O2 Xda Atom Exec Review 58
An anonymous reader writes "CNET has posted a full review of the new O2 Xda Atom Exec smartphone device. They were very impressed with the handheld, giving it their 'Editor's Choice' award. From the article: 'On its own, the Exec is a highly impressive, push e-mail enabled smart phone, but if you already own the first Atom, its upgrade worthiness is questionable.'"
Printer friendly link (Score:4, Informative)
How much do they get paid (Score:5, Insightful)
How about this for a proposal:
- There are at most 3 slashvertisements for every legimate story
- slashvertisements are clearly marked as such
- subscribers can hide the slashvertisements on the front page
Re:How much do they get paid (Score:2)
Re:How much do they get paid (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps you ment to type a diffrent URL?
Re:How much do they get paid (Score:4, Insightful)
If you think about it, honestly maintaining your cynicism (e.g., even if I said I had no attachement to the product, you're not going to believe me), and follow through the implications, I think you'll come to the conclusion that there are one of two choices: Stop talking about products entirely, or run things that somebody, somewhere is going to consider a "slashvertisement". All things considered, for the purposes of the site, the former is preferable.
I wouldn't mind a clear statement of Slashdot's advertising policy. On the other hand, I'd lay money they don't run every ad that gets sent in, because I bet they're getting at least 25 a day, and I wouldn't be surprised if they said it was in the hundreds per day (because of people re-submitting the same products over and over, not necessarily hundreds of distinct products). Presumably the editors actually think this is neat and aren't just being handed wads of cash. If you want to hand Slashdot wads of cash and get your product advertised, that's what the banner ads are for.
A "product" category wouldn't be all bad, though.
Re:How much do they get paid (Score:2)
Well at least one of your wishes came true.
Handwriting recognition (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Handwriting recognition (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Handwriting recognition (Score:4, Interesting)
Like your other reply, I too bought a device with a slide out keyboard. I've never seen anyone regret that decission. You might be able to use handwriting for text messages but you do not want to EVER try it with vi over ssh. ;-) Also, imagine an "rm -rf" mis-recognition...
Mind you, there are some neat bluetooth keyboards you can get, such as The Virtual Keyboad [virtual-la...yboard.com], so it's not all lost if you don't have one.
I've been using my phone/pda for a year or two and I still think it's one of the coolest and most useful gadget I have. Google in my pocket, access to my home linux box, a camera and an mp3 player. Everything I'd ever need most days. One piece of advice though; get one with WiFi, this is an absolute must. It's much faster than GPRS and it's free most of the time.
Re:Handwriting recognition (Score:1)
Re:Handwriting recognition (Score:2)
The slide-out keyboard is a fantastic idea - I hardly ever use the stylus/on-screen keyboard method at all. In fact, the only visible "downside" to it is that if you're using the keyboard to write messages etc., it's a highly visible clue to muggers etc. that you're carrying an expensive bit of kit. Then again, to me that just e
Re:Handwriting recognition (Score:1)
I was impressed with the recognition, I could scribble out text, and it would be 80-90% right. But the component selection was a real PIA.
Re:But does it run ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Linux PDAs have traditionally been cursed with buggy software, awful handwriting recognition, crashes and high prices. But hey, it runs Linux right? Certainly Linux is not the cause of these issues, but it seems symptomatic of certain manufacturers that they think they can release some junk and get people to buy it simply because it runs Linux.
Fortunately we're getting to the stage where Linux is reliable and mostly behind the scenes. What OS is running underneath is an irrelevance to most people. They'd rather that their PDA / phone did what it was meant to do, namely make calls, take notes, make appointments, store addresses etc. If it runs Linux then all well and good, but a piece of crap running Linux is still a piece of crap.
Re:But does it run ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Right now, if you want Linux on a handheld, you have to have one of four things: a Nokia 770, import one of the Zaurii from Japan(EXPENSIVE because you have to import it), flash linux on a perfectly good iPaq or other handheld or possibly installing desktop linux on a Sony UX180. That's it. Anyone remember the Agenda VR3? No I did not thin
Re:But does it run ... (Score:2)
For me, the main reason I want Linux on my PDA (Even if it's an after-market mod like some of the Linux on HTC PDA projects out there) is because I get a development environment that doesn't require expensive Microsoft software, and can be extended in any way I want, not ju
Re:O2 dont make anything (Score:2)
Re:O2 dont make anything (Score:1, Informative)
The name of the company you couldn't remember is Dopod, HTC just bought a $150m stake.
http://www.physorg.com/news68740895.html [physorg.com]
Re:O2 dont make anything (Score:1)
I don't get that comment at all.
Ad-less version (Score:2, Redundant)
It has no keyboard. (Score:2)
I'll have one of these instead.
http://europe.nokia.com/A4142030 [nokia.com]
Re:It has no keyboard. (Score:2, Insightful)
Yeah, they're extremely accurate pointing devices for on-screen keyboards - far better than my thumbs trying to hit a tiny key. Also once you have the stylus in hand, you can use it to select the correct word from the 'word suggestions list', saving you time - although maybe this is a Symbian-only feature.
However handwriting recognition is still rather rubbish, I think the system on the original Apple Newtons is better than what Wi
Take a look.... (Score:2)
Re:Take a look.... (Score:2)
Re:Take a look.... (Score:2)
My E70 arrived this morning. It's rather nice. Extremely rather nice.
Known issues:
- Can't currently use SIP based VOIP through NAT; Nokia apparently working on resolution
- Web browser can run out of memory; N80 had same issue, Nokia resolved with new firmware
It's a very elegant device, I've been a fan of Symbian since my Psion MX5 and Revo and being a Nokia, it's got 5 hours talk time, 10 days standby and great voice quality.
I'm sure I'll find more I don't like about it, but I'm also sure I'll find more tha
Re:It has no keyboard. (Score:1)
Use my finger most of the time as well.
The future of PDA's (Score:2, Funny)
Re:The future of PDA's (Score:2)
Re:Wow! Can now store even more data in ROM! (Score:1)
Re:Wow! Can now store even more data in ROM! (Score:1)
Fucking retard. Probably doesn't even know what "ROM" stands for.
you must be on crack (Score:2)
the poor exec who has to carry a cell and seperate PDA at a fraction of the
cost. And if your company isn't buying then you really do need help with
your spending priorities. No moaning about the cost of this or that when
you put one your credit card.
Re:you must be on crack (Score:2)
I just spent around $650 on a new phone - a Nokia E70. It arrived this morning.
For the use I'm going to get from it, the convenience it gives me, the fact it fits into my trouser pocket (when two separate devices wont), the satisfaction I get from owning it, and the opportunity cost involved (i.e. what else I would have spent the money on) I don't think my spending priorities are out of kilter.
I am not on crack.
Next big purchases:
- $3600 boiler replacement for my house
- $1800 refurbishment of my Indiana Jon
I have the O2 Exec... (Score:3, Informative)
It does all of the usual PDA stuff as well as being my mobile phone, GPS (with additional matchbox sized receiver) and I can walk round town using MiniStumbler to detect open WIFI.
It syncs with Exchange so I can access my work public folders and Global Contacts. It also does email, texts, web, etc etc.
And yes... the Universal can run Linux: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=3
Oh, nearly forgot, it also doubles up as an mp3 player with an additional SD card (up to 4GB). So quite a step up from my previous Palm V
Re:I have the O2 Exec... (Score:2, Informative)
I don't think the phone is that bad either. I can get a signal both at home and work which some other phones haven't managed (poor signal area). The voice dial works well (but not over bluetooth headset so that is minus points).
Regarding it's size. Again, I don't think it is that ba
Re:I have the O2 Exec... (Score:1)
Re:I had one - sent it back, it's rubbish (Score:1)
Zilch.
no keypad? (Score:2)
push e-mail enabled (Score:3, Interesting)
I think this "push e-mail enabled" market speak has been repeated one time too many. People actually believe it is some magical, only available via crackberry and crapchange servers, functionality brought via the heavens. It is called IDLE. IDLE has been available via IMAP for years. Lots of years. Many much more years!
type this to see for yourself.
telnet your.imap.server 143
a001 CAPABILITIES
* CAPABILITY IMAP4REV1 IDLE NAMESPACE MAILBOX-REFERRALS BINARY UNSELECT SCAN SORT THREAD=REFERENCES THREAD=ORDEREDSUBJECT MULTIAPPEND LOGIN-REFERRALS STARTTLS AUTH=CRAM-MD5 capabilies ad nausium....
a001 OK CAPABILITY completed
and that is from plain old uw-imapd
wooo woooo i have puuuush technology on my internet!
O2 xda2 user, good hardware, poor usability (Score:1)
after 4 generations of palms (last one was a zire 72), i finally took a PocketPC (o2 XDA II) only to consolidate all my gadgets in one.
basically my xda = PDA + cell phone + pendrive + mp3 player.
but zire 72 was way better than XDA ins terms of usability and shows me that PDAs have a lot to evolve, they must be not like computers and more like cell phones. adding a new contact with a photo is a burocratic procedure that convinces 99% of the users NOT to do it a
A rose by any other... wait, no. (Score:3, Funny)
Take something that might be the chemical formula for oxygen molecules or might not, add an unpronounceable thing that might or might not be an acronym, add on another word that's currently being used by a completely unrelated technology, and top it off with a word that already means either a person or a system call, but never a piece of hardware, and you get a true miracle of impenetrable gibberish. I honestly think that it might be literally impossible to create a worse name.
Don't buy O2 or you will be screwed (Score:2)
Here's my story:
I bought an O2 Atom in Hong Kong a while back. Within 2 weeks the unit was broken and wouldn't turn back on. I went all the way to their repair center, and had to wait in line for over 2 hours to get service. And then they told me I'd have to come back another day. This is fine. However, when they notified me to go back, it was in the form of a specific date and specific few hours. I told the tech if I c
Re:Don't buy O2 or you will be screwed (Score:2)
http://www.seeo2.com/support/template/ContactUsFo
The form loads alright, but it doesn't work!!! Another coincidence right?