Hurrah for version 2.0

Following on from my rather miserable post berating Google for letting themselves down, I was delighted to see that they promptly took my comments on board and on the 23rd announced v2.0 of their "Gmail for mobile" application. Now I've had chance to live with it for a couple of days I feel I need to rave on once more about Goliath's latest offering.

I use the S60 3rd Edition version of the app on my Nokia E71. I've been very happy with this handset, finding it much quicker and more reliable than the E61i and E61 that preceded it (although at the time I said the same about each of these). The built-in IMAP client for my work email is good but I like the threaded interface of the Gmail app and have persevered in spite of the lack of a similar offline mode.

As my current workplace happens to be sited in a "chuffin' great 'ole" in the Derbyshire hills, cellular network reception varies from extremely patchy to non-existant. With the old v1.5 app, when I did find a signal it would frequently not last long enough for me to connect and read my email online. Now with v2.0 I can do a quick burst of send/receive and then peruse my inbox and compose messages/replies at my leisure.

Another good thing is that I can now have the "always use HTTPS" option ticked in my Gmail settings as this version doesn't barf in the same way as its predecessor.

For my own reference, I installed the updated app on my venerable E61. The Gmail app on this phone had become progressively slower, so much so that in the end it took over 30 seconds from clicking start to actually seeing something appear on the phone's screen. Whilst not as quick as my current phone, this version starts up quickly enough on the old hardware.

So, happy again with Google Corp I've decided to waste more hours of my life on the new Google Earth for iPhone/iPod touch. Très super.

A Saturday morning lie-in

With the boy under strict instructions not to leave his room until 8am at the earliest, Mrs S and I were looking forward to a reasonable lie-in after an unusual string of early morning starts during the past week. Thanks go to CE Electric UK for preventing our attempted lapse into this slothful sort of behaviour.

07:32 Power off. Everyone's house alarms sounding, my UPSes beeping and Mrs S nagging. :-(
08:16 Power back on but at 88VAC. Stuff with motors being fried. :-|
08:32 Power off. Motors breathe a sigh of relief. :-)
08:48 Power restored. :-)

A few things spring to mind. Firstly, I noted the hexadecimal symmetry of the timings, all taken from the UPS logs. Secondly, what the chuff caused a power cut at seven thirty on a Saturday morning? Hardly a time when demand would be at a peak. And thirdly, I discovered that I am unwilling to fire up my generator when it's early and cold. Perhaps I should have splashed out on the auto-start option after all.

We're now looking forward to the extra hour in bed tonight as the clocks go back. Woe betide anything or anyone who wakes me up in the morning!