One thing i do miss though is a 3G mobile broadband internet connection using something like an iPhone.

When i first heard about the Novatel Mifi 2352, i knew straight away that this would solve this problem for me.

The Novatel Mifi 2352 allows you to have your very own mobile wifi hotpost. The Mifi 2352 contains your 3G sim card which allows you to connect to the internet and then at the same time, the Mifi 2352 gives off a Wifi signal which allows you to connect upto 5 devices on the go.

This is great for me, as i can now use my iPod Touch’s email capabilities anywhere or i can use my Macbook pro when i am away from home and i am in a place where where there is no Wifi hotspots. I am now my own Wifi hotspot, so i know i will never be without an Internet connection.

I know i’m not going to be a huge downloader on the go, so i chose to sign up with Orange’s £4.89* per month 3G Mobile Broadband package which gives you 512MB of data per month which will be fine for a bit of email checking, checking twitter and looking at football scores on the BBC website. If i find the 512MB amount of data isn’t enough, i can always upgrade to their 1GB package which is also very reasonable.

Of course though, you dont have to use Orange, you can use any network you like. I also tried a, Three, sim card that i had, and that worked no problem.

The mifi 2352 is a beautiful little device which you can see in the image below. It is very small and extremely light. You can just turn it on and put it in your pocket or bag and just forget about it.

(Click The Image Above For a Larger Version)

Overall i am extremely happy with this device. I did have a little trouble getting my Orange 3G sim to connect when i first used it, but after i updated the Mifi 2352′s firmware, i had no problems at all. I would highly recommend this little device, and i am very pleased i got it.

*This is a limited time offer.

In January (2009) i had heard about “Jolicloud” on techcrunch.com. Jolicloud is a Linux based operating system aimed directly at Netbooks, and this really interested me. I didn’t want a machine that would run Photoshop or other high end software programs like that. All i wanted was a machine that allowed me to check emails, and access certain websites like twitter.com and so on.

So this week i purchased a Samsung NC10 Netbook with Built-In HSDPA from expansys.com. Expansys.com were great and delivered the Netbook the next day without any problems. I straight away got to work of removing Windows XP and installing Jolicloud.

The Samsung NC10 is a great little machine, and i would highly recommend it. Its extremely light and quiet and the battery life is amazing. I had it on for over 6 hours on one charge yesterday. I suppose the only let down, was Windows XP that came with it. It came pre-installed with all the usual crapware and free trials, but that was soon all gone once i started the Jolicloud installation.

The Jolicloud installation was extremely easy, and was all done in about 20 minutes. Once the installation was done, and i setup my Jolicloud account on the machine, i was then asked to setup my Wifi and 3G connections which were both easy to do. I have a “Pay As You Go” 3G sim card with “3 UK“, and this was plugged into the sim slot on the Samsung NC10 where the battery is located.

Jolicloud is still a “Pre Beta” piece of software which you can only download by invite only, but if you submit your email address on their website, you should get an invitation quite soon. The software might still be a pre-beta piece of software, but i really wouldn’t have guessed that. I haven’t come across any bugs yet, and the software has run amazingly well on my Samsung NC10.

Jolicloud has a sort of App Store built into the OS, where you can download free apps likes, OpenOffice, Boxee and Skype to name a few, but i did notice that Firefox hadn’t been updated to the latest version of 3.5.x yet and was still running version 3.0.x. I’m not sure if this is a linux problem, or it the Jolicloud developers have to create an optimized version of Firefox 3.5.x for Jolicloud, but its not a huge problem. Once you download any of the apps that you like, they are organised into different categories such as, “Internet”, “Office” and “Graphics”, but you can also mark the apps as your “Favourites”, so that they all appear on your “Favourites” page.

The only issue i have found with Jolicloud so far, is every time i start the Jolicloud OS, i get a message saying…………. The Application ‘NetworkManager Applet’(usr/bin/nm-applet) wants to access the default keyring, but it is locked. When i start any OS, i dont want any passwords to enter, i just want the desktop to appear and thats that.

Overall i have been extremely pleased with the Samsung NC10 and the Jolicloud OS, and it amazes me that this software isn’t even at the “Beta” stage yet, so i can only see goods things for the future of Jolicloud as my Netbook Operating System of Choice.

Here are a few more screenshots.

You could say i am a bit of a freak of Nature when it comes to the iPhone, and by that i mean i dont have one. In fact i dont have any kind of mobile phone, and thats probably why i am such a fan of the iPod Touch, as it has just about all the features of the iPhone, but just without the phone, and thats perfect for me.

So in my wishlist below, you may see things that the iPhone can do, but the iPod Touch can’t, and you might just say… “Buy an iPhone”, but thats just not an option for me. I really don’t miss having a mobile phone, and i hate being tied into contracts and i certainly don’t want to spend nearly £500 on a pay as you go iPhone when i know i really wouldn’t use the phone and SMS features that much at all.

1) Microphone

Having a built in microphone would be extremely helpful, not only to have the ability to make voice memos, but i would love to be able to use the “Shazam” app without having to plug in a 3rd party microphone.

2) Camera

It would be great if they built in a stills and video camera just like the new iPhone 3GS. The video editing software looks great aswell in the iPhone 3.0 OS.

3) 3G

I know this wont happen, but i would just love it if it did. When i’m away on holiday or away from home for a few days, i always take my Macbook Pro, and i also use a 3G USB dongle from three.co.uk – I only use it to be able to get access to my email on the go and it works great. I just want to have this ability on my iPod Touch when i’m not in a Wifi area, to be able to connect via 3G and read my emails on the go.

4) Improved Battery

I’m sure everyone would want this.

5) Scratch Proof Case

When you first pull that shiny new iPod Touch from its packaging, it looks amazing. You then put it in your pocket and pull it out, and its scratched. I don’t mean the screen, i’m talking about the shiny silver back. I’m no expert in product materials, but if they could somehow create a scratch proof case, so that it stays in the same condition as when its removed from its box then that would be nice aswell.

6) OLED Screen

Improved quality of the screen would be nice for when i watch my video podcasts and also OLED technology could help the devices battery life.