Working away from home made easy.

I might be on holiday, but it’s a working holiday. I got all my projects out of the way before I left, but there’s bits & pieces I still have to do.
Two little things have proved very useful so far:

1. Skype
Skype is one of my main IM clients and I like it because it’s platform independent, now has a much better UI and is getting closer to feature parity (The Mac client is in Beta for video, but no SMS). However, beside the IM side of things, Skype Out means I can call back to Sydney (or around the world) for very cheap and Skype In means you can call me for the price of a phone call to Sydney instead of Helsinki, NY or L.A. (call me on 02 8003 3809, if I’m offline leave a VM).

2. GMail’s SMTP server and settings
Using Google Mail’s server settings I can configure my email to send out through the hotel network. This is a problem for people who use a internet connection that isn’t their ISPs. You use your GMail SMTP settings in your email client and then change your default outgoing email address for your GMail account, so that it looks like it’s coming from your specific account (e.g. work email address).

Technorati Tags: Google, idealinterfaces, Skype, travel

Nokia Flagship Store

On the first day in a new city I always get a map, but don’t really use it properly and end up walking around trying to get my bearings. On my list of things to do at some point during my time here was to check out the new Nokia flagship store. I ‘ran into’ it within about 30 mins of being in Helsinki. Unfortunately, it’s not all that flash. They have a heap of phones set-up but there’s nothing that exciting. There are the Vertu phone down the back, back it doesn’t compare to the Apple Store experience, maybe that’s just me…

I did spend a bit of time with the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet device. The device was smaller than I expected, but I’m not overly impressed with the UI. It takes up too much space and is really spread out. The whole interaction is quite confusing (not that I read a manual, but I would hope I wouldn’t need to).

BTW The Nokia campus is on the way home from the city to my hotel. I’ll be going there on Friday, so more about it then.

Conference workshops and tutorials are on today and tomorrow with the social events kicking off tomorrow night with some mobile phone throwing competitions. Thankfully there is no sign of jet-lag, so I’m off into the city to get some dinner.

Technorati Tags: consumerelectronics, design, mobile, Nokia, ui, usability

Tripping over Mobile Monday in Helsinki

So, today I was wandering through downtown Helsinki on my first day of exploration, and I came across a Korean Technology Expo in an out of the way building. I decided to wander in and check it out. On the way through the door I happened to see a Mobile Monday sign and it turned out they were having a Mobile Monday Morning session with presentations on Mobile by the Koreans. I only got there in time to see the end of the last presentation (on Mobile TV), but I introduced myself to Micah who’s on the Mobile Monday Helsinki team and we had a brief chat.



What a bizarre thing to happen!

Technorati Tags: idealinterfaces, industry, mobile, momo