Spoke with Steve Liebmann at Luna Park in Sydney and discussed the Ex Pal battery charger, which is really an all-in-one solution to powering up your mobile phone. There are a few of these items around, as manufacturers realise there is a huge market because quite a few smartphones don’t have long battery life. This particular item has a built-in solar panel as well as being able to be plugged into the wall, so you have a choice of recharging.
Steve asked about the Google tablet, which was announced this week. Not surprising that Google has tried to steal Apple’s thunder, but to be honest, the tablet format has been around for a while. I personally don’t use one, but I can see the likes of doctors doing their rounds in a hospital finding this kind of device very useful
Jan called and asked about whether she could download information from her iPhone to her car’s built-in Satnav. She is having trouble doing so, and the car manufacturer has said it is an Apple problem, while Apple has said it is the car manufacturer’s problem. Then again, maybe the phone is not compatible with the software in the Satnav. It doesn’t help Jan, and I will try and look into it to solve the problem.
Steve also asked about the new free GPS download from Nokia. I think this will revolutionise the way some people use a Satnav. Notice I say some, because I still believe that there is a place for a dedicated GPS in the car. As if to reinforce that opinion, I do have a TomTom application on my iPhone, which works really well. However, when the phone rings, I lose the GPS capabilities
Also spoke quickly about the iiNet case in which a group of content producer under the AFACT (Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft) banner sued the ISP stating it has to take some responsibility for its customers making illegal downloads of movies and games. The Federal court found in favour of iiNet, but I doubt this issue will go away any time soon.