I was asked a question about mobile in Africa by PhoneBoy on Twitter the other day, “Way more mobile phones than computers in Africa, no?”

My response: “Way more. Computing is predominantly mobile here.”

In other words, mobile is the first and only computer many Africans have ever owned or used. I know this is not true in Victoria Island, Abuja, Pretoria and business centres of our cities in general. But move outside of those cities, and voila, it is mobile and nothing else for the most part.

PhoneBoy’s response was a clincher: “Funny even with computers all around me, I do most of my personal computing on my mobile.”

That rang a bell with me. I have PCs around me both at home and at the office, yet most of my personal computing is done on mobile too. The point is that mobile has advanced to the point where it is so compelling that even when there is access to Desktop and notebook/netbook PCs, the natural inclination is likely mobile.

I recently decided on an experiment: get rid of my PCs and attempt to do all my personal computing on mobile (smartphone and tablet). I am convinced that I can get away with it. A few people have expressed reservations about it though.

But you know me, I dare things that most others won’t attempt. Remember how I ran a webhosting business on a Nokia 9500 Communicator ALONE some years back? Today’s tablets are even more capable than that. So, why not?

Wish me luck!

PS: You should follow PhoneBoy on twitter. He has rich experience and insights in mobile.

If this scoop by The Register is to be believed, Symbian is finally dead.

In brief, Nokia won’t push out 150 million Symbian devices again as previously announced, and are cancelling all future Symbian devices except one – an N8 successor.

If the N8 successor is a compelling upgrade, I’m game. And then, the curtain closes on Symbian. The register calls it pouring oil on burning Symbian. I call it The end.

Notable Highlights

Besides the obvious, here are some other notable points from the Canalys report:

1. Total annual global shipments of smartphones exceeded those of client PCs (including pads) for the first time
2. Samsung shipped 3.8 million Bada OS smartphones
3. Nokia shipped 1.2 million Windows Phone smartphones
4. Nokia shipped only 0.6 million MeeGo smartphones, so the N9 didn’t sell as much as some hoped

Nobody is paying Bada OS much attention, but Samsung is making great progress with it. 3.8 million Bada OS smartphones is no joke. It is doing significantly better than Windows Phone at the moment, though that may change as Nokia increases Windows Phone shipments this year.

Most importantly is the fact that smartphones have finally overtaken the PC. Do click the source link below to access the full report.

Source

There have been some leaked info on new features coming to Windows Phone in version 8. My heart initially skipped a beat, as I hoped that the core features that were keeping many of us “free spirits” from adopting Windows phone would be on the list.

Well, I was disappointed. Here are the leaked features:

Data Smart. A way to actively save cellular data when possible and avoid “bill shock”. Microsoft (not coincidentally) just blogged about this feature in relation to Windows 8. Re-read that post and think about how a smart phone would need/use exactly the same functionality. Data Smart can be extended by wireless carriers to integrate with their offered data plans.

App-to-App communication. Because Windows Phone 8 apps, like Windows 8 apps, are sandboxed from each other, this new system will provide a Windows 8 contracts-like app-to-app communications capabilities.

Internet Explorer 10 Mobile. Windows Phone 8 will continue to used a highly tuned version of IE which utilizes the latest web technologies.

Shared components with Windows 8. The kernel, multi-core processor support, sensor fusion, security model, network, and video and graphics technologies are all coming to Phone from Windows 8.

Companion experiences with Windows 8. Microsoft is offering a very similar user experience across phone (Windows Phone 8), PC (Windows 8), and TV (Xbox vNext). Pocketnow says there will be a new sync client, and not Zune PC software, though I can’t confirm that part, and a set of common cloud services that will work across all three. This includes the ability to sync content (photos, music, movies) between the three screens, phone management from PC or web, shared content between each device, and Xbox LIVE games, entertainment, and more.

SkyDrive integration. Microsoft will make your content available on all of its platforms via SkyDrive.

Skype app. Still a separate but better app and not integrated into OS. Still optional.

NFC and Wallet. Windows Phone 8 will allow users to securely pay and share via NFC and manage an integrated Wallet experience.

Local Scout. Now with personal recommendations.

Camera improvements. New “lens apps” and a far more powerful camera experience.

Business features. Windows Phone 8 will include full-device, hardware accelerated encryption with BitLocker and always-on Secure Boot capabilities, just like Windows 8. Also, it will support additional Exchange ActiveSync policies and System Center configuration settings and inventory capabilities. Businesses will be able to distribute phone apps privately as they can with Windows 8 apps.

You can get more details of the leak on WinSuperSite.

There. Microsoft is adding the most sophisticated features on the planet to windows Phone, but leaving out two simple features that could turn the fortunes of Windows Phone around.

Still Missing

1. USB Mass Storage
2. Bluetooth File Transfer e.g. of music, videos, and pictures
3. Lack of support for J2ME/Java

How hard can it be to add these two simple features?

Microsoft sure are acting strange. Can I say this: You are not Apple. Wake up!!!!

Sorry, guys. I like the Metro UI on Windows Phone. I like some other neat integrations. But, sorry, its not good enough for many of us yet.

At the moment, I am torn between using or dispensing with the case that I bought along with it. The case does not do too much justice to the aesthetics of The Thrive. It makes it even more noticeably bulky, with its width about that of a regular netbook computer.

My choice of Toshiba Thrive over other tablets was not without a lot of mental exertion.

For the records, and strictly a personal opinion, the iPad still remains the most widely accepted tablet because of its quality build, quality of apps, popularity, the perceived status symbol it confers and, well, as a fashion accessory to some.

However, for the serious-minded geeks out there, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the iPad is not in the least functional. From simple tasks like attaching multiple files to emails (not even the premium app Goodreader can attach more than a file at a time) or viewing flash enabled sites (which unfortunately is not going away anytime soon) to more serious tasks like accessing the iOS file system, nothing comes easy or straightforward on the iPad.

It really was a very long search, no thanks to the endless streams of tablets coming into the market. However, my search was being guided by 6 key considerations, based on my present circumstances and needs:

1. COST : A budget of $400
2. ACCEPTABLE BATTERY LIFE
3. SCREEN SIZE : Preference for 10.1 inch tablets. I read a lot of A4 formatted PDF files.
4. 3G CAPABILITIES
5. APPS : Acceptable availability of apps for the OS platform of choice
6. EXPANSION PORTS : Presence of any or all of the following ports; MicroSD, SD, mini or full HDMI and mini or full USB.

At the end of the day, the following tablets made the first cut based on possessing at least 4 of the criteria listed above:

- Samsung Galaxy 10.1
- Archos 101 G9
- Lenovo Ideapad K1
- Acer Aconia A500
- Toshiba Thrive

It is very common place to find a lot of these tablets touting very similar features (1Ghz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor; 2MP and 5MP front and rear facing cameras; 1GB RAM, etc) and only differentiated by brand names and inconsequential features. However, two of these tablets were able to separate themselves from the pack, thereby making my second cut:

1. Samsung Galaxy 10.1 (a.k.a Beauty)

Regarded as the iPad of the Android world, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is indeed a fantastic device and undoubtedly, the Android tablet with the best user experience.

Slim, light and quite pretty, the device compares very favourably with the iPad 2 and possesses very similar design and features (no wonder Steve Jobs was pissed!). And with a 10-hour battery life, it tips the scale in probably being one of the best Android device around.

Unfortunately, just like the iPad, it lacks expansion ports. None at all!

2. Toshiba Thrive (a.k.a. The Beast)

Weighing in at 1.66 lbs and with 0.62 inches thickness (almost twice the thickness of iPad 2), the Toshiba Thrive makes no pretences at being slim or pretty. It was intended as a near laptop replacement, thanks to its array of expansion ports; Full HDMI out, Full and mini USB, Full and mini SD (max 32GB), SDHC and SDXC (max 2TB).

With the Thrive, the possibilities and expandability of the full USB port are almost endless. It accepts your regular keyboard and mouse (wired or wireless), flash drives, portable drives,etc. And to top it all, the tablet is about the only one that has a user replaceable battery!

Simply put, the Thrive is for those that expect a lot more than an iPad.

Probably the only snag with this tablet is the relative limited battery life. The max you can probably squeeze out of it is about 8 hours.

Since I pride myself as a geek, I guess it wouldn’t come as a surprise that I settled for The Toshiba Thrive.

I will not bother with a detailed review of this “big boys’ toy,” as it is already awash on the internet. However, I can not help but mention again that the the Thrive comes second to none in terms of port expandability. Of course, this is the reason for its bulk.

Full Expansion

It has a full HDMI port, SD slot, full USB and mini USB slots. Thankfully, there is a well stocked computer accessory store in my neighbourhood where I made a quick purchase of a USB flexible keyboard, USB optical mouse and a USB game pad. Since the Thrive has only one full USB port, I also got a USB hub to connect my multiple USB peripherals.

I am sure that the wireless keyboard option too would work, but let’s just say that I am watching my pennies at the moment, so I didn’t buy it.

The keyboard and the mouse work like a charm, simultaneously, via the USB hub. I was so emotional about this, so much that I felt like shedding a tear.*sniff*.

Game Pad

However, I was not so lucky with the game pad. I read somewhere before now that the device is a little bit choosy about game pads. I also understand that there is a need for game developers to incorporate necessary codes into their games for USB game pads to work with them. However, I heard the Xbox console works well on it though.

The key advantage here is that the Toshiba does not require any specialized or proprietary accessory to work with. Your regular PC USB peripherals would do just fine! However, these peripherals should not be used too extensively except when the Thrive is connected to a power source as they may cause just a little more drain on the battery.

I do not intend to “root” (“jailbreak” in Apple parlance) this device just yet, but that is the only way Android OS would recognize NTFS hard disk file system. However, I had no problem assessing my FAT formatted flash drive or the exFAT formatted external hard drive.

exFAT is the preferred filesystem format for mobile devices and it supports hard disk size of up to 512 Terabytes (in theory). From experience, for drives with high capacity, I would advice the use of powered external drive against USB powered ones because the USB port my not have enough voltage output to power this category of drives.

Wireless Connectivity

Though I strongly wished the Thrive has a 3G modem built in, however, the speed of my Cobranet powered home Wi-Fi provided even better browsing and download speeds for use on the tablet. I was able to make a number of device software updates quite smoothly, including that of the stock OS from Android honeycomb 3.1 to version 3.2.1 in a few minutes.

There is a “thriving” community on the net for the Toshiba Thrive at www.thriveforums.org. I am hoping that the community would come up with a way to use regular USB 3G modems on the thrive as it is one of the few USB peripherals not yet supported.

It is great having the feeling that I OWN this device, with no Apple-like restrictions. I can actually tinker with it to my heart’s content.

Over the next few weeks, I will be exchanging my views on this device and Android OS in general.

Stay tuned.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 is the sequel to the Curve 3G 9300, but even more.

One of the first surprises of the 9360 is how slim and sleek it is in comparison to its older siblings. The 9360 is only 11 mm thick, as aginst the 9300′s 13.9 mm. Beyond the slim lines, it is the first Curve to deliver that premium quality feel. It almost looks and feels like a Bold.

Top: 9300. Bottom: 9360. Note how slim the 9360 is.

But then a Bold it is not. You can tell immediately from the keyboard that this is no Bold. The keys are distinctively all Curve.

Quick Specifications

• 2.44-inch, 480 x 360 pixels non-touchscreen display
• 512 MB RAM
• 800MHz processor
• 512 MB internal memory + microSD slot
• BlackBerry OS 7.0
• 1000 mAh battery
• 5 Megapixel camera with LED flash
• GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA
• Wi-Fi
• A-GPS and NFC

OS7

The 9360 runs OS7. Honestly, minus a few visual touches to AppWorld, BBM, Facebook and Twitter, I can’t tell much what has changed visually or in terms of performance. In general, Blackberry OS7 looks and feels just like OS6. Perhaps much of the tweaks to the OS are under the hood.

Note though that some 3rd party apps which ran on OS6 are not yet available for OS7 and I had to do without those while I had the mobile with me.

Display & Keyboard

The 9360 does not have a touchscreen display, which is not a problem. BlackBerry OS works just fine on it. It is a good display, though not spectacular.

I found the keyboard very good again, and had no issues with typing on it with my big fingers. The individual keys are small, but well shaped and spaced such that typing is easy.

NFC

There is NFC on board the 9360, but I had nothing to try it out with. If you do need that feature, this mid-tier offering has you covered.

Camera

The 5 megapixel camera on the 9360 is fixed focus and nothing much to write about. It doesn’t sit among the best 5 megapixel cameras on the market. However, it is usable for your casual shots and videos. Just don’t expect anything spectacular.

Of course, BlackBerries have never been spectacular in the camera department. This is no exception.

General

The 9360 does what other BlackBerries do – email, web browsing, SMS, BB Messenger, etc.

There’s a music player, as well as a video player, and they work fine. The speakers are quite good in terms of audio quality and volume. I was impressed on that point.

Battery Life

Battery performance of the 9360 was a mixed bag. With only a 1,000 mAh fitted in to accommodate the slimmer profile, I was expecting battery life to be very poor.

Well, it didn’t turn out exactly poor. I found myself needing to charge the device before the end of the working day. If you are an addicted BBM user, for example, keep your charger nearby always.

Of course, if the 9360 had been fitted with a touchscreen, it is likely that battery life would be much poorer. Thankfully, RIM didn’t.

Performance

For the most part, the 800MHz processor delivered smooth performance with OS7 on this model. However, there were times when I felt some sluggishness in responses. I have had a brief hands-on with the 9810 (also running OS7) but with a 1.2GHz processor and didn’t notice such on that device.

Again, the 9360 is mid-tier and the 800Mhz CPU is part of the compromise for the lower cost. The occasional slowdowns weren’t enough to make me want to tear my hair out though, so I won’t call it a deal breaker.

Conclusions

I honestly find doing Blackberry reviews difficult, because there is little differentiation across models: minus the Storm and Torch series, they are the same form factor. They mostly have similar features in terms of hardware and software.

The 9360 does everything you’d expect it to do. However, it wasn’t designed to be outstanding at any of them. Most mid-tier devices are not either, so that’s not a bad thing.

If you want a Blackberry device running the latest OS and do not intend to cough out a fortune, the 9360 comes highly recommended.

The debate about what smartphone OS is the best has been an ongoing and heated one. Is there a general best smartphone OS?

I don’t know if I am alone on this, but picking a single mobile device that suits my needs and meet my budget can be a very challenging task. I have moved from one mobile phone to the other in search of the smartphone that will meet my need just because I do not want to carry more than a single device.

How Did I Get Here?

Before I get into the meat of this article, permit me share a vital point with you.

I have however noticed how some people push for a particular device (or operating system) recommending it to others without first finding out what the unique needs of those people are. I think this is shortsightedness.

To make it clear, you may want to read this piece by Rita. She wrote about her unique needs as someone who resides in Lebanon.

She had once stayed in Paris where she enjoyed high-speed internet, both on wi-fi and on mobile internet (unlimited data). On moving back to Lebanon, she had to stay within a 150mb to 200mb internet data window per month.

200mb per month!? I don’t know how I can use 200mb in a month on my former Samsung Galaxy S2. Yes, former. You see, I have traded my Samsung Galaxy S2 for a Nokia N8. All these adventures of mine have given me a broad perspective about my needs and how different mobile phones can meet them.

Before you blindly go ahead and pick an Android, iPhone or a Windows Phone, please hear me out. You need to weigh your needs and pick your device based on accurate information available.

Why did I switch to the Nokia N8?

These are MY OWN reasons. Note: I am not trying to say that the Nokia N8 is the best phone for everyone. I am sharing from the perspective of MY needs. Those who share my views and have similar needs with me can then hop on a similar device.

1. The N8′s power lasts longer than my Samsung Galaxy S2, even if I use them for the same period. I have used the Nokia N8 for more than two months previously. This is my second time of buying it.

2. The internet data management on the N8 is minor. It is not as data hungry like the Android powered Galaxy S2.

I found out that I use between 2GB to 4GB on my mobile monthly. I download and try different applications, Youtube videos, pictures and sometimes tether my internet with other people’s devices and my PC.

I found out that the Samsung Galaxy’s power and data management was digging too deep into my pocket, as I do not have access to Wifi. All my internet needs are supplied by mobile internet data subscriptions. I would have kept the Samsung Galaxy S 2, got an extra battery (since the battery is replaceable) assuming I have access to free wireless internet.

3. The N8 is not as pricey as iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, which were also on my list of options. I tried the iPhone 4 running iOS 4 for 24 hours and was impressed with the battery performance. I will eventually get an iPhone, but for now I do not have a budget for an iPhone. You know we do not get iPhones on contract packages here in Nigeria. We have to buy them cash down.

4. The Camera is superb. Not just because it has a 12 megapixel camera. The N8 simply shoots amazing pictures.

5. I can use one of my most preferred applications that is available only on Symbian – Gravity.

Things I am going to miss while using the Nokia N8

1. I will miss the swift and very fast UI of my Samsung Galaxy S2 (But I will save money and use less internet data now)

2. The productivity apps that I have grown fond of — Springpad, Evernote, Anydo, Bufferapp, Facebook for Android, Dolphin browser, plus the ability to download and read PDFs easily without stress.

Moving On

I hope to keep this Nokia N8 for a very long time. Even when I pick my next phone, which would most likely be an iPhone, the Nokia N8 will still remain with me.

There will always be a battle between fans of different OSes till the Lord’s kingdom comes. However, when we engage in those debates, let us keep things in perspective. We must consider specific factors in specific scenarios.

However, in some cases, hardware QWERTY lovers are also interested in a top-specified camera on their mobiles. In this mixed scenario, there are not many options available.

I went searching, and have come up with a list that some might find helpful. 8 megapixel cameras are the rave these days, so I have used that as the yardstick for drawing up my list.

These are devices that are available in the Nigerian environment. For those who live in other markets, you will be able to easily add to this list.

Symbian
1. Nokia E7
2. Nokia E6

Android
1. Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro

Sadly, there are no 8 megapixel phones from Blackberry yet. Crazy; isn’t it? I wonder when (or if ever) RIM will step up their game in the camera compartment? The lack of top-range cameras on BlackBerry devices is one of the reasons why I find it difficult to use a BlackBerry as my primary smartphone.

Many respondents were of the opinion that the smartphone market would yield greater returns for a long time. I deliberately kept quiet though I disagreed with that general flow of thought.

Well, we have it on good authority from Forbes that the feature phone market is now more profitable than the smartphone market. Here is how the Forbes article opens the subject:

For many handset vendors, the world has turned upside down. Nokia‘s $40 feature phones are vastly more profitable than Sony Ericsson‘s $200 Android models. This is not how the smartphone revolution was supposed to turn out.

Well, that didn’t take long! Just about four weeks after my article.

Yes; the feature phone market is shrinking, but also consider that there are now very, very few feature phone manufacturers (almost everyone has abandoned that field for smartphones), and your guess is as good as mine who are benefiting from this shift.

Most people will agree with the Forbes article that this is not how the smartphone revolution was supposed to turn out. Not me. I saw this coming.

Read the full Forbes article

Just over a week ago, we published information that our app for Symbian, MeeGo and Java phones has been downloaded over 6,000 times.

As at that times, it still carried the old “Mobility Nigeria” branding – logo and name. We have since modified it to bring it up-to-date in terms of branding.

The app is now called the “Mobility blog” app and carries the current logo and look.

You can easily find it by searching for “Mobility blog” in the Nokia Store or using any of the direct links in the sidebar of this blog.

The Mobility blog app is available for Java, Symbian and MeeGo devices. Android users can expect an app for their platform very soon

Of course, for everyone regardless of the OS you use, Mobility blog loads a mobile-friendly version when you visit it on any mobile.