I've been testing my little INQ since Christmas now, and to be honest, I have grown quite fond of it. There's something about the ease and convenience of the applications, that I miss on my Nokia 6500s. I still don't really use it as a 'phone' as such, but rather to check up on Facebook and gmail, and to use Skype. I know I've banged on about this many times before, but the Skype application on it is really what makes it for me. I can't understand why the Skype on my Nokia is so cumbersome to use. With the INQ it's always connected and the chat function (which my Nokia's Skype app doesn't even have!) works like a charm.

Despite me trying everything in my power to synch the INQ with my computer, I just could not get it to work. Not sure if it was the truly craptastic sofware, my Windows Vista 64-bit, or both, but after hours of tearing my hair out I just gave up. It's a shame really as I really wanted to love all sides of the INQ, but in order to use it as a real phone I just need to have all my contacts and calendar synched. Same goes for getting pictures and music in and out of it. No matter how many times I was told I could connect it as a portable hard drive, I could not copy anything to or from the phone. Meh.

Given all the synching problems, I'm actually quite surprised how I much I do use it though. The fact that you can be connected to people without having your whole traditional phone book on your phone, goes to show how the idea of the INQ is very much on the right track. Social media is such a powerful tool for keeping in touch these days that you almost don't miss the traditional ways of communicating.

One thing where the people behind the INQ have seriously missed a trick though, is with the design of the phone. It's been given this generic metallic hi-end mobile device look, not far off from my Nokia 6500s for example. However, when you pick the phones up, the difference becomes obvious. The INQ just feels so much... cheaper. Despite the metallic look, it has a plastic-y, light feel to it, instead of the feeling of a quality product. With a product that you hold in your hand it's not enough to just 'look' a certain way, and with the INQ the look and the feel just don't correlate. I've been using it for less than two months and already the metallic coating on the navigation button is showing signs of wear - not good.

Taking into consideration the ethos of the phone - young, forward-thinking, affordable - I have no idea why they have gone for this mock hi-end design. I think the designers should have gone completely the different direction. If the INQ came in pretty colours (and maybe also in white), reminiscent of the original mini ipods, but with a Japanese-gadgets-inspired hard plastic with rounded corners as material, I think it would be an instant hit with the younger demographic who are most likely to be interested in the INQ in the first place. Also, since they went to all the trouble of commissioning artists to create original artwork, which was used on the 'manual' cards (how many times will anyone look at those? Once, I bet - the first time they open the box.), why not take that idea one step further and have the artwork actually on the phone? I think all of the images would work great on the handset, either as hard plastic covers or even as changeable picture under a clear plastic cover. Now there's a unique product that would interest just the people the INQ is aimed at...



The ultimate most annoying thing about the INQ however is something a lot more practical, or not, as the case may be - battery life. Taking into consideration the fact that I'm not even making phone calls, it's incomprehensible to me that the battery hardly lasts a day. I charge the handset every night, and even so on some days it dies on me before the day is through. That just seems completely unacceptable to me. Also, let's not even go into the decision to have just a usb connection for the charger and the headphones... what silliness.

Kind of annoyed that I can't offer any more in depth reviews on the camera and music side of the phone. But for what's it worth, even in it's half-baked state, the INQ has proven to be a useful little part of my gadget family.

And I guess it's gotten a few other people hooked as well since it just won GSMA’s award for Best Mobile Handset at the Global Mobile Awards 2009.

Labels: 3 network, 3Network, facebook, INQ, INQ1, review, skype, social networking, technology

I could get some of the office Christmas party pics from earlier today off the camera but I'm on the sofa with my laptop, and watching Eddie Izzard, so can't really be arsed. Maybe tomorrow. :P

I'm so tired that everything aches, not sure how long I'll manage to stay up for. Doesn't matter though. I'm treating today as the start of my Christmas holiday, even though I still have to go in on Monday. I'm thinking I will treat Monday as 'popping up to town to have lunch with Layla' sort of thing. Sounds much more inviting that 'going to work'.

I've been playing with my INQ a lot yesterday and today, and am getting to like it more and more. Funnily, this being a mobile phone trial, I've actually used very few traditional phone functions, like making calls or even texting, in the past two days, since I can pretty much satisfy most of my communication needs via other methods. There are certainly a lot of things I like about the INQ, but also some niggles that could do with a bit more work in my opinion.

Last night after work I headed up to a very snazzy office in the West End (oh it was quite lovely to be back at my old stomping grounds!) to meet up with Matt from 3mobilebuzz and to find out a bit more about what's actually involved in the mobile trial. It also gave me a chance to share the biggest gripes I've had with the handset so far, which Matt then forwarded to INQ/3, which is kind of cool. Not sure if my user experience is going to make any actual difference when it comes to the future INQ models, but here's hoping.

But yeah, the things I really like about it so far:

• It's really easy to switch between all the different networking clients, which means you can be writing on people's walls on Facebook, having a skype or live messenger chat and checking your mail, all practially at the same time.
• The facebook client is really handy as you can write messages and update things even when outside of network coverage, it will then post everything once you are connected again.
• Skype works like a charm. On my Nokia you have to keep on connecting to skype every time you need to use it, which makes it less than ideal, but on the INQ it is actually always on and connected (as long as you have network coverage). I've used the skype chat a lot instead of sending text messages and really like the ease of it.
• It's cool to be able to merge all the instances of the same person from skype, msn, facebook etc. into one contact. That way you can always see if they are online with some client and thus use the most convenient way of communicating. Can't wait to see how easy (or difficult?) it'll be to really get all the contacts integrated when I get the phone synched with my Outlook.
• I like the pared down simplicity of everything. It does the things you want it to do and there's no 'fluff' to confuse you.

Then the negatives:

• The build of the phone feels a bit cheap and flimsy.
• There's very little control over sounds in different clients, for example the skype incoming chat message is driving me nuts, and there doesn't seem to be any way of turning this off.
• The facebook client is missing one crucial navigational aid from the top menu - 'home'. At least for me this is the page I want to generally start from, but to get there you'll have to go to a submenu menu and 'jump to' the homepage.
• The phone keeps buzzing (especially in the middle of the night) to inform me of some sort of event or message, but when you have a look there's no actual way of knowing what the hell the buzz was for. Quite annoying.
• The window turns horizontal in a very random manner. Browsing some websites it'll suddenly turn sideways at a slight flick of your wrist, but it's impossible to actually make it do this on command. I have no idea why and when it happens, and whether it's supposed to do it every time you turn the phone sideways.
• Why no blogger or generic blogging client?
  

Hmm. I guess that's it for now. I'm still waiting for the software that will enable me to synch the phone with my calendar and address book. I also haven't put any music on it yet so can't comment on sound quality etc. yet.

Sometime next week there's something a bit exciting happening regarding the trial. Will tell you more about it when it's live.

Uhh I think I'll have to give up now and go to bed. Hopefully will have a lot more energy tomorrow, have shedloads to do. And also, we're having a little xmas do with Sooz before she's off to Finland (sniff) for Christmas.

Labels: 3 network, 3Network, facebook, INQ, INQ1, my life, social networking, technology

Today didn't start very well. Waterloo was in chaos and getting on the tube was a right palaver. And not just in the usual way. While waiting on the platform for the (5th) tube that I might fit in, I got a bit annoyed by the person behind me getting a bit too close (and that's saying something with the way people were packed there). He was very short though so I assumed it was a kid, they don't generally have a similar sense of personal space as adults tend to. Finally there was a train I could squeeze into and the person behind me pushed me in with such force that I had to swear out loud. Once we were all squeezed in I realised the someone had their arm practically around me. Trying to turn my head wasn't very easy as the car was so crammed with people, but I did realise that it was the same shortarse from the platform, who had now squeezed himself behind me. I then realised that he wasn't a 'kid' at all, but indeed some mutherf*****g pervert trying to get off by humping my leg! Eugh! All I could do in the tight space was to elbow him in the chest really hard. I later hoped I'd said something to embarrass him for good, but I was too shocked to speak at the time, besides, he was behind me so it was a bit difficult. After I elbowed him he got off the train at the next stop... only to move on to the next carriage. Uhh. I still feel violated!

The day didn't get much better once I got in the office. We still have no internet/server access due to problems that have now been going on for a month. The atmosphere at work is very tense as people as just so over not being able to do their work and just having to sit there and wait... it's soul destroying. And to add insult to injury, we're supposed to get the issue to press tomorrow. Hey ho.

There were some positive points to the day though. Since going to the INQ launch party, I was chosen to test out the new handset for a month, and I received my review copy today. It was good timing as I really could use some distraction at work, which playing with the phone provided. In this short space of time I have already grown to like it quite a lot. All the social networking tools are easy to use, and dad already managed to phone me on skype while I was on the train. :D

I think I mentioned after the launch the original artwork created for the cards that work as a manual. They're super cute.



I'm not quite sure how I can synch the phone with my address book and calendar, something that would be vital for me if I was using the phone for real. For now it grabbed all my facebook contacts and added them into my phone book. Note sure if that was the way I wanted to go about things. :D I think I'll have to have further play with it to figure out what's the best way to do things. I will let you know my thoughts over the month.

Labels: 3, 3 network, 3mobilebuzz, 3Network, driedonpaper, facebook, INQ, INQ1, London, London Underground, my life, social networking, technology

Soooo, you're probably dying to hear what the answer to the mystery of the driedonpaper party was. Turned out it was a party organised by 3 to celebrate the launch of a new 'social mobile' called INQ (pronounced ink - explains the mysterious invitation I suppose), which was announced earlier in the day.



The venue, Shoreditch Studios, was very nice (now I wouldn't mind a studio like that!) and done up in a pretty snazzy way, Fifteen took care of the food and there was plenty of free tipple to go around. The main attraction was of course the phone, and there were several people walking around with the handsets, handing them out for guests to try.



My very first impression of the phone was that it looked cool in an understated way. The size was nice, smaller than the brick that is the iPhone, and even though this made the screen smaller, it was bright and clear and easy to look at.

The INQ1 is marketed by 3 as 'the Facebook phone', but it's a bit more than that. Facebook, Skype and Live Messenger, among other things, are integrated in the operating system, so you can sync your contacts with all the social networks they belong to, integrating images, messages and details to your phonebook. As it's client and not app based, you can schedule posts, facebook messages etc. even when the phone is offline, allowing it to update when you're back in the reach of a signal.

The interface was quite intuitive to use and thought had definitely gone into how to collate and streamline people's fractured online presence in a sensible way. I do really dig the idea behind that. Of course it will mean that you are never offline as it were, since you'll always be contactable in one way or the other. Another thing I wonder is whether everyone really has the same circle of friends in all of these mediums, and if not, would a device like this make that akward? Perhaps I'm overthinking.

There's also a widget manager, which includes a selection of interesting apps such as Weather, RSS feeds and Google, all which will update automatically. New widgets, such as eBay, will be introduced later this year.

One of my favourite things was how the mediaplayer had last.fm support for instant scrobbling, that's a pretty forward-thinking idea in my book.



What might be somewhat surprising is the target market the INQ is aimed at. With a campaign like this, it'd be easy to think that this was a high-end product. Not so. On a 3 contract, you can get the INQ free, with all the bells and whistles of free skype et al. included, for just £15 a month. In the Guardian review of the INQ1, INQ's chief executive Frank Meehan is quoted saying that the new device is designed to bring the mobile internet, and especially mobile social networking, to a much wider audience. 'The 85% to 95% of the market that did not buy the iPhone and cannot afford an expensive smartphone has been frankly forgotten,' he says.

Considering that the price point puts INQ at the low end of the market, there has been some clever thinking happening with the way it's been branded and packaged. Several artists were commissioned to create original works of art (which were also displayed on the walls at the venue), which were used in snazzy easy-to-use cards that functioned as the manual for the phone. No boring booklet to be found in the box, but gorgeous little works of art instead. I like.



All in all, it was a pretty interesting evening, and the INQ is certainly a pretty interesting product, and I'm glad I did manage to go. And as a bonus, at the end of the night we got to take a poster, a t-shirt and an usb stick home with us.

Labels: 3, 3 network, 3mobilebuzz, 3Network, driedonpaper, facebook, INQ, INQ1, last.fm, launch, London, party, social networking, technology

I feel like I ought to let you know that MTP now has a facebook page, just in case you feel a strong urge to become a fan! :D

In other news, I've sent a strongly worded letter to London Underground today, as this morning I'd just had enough! I've had to walk from Waterloo every morning this week because of disruption on the Jubilee line. What exactly is the point of paying for a season ticket if you can never get on the train?? But yes, I expect they will jump into action any minute now, after receiving my letter. I can only wonder how many zeros there will be on my compensation cheque. :P

Tonight's the night of the mysterious driedonpaper launch party. Sooz is coming with me, and we've been pulling our hair out trying to figure out what it might be for - with no success. Is exciting! I hope it's something good after all this suspence... will let you know tomorrow.

Labels: 3, 3 network, 3mobilebuzz, 3Network, driedonpaper, facebook, INQ, INQ1, London Underground, my life, photography, social networking, technology