bruceb news

While we’re talking about the Kindle Fire, it’s worth noting one strange omission: the Kindle Fire does not have a built-in connection to Exchange mailboxes. The picture on the left shows all the built-in mail connectors: Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, and “other” (which covers POP3 and IMAP accounts). Where’s Exchange? (Or, as it’s quaintly known on Motorola Android phones, “Corporate.”)

Under the hood, a Kindle Fire is running a highly customized version of Google’s Android operating system. Android has always supported ActiveSync, the engine that drives the process of syncing with an Exchange mailbox. All Android phones and tablets can connect to an Exchange mailbox and sync mail, calendar, and contacts. […] continued

Amazon’s $199 Kindle Fire is a fascinating device! We got ours last week but this isn’t a review – opinions are still forming over here at the global headquarters of Bruceb Consulting.

For now I want to point out a single issue: some people are having trouble connecting their new Kindle Fires to wireless networks. The Kindle Fire is pretty useless without an 802.11 connection; it is not designed to connect to Verizon or AT&T networks, so a connection to a local 802.11 wireless network is required before you can download books or watch movies or install apps.

I pulled the Kindle Fire out of the box and admired it and turned it on and was led through an excellent startup wizard, which quickly found the wireless network and asked for the security key and . […] continued

Recently I set up a Cisco RV220W wireless router, and a Cisco WAP4410N wireless access point. They are part of Cisco’s small business line and cost roughly twice as much as comparable consumer products – roughly $260 for the router, for example.

The wireless range extended far beyond my expectations. There are so many variables that it’s pointless to list a random number of feet. Let’s just say that I had a strong signal through many intervening walls far beyond anything I would have guessed from my previous wireless experiences.

As you upgrade your equipment, you are more likely to be able to take advantage of the current wireless standard, 802.11n, which offers as much as five times the speed and twice the range of old stalwart 802.11g. […] continued

Previously:
Whining About Wireless

I’ll tell you a story about my own experience. You won’t learn anything and there’s not a happy ending, but perhaps it will give you a little perspective on why I’m not urging you to ditch your wires and set up wireless everywhere.

I’ve had a wireless access point at the global headquarters of Bruceb Consulting for a long time. When my wife and I got our matching Vostro V13 laptops last year, we started to rely on wireless more than ever, so maybe we just began to notice a problem that had existed for a long time. […] continued

When you have a choice between running a cable and relying on a wireless connection, you simply must not consider them to be equal choices. The reliability of a wired connection seriously tilts the scales. I have told my clients for years that the equation is simple: people with wireless connections call me for help; people with wires don’t.

These two things are both true:

• Wireless Internet connections, whether 802.11 or cell carrier networks, are wonderful and useful and fantastic and science fictional.
• Wireless Internet connections can be an incredible pain in the butt.

Can you tell I’ve dealt with more than my fair share of wireless failures in the last few weeks? […] continued

You probably saw the news that Verizon will begin selling a version of the iPhone that will run on its network starting February 10. We’re very conscious of Verizon’s business plans in the North Bay, since AT&T’s presence up here is feeble at best and Sprint and T-Mobile are non-starters. I’ll give you just a few extra bits of information.

• iPhone vs. Android  Now that everyone will finally have a fair chance to compare the iPhone side by side with Verizon’s extensive selection of Android phones, you’ll see endless arguments about which one is “better.” That’s not the right question.

[…] continued

Wireless networks are convenient and likely to be the way most of us get our network and Internet connections in the future.

Wireless networks are a huge pain and nearly incomprehensible.

Both of those things are true.

Wireless technology has come a long way since the first consumer routers with wireless access points appeared on the market almost ten years ago. It wasn’t that long ago that it seemed like everyone had one of the ubiquitous blue Linksys routers like the one above. Now we expect wireless connections everywhere – our homes, our offices, hotels, restaurants, swimming pools, national parks, wherever we pull out our notebook computers – and we’re far less likely to have any idea what color the access point is that provides the connection. […] continued

Once my wife saw my Dell Vostro V13, it didn’t take long before we had two Vostro V13s.

The Vostro V13 is an ultrathin notebook with a 13” 1366×768 nonglare screen and a full-size keyboard. It’s two-thirds of an inch tall with the lid closed and weighs just 3.5 pounds. The aluminum body oozes style and elegance, with curved edges and a polished exterior that is surprisingly solid for such a light machine. It has the same appeal as some very expensive ultrathin laptops, the Dell Adamo and Sony Vaio Z, but sells for far less.

I wanted a system that would run Windows 7 with ease, so I got the Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor, one of Intel’s new ultra-low voltage mobile processors, and 4Gb of RAM. […] continued

If you haven’t had a chance to see a Kindle yet, you really owe it to yourself to ask someone to show you theirs. You’ll see their eyes light up with the same look that iPhone owners get when they have a chance to show off their toys. I’m a book lover from way back, an old school type with a deep love for the feel and the look and the smell of books, but I can understand completely why my wife loves her Kindle.

The Kindle is Amazon’s device for reading books, of course. If this is a completely new idea to you, go look at it on Amazon, or read David Byrne’s concise description of his experience with the larger Kindle DX. […] continued

Cell phone carriers absolutely adore monthly data plans. Want email on your new phone? Buy a monthly data plan for $40-60/month, to go along with the other charges for phone service and text messages. Want an easy Internet connection on your laptop so you don’t have to hunt for an 802.11 wireless network? Buy a notebook with a built-in cellular modem or a separate USB modem, along with another plan. Spouse wants a netbook? Pay Verizon or AT&T for yet another monthly fee.

So it’s no surprise that the carriers are coming up with creative new ways to sell devices that require a monthly data plan. […] continued