Bold.

According to Juan, my tech support representative at Rogers, he and his fellow BlackBerry technicians have already been trained on all aspects of the Bold (it’s pretty sick, according to him – although the size did throw him off a bit), therefore, the launch will be very soon. He also so “loads” of brand new Bold packages, as if they were ready to be shipped to retail outlets…

So who knows? Phil’s prediction of a June 25th BlackBerry Bold launch date could prove true!!

Holding my breath and corssing my fingers. It’s hard to type with crossed fingers and a lack of oxygen to the brainnnnn………

The Eee Trend

So everyone is getting really excited about the new trend of cheap UMPC’s a la Eee PC from Asus.

As far as I’m concerned, they have 2 of 3 factors that are hits and one that is a miss.

– Form factor: winner.  The people who complain that it’s too small are the wrong demographic.  A 7″ screen and a cramped keyboard are not for your grandmother.

– Price: winner. $450 for a 3lbs laptop is perfect pricepoint.

– Specs: loser.  How does the Celeron or Atom stack up against a Core2Duo… not well.  I realize that what you’re paying for is the form-factor rather than processing power, but at the end of the day, if the cute little laptop that goes anywhere can’t get the job done – then what’s the point?

I’m looking forward to the new Asus laptops with the embedded Linux instant-on features.  Sure they’re heavier, but they offer something that the Eee just can’t – horsepower.

And for those of you who will smarmaly state “it’s a web browsing machine!”, I will simply say that a used Toshiba Portegé can be had for $300