Someone sent me a link to a blog post about Nokia "turning it's back on VoIP". I know I can get pretty emotional from time to time, but at least I'm accurate when I do. At least I feel like I am, and that's all that matters, right?
Anyways, let's look at this post. The author points out that the new N78 and N96 no longer include the Symbian SIP client. This must mean Nokia is finally giving in to pressure from cell carriers in some huge scheme to enslave the mobile phone subscriber and direct all talk time over their network.
Follow up comments clarify the situation a bit. Nokia simply removed the interface to the SIP stack on the N series. It's still in the firmware and available to any third party developers, so the most "threatening" apps (Truphone, Gizmo, etc) will continue to work. People that just want to configure the phone to connect to their corporate/"personal" PBX will be out of luck. I love saying "personal" PBX. I have one. So do many of my friends. How geeky is that?
Why did the N series have a SIP interface in the first place? Anyone who has ever read my iPhone review knows that I believe teenagers and hipsters control a large chunk of the cellphone market which breaks down into three parts:
- Free (throw away) phones for moms, grandparents, and kids. Sign up for a two year contract and they're yours to keep! What a deal.
- Flashy phones for teenagers and hipsters (it's a better MP3 player/camera than phone)
- Serious business phones (Blackberry, Windows Mobile, most Symbian, etc)
The N series is (and always has been) a hipster phone. It's more likely to compete with the iPhone than the Blackberry or Nokia E-Series.
Speaking of the E-Series... The new Nokia E-71 still includes the SIP client. Nokia turning it's back on VoIP? I don't think so. Nokia learning a little more about their customers? Much more likely.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
OpenSER Update
I just got a very interesting Anonymous comment to my last post. One of my BIG questions was answered:
Kamailio or OpenSIPS?
For me that question was answered - OpenSIPS. Star2Star has purchased a block of consulting time from Voice System for OpenSER support. We used it once to flush out a bug in OpenSER 1.2. Other than that we have it for a little business security. It's nice to have an official avenue for support. Plus we like (financially) supporting Open Source software. It gives us so much, we should give a little back.
Anyways, this last post makes it pretty clear: OpenSIPS is Voice System's product. That's all I needed to hear. Thanks Anonymous commenter/blog reader!
Kamailio or OpenSIPS?
For me that question was answered - OpenSIPS. Star2Star has purchased a block of consulting time from Voice System for OpenSER support. We used it once to flush out a bug in OpenSER 1.2. Other than that we have it for a little business security. It's nice to have an official avenue for support. Plus we like (financially) supporting Open Source software. It gives us so much, we should give a little back.
Anyways, this last post makes it pretty clear: OpenSIPS is Voice System's product. That's all I needed to hear. Thanks Anonymous commenter/blog reader!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
More OpenSER Drama
My last rant on this blog covered the OpenSER name change to Kamailio. It's pretty obvious how I felt about it and it's even more obvious how upset (for lack of a better word) I was with the selection of the new name.
These new developments make a name change pale in comparison. This time I have something much more serious to fret over:
There has been a fork of OpenSER.
First some history. OpenSER started life as SER. Some time ago OpenSER was forked from SER for good reason (and a common one) - the company "sponsoring" the development of SER didn't understand Open Source. Community input was ignored. Patches took forever to be applied. IPTel just didn't get it. The developers (just about all of them) set out on their own to form OpenSER and create an Open Source friendly company to serve the needs of the OpenSER community - paid support, development, consulting, etc.
Almost everyone I know has (by now) abondoned SER and moved to OpenSER. Which is good because this fork (like any other) created a certain amount of fragmentation in the community:
- documentation
- support (mailing lists, etc)
- thirdy party support
- name recognition
Even with the SER and OpenSER projects generally moving in the same direction it was clear they couldn't be treated the same. Various changes were introduced in the configuration for each piece of software. They were (and are) mostly trivial, but you can't simply move an OpenSER configuration to a SER system (or vice-versa). You also can't ask an OpenSER question on a SER list (obviously). Granted most people are subscribed to both and can provide expertise on either product but it still creates a headache for the user - fragmentation of expertise, documentation, support, etc.
As I've said this doesn't seem to be that much of a problem anymore. OpenSER (Kamailio) is clearly where it's at. It's hard for me to describe how much respect I have for this software and it's developers. It is one of the most impressive products I have ever come across. It does what it is designed to do better than just about anything else I've ever seen.
As I have come to use OpenSER more and understand it better the activist in me begins to emerge. I feel pain anytime I see someone use a product where OpenSER could clearly do the job better. OpenSER doesn't get as much credit or use as it should. I can only theorize why this is but I do know one thing:
Forking doesn't help.
Any traction (that's for you, JJ) OpenSER has made over the last few years is being seriously threatened by these political shenanigans. In the last month or so I've reviewed the first OpenSER book and solicted OpenSER contributions for the upcoming O'Reilly Asterisk Cookbook. I was starting to feel like OpenSER was finally headed towards getting the exposure it deserves.
Most developers probably don't care about these things (exposure). They should, and if they don't the project admins should. And if they don't the biz guys at the company sponsoring the development should. Here's why.
Exposure/"traction":
- Attracts more users
-- More users for testing, bug reports, etc
-- More users to write documentation
-- More users to create revenue for the sponsoring company (consulting, etc)
- Attracts more developers. Open Source development is largely ego driven and the larger and more visible the project, the more developers (both good and bad) you attract.
- Attracts more third party interest in the project. Open Source software has a lot of holes for real business use. There is a huge potential for third party projects for OpenSER. Billing systems, desktop call managers, GUIs, etc.
Neither the SER community, OpenSER community, or OpenSIPS community are large enough to sustain this fragmentation. Sure they very well might survive but they won't be what they should.
Now what? There is an OpenSER book, but no OpenSER. There is Kamailio. I hope %100 of the users figure that out. I hope the publisher of the existing OpenSER book figures out how to deal with that. What happens if everyone (well, almost everyone) bails on OpenSER/Kamailio and moves to OpenSIPS? Now anyone providing support for these other OSPs (Open Source Proxies) has to decide which they will support. SER? Kamailio? OpenSIPS? All of them? None of them? That's what worries me.
I haven't decided what I'm going to do. I still use and recommend OpenSER 1.2 so none of this affects me - yet. Of course I'll be watching this closely. I will tell you one thing... I like the name OpenSIPS more than Kamailio...
These new developments make a name change pale in comparison. This time I have something much more serious to fret over:
There has been a fork of OpenSER.
First some history. OpenSER started life as SER. Some time ago OpenSER was forked from SER for good reason (and a common one) - the company "sponsoring" the development of SER didn't understand Open Source. Community input was ignored. Patches took forever to be applied. IPTel just didn't get it. The developers (just about all of them) set out on their own to form OpenSER and create an Open Source friendly company to serve the needs of the OpenSER community - paid support, development, consulting, etc.
Almost everyone I know has (by now) abondoned SER and moved to OpenSER. Which is good because this fork (like any other) created a certain amount of fragmentation in the community:
- documentation
- support (mailing lists, etc)
- thirdy party support
- name recognition
Even with the SER and OpenSER projects generally moving in the same direction it was clear they couldn't be treated the same. Various changes were introduced in the configuration for each piece of software. They were (and are) mostly trivial, but you can't simply move an OpenSER configuration to a SER system (or vice-versa). You also can't ask an OpenSER question on a SER list (obviously). Granted most people are subscribed to both and can provide expertise on either product but it still creates a headache for the user - fragmentation of expertise, documentation, support, etc.
As I've said this doesn't seem to be that much of a problem anymore. OpenSER (Kamailio) is clearly where it's at. It's hard for me to describe how much respect I have for this software and it's developers. It is one of the most impressive products I have ever come across. It does what it is designed to do better than just about anything else I've ever seen.
As I have come to use OpenSER more and understand it better the activist in me begins to emerge. I feel pain anytime I see someone use a product where OpenSER could clearly do the job better. OpenSER doesn't get as much credit or use as it should. I can only theorize why this is but I do know one thing:
Forking doesn't help.
Any traction (that's for you, JJ) OpenSER has made over the last few years is being seriously threatened by these political shenanigans. In the last month or so I've reviewed the first OpenSER book and solicted OpenSER contributions for the upcoming O'Reilly Asterisk Cookbook. I was starting to feel like OpenSER was finally headed towards getting the exposure it deserves.
Most developers probably don't care about these things (exposure). They should, and if they don't the project admins should. And if they don't the biz guys at the company sponsoring the development should. Here's why.
Exposure/"traction":
- Attracts more users
-- More users for testing, bug reports, etc
-- More users to write documentation
-- More users to create revenue for the sponsoring company (consulting, etc)
- Attracts more developers. Open Source development is largely ego driven and the larger and more visible the project, the more developers (both good and bad) you attract.
- Attracts more third party interest in the project. Open Source software has a lot of holes for real business use. There is a huge potential for third party projects for OpenSER. Billing systems, desktop call managers, GUIs, etc.
Neither the SER community, OpenSER community, or OpenSIPS community are large enough to sustain this fragmentation. Sure they very well might survive but they won't be what they should.
Now what? There is an OpenSER book, but no OpenSER. There is Kamailio. I hope %100 of the users figure that out. I hope the publisher of the existing OpenSER book figures out how to deal with that. What happens if everyone (well, almost everyone) bails on OpenSER/Kamailio and moves to OpenSIPS? Now anyone providing support for these other OSPs (Open Source Proxies) has to decide which they will support. SER? Kamailio? OpenSIPS? All of them? None of them? That's what worries me.
I haven't decided what I'm going to do. I still use and recommend OpenSER 1.2 so none of this affects me - yet. Of course I'll be watching this closely. I will tell you one thing... I like the name OpenSIPS more than Kamailio...
Monday, July 28, 2008
OpenSER Name Change
OpenSER has changed their name to Kamailio.
Name changes are tough. This name change is especially tough and dare I even say, personally frustrating.
Working with Star2Star is tough. We have a revolutionary architecture. We operate very differently from most other providers. Heck, we operate differently than most other companies! Don't get me wrong, this is one of the many things I like about us. That's why we're changing what people think about phone (communications) companies.
One of the main drawbacks of these differences (read: advantages) is working with legacy telco. Whether it's legacy telco people, equipment, process, or organization, I have had many, many frustrating clashes with telecom. Frustrations with technology excite me. Frustrations with people drive me crazy. People can't be fixed as easily.
This name change only exacerbates what I see as an already BIG problem. How am I going to talk to veteran telecom executives about a product who's name I can't even pronounce? Even if I do learn how to pronounce it I'll never get past it's awkwardness.
I am very proud of OpenSER. OpenSER has been crucial in making Star2Star what it is. OpenSER is amazing and I have the utmost respect for everyone involved with the project.
I am ashamed of Kamailio. Same project. Same people. Same awesome, quality software. It just doesn't feel the same. Unfortunately this is my emotional reaction to this name change. I can't help how I feel and I'm sure other people (like Alex) feel the same way.
OpenSER is a phenomenal piece of software that commands respect. It's name should too.
Maybe we'll start a new "support" mailing list. Not for people needing technical support for OpenSER/Kamailio, but support for those of us who have been personally affected by this name change.
Wow, now I'm just being dramatic!
Name changes are tough. This name change is especially tough and dare I even say, personally frustrating.
Working with Star2Star is tough. We have a revolutionary architecture. We operate very differently from most other providers. Heck, we operate differently than most other companies! Don't get me wrong, this is one of the many things I like about us. That's why we're changing what people think about phone (communications) companies.
One of the main drawbacks of these differences (read: advantages) is working with legacy telco. Whether it's legacy telco people, equipment, process, or organization, I have had many, many frustrating clashes with telecom. Frustrations with technology excite me. Frustrations with people drive me crazy. People can't be fixed as easily.
This name change only exacerbates what I see as an already BIG problem. How am I going to talk to veteran telecom executives about a product who's name I can't even pronounce? Even if I do learn how to pronounce it I'll never get past it's awkwardness.
I am very proud of OpenSER. OpenSER has been crucial in making Star2Star what it is. OpenSER is amazing and I have the utmost respect for everyone involved with the project.
I am ashamed of Kamailio. Same project. Same people. Same awesome, quality software. It just doesn't feel the same. Unfortunately this is my emotional reaction to this name change. I can't help how I feel and I'm sure other people (like Alex) feel the same way.
OpenSER is a phenomenal piece of software that commands respect. It's name should too.
Maybe we'll start a new "support" mailing list. Not for people needing technical support for OpenSER/Kamailio, but support for those of us who have been personally affected by this name change.
Wow, now I'm just being dramatic!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
IPv6
I've been playing with IPv6 a bit in the last couple of days and by playing I mean:
- Setup IPv6 tunnel with Hurricane Electric
- Configured Cisco 2811 for Iv6 tunnels (both ends)
- Subnetted (is that a word?) our /48 from HE
- Configured tunnels in Linux with iproute2
- Used radvd in Linux
- Setup AAAAs for services
- Added/enabled IPv6 in AstLinux
- Played with ip6tables
- Worked on my super-secret IPv6 project (more on that later)
Yep, it's been an IPv6 week. As of right now I've got a main IPv6 tunnel from HE (in Dallas) coming into my 2811 in Tampa. I have a /48 routing down that to other tunnels providing multiple /64s to several locations. I'm setup for providing more IPv6 tunnels and /64s in the future from my 2811 (with or without connectivity to the IPv6 net at large).
I've got IPv6 in the datacenter. I've got IPv6 in the office. I've got IPv6 at home. I've got IPv6 everywhere and a TON of IP addresses to boot. It's really pretty cool and other than my funky tunnel configuration (which I actually kind of like) it's pretty easy. Once I've setup the tunnels I just route the appropriate /64s down to each PtP address for each tunnel at each location. It's a bit of a hub and spoke configuration but it works very well so far. Of course it helps when your tunnel gateway (my 2811) has seven upstream IPv4 carriers.
I've also added IPv6 to AstLinux:
- Kernel (IPv6, mobile IPv6, "41" tunnels, netfilter, etc)
- C library (uClibc)
- Busybox (apps in general, ping6, etc)
- mini_httpd
- OpenSSH
- ntpd
- stunnel
- rsync
- php
- libpcap
- tcpdump
- dnsmasq (needs testing)
- nmap
- radvd
- and more
The IPv6 kernel module alias is disabled by default. Anyone that wants to use IPv6 in AstLinux will have to enable it via (you guessed it) rc.conf. It could use some more testing (hint, hint) but so far it looks pretty good.
There was one more thing I was going to talk about... Of yeah, my "super-secret IPv6 project"... I'll have another post for that soon...
- Setup IPv6 tunnel with Hurricane Electric
- Configured Cisco 2811 for Iv6 tunnels (both ends)
- Subnetted (is that a word?) our /48 from HE
- Configured tunnels in Linux with iproute2
- Used radvd in Linux
- Setup AAAAs for services
- Added/enabled IPv6 in AstLinux
- Played with ip6tables
- Worked on my super-secret IPv6 project (more on that later)
Yep, it's been an IPv6 week. As of right now I've got a main IPv6 tunnel from HE (in Dallas) coming into my 2811 in Tampa. I have a /48 routing down that to other tunnels providing multiple /64s to several locations. I'm setup for providing more IPv6 tunnels and /64s in the future from my 2811 (with or without connectivity to the IPv6 net at large).
I've got IPv6 in the datacenter. I've got IPv6 in the office. I've got IPv6 at home. I've got IPv6 everywhere and a TON of IP addresses to boot. It's really pretty cool and other than my funky tunnel configuration (which I actually kind of like) it's pretty easy. Once I've setup the tunnels I just route the appropriate /64s down to each PtP address for each tunnel at each location. It's a bit of a hub and spoke configuration but it works very well so far. Of course it helps when your tunnel gateway (my 2811) has seven upstream IPv4 carriers.
I've also added IPv6 to AstLinux:
- Kernel (IPv6, mobile IPv6, "41" tunnels, netfilter, etc)
- C library (uClibc)
- Busybox (apps in general, ping6, etc)
- mini_httpd
- OpenSSH
- ntpd
- stunnel
- rsync
- php
- libpcap
- tcpdump
- dnsmasq (needs testing)
- nmap
- radvd
- and more
The IPv6 kernel module alias is disabled by default. Anyone that wants to use IPv6 in AstLinux will have to enable it via (you guessed it) rc.conf. It could use some more testing (hint, hint) but so far it looks pretty good.
There was one more thing I was going to talk about... Of yeah, my "super-secret IPv6 project"... I'll have another post for that soon...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
One Week
One week - almost. That's how long it took me to realize that Maddox is right.
This time last week I was plotting how I could sneak into line to get one of those new iPhones. No it's not because I'm some Apply fanboy or some moron that can't do basic math (I'm not paying for the phone or the service). It's because my company is excited about what we might be able to do with the Apps store and the iPhone SDK. Trust me, it's really cool. That's all I can say right now.
I knew we needed at least a couple of these things (iPhones) and I didn't want to get stuck without them. The app we want to do is awesome and I wanted to get to work on it. That meant I was getting an iPhone. I had two choices:
1) Carry two phones
2) Port my number to our AT&T corporate plan and cancel T-Mobile
I wasn't going to carry two phones. A guy I work with carries at least two and it seems like a hassle. I HATE hassle. So it looks like I was going to port my number to AT&T and leave T-Mobile.
I'll skip the next part. We all know what happened here. Quick summary:
- In line at 7:45am
- Out of store by 10:30am (16GB white)
- Phone activated by 3:30pm
Let's just say I couldn't believe the activation problems. I guess Apple and AT&T were too busy marketing the hell out of this thing to remember to buy more servers or upgrade their network. Unbelievable.
Now that I've had the iPhone 3G for almost a week, here's what I've learned. Looking around the web, everyone already knows this:
- The camera sucks. Stills are grainy and often blurry. It can't do video at all. The Motorola RAZR could do video - five years ago. Today any free phone with a service plan can do video.
- Battery life sucks. For the first time in years, I actually worry about my cell phone battery.
- I don't care what anyone says, the keyboard sucks. It does ok considering there are no buttons but Apple needs to learn when they're wrong. They were wrong with the first gen, and they still are. It is not usable for any real work. I almost got to the point where I started sending incomprehensible teenage TXT: "OMG! WHR R U? LOL!".
Obvious so far. Here's where people might start to disagree with me...
What really surprises me about the iPhone is how little Apple got right. The following things also suck:
- The phone. There is a delay when picking up a new call and audio quality still sucks, regardless of method - ear buds, bluetooth, ear piece.
- No MMS for txt. Plain text SMS like it's 1999.
- Bluetooth. It's borderline useless. No profiles other than headset and A2DP (so I hear). Wow, I'm so glad my company paid so much for such a crippled device.
- The iPod. I don't HOW they screwed this one up... With just under 1,000 songs, the iPod software freezes the entire phone for a few seconds upon startup. Navigating around the various functions shows more of the same behavior - random freezes. The audio quality is horrible. HORRIBLE. Regardless of EQ settings or type of music, audio sounds weak and distorted. Don't ask me how that's possible at the same time, it just is. Any application of volume shows clipping and distortion, regardless of source material. The rotate function will drive you crazy. Listen to a song. Toss the iPhone in your pocket at any angle. When you pull it out the screen will be rotated horizontally in some kind of artist/album/song selection menu that scrolls around. Yes, it's very pretty but functionally, it's crap. Just like the rest of this device. God forbid you need to get out of this travesty and back to the somewhat functional vertically oriented interface. Good luck.
- Just like the iPod app, Contacts takes at least 3-5 seconds to start - EVERY TIME. I don't have that many contacts - just under 300 (297). I can't wait for a few seconds every time I need to interact with that database. I just can't.
- The calendar. This thing might work for you if all you have to do is set a reminder for the slumber party at your BFFs house this weekend. After all, you're a 13 old girl and that's all you have to worry about. That's obviously Apple's target market, and they NAILED it. Let's see - scroll wheels for setting dates and times are superfluous eye candy (more of the same from Apple). The alarm for events is useless. First of all, because it isn't persistent. It doesn't require you to acknowledge anything and rarely repeats. Secondly, it provides fixed options for notification before an event. I know I live 22 minutes away from a meeting. I want to set an alarm for 22 minutes. Too bad. I have an iPhone. Apple knows 13 year old girls don't need that and probably couldn't figure that interface out anyway. Setting schedules for recurring events - daily, weekly, etc. What if I want an event M-F, and another event M, W, F. How about another Saturday and Sunday. These recurring events are not supported. I have to create a new event for each day. Absolute crap. If I depended on this to make it to meetings and conference calls I'd be out of a job soon.
- The interface. I know I'm not the average user. I work (and play) in a command line environment all day and have for years. That means I'm used to having somewhat of an intimate connection with my devices. I type commands, hit enter, and it does what it is told. The man-machine communication is there. It's like driving a BMW. You really almost do feel one with the machine. I don't think I've ever felt so disconnected from a machine like I do with the iPhone. I never got the sense that I was really controlling this thing. From the keyboard to the excessive scrolling, rotating, blinking and other useless eye candy, to the lack of configurable options in everything I've come to the conclusion that I can't interface with this thing.
- Rotate. Make rotate system wide or don't support it at all. Very few apps actually support rotate. Again, I don't know what Apple was thinking here.
I've got plenty more but I'm done complaining for now. I came from a Nokia E-70. Let me tell you why this phone is awesome:
- Real keyboard. I can smoke ANYONE typing on this thing. Seriously, try me. Did I mention it also has a full phone keypad?
- Full bluetooth. Transfer files, push contacts, tether to your laptop. ANYTHING you want. It's even the little things... For instance - Symbian supports "profiles". Profiles allow you to configure just about any alert or setting on the device. You store them in profiles and can change carious settings with a single button. Think of memory seats in your car. It's basically that for phone settings. Anyway, Symbian supports automatically changing the profile based on which bluetooth device it's connected with. Basically, I used this to change the settings on my phone once it was connected to my car. I can never feel vibrate in my car for some reason. I can hear the tones I've assigned to this profile. I don't need to think about it. Get in the car, settings change on the phone. Get out, and they revert back to what they were before. Brilliant.
- PIM functions (Contacts, Calendar) have never done me wrong in over a year of ownership.
- MMS. Good MMS too.
- Awesome camera. 2MP, complete with night mode and video.
- 3G, 802.11g wifi, SIP.
- Real battery. Expandable storage.
Did I mention this phone is over two years old?
I'm serious about the iPhone being a play toy for teenagers. Why do you think it comes with Youtube? Once you're done playing Light Saber get a real phone - Blackberry or something running Symbian. That's it and that's why my iPhone SIM is in my E-70 and my iPhone is sitting on the table where I dump all of my junk mail when I walk in the door.
Seriously, if I didn't need this for my project I'd prop it up somewhere and unload some buckshot on it. Or maybe I'd give it to my friend Jason. He teaches middle school after all. Maybe he can sell it to one of his students and get this thing where it belongs.
This is the ONLY time you will find any profanity on this blog. Get an iPhone, and you'll see how justified it is:
The iPhone is a piece of shit, and so is your face.
Maddox, you are the man!
This time last week I was plotting how I could sneak into line to get one of those new iPhones. No it's not because I'm some Apply fanboy or some moron that can't do basic math (I'm not paying for the phone or the service). It's because my company is excited about what we might be able to do with the Apps store and the iPhone SDK. Trust me, it's really cool. That's all I can say right now.
I knew we needed at least a couple of these things (iPhones) and I didn't want to get stuck without them. The app we want to do is awesome and I wanted to get to work on it. That meant I was getting an iPhone. I had two choices:
1) Carry two phones
2) Port my number to our AT&T corporate plan and cancel T-Mobile
I wasn't going to carry two phones. A guy I work with carries at least two and it seems like a hassle. I HATE hassle. So it looks like I was going to port my number to AT&T and leave T-Mobile.
I'll skip the next part. We all know what happened here. Quick summary:
- In line at 7:45am
- Out of store by 10:30am (16GB white)
- Phone activated by 3:30pm
Let's just say I couldn't believe the activation problems. I guess Apple and AT&T were too busy marketing the hell out of this thing to remember to buy more servers or upgrade their network. Unbelievable.
Now that I've had the iPhone 3G for almost a week, here's what I've learned. Looking around the web, everyone already knows this:
- The camera sucks. Stills are grainy and often blurry. It can't do video at all. The Motorola RAZR could do video - five years ago. Today any free phone with a service plan can do video.
- Battery life sucks. For the first time in years, I actually worry about my cell phone battery.
- I don't care what anyone says, the keyboard sucks. It does ok considering there are no buttons but Apple needs to learn when they're wrong. They were wrong with the first gen, and they still are. It is not usable for any real work. I almost got to the point where I started sending incomprehensible teenage TXT: "OMG! WHR R U? LOL!".
Obvious so far. Here's where people might start to disagree with me...
What really surprises me about the iPhone is how little Apple got right. The following things also suck:
- The phone. There is a delay when picking up a new call and audio quality still sucks, regardless of method - ear buds, bluetooth, ear piece.
- No MMS for txt. Plain text SMS like it's 1999.
- Bluetooth. It's borderline useless. No profiles other than headset and A2DP (so I hear). Wow, I'm so glad my company paid so much for such a crippled device.
- The iPod. I don't HOW they screwed this one up... With just under 1,000 songs, the iPod software freezes the entire phone for a few seconds upon startup. Navigating around the various functions shows more of the same behavior - random freezes. The audio quality is horrible. HORRIBLE. Regardless of EQ settings or type of music, audio sounds weak and distorted. Don't ask me how that's possible at the same time, it just is. Any application of volume shows clipping and distortion, regardless of source material. The rotate function will drive you crazy. Listen to a song. Toss the iPhone in your pocket at any angle. When you pull it out the screen will be rotated horizontally in some kind of artist/album/song selection menu that scrolls around. Yes, it's very pretty but functionally, it's crap. Just like the rest of this device. God forbid you need to get out of this travesty and back to the somewhat functional vertically oriented interface. Good luck.
- Just like the iPod app, Contacts takes at least 3-5 seconds to start - EVERY TIME. I don't have that many contacts - just under 300 (297). I can't wait for a few seconds every time I need to interact with that database. I just can't.
- The calendar. This thing might work for you if all you have to do is set a reminder for the slumber party at your BFFs house this weekend. After all, you're a 13 old girl and that's all you have to worry about. That's obviously Apple's target market, and they NAILED it. Let's see - scroll wheels for setting dates and times are superfluous eye candy (more of the same from Apple). The alarm for events is useless. First of all, because it isn't persistent. It doesn't require you to acknowledge anything and rarely repeats. Secondly, it provides fixed options for notification before an event. I know I live 22 minutes away from a meeting. I want to set an alarm for 22 minutes. Too bad. I have an iPhone. Apple knows 13 year old girls don't need that and probably couldn't figure that interface out anyway. Setting schedules for recurring events - daily, weekly, etc. What if I want an event M-F, and another event M, W, F. How about another Saturday and Sunday. These recurring events are not supported. I have to create a new event for each day. Absolute crap. If I depended on this to make it to meetings and conference calls I'd be out of a job soon.
- The interface. I know I'm not the average user. I work (and play) in a command line environment all day and have for years. That means I'm used to having somewhat of an intimate connection with my devices. I type commands, hit enter, and it does what it is told. The man-machine communication is there. It's like driving a BMW. You really almost do feel one with the machine. I don't think I've ever felt so disconnected from a machine like I do with the iPhone. I never got the sense that I was really controlling this thing. From the keyboard to the excessive scrolling, rotating, blinking and other useless eye candy, to the lack of configurable options in everything I've come to the conclusion that I can't interface with this thing.
- Rotate. Make rotate system wide or don't support it at all. Very few apps actually support rotate. Again, I don't know what Apple was thinking here.
I've got plenty more but I'm done complaining for now. I came from a Nokia E-70. Let me tell you why this phone is awesome:
- Real keyboard. I can smoke ANYONE typing on this thing. Seriously, try me. Did I mention it also has a full phone keypad?
- Full bluetooth. Transfer files, push contacts, tether to your laptop. ANYTHING you want. It's even the little things... For instance - Symbian supports "profiles". Profiles allow you to configure just about any alert or setting on the device. You store them in profiles and can change carious settings with a single button. Think of memory seats in your car. It's basically that for phone settings. Anyway, Symbian supports automatically changing the profile based on which bluetooth device it's connected with. Basically, I used this to change the settings on my phone once it was connected to my car. I can never feel vibrate in my car for some reason. I can hear the tones I've assigned to this profile. I don't need to think about it. Get in the car, settings change on the phone. Get out, and they revert back to what they were before. Brilliant.
- PIM functions (Contacts, Calendar) have never done me wrong in over a year of ownership.
- MMS. Good MMS too.
- Awesome camera. 2MP, complete with night mode and video.
- 3G, 802.11g wifi, SIP.
- Real battery. Expandable storage.
Did I mention this phone is over two years old?
I'm serious about the iPhone being a play toy for teenagers. Why do you think it comes with Youtube? Once you're done playing Light Saber get a real phone - Blackberry or something running Symbian. That's it and that's why my iPhone SIM is in my E-70 and my iPhone is sitting on the table where I dump all of my junk mail when I walk in the door.
Seriously, if I didn't need this for my project I'd prop it up somewhere and unload some buckshot on it. Or maybe I'd give it to my friend Jason. He teaches middle school after all. Maybe he can sell it to one of his students and get this thing where it belongs.
This is the ONLY time you will find any profanity on this blog. Get an iPhone, and you'll see how justified it is:
The iPhone is a piece of shit, and so is your face.
Maddox, you are the man!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Asterisk Cookbook
We've been trying to get the Asterisk Cookbook going. It's the same format as other O'Reilly cookbooks - practical instructions for specific problems posted as recipes, just like a cookbook you'd use in the kitchen (at least that's what people usually do with them).
I haven't contributed much but I have an excuse - I don't really work with Asterisk that much anymore. So, a couple of days ago I asked the other authors and editors if we could widen the scope of the book to include some of my favorite technologies. Anyone that reads this blog knows what that means - Cisco, OpenSER, etc. I plan on writing quite a bit about OpenSER. As I said in my OpenSER book review, OpenSER needs more press and documentation. Let's work on that!
I've now contributed three recipes! My SIP DoS/DDoS mitigation script and a couple OpenSER scripts. Some of the OpenSER stuff is a little obscure and probably won't make it to the final book. I'll be adding more OpenSER, Cisco, and SIPp stuff over the next days/weeks/months. Keep checking here and there for updates.
Oh, and if you feel like you have something to add, get a hold of one of the authors (myself, Jim, Leif, Matt, Jared, etc) and we can figure out how to get you an account on the wiki.
I haven't contributed much but I have an excuse - I don't really work with Asterisk that much anymore. So, a couple of days ago I asked the other authors and editors if we could widen the scope of the book to include some of my favorite technologies. Anyone that reads this blog knows what that means - Cisco, OpenSER, etc. I plan on writing quite a bit about OpenSER. As I said in my OpenSER book review, OpenSER needs more press and documentation. Let's work on that!
I've now contributed three recipes! My SIP DoS/DDoS mitigation script and a couple OpenSER scripts. Some of the OpenSER stuff is a little obscure and probably won't make it to the final book. I'll be adding more OpenSER, Cisco, and SIPp stuff over the next days/weeks/months. Keep checking here and there for updates.
Oh, and if you feel like you have something to add, get a hold of one of the authors (myself, Jim, Leif, Matt, Jared, etc) and we can figure out how to get you an account on the wiki.
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