Walled Gardens and TrackID
In my previous post on X-Series I wrote that Three were due to launch this product soon but it appears that the launch date has been pushed forward, for reasons that I’m not privileged enough to know. More than likely they’re testing the systems rigorously, rather than doing-a-Microsoft and launching with bugs intact.
However, much to my surprise they’ve removed their “walled garden” (see post) from Internet browsing on all 3 handsets. I’ve tested it and come to the conclusion that it’s not perfect, but it is very useful. Some sites redirect you to a PDA or Mobi version of their site, which is wonderful for legibility. The sites that don’t are squashed into your small screen, Bebo is difficult to navigate but is usable, to a degree. Some sites wont open at all, MySpace is completely inaccessible. Some sites are handset specific, YouTube will open but viewing the streaming video isn’t possible without Macromedia Flash Player, which doesn’t come as standard on most handsets. Overall I’m impressed with being able to type in practically any web address and being able to access it, and it’s reasonably priced.
There is an age verification system in place, for 3pay (pay-as-you-go) customers. You do have to be able to prove you are over 18 to access these features, which is understandable, as I did (for research purposes only of course) access pornography online with total ease. The only other downside (is age verification a downside?) is the fact that it’s not quite X-Series speeds, but it’s certainly not so slow that it will irritate.
In the post on X-Series I also mentioned my interest in getting a Nokia N73, but something else caught my eye. Infact, one genius feature completely won me over and I got a Sony Ericsson W850i. It comes bundled with TrackID, an incredible and extremely user-centered piece of software that records audio from the microphone (or built-in radio), takes a musical fingerprint and then connects to the Internet comparing the fingerprint to the Gracenote database. The software then tells you the artist name and song title, and seeing as it’s on a Three handset, you also have the option to download the song from the 3MusicStore - if it’s available, the Gracenote database has 2.5 million songs fingerprinted, 3MusicStore is only just approaching the 1million mark.
This software is something so wonderfully usable by myself and many others, Jen tried it in the Cinema and it picked up 90% of the songs she queried. I used it to find and download a song (that my brother was obsessed with) that featured in a Scrubs episode. TrackID has turned me from a hardcore Nokia user to a Sony Ericsson lover. The w850i is fantastic, I thought I’d be lost without symbian, but I’ve easily adapted and come to love the SE interface. As a music lover this is definitely the perfect phone for me.
