I have used the 3 (Three) mobile provided smtp server " smtp-mbb.three.co.uk " for about 9 months with my Sony Ericsson k530i to use "legacy" POP3 e-mail accounts.
I've been on the Internet for more than a decade and I've collected a few e-mail accounts with different dial up providers as the deals changed.
For the last 5 years or so I've kept them going by making a dial up connection every couple of months and using ISP provided smtp accounts.
This worked with 3 as well as they had a little known SMTP server ( smtp-mbb.three.co.uk ) however some time in early November 2009 I noticed it had stopped working.
After an hour of customer services web chat (it's better than the call centre - trust me !) I got to what seems to be the bottom of the matter, smtp-mbb.three.co.uk is no longer available.
There are other work arounds (using google mail to send for example) but it's not as good.
It is irritating that Three will sell handsets with built in e-mail but stop you using the feature.
I'm afraid that, although it may seem a minor loss of facility in what is still an attractive overall offer, I'm considering other options.
If another network offered, say, 1GB of data on a phone with no time limit for, say £10, with a SMTP server I would be off.
So far only Vodafone offer data which doesn't expire and they haven't had the sense to make the same available on a phone.
I watch the market for developments.
Monday, 16 November 2009
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Connecting the Palm Lifedrive to S2 Skypephone
Some brief notes which I might later expand.
First I set up the Bluetooth pairing between the two devices and set the Lifedrive as "authorised" on the S2.
Then set up a connection on the Lifedrive in Preferences>Connection> and create a new one with a name of your choice.
The device used is the name the S2 gave in bluetooth pairing, it was "unnamed device" in my case.
For some odd reason the dial string on the Lifedrive had to be *99***1# (*99***2# was my first go and didn't work).
This is all to make better use of the "free" Three data with a PAYG top up.
First I set up the Bluetooth pairing between the two devices and set the Lifedrive as "authorised" on the S2.
Then set up a connection on the Lifedrive in Preferences>Connection> and create a new one with a name of your choice.
The device used is the name the S2 gave in bluetooth pairing, it was "unnamed device" in my case.
For some odd reason the dial string on the Lifedrive had to be *99***1# (*99***2# was my first go and didn't work).
This is all to make better use of the "free" Three data with a PAYG top up.
Monday, 12 October 2009
Bluetooth - Belkin Fantastic !
I've never had so little trouble with a technology purchase !
My laptop had a cheap low profile Bluetooth dongle. It didn't have a full range of Bluetooth facilities compared with others so I spent seven pounds on a Belkin Mini Bluetooth adaptor. It seems to be called B001BROKXO (snappy huh !).
Installed the disk, paired with a couple of phones and.... it just worked.
Very good software, seems to do everything.
One happy customer.
My laptop had a cheap low profile Bluetooth dongle. It didn't have a full range of Bluetooth facilities compared with others so I spent seven pounds on a Belkin Mini Bluetooth adaptor. It seems to be called B001BROKXO (snappy huh !).
Installed the disk, paired with a couple of phones and.... it just worked.
Very good software, seems to do everything.
One happy customer.
Sunday, 6 September 2009
3D films
I went to see "G-Force" in 3D recently.
It was the second 3D film I've seen and for me, this time it actually worked.
There were no "showing off" extreme 3D elements and you could accept that it was real, or at least as real as a group of furry animals undertaking "Mission Impossible" style feats can be !
As a side benefit, my 10 year old gets to experiment with polarisers in the glasses at home afterwards.
It was the second 3D film I've seen and for me, this time it actually worked.
There were no "showing off" extreme 3D elements and you could accept that it was real, or at least as real as a group of furry animals undertaking "Mission Impossible" style feats can be !
As a side benefit, my 10 year old gets to experiment with polarisers in the glasses at home afterwards.
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Another streaming application for a phone - RadioBee
I had a bit of a look around the mobile phone application website "getjar.com" and came across a streaming application which worked on my SonyEricsson k530, RadioBee.
It has a free demo, which worked, and I've not found an application for "direct from the station streams" free for the SE k530 so I invested the $2 required (by PayPal) to buy the application.
Where I am, on Three, you get the odd glitch on a 64k stream but the lower bitrate MP3 streams I've tried seem fine.
If you are in the market, test the demo ( http://www.getjar.com/products/6073/RadioBee ) and if it works, it seems worth a bit over a pound as an addition to your phone.
If your phone is a Nokia S60, get their "Nokia internet radio" application for free and try that.
On my Nokia phone I had to hunt out an older version of the application as the latest one (which should work according to the Nokia website) doesn't.
It has a free demo, which worked, and I've not found an application for "direct from the station streams" free for the SE k530 so I invested the $2 required (by PayPal) to buy the application.
Where I am, on Three, you get the odd glitch on a 64k stream but the lower bitrate MP3 streams I've tried seem fine.
If you are in the market, test the demo ( http://www.getjar.com/products/6073/RadioBee ) and if it works, it seems worth a bit over a pound as an addition to your phone.
If your phone is a Nokia S60, get their "Nokia internet radio" application for free and try that.
On my Nokia phone I had to hunt out an older version of the application as the latest one (which should work according to the Nokia website) doesn't.
Saturday, 15 August 2009
The Three Skypephone S2
It seems that the Three Skypephone S2 is actually an "Amoi 8512".
It's a "value" phone at £40 on Three PAYG and is a cheap way into mobile e-mail, a bit of surfing the mobile internet and activities like that. If, as we do, you have another Three phone the free Three to Three calls are attractive.
Sadly the google maps application doesn't seem to work in the amazing "location" mode where it finds you by what cell you are in and the Yahoo! Go application seems to stick in a download loop (this may be because there is no Internet add on on the account but I doubt it).
After a bit of messing around the "Yahoo Mobile" application from getjar.com (via m.GetJar.com on the mobile -> Quick Download -> enter Quick Download Code 41239) works to get mail.
For all this, for £30 less than alternatives on Three the phone has a great "price - performance" overall offer.
It's a "value" phone at £40 on Three PAYG and is a cheap way into mobile e-mail, a bit of surfing the mobile internet and activities like that. If, as we do, you have another Three phone the free Three to Three calls are attractive.
Sadly the google maps application doesn't seem to work in the amazing "location" mode where it finds you by what cell you are in and the Yahoo! Go application seems to stick in a download loop (this may be because there is no Internet add on on the account but I doubt it).
After a bit of messing around the "Yahoo Mobile" application from getjar.com (via m.GetJar.com on the mobile -> Quick Download -> enter Quick Download Code 41239) works to get mail.
For all this, for £30 less than alternatives on Three the phone has a great "price - performance" overall offer.
Monday, 3 August 2009
Tunin.fm
As well as Moodio if you like streaming radio on your phone Tunin.fm is worth a look. There is a selection of stations (Dutch) built in but a wider choice via a web page. It works on my Nokia 6110 Navigator but not the Sony Ericsson k530i. Tunin will work on some Sony Ericsson phones.
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