bioneural.net » Gadgets

Bose know customer service

Bruce — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:59:46 +0000

If you've ever spent 24 hours on a long haul flight you may know what a blessing noise cancelling headphones are. While the headset Apple ship with the iPhone is OK (the all-in-one answer/ hang up, pause/ play, and next song button is great), they do sound tinny after experiencing the depth and background quiet of the QuietComfort 3 from Bose. Unfortunately the pre-iPhone set I bought in New Zealand weren't accommodated by the iPhone's recessed jack—nor was my wife's Sennheiser PXC 250. Apple say: iPhone has a standard 3.5-mm headphone jack, so it is compatible with most portable stereo headphones. Some stereo headphones may require an adapter (sold separately) to ensure proper fit. But when you pass most through the Apple reality distortion lexi-transmographier, that recessed design means hardly any. In the wake of the iPhone Bose modified the cords of some of their headphones. Although the airplane adapter that came with my QC3 does fit (sort of) into the iPhone jack, using it in this way is clumsy and seems to degrade audio quality. There are plenty of audio adapters now available (Apple Store, eBay, etc.) that use less plastic in order to bury themselves deeper into your iPhone, but I decided to ring Bose UK (0800 085 9021) and find out if I could purchase a replacement cord, or "official" adapter. The Guy from Bose was obviously familiar with the problem. Bose UK's Parts Dept. sent me a legacy adapter "because you want to be able to continue enjoying them", no ...

Evaluating the Holux M-241 data logger

Bruce — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:35:02 +0000

From bioneural.net:

After David rekindled my interest in geotagging blog posts with Google Map integration, and Dave's photo tracking experiences convinced me to revisit geotagging photos, I posted An ABC of geotagging photos on the Mac. In that article I considered questions relevant to selecting an automatic geo-location system, naming most of the few Mac-compatible devices available. I recently purchased a data logger to overcome the pain of manual photo geotagging and dispense with the hassle of a DIY solution. There's lots to like about the Holux M-241 on paper—despite some concerns as noted in Richard's detailed review. The device's appetite for AA batteries will be the decider for some people. We usually pack a recharger for my wife's noise-cancelling headphones when we travel anyway, so using rechargeables is no big deal. In fact I prefer something I know I can replace, as I don't want to end up with yet another working but unusable device due to a tired non-replaceable lithium battery (like my 1st iPod, Palm, mobile phone). The Qstarz BT-Q1000P was my original choice and could be obtained in the UK via eBay, but at nearly twice the price of the Holux. I have to say I like having a built-in display on the logger very much. This gives access to the M-241's 6 operating modes: Track Log Mode (the default; use Start and Stop (Enter button) to begin/ end a track logging session); Time Mode (useful display of UTC time for camera sync; can specify UTC offset for your time zone); Show ...

In-car GPS + Palm = DIY photo tracker

Bruce — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:00:50 +0000

From bioneural.net:

If I told you I was using a GPS photo tracking system for geotagging photos from my Nikon D70 that stored track logs and waypoints to 1GB of memory, exported in GPX format, and connected to my Mac via USB or Bluetooth—you'd be right to wonder if I was making it up. It's not fiction, and nor is it new tech either. It's a "make do" solution I put together from gear I'd already been using for several years and with £0 new investment. Given poor Mac support in the data logger market, such a system is surely a good way to experiment on the cheap before shelling out on yet more battery-operated gadgetry. A DIY photo tracking kit A Nikon D70 I shoot in raw, meaning my D70 saves images in Nikon's NEF format. Although finding Mac OS X software that can write geo-location data to EXIF in raw is not difficult, getting that data in the first place is somewhat more involved. The D70 is neutered when it comes to support for on-camera fully automated geotagging (I'm still not entirely clear whether this is a physical hot shoe issue, or a firmware deficiency—anyone?) The upshot is that my only choice, other than the tiresome manual method, is automatic geotagging using a standalone data logger (aka photo tracker). A Navman 4470 "But why do you need another GPS?", my wife justly asked. Indeed I do have a GPS device equipped with Bluetooth, the Navman 4470, which I use for in-car navigation. Navman make great ...

An ABC of geotagging photos on the Mac

Bruce — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:30:54 +0000

From bioneural.net:

This article considers geotagging photos from a Mac perspective, looking at automatic and manual methods, and explaining terms such as data loggers, track points, waypoints, and routes. It lists OS X software options for connecting to data loggers, converting track log formats, geo-locating photos, and writing that data to EXIF for both raw and JPEG images. It also covers the importance of time synchronization, what you can do with geotagged photos, workflow, choosing a data logger and controlling it from your Mac. Introduction With my blog articles geotagged and mapped, and the launch of geotagicons.com behind me, the next challenge was to consider geotagging my photos in future. Some time ago I blogged about doing this in iPhoto, and although workable for a small selection of images this manual/ best guess option doesn't scale well to 2-3 week vacations when you return with several hundred images and a poor recollection of what was taken exactly where. Before getting started on something (i.e. spending money!) I like to try and gain a reasonable overview of what I'm about to get into. What follows is a summary of my research into the terminology, technology, hardware and software that a budding Mac photo geotagger will want to get to grips with. If you also like to look before you leap then this article may be of service to you. Although written with fellow Mac users in mind, if you're afflicted with Windows much of the article is still relevant. What is geotagging? In a photographic context, geotagging ...

Mac-friendly alternatives to Apple's 1G iPhone

Bruce — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:04:28 +0000

From bioneural.net:

The iPhone has arrived in the US. Even if it were available in New Zealand I still wouldn't buy one. I'm happy to wait for the large beta-test program (i.e. 1 in 5 US adults) to refine the product first. That said, I've been looking for a way to converge my mobile devices (phone, PDA, iPod) for some time. Sadly the 1st generation iPhone does not look like the device to fill this need. Relative to other Mac-friendly alternatives it comes up uniquely short in a number of areas on my feature wish-list. But of course I haven't seen or held it in the "flesh", and it is only a 1G device—so I can't be overly critical. Or can I? Most of the pre-launch focus has been on iPhone's interface (not unimportant), but what about comparative features? It's clear that while the iPhone offers few unique features (iTMS DRM playback, bookmark syncing) it's also immediately apparent that, relative to comparable products, the iPhone has the most limitations. I've been a Palm user since 1999, owning a Palm V, an m505, and (currently) a Tungsten T3: I also use an ageing Sony Ericsson T610 and an iPod (1G deceased; currently an iPod Photo). It would be nice to carry around one device instead of three (ditto on the chargers); I had hoped that device might be the iPhone: So the iPhone has arrived. I posted on the perfect PDA + phone back in 2005—it still hasn't arrived. With Palm OS so obviously stagnating ...

Multi-touch surface computing

Bruce — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 09:58:18 +0000

From bioneural.net:

Multi-touch interfaces (recognition of multiple points of contact on a touch-screen) are set to be the next big thing. The recently announced Microsoft Surface looks like an impressive concept; check out this illuminating first-look video featuring wireless interaction. On a smaller scale, Apple's forthcoming iPhone also supports multi-touch e.g. use of a "pinching" movement to zoom a photo.

Linux-based Palm OS due in 2007

Bruce — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:34:25 +0000

From bioneural.net:

Palm announced delivery of an open-source Linux-based OS by the end of 2007. They have licensed Opera for web browsing and acquired Chattermail for messaging. Palm OS 5 (Garnet) "support" is to be included in the Linux kernel, hinting at backwards compatibility with existing Palm apps. I have high hopes that the shared 'nix heritage of the new Palm OS and Mac OS X will foster tight integration between these platforms.

Google Maps on your PDA

Bruce — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 02:09:20 +0000

From bioneural.net:

Google maps have gone mobile, meaning anyone with a data-capable mobile phone is now bereft of excuses for not finding their way home from the pub. If don't have a bling phone with excesses of screen real estate, your old phone should do just fine if your pair it with your Palm (.prc here) or Pocket PC (.cab here) and Google's PDA software. It's like "GPS Lite" for those who already know where they are! I tried out the Palm version of the software using Missing Sync to share my Mac's Internet connection to my T3 (this is still possible even if you don't own Missing Sync). I don't have a working GPRS data plan with Vodafone NZ, although I expect this would work equally well (albeit slowly) if I tried my GPRS-enabled Vodafone UK SIM. So what does the Google app allow you to do? Predictably, you start with Find Location... in the app menu (e.g. wellington, new zealand). Once the search is complete you'll be presented with a map that contains basic zooming controls. As with Google Maps on the web you can toggle between viewing a road map or a satellite image (but not a hybrid). In either view you can overlay traffic information or nearby businesses by keyword (e.g. pizza), but this is apparently location-dependent as neither data were available for Wellington: If you need a map, however, the chances are that you are trying to find your way from "A" to "B". Such direction-findng capability is of course ...

Navigating in New Zealand

Bruce — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 12:50:53 +0000

From bioneural.net:

We're going to want to see New Zealand when we get there and I can vouch that an in-car GPS system takes some of the stress out of driving in unfamiliar places. Although I prefer and currently use TomTom in the UK, they don't offer NZ maps. Navman have discontinued SmartST for Palm and New Zealand maps for this software appear to be out-of-stock. However, I wondered if SmartST 2005 for Pocket PC with New Zealand map data would install onto my Axim x50v and then communicate with my "Palm-specific" Navman 4470 hardware. Navman have no idea I asked Navman-store.com Support (Europe) if I bought the NZ maps would they run on my Dell Axim x50v. They said: Unfortunately we do not have those maps available at present only the European maps. Which is odd, because I added the maps to my basket and bought them; they arrived two days later! I also asked if SmartST 2005 would recognise my Navman 4470 Bluetooth GPS receiver. The Store responded: The compatibility for the maps is attached, this does not unfortunately include the 4470. Actually nothing was attached, but the product page does not list compatibility with the 4470 nor the Dell Axim x50v. There were two things that made me suspicious I was being misled. Firstly they sell the software for generic Pocket PCs—not explicitly for Navman brand devices; somewhere else I'd seen the system requirements as "Windows Mobile 2003" (as on my Axim). Secondly, if TomTom was happily running with my Navman hardware, surely Navman software would ...

Geocaching with TomTom: a Mac/ Palm solution

Bruce — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 10:05:47 +0000

From bioneural.net:

Jeff Fort read my post concerning the installation of TomTom POI from a Mac. Jeff is into geocaching, and asked if I knew a way to get waypoints into TomTom Navigator 5 on his Palm from his Mac. While I'd heard of Geotagging (with reference to tagging images with GPS co-ordinates), my first step was to find out something about geocaching. Then I could start looking at the problem... According to Wikipedia: Geocaching is an outdoor activity that most often involves the use of a Global Positioning System ("GPS") receiver or traditional navigational techniques to find a "geocache" (or "cache") placed anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small, waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure", usually trinkets of little value. Participants are called geocachers; those not familiar with geocaching are called geo-muggles or just muggles, a term borrowed from the Harry Potter series. Geocaching is similar to a much older activity called letterboxing. The major difference is its use of the GPS and the Internet. Err... interesting! The Geocaching.com website has a great tagline: "The sport where You are the search engine". An exchange of e-mail determined Jeff had the following requirements: To download a geocaching.loc file from http://www.geocaching.com; To use GeoNiche, a Palm app, to view the data when walking; To get the data in the .loc file into .pdb format for GeoNiche using the Java applet EasyNiche); To use the same waypoints in the file from 1. with TomTom maps in order to find the locations in the car. As Jeff explains ...