A Little Bit Of This, A Little Bit Of That

MY10 Liberty and Outback Sat Nav Bluetooth Phone Issues Solved - Sort Of!

I purchased a Subaru MY10 3.6R Premium Sedan recently and all in all things are going very well but I have a few niggling problems. One relates to the problem with the Bluetooth when using the voice control.

Subaru Australia has finally released a bulletin to it’s dealers acknowledging the problem and providing a solution. In fact the solution is only temporary and has to be reloaded everytime the battery is disconnected.

Another problem that I have not suffered from is also identified in the document which relates to certain phones not even holding a bluetooth connection at all. Many dealers have been confusing the two issues believing they are one and the same when they are completely different and each with their own fix or workaround.

In this case this is identified as not being a warranty problem even though the phones that cannot connect are from the most popular manufacturers in the world, Nokia and Samsung.

Below are some extracts from the update (with the interesting bits highlighted) but you can also download it here : SM0060 – MY10 Liberty & Outback Sat. Nav. Bluetooth Phone Issues – 23 March 2010

CATEGORY: GENERAL

DATE: 23RD MARCH 2010

REFERENCE: SM0060

SUBJECT: MY10 LIBERTY & OUTBACK SAT. NAV. BLUETOOTH PHONE ISSUES

The following summary is an update of the current situation with Bluetooth phone connection
and voice recognition issues with MY2010 Liberty and Outback: -

1. Inability to maintain Bluetooth connection with Nokia, Samsung and LG models equipped with Symbian S60 3rd edition FP 1 & 2 operating system, see attached listing for effected models. All other model and brand of phones are not affected by this issue

Due to an incompatibility with the connection protocol between these model phones and the Kenwood Satellite navigation system, the system will initially pair with the phone but when the ignition is turned off then on again the system will no longer connect.

Both Subaru Japan and Kenwood have advised us that this is not a Kenwood system fault but one of incompatibility due to an incorrect communication coming from the effected phones software program. However Kenwood have developed a work around software solution to make it possible for these model phones to maintain the Bluetooth connection after cycling of the ignition.

This solution has been implemented on new satellite navigation systems from a certain serial numbers onwards and it is possible to upgrade earlier units. Unfortunately this upgrade requires removal of the satellite navigation unit and return to Kenwood for reprogramming.

This will require a request for an exchange unit to be supplied but please be aware that exchange unit availability is limited and heavily relies on speedy return of replaced units! Any delays in returning replaced units’ means that that unit is not available for future requests.

PLEASE ensure all new units are fitted to the owner’s vehicle ASAP and that the replaced units are returned immediately!

Kenwood have also advised that because this is not a system fault a charge will be made for the upgrade ($209) and as such it is not considered to be a warrantable repair. Subaru Australia however will consider each case individually and if you receive a customer request please communicate with your Regional Service Manager for instructions.

For your information this issue only occurred on the first few months of vehicle production.

Implementation date of the software update is as per the following table.

NOTE: VIN is approximate, the serial # is the most accurate method for determining if a system has the upgrade.

2. Voice recognition ‘Dial by Name’ failure all model phones The symptom of this issue is that following the adding of a name tag to a phone number in the Satellite navigation system phone book, initially the system will correctly ‘dial by name’ until the ignition is turned off and then back on again. When turning the ignition on again and operating
the dial by name function the system will reply with the phase “System is checking the disk please wait” but then nothing further happens.

This issue has been reported to FHI for rectification and we currently have a trial software patch
that we have been asked to test and report back to FHI.

This testing was successful with several trial installations being completed with no issues. We are currently awaiting confirmation of the final software solution from FHI/Kenwood. Once this confirmation occurs FHI will dispatch sufficient quantities of the patch for distribution.

Fortunately this software solution does not require return of the satellite navigation unit to Kenwood for reprogramming. The solution requires the software to be directly loaded to the unit via a CD disk into the map disk drive and can be easily completed at your workshop.

Unfortunately this software solution is not retained in the unit’s hard memory and every time the battery is disconnected the software needs to be reloaded. Therefore every Retailer will be issued with a program disc for loading into your customer’s vehicles as required. Ultimately this software will be incorporated into new vehicle production and will be hard coded into the satellite navigation unit’s memory.

We anticipate the software disk will become available after Easter and will be issued with full installation instructions as soon as possible.

Generation 5 Subaru Liberty 3.6R Premium Sedan

Quick Review of the MY10 Subaru Liberty Sedan

With the advantage of the governments investment allowance I decided to upgrade my Turbo Subaru Liberty with a new Generation 5 Liberty (called the Subaru Legacy in other parts of the world) that Subaru has just released. The Generation 4 changed very little over the Generation 3 models but the Generation 5 introduces a significant changes both internally and externally. Of course whenever a manufacturer makes significant changes there are those who like the new styling and those that dont. Thankfully I am those that like the changes.

I first had my eye on the new Subaru Liberty 2.5 GT Premium but they were in very short supply so I was forced to test drive the Subaru Liberty 3.6R Premium Sedan which has a 3.6 litre boxer 6 cylinder engine. What surprised me was the performance of the 3.6 which is a 191kw compared against the 195kw of the turbo. If you consider that the 3.6 uses standard unleaded but the 2.5 GT has to be fed 98 RON fuel then the 4kw difference could easily be made up by using the higher performance fuel in the 6 cylinder.

Leaving Kilowatts aside the performance of the two cars is very different. Like all turbos the Liberty 2.5 GT Premium lives on engine revs and it also features Bilstein sports suspension. The whole car is built around a sport performance and provides an excellent bang for your buck.

The Liberty 3.6R Premium Sedan certainly has power but its delivered in a much more controlled and smoother fashion and the ride is more comfortable.

The short supply of the Liberty 2.5 GT Premium meant that actually obtaining one for my time frame was difficult let alone negotiating on one which proved to be near on impossible. The Liberty 3.6R Premium Sedan was much easier to obtain in the specification I wanted and negotiating on the price was far simpler.

From an RRP perspective the difference between the Liberty 2.5 GT Premium Manual and the Liberty 3.6R Premium Sedan which only comes in Automatic is only about $1,000 but in reality the different negotiated positions meant the real difference was closer to $5,000 and the difference between automatic models was closer to $6,500.

Because of the price difference and the fact I was so impressed with the test drive of the Liberty 3.6R Premium Sedan it was a very easy choice to go for the more family friendly option and move away from the Subaru turbo’s. If the price was on par the decision would have been harder but I still think I would have chosen the same model. I must admit that whilst I will miss the rawness of a turbo boxer engine I am very happy with my choice as is the rest of the family. Maybe I am just slowing down with age.

Other than the engine and suspension differences there is very little differences between the two cars. The GT has the sports front spoiler and black carbon fibre inserts on the dash and doors whilst the 3.6R has the normal spoiler and timber look inserts.

The Subaru All Wheel drive system is again just beautiful to drive. It feels sure footed no matter the road or weather conditions. I have been driving a Subaru AWD for that long I find I have to watch myself whenever I am driving a non-Subaru car as its a lot easier to come unstuck. The latest Gen 5 cars have a stack of new safety features and technologies but you for the most part you only get to test those out when things go wrong.

Subaru also delivers in the bells and whistles department with a range of new features including keyless entry, voice control, 8 inch lcd screen for navigation, reversing camera, audio and dvd playback and the amazing 10 speaker McIntosh stereo system. The cars also feature rain sensing wipers, dusk sensing headlights and push button electric park brake. The two features I have found the hardest to get use to is the keyless entry and electric park brake.

The keyless entry works by the key transmitting its location inside or immediately outside of the car. It enables you to walk up to the car and it will automatically unlock itself and you get in and push the button to start the car all with the key still in your pocket. In fact the key is more of a remote control than a traditional key. It’s unnerving walking up to the car and opening it up without unlocking it. You start wondering if you ever locked the car in the first place.

The push button electric park brake is another weird thing that takes some getting use to. Ever since I first started to drive the park brake was a mechanical handle you had to pull on. To now just push a button to apply the park brake feels very weird and is taking some getting use to. You can take the park brake off manually but with the smarts in the car you don’t have to. If you have your seatbelt on you can just drive away and the park brake will be released automatically.

Just a few days before I took delivery the Subaru Liberty 3.6R Premium Sedan won the Best Prestige Car in the Australia’s Best Car’s Awards which is the car awards for the Australian Automobile Association on behalf of all Australian Motoring Clubs including RACQ, RACV, NRMA, RAA, RAC, RACT and AANT.

The new Subaru Liberty improves on what they already did well and throws in a range of new technologies. It handles like a dream and is as sure footed as ever.

If your looking for a new mid sized car I would strongly suggest you test drive the new Generation 5 Subaru Liberty range. Some of the lower models don’t have all the features as the premium models but they all feature boxer engines, all wheel drive and 5 star ANCAP safety ratings.

Subaru will have to really stuff up future models or one of their competition will have to create something special for me to move away from their range.

Playing Around With Zoo Property

Website design for real estate has one major obstacle to overcome and that relates to the data management of the listings. Real Estate is all about the internet and its important that your website syncronises with a range of online portals.

This is why your typical website designer struggles with websites for real estate agents. Running a property listing database is not actually that simple and syncronising with the a range of portals is quite complicated. Your typical real estate website providor for real estate agents provides template websites only. These are typical cookie cutter sites exactly the same as hundreds of other agents and whilst they “get the job done” they do not provide exception results. If you want to create a custom site the options were very limited until now.

Zoo Property provides the simple task of running a property listing database for an agent and syncing those listings with all the major real estate portals. This allows a webdesigner to worry about the actual website itself rather than the complexities of the property listing database.

Zoo Property provides a simple api interface for web designers to connect with their system. They also provide a range of plugins for use in the WordPress CMS and blog system.

So at work we are undertaking a new First National brand update at the moment and we are looking at updating our website around a Zoo Property and WordPress solution. I will end up writing a full article on the experience for the Business 2 blog but I can confirm that everything is going well. Zoo Property does not limit your web designer to use WordPress but because they provide a range of WordPress plugins it speeds up development time and has allowed me to create a website with very little effort. They really are natural fit and we should be launching the new site soon.

Australian Real Estate Software and Online Solutions Directory

About 12 months ago I went looking for an online directory for real estate agents. I was looking at that time specifically for virtual tour options available. No matter how hard I looked I could not find one place that provided a directory specifically targeted to real estate agents, let alone specialising in Australian Real Estate Agents. There are so many options available

The solution at the time was to whip up a website at australianrealestatesoftware.com to prove the concept and test if agents would use it.

The test proved both successful and unsuccessful at the same time. For a minimal effort it got quite a reasonable level of traffic for specific targeted audience.

Unfortunately because I did not want to invest too much into the first version of the site in case agents wouldn’t use such a directory I chose to only create a very basic site. This lead to people finding what they wanted through the search engines but not really browsing the directory for other solutions available.

The other week I decided to give the old girl a bit of a tart up and moved everything over to a wordpress installation. The wordpress CMS allows me to quickly and easily provide advanced functionality. So now the site not only displays a funky new look but visitors can now leave comments and easily rate particular solutions as well. At the bottom of every entry is a list of other software or solutions in the directory that might also suit.

Visitors can now even subscribe to updates either through RSS, email or twitter.

The change has already proved to be highly successful and the average number of pages viewed per visitor is now 5 times more than the previous design. If you are an agent and you know something that should be in the directory and isn’t, let me know by submitting the details.

Australian Kindle eBook eReader Arrives

Amazon.com has just announced that the Kindle ebook eReader will become available in Australia from October 19, 2009 for just $USD279. (Note… this seems to have dropped now to $USD259 which places it as the same price as the US version). With shipping and currency exchange that places an absolutley amazing piece of technology in your hands for about $340 Australian which is just a fraction of what Australian retails are trying to sell less functional ebooks readers for.

The Amazon Kindle fits up to 1,500 books

This is the news that many have been waiting for and the availability of the Kindle will allow Australia to catch up with the US in terms of ebook sales. Amazon recently announced that for every 100 paper books sold they now sell 35 ebooks yet in Australia the ebook readers have had very little exposure.

eBook readers, or eReaders as they called, are the future of reading books and magazines, textbooks and newspapers. The eInk technology in modern ereaders allow them to recreate the pages of a book with the added ability of being able to carry a whole bookcase around with you in a unit that weights a fraction of the weight of a new release. The Amazon Kindle will hold about 1,500 books. How long would that take you to read?

We purchased an eReader about 5 months ago now but the prices in Australia were that high we had to import it from Europe. In the past couple of weeks we were involved in the purchase of another ereader as a 40th birthday present for a friend and prolific reader of novels. In just two weeks it has changed her whole reading experience as the Kindle is about to do for thousands of Australians.

Watch this Introduction Video of the Kindle

Amazon’s Kindle is the worlds most popular eBook eReader but until now it has not officially been available to Australians. Whilst it was possible to import the Kindle into Australia after you purchased it in the US you could not take full advantage of it because is Whispernet connection was not available in the US. Amazon now sell an International version of the Kindle which for $USD20 over the price of the US version gives you access in most of ht world including Australia.

Advantages of the Amazon Kindle over other ebook ereaders

The 2nd generation Amazon Kindle eReader

Whispernet is the first of two things that set the Kindle apart from other ebook readers. A usb connection is standard for transferring books to an ereader and a wifi connection is now becoming possible but Amazon has always thought big, real big.

When they released the Kindle it had an always on data connection though the mobile phone network much the same as many smartphone can access the internet. The best part was that you dont have to pay for this data connection as the price is factored in when you purchase your books. Of course another advantage is that you don’t ever need a computer to purchase and download new books.

With the Kindle you can finish up on one book, load up the bookshop browse the best seller list, pick another book and download it in around 60 seconds. In fact because you can access many of the worlds best newspapers, if you leave it on your bedside table you have the mornings newspaper downloaded and ready to read when you wake without taking on a frosty morning to find your paper in the lawn or making yourself presentable for the neighbours.

The the Kindle also automatically downloads posts from your favourite blogs and gives you free access to the Wikipedia online encyclopedia.

The other advantage that the Kindle has over any other ebook reader is it has access to the Amazon bookshop which holds over 350,000 titles and rising. Prices for new releases for Australians will be $USD9.99 which pitches a new release at just a fraction of what Australian books sellers sell them for. Older releases are even cheaper than that.

The Kindle is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but it is certainly the best option for most avid readers. Similar to many movies and tv shows being illegally available there is an underground market on the internet for enovels and ebooks. These often come in a wide variety of formats that the Kindle can’t handle and is better suited for the Chinese Jinke range of eReaders which is sold under many names such as the BeBook, Hanlin and EcoReader and can handle dozens of different formats.

But will you like reading on Kindle eBook eReader?

eInk means that an eReader is more like a book than a computer. A computer screen is back lit but an eInk screen is not. If you are reading an eReader at night you have to have a light on it just like normal book. Reading a computer screen in full sunlight is impossible, but not so with an eInk screen. As I mentioned we have had another eReader ourself of just under 6 months. eInk does such a great job of simulating a paper page that in the first week or two you often find yourself trying to turn a physical page.

Kathryn loves the ebook reader so much I have yet to read anything on it myself. She simply won’t put it down but since it was her birthday present, that is probably fair. Our 2nd ereader will be the Kindle and maybe I will be able to use that! Our friend who received a reader for her birthday was a prolific reader before we even showed her ours but now she had her own she finished 9 novels in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charmaine Harris in 12 days. That’s as a good a testimonial for using an ebook reader that I have seen.

If you love reading, then you will love an eReader and especially the functionality and ease of use of the Kindle now available for Australians. The saving in books alone make this an amazing investment and your making a green statement saving all those trees!

Australia only gets the standard Kindle so far which is perfect for reading novels. The larger DX version is better for newspapers. If you are interested in the Kindle you can check out the Amazon website and order yours today.

Ella Grace Batten

Ella is just over three years old and is officially the prettiest little girl in the world according to her dad. Thats me!

My Little Girl

Ella is just over three years old and is officially the prettiest little girl in the world according to her dad. Thats me!

I Can't Stand Hypocrites

Nothing pisses me off more than a hypocrite

Harry Connick Junior decided a political statement was in order when a bunch of doctors did a skit imitating the Jackson 5 on the Hey Hey It’s Saturday reunion. In an ad break Harry demands an on air apology saying the display disgusted him. But Harry must not have realised one thing about the interent is that it’s pretty easy to find what you yourself may have forgotten.

The crew at Crikey dug up a skit where Harry Connick Junior played a skit as a black preacher. Now whilst he is not in full jet black facepaint on, he does seem pretty tanned and he is doing a comedy skit on a variety show pretending to be a black man. Sound familiar? Harry Connick Junior is a Hypocrite.

Next we have the case of New Zealand politician Clayton Cosgrove. New Zealand newspaper, the Dominion Post was having a slow news day so pounced on the fact that a local real estate photographer changed the colour of the sky. The newspaper approached Clayton for his comment since he started the recent reform bill in parliament for the New Zealand real estate industry.

When asked about the photographers photoshopping skills he said that agents should show the property in “its ordinary environment” and “I just think it’s a bit on the nose. The more straight up you are, the better you are.”

Clayton reckons the photoshopping photographers are ok though ”if they could make me look slimmer and give me more hair”. Clayton Cosgrove is a Hypocrite!

that agents should show the property in “its ordinary environment” and “I just think it’s a bit on the nose. The more straight up you are, the better you are.”

Showing what a hypocrite he was, the MP who apparently proposed the recent real industry reform bill to parliament seemed to have no problem if the photoshopping photographs ”if they could make me look slimmer and give me more hair”. But changing a sky blue, thats so terrible!

SEO For Tradesmen

A Wakeup Call for Electricians, Plumbers, Mechanics and more

If you are a tradesman or run a trades based company such as electricians, plumbers, mechanics, painters and similar then an investment in SEO for your website can pay high rewards.

Electrician-Tradesmen-SEO A very good friend of mine is an electrician in Townsville who started up his own electrical business recently. As a tradesman his IT knowledge was pretty limited (ok… non existent) so I offered to whip him up his own website to try and capture some enquiries for him. He was going to try the normal avenues open to tradesman such as ads in the newspaper and Yellow Pages. Starting a business is always tough, especially in the middle of the GFC so I was keen to see what I could extract out of the web could do to help him out.

Most of the SEO work I have been involved in has been with real estate agents and the real estate industry. Because the internet plays such a major part in the real estate industry today in general it is quite tough to rank well. Not everybody has embraced Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) but enough have to make it a very competitive industry. Not so the electrical industry it appears.

Whilst there were plenty of electricians in Townsville on the internet there were very few who had invested in a quality website and those that had were built by web designers with very little regard for SEO. In once case the company had built quite a fancy website but it was optimised for little other than their own business name. The only people who would find them were those who searched for their specific business name.

In contrast I concentrated less on making it a flashy slick site, choosing to concentrate on an SEO strategy with good content and optimisation. Within a week of turning the website on we were ranking on the front page of Google for our primary keywords targetted. We are still well inside the first year and Smarterlec is now ranking incredibly.

Here is just a selection of the results from Google searches.

Townsville Electricians – 2nd
Townsville Electrical Contractors -2nd
Townsville Electrical Switchboards – 1st and 2nd
Townsville Electrical Breakdown – 1st and 2nd
Townsville Industrial Electricians – 1st and 2nd
Townsville Domestic Electricians – 1st and 2nd
Townsville Commercial Electricians – 1st and 2nd

To rank so for the primary keywords of Townsville Electricians and Townsville Electrical Contractors is providing terrific results. As you could imagine traffic is on the rise month after month.

In most cases it was rare to see an actual electrical company return on the first Search Engine Results Page (SERP). In fact virtually all websites returned on these searches link to online business directories. These online business directories then go and sell an entry in their directory for hundreds of dollars.

From these sort of results any tradesman or trades based company considering an investment in SEO is crazy if they don’t go ahead. Their results are multiplied simply because their industry has not got web savvy just yet.

I just wish getting a real estate agent website to rank that well, that quickly was just as easy. As well as competing against other agents we also have to compete against real estate portals who have whole teams tasked to nothing but SEO and generating them more and more traffic from the search engines.

Let's Get It On!

After blogging for a few years on the Business2 blog and Nerang First National’s blog and just started up the Sellercom Blog I decided to start up a personal blog myself.

I will continue blogging on those blogs but the Business2 blog specifically focuses on Real Estate Technology and the Nerang First National and Sellercom blogs are specifically targeted to clients of those businesses. That left a lot of other subjects to cover so this blog will focus on everything else that does not fit into those two blogs or is not politically correct.

The header images are from some of my own photography and they should change each page you look at. At the moment there is about 9 in the series and I will add more over time.

GlennBatten.com

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MY10 Liberty and Outback Sat Nav Bluetooth Phone Issues Solved - Sort Of!

Generation 5 Subaru Liberty 3.6R Premium Sedan

Quick Review of the MY10 Subaru Liberty Sedan

Playing Around With Zoo Property

Australian Real Estate Software and Online Solutions Directory

Australian Kindle eBook eReader Arrives

Watch this Introduction Video of the Kindle

Advantages of the Amazon Kindle over other ebook ereaders

But will you like reading on Kindle eBook eReader?

Ella Grace Batten

My Little Girl

I Can't Stand Hypocrites

Nothing pisses me off more than a hypocrite

SEO For Tradesmen

A Wakeup Call for Electricians, Plumbers, Mechanics and more

Let's Get It On!

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