Pretty imaginative – 360-degree video on the move. First time I’ve seen that.

Let the video load fully (to avoid buffering issues), then play.

(Via Sam Michel)

This is the device that runs Android, the new operating system and software platform developed by Google and others in the Open Handset Alliance, which was announced last November.

Here are two videos of what I thought about the new Googlephone. My focus in both is on broad usability. These reviews are not depth tech-focused or any other specific focus – you have plenty of choices if you want depth reviews – just my reactions and feelings about the phone.

I recorded this first review during the evening of Tuesday October 28. The Googlephone arrived late that afternoon and this was the first moment I had to actually turn the phone on and discover a little about it.

Relatively short, just over ten minutes.

I recorded my second review in the morning of Thursday October 30 – the day Googlephone went on sale in the UK – after having got to know it a bit since Tuesday, especially during my trip to Brussels the preceding day.

This review is quite a bit longer, nearly 25 minutes, as I talk about the applications I’d discovered and played with a little, notably Gmail and the browser.

Bottom line: although I had this mobile device for just 48 hours, it was enough to convince me it is the bees knees, as I mentioned in a brief post the other day.

It’s not perfect, by any means. Its major failing is that it does not support video recording. That’s a potential show stopper for me, given that I do a lot of video on my Nokia N95 8GB, notably Qik and seesmic.

On the plus side, the device is a joy to use especially the touch screen and keyboard. And yes, I really would ditch old behaviours about mobile email.

Take a look at the complete spec list to see the phone’s full capabilities.

What I’d like to do is get one today for everything except video. Wishful thinking, though! Wish I could justify the budget.

Thanks to Will McInnes of NixonMcInnes, and Brands2life, two of T-Mobile UK’s PR agencies, for lending me the Googlephone.

As I tend to try out lots of things on this desktop PC, I like to do this every six months or so, brush away all the cobwebs – literally: dive into the innards carefully with compressed air and a vacuum cleaner; it’s always amazing how much dust you find – get the system refreshed and back to a sparkling state that will last for a further six months.

Dell makes it pretty easy for you when you want to do something like this. I have the original operating system DVD that shipped with the computer, along with a drivers and utilities DVD. The manual is well written if I need to refer to anything there.

Plus there’s a nice simple guide on the website to tell me the correct order in which to install the Dell-specific apps.

This is all great. What I really need, though, is something that tells me exactly which of the many Dell drivers and utilities shown on Dell’s support website are relevant to my specific system build, which versions of the drivers, etc, are currently installed, and so which updated versions I need to get.

Maybe something like this:

This looks like a neat feature – a way that the Drivers & Downloads section on the Dell website shows me two tabs: one that lists every single file for the model of my computer, the other that lists just the files applicable to my specific system when it shipped.

The screenshot above comes from a post by Dell’s Eoghan O’Sullivan in July where he explains this new feature working on the Dell US website. Chief Dell blogger Lionel Menchaca had an update in early October with a bit more news on the roll-out of this feature.

A pity it’s not yet working for XPS models nor hit the Dell UK website if my experience is any indicator:

Look at the screenshot showing the drivers and other downloads for my system, identified by the machine’s service tag number – all you’ll see is one tab that says “Results for all XPS/Dimension 420.”

It’s a real headache. Take this example, looking at all 16 apps listed under CD/DVD:

Which one of these is applicable to my particular system and configuration? How do I figure it out? What a pain!

What I’d like is for the Dell site to recommend which app I need. Maybe that’s coming at some time.

I do hope so. Meanwhile, hunt and peck and hope the dice roll well.

Four times I’ve tried to install SP1. Each time, the install fails. Here’s what happens.

First, after I’ve disabled just about everything including anti-virus and firewall protections, the lengthy update process runs, lasting about 40 minutes.

After a reboot, I get this message on screen:

Hooray!

Disappointment rapidly arrives, though, with this subsequent message:

Reverting the changes is another 30 minutes or so.

I’ve trouble-shot with every option listed in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article that addresses SP1 update failures – except for #7 which is about completely uninstalling third-party anti-virus or firewall apps.

There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that McAfee security software like mine (the Internet Security Suite) is the likely culprit.

I suppose I have to bite the bullet and do step #7.

{Deep sigh} Let’s see what happens next.

[Update Oct 20] Success! SP1 is now installed on the Vaio laptop.

The route to this successful outcome is indeed following step #7 in the Microsoft Knowledge base troubleshooting guide – uninstall any security software before running the service pack update process.

So I did that:

1. Uninstalled McAfee Internet Security Suite from Control Panel > Programs and Features
2. Restarted the computer
3. Ignored all the alerts and warnings about the PC being unprotected and at risk
4. Ran the SP1 installer from Windows Update
5. Once update succeeded, reinstalled McAfee Internet Security Suite

A good outcome but what a ridiculous process.

Things that are supposed to be plug and play, and just work when you plug them into your computer, sometimes aren’t.

That certainly was the case yesterday in my experience with a new 3 broadband modem that I ordered from 3 on Wednesday and which arrived the next day.

I spent a total of 90 minutes in two separate phone calls with 3’s broadband tech support (an 0870 number: wish I’d found this website earlier), troubleshooting why this dongle wouldn’t work, and getting it fixed so it would work. And now it does.

But what a palaver!

Out of the box, the friendly text in the nicely-produced user guide booklet says all you do is plug the modem in to a USB port, and follow the on-screen instructions.

The text also includes an explicit warning not to follow the Windows driver installation wizard that will likely appear as it won’t fully install the software. It did appear. And so I didn’t follow it.

As it turns out, that is at the heart of the plug and not play issue I encountered – if you don’t let Windows Vista do its thing after the 3 installer has done its thing, you’ll encounter errors when trying to connect and which give you little clue as to the reason why you can’t connect.

If you look in Windows’ Device Manager, you will likely see as I did two entries under ‘Other devices’ for two Huawei (the dongle manufacturer) devices with little exclamation marks, both reporting Windows Code 28 errors meaning drivers not installed.

Right-clicking on either entry and choosing ‘Update driver’ resulted in the wizard searching and not finding a file, whether you let it search automatically or chose the manual install and specified a location.

One interesting point in my second conversation with the very helpful 3 tech support agent – he said I was the first person to call in a problem with a dongle and installing it on Windows Vista. So a mutual learning experience.

To cut a long story short, here’s my experience on a Windows Vista laptop that finally got this gizmo working:

1. I already had the 3 broadband modem software installed, so I uninstalled it via the Programs & Features option in Control Panel.
2. I double-checked to see if there was an entry for any Huawei devices. There was, so I uninstalled those as well.
3. I rebooted the computer.
4. With the SIM card inserted in the dongle, I plugged the dongle into a USB port. I waited for the computer to see it and kick in the ‘installing device drivers’ wizard. When that finished, the Installshield wizard started to set thing up and install the 3 application and modem.
5. Once that completed, I waited; within about twenty seconds, up popped a Windows dialog telling me that it needed to install drivers for a new device. I said go ahead which it did.
6. Once that finished, I clicked on the desktop icon to launch 3connect, the app with which you manage your connectivity.
7. I then clicked the big green ‘Connect’ button and within 15 seconds, I was online.

So it works, great.

But that’s not the end of the story.

I wanted to set up my account at 3 using the ‘My 3’ access. So I click on the option under the ‘My account’ tab in 3connect which launches my browser.

And all I get is this:

And I get this same error if I try to go to My 3 directly from 3’s website. Hopefully it’s temporary although it’s still happening today as I write this post.

This sequence of events is a bit disappointing, suggesting a distinct lack of robustness in 3’s service infrastructure. Broken links in the supply chain, so to speak.

Still, at least I have mobile broadband working now even if I can’t yet check my account online.

[Later] I recorded this seesmic video to just double-check what I’m saying in this post re 3’s instructions to ignore the Windows driver installation wizard and what happens if you follow that instruction.

3 mobile broadband setup

As has been my previous experience in upgrading blogs using DreamHost’s excellent 1-Click procedure, it was a seamless experience, successfully done in less than 15 minutes.

Today, though, I had a completely different experience upgrading this blog to version 2.6.2, one that produced a wholly unexpected result.

Here’s what happened:

1. Prepared blog for upgrade: backed up database, disabled all plugins, changed theme to default Kubrick
2. Went ahead and started the 1-Click upgrade process via my DreamHost control panel
3. Ten minutes later, the expected auto-email from DreamHost arrived saying upgrade success
4. The email had the usual link to click on to upgrade the database (although with every upgrade release this year, the database hasn’t required upgrading)
5. Clicking that link just gave me the log in page, though, and any attempt to log in just produced the log in page again.
6. Trying to go directly to any admin page just produced the log in page
7. Unable to log in to blog admin so a help ticket filed with DreamHost support

A Google search on the phrase “wordpress login repeats login page” didn’t produce much except for an interesting post in the WordPress support forum describing a similar issue but related to a fresh 2.6.2 install rather than an upgrade.

That post describes issues regarding Apache and PHP with this resolution:

[…] Fixed, since it is load balanced behind an ssl accelerator the SSL is added through the appliance and the apache/php install knows nothing of the https. I edited the two rows in the wp_options table that had http and changed it to https. All works as it should now.

Ok, but I prefer to wait for a response from DreamHost support before thinking about any issues on the server.

After a bit of further head-scratching, I’ve taken advantage for the first time of the in-built “reassurance feature” of DreamHost’s 1-Click installs – rolled back the blog to the previously-installed version.

That’s good insurance. Whenever you upgrade your blog via DreamHost, the system creates a mirror copy before the upgrade. Then if you ever need to go back, it’s a simple matter of logging in via FTP, renaming a couple of top-level directories, and voila – back to where you were before.

Now waiting to see what DreamHost support have to say.

[Later] An interesting response from DreamHost support, with a solution.

First, the issue behind the problem according to DreamHost support:

It looks like you got hit by a very mean wordpress exploit, ironically due to a security hole that was around pre-2.5. I’ve gone ahead and removed the references to it in your database, however there are a few steps you’ll need to do on your end to make sure its cleared out.

Those steps weren’t complicated to understand and follow, starting with doing a completely fresh install of WordPress 2.6.2 and some security procedures. As I wanted to ensure that the install was registered in DH’s database to enable future upgrades via the 1-Click procedure, this meant a bit of jiggery-pokery on the server to do some more top-level directory renaming before running the 1-Click installer.

Once the install was successful – and taking less than 10 minutes, as the 1-Click works fast – next steps included uploading fresh copies of all the plug-ins I wanted as well as themes and then activating them.

Luckily nearly all plugin and theme settings were in the Wordpress database, so I had only a little extra work to do once plug-ins had been activated.

So about an hour’s work in total, and we’re back up and running and with 2.6.2 installed.

When DreamHost told me about the security exploit, I immediately wondered whether the Thesis theme I run on this blog might have been the culprit.

This morning, I saw a notice on the Thesis site about a fix for a security vulnerability in one of the theme’s files. I applied that fix immediately but it appears that the vulnerability had been there for a couple of weeks since I installed the latest update to Thesis.

DreamHost support’s reaction when I suggested this to them:

It could of been a possible point of entry yes, however wordpress, prior to 2.5.1, had quite a few (4 to be exact) holes itself, so there are several candidates for trouble.

Not sure about the WordPress issues as this blog had been running 2.6 since mid July, not 2.5.1.

Still, the security hole is now plugged thanks to quick and very helpful advice from DreamHost support.

This has had as much if not more attention from the blogosphere and the mainstream media as did the launch of the first-generation iPhone last year.

I’ve installed Chrome and have had about an hour in total just taking a look at it.

So, initial and immediate thoughts captured in these two videos, recorded on my Nokia N95 8GB with seesmic mobile, the new mobile app from seesmic in private alpha testing. (Why two videos? Because the first one timed out!)

More thoughts later as I get to know Google Chrome.

Related post:

[NevilleHobson.com] The Google way of effective communication

As I also tried out the original Skypephone launched in October 2007 – what mobile operator 3 is now calling the 3 Skypephone S1 – I wanted to see what was different, what was new and what had improved.

It’s a pretty smart phone. If you want an immediate look at screens and packaging, take a stroll through this collection of photos I took when the phone arrived last week.

Rather than write a review, I decided to record a video of what I experienced with the 3 Skypephone S2, starting with a look at it, turning it on and going through its features.

You can read plenty of written reviews already, so this audio-visual review might add something a little different.

In the 28-minute video, I run through each of the major features showing how you interact with the phone, focusing on what you actually see and do when using its built-in applications or access services online – Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Facebook, Google mobile applications, RSS feeds, and more – as well as the mundane like manage contacts and create text messages.

My overall conclusion? It’s a terrific device, greatly improved on its predecessor in areas like usability and network connectivity, the latter a poor experience for me before.

As a phone, it works as you expect it should. Skype seems to work better than before, judging by the high quality of audio on Skype calls I made and received.

The only significant negative I experienced with the 3 Skypephone S2 concerned connecting the phone to my laptop PC when I wanted to see how the phone performed as a broadband modem.

In short, I couldn’t try that out as the phone and my PC – a Sony Vaio SZ4XWN/C running Windows Vista Business edition – just didn’t get on.

“Driver is not intended for this platform” was the key message in the error dialog that resulted each time I connected the phone to the PC via its USB cable.

I also tried to connect via Bluetooth, but the phone wouldn’t let me, insisting on the cable connection.

I have no idea why this error occurred, or what the error message actually means, as according to 3mobilebuzz the phone has all the drivers it needs to configure itself with Windows and Mac computers.

So I couldn’t try out the PC connectivity feature, and thus see how the phone worked as a the equivalent of a broadband dongle,  which was pretty disappointing.

Still, the 3 Skypephone S2 is a nice piece of kit. I think it will especially appeal to passionate users of the first-generation Skypephone who use it as their primarily mobile device and can now upgrade to a superior model.

Finally, a tech note about the video:

• Video recorded in native MPEG-2 with a Sony DCR-SR52 camcorder, sat on a Nokia DT-22 tripod.
• Edited with Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition and output file saved in WMV format. File size about 385Mb.
• WMV file converted to FLV using Xilisoft Video Converter to a file size of just under 50Mb. I had intended to host the original (WMV) video on YouTube, forgetting that the maximum video length there is 10 minutes (what I produced runs at 28 minutes). So, for the time being at least, it’s being served from my own server. Update Aug 31: The video is now hosted at Vimeo. WMV uploaded and converted by Vimeo; it looks close to the original recorded quality.

Related post:

• [NevilleHobson.com] 3 Skypephone S2 hits the UK market

I’m convinced it was all down to background search indexing activity.

Let me put it this way - since I disabled the default Windows Vista desktop search and changed that default to use Copernic, all these problems have gone away.

So if you have Windows Vista and experience such issues, you might want to change the default search app for your desktop. I found a helpful Microsoft Knowledgebase article 941946 that explains how to do that with Vista SP1.

So I put this video together that shows how to do it, which you might find helpful.

I’m experimenting with a new theme called Thesis which is now running the look and feel of this blog. Thesis is created by Chris Pearson, a US-based web developer who has produced some pretty cool WordPress themes over the years.

Thesis is a very good example of a new breed of WordPress theme - a theme that contains some intelligence in its creation and significant added value to go along with it, all of which enables you the blogger to adapt it to your specific requirements without having to do any PHP code editing.

You can do almost all your tweaking with a combination of the Thesis Options page in your blog, which appears once you’ve installed and activated the theme, and a custom cascading style sheet (CSS).

What you’re looking at today is Thesis literally out of the box. About the only design thing I’ve done so far is add some of my own images to the rotating images feature you see at the top right of the page which automatically changes the image as you move from post to post on the site.

I’m not sure if I’ll keep that feature - it’s quite neat, though - nor what elements of the out-of-the-box theme I’ll change or adapt.

Whatever I decide to do will largely be driven by my desire and wish to have something that is a bit personal to me and this blog and not just another cookie-cutter WordPress theme (or as the default WordPress tag line says whenever you install a new blog, ‘just another WordPress weblog’), points directly address by Chris Pearson:

Just a WordPress theme? Hardly. Thesis is a search engine optimized HTML + CSS + PHP framework equipped with an innovative options panel that makes it easy for anyone to run a professional, customized blog or Website (without being a code jockey).

For some months, I’ve been thinking about re-designing my main blog as I’ve had the current design for about a year (my own adaptation of a WordPress theme created by Michael Pollock).

So part of my reason for installing Thesis here is to play around with it as a potential prelude to implementing it on the main blog. Or not.

Another theme I was considering is one of the Revolution series of themes by Brian Gardner. Like Thesis, Revolution adds intelligence to provide you with easy-to-understand controls from within your WordPress blog admin to tweak the design pretty much how you’d like without your having to dive into any coding.

Revolution is becoming quite ubiquitous, which was a downside for me. I see too many blogs using one or another of the themes in the series without much customization. A bit cookie cutter.

Of course, Thesis could end up like that. But it’s early days yet and I just like this one better.

Earlier I mentioned that Thesis has ‘added value’ to go along with its added intelligence.

That ‘added value’ comes primarily in the shape of a full-blown support forum as well as online help, tutorials and other useful content on the Thesis blog that Chris Pearson maintains.

All of this represents quite a commitment and so if you want Thesis and all the extras that come with it, you’ll have to pay for it to the tune of $89 for a single-blog license. I’m more than happy to do that.

Thesis and Revolution (which also provides a forum, tutorials, etc) are leaders in the pack of so-called premium WordPress themes - themes that you pay for and get additional value beyond the collection of PHP files, CSS, JavaScript and images you upload to your server.

You do have a number of alternatives that range the scale between free themes and hiring a theme designer to develop your own exclusive theme.

But for me, Thesis seems to be nice middle ground.