jonchoo

Hate native Tweetdeck? Download the Adobe Air version now!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:22:58 PST

When I received my new laptop a few weeks ago I went on to install some of my favourite apps. One of which is Tweetdeck, a desktop client I swear by of which if it never existed I would be tweeting far less.

Unfortunately Tweetdeck has replaced the brilliant Adobe Air version with a native app, that frankly sucks, to put it politely. It was slow, the UI was horrible - just about everything about it was awful. To make matters worse, Tweetdeck (now owned by Twitter), has removed any references and installer to the old Adobe Air version.

Fortunately a quick digging on the internet reveals that someone has uploaded the Adobe Air version on Mediafire for prosperity's sake. The version is 0.38.2, which as far as I know is the last version before Tweetdeck pulled the plug on it. Go download it now, and be assured that you are running a superior and far more productive version of Tweetdeck.

A tale of two loves: iPhone 4S and Lumia 800

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:40:44 PST

Those who know me are aware that I was a serial iPhone hater. Well, I still am, though my dislike for the platform has decreased somewhat. Having been using the iPhone 4S for a month now (courtesy of Three UK), I've changed my tune. The latest iOS 5 has brought a huge amount of features and maturity to a platform that a few years ago, I would never dream of using.

In the two months since I ditched Android and moved to using Windows Phone 7.5 Mango via the Nokia Lumia 800 as my daily driver, and then iOS 5 via the iPhone 4S, I have grown to appreciate the two OS platforms a lot more than I initially gave them credit for. The core design of the two devices as well as the OS that powers them could not have been more opposite, and yet in both cases, it was a joy to use both.

In terms of built quality, both phones are equally great. The Lumia 800 and iPhone 4S offers the best built quality of any premium smartphones on the market currently. In the case of the iPhone 4S, the metal frame gives it an unparelled premium feel. Even the volume buttons, silent switch and power button were given treatments that screams quality. On the Lumia 800, its unique unibody polycarbonate construction offers the phone a look quite unlike any other device on the market. While the camera shutter button lets the Lumia down a bit, the device as a whole feels like it was built with love behind it.

Design wise, both phones are completely opposite. The 4S retains the same design language as the iPhone 4, in that a metallic frame that doubles as the antenna for the various wireless functions, sits between two glass frames (the display and back frame). Some might complain that it doesn't feel as comfortable to hold as the curvier iPhone 3G, which is partly true, but it isn't a key issue. It is thinner, sharper and simply stunning in look. In their quest to create the most minimalist device, the iPhone 4S lacks any dedicated camera shutter of their competitors - but at least the volume button can be used as one.

With the Lumia 800, Nokia has gone for new design language quite opposite that of Apple's flagship. While it looks boxy from the front, the Lumia 800 is a very curvy device. The tapered side, along with the curved display, encourages the user to swipe the screen - a core philosophy behind Windows Phone 7 and Meego Harmattan (of which the N9 uses). Even the microSIM slot is well thought out, using a simple slide mechanism to access the slot - proving that you can build a microSIM slot that does not require a pin to access. My only complaint? The use of chrome at the back for branding purposes. It scratches as easily as an old school iPod Nano or silverback iPhone/iPod Touch.

As for the OS themselves, iOS5 is now a very mature mobile OS that is both powerful, and yet basic enough for everyone to use and master. The grid-based UI may look tired now, but iOS's biggest strength isn't its UI, but its huge repository of apps. There is little point in debating this: iOS is the world leader in apps, in terms of quality, quantity and value for money. If you value apps over anything else, an iPhone 4S is the smartphone to get. You would be kidding yourself if you think Android or Windows Phone comes even remotely close to iOS here.

My admiration for Windows Phone 7 is well documented on this blog, even during the pre-NoDo era. For good or bad, it is the platform of my choice for the foreseeable future and I am glad that Nokia has given the platform its backing. No, it isn't for everyone. I have issues recommending the platform to anyone who isn't on social networks, of which the platform excels at. While the number of apps continue to grow, I have also witness Microsoft letting down developers when it came to approving quality applications, even once rejecting a killer app without any apparent explanation. If Microsoft wants Windows Phone to be taken seriously as a smartphone platform, they can't rely only on fresh UI and speed. Developers are an important ingredient that they must not neglet.

In the midst of this love letter, it is quick to forget about Android, the number one smartphone platform in the world. Android is great in that it is hugely scalable, is 'open source' (loosely) and is available in all forms of flavors, and I don't mean just the codename of each versions. However, as much as UI has improved, Android is still a geek's platform. It also performs well only on phones with the highest spec. Try getting a cheap Android phone and the first thing you will be doing is hurl it onto a wall. But get something well spec'ed, like the Samsung Galaxy S II, and you will embrace it like it was the best phone of 2011 - which it was for many, including me.

Still, for better or worse, as Android is pretty much an 'open platform', manufacturers are free to do anything with it including embedding them into TV, notebooks, tablets and even watches. It is after all the new Windows of the 21st century. Google as a company may be in vogue now, but the same can be said of their ancestors, Yahoo!, Alta Vista and Lycos - all of which went or are going the way of the Dodo. But like how the proliferation of Windows eventually caused its downfall, the same fate may befall Android.

There really is no best phone for everyone. Give me the iPhone 4S, Galaxy S II or Lumia 800, and I will be happy using any of them, such are the maturity of the OSes each phone runs on. Each of these have their own strengths, either in the hardware or the platform. But what works for me might not work for you. My partner would not use the greatest Android device in the world even if you paid her, not because it is bad - it just isn't for her. Play the strengths of each device and find what works best of you.

How Photographers Really Spend Their Time

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:57:32 PST

In response to 'How photographers actually spend their time'.

This is the new reality.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:15:08 PST

Lenovo ThinkPad T420s

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 04:43:18 PST

A new year, a new laptop. Well three years that is. After six years of using ThinkPad X-series ultraportable, yesterday I bought my first ever T-series ThinkPad, the T420s. The deal was just too good to pass up on. For £650, I got an almost-new T420s that would normally cost £1202 from Lenovo direct. It was originally sold for £1614 in this configuration. And as expected, it comes with standard three-year transferable warranty (got to love business-class warranties!).

The T420s retains the same beloved ThinkPad design that has graced all its predecessor. Much like a Porsche 911, the design is tweaked subtly with each new model, but always retain the same design language that makes it instantly recognisable: that is the rectangular boxy black bento-inspired shapre that every ThinkPad fan likes about it. It is understated, classy and does not shout 'look at me'. The T420s is all about function, before form and yet the classic design means that it will never age. My only complaint about the T420s, design wise, is it isn't quite as beautiful to look at as the X220-series.

It isn't all just looks though. Hiding underneath all that black is a series of rollcage made of hybrid carbon fibre reinforced plastic, designed to reduce flex on both the internal motherboard as well as the LCD display. This design keeps the weight down (my T420s weighs a feather light 1.7kg) while also retains the robustness that has always been known in a T-series ThinkPad.While I am not one to test the durability of a new laptop, my previous experience with other ThinkPad notebooks gives me confidence that the T420s is similarly well built and is able to withstand a couple of rough knocks. The lid is covered in matte rubber - none of that glossy nonsense that came with the Edge-series.

The 14" LCD display with LED backlighting isn't the best display out there, but at least it is anti-glare one. The move from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratio annoys me, but at least the 1600x900 resolution meant I did not lose any vertical resolution. The widescreen aspect ratio also means that while this is technically a 14" laptop, the footprint of the T420s is equal that of an older 15" laptop with 4:3 aspect ratio. The bezels are quite thick, but no more than what you will find on a Macbook Air (yes I measured!). Personally I would welcome a move back to 4:3, if only so the full size keyboard would not look so awkward sandwiched by the stereo speakers.

Specification wise, the T420s is pretty much top of the line when it comes to the T-series. The high-end mobile Intel Core i7 2640m 2.8 GHz processor ensures that this blows my old X61 away (which was running on a first generation Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processor). I have not done any benchmarks, but Windows Experience Index gave it a score of 7.1. The max TDP of the 2640m is 35W. Sounds high, but this also includes the Intel HD3000 IGP. It supports of turbo clockspeed of 3.5 GHz.

Powering the display is a nVidia Quadro NVS 4200M Optimus GPU with 1GB VRAM. This is a power hungry discrete GPU, optimised for CAD rather than gaming. Despite the high power requirements, it is only just slightly better than the Intel GMA HD3000 integrated GPU, which can be found lurking inside the T420s. While the NVS 4200M GPU isn't capable of playing many modern games, it is more than capable of powering some great DirectX 9 titles like Half-Life with the settings set to maximum.

My T420s comes with a single 4GB DDR3 RAM stick, giving me plenty of opportunities to stick in another 4GB stick and enable the dual channel mode, though the large 4MB cache on the i7 would mean it is likely any performance boost will not be as apparent as it was back in the old DDR days.

Storage comes courtesy of a 320GB harddrive that spins at 5400rpm. The best bit? The T420s has three storage bays. Three! The mSATA slot that is normally used for integrated WWAN mobile broadband can also be used to run a mSATA SSD drive. For example one could get an Intel 310 mSATA SSD and use it as their primary storage. In addition to that the DVD-RW drive can be removed and used with an Ultrabay HDD caddy. Actually, thinking about it, you could add yet another storage solution via the ExpressCard 34 PCI-express slot. So make that four storage bays.

The seven row keyboard is brilliant as usual. The only one thing that bugs me is that the keyboard here is based on the US-version, meaning the pound sterling symbol (£) is missing, and the @ symbol are in the wrong place. Other than that the keyboard is standard ThinkPad affair - meaning this is quite literally the best keyboard one can ever find on a laptop, with each keys having the right amount of key travel. The keyboard here isn't your typical rubbish island style keyboard popularised by Sony and Apple - this is the real deal. It isn't even noisy, offering just the right amount of tactile feedback required to using it efficiently. The T420s keyboard is quite possibly the best keyboard I have ever used, on a notebook or standalone. The keyboard is illuminated by a single ThinkLight LED (FN+PgUp), which sits just above the 720p webcam.

Nestled conveniently in the middle of the keyboard is the famous TrackPoint mouse. The hate it or love it pointing stick is a huge favourite of mine, and is the single biggest reason why I buy ThinkPad notebooks rather than more glamorous brand. This mouse allows me to move the mouse pointer around, with great precision, without having to move my palms aways from the home row of the keyboard. There is a regular touchpad on the bottom, but I disabled it almost immediately after I bought this. If there is an option to remove the touchpad physically altogether I would have gone for that.

While ThinkPads has always come with generous amount of ports, some of these are legacy. It is not different on the T420s. You get two USB 2.0 ports, as well as a single USB 3.0 port. One of the USB port is also always-on. A VGA and DisplayPort will handle your external monitor needs. It will be nice to have a HDMI port, but you can easily get a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. The back also houses the Ethernet jack. While there is no built-in memory card reader included, the ExpressCard 34 slot can be used to run one. The modular DVD-RW drive is housed in the UltraBay. This can be swapped out for either a 3-cell battery or HDD caddy.

Running on default mode, the T420s remains cool at all times. Even cooler than my X61, and that was running on a low-power chip. The single owl-inspired fan can be found on the top left and back of the notebook, remaining ever so quiet when the laptop is idle or in normal use. The fan does get noisy, and the laptop warm, when the i7's Turbo Boost kicks in or when the nVidia GPU is in use.

With such a large screen, i7 processor and discrete GPU, the T420s battery life isn't something to write home about. The six-cell battery offers roughly 3 1/2 hours of usage, conservatively. This is a far cry from the ThinkPad X220 which manages 7-8 hours battery life. Lenovo offers a three-cell battery that you can use in the UltraBay to boost your battery life. While the battery life was disappointing, for me, this is enough as my T420s will primarily be used as a home laptop. If you are planning on getting a ThinkPad primarily as a road warrior tool, I would recommend the X-series instead.

Best laptop yet? No, of course not. Admittedly the design isn't suited for everyone, and while it does ship with a screaming fast processor, the nVidia GPU is slightly underwhelming when compared to the HD3000, and it may take a driver update or two before it reaches its potential. It would have been better if this shipped with a 4:3 display - a far more usable aspect ratio for web browsing. After all I would rather watch a film on my HDTV than on a 14" screen. Unfortunately it isn't Lenovo's position to decide on screen aspect ratios as most LCD makers have switched production to the dreadful 16:9 aspect ratio.

Still a top notebook the T420s is. If you are looking for a light business-class notebook with 14" display and a great keyboard, this is the notebook to get. The regular T420 might suit others who are looking for additional battery options, though do keep in mind that it is quite a bit heavier. And don't forget the venerable X-series. The new X220 has been lauded as one of the best ultraportable ever made.

Samsung Galaxy Note unboxing

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:30:10 PST

Here it is, the next step in excessive smartphone display size: The Samsung Galaxy Note. After getting used to the 4.7" display on the HTC Sensation XL, Samsung threw up out of my comfort zone by sending me this unit. Is it a small tablet or a giant smartphone? Can I ever enjoy using one on a daily basis? Well, do return and find out in a few weeks once I have put it through its paces. In the mean time enjoy the unboxing here:

The eight megapixel back-illuminated camera is the same one that graced the rather awesome Samsung Galaxy S II (my personal pick for smartphone of the year). It is capable of 1080p video recording and works well in low-light condition, as demonstrated in this video I recorded at the ice skating rink at Somerset House:

HTC Sensation XL review

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:01:16 PST

Display sizes in smartphones has been growing out of control lately. What were once too large just two years ago are now normal. There comes a point when someone must say enough is enough. Samsung proved with the Galaxy S II, people wanted phones with 4.3" displays, and they were right. But was HTC right to further increase this with the Sensation XL? The 4.7" display here is massive, and that is before considering the Samsung Galaxy Note's rather outrageous 5.3" display.

Still I expect devices like the Sensation XL to find a nice niche among people who requires a display this size. After all having used the Galaxy S II for six months myself, it took some getting used to with the XL. But first let's have a look at what's underneath this beast.

Qualcomm MSM8255 SoC with 1.5GHz ARM8 Scorpion CPU
Adreno 205 GPU
768MB RAM
4.7” S-LCD 480 x 800 display with multi-touch
8MP AF camera with dual-LED flash with 720p video recording
1.3MP front camera
Quad-band GSM with EDGE
Tri-band 3G with HSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
A-GPS, WLAN 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Bluetooth 3.0

Specs wise the Sensation XL is a disappointment. For something that screams 'XL', you would not only expect a bigger screen but also more of everything else. Where's the dual core processor? The Sensation XL bears no resemblance to its smaller but more powerful HTC Sensation distant cousin. Instead the XL is actually based on its Windows Phone 7 sibling - the HTC Titan. The two shares everything from the CPU specs, camera sensor and battery. In fact the only way to tell the two apart is by the slightly different design, colour and number of touch-sensitive buttons on the bottom the display.

HTC Sensation XL comes with Beats, but is it any good?

The design is almost immediately recognisable as a HTC. Whether good or bad, at least HTC has a unique design language that they can call theirs. Still, the design is rather uninspiring and dare I say it, boring. I do wish HTC will attempt to differentiate more in 2012 when it comes to smartphones, perhaps even seek to create a couple of distinctive design languages for their smartphones. Still as far as smartphone design goes, the XL is good enough – just not as memorable as the iPhone or Lumia 800.

HTC has always been rather fond of using metallic materials on their phones, and the Sensation XL is no different. The XL's unibody battery cover is clad almost entirely in metal, with only the bottom bit covered in plastic - no doubt to help improve the reception. A dual antenna design resides on the bottom of the phone. The rest of the body is made of tough plastic, with the front covered entirely in false. The built quality of the XL is solid and at no time did I experience any creaking. My only complaint was the decision to use a metallic back, or at least the smooth finish - the phone was much too slippery to hold.

The solid unibody battery cover. Notice the dual antenna design on the bottom

Speaking of display, the 4.7" S-LCD screen is large, sharp and provides colour saturation that almost rivals AMOLED displays. With such a large display however I expected HTC to have gone with a higher resolution screen. In any case while the pixels are noticeable, at least the 480 x 800 screen is sharp enough for web browsing, and the 4.7" display does make watching videos less of a chore on the eyes.

Below the screen you will find all four standard Android keys - menu, search, back and home. All four buttons are touch sensitive. Just above the display resides the earpiece speaker, a front camera for video calls, ambient light sensor and proximity sensor. A 3.5mm audio jack sits on the very top of the phone right next to the secondary microphone and power on/off button. The volume rocker can be found on the left side of the device.

The 8MP back-illuminated camera sensor takes decent pictures in low-light conditions

On the right of the device lies the micro USB charging and data sync port. The bottom is bare bar the microphone hole and battery release latch. Turning the Sensation XL over, you will find the 8 Megapixel camera with Autofocus and the dual LED flash. While the LED flash isn't exactly strong, it works well for illuminating subjects when taking videos in low light conditions. The loudspeaker sits right next to the camera. Below the battery you will find a decent size Li-Ion battery and none-hot swappable SIM card slot. The battery size is 1600mAh, but could have been bigger for such a large phone.

The Sensation XL runs on Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, the latest OS available from Google when the XL was released (Google traditionally only release their latest OS – in this case Android 4, to their Google Nexus hardware partner, hardly an ideal solution for an ‘open source’ OS). The standard Android UI has been ageing badly for some time in comparison to the fresh Windows Phone 7 Metro interface and even iOS. HTC has promised that the Sensation XL will eventually receive ICS, but it is not known when the update will roll out.

The Sensation XL is large, but not quite as large as the Galaxy Note

In any case, Android 2.3.5 is good enough, for now. HTC has also included their home-baked HTC Sense UI. I have never been much of a fan of HTC Sense and rightly so. Despite the speedy 1.5GHz processor, HTC Sense feels laggy to use. Power users will likely want to install a third party launcher right away, but most inexperienced users will have to put up with this. At least with Sense you get some additional HTC-specific out of the box features like the rather nice lockscreen. Still if Sony Ericsson can create a launcher that works well on a 1GHz CPU, why coudn't HTC, with a device that is clocked quicker.

As this is an Android device, you will need a Google account to make the best use out of the device. Access to the Google Market, as well as backing up your details onto one of Google's cloud servers is highly guarded by said Google account. Contacts can also be downloaded from various sources, including Facebook, and then paired together in the phone book. It isn't as elegant as Windows Phone, but it works just as well.

The Sim card slot isn't how-swappable

Once you have your Google account set up, you can pretty much do anything with the device. Download the latest Google Maps to use with the built-in A-GPS or Facebook and Twitter for your social networking needs. While the Android Market is still behind Apple’s AppStore in terms of both quality and quantity of apps, it is growing at a nice rate. If there is an app you would like, there is a chance you will find it here.

The Sensation XL is a Monster Beats-branded device. This doesn’t mean much, and I implore anyone reading this not to judge a device’s audio quality based on a simple logo and treat it as simply a marketing gimmick. Having said that, the Sensation XL is good enough to replace your portable audio player. While the sonic fidelity that comes out of the 3.5mm headphone jack and its bundled urBeats in-ear headphones aren’t mind-blowing or clean to be something that will get readers of Head-Fi rushing over.

Unsurprisingly due to the software ‘enhancement’ that comes with such branding, the Sensation XL excels are certain type of music genre – mainly beats (duh, the clue is in the name). Bass is overemphasis, even more so when I plugged my Sennheiser IE 8 in. If you are serious about your music, there are far better none-Beats smartphones out there worthy of your consideration. The iPhone 4S is one of them.

HTC has come a long way in improving the quality of images captured from its camera. While in the past, HTC devices has always been known to offer some of the worst in imaging, the Sensation XL, I am happy to report, is actually rather good. The 8MP wide angle camera with autofocus works well in both bright and low-light conditions. In fact, of all the modern smartphones with 8MP camera modules I have tried, the Sensation XL is only beaten by the Galaxy S II and iPhone 4S. Despite the improvements, the camera still suffers from poor dynamic range - but that is expected from such a small sensor.

Here are a couple of unedited samples (resized due to blogger restriction):

Sadly the camera only supports up to 720p video recording, likely due to the lack of dual core processing power to encode 1080p. Still the details captures via the camera are good enough for YouTube, and certainly better than some smartphones like the Lumia 800. Here’s a video sample I recorded at a recent event:

So the big question remains, is the HTC Sensation XL good enough? Yes it is - but you can do so much better. At £430 sim-free, the Sensation XL is rather expensive and you do not get a lot for your money. Some would argue that the urBeats IEM is worth £50 alone - I disagree here. Even then you are looking at £370 for what is essentially a giant smartphone that barely runs Android well.

With the XL, one would even expect to get excited by the number of tech improvements that HTC would be able to cram into the larger body. The Sensation XL costs £40 a month on the Three UK network, and for the same tariff you can easily get the Galaxy Nexus - a far superior smartphone with an amazing 4.7" Super AMOLED HD display and comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to boot.

Plus:
Great camera
Great build quality
Better than normal bundled headphones

Minus:
No microSD expansion slot
HTC Sense UI a poor user experience
Better alternatives out there

Many thanks to Three UK for loaning the HTC Sensation XL. Go follow their amazing social media team here.

Eleven tech gifts to get this Crimbo

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:41:30 PST

Are you the sort of person who has ever wondered what sort of tech products to get as gifts this Christmas for those demanding something a bit different, a bit luxurious in fact? Well I've got you sorted. Check out my guide to premium tech-related gifts to get this holiday season, only at Luxury Logistics.

Nokia Lumia 800 'Batphone' Dark Knight Rises unboxing and gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:25:32 PST

The Nokia Lumia 800 is one of the most beautiful phone ever made. There really is nothing quite like it on the market. Well, except for the Nokia N9, but nevermind about that for now. Is there anything more beautiful than the Lumia 800? There is.

It's a Lumia 800 that has a Batman emblem laser etched to the back.

And it is a beauty.

In addition to the rather awesome Bat emblem, the Batphone has also configured to receive updates on the latest news on the Dark Knight Rises film. Here's a quick unboxing of Bruce Wayne's Batphone I did at Nokia's office in Soho, London:

And of course some more pictures of the Dark Knight Rises Lumia 800 for your viewing pleasure:

Lumia 800 Batphone box

Not for sale, ever

The Batman emblem

Lumia 800 Dark Knight Rises laser-etched Batman emblem

Lumia 800 Batphone vs none-Batphone

Nokia Lumia 800 Batphone

The Dark Knight Rises: Prologue and Nokia Lumia 800 Batphone

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:14:02 PST

Today I attended the press screening of the first six minutes of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises at BFI IMAX in Waterloo, London. The theater is full with what appears to be proper film reviewers, as they (and I qualified this past Jay Montano, who was sitting next to me) look better than us.

After a brief scene where we see Police Commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman) speaking during the funeral of Harvey Dent, we were immediately thrusted into an airplane actions sequence somewhere over Europe. The next minutes scene involves hostages being interrogated by a bunch of military looking goons, followed by a bat-shit insane action sequence.

Here we were introduced to the new villain, (within the Nolan's Batman film franchise anyway) Bane (played by Tom Hardy) where he and his bands of mercenaries hijack the airplane in a daring airplane to airplane action sequence of what I can only describe as Inception-like. The sequence was played out to great effects, and thanks to the vertically larger IMAX format, offers viewers a more vertigo experience of the entire hijacking.

My only issue is with Bane's voice. I, and my fellow audiences, did not understand a squat of whatever he was spouting, no thanks to his breathing mask. I can only hope that the final film will fix this flaw in dialogue. Despite this, it did nothing to hamper my enthusiasm for the film.

The final minute of the film was a teaser trailer where we see Anne Hathaway brief appearance as Catwoman, what appears to be an exploding Batmobile flipping over etc.

Also, Nokia and Warner Bros has produced 40 limited edition The Dark Knight Rises Lumia 800 phones to tie in with the film. These phones are strictly promo only and will never go on sale, so any moanings about Nokia making yet another edition of the same phone to sell are already invalid.

Still, the laser etching of the Batman emblem on the back of the phone is tastefully done. While it won't make the phone better, seriously, who gives a shit when you have Batman laser etched to your fickin phone?

o2's iPhone 4S lease rip-off

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 06:06:44 PST

Can't afford an iPhone 4S? Well o2 has you covered with a new lease an iPhone 4S scheme. Or so they hope you think they do. The UK carrier now offer the 16GB iPhone 4S on a 12-month lease for £55 per month - that is £660 a year. And after a year? Well you return the iPhone and have nothing to show for.

Considering you can *own* a brand new sim-free Apple iPhone 4S 16GB for £500, it sounds like o2 is taking bollocks to a dizzying new height.

For the purpose of this comparison, I estimate that you can sell a used in good condition (the condition o2 wants the phone back after the lease is over) 4S 16GB for £300, conservatively. After all used iPhone 16GB regularly sells for around £400 today, only £100 less than they were a year ago!

Okay, so the lease also includes 750 minutes per month (an offer, the normal tariff is 600 minutes per month), unlimited texts and 500MB of data. Even then it doesn't sound like it is of any value. And here's why.

First let's look at some of o2's competitors, starting with the fabulous Three UK network. With their £15 a month PAYG ACYE booster, you get less minutes (300), and less texts (3000 - which is more than enough for many) and *unlimited data*. That's about £180 a year. Add the price of a new unlocked 4S, the total cost would be £680 - just £20 more - and you get to keep the phone! So in effect you are saving £280 by buying a sim-free iPhone 4S and Three UK PAYG sim plan separately compared to leasing it via O2. How about that O2? Your leasing option doesn't sound like a bargain now, does it?

This, my good people, is the cheapest way of owning an unlocked iPhone 4S with a tariff that allows you to phone people. You could even go cheaper if you select Three's SIM Only PAY+12 (12GB of data valid for a year) for a bargain £70.49, assuming you are willing to forgo the backward technologies that are GSM voice and SMS texts. Services like WhatsApp, Skype, Tango, iMessage and FaceTime will have you covered. But this isn't a fair comparison so I will let it slide.

Moving on to Vodafone. Well the network offers a sim-only 12 month rolling contract, and for £26 a month, you get 900 minutes, 3000 texts and 500MB data a month. Total damage: £312 + £500 = £812. Deducting the cost of the phone should you sell it (£300), that's like £148 in savings in comparison to o2's lease tariff. You could get an iPhone 4S 32GB version and still save money to spend on bucket loads of apps, and then some.

Now we look at o2 themselves. Being fair, I will select one of their stupidly priced sim-only plan, this time from their 12- month Simplicity tariff. For £27 a month, you get 900 minutes, 500MB data and unlimited texts. That totals to a mind-boggling £324, slightly higher than what you will pay on Vodafone, Three UK and even GiffGaff, a network o2 owns. Add the cost of a new 4S you have to pay £824. Ah, but don't forget you actually own the phone itself and even if you sell the 4S for £200 less the price you paid, you are saving £136. £136 less than what o2 charges for this retarded leasing service, and you get more minutes!

Last but not least, let's have a good look at GiffGaff, a virtual network owned by o2 themselves. For £20 a month, you get 800 minutes (more than o2's lease), truly unlimited texts and truly *unlimited data* (also more than o2), as well as unlimited calls, texts and video calls to other GiffGaff customers. Wow. You would be a mug to have gone for o2's own Simplicity tariff after reading that. Sell your iPhone after year and you are looking at a saving of £220 - on a tariff that is actually better than o2's offering.

Ah, but I hear you say that the o2 lease also includes insurance. I am sorry but dedicated mobile phone insurance are for fools. Your home content insurance will cover this for less! And don't forget the insurance insures the iPhone for theft/loss, on o2's behalf. Damage the phone and o2 will still bill you for it! The costs are detailed below on this site.

It is worth noting that o2's lease does include unlimited WiFi use. The competiting tariffs here does not include any sort of WiFi use, bar Vodafone (750MB limit on BT OpenZone). But remember that the Three UK's ACYE add-on and GiffGaff offers truly *unlimited data*. Who needs WiFi? In any case, remember that most cafes and restaurants are now opening up their WiFi networks for free.

Remember the best thing about owning your own sim-free phone is you can sell it if you want. Especially when you realised half way through your contract that the 4S doesn't rock your boat and you wished you went for something else instead. As for o2, researching for this blog post only proved I made the right decision when I decided to leave this miserable network three years ago.

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango review - the good, the bad and the ugly

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:16:41 PST

It has been more than a month since I switched to using the Lumia 800 as my main smartphone. Coming from using Android exclusively for six months, there are obvious drawbacks with Windows Phone 7.5, but these are few and does not stop me from enjoying the OS. Unlike pre-Mango WP7, WP7.5 does not make me want to hurl the phone with frustration for one, and after getting over the initial teething period - I now love it.

Windows Phone 7 was designed with consumers, not geeks, in mind hence the lack of certain features we geeks take for granted. Nothing wrong with that, but if Microsoft wants to win the smartphone OS war, they need to also pander to the geeks. After all geeks rule the earth, or so that is the common saying here. Part of the problem with Windows Phone 7 is still the lack of apps, but that is changing. Everyday I keep seeing new quality apps get added. It even hosts the best Foursquare mobile client on *any* platform.

Yes I have issues with it. I have a feature list request that can fill a novel if I weren't so damn lazy. But for most parts, it just works. It lets me get on with my life and spend less time poking through the settings to figure things out. Do not get me wrong, iOS is now so mature I am actually beginning to like it (gasp!) and Android will always be in my heart as a geek tool - but, to me at least, nothing beats the simplicity of Windows Phone.

Most of the features you need are included out of the box, making it less likely to search for one on the Marketplace (which is dreadful at the moment, no thanks to Microsoft's poor search algorithm). But I do wish for some features that could only be made possible by Microsoft. For example, the ability to love tracks via the Zune popup player would be ace. I would also like to see the capacity for group contacts to be increased from 20 to infinity, and messaging apps like WhatsApp be integrated into the OS.

Live Tile is a superb feature that I wish more developers would take advantage of. One such developer did, and he is Jeff Wilcox. His 4th & Mayor Foursquare client takes Live Tiles to a level that not many apps has taken advantage of (certainly not the official Foursquare client). Not only can you pin the application shortcut (with built-in notification), you can also pin venues and friends as shortcuts. And best of all, you can also pin a 'check in now' tile, a shortcut that takes to straight to the check-in page allowing you to check in quickly, and without fuss.

The built-in email client is a joy to use, even more than the excellent GMail app on Android. When my notebook recently succumbed to a dreadful rootkit infection, I immediately switched to using my Lumia as my main email communicator whilst at home. New emails arrives almost immediately. The ability to see how many unread messages I have on the Live Tile is dead useful. Android used to have that capability, until Google pulled it for whatever silly reasons. I would argue, labels aside, that the Windows Phone email client is better than Gmail for Android.

But Windows Phone 7 can be so much better. In fact it is still missing some pretty darn important features that can't be left ignored. For example the lack of reply-all and direct message support within the Twitter part of People Hub is rather irritating. Windows Phone 7 does not host any good Twitter clients yet, so these are features that are crucially missing. I often have to switch to my Android phone if I want to DM someone. Pretty unacceptable that they could not integrate such function within the Messaging app, where as they could with Facebook Chat.

The lack of external card support also angers me. As a multimedia device, the Lumia 800's 16GB just isn't enough. Microsoft does offer 25GB of SkyDrive cloud storage, but do you honestly think it is actually a good idea to convince users that they can download anything they want from SkyDrive over a slow mobile network? Here in the UK, it would be almost impossible to use SkyDrive daily as the majority of networks have download limits and crawls to a speed not dissimilar to GPRS in urban areas. Even if Microsoft does not want to allow us to install applications onto microSD cards, at least allow us to store our media on it. I wouldn't even mind if the libraries are separated.

As I said earlier, Live Tiles is a superb feature and one Microsoft should be proud of. But shouldn't Microsoft lead by example? Their very own World Clock app does not support the ability to pin clocks as a tile! There should be pin to support for sub-settings like brightness.

If there's one thing I wish Microsoft would copy from Android (and now iOS) is a dedicated notification area. Sure, Windows Phone 7 now supports toast notifications, but if you regularly receive notifications like I do, I would like them to all be available to view or dismiss from a dedicated area. There's nothing wrong with copying something if it works well, and a pull down notification area will work well here. After all Android, iOS and Symbian all support pull down notification.

Finally my biggest gripe. The poor file support by the OS. I do not mind using Zune desktop, even if I actually prefer to drag and drop. But the complete lack of support of ubiquitous video codecs like DivX and XviD by Zune and/or Windows Phone is irritating. I have not used the Lumia as a video player much because Zune would refuse to recognise anything I put inside my Video folder. At the very least, allow us to sideload none compatible videos. Third party developers will then do the rest.

Many of my initial complaints I made a year ago about Windows Phone 7 has been addressed by the NoDo and Mango update, but while these updates has finally made it usable - the OS just isn't quite there yet. Microsoft has two more updates for Windows Phone 7 - Tango and Apollo (which many suspects will finally introduce further hardware support for the platform - such as dual core and HD screens). I do hope we will see some of the issues addressed with these updates.

Other than that, Windows Phone 7 Mango is a fine product, completely acceptable for the majority of consumers. But like any vintage wine it aspires to be, it just needs some time to get the little things right. It is nice to see Microsoft making a OS that for once is geared towards ordinary consumers, but it's time to start thinking of the geeks and power users too. Here's hoping.

Motorola DEFY+ abused and reviewed

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:06:07 PST

The original Motorola DEFY was one of the most exciting phones from last year, not because of the specs (it was slow), but because it was the first competent rugged smartphone that doesn't look like a rugged phone. With the Motorola DEFY+ (Plus), Motorola has beefed up the specs slightly, whilst retaining the same rugged IP67-certified design that we've all come to love. It now ships with Android Gingerbread, a single core 1GHz TI OMAP processor and 512MB of RAM. The specs may not excite you, but the water resistant level certainly will. The DEFY+ is rated to be able to survive up to 30 minutes underwater at a depth of up to 1 meter.

Check out my review of the DEFY+ on FoneArena, but not before watching the video above of me quite literally abusing the heck out of the phone. Enjoy!

Official Nokia SP-NOK01 screen protector for Lumia 800 review

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:51:33 PST

As you can probably tell, I love the new Nokia Lumia 800. So much, that I have been using it as my main phone for exactly a month now. Confident that it can serve as my daily driver for the next few months, I have even decided to invest in accessories for it. The Lumia 800 may be a great phone, but Nokia has not released the usual quality accessories that we should expect to accompany a great phone. Read on to find out why.

The Nokia "Made for Nokia" SP-NOK01 screen protector is an official Nokia accessory, made by Nokia, and costs £12 at Carphone Warehouse and MobileFun (cheaper online at Amazon.co.uk, Dixons and Play.com). At the price you would expect a screen protector that would cover the entire display ensuring there are no gaps. Even the picture of the screen protector on the product packaging shows it overlaid on a Lumia 800 gave that sort of impression.

Well no. The screen protector is shaped to only cover the 'active' part of the display. Fair enough as it is called a 'screen protector' after all. But surely for the money you would expect better, and I did expect better. In fact the picture of the screen protector overlaid on the Lumia 800 dictates that it should protect the entire display, edge to edge, curved and all. I was do disappointed I did not bother to apply it on my Lumia 800, preferring to retain the shabby screen protector I crudely cut from one that was previously applied on an older phone.

Edge to edge SP-NOK01 as seen on Amazon.co.uk, Play.com and Phones4U's website

So dear Nokia, what are you going to do about this? This product isn't fit for purpose, does not cover the entire display despite the picture that indicates so. This is clearly a deliberate misrepresentation of a product and I can't believe you are selling such an accessory. £12 or £8 (depending on where you bought it) is a lot of money for what are two pieces of inaccurately cut plastic! Sort it out!

My top 10 apps for Windows Phone 7

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 08:59:36 PST

It's been over a year since I introduced Windows Phone 7 to you fine readers. Back then I lamented on what a refreshing Metro UI Windows Phone 7 offers, but the lack of features meant that it isn't quite ready for prime time yet. Since then the platform has slowly matured to something that not only looks pretty, but actually useful. Gone are the days where you can't copy and paste or multitask. Still while Mango tastes delicious, it still some way to go before it matches both iOS and Android in terms of functionality.

But never mind that, Windows Phone 7.5 Mango is about explode thanks to Nokia with the new Lumia 800. HTC and Samsung has also refreshed their lineup with the HTC Titan and Radar, and Samsung Focus Flash and Focus S. There will be many new users to the refreshing platform, some who probably has never owned a smartphone before, though I suspect many would be Symbian refugees jumping their sinking ship.

A good place to start discovering apps would be the Marketplace, but even with 30,000 apps and counting, the Marketplace's poor search has proven difficult to obtain that rare good app. One of my favourite app discovery, urm, app is AppFlow, where apps are curated by Windows Phone fans. These includes apps that has been optimised for Mango (Live Tiles, fast app switching) and hidden gems.

Well, here are my top 10 apps for Windows Phone 7 anyway:

Freda
A sophisticated ad-ware supported ebook reader with support for the standard ePub format. Download and read free books on Project Gutenberg, or upload your own ebooks via Dropbox. It is simple, and yet deep inside the menus you will find a huge amount of advance settings to make your reading experience a bit more personalised.

TuneIn Radio
With a database of over 50,000 radio stations from around the world, TuneIn Radio is one of the best legal ways to obtain free music on the go, assuming you have a data plan (and you should). Stations can be sorted by genre and locations, and also be pinned to the start screen.

LDN Travel
The Lite version offers basic but still useful status updates of the London Tube. More importantly however, the app also allows you to check your Oyster card balance - how cool is that? The paid-for version includes a licensed tube map, journey planner, bus times and departure countdown, just so you can eke that extra one minute in bed.

Bingle Maps
Bing Maps is actually rather good, in Britain at least, but at times you may want an alternative perspective. Well Bingle Maps uses Google Maps as its source and even includes satellite view, as well as search feature.

StickyTiles
The best thing about Windows Phone 7 are the live tiles, and StickyTiles takes that concept further allowing you to apply virtual sticky notes onto the home screen. Need a quick reminder to buy that pint of milk? Just stick it on your home screen.

My ContacTile
This nifty app allows you to quickly share your contact info with other users, by way of generating a QR code. This QR code can then be pinned to the home screen, ready to be scanned by anybody with a smartphone. Moo cards are great, but how many of you really pay attention to them? I have collected so many of them over meetups but never have the time to type it all in my phone book. This ensures that your contact gets copied immediately.

new group*
A rather simple app that enables you to create a tile heading, so you can better manage the home screen, allowing you to divide your live tiles into 'sections'. Okay, it isn't the best solution to an ever populated start screen, but until Microsoft allows sub-folder tiles, this is the second best solution.

WeatherDuck
There are plenty of weather apps available on the Windows Phone marketplace, but WeatherDuck is free (ad-ware) and supports ten day weather forecasts and background updates. And yes, WeatherDuck also supports two-face Live Tiles for multiple cities.

TrueDialer
Disappointed that the default Phone app does not support smart dialing? Look no further. TrueDialer's dialpad will search your contacts as you type. It doesn't do much else, but it doesn't need to.

4th & Mayor
The official Foursquare client may look nice, but the menu isn't particularly intuitive and is slow. 4th & Mayor boots up to show immediately where your friends are, which is what Foursquare is all about. Checking in is a tap away while exploring the area is a swipe away.

Nokia Lumia 800 with Windows Phone 7.5 build 7740

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:56:19 PST

Report on the internet today suggests that Microsoft is pushing the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango build 7740 update on a small portfolio of phone. Nokia is also said to preparing to push 7740 update to the new Lumia 800 soon.

Yesterday Nokia reflashed my Lumia 800 from a prototype software to one that is running Windows Phone 7.5 build 7740. No official changelog was provided to me, but the 7740 is said to improve stability with Microsoft Exchange 2003 and voicemail notification. This isn't a Nokia-specific fix as these fixes will also be delivered to other Windows Phone handsets made by other manufacturers.

OS Built: 7.10.7740.16
FW: 1600.2479.7740.11451
Radio: 1.6.00.24
Bootloader: 7.35.0.0

The update has also fixed the power management issue that plagued all the review units running on prototype software. I have also noticed that the Lumia 800 feels snappier than before it was flashed, but perhaps that was because it was running on a prototype firmware. The speed difference between retail ROM and the 7740 update is likely to be negligible. Internet Sharing has not been included yet, as is an update to fix the camera performance and image quality. Nokia has confirmed that such fixes will come at later date.

Nokia has also included several third party apps within the 7740 update. These includes eBay, British Airways, Sky News, Ministry of Sound and TripAdvisor. Fortunately, all of these apps can be uninstalled.

Nokia Music with offline Mix Radio

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:06:07 PST

Nokia Music, the radio mix player for Windows Phone 7 has finally been updated to support offline mode. The mode, which was demonstrated to us at Nokia World, allows for users to download mixes for offline listening. Similar to Spotify, except it is free. On the downside, each mixes are curated, so you won't be getting the freedom as you get with Spotify.

It is worth noting that while the app integrates itself with the Zune player, Nokia Music is still a separate app. So expect to see the splash screen each time you launch it. Still as it a Windows Phone 7.5 Mango-compatible app, you can easily switch to it quickly via fast application switching method.

Once inside Nokia Music you can easily listen to your music files, buy mp3 files or check for gigs nearest to you. Tapping on a gig listing will bring up details of the gig itself, as well as direct shortcuts to purchase tickets. Gigs can be pinned as a live tile, as well as viewed on the Bing Map.

However more importantly with the new Nokia Music brings the aforementioned offline mode. To download a mix for offline listening, simply tap on a genre and look for a mix you want. Once a mix has been chosen, tap it to play or hold down to make it available offline.

As there are 100+ mixes to choose over ten genres, with each mixes holding roughly 20-30 tracks, there's plenty of music to be discovered here. Mixes are also regularly updated, which can be refreshed from the offline menu. All mixes, downloaded or otherwise, can be pinned as a live tile. Sadly only four mixes can be downloaded for offline listening at any one time.

You can also create custom mixes. By searching for a favourite artist, Nokia Music will create a custom playlist of music that matches the one of your favourite artists. This is similar to the Last.fm similar artists radio mode, and works just as well. Unfortunately custom mixes can not be made available offline.

There are however a couple of downsides. The most obvious is you can only skip up to six tracks per hour. This is a limitation that, I presume, has been imposed by the record labels. While Nokia Music doesn't provide the user with the same freedom as Spotify does, but it is hard to argue when you do not have a monthly subscription to pay to listen on your mobile. I also wish that it would support custom search for gigs, for example in a different city or date rather than just the one closest to you. I would also like to see last.fm integrated not only with Nokia Music, but the Zune player so I can scrobble my plays.

After just a day with the new Nokia Music, I am finding it indispensable for music discovery on the go. Offline mode is a highly useful feature as not everyone has access to fast 3G Internet all the time, especially here in London where network congestion are frequent. Is it worth buying a Lumia just for Nokia Music? Perhaps not. But if you are going to get one anyway, Nokia Music is one of the few invaluable apps you can find bundled in any smartphone right now.

Nokia Music with offline Mix Radio should be available as a Marketplace update for the new Nokia Lumia 800 now.

HTC Sensation XL first impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:51:53 PST

I have been using the HTC Sensation XL as my main smartphone for the past 24 hours, and boy is this phone big. The 4.7" Super LCD screen with 480x800 resolution is 0.4" bigger than the one found on my Samsung Galaxy S2. 0.4" does not sound massive, but the difference is huge. It makes all the other phones I have tested in the past felt like they were made for children. It is available now in the UK on the Three network.

Whether or not you think a 4.7" screen is ideal, there is little sign that this trend will stop, in fact Samsung has announced a smartphone with a gigantic 5.3" screen. Fortunately there are companies out there who has decided to buck the trend of making unweidly devices, like the Lumia 800 with its more mainstream 3.8" screen. Still, there will always be people who believe larger equals better, and in some who doesn't, and that's where choices are.

HTC is marketing the Sensation XL as an audiophile portable music player, thanks to their agreement with Monster. Yes, a pair of Monster urBeats IEM is bundled with the phone. Me being a sceptic of all things Monster brand will definitely be testing HTC's claim that the 'With Beats Audio' really isn't just another snake oil sold by Monster. So do keep an eye out for my review, to be published right here.

In the mean time, read my hands-on preview right here.

Nokia Lumia 800 review

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:57:31 PDT

Nokia announced the Lumia 800 at last week's Nokia World 2011 in London, barely eight months after Stephen Elop announced in the now infamous Mobile World Congress press conference, that Symbian was dead, and that they were going Windows Phone 7. A few days after Nokia World ended, Nokia started handing out Lumia 800 review units to the UK press.

This is an impressive turnaround from the old days when Nokia would announce a phone, only to ship them months later. In fact the Nokia Lumia 800 will actually go on sale on 16 November in Britain. I have even seen working demo units in mobile phone retailers like Phones 4U and the Carphone Warehouse. And people were writing Nokia off as late as October, claiming Nokia were unable to ship their first ever Windows Phone 7 smartphone until Q1 2012.

The Lumia 800, as Nokia's first mass market smarthone with an OS that isn't built in-house, delivers with aplomb. Well partly anyway, but the design of the Lumia 800 is so unique, so refined and so well thought out, it is easy to overlook its shortcomings. This is Nokia's sexiest smartphone to date, and is their most desirable smartphone in many many years.

Windows Phone 7 might not be for everyone, but it is sleek, fast and Metro UI offers a user experience second to none. This is the first genuine alternative for those seeking an alternative to the duopoly that is Apple iOS and Google Android. For those willing to break away from the me-too crowd, the Lumia 800 is a genuine article worth considering. Read my review on FoneArena to find out why.

Nokia Lumia 800 preview

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 06:34:56 PDT

I have had the Nokia Lumia 800 for two days now. It's a lovely device and one I am enjoying using as my current main smartphone. While I continue testing and work on my review of the Lumia 800, do check out a couple of videos of the device in operation I have made for FoneArena. You can read the original hands-on review of Nokia Music and Nokia Drive here.

Nokia Lumia 800 UI tour:

Nokia Drive:

Nokia Music:

Nokia Lumia 800 unboxing

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 01:53:57 PDT

Well here is it folks, the Nokia Lumia 800. Barely a week since it was announced at Nokia World 2011, Nokia has begun handing them out to the press, and boy am I in love. Nokia's first ever Windows Phone 7 smartphone is a product of love, and you can see why. The neat small blue box is well thought out with all the bundled accessories easily accessible. Hell, I even got excited about the bundled case.

The Lumia 800 is made of a single polycarbonate piece, and you can see why the hardware design has been so well received. It isn't any old slouch either. The 1.4 GHz single core Qualcomm processor is speedy enough, and combined with Windows Phone 7 Mango, the Lumia 800 flies. 512MB of RAM, a none-expendable 16GB storage , WiFi, Bluetooth and 8MP AF camera with Carl Zeiss optics completes the specs tour. Unfortunately I have found the camera to be rather poor in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy S II. I was told that the Lumia 800 I have is a prototype, so here's hoping a firmware update will improve the performance of the camera.

I have always been a keen admirer of Windows Phone 7, and in fact wished Nokia took the step earlier in embracing this OS. In my mind there is no doubt that this is the correct decision, but whether or not consumers will accept it is an entirely different matter altogether. Regardless the Lumia 800 is a fine piece of kit and I am determined to put it through its paces. Watch this space.

Nokia Kinetic concept phone with flexible display

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:14:29 PDT

It's been a busy two days at Nokia World 2011. The next few days will be equally as busy as I will attempt to gather what I have seen in these two days into a nice meaty blog post. Asuming I survive Halloween and my birthday first that is.

But before that here is quick video hands-on on what really blew me away: the Nokia Kinetic concept device with flexible screen. Yes it is working concept phone, courtesy of the mad geniuses at Nokia Research Center. While this technology would not be available for mass production in many years, it is just a small sneak peak into what Nokia has in store for us in the future.

Seriously, I can't wait for this flexible bendable future.

Motorola RAZR preview

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:32:20 PDT

Motorola today announced the world version of their newest and greatest - the RAZR. This is the LTE-less version for LTE-less countries like Britain. Like the old RAZR2, the new RAZR runs on Linux but don't be fooled. This baby runs on Android Gingerbread 2.3.5 with a upgrade path to Ice Cream Sandwich six weeks after release. At 7.1mm thickness, it is also the thinnest smartphone, ever.

Read my first extensive hands-on preview on FoneArena.

Android Honeycomb still disappoints

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 05:13:14 PDT

I have been using the Galaxy Tab 10.1 for two weeks now, and while I love the hardware and design of the tablet, I can't say the same about the software. For those who have read my review of the Motorola Xoom, you will know exactly what I mean.

Both Motorola and Samsung has gave their respective tablets the necessary power, in this case a 1 GHz dual core nVidia Tegra 2 SoC and 1GB of RAM. Unfortunately both runs on Android Honeycomb, the Windows Me meets Vista of Android operating systems. The UI is confusing, intimidating and not consistent. Like, why can't I clear all my notifications with a single button? And why are the search button all the way on the top left, the app drawer icon on the top right, the notification bar on the bottom right and the navigation keys on the bottom left? Does Google actually think I like moving my fingers to all four corners? I am not some NBA basketball player with long fingers.

Every single Honeycomb tablet I have tried, from the Motorola Xoom to Asus Transformer Sony Tablet S to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 - all of these has the same performance issues. In fact the lag is so bad that it makes the HP TouchPad looks like a well engineered marvel. It's a real issue that even despite having a tablet in front of me most of the time, I prefer to tweet, check my emails, and even surf the web on my Galaxy S2 phone!

There is also a real lack of tablet optimised apps for Honeycomb. This is Google's issue and they must fix it. We know that they have effectively abandoned Honeycomb. I implore Google to look into fixing these issues, by either optimising Honeycomb or making sure Ice Cream Sandwich works darn well on these first generation tablets with Tegra 2 SoC. Don't go pissing on your early adopters Google or the first thing they do after they ditch you is pick up a Windows 8 tablet.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Ray review

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:58:47 PDT

Oh, what's this here, a smartphone that doesn't have a large 4.3" display? Well it is the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Ray. Don't be fooled by the demunitive and petite size. This phone is so smart it eats other larger smartphones for breakfast. In fact, despite having only a single camera module, this phone can take stereoscopic 3D images.

Packing inside that slim 9.4mm plastic and metallic body, the XPERIA Ray has a 1 GHz Snapdragon S-o-C, Adreno 205 GPU, 512MB RAM, Quad band GSM, Tri band 3G, GPS receiver, HDMI out and 8.1 Megapixel backlit sensor AF camera with a fast f/2.4 lens. The 3.3" display has a resolution of 480 x 854 - giving this is pixel density of 297 ppi, only three pixels per inch shy of Apple's definition of a "retina display". All this for £270 unlocked - what a bargain.

Read on my review of the XPERIA Ray on FoneArena and find out what I love about this little fella.