The most recent example stems from the study that was just released on whether mobile phones cause brain cancer. The study’s official outcome was that it was inconclusive, however, this didn’t stop the scare mongers in the media getting hold of it and manipulating it their way. According to them, there’s an increase in the chances of getting brain cancer of 50% if you are a heavy user of a mobile phone. Now lets just dissect that statement, shall we? A quick search of the net found that 2 out of every 100,000 people get brain cancer. A 50% increased risk puts that figure at 3 in 100,000. When you say it like that, it seems completely irrelevant.

The vast majority of people think that a 50% increased chance means a 50% chance. Of course, the media and politicians use this kind of language because people don’t know any better. It is in this way they are able to push their own agenda while people think they are doing the right thing.

Just think about how many times someone has told you there is an increased chance for something, then you’ll realise how many times you’ve been mislead.

As you can see from the video above, multitasking is indeed in the system. I knew about this as soon as the operating system was announced back in MWC at Barcelona. There was a clue in one of the videos where the user pressed back and it actually went back to the running app.

All that said, there are a few things I’m disappointed at Microsoft for. One of the main reasons I liked Windows Mobile over other mobile operating systems was the openness with regards to development and customisation. Windows Phone 7 changes all that.

For one, Windows Mobile allowed you to completely modify every part of the OS. This includes the entire file system as well as the system registry. From what I can tell so far, there’s no chance of doing any of this in WP7. Of course, it’ll probably just end up like the iPhone where people will completely unlock it, but it’s just disappointing that you’ll even have to do that.

Another big thing is the lack of copy and paste. I mean come on Microsoft, you mocked the iPhone for not having copy and paste. Now you’re not going to have it! Microsoft say the reason they don’t have copy and paste is because they already know what most people are going to do with the information so they just add “SmartLinks” for commonly used tasks. Well, what if I want to do something uncommon with it? What if I want to copy some text into an email, text message or tweet? What if I want to share a link with someone? I don’t think these are actually that uncommon. Why not just allow people to do what they want with information instead of dictating what they do with it?

Windows Phone 7 has become a love hate relationship for me. On one hand, it’s a great improvement. On the other, it’s an iPhone. Be original Microsoft, you’re great at it.

It seems that some people just can’t handle that someone else made a good tool and want some credit for themselves. Today, I discovered that a person took poedCrack and claimed it as their own. They modified it slightly – to change the output file name – and added their own image to say that it is theirs.

I decided to call them up on it. To ensure that people knew that this person was actually stealing something that they didn’t make. I may have been a bit harsh in my response, but I personally think it was a very valid response. Instead of getting any form of communication, what I got was banned from the forum that it is posted on. I guess this idiot doesn’t want people to know that he can’t in fact do anything and that he needs to resort to stealing other peoples’ work in order to make people think he’s more than a lowly dung beetle.

Who is this person who stole my, and the creator of the GUI to go with it, andydam’s work? That would be someone who likes to call themselves SiNfulSS. This person runs a forum called Sinful iPhone. I encourage everyone who has any sense of respect for people who actually put in the work for the community to call this person out on what they have done. Let everyone know that this person can’t do anything for themselves.

Having said all that, there is a very well respected community out there for people interested in this kind of thing. This community is called Hackulo.us and I encourage you to join if you haven’t already done so if you are interested.

click to enlarge

You can download it from my DeviantArt page here:

http://poedgirl.deviantart.com/art/blaqua-140231630

One of the main reasons I am asking for this is because I wish to make an app that will work with the Sony Ericsson MBW Bluetooth Watch series. I have had an MBW-200 for a while now, and while it is a great watch when paired with a Sony Ericsson phone, a Windows Mobile phone, or any other phone that has full Bluetooth Serial Port Profile functionality. It doesn’t yet work with the iPhone. There are, however, quite a few people working on a Bluetooth SPP compatibility stack for the iPhone and I wish to use this project to create the Bluetooth Watch system. Wouldn’t you love the ability to be notified on your watch of an incoming call or other push notification from your iPhone?

I have used and loved the TomTom application on Windows Mobile, and the standalone TomTom devices are pretty good. The same, however, can not be said for the iPhone application. A lot of features are missing from the iPhone version. These include lane guidance and a lot of the customisation options.

One of the major problems I have with TomTom on the iPhone is the complete lack of customisation. On the Windows Mobile and standalone versions, you are able to customise a whole boat load of things. On the iPhone, you are limited to just changing the voice (which you have to hack to get custom voices on), planning options and distance units. On Sygic, you are able to customise everything from signpost settings to complete customisation of the display.

In my test of TomTom, I was really annoyed that while driving along the freeway, I had no idea which exit I was supposed to take. It would be easier if I knew the name of the exit, however it just told me how far it was. Sygic, on the other hand, tells you exactly which exit and the sign to look out for. Definitely a plus for Sygic there.

One of the biggest features in the TomTom standalone devices is the lane guidance feature. This is a 3D representation of the road and which lane you are supposed to be in. This is completely missing in the iPhone app. At least Sygic has a little display in the bottom left of the screen showing the lanes.

The funny thing is, for an application that attempts to look like TomTom, Sygic has actually come out on top of the big rival. Sorry TomTom, unless you add all the features you have in the standalone devices, you have lost this one.

If you’ve ever used Tomtom before, you’ll know the familiar interface, the information all in the blue bar at the bottom with the map in the center. This is the same interface Sygic has, and it works well. However, Navigon has a completely different, and in my opinion, useless interface. The problem is that there really isn’t enough information on the screen at any one time, and this can’t be changed. While it does try to look like any other iPhone application, it does this in a way that is counter-intuitive for a navigation application. Someone who is driving wants the pertinent information on the screen whenever they need to glance over at it, something this app just doesn’t display.

The interface aside, onto the app itself. Sygic offers a boatload of configuration options. Navigon? almost none. I couldn’t even figure out how to enter my home address, the only way I was able to enter it was to tell it to take me home then it asked me to enter it. What happens when I move? Do I need to reinstall the app?

Now onto navigating. Sygic does have some quirks here, such as telling you to go through a carpark instead of staying on the road. However, Navigon has way worse ones. In my testing, the worst one (there were a few) would have to be the voice instructions. The problem is when it notifies you of an upcoming turn. It does this by saying for example “Turn left… in 400 metres.” The main problem with that is the pause in there between the “Turn left” and the “in 400 metres.” Many people will think it is telling them to turn left now, then once they are already in the process, it says “in 400 metres.” Pretty stupid idea if you ask me.

There were also a few errors with the map data itself. In the small time I was testing Navigon, it managed to have 2 errors. The first error, it didn’t allow me to select the number for my house, it allowed me to select next door (either side) and across the road, but not my number. The second error was when I was on a street called “Stoneham St”, Navigon said I was on “Stoneman St”. This was just a short time testing so I hate to see what else is wrong. Sygic has had perfect data accuracy in all tests so far.

My advice is to not buy Navigon if you want a decent iPhone navigation service, Sygic is currently the best one available for Australians. Of course, Tomtom is also on the way so if you want to wait for that, it is highly anticipated to be the best navigation app on the iPhone.

To install them on your iPhone, open up Mobile Safari and navigate to the URL that corresponds with your carrier:
http://blog.poedsoft.com/3.mobileconfig
http://blog.poedsoft.com/optus.mobileconfig
http://blog.poedsoft.com/telstra.mobileconfig
http://blog.poedsoft.com/vodafone.mobileconfig