LauncherPro has expired. 403 forbidden. Phone is locked out...

Ive been using LauncherPro for a couple of months now, its a nice homescreen replacement on the android phone, actually i really liked it.

But this morning when i turned my phone on i got the error :-

"This version of LauncherPro has expired. Please goto http://www.launcherpro.com/ to get the latest version."

Then my web browser automatically opened so i could get it but i had a problem, i had no internet connection, no wifi, and no mobile connection.... arg.. Basically my phone was now a brick, well i could receive calls, but there was no way to access anything else as every time i hit the home key it would redirect to the internet...

Then later on in the morning i went into london and got a connection on 3G but then i got a 403 forbidden page.... double arg, whats going on this is so shoddy, so i still cant use my phone.

Only after getting to a PC with a decent internet connection did i managed to find a couple of solutions, the first was to download an app installer onto the pc and do a remote install of the new version of launcherPro, i didnt like this, it sounded too complex and i wanted rid of it not the latest version.

Then i found the following solution
browse to - http://bubiloop.com/download/org.adw.launcher
this should open the market (app store)
then search for launcherPro and finally update or uninstall.

I recommend un-installing, seams like this is a rather shoddy product if it locks out your phone like this. even if the actual software does everything else well i dont think this sort of error is in any way acceptabe in any software ever, locking you out of your device, laptop, PC whatever it is, is just wrong, i appreciate the developers might want to force people to upgrade all the time, but this is just not on, i dont know i just cant warn you folks enough, i woudnt trust this app.

morel of the story, dont use apps from random developers on major bits of your device, the home screen is quite major, if that dont work your stuffed.

Vodafone, HTC Desire fiasco

So I've had a contract with Vodafone for over 3 months now. I think it was early may that I actually signed up for a contract with them and got my shiny new HTC Desire, I was pleased. Very pleased :-)

But after a day or 2 I found it was broken :-( if you used it for any length of time it would just quit, turn off, then not turn on for a while whilst it cooled down, oh and there was the strange squeeze thing I mentioned in another blog post.

I complained only 2 or 3 days after I received the original, I thought it would be straight forward, new for new, but unfortunately no stock, the desire is very desirable and there were supply problems.

So I waited and waited, I rang back twice a week to check on progress, I was not using my desire at this point as it was unusable, switching itself off randomly. Back to my trusty old nokia (7 years and still going strong)

And I waited.
Finally, finally after ringing twice a week for 2 months i got a replacement phone :-) yay at last, but I was told to keep my batery, sim and memory card from my other phone, strange, oh well, got my new phone now. :-)

But no, still broken, still with exactly the same problems as before.... ARRRRG, it was the battery all this time, i told them i thought it was, dam it.

And wait what's this, there is as small scuff mark on the base of the phone, its brand new isn't it?

So rang Vodafone back and said it still doesn't work, and also is this phone I have new? there is a scuff mark on it? after much a to-do I got the answer that its a reconditioned phone, and we will send you a battery (which they did but I suspect its not a new one as it came in a jiffy bag).

Anyway after some challenging discussions I got agreement that it was an error to send me a reconditioned phone, apparently an error in the system (problems with phones over 1 month into the contract get refurbished replacements), since I was 2 months into my contract I get a reconditioned one... even though id reported the problem on day 3... But the supervisor on the other end was reasonable in the end and agreed I should have had a new phone sent not a reconditioned one, and so I'm waiting, again.

And waiting and waiting, I ring back twice a week again, try to get a date but again they are out of stock, out of stock, out of stock.
Do Vodafone ever sell the HTC Desire? I know its a popular phone, that there are supply problems but in effect its been over 3 months now, you cant tell me you have not had any stock in 3 months? really?

I suspect its far more profitable to sell that new handset to a new customer than to sort out your existing ones?

I'm a bit disappointed really, as you can imagine, cause I've been using Vodafone for all my mobile life, years and years, even whilst abroad, and always had excellent service. I've had friends with orange who had trouble and problems with the provider and I've always said come to Vodafone, they are great, but seams like things change, or just maybe I've just got really unlucky.

HTC Desire shut down problems

So ive got a brand new HTC Desire, and instantly loved it, but its not right...

If you talk on the phone for 5-10 minutes the phone will just switch off? if you use the internet or any other functionality the phone will soon enough just switch off. sometimes if you just gently squeeze it will just shut down.

Once it has shut down the status light flashes green and orange, sometimes it wont even shitch back on for ages...

So ive got in touch with vodafone, and they have been really good about sorting it out. they have quickly agreed to replace it :-) but there are none in stock at the moment, and none due in till the 23rd i think... boo

video of the squeeze

As you can see it works pretty well, quick navigation, just dont squeeze it.