Bluetooth Toggle Gets App Store Boot

Anyone who has an iPhone will tell you what a pain it is to enable or disable Bluetooth. Compared to Android, where a swipe down on the notification bar offers you shortcuts to toggle pretty much all of your standard settings (including Bluetooth) its a ball ache.

Cue Bluetooth Toggle - an iPhone app that does, well pretty much that, toggle your Bluetooth status. Just what I need you're saying to yourself, where can I get it? Well, not in the App Store, that's for sure. Apple has revoked the app for illegally using private APIs and its now only available through the various jailbreak stores.

Leaving aside the matter of how it was approved in the first place, who's interests does this move serve? I suspect those iPhone users who would use it won't care how it works - or even that the next revision of iOS might break it (the only legitimate concern if this is the only failing of the app).

Apple must have seen the demand for this tool from the number of downloads it had received, proving that even iPhone users sometimes need to go 'off message' when it comes to Apple.

The solution? Either Apple delivers similar functionality itself (which skirts dangerously close to adding widgets to the operating system) or gives the developers legitimate access to the Bluetooth API. Most likely scenario? Bluetooth Toggle disappears forever, iPhone users conveniently forget it ever existed and suffer forever.

New Civic Designed By Chimpanzee

Well that's what it seems like.

I've started to see the new 2012 Civic on UK roads in the last few weeks and frankly its hideous. Here's a picture if you haven't suffered the unpleasant experience of laying eyes on one in the metal:

Honda Civic 2012

Notice the way the front and rear seem to have been designed by teams from different evolutionary lines. Its bizarre that they could have got things wrong, considering that this is essentially a nose and tail refresh of the previous model, which was one of the best looking cars out there, with its jet fighter inspired glass house and sharp ends. Even in its most basic, economy model it looked stunning.

Honda Civic 2011

Here's the old model for comparison. I suspect these will rise in value on the second-hand market as the result of the launch of the new 2012 model. All I can say is, someone at Honda's design centre should have gone to Specsavers....

Skype On Windows Phone - Half Useful

Microsoft's purchase of Skype seemed like a big move last year, not necessarily the most sensible, but one which could potentially offer business benefits somewhere down the line.

One of the key things picked up be commenters at the time was that this should speed the arrival of Skype for Windows Phone 7. This was 'a good thing' for the platform, when its playing catch-up with Android and iPhone, both of which have Skype amongst other comms over IP solutions.

Except for one thing. Windows Phone doesn't support background running in any form for third party applications.

The net result is that whilst making outgoing calls works fine, there is no ability to use Skype for incoming comms. A fairly major roadblock frankly.

Given that Microsoft own the platform and now the product how much work would it have taken to fix this? Clearly more than the time allowed. Which shows particularly poor judgement on Microsoft's part. They've released a product that is not fit for purpose and which will give those arguing against WP7 as a viable platform some strong ammunition. Here was an opportunity for Microsoft to take whatever delay was required and release the product in a form that would be useful for its users. 

By taking the alternative option Microsoft have picked up some (very) short term gain at the cost of significant long term pain. For a nascent mobile operating system that's a gamble loaded with risk.

Can You Brick A Tesla?

Tesla is currently in a war of words with Michael Degusta, publisher of The Understatement blog. At dispute is the potential to damage the batteries of the Tesla electric cars which have taken the market place by storm. Given that the replacement cost is circa $32k, that's an issue that's going to grab the attention of owners and prospective buyers alike.

What we know is that at least one Tesla owner - and maybe another five - has been presented with a hefty repair bill after their car was left to discharge for a period of time. It appears that having reached zero charge the batteries were then unable to take a further charge. 

Tesla seems to have been somewhat disingenuous with its responses to this problem. Its warranty appears to exclude repairs for failing to maintain a sufficiently charged battery; however there doesn't seem to be an appropriate level of notification to ensure that owners aren't inadvertently discharging their batteries and causing large repair bills. It has also tried to present Degusta's article as a 'shakedown' for warranty money - not my reading of the situation at all.

Whether it likes it or not Tesla has a problem - owners have to make very basic guesses as to the ability of their ride to complete a specific journey and then sit unattended until it will be next required. It is far from the get in and go simplicity of combustion engined cars and almost certain to hurt Tesla and the electric car's reputation. Dramatically in the long term as the cars enter the second hand market.

Tesla needs to build some form of isolation switch for the early (vulnerable) cars and retrofit as soon as possible. Anything less would be unacceptable...

Dear Spotify

I'm so very glad to hear your news that applications can be integrated into the Spotify platform. I've even tried some myself, on the desktop, where I've found them to be of limited value frankly, but perhaps there's some potential there.

My bigger concern is with the stability of your mobile application. On iPhone its ugly but relatively stable, on Android its ugly and falls over more often than a drunk man in a hurricane.

As far as I can tell there's universal anger at the quality (or lack thereof) in the mobile application. Which has to be worrying for your bottom line when the mobile application is your biggest lever for turning free accounts into paid ones.

I'm can't claim to be a great business leader but I would definitely suggest paying some attention to your mobile product if you want to sustain a business in the long term.

Yours

Worried of Southport

Hybrid Market Is Chasing Its Tail

I'm not sure whether this follows true outside of the US, but it appears that hybrid car ownership isn't a compelling enough experience for most people to replace their hybrid with another at the end of the ownership period.

About two-thirds of owners revert to a normally driven car when replacing their hybrid and I think there are a couple of very good reasons why this happens and why its probably more prevalent in Europe than the States.

Firstly, hybrids can't be boost charged from the mains. So the only time that you're running on electric is when enough power has been harvested from the regenerative systems to build a charge in the electrical system. Some of the main engine power is also used to charge the batteries. The net result is a car that isn't as good to drive as a comparable petrol car and one that also rarely runs all electric. Being able to plug a hybrid in and charge its batteries from the mains would mean that many shorter journeys could be undertaken on electric power only.

The second problem is that hybrids don't generally live up to their claims of fuel economy gains - as a result buyers are finding that the cost proposition doesn't work and abandoning them in droves. In Europe we have  wide selection of family sized diesel cars that give excellent returns on mileage, which is why I think hybrid churn is probably worse here than in the States, where that option isn't available.

The answers are easy - add a mains charging circuit and build hybrids around small, super economical diesels.

Otherwise hard won hybrid customers will continue to be all too easily lost...

Trains - Are They Really Any Good?

Is it just me or does the national rail network completely fail to make a case for rail travel?

As things stand the service is expensive, inconvenient and of limited use to most travellers. Going point to point on a mainline train is bearable, anything else deeply unpleasant.

That's not to say it couldn't be better, but only as a result of major investment that just isn't an option in the current climate.

So here's an idea Mr Cameron.

Sell the rights to the mainline infrastructures to foreign investors to dig up the track and re-lay them as toll roads.

Structure them around several interchange hubs and allow coach companies to run high speed bus services between them. Allow cars to use them too, but segregated from the bus lanes.

Net result? A better service for passengers, reduced congestion for drivers and a healthy slug of income for the beleaguered national purse...