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.

After I was finally able to download the installer, I was pleasantly surprised by the new features. I decided to install it on my netbook before actually installing it in my car – just in case some things may go wrong. Set up was fairly easy, mainly because it hasn’t changed much from the previous version. The new features make the interface much easier to use. These include the ability to open up the interface to the currently playing media from anywhere within Centrafuse, as well as a much less cluttered interface – which definitely helps hitting the button you meant to press.

One thing that just makes the interface – and your CarPC as a result – is the iPhone like animations. While it would be good to be able to swipe across the screen – like the iPhone – to change pages at the main screen, they still did a good job. All places where you would normally press scroll up and down buttons can be scrolled kinetically with a finger just like most modern touch phones.

One thing I’m disappointed at is the fact that it still doesn’t get the RDS data from the radio stream when you are using a HD Radio. Here in Australia, we can’t get HD Radio signals. I just bought the HD Radio because it was fairly cheap and can get analog signals as well – which has RDS data on most FM stations, it was also the only one I could find that does AM radio as well.

Overall, the update is very welcome and definitely makes the interface much easier to use. Also, because I have bought the application myself, I am able to give out a discount code that will take 10% off your total purchase, just enter the referral code: UEXUOEDAI when ordering.

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.

poedgirl
The simple fact that you have SSH running confirms that it is already jailbroken.

iPhoneTutorialz
its called ssh-over-usb

dee di dee… stupid

you can run file browsing/terminal over usb on any fucking device.

just cause you read some tutorial on the retard forums that says you must be jailbroken to ssh. doesnt mean its true.

you probly dont even know what ssh stands for.. and the correct term isnt SSHing … ssh means secure shell… its a secure way of browsing devices.. you can aceess the file system via usb w/out a jailbreak.. openssh just provides an sftp gateway

poedgirl
Would you mind explaining the process of installing OpenSSH on a non-jailbroken iDevice? One where you can’t edit the folders outside the BSD jail the system is in, where applications can’t modify anything outside their own BSD jail, oh, and you can’t actually execute applications that are not signed by Apple.

iPhoneTutorialz
Yah, you download DiskAid or any other USB device file browser, open it up, and OMG! Theres var, Library, and OMG.. it looks like WinSCP

poedgirl
Umm… I hate to tell you, but that’s not SSH. It may look like WinSCP, but it is not using the SSH protocol. You may very well be able to see all those folders, but you are unable to write to any of them outside the BSD jail – hence why it is called “jailbreaking”.

He then proceeded to take the abuse to private messages, as seen below:

iPhoneTutorialz
Subject: You must be retarded.
You can write outside the jail if you sign on with username root.

Ya, you might not be able to do it with DiskAid, but I use another file browser and it works fine.
You open up a terminal (you-WHATS THAT?) and sign on as root. The root user gives you full rights to write to and delete.

RETARD!

poedgirl
Subject: Re: You must be retarded.
See, you’re saying you can write to any directory without the device being jailbroken. Tell me then what the point in jailbreaking is. The root user is completely locked down on a standard iDevice. You can not log on as it, you can not run anything as it. Everything is ran as the user “mobile”. Trust me, I know a lot about the BSD and Darwin systems – which the iDevices are based on. I also know the exact restrictions Apple places on the system.

iPhoneTutorialz
Subject: Im no retard [sic]
Im not retarded when it comes to iPhone/iPod Touch BSD.

The reason I put (Will Work On Non-Jailbroken Devices) is that the mobile user can write to some directorys. For instance, you can write to the music folder.

As I may not be able to write to /var or /system, theres still a good amount of options.

So next time you wanna go running your fuckin smack, why dont you think twice.

poedgirl
Subject: Re: Im no retard
Do you even know what you’re arguing about? I was talking about the fact that he has an SSH terminal on his un-jailbroken phone. NOTHING to do with writing files to ~/Media, etc. I was saying that you can not run any applications that are not signed by Apple.

You seem adamant to argue the fact that the user iH8sn0w does in fact have the SSH terminal on an un-jailbroken phone. I was not arguing anything else, you seem to have just searched around to try make enemies anywhere you can.

I think you really are retarded for not even knowing what you’re defending.

Yet another user who is too stupid to know the difference between SFTP and SSH. It’s as simple as this, SFTP is a SMALL part of SSH. SSH itself is mainly a remote terminal emulator, it also features network control, file transfer and a few other useful things. DiskAid is NOT an SSH or SFTP client, it is simply a file manager, one that can NOT access files outside the BSD jail it is in when it is not jailbroken.

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