Maximising My Technology
I've got a laptop, a tablet and a mobile phone. An apps store bursting with more apps than I could ever hope to use or even know about. An abundance of technology that it is easy to get lost in.
I've had my Samsung Galaxy Note tablet about six months now and I am still discovering new things I can do with it. I've also had BT Infinity a good while too. And I've got a google account that in theory links all of these things up. Can't help thinking though that I have barely scratched the surface of all the things it is possible to do.
Searching in the google store for apps produces a multitude of results, countless apps with lots of reviews attached. Not sure how much you can rely on these reviews - it seems nearly every app comes with at least one review in the three that appear in the window along the signs of "rubbish, doesn't work, crashed my phone" that sort of thing.
Now one area that I was well aware I was not getting the best out of was the whole area of phone calls, text messages etc. I've been aware for years of the likes of Skype, making internet phone calls and such like and felt it was about time I got myself up to speed with all of this and found the right solutions to suit me.
That's a key thing. You see we all have different needs. Most people's mobile needs are far greater than mine - because they are mobile a lot more than I am - i.e. away from home. My mobile phone has practically fallen into disuse because I basically cannot be bothered pissing around with tiny little keys, on a signal that constantly drops out, or an internet connection that works intermittently. It does not help that it is a crap phone, but any attempt to use facebook while out and about - even when connected to a wi-fi hot spot such as at the White Hart or Costa works sporadically at best. I also hate text messaging - it takes me ages and ages.
A couple of years ago I tried using a mobile app to access BT Wi-fi through Openzone and FON as they were called at the time but it was more trouble than it was worth.
I have friends who swear by their mobiles though - and barely every even go near a laptop - they can do it all. Take bestie Lynda for example - she does it all on her phone. Now admittedly she has got smaller and daintier fingers than myself and also a much better and larger phone which helps, but even so, there is no way I could ever envisage myself working that way. I am a laptop person through and through - all my mobile phone is to me is an annoying irritation - yet one I have to have to pick up work calls and SMS messages. I guess we are all different in the way we like to do things.
Even the home phone is a pain - because it ties up one of my hands. The speaker phone option is rubbish so not worth bothering with.
To sum up - I don't want to do anything any more on a phone that I can do on a computer if and when the technology becomes available. Which it seems to be doing, more and more.
So as a laptop, home based most of the time person, I need solutions that suit me. I've already got my emails, blogs, documents, key websites on my tablet for use at home. But there are more things I want to do. So I put together a wish list, worked out the 3 most important things I wanted to do, and then went hunting in the Play Store for solutions.
1) I want to be able to communicate freely via SMS without fiddling about on the phone.
2) I want to be able to make phone calls hands free.
3) I want to be able to use the internet when I am out and about.
And I found solutions that far exceeded my expectations. All things I didn't really know about (apart from a vague feeling they existed) - apps that once installed have given me a real "where have you been all my life?" feel.
I was also delighted to see that Kairosoft have made a new sports simulation - having completed Pocket League Story and Grand Prix story I've just bought their new game, Pocket Stables, based on...yep you've guessed it, horse racing. So I shall be training up a triple crown winner before you know it.
Anyway, back to the solutions:
1) An app called MightyText - amazing little app which you install on your phone, and then you can access your phone from the computer or tablet for SMS messaging and contacts. No more pissing about with text messages and fiddly buttons and spell checks. I have got it all right in front of me on the laptop (which is on 24/7) and they come through to the tablet too. I can instantly respond - writing in about 10 seconds what it would have taken me over a minute before complete with predictive text hassle and all the rest of it. Brilliant! Perfect solution for me! I should never have to use my phone again to respond to text messages while I am at home - which is 90% of the time. And it's good for other people too who are pissed off at having to wait six hours for a reply - now they will get them much quicker! And you can have all the people in multiple windows as well - here's a screenshot I got off the net.
2) I was quite aware that there were lots of things included in my BT infinity package I was not using so decided to try out BT SmartTalk. Now I'm well aware that for years various websites and apps have been around for making phone calls but I had never bothered before. Because sitting at a computer making a phone call is still fairly restrictive - you may be hands free but you can't walk around like you can with a cordless phone. So - how could I find the right solution? Well - my Samsung Tablet has an excellent speaker and microphone system built in so I decided to try this out.
I've had my Samsung Galaxy Note tablet about six months now and I am still discovering new things I can do with it. I've also had BT Infinity a good while too. And I've got a google account that in theory links all of these things up. Can't help thinking though that I have barely scratched the surface of all the things it is possible to do.
 |
| The Galaxy Note - I find new things to do with it every day. |
Searching in the google store for apps produces a multitude of results, countless apps with lots of reviews attached. Not sure how much you can rely on these reviews - it seems nearly every app comes with at least one review in the three that appear in the window along the signs of "rubbish, doesn't work, crashed my phone" that sort of thing.
Now one area that I was well aware I was not getting the best out of was the whole area of phone calls, text messages etc. I've been aware for years of the likes of Skype, making internet phone calls and such like and felt it was about time I got myself up to speed with all of this and found the right solutions to suit me.
That's a key thing. You see we all have different needs. Most people's mobile needs are far greater than mine - because they are mobile a lot more than I am - i.e. away from home. My mobile phone has practically fallen into disuse because I basically cannot be bothered pissing around with tiny little keys, on a signal that constantly drops out, or an internet connection that works intermittently. It does not help that it is a crap phone, but any attempt to use facebook while out and about - even when connected to a wi-fi hot spot such as at the White Hart or Costa works sporadically at best. I also hate text messaging - it takes me ages and ages.
A couple of years ago I tried using a mobile app to access BT Wi-fi through Openzone and FON as they were called at the time but it was more trouble than it was worth.
I have friends who swear by their mobiles though - and barely every even go near a laptop - they can do it all. Take bestie Lynda for example - she does it all on her phone. Now admittedly she has got smaller and daintier fingers than myself and also a much better and larger phone which helps, but even so, there is no way I could ever envisage myself working that way. I am a laptop person through and through - all my mobile phone is to me is an annoying irritation - yet one I have to have to pick up work calls and SMS messages. I guess we are all different in the way we like to do things.
Even the home phone is a pain - because it ties up one of my hands. The speaker phone option is rubbish so not worth bothering with.
To sum up - I don't want to do anything any more on a phone that I can do on a computer if and when the technology becomes available. Which it seems to be doing, more and more.
So as a laptop, home based most of the time person, I need solutions that suit me. I've already got my emails, blogs, documents, key websites on my tablet for use at home. But there are more things I want to do. So I put together a wish list, worked out the 3 most important things I wanted to do, and then went hunting in the Play Store for solutions.
1) I want to be able to communicate freely via SMS without fiddling about on the phone.
2) I want to be able to make phone calls hands free.
3) I want to be able to use the internet when I am out and about.
And I found solutions that far exceeded my expectations. All things I didn't really know about (apart from a vague feeling they existed) - apps that once installed have given me a real "where have you been all my life?" feel.
I was also delighted to see that Kairosoft have made a new sports simulation - having completed Pocket League Story and Grand Prix story I've just bought their new game, Pocket Stables, based on...yep you've guessed it, horse racing. So I shall be training up a triple crown winner before you know it.
 |
| Pocket Stables - another great 80s Spectrum style game from Kairosoft |
Anyway, back to the solutions:
1) An app called MightyText - amazing little app which you install on your phone, and then you can access your phone from the computer or tablet for SMS messaging and contacts. No more pissing about with text messages and fiddly buttons and spell checks. I have got it all right in front of me on the laptop (which is on 24/7) and they come through to the tablet too. I can instantly respond - writing in about 10 seconds what it would have taken me over a minute before complete with predictive text hassle and all the rest of it. Brilliant! Perfect solution for me! I should never have to use my phone again to respond to text messages while I am at home - which is 90% of the time. And it's good for other people too who are pissed off at having to wait six hours for a reply - now they will get them much quicker! And you can have all the people in multiple windows as well - here's a screenshot I got off the net.
 |
| What a great little app! |
2) I was quite aware that there were lots of things included in my BT infinity package I was not using so decided to try out BT SmartTalk. Now I'm well aware that for years various websites and apps have been around for making phone calls but I had never bothered before. Because sitting at a computer making a phone call is still fairly restrictive - you may be hands free but you can't walk around like you can with a cordless phone. So - how could I find the right solution? Well - my Samsung Tablet has an excellent speaker and microphone system built in so I decided to try this out.
When I bought my tablet I decided to buy it without the GPRS option. You can buy these things in the same way you do a mobile phone, but I figured since I wouldn't be using it out of home that much there was no point, not when I have a perfectly good BT infinity network here. So it doesn't have a mobile number attached - but then it doesn't need one. BTSmart Talk allows you to link up all your devices so that you can make calls via your home hub on the internet. This has benefits such using your mobile to call 0845 or 0800 numbers which would normally be charged but there's no real benefit at home to doing this as you can just use your home phone. For me, the attraction lay in setting it up so I could use the Samsung Tablet to make phone calls hands free. So I installed it, set it up, rang my Dad to test it, and it was great. Was stood a few feet away and I could hear him just fine and he could hear me! The beauty of this for me is it gives me a solution that is both hands free and mobile. I can be chatting while in the kitchen making a cup of tea for example (quite a challenge one handed), but if I need to wander into another room it's quick and easy to just take the tablet with me. Sorted. And it all comes through my Infinity package so it is once again free.
| Nice and easy, big buttons, even I can't go wrong |
3) BT Wi-fi - despite horror stories I have heard in the past about it disconnecting you from your home hub because it's searching for a hot spot (and I did have some experience of this myself in the past), it seems whatever those issues were, they are now sorted. So I have installed BT Wi-fi on the tablet, and this is where I hope to get some usage in the future when I am out and about. I already use some hot spots e.g. Costa Coffee last week on one of BT's rare outages when I needed to make some "investments" in a hurry, but we will have to see how it gets on otherwise. I will take my tablet out and about with me a bit and test it out. Have had a look at the wi-fi map and it's interesting that there are a lot of hot spots in residential areas but less so in commercial areas e.g. Sheep Street seems like a bit of a black hole. I guess this makes sense, as businesses will have their own networks rather than a BT home hub so we shall have to see. I'll get back to you on that one.
But as far as option 1 and 2 are concerned are delighted. I'm sure there will be some clever dicks reading this and thinking, "I've been doing all this for years", or "Pah - MightyText is rubbish, I use such and such and it's much better"...but well each to their own. It may be old news for some, but well, it's all new to me, and very welcome - and if this info here helps anyone else out - well you are more than welcome too!
If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please take a look at my books on Amazon (Paperback & Kindle), where you can read lots more of the same! Click here.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please take a look at my books on Amazon (Paperback & Kindle), where you can read lots more of the same! Click here.
Jason xx
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