The Return

It was June 24th 2010 I had enough of Android due to lack of application and poor handset choice, symbian was a non starter due to lack of handset choice and longevity of the os, mameo; now meego hand disappointed with the n900-again due to lack of applications, Web os whilst a new and exciting os had poor device build quality, blackberry was never a contender and windows mobile had really died.

On this day iphone 4 was launched where for myself the handset on offer had caught up with other devices in terms of specification and was finally an option for me to look at. My last venture in apple devices was when the original iphone launched in the UK in 2007. This was very short lived as the device was only 2g and there was little that could be done with it other than jail breaking. At the time I got rid of it apple has started their application store, but the specification of the iPhone didn't win me over as Nokia was still releasing decent devices that were 3g, so using a 2g device was like going back in time.

By the time the iphone 4 was released the app store had matured and the phone spec was reasonable even of it was on a par with a n95 a few years older in terms of camera, gps and 3g. Albeit some would still argue the n95 surpasses the iphone 4.

Since June I have bought into the apple ethos aka reality distortion field and now have Macs,IPads and apple routing equipment at home. The iPhone started this all off as IOs works better with Mac os; here starts the snowball.

Fast forward to today where a few weeks ago my 4s had to be returned to apple to be repaired. This left me without a device. My nexus S just didn't cut it as a phone for daily use as the battery didn't last too long and I found it very slow especially running ics (ice cream sandwich).

This gave me an opportunity to delve into what else was available where I picked up a Lumia 800 running windows phone 7 and a Samsung Galaxy Note. The Lumia whilst a device with a short life span is interesting as the build quality is great and I have found the application choice whilst small on windows to have most of the main applications I use, except a decent Podcast client. But as a long term device for me it is the next step up from a feature phone.

The note was an interesting choice as I had wanted to get a Dell Streak another 5" device at the time I got the iphone 4. If it wasn't for the local O2 shop refusing to sell me a streak, this journey would have ended up somewhere differently. I had heard a lot about the note but thought that the size was too cumbersome and actively poked fun both at the phone and its owners.

There were a number of people on twitter on podcasts who I follow kept going back to the note so I thought why don't I give it a try.

I ended up ordering the phone though Amazon Germany as it was a cheaper than buying it the UK even with postage. You can find the specification of the device at the following link

www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxynote/mobile/spec.html?type=find

To my surprise I have now being using it for over the past two weeks as the screen has just been a delight. The usage has been that fantastic that my 4s is still switched off and I don't think I can go back to a smaller screen. The device is large, the battery lasts about a day but I have spare batteries something I have not been able to change for over 2 years :-)

I was previously a Nokia communication user and loved the E90. Alas both Nokia and symbian was no more for me so I have been looking for alternatives. I find that the note captures the good experience of using a large screen device without comprise. The touch wiz skin on ICS is fluid and I have not experienced any significant slowdowns that I've had on previous android devices. To the extent the device is not even rooted.

Samsung recently released the S3 again very similar size to the note but a brilliant internal specification. There are rumours that tomorrow at the IFA opening that Samsung will be announcing the note 2 with the same internal specs.

I will be watching this closely as this may be my next purchase and not the next iphone even though it is rumoured to have a larger screen.

I have bought a lot of accessories for the 4s and am not happy that the next generation may mean that these accessories will not work.

One could argue the same with any device that there are always changes but at least Samsung has standardised on the micro usb port so my cables will still work.

I have found android to have matured over the past two years on the application side. It still does not offer the to pickings as IOs but it's getting there. It is now at a juncture where I am confident to move over full time as the past two weeks have show.

Applications such as tasker, swift keyboard and juice defender daily keep my phone usage automated and in power. Swift keyboard is as good as the iphone keyboard and it's actually scary how swift keyboard learns your writing style.

So I've finally made the jump again or return whichever way you view it. I may have been an apple fanboi in some eyes but I was just at a point where I needed something that was stable and worked.

For me now-android and the note are my choice until the wind blows again and something else catches my eye.

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Screw you Apple I want a Cuban Cigar!

This is one of those weeks being an Apple user that I want just want to bin the devices due to Apples archaic over bearing out right dumb policing policy. There's been two instances this week that they've hit the press for.

Itether the tethering application that they first approved then pulled hours later either due to pressure from the mobile networks or realised they had approved it in error. The second instance removing the shortcut trick to most system settings.

Itether didn't really bother me as I use the tethering built into iOS on Three's AYCE One plan. But it really grates on me that people bought the application then it's removed so no further updates especially after approving it.

The second item of the shortcuts is one of the best tricks I have seen in along while that doesn't need a jailbreak and is really useful as it removes the need to navigate the cumbersome settings screen. I can understand from a security
perpsective they might wish to remove the URLS that are used incase it can be exploited and begin damaging a device. But overall it just enhanced the usuability of the iPhone.

I've been very tolerant since owning now 3 IPhone devices putting up with the outdated interface. I am more than happy having a launcher just to run applications and the notification revision in iOS 5 was a welcome refreshment.

But the latest decision to reverse the shortcuts and the removal of the tethering application are just two recent examples Apple are out of touch with reality.

When Lion was announced the Mac App Store was launched, again I feared the same policing and the Mac changing into another dumb interface. Just look at mission control a complete waste of resource and code. I have found applications in the Mac App Store dumbed down when compared to the same piece of software available on a publisher's website. One example being an application removal tool that is able to move items to the trash but not delete due to App store restrictions. But the equivalent web version out of the app store has features that are missing.

Apple has announced sandboxed applications for next year in the application store. Will this mean any application I buy that no longer fits the rules will be banned and I will need to buy it again outside of the walled garden to get updates?

I remember the quotes of Edgar Friendly in Demolition Man about the Cuban cigar.

Here it is in full:

Edgar Friendly: You see, according to Cocteau's plan, I'm the enemy, 'cause I like to think; I like to read. I'm into freedom of speech and freedom of choice. I'm the kind of guy who likes to sit in a greasy spoon and wonder, "Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of gravy fries?" I WANT high cholesterol. I wanna eat bacon and butter and BUCKETS of cheese, okay? I want to smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in the non-smoking section. I want to run through the streets naked with green Jell-o all over my body reading Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly might feel the need to, okay, pal? I've SEEN the future. Do you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing "I'm an Oscar Meyer Wiener".

You know:

1. I want choice on all my devices.



2. I am happy to use them as you intended but please don't tell me what I can and cannot do.



3. Please don't take away functionality to make it an expensive brick and worst of all stop being a hypocrite with apps like Itether.



4. Listen to your customers as we can think, can make decisions and don't need to be told what's bad for us!

The Pharmaceutical Race

My first tablet computer was an Archos 5 Internet Tablet 5 towards the end of 2009  which ran android 1.5 and also played a variety of media due to the Archos's extensive codec library.  It was during the short time of me having this tablet that I could see the potential of having a hand held computer that was not windows based, could be instantly powered on, had a large screen and could take the place of laptop, desktop or even smart phone for my daily internet activities.  This story was short lived when the Archos 5 decided to die on me, reset itself and lose all of my files and settings.  This left a sour taste in my mouth if I  could rely on this device when at any minute it could potentially do this again.

In January 2010 I saw the Ipad, laughed like other people at Apple's arrogance that they just invented the world again but still thought that it would be an android based table that I would end up with.   I purchased a cheap table from Hong Kong via Ebay for about £130 called an Eken M001 which was 7", ran Android 1.6 and had a resistive screen.  The technical specifications were similar to other tablets that are coming from the far east and are now available for about £100 over here.  Although this tablet was okay for ebook reading, minor browsing or reading your emails, again this was short lived because the keyboard was terrible for typing on.

It was after these two instances and after  recently purchasing an Iphone that I decided to purchase the Ipad.  The purchasing itself was not easy after being nearly ripped off on Ebay and after reserving one in PC World to only turn up and find out it was not in stock that I nearly gave up.  Although at the  end of January Apple showed the world that they had invented Tablet computing, my perception was they just brought a device to the market that worked, was well specced and had lots of applications that would differentiate it from calling it a large iphone.

Towards the end of 2010 we have seen the release of the Samsung Galaxy Tab at around £450, many have called an Ipad competitor and more recently the Advent Vega at £250.  I got hold of the Vega from Pc World because the specification was good, it was running Android 2.2 and had a capacitive screen.  My conclucisons on this device are it is a steal for £250 compared to the £100 tablets mentioned ealrler.  But you really need to apply the Performance Pack supplied by modaco to extend the device to include the Google Market and other services.  I would have kept the device if it wasn't for a bad episode with a 16gb SD Card which would not just work in the device.  After 3 formats and and rebuilds of the Vega I had enough, it was wiped, photographed and boxed to be sold on Ebay.  It sold within 12 hours.  Although this would could have been conisdered a bad memory card issue, it was very similar to my Nokia 5800 problem again with a 16gb SD card back in January 2008 of which I concluded was a hardware issue.  After dealing with this problem for several months I got shut of the 5800 and likewise I thought I am not being a slave to this problem with the Vega so subsequently sold this.

I was considering the Samsung Galaxy Tab and saw the device in the flesh, briefly used a colleagues and liked the keyboard but I settled on a second Ipad due to a video I saw on youtube of the Google Mail application on the Tab.  Unlike the Ipad, the Tab, like the vega, like the Eken and the Archos 5 do not use the screen real estate where ultimately the applications available for Android are all geared towards 800x400 or smaller.  You can argue the Ipad which can use IPhone applications at 2x the resolution looks terrible but there are more Ipad applications available that make use of the higher  resolution.

So , since December 2009 Android hasn't really developed on tablets and even google had said that until version 3 of Android it will not really be ready.  Whilst Samsung have done a sterling job with the TAB,  with a 1024x600 resolution the size of text on the screen in poroporiton to the screen size make it look like a childrens book with large writing.  Also the price of £450 approx is ridiculous and personally I wanted a product I know that will work for me, has a plether of applicaitons that are tablet aware and offers a welll rounded package.

The next version of Android needs to be an evolution, not lose its phone roots but show a distinct difference between a tablet os and phone os.  Google need to remove the restrictions of not allowing manufacturers  to use the market place because a tablet with Google is about as functional  as an etch a sketch.  Whilst "WIth Google" is an important trademark, it shows consuimers that this is a virgin device with no manufacturer tweaks, it needs to be freely available for any tablet that is to be launched.

Applications, applications and more applications need to be released that can take advantage of the screen real estate and offer more funcitonality than theiir smartphone os based versions. Sadly I dont believe this will happen until mid 2011 until the new version of Android is released that will allow higher resolutions and allow more diversity in devices so that they can make use of the Google services.

The hardware of the Advent Vega is the beginning of this evolution  but the OS desperately needs to catch up.  The Samsung Galaxy TAB shows what can be achieved with the right mix of hardware and Software, but it could be better as it is  shameful that you have to rely on Samsung to enhance the OS with a skin to supply a well rounded product.  This is  reminiscent of the HTC Sense on WIndows Mobile 6.5 where a skin was required to provide additional functionality.  This also the starting point of where Windows Mobile started to go wrong with manufacturers skinning the core OS, trying to hide the ugliness and lack of features which would always fall foul of when the OS was upgraded as it would mean  you need to either purchase the new model of hardware to get the new OS or wait endlessly for the manufacturer to update their skin.

In 2011 I dont know what devices I will have, but wouldn't have said in January 2010 that I would be typing up this blog on a macbook, use an iphone and own 2 ipads.  Whilst Android was and is still a market leader in mobile OS, Apple with have caught up on the hardware and OS and have certainly overtaken on the tablet front.

CES 2011 will be happening soon and this will set the scene for the rest of the year where one does not have to think hard that there will be a plethora of tablets on show.  However I do believe that unless Google changes the way they are developing  Android, restricting the minimum specification that allows manufacturers to use the whole Google package or begin to encourage developers to create a tablet version of their software; that android  could over time certainly go the way that Microsoft WIndows Mobile went; if they are not already heading down that path.

As with all races this is not just a two horse dash, there is the Blackberry and Palm offerings where I believe the Blackerry Pad will be business focused and the Palm We OS offering whilst technically fantastic will  also fall foul of here being no applications due to lack of developers and low uptake of the Palm Web OS just like the Pre now.

But as with any race we will not know until the end of the year to see who has won and who has fallen by the way side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's an app for that but it will cost again

Over the past year I have jumped between mobile devices and various operating systems and have purchased a lot of software as I like to ensure consistency between my devices that I have the same if not similar applications on each one.

One thing that I am doing more is using my device more for data and media consumption rather than making phone calls. This is why I am now looking for a data only tariff that will allow me to use voip for making outgoing calls but also allow incoming as I will have a sim in the device.

Having being predominately a symbian user in the past using both s60, s80 and uiq in its former days I found that any application that I purchased could not easily be transferred to another device without having to make the purchase again. Whilst I can understand this for pc based os such as windows and Mac os x when I upgraded from s60v3 to s60v5 I found the same rule being applied by many software houses. More recently I have found this with meego/maemo with an application such as docstogo or sygic maps both of which I have owned on previous os such as s60.

Like s60 you will find the same restrictions with android and ios where If you purchased one application on android you will sometimes need to purchase the same one on ios to continue using it. However there has been one difference with these devices, should I own more than one device such as an iphone 3G and 4 and a nexus and htc desire, you are able to install the paid applications onto both devices. Now with ios I believe this is part of the license agreement although you may find applications that you need to purchase twice to get full functionality. Whereas with android you will need to refer to the license agreement with the software.

I will add where I have two or more devices and want the same applications on them then if the license dictates that I must purchase separately then I will do this, for example i do this with the ipad and iPhone as there are usually differences between the two applications.

On thing that has become apparent to me is that when upgrading either an android or ios device how easier it is than symbian as there is no messing with license keys when reinstalling the software. After spending many hours setting these devices up this has been a godsend and made the enjoyment of owning them a lot more pleasurable.

Now Nokia have announced two exciting devices this week the n8 and e7 where it is the latter I would love to purchase but it is on symbian ^3. However I am being held back by my previous experiences with symbian and applications as I would expect to have to make another purchase in order to upgrade. Whereas htc announced the desire HD and desire z today and I know if I bought them or if a new iPad/iphone was released tomorrow then I would be able to use the applications I had already purchased and not have to spend my money again.

The hardware features of both the n8 and e7 are excellent but for now usability and the application store experience is becoming a more key attribute when selecting my next device in addition to specifications.

I have found the Ovi store to be a kludge and very unusable, slow and painful when either trying to install or purchase applications So unless Nokia can ensure that the Ovi App store experience improves to the standard of android or iPhone then I will not be rushing to get a new symbian device.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad