* Posts by Paul Swindlehurst

15 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Dec 2007

iPhone 4 operator contracts compared

Paul Swindlehurst

Has anyone checked these sums?

The tesco 12 month, £35 (most expensive) plans look a lot more expensive than they actually are.

16GB handset = £229

32GB handset = £299

12 month contract = 12 x £35 = £420

So totals are 16GB = £649 and 32GB = £719, but they are in the table at £929 & £999 respectively.

Not checked any others, but that one jumped out straight away, as tescos 12 month contracts look to be the best deals ATM.

Jobs tells iPhone users to get a grip

Paul Swindlehurst

Ummmm....

Is the AC who's posted the same response to a load of posts on here, commenting on contorted hand positions and microphone covering, an Apple employee or just a rabid fanboy? Or maybe even the great jobs himself?

Every video, or picture, I've seen of this phenomenum occurring seem to show the userholding the phone in a perfectly reasonable position.

Apple accuses HTC of iPhone tech theft (again)

Paul Swindlehurst
WTF?

Who grants these things?????

This was granted in 2008, but I'm sure I remember windows xp providing this functionality in 2001.

The USPO is a joke, and not a particularly funny one at that...

iPhone 3.0 gossip lassos MMS, tethering, cut-and-paste...

Paul Swindlehurst

Bluetooth

I'd be happy if they just added A2DP support to the bluetooth stack. It's really annoying having to plug a dongle in to the phone to use my iOPlay BT Car Kit.

Born Again Delphi

Paul Swindlehurst
Flame

Please don't!!!

Some good ideas on that list but, as a programmer who has had to move between C/C++, C# & Delphi a lot over the last 15 years, please god don't mess with case sensitivity and the with operator.

Being case sensitive, and not having an equivalent operator to with, in any of the C variants is the biggest pain in the ass of having to use them. Anyone who thinks Delphi being made case-sensitive, and the with operator removed, has obviously not used Delphi a lot and wants a slap!!!

MS takes Windows 3.11 out of embed to put to bed

Paul Swindlehurst
Coat

Remember!!!!!!

Remember using it!!!! Christ I remember having to write applications for it.

I've started feeling a little funny, I'm gonna have to get my coat and go have a lie down....................

Sky plays the victim over Ofcom pay TV rights probe

Paul Swindlehurst
Stop

Competition my arse

All that the anti-competition crap did to football coverage was make it cost more, for a lot less. We may have a couple of extra matches a season on telly now, but half of them are only in SD (and bloody poor SD at that), and have sultana's shite commentators/pundits around it. And don't forget ITV's awful champions league coverage, it's like watching lego men kick a sugar cube around.

I'm all for competition watchdogs trying to make things better, but they should always take into account how much the end user is going to have to pay, and that the quality of service they will be provided is equal or better. I personally don't think that any broadcaster who is not capable of providing an HD broadcast of a sporting event should be able to bid on it, never mind win it.

Freesat launches in UK

Paul Swindlehurst
Thumb Down

Standards

Why have the Freesat boys decided to not use the DVB standards for EPG data? which would finally have allowed people to use one of the excellent STB/PVR's out there already in the european market.

As many people have already said on here, people should be able to source their own hardware, not have to pick one badged by some 'standard' that has been made up, be it either SKY or FREESAT ,especially as Freesat receivers seem to be rarer than rocking horse shit at the moment, and I can go out and buy a very good twin tuner DVB-S PVR very easily.

I know I will be able to use one of my DVB-S standards compliant satellite receivers to get these freesat channels (as I already do), but I still won't be able to view their EPG data from it because that is in a proprietry format, exactly like sky's is.

If this is a move to 'Open' up the satellite TV market in the uk, then it fails.

Windows Vista update 'kills' USB devices

Paul Swindlehurst

XP was worse

I have to say I was an early adopter of XP (as an MSDN subscriber I got a copy 2 months before retail release), and I was also a Vista early adopter (2 months before retail again) and I've got to say Vista was a hell of a lot better on day one than XP was.

It took months for hardware manufacturers to start releasing decent drivers for XP, and even longer for application developers to start porting old Win9x apps over and get them working properly.

The hardware manufacturers are just as much to blame here as microsoft, for example when I moved from Win98 to WinXP I had a parallel port scanner (remember those) that the hardware manufacturer did not write xp drivers for. When I wrote to them and asked if they would give me the protocols so I could write my own, they simply stated that they were private protocols and if I wanted to scan on XP I should buy their shiny new USB model. Creative have now pulled the same stunt with the WebCam Live I've got, no plans to do a Vista driver and when asked about it point you to the new shiny model that they now sell for Vista.

Lightsaber voted top movie weapon

Paul Swindlehurst

Nukes?

Nobody's mentioned the rifle/mortar fired nuclear warheads from Starship Troopers yet?

Not sure even a lightsabre would do you much good against one of those!

US HD DVD sales hit new low

Paul Swindlehurst
Flame

@Anonymous Coward

"HD-DVD has all the things you are worried about such as region coding as part of its specification."

No it doesn't. The HD-DVD group have appointed a committee to look into how region coding could work, but they have not reported back yet. It has also been stated by Toshiba on many occasions that all current players would remain region free even if region coding was added to newer players/discs at a later date.

Warner to back a single HD disc format?

Paul Swindlehurst

@imabala

"Warner does not want the format war to continue they just want to produce in one HD format, right now Blu-ray has about 50% of all movies coming out in HD, if Warner switches to HD-DVD then that would make HD-DVD and Blu-Ray 50%-50% extending this format war even longer."

Not sure on your maths there. If Blu-Ray currently has 50% of all movies in HD, then surely HD-DVD has the other 50% as they are the only other HD format. And if those maths are correct then (using your logic) Warner moving either way would take that format to 75%.

Plus I think stating BR has 50% is not accurate anyway. Universal are, and have always been HD-DVD exclusive, and they are the biggest movie studio/producer and also have the biggest back catalogue. I suspect they would tip the balance if anyone bothered doing the proper figures on release counts/potential releases etc. Throw in Paramount as an exclusive studio, and thats some serious content potential.

And before anyone screams FANBOY, I own both format's and genuinely don't believe there will be a wiiner. I just hope if there is it's HD-DVD for one reason only REGION CODING, or lack of it. The only studio that really wants it is fox, and someone should really tell them to fuck off.

Paul Swindlehurst

surely they'll go HD-DVD?

Not sure whether or not Warner will persuaded into going single format or not, but if they are at the moment I would say the HD-DVD would be the one they would pick.

Of the 2 formats it is the one that Warner have always supported a little better. Their HD-DVD releases on a number of occasions have had more extras than the BD equivalent, due to the more certain interactive support in the HD-DVD spec. And they have also released some of their big name catalogue titles (matrix trilogy springs to mind) on HD-DVD, with no announcements when they will release the same on BD.

US HD hardware sales 3:1 in Blu-ray's favour by year end

Paul Swindlehurst

@anon coward

"I know it's possible to use a PS3 with a regular TV but why would you? Fork out £3-400 on a PS3 and not have a decent TV to use it with? Maybe, but only if you're very poor or very dumb.

No, most PS3 users will have a HD ready TV of some description, don't kid yourself on and most will be tempted to watch a Blu-ray movie of some description on it even if it's only the freebie Casino Royale or whatever."

I think that's a little naive. Most games consoles are bought by parents, for kids, thats a fact. And most kids don't have HD capable sets in their bedroom. I know plenty of people who've bought X360's, PS3's and Wii's for kids who are playing them on portable tellys in bedrooms.

The PS3 is seriously skewing the figures when it comes to the whole HD-DVD/Blu-Ray debate and Sony know it. They are just hoping that the studios/customers don't notice, or care.

Eee PC: better with Windows?

Paul Swindlehurst

@b42k

"Wrong. If schools can't teach ideals and higher morals, eg. using open standards and ethical software, then there is no no hope of ever making the world a better place. Schools are where we start to chisel away at the monopoly."

Unfortunately we need the kids in school to be able to get a job at sometime in the future, and while most companys still use MS software they need how to use it.

Morals and Ethics only work in a world were you don't have to work for a living.