There have been many Questions Of The Day along the lines of 'If money wasn't a problem...' or 'What features would your ideal device have?'. They're great questions; I love the answers people give. We can all dream; it's healthy. But reality for most of us (Shaun excepted, of course :-) is living in the world of compromise. We have to balance many factors: price, features, looks, usability, OS etc. And always with a view to an uncertain future: if I invest in software for this device/OS, where will it be in 6, 12 or 18 months time?

It's a fascinating call - and a deeply frustrating one at times. The relative priorities of the different buying factors are rarely set in stone; price might be a constraint now but maybe not so much next year - or it may be more so next year. Usability is relative - what seems to adequately meet our needs now, in comparison with other available devices, can seem archaic all-too-soon, blown out of the water by an Android perhaps.

Here's some flesh on the bones of this dilemma. I'm currently using a Nokia 6120, my first Symbian device. I really love the small form factor - but I'm frustrated by the screen size. It didn't cost much - but it's fiddly to use. The software it comes with, and which I've added, is mostly adequate - but there are programs I have invested in that just aren't available for symbian devices.

What would my ideal device be? I'd love to try the iPhone 3G - the only box it wouldn't currently tick is that some of my favourite software isn't ported to it (although I've no doubt it will be). But try it I can't - locked into a non-o2 contract for another 13 months and with insufficient funds to simply bite the bullet and tear-up the contract. So in the land of compromise, other solutions must prevail.

And I might just have found that solution. A price reduction on the MWg Atom Life (down to £150) makes it attainable. Its large screen makes it attractive. The option to use already-owned software makes it advantageous. Its relative bulk makes it awkward.

Depeche Mode once urged us to 'get the balance right'. That's part of the skill of living in a world of compromise. Maybe this device, at this time, for these reasons, will be a right balance - for my needs and situation. It certainly seems like it.

Or maybe I'd be better-off with a Nokia 6120/iPod Touch combo....? Richard M.

Now and again a software developer surprises me with a level of customer service that goes way beyond what should be normally expected, and I wanted to highlight one today who took good service to a whole new level.

Flying Bird Software makes an application called Flying Money Manager which is arguably the only fully fledged personal finance manager available for Symbian S60 3rd Edition phones. I eagerly installed it on my new Nokia E71 and was somewhat disappointed to find that certain parts did not work the way ‘I’ wanted them to. I have some specific wants in a finance manager that maybe others do not require, but I sent an email to Flying Bird support and after one day the following had been sorted out-

The ability to sort account entries in descending and ascending order

A couple of fixes had been put in place

They even took an example QIF file from me to work through why I could not import my existing data. It turned out that I had exported it incorrectly, but they still catered for it and arranged a solution.

At no point did I mention that I ran web sites and did not expect this level of service, but it was a truly positive experience which I won’t forget.

More details of Flying Money Manager are at http://www.flyingbirdsoft.com/.

Have you had similar experiences with a software developer? If so, let us all know via the comments link below.

Here's some good news for Apple fans- "Apple’s App Store has seen an unprecedented amount of success and exposure since its launch, with millions of total downloads and 909 applications already available. Unfortunately, Apple has been unable to keep up with the influx of submissions from developers (each app must be approved before it appears on the store), leaving many companies frustrated and confused as their apps sit in limbo.

Adding to the frustration has been the difficulty associated with testing an application. As Craig Hockenberry, one of the people behind the popular app Twitterific explains:

The big problem here is that the only way to install software on an iPhone or iPod touch is with the App Store. There are also no provisions for beta testing… The only way to “test” a fix is to release the changes to tens of thousands of users. It’s the developer equivalent of playing Russian roulette.”

Now we’re hearing from an app developer that Apple is finally going to start rolling out a new beta program in the next few days. Details are slim, but it seems like Apple is capping the total number of beta participants at 100 per app. In order to download a beta app, users will need to submit their iPhone’s serial number to the developer, who will then need to flag its eligibility in the store itself. All betas will still be distributed through the App Store - you won’t be able to download one on an external site..." More at TechCrunch.

PDair has released a new Leather Case for the Asus Eee PC 1000/1000H-

Contains 2 credit card slot and 4 memory card slots.
Opens and closes with magnetic ,for ease of use.
White stitch finishing,making this case look more beautiful.