* Posts by Bryan Anderson

52 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Nov 2007

Page:

Creative Ziio 7in Android tablet

Bryan Anderson

App Market?

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I understand the inability to access the App Market is a restriction placed by Google. As far as I am aware, they only allow access to devices with a sim card (ie, phones and 3g enabled slabs).

Short-sighted by Google, not the manufacturers.

Dixons offers Angry Birds on the house

Bryan Anderson
Unhappy

Me Fail!

Oh well. Still says it's £3.49 for me today - probably cos it's now over the 15,000 download mark. Never mind - stick to my iPad version.

Bryan Anderson
FAIL

Not here.....

Downloaded the AppUp, registered and they offered me a free download of PacMan, but Angry Birds is still listed at £3.49......

Jobs savages 7-inch tablet competition

Bryan Anderson
Jobs Halo

He has a point....

I have an iPad and wouldn't consider anything smaller. Seven inches isn't that much bigger than a smartphone but is still too big to throw in a pocket. It's a compromise that satisfies neither end of the market.

Behind the Kindle, under the iPad: an unholy alliance

Bryan Anderson
Coat

...you're right, Tony

I'll get my coat.

Bryan Anderson

Book Lending?

Forgive me if I am wrong, but one of the arguments against eBooks in the inability to lend the book a friend. Think that's unlawful anyway, as reading the fron of the first book I can grab here, it says that "it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated..."

Guess that means the publishers LOVE the fact that eBooks enable them to actually enforce the non-lending of books. But agree with most that until the price of eBooks come down then there's no way I'll be buying them.

Seven quid for the paperback, so no more than three quid for the eBook thank you very much.

Tablets? Pah! Netbooks still selling well, says analyst...

Bryan Anderson

Change the definition, change the numbers.

I was always of the impression that a netbook needed to be small, light and cheap. If the definition stayed the same then netbook numbers would be falling dramatically. However, as they seem to be changing the definition on a day-by-day basis and netbooks need no longer be small, light OR cheap, then almost anything less than a full size desktop replacement could almost be counted in those figures.

Daft number crunching for no reason whatsoever by an industry that is, by and large, totally devoid of ideas and innovation.

Vodafone pulls 360 trick on Froyo hungry users

Bryan Anderson
FAIL

Testing?

I have a T-Mobile Desire and although I am not too bothered about the odd German bundled app, what really annoys me is that we have waited since (correct me if I am wrong) some time in April for this update. T-Mobile have always maintained that the delay is in testing.

How good is their testing department if they can take months and months and fail to spot German apps included in an update? What faith have we in anything else they do?

Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit

Bryan Anderson
FAIL

Information overload!

What, exactly, is the point of this kind of article? It says nothing, simply tells us that these things exist (which we already knew anyway).

Sorry....expect more from The Register.

Twitter bug creates account hijacking peril

Bryan Anderson
Thumb Down

I've never eaten a tomato...

...but I know they taste awful. That's what my Grand-dad used to say. Maybe form an opinion WHEN you have something to base it on, eh?

Speculation swells as Apple event draws near

Bryan Anderson
FAIL

Oh the irony....

....of clicking that link to Apple's page to see the keynote only to find that I can't seem to watch it on my iPad.

Fake TweetDeck update lures prompt password resets

Bryan Anderson

Bloody love the comments....

....on Register articles. Often more entertaining than the article itself.

Bryan Anderson

Waits for....

....torrent of comments along the lines that Twitter is a pointless thing for self-obsessed people just wanting to shout about what they are doing and what do we care about what flavour milkshake they are drinking. There....no need for anyone eose to do it now.

Leicester City councillors eye up iPad to save £90k a year

Bryan Anderson

Sounds fishy....

Seem to remember an almost word-for-word story about councillors in Cambridgeshire shortly before the iPad was launched.

O2 dithers over Apple iPhone 4 refund pledge

Bryan Anderson

@annihilator

Not quite sure how this works out with expensive phones. When you get a "free" phone, what you're buying is an airtime agreement and the phone is a free gift and doesn't form part of any (normal) contract. In other words, if you don't pay the bill, they can come after you for collection of that but can't ask for the phone back or charge you the cost of it.

However, this gets sticky if you have to pay something for the phone. In the case of an iPhone that you might pay £200 for (though it's actual cost is £500) then you are buying a handset as well as buying an airtime agreement. If the handset is not fit for use then the SoG Act does mean you can get that replaced/repaired/etc. But the airtime agreement IS fit for purpose - Apple's inability to maintain a signal doesn't affect the airtime that the network operator is giving you. In that case, there's no need for O2 (or any other network) to cancel contracts.

Microsoft lines staff pockets with Windows 7 phone

Bryan Anderson
Gates Halo

Free or subsided?

"...a new Windows Phone 7 will be made available to every Microsoft employee as we launch in each market around the world," he confirmed.

The process will vary based on your market, your carrier, and your launch date so stay tuned for more information closer to launch."

Hmmm....guess it would be a nice gesture of MS and will get people talking, but apart from that first tweet, I see nothing that says they will be free, simply "available". Big difference between free and offered at a discount rate before they go on general sale, etc.

I'm just a cynic.

Vodafone 845

Bryan Anderson
Thumb Down

240x320 Screen

Much as I like the idea that Android is getting a bit more exposure, buyers of this handset (and others like it) are going to be disapointed when they realise that a LOT of the apps in the Android Market are simply not available to devices with screens of 240x320 - it's a huge step backwards in screen size and is adding to the (already awful) fragmentation of Android.

Android spanks Apple’s iOS 4 in JavaScript race

Bryan Anderson
Unhappy

Android 2.2?

To be honest, all this talk of Java on Android (along with WiFi tethering, apps on SD, etc) are pretty pointless considering the Nexus One is the only handset that's got 2.2 so far, with no news at all for the likes of us HTC Desire owners.

One thing Apple does have going for it, is that updates get to just about everyone at the same time. We Android users are left in the dark not knowing when, or if, we'll ever get an update.

£99 iPhone stunt backfires

Bryan Anderson

Anyone?

Has anyone actually got one of these then? I admit that I tried the link on Friday but was met with a dead page and an email later apologising for the site going down. Thought it seemed like a bargain too good to be true but assumed it would be a "buy it for only £99......terms and conditions apply....terms = enter into a two year contract at £45 per month".

Microsoft sneak peeks Hotmail makeover

Bryan Anderson
Unhappy

Updates actually wanted?

About the only thing I need from Hotmail that they seem to have NO plans to do, is to provide proper IMAP support. I know that their own Mail application sort of does IMAP and Outlook Connector SORT of does IMAP, but neither is perfect.

Bog standard IMAP support would be a darn site more useful that the updates I just read about.

Ten Essential Android Apps

Bryan Anderson

Like to add....

Floating Image by Mark Gjol - free and does a slideshow from Flikr or from your own folders. Excellent and great communication with the developer.

Volume Control by RevoSolutionary Developments - exactly what the Android volume control ought to have been. Control all volume settings and pre-set three of your own profiles. Free.

Record It by Austin Reid - if you're in the UK and have Sky+ then this is invaluable. Let's you browse listings and set things to record from anywhere.

Amazon MP3 - our version of the iTunes Store I guess. Works and works well. Free.

Barcode Scanner by ZXing Team - most Android review sites include a barcode to go straight to the application in the Market. This scanner works well. Free.

AndFTP by Lysesoft. Use this with something like Cerberus FTP Server on your desktop and have access to ALL your files anywhere in the world. Free.

Calendar Pad by MoalApps - great week and month view and excellent widgets. Just what the Android calendar should have been. Free.

K-9 Mail by K-9 Dog Walkers. The best email client for Android. Does Gmail, POP, IMAP, etc and does them properly. Free.

Hero update blocks Marketplace

Bryan Anderson
FAIL

Too many cooks.....

This problem is due to the fact that Google have to sign off each and every ROM build/version number to access "forward protected" apps - not always paid for apps, but mostly. Without this signing off, devices won't have access to them.

HTC provide the update, the network then re-work it with their logos and stuff and it needs to be re-authorised by Google. The networks are not always very good at either asking Google to do this, or chasing them up. Happened to me with a G2 (T-Mobile version of the Hero).

There's simply too many cooks involved in Android right now, and it's just not working. My three month old G2 is on Ebay and I'll be (reluctantly) joining the iPhone mob as it "just works".

Google's Nexus One sales still sluggish

Bryan Anderson

No touchy-feely

I simply cannot imagine buying a mobile phone without first having a play with it - feel the weight, the size, the responsiveness. Until they get these things on a UK network where you can go and play with it in the shop, I certainly wouldn't even consider it.

iPhone App Store bars mention of Google Android

Bryan Anderson

At least they keep the quality up....

I have a T-Mobile G2 (HTC Hero) running 1.5 Android and wish that Google would take some lessons from Apple with their Market. Yes, Apple may have a little too much control over what goes on the App Store, but at least you know that what IS on there is generally finished, polished and will work on all iPhones.

Android Market is full of unfinished crap, 100's of apps that are the same (soundboards, wallpaper collections, etc) and almost totally impossible to search or filter thanks ro Google's complete disregard for the end-user or the app developers.

Apple vs the iPad Bedwetters

Bryan Anderson

"So who is left to buy them?"

I would do if I had the cash. I have a desktop PC and a small laptop. But neither is convenient to sit around with on the sofa of an evening.

The laptop DOES more, granted, but it's not as easy to hold (from what I have seen of the iPad) and makes my lap too hot to sit with all evening. The iPad looks like a simple, easy way to keep up with email, Twitter, Facebook, web, etc, all with software that, although tightly controlled by Apple, works and does work well.

I am no Apple fanboy and after using an iPhone for six months, there's no way on earth I'd ever buy one (Android phone user now), but the iPad IS a clever and easy to use appliance that I think will find it's way into a LOT of households.

Will there be many out in the wild? I don't think we'll be seeing legions of users on the tube or in coffee shops, no. But indoors, with WiFi, then yes, I think there is a market.

Apple's iPad - fat iPhone without the phone

Bryan Anderson
Thumb Up

Non Apple-Boy Tempted Here

I like it. I'm not an Apple fan by any means - used an iPhone for six months as it was a work issued device. As a phone I thought it was very, very lacking. But as an entertainment device I thought it was very good.

Now this is just an iPod Touch but grown up. No, I'd never use it to watch movies and it certainly wouldn't be my music player, but.....

Photos - having them in something like this would be great when visiting family, etc. Certainly better than the screen of my Android phone.

E-Reader - I don't want to read books on an electronic device, and if I did then I'd want something a bit smaller....BUT what about the magazine and newspaper market? I never buy a newspaper but WOULD sign up for a couple of quid per month to have a daily paper emailed direct to my device. And magazines - an electronic subscription pushed direct to a device with a nice full colour screen....yes please.

It's not the kind of device I see myself carrying aroundfor work - I have a perfectly nice small laptop for that. But it IS the kind of device that would be sat next to me on the sofa of an evening ready for emailing, browsing, Tweeting, etc.

If they network at all, then one for each of the family would be great....if they shared calendars, etc.

Two major things though....no Flash support and no multi-tasking?

I hope that they are coming in iPhone OS4.x and that it filters through to the iPad. No Flash means a lot of the browsing I might do would be out - no games in Facebook for a start! And not being able to have a Twitter client auto-fetch updates every ten minutes, while I browse or sort my email, will be a bit of a pain.

Lack of 3G - perfect. Use WiFi at home anyway.

Bryan Anderson
FAIL

Farmville?

You'll have a job......no Flash support.

Motorola's latest Android 'andset demo'd

Bryan Anderson
Thumb Up

We likessss......

This one looks very nice. No mention of processor or screen resolution, but it looks very nice indeed.

Lenovo demos mini laptop with slip-out screen

Bryan Anderson
Thumb Up

Now THAT is good

I like that - would be a nice alternative to an eBook reader.

Google tries to quietly trample on Apple's toes

Bryan Anderson

Business device?

I have an Android handset - the T-Mobile G2 (aka HTC Hero) and as a business device it falls VERY short of the mark. Unless and until Google can develope the core applications of contacts, calendar and email to match those of the iPhone (and Windows Mobile and Blackberry) then businesses will not take these things.

Examples: No way to attach anything other than a jpg image to an email. No way to sort your contacts by last name or company name. No way (on the most popular version of the OS - 1.5) to set a default NO ALARM on calendar entries. Currently no way to install apps to the SD card and silly little amounts of internal memory to play with.

With larger screen devices and newer versions of the OS coming out (and no guarantee that these OS updates will roll out to older handsets), developers are going to have a harder time making apps that work for ALL Android users than they currently have making apps that work for ALL iPhone users.

(I would still buy another Android phone over an iPhone right now - there was a week or so when it was touch and go at first - but if I were looking for a business phone then Android doesn't cut it yet)

Samsung's Galaxy stuck in history

Bryan Anderson
Jobs Halo

Android's future looking bleaker by the day

I am three weeks into my 18month contract with T-Mobile on a G2 (a branded HTC Hero). It's running version 1.5 of Android, even though 1.6 has been out ages.

Developers are already writing apps for 1.6+ which I cannot use. T-Mobile are NOT the best in the world at offering OS updates to phones, so I wonder if by mid-2010 I will be using a phone that is unable to use any new applications. If that is the case then I shan't be contributing any money to the developers. I shan't be alone, and the developers will start looking at where they CAN sell their applications to ALL the users of a particular OS......iPhone.

It get's worse though - even now, I know of at least four applications that I want to buy but they don't show up in the Android Market. They DO run on 1.5, they ARE available in the UK, etc. I have had that confirmed by the developers. However they are not on MY Market, can't be found by search, barcode scans or even from direct links from the trial apps.

The developers say it's either T-Mobile or Google messing it up. T-Mobile don't even understand the problem and suggest it's Google's issue. Google doesn't even accept email questions, but claim they "monitor the forums" for issues.

Android is a fragmented mess and it's just getting worse by the day.

(St Jobs because even with it's many faults, iPhone users all get free OS updates and all the apps on the App Store work on all the iPhones out there)

Android 2.0: what to expect

Bryan Anderson

@AC 12:28GMT

That's nice that the WiFi driver is working for you. Doesn't change the fact that it doesn't work on my device. "It works for me" is not a very helpful response.

And as far as the email goes - I don't USE the Gmail app. Why would I want to use that when my email address is my own domain? I am using the actual Email application which DOES have a deleted items folder. We're not all going to convert to Google email addresses just for a phone.

Bryan Anderson
Unhappy

@Ebenesr

Scary thing is, my thirteen year old came up with a great plan for the Government to issue every teenager in the country with a smartphone with sat nav so that they can use it for school work (much like some local government did with iPod Touch I think) and also to keep medical records and stuff on. He seemed to be not in the least concerned that the very same Government could then poke their nose into who he was calling, what he was saying, what he was texting and what grotty smut he was looking at on the net! If this is the way kids now think then it's goodbye to civil liberties in fifteen years time.

Bryan Anderson
Paris Hilton

No mention of the basic faults....

Hopefully they have now added a way to delete multiple emails in one go, and a way to empty the deleted items in one go as well. And maybe even a notes app that can sync to the desktop. And a WiFi driver that doesn't disconnect when it feels like it and need WiFi turning off then back on again to re-connect. And a calendar app that actually shows a week in a useable format (like Agenda Fusion and Agendus used to do on my Palm).

And I wonder how many existing devices will get this update. At least iPhone users GET the updates all at the same time. I have two Android phones in the house and one of them is still on 1.5, one on 1.6 and no idea if either will get an update.

Paris - because like the Android, I like the look of her but not sure if I could live with her.

iPhone upgrades - a one-way control-freak street

Bryan Anderson
Paris Hilton

Point that seems to be missed.....

.....is that Apple aren't FORCING anyone to buy an iPhone. Although I personally don't like the over-control that Apple seem to be applying to the iPhone, it's not the only touchscreen smartphone/mp3 player/games player out there.

Paris as I am sure there have been times when she would have liked to revert to a prior version of herself.

Palm Pre update inbound

Bryan Anderson
FAIL

Ermmmm....."improvements"?

"The updated OS will also bring “improvements” in e-mail and messaging, such as the ability to forward messages in the Messaging application, Palm added."

Exactly HOW did they forget this in the first place?

iPhone to become Blighty's favourite smartphone

Bryan Anderson
Paris Hilton

So no Palm then?

Did I get it right? No mention of Palm/WebOS anywhere? Guess it's generally accepted then that nice though the Pre is, Palm don't have the legs to develop it and get appplications written fast enough to make it a viable proposition.

Paris - because she also looks and feels nice but has no real future.

Windows 7 sales leave Microsoft coffers unstuffed

Bryan Anderson
Gates Halo

@AC 04:03 6th Nov

You know what? I've never been able to afford Mac hardware so don't have the benefit of having used MacOS other than ten minutes playing with someone else's. But I have used Windows (3.1, 95, ME, 98, XP, Vista and now 7) and I don't understand this thing LInux and MacOs users have claiming that their OS's "just works" and Windows doesn't.

All my Windows installs have "just worked". There's the odd occasion when you need to download a driver (thankfully easy considering every hardware manufacturer supports Windows) and I admit a reboot at the start of every day helps, but things work.

I've tried Linux so many times - but each time there's always some things that just don't work - video cards giving wrong resolutions, USB and/or laptop WiFi not recognised, printers and scanners, etc, and fixing those aren't easy. As I said - don't know enough about MacOs to comment.

All I know is that Windows DOES "just work" for me.

Bryan Anderson

Economies Of Scale?

I am quite sure that there would be a LOT less piracy of Windows and a LOT higher/faster uptake of new versions if the upgrades were sensibly priced. The cost of Windows is built in to almost all new PC's and Laptops so why can't MS offer downloadable updates for just £20/$30 or so? I'm trying out a Windows 7 update right now, and although it's much, much better than Vista, I have yet to see £60 worth of upgrade from my old XP so it's a tough decision.

Quick online £20 out of my PayPal account and a downloadable ISO and I'd do it on the day it was released, as would many, many others I am sure.

Nintendo confirms big-screen DSi

Bryan Anderson
Unhappy

@AC 14:14

If your kids would reply with just a "gee thanks" to a DSi then they need a bloody good talking to. Ungrateful little buggers.

i-mate boss blames 'fraud' for company's demise

Bryan Anderson
Thumb Down

Design was the problem

I worked for a very large mobile distribution company in 2006/2007 and we had a close relationship with iMate and I got to test drive a number of pre-production phones. Their problem was that we wouldn't take any of them on to sell as they were all pig ugly - screens too small with huge surrounds in the time when screens were getting bigger and touch-screens were becomming more in fashion.

Technology-wise they were okay, but no-one was ever going to buy them. That was iMate's main problem.

Google fits web with meta comments engine

Bryan Anderson
WTF?

Is nothing sacred?

So now I can spend days, weeks, months creating a web site only to have it commented on, corrected (possibly in error), ripped apart, etc, by total strangers with no ability to monitor, censor, approve or anything?

Crackdown on dodgy mobile deals

Bryan Anderson
Thumb Down

Stupid Consumers

Got to agree with Grease Monkey on this one - there HAS to be some sense of personal responsibility involved. If you don't understand it, don't think it's a good deal, think you can get it better somewhere else, whatever - then don't sign the agreement.

People complain about the "Nanny State" but until the average Joe-Public assumes some responsibility then we're going to go deeper and deeper into it.

Apple gobbles world's flash memory

Bryan Anderson
Jobs Horns

Price differences?

So the difference between a 32GB and a 64GB bunch of RAM is just $8 or so? Difference between iPod Touch 32GB and 64GB is $100. Nice one, Apple.

Linux guru: interface innovation is the challenge

Bryan Anderson
WTF?

@I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

<me> "What Linux needs is to "just work" like Windows does."

<you> WTF? icon here.

Why WTF? In *MY* experience, Windows just works. I have never had trouble installing hardware or software, installing or re-installing the OS on my own or any other persons PC. I have NEVER been able to get a fully working install of any Linux distro - there's always something that doesn't work. So in *my* experience, Windows "just works" and you are in no position to "WFT" about MY experience.

<me> Recently bought a new netbook with Vista on it. Scrubbed Vista, installed XP.

<you> Bad Joke Alert icon here.

And the bad joke is.....? I prefer XP of Vista. End of.

<me> "Everything worked 'cept for WiFi. Quick search, download one .exe file and double click. One re-boot later and WiFi works. Everywhere."

<you> With Intentional Explorer? -Which in this public library has a tick on the [save my short and curlies for the next holder] box, please? And this thing gets wiped at night I think (anyhow it doesn't have WiFi which at least shows someone in the nexus has had his thumbs hammered at least a trillion times.)

Unfortunately I simply have no clue what you're on about in that last paragraph. I don't recal actually mentioning my browser, public libraries or my short and curlies.

Bryan Anderson
Flame

More flames

What Linux needs is to "just work" like Windows does. Recently bought a new netbook with Vista on it. Scrubbed Vista, installed XP. Everything worked 'cept for WiFi. Quick search, download one .exe file and double click. One re-boot later and WiFi works. Everywhere.

Tried to install Ubuntu on it. Everything works 'cept WiFi. Googled and found about fifteen different solutions depending on what version of all sorts I was running. Some saying I needed to compile a Kernel or something, others saying I needed to download some script and run it. I'll be honest - I had no clue what I was doing.

I also know for a fact that my printer and scanner won't work (and no - I am not going to go and buy new ones).

So what Linux needs isn't new ways of interacting with the OS, it needs to get organised, stop trying to support fifteen different versions of a hundred different distros and get it's act together in making it a real point and click alternative to Windows.

iPhone 3.0 - born on schedule...

Bryan Anderson
Flame

@Danny Thompson

"Geez, okay, we get it, Apple cannot do anything right in your eyes. You've proven your point."

As someone who carries both, I feel I am more qualified than "fan boys" of either kind to comment. I'm NOT looking for Apple to make a Blackberry or for RIM to make an iPhone - different tools for different people/uses/tastes.

Just to me - like all things Apple - the hype surrounding this "upgrade" was far, far out of proportion to the reality of the upgrade.

Bryan Anderson
Paris Hilton

Underwhelmed

For an update that people have been banging on about for months, and that people were almost suicidal when it seemed to be delayed by a day, I am incredibly unimpressed. I remain a firm Blackberry user, though I carry both an 8900 and an iPhone and have been generally unimpressed with the iPhone in general, but this update seems to contain....nothing? Cut and paste is bloody awful on the touch screen with fingers of an adult size, no-one uses MMS anymore - at least not in my circle, email is free, and tethering? At £15 per month? No thanks.

All style, no substance (hence PH)

Acer 11.6in notebook-not-netbook demo'd on camera

Bryan Anderson

Screen Res?

Did I miss it? 11.6" widescreen....I got that much. But what's the actual resolution? If it 1280x800 then it's the laptop for me!

T-Mobile pushes consumer mail

Bryan Anderson
Thumb Down

Just as they break Blackberry BIS

Seems T-Mobile have broken something by upgrading to 2.6 version of Blackberry BIS. Now impossible to add a new Hotmail address to your BIS account (or even re-add one you've been using for over a year). Maybe they've broken this so that we all try their new push service?

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