Archive for the ‘Mobile Technology’ Category
Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Pop-Up Message
With so many accessories available for the iPhone, compatibility issues will crop up from time to time. We carefully check every iPhone accessory that we sell to make sure that they work with the phone, but an warning message that is sometimes displayed on the handset when some accessories are connected can cause some confusion about whether the accessory will work or not.
If you see the warning message “This accessory is not made to work with iPhone” don’t panic. It doesn’t mean that your accessory won’t work, it just means that you might experience some interference if your phone connects to the internet, a call is made or a text message sent.
The reason that you see this message (normally when you connect to Speakers, Car Kits and other music devices) is that by default, the iPhone will enter ‘Accessory Mode’ when connected by the Dock Connector. This would then lock out all controls on the iPhone as it thinks that commands for music playback will come from the connected accessory.
As not all accessories have music controls, this would cause a problem, so to get round this potential problem accessory manufacturers have the option to tell the iPhone not to enter Accessory Mode but instead display the warning message.
If you see this message when you connect your accessory to your iPhone you will be given the choice to switch to ‘Airplane Mode’. When you see the warning message, you’ve got 3 options:
- Press ‘YES‘ – This will then put the phone into Airplane Mode. This will temporarily disable telephone and internet capabilities while you’re connected to the accessory. As soon as you disconnect your iPhone from the accessory it will leave Airplane Mode and you’ll be able to make and receive calls again.
- Press ‘NO‘ – You’ll be able to access all functions on your phone and the accessory will work as it’s supposed to. If your phone rings, the music will fade in/out before & after the call. With some accessories you may experience some interference just before you receive a call or text message.
- Do Nothing – The warning message will disappear after about 30 seconds and your phone will function as if you’d selected ‘NO’
To try and help you get the best accessories for your iPhone Apple introduced a licensing system that makes it easier to see which accessories will work best with the iPhone. To check if an item is licensed by Apple, just look for the ‘Works with iPhone’ Logo.
Certified by Apple
Monday, September 14th, 2009
More and more Bluetooth Car kits now support phone book synchronisation – this is where all the phone numbers stored on your phone are copied to the car kit. It’s a handy feature to have, although the benefits may not be all that obvious.
By having your numbers stored on the car kit, it means that kits that support Caller ID can show you the name of the person calling instead of just the number – what’s more, if your car kit supports TTS (Text to Speech) it can also call out the name of the person that’s calling you.
Another great benefit of having a car kit with phone book sync is that some of them will support voice dialling. Now you’re right for thinking that a lot of phones already support voice dialling, and you’re right, but what I mean here is that the car kit itself handles the voice dialling rather than your phone.
On a standard Bluetooth Car Kit, when you activate voice dialling, you press a button on the kit that then puts your phone into listening mode. Your phone then tries to match what you’ve said against either a pre-recorded voice tag or automatically match it to a name in your phonebook – often getting it wrong as the increased wind & road noise can distort what you say.
iPhone and Parrot Minikit Slim
With some car kits that with phonebook sync and voice dialling, it’s the car kit that listens to your voice and matches it to a name or number stored in it and it then tells your phone to dial that number. As the car kit is optimised to reduce wind and road noise, you get a more reliable match and less mis-dialled numbers. The great news with this though is that your phone doesn’t have to support voice dialling in order for this to work and it even works on the iPhone.
Syncing your contacts
Without getting too technical, there are two ways that your contacts can be transferred to your car kit – each using a different Bluetooth profile. Profiles are predefined ways in which two Bluetooth devices talk to each other. One method uses the OPP (object push profile), the other is the PBAP (phonebook access profile). Which one you use depends on your phone and car kit.
OPP (object push profile) is used to receive contacts that are ‘pushed’ to it from a phone. Syncing your contacts to a car kit that uses the OPP profile needs to be done manually and normally involves putting the car kit into ‘receiving mode’ and sending your contacts over one by one or, if your phone supports it, all in one go. To update a contact you’ll need to delete the entry from the car kit and then send the updated contact to the car kit.
PBAP (phonebook access profile) works very differently. Rather than you having to send your contacts to it, the kit connects to the phone and retrieves the contacts from it automatically. Any changes that you make to a contact will be transferred to the car kit the next time your phone is connected. Depending on your phone, you can normally specify which contacts and call logs are synchronised with your kit too.
Of the two, PBAP is the easiest way to sync your contacts, but as the PBAP is a newer Bluetooth Profile some older car kits and phones don’t support it.
Compatibility
In order for you to be able to sync your contacts both your phone and car kit will need to support the same Bluetooth Profile. If you have a phone that only supports the PBAP such as the iPhone 3G, and a car kit that only supports OPP you’re going to have problems. The iPhone will be waiting for the car kit to read the contacts, and the car kit will be waiting for the phone to send the contacts over. Eventually both devices will time out and no contacts will be transferred. If you’ve got this type of kit, you’ll still be able to use the kit for calls and last number redial, but that’s all.
Parrot Kits
From personal experience, I’ve found that Parrot out-perform every other car kit manufacturer when it comes to phone book synchronisation and the additional features that come with it, so if you’re after a kit that will sync easily and give you all the extra features that I mentioned above then take a look at the ones listed below.
Simple Car Kits
Parrot make a couple of simple car kits, but they’re actually both the same – they just look a little bit different. The Parrot Minikit Slim and Minikit Chic are both slim, portable car kits that can pair with up to 5 phones. They support both the OPP and PBAP profiles, so you shouldn’t have a problem in synchronising your phone book with them. The Parrot Minikit Slim/Chic can store up to 1000 contacts per phone (maximum of 2500 for all phones) and has text to speech synthesis to read out the callers name when you receive a call. Unlike most kits, the Minikit Slim/Chic doesn’t have a speaker, instead it has a vibrating panel for improved audio.
Parrot Minikit Slim & Minikit Chic
Fitted Car Kits
The fitted car kits from Parrot are just as good as the portable ones, if not better. As they’re wired into your car, you get much better audio quality as they route the call audio through your existing car stereo speakers as standard, not only that but they are also designed to work really well with the music player on your phone or a stand alone MP3 player or iPod. Each kit has support for streaming your music in stereo over Bluetooth as well as a dock connector for iPhones and iPods, a 3.5mm line in cable and a USB port for flash memory MP3 players. The current range is based around one model with a few noticeable differences between each of the kits.
Parrot MKi9000 Bluetooth Car Kit
The Parrot MKi9000 is the kit that the next two models are based on. The kit is fitted completely out of sight behind your dashboard and is operated through a small remote (shown above) that can be attached to your dashboard or steering wheel. The MKi range of kits all support both the OPP and PBAP profiles for maximum compatibility with handsets. If your phone supports PBAP, the first time you pair your phone, your entire phone book will be transferred over to the kit. Everytime you connect your phone, the car kit will then check for any updates and download them automatically. The kit also features phone independent voice dialling, so to make a call, press the green button and say the name of the person you want to call. If you have multiple numbers for a contact, you’ll be asked by the kit whether you want to call them at home, on their mobile at work etc. As there is no screen on the MKi9000, all the menus are voice-driven and the car kit will talk back to you as you scroll through them. If you don’t want to use voice dialling, or aren’t sure what a contact is saved as, you can manually scroll through the phonebook using the remote control, with the kit reading out the names of your contacts as you go through. The MKi9000 is better suited to touch screen or large screen handsets as the kit itself has no display.
Parrot MKi9100 Bluetooth Car Kit
The Parrot MKi9100 is exactly the same kit as the MKi9000, but with the addition of a 2 line OLED screen it means you can keep your phone out of sight and still access some of the menu’s on it. The MKi9100 supports OPP and PBAP so your contacts will synchronise in the same way, but by having a screen it means that you can scroll through them visually, rather than have to listen to the car kit read them out to you.
Parrot MKi9200 Bluetooth Car Kit
The last one in the range is the Parrot MKi9200. Again its the same basic kit as the MKi9000 but with a 2.4″ colour screen. The bigger screen obviously makes it easier to scroll through your phone book, but it can also show you album art and detailed information on the song that is currently being played from your phone or iPod. On the back of the screen there is an SDHC memory card reader that can handle cards upto 32GB in size – so depending on how much music you own, you could carry your entire music library with you all the time. The screen is detachable and can be removed easily.
There are other car kits that support phone book synchronisation – I’ve listed a few below, but these don’t have all the extra features that the Parrot ones do – and the voice dialling features are all phone dependent.
Tags: car kit phonebook sync, iPhone Car Kit, iphone phone book sync, iphone voice dialing, iphone voice dialling, opp profile, parrot minikit chic, parrot minikit slim, parrot mki9000, parrot mki9100, parrot mki9200, pbap profile, phone book sync, phonebook sync, transfer contacts to car kit, tts,
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Friday, August 21st, 2009
While shopping for accessories for your phone I’ve noticed that people tend to struggle when it comes to choosing a Bluetooth Headset – probably because at first glance they all seem very similar. They all allow you to use your phone safely in the car and can answer & end calls, so why are there so many different ones to choose from?
Up until recently my answer would have been that the main differences were size, weight and battery life. While that’s still true for most headsets, advances in headset technology have meant that there is now something else to consider when choosing a Bluetooth Headset – Noise Cancellation.
Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headsets
Now, you might be thinking that noise cancellation is nothing new, and technically it’s not – noise cancellation has been around for years and in a number of formats. From simple design changes such as foam covers over the microphone to clever software that makes your voice clearer, but the newer generation of Bluetooth headsets go one step further. Most of the latest noise cancelling headsets have 2 microphones built into them, one that picks up your voice and another that picks up background noise. Software in the headset then analyses the sound from both microphones and any sounds picked up by both microphones are removed so that your voice comes through clearly.
Not all Bluetooth Headsets currently have this feature, and trying to find the ones that do out of the 140 that we sell will take you some time, so to help you along I’ve listed below our top 10 noise cancelling headsets. Most of these headsets have the dual microphone technology, although a couple of them have some other clever technology to cut out back ground noise.
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Tags: blueant q1, blueant v1, bluetooth headset, ear candy, ivoice gx-7, ivoice gx7, jabra bt530, jawbone, jawbone 2, jawbone prime, jawbone2, motorola h15, motorola hx1, noise blackout, noise cancelling bluetooth headset, noise reduction, nokia bh602, plantronics voyager pro, voyager pro,
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Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
One of the most asked questions on the Mobile Fun Blogs and Forums at the moment is “How do I set up email on my Tocco” and although there are suggestions and a settings spread across the site, I thought I’d bring it all together into one post to make setting up your Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo email accounts on your Samsung Tocco F480, Samsung Tocco Lite or Samsung Tocco Ultra quick and easy.
Set up email on Samsung Tocco F480, Tocco Lite or Tocco Ultra
Now, before I start I just want to say that these settings should work on all phones, not just the Tocco’s. You may find that they need a little tweaking depending on your network – particularly the SMTP settings. Without getting too technical on you, the SMTP server is similar to your local sorting office, you send your letters there and they then get sorted and sent on to the person you sent the email to. In an attempt to cut down on the amount of spam being sent, some mobile networks restrict the SMTP servers that you can use and in most cases force you to use their own.
So, if you set your phone up using the same SMTP server as your email provider, but find that you get an error message when you try and send a message, go back to the account settings and change the SMTP server to that of your network. Don’t panic if you don’t know what they are – I’ve listed them all for you at the end of this post.
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Tags: email settings, gmail email settings, hotmail email settings, hotmail tocco lite, hotmail tocco ultra, hotmail tocco vodafone, hotmail vodafone, tocco email settings, tocco gmail, tocco yahoo mail, yahoo email settings,
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Friday, July 17th, 2009
GPS has been around in mobile phones for a few years now, but for a lot of people it’s purpose isn’t all that clear. As well as being a basic requirement for Satellite Navigation, GPS has a number of other really useful applications that you may not be aware of. This guide explains the basics of GPS and runs through the different types of GPS receiver and software available.
So What Is GPS?
GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers use a network of satellites in orbit around the earth to pinpoint your location (longtitude and latitude) to within a few metres. GPS receivers don’t require a signal from a mobile phone company to work, they just need to be able to see the sky. Locking on to GPS Satellites normally takes a couple of minutes, sometimes longer if you’re already on the move.
Over the last couple of years GPS receivers have found their way in to a number of mobile phones. Mobile Phones work slightly differently to stand alone GPS receivers as they can triangulate their location using nearby transmitters. Mobile phones combine the information from nearby transmitters with the information received from the GPS receiver to give them an exact location. A brief internet connection is normally required to find your location. This type of receiver is called A-GPS (Assisted Global Positioning System).
Both GPS and A-GPS have their strengths and weaknesses. External GPS Receivers tend to lock on to more satellites for more stable tracking. They also have better battery life than A-GPS as they don’t need an internet connection and have no screen to run the battery down. Phones with A-GPS tend to lock on to your location a little bit faster and may still be able to track you if you are indoors or under cover.
GPS Receivers
Generally speaking most GPS receivers are designed to communicate over a Bluetooth connection. Bluetooth is a way that 2 devices can talk to each other wirelessly and is found in most mobile phones and computers. If your PC doesn’t have Bluetooth built in, you can add this function easily by purchasing a USB Bluetooth Adapter.
If you want to use a GPS receiver with your phone, you just need to make sure that your phone has Bluetooth and you’ll need to pair the GPS receiver with your phone. When you launch an application on your phone that requires GPS data, your phone will automatically make the connection to the GPS receiver as long as your receiver is turned on.
External GPS Receivers can add functionality to your phone
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Tags: a-gps, bluetooth gps, external gps, free gps spftware, geo tagging, GPS, gps logging, gps receiver, gps software, gps tracking, lg sat nav, mobile phone gps, nokia sat nav, samsung sat nav, sony ericsson sat nav,
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Friday, June 19th, 2009
Along with Stereo Bluetooth, one of the other big new features of iPhone OS 3.0 is the ability to use your iPhone as a modem with your Mac, PC or Laptop.
Tethering your iPhone is as easy as using a Mobile Broadband Dongle. You enable Internet Tethering on your iPhone, connect it to your computer using your USB Cable and away you go.
If you want to avoid having to rummage around in your bag for your USB Cable you can also connect your phone using Bluetooth. The process is just as simple and takes no time at all to set up. All you need is Bluetooth on your computer & the latest version of iTunes.
The exact process will vary slightly depending on the Bluetooth Dongle that you are using, but this is how to tether your iPhone 3G to Windows using Bluetooth:
- Turn on Bluetooth & Tethering on your iPhone
- Search for Bluetooth Devices on your PC
- Find your iPhone and enter a Passkey of your choice
- Enter the same Passkey on your iPhone
- If asked to select services for device, select PAN or Network Access
- Device will install and connect to your iPhone
- Blue Band will show at top of iPhone Homescreen when PC is connected to your phone
Simple. I have to admit, this was about the easiest phone I’ve ever set up for use as a modem. There are no drivers to install and no complicated network settings to enter, you just connect using Bluetooth and it works.
Not Got Bluetooth?
If you don’t have a Bluetooth enabled computer then don’t panic, it’s extremely easy to add Bluetooth to any PC. All you need is a USB Bluetooth Dongle.
Adding a Bluetooth Dongle to your PC won’t just help with tethering your iPhone, it will allow friends and family to send files and photo’s to your computer quickly and easily and you will be able to use a Bluetooth headset for making calls over Skype and listening to music.
Installing a dongle is quick and easy and you don’t need any knowledge of PC’s, just plug it in to a spare USB port and wait for Windows to set it up – Easy!
If you do have any problems setting it up, I’ve put a guide together on Installing your Bluetooth Dongle that will talk you through it step by step.
Don’t forget though, in order to use tethering, you will need to have the service activated by O2, who are charging an extra monthly fee for the service, although there are ways to tether your iPhone without Jailbreaking it, although there are risks involved!
If you do have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below
Monday, June 8th, 2009
For a number of years now it has been possible to use a Bluetooth Headset with your phone and more recently we’ve seen the introduction of Bluetooth Headphones and Stereo Bluetooth headsets that allow us to listen to music and make calls on our phone without the need for wires, but what if we want the same amount of freedom when using other devices such as PC’s Stereos and TV’s?
The way that Bluetooth has been advertised is that it’s only for mobile phones – but this really isn’t the case. With more and more of us making calls using VOIP services such as Skype, the need for a wireless headets that you can use with your PC is just as strong as it is to have one for your phone. What you may not realise, is that the equipment you need for your PC, is in most cases, exactly the same as you need for your phone.
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Friday, May 29th, 2009
There’s been quite a bit of confusion over the years about the terms "Sim Free", "Unlocked", "Dual Band" & "Unblocked". They’re phrases we’ve all heard of, but just what exactly do they mean?
To understand these phrases it helps to have a slightly better understanding of how mobile phone pricing works.
When you buy a handset on either contract or pay as you go, your network will discount or subsidise the handset cost. Mobile phones cost a lot more than you’d expect, so when you take out a contract and get a free handset, some of your monthly line rental will go towards covering the cost of the phone. The same applies to pay as you go phones, the networks reduce the cost of the phone to encourage you to join their network and will then make that money back through your call charges.
The Networks know how long it will take for your line rental costs to cover the money they paid out on the phone – which is why over the last few years, we’ve seen contract lengths increase to 18 or 24 months as phones have become more expensive and sophisticated. With pay as you go phones, there is no line rental so they can’t guarantee they will make their money back, which is why you’ll always find pay as you go phones to be more expensive and often locked to the network you buy them on.
So, now you’re kind of up to speed on the thinking behind it all, I’ll try and answer your questions!
This is the phrase that is probably used the least, but is normally what people mean. Sim Free means exactly that – there is no Sim card included, it is just the phone (and any included accessories), because there is no network commitment here, the phone is not subsidised and will be the true value of the handset. As the handsets are not tied in any way to a network, any sim free phone can be used with almost all Sim cards (some won’t work on the 3 Network – see below). They have no network branding and will have the manufacturers original menu system on them. Buying your phone Sim Free can be a more expensive way of running a mobile phone, but handsets will often be available Sim Free before they are available through the networks, and with networks now doing much better deals on Sim only contracts, it can work out a cheaper, less restrictive way of running your mobile. All Sim Free phones sold by Mobile Fun are unlocked unless otherwise stated and will work with both contract and pay as you go sim cards.
An unlocked handset can be the same as a Sim Free handset, but although similar in meaning to Sim Free, "unlocked" can be something completely different. The phrase "Unlocked" can refer to a handset that was originally sold on a network and was locked to that network – for example, most Vodafone handsets will only work with a Vodafone Sim Card. To use the phone on Orange for example, would mean that you would have to get the handset unlocked. By unlocking your handset, you remove this restriction and allow the phone to work with any network sim. Downsides to this are that "locked" handsets are normally network branded (the menu system will be configured for that one network) and some features may not be available or work properly. Unlocking a handset can sometimes invalidate your warranty, so its best to check with the manufacturer or network first. All Sim Free phones sold by Mobile Fun are unlocked unless otherwise stated and will work with both contract and pay as you go sim cards.
This often gets confused with Unlocked. A phone will only ever become blocked for one of two reasons – The pin number on the sim card has been entered incorrectly 13 times, or the handset has been reported to a network as stolen. In either case you will need to contact your network in order for them to unblock your phone.
Slightly more technical this one, but I’ll try to keep this as simple as possible! During my time in retail, a lot of people would come in asking if a phone was "dual banded" thinking that this meant Sim Free and open to all networks, but this is not the case. Dual band simply refers to the number of frequencies that a handset can work on. These days, every phone on the market is Dual Band, most are Tri Band and some are Quad Band! The theory is, the more bands the phone has, the more countries the phone will work in.
The confusion came in the UK with Dual Band when Orange and T-Mobile (One-2-One) launched in the late 90’s. Vodafone and O2, (Cellnet as was) worked on one frequency, and Orange and T-Mobile worked on another. Most handsets back then were single band and would only work on either Vodafone and O2 or Orange and T-Mobile, but not both. As technology moved on, phones started to become Dual Band – this meant that manufacturers only needed to make one handset, rather than two versions of the same phone. For various reasons, the networks began to introduce a network lock that prevented these phones from working on the other networks. So even though the handsets were Dual Band and worked on both frequencies – they would still only work on the network they were sold on unless the customer had the handset unlocked. Asking for a Dual Band phone, will get you a phone that works on two frequencies, but it won’t necessarily work on the network you want it to. Similarly, tri-band handsets works on three different frequencies, and quad-band handsets on four, but these handsets can still be locked to a network.
Buying a Pay as you go phone, can be a cheaper alternative to buying Sim Free if you need to replace a handset without spending a fortune, but there are a few downsides that you will need to consider. Nearly all Pay as you go phones will be locked to the network they are sold on, so you’d need to buy your handset carefully. Most networks now insist on a minimum top up when you buy the phone, so the price you see may not be the price you end up paying. The handsets will be configured for Pay as you go, so some contract services may not work. Buying a phone on Pre-pay with the intention of using a different Sim Card, (Box-breaking) is against the terms of service for most networks, and can land you in trouble, so its normally worth checking with your network. Most networks will normally offer some kind of incentive if you want to upgrade, so its worth a call to customer services before you buy. Pay as you go phones, will work with contract sim cards, but you will need to change some settings in order to access Internet and Picture Message services.
Three are the spanner in the works! They complicate things slightly when it comes to buying a Sim Free phone because when 3 launched their 3G network in 2003, they had the most advanced mobile network which ran on a different frequency to all the other 4. This lead to them having a more limited handset range and this made buying a Sim Free phone that worked on 3 nearly impossible. Over recent years, and as 3G has been rolled out to all networks, the handset range has increased as more and more phones now work on 3G networks – but not all Sim Free phones are compatible with 3G. Its very important to remember that if you are on 3, that you will need to buy a 3G handset. Popular phones like the Nokia 6300 won’t work, so always check before ordering that it will work on 3G (often listed as 2100/UMTS).
To see the range of mobile phones that are available sim free, head over to our
Sim Free Mobile Phone section of the site.
Friday, March 6th, 2009
One of the great things about Mobile Broadband is that you can go online anywhere you like – but you can almost guarantee that the place you need it the most is the place where signal is at its weakest.
While 3G coverage is getting stronger with all networks, there will still be blackspots where it drops out, or you can only pick up a 2G signal. Thankfully, a couple of solutions are now available to try and get round these signal issues. If you don’t have a dongle yet and are looking for the network with the strongest 3G signal, then the OFCOM website has just published updated coverage maps (as of 31/12/08) that allow you to view the 3G coverage by network.
UPDATED: There are now two different types of antenna available:
- Clip Antenna: This Antenna is designed to be a portable solution that clips onto the screen on your laptop or sits on your desk. It is omni-directional, which means that it will pick up signals from all directions.
- High Gain 3G Directional Antenna: This is a much more powerful signal booster than the clip antenna and is ideal for people who have real problems with 3G reception. They are directional, which means that you will need to point this towards your network’s transmitter in order for it to improve the signal. The High Gain antenna when positioned correctly will make a significant difference to the signal you receive and can be wall mounted as a permanent fixture.
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Tags: 3G Dongle, 3G signal Booster, Antenna, Ariel, broadband antenna, e160 antenna, e160g antenna, huawei antenna, k3565 antenna, MF627 antenna, Mobile Broadband,
47 Comments
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
DLNA Certified Logo
DLNA is all about the Digital Home and getting the devices you use everyday to work together. Chances are you’ve got a digital camera, but are restricted to watching your photos back on the screen of your PC, or you’ve got video footage on your camcorder that you have to stop and burn to disc, and then hope it will play on your DVD player. You’ve got a big screen TV in the lounge, but can only use it for TV and DVD’s. Getting them all to work now normally involves lots of cables, lots of patience and a fair bit of time too, but DLNA is hoping to change all that.
DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance, and is basically a set of rules that electronics companies are all following in order for devices to talk to each other. I struggled to get to grips with it to start with, but if you look less at what it is and look more at what it does, you’ll soon see how its going to change how we use our devices.
What is DLNA?
The first thing to remember is DLNA is not a product itself (you can’t buy DLNA adapters for existing devices) the support for DLNA needs to be built into the software of the device you’re using, so for most of us its not gong to be something we can all use straight away – but the next time you buy a digital device its worth looking for one with DLNA support built in, just look out for the DLNA logo (shown above).
In order to use DLNA features there are a few things you’ll need:
- A home network (wired or wireless)
Most of us by now already have networks in place at home for accessing the internet, so you should easily be able to expand your network to incorporate more devices with minimal hassle. Some devices will only be able to connect wirelessly, and others will need to connect to your network using a cable.
- Home media server software
It sounds scary, but its not. There are several different media servers available, but these are becoming a standard part of PC operating systems, and most new PC’s should have one built in.
- DLNA Certified products
Certified products include mobile phones, PC’s, TV’s, Network Storage Devices, Digital Video Recorders, Audio Systems, Printers & Digital Media Players. You’ll need more than one obviously in order to really do anything, but no doubt over time most devices in your house will support DLNA.
What does DLNA do?
In a nutshell, DLNA allows digital devices to talk to each other over a wired or wireless network. It lets you access content from your PC on your TV, play music from your phone through your Hi-Fi, all with out having to plug anything in!
Example of a connected home using DLNA
What does it allow me do?
There are loads of different ways that DLNA devices can help make your life a little bit easier, here’s a couple of examples.
You’ve been on a day out, you get home and want to look back at the photos on your phone. With DLNA devices, you can play your photo slideshow back on your widescreen TV, and when you’re finished you can send all your photos to your network storage device for safe keeping. Without DLNA, you’d have been restriced to watching them back on your phone screen or messing around with cables to transfer them to your PC to watch on your computer screen.
You’ve filmed your recent holiday and downloaded it to your PC, and you sent it to your networked storage device for safe keeping. When the family come round, you can all sit and watch it together, watching it back on your TV using just your TV remote to play it back – its that simple. Without DLNA, you’d have been restriced to watching them back on your computer screen, burning the film to DVD or messing around with cables to connect the camcorder to your TV.
For more possibilities have a look at the DLNA website.
In reality:
I’m sure you’re probably thinking this all sounds good, but does it really work? Honestly, Yes. To give you a better idea of what a simple DLNA network set-up would be, this is my current set up at home:
With this set up I can view photos from my phone and PC on the TV using my TV remote. I can play music from my phone through my PC or TV, and can control hte music playback from my phone or my TV remote. My Dad has a DLNA enabled laptop, and when he visits, he simply logs onto my wireless network and he is able to show pictures and music on my TV straight away with out having to set anything up.
Current DLNA certified Mobile Phones:
Currently there are only around 12 handsets in the UK that are DLNA Certified, the more recent of these are listed here:
Nokia N79
Nokia N82
Nokia N95
Nokia N95 8GB
Nokia N96
Sony Ericsson W705
Sony Ericsson C905
Samsung Omnia
To see what other devices are available have a look at the DLNA certified Product Range.
If you don’t have a Media Server installed on your PC, take a look at these solutions.
These aren’t the only options out there, but the one’s I’ve found easiest to use, although Orb is slightly different in as much as it allows you to stream your content over the internet to any device. Twonky and Home Media Server are simpler to set up and use.
If you have any questions or comments, or need anything clarifying – leave your comments below!
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