* Posts by Andrew Lobban

57 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Jun 2010

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Upgrade refuseniks, beware: Adobe snips away legacy versions of its Creative Cloud apps

Andrew Lobban

Re: To be fair to Adobe ....

I just showed you a potential competitor (I don't know your use case), that could perhaps save you a small fortune. Dismiss it away without looking if you like.

Andrew Lobban

Re: To be fair to Adobe ....

I would encourage you to give the Affinity product line a try, you're likely to be pleasantly surprised and your wallet will thank you forever...

https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/

Samsung pulls sheets off costly phone-cum-fondleslab Galaxy Fold – and a hefty 5G monster

Andrew Lobban

Re: Only five cameras?

Reminded me of this from way, way back!

https://www.theonion.com/fuck-everything-were-doing-five-blades-1819584036

Apple iPhone X: Two weeks in the life of an anxious user

Andrew Lobban

Re: "Like I say, there’s no user guide to tell you what all the icons means."

Come on...

Alistair specifically said he couldn’t find one online, even on Apples website. Guess what the first hit on google is if you search iPhone user guide.

Many people won’t need this (hence no paper wasted in the box) but it’s useful for new features (like new gestures) or new users and is certainly not hard to find online. Oh and in the box, on the fold out quick start guide, is the URL for more support so I don't think there is any more than can be done here.

Andrew Lobban

Re: "Like I say, there’s no user guide to tell you what all the icons means."

No manual eh...

https://help.apple.com/iphone/11/

even tells you how to put the sim in.....

Shazam! Apple chucks £300m at Brit what's-that-song app – report

Andrew Lobban

Re: Ah well

I can't imagine Apple are interested in Shazam for their app, its already nicely integrated with apple music, at least on iOS, and Shazam's profit is so small in Apple terms as to be meaningless.

So I wonder why they would buy them - I can't think of a reason other than maybe they want the ipr to the matching algorithms or something. If that's the case then surely that means native integration with Apple music.

Car insurers recoil in horror from paying auto autos' speeding fines

Andrew Lobban

@david132

Best comment I've read anywhere for ages. Funny and sadly true..

Boeing slams $2m on the desk, bellows: Now where's my jetpack?

Andrew Lobban

Surely jet packs are dead before they've even got off the ground!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2017/02/14/dubai-autonomous-taxi-drones-ehang/

Everything at Apple Watch is awesome, insists Tim Cook

Andrew Lobban

Its almost as if IDC timed their article to hit the exact period where nobody would be buying the old watch and nobody could yet buy the new one, but they wouldn't do that would they?!

Or they just made the numbers up entirely (as most 'analysts' seem do) and for the first time ever they've been called on it!

Apple's 'lappable' iPad Pro concept is far from laughable

Andrew Lobban

Re: 5 word question

As a serious answer to this. A seemingly little known feature of iOS these days is that pressing and holding the keyboard turns it into a track pad for moving the cursor around. I wonder if the author of this article was aware of it as it makes positioning the cursor and selecting text an absolute doddle.

Stephen Hawking reckons he's cracked the black hole paradox

Andrew Lobban

Re: I must read more physics

The Scientific American transcribed interview that the reg link to is well worth a read, and certainly answers yours and many other questions.

Here's a little extract from the interview in relation to you comment, just to whet your appetite.

".....We used to think that space and time were absolute. We used to think the Earth is the center of the universe. All of these things seemed completely obvious and well defined. And one by one they went by the wayside. That could happen to determinism, too. The very fact that the universe has a beginning seems to be in contradiction with determinism, because if you have nothing and then there’s something, that’s not deterministic. So determinism should be on the table. And indeed when Hawking first came out with his argument [that black holes destroyed information], it seemed like such a good argument that many or even most of the people who listened to it believed that determinism was over...."

Apple asks judge to axe ebook price-fixing watchdog

Andrew Lobban

Re: Dear Apple .......

I agree with you on the 30% from in-app purchases, but I have often wondered about the following scenario, and I'll be interested in opinion here.

If there was no profit share on in-app purchases do you think we would suddenly see currently expensive apps made available for free with an activation charge as an in app purchase, i.e. cut Apple/Google out of their 30%? I wonder if this is why there is an insistence on the 30% applying to the in-app purchases as well. Many additional app features are already available as in-app purchases so I wonder if this is the thinking from Apple.

It would be tempting to say they should look at things case by case (kindle for example) but that would be extremely resource intensive and open to much interpretation hence the blanket policy. And in the case of kindle, I'm sure they were hoping some ibook purchases would occur as a result of that being nice and integrated, The kindle app though, much to amazons credit, is still far superior to ibooks.

Samsung snafu at CES causes Michael Bay meltdown

Andrew Lobban

That was painful to watch. Surely he could have made something up, spoken for a minute or two and left with nobody any the wiser.

Bill Gates is once again the richest man on Earth

Andrew Lobban

Re: Worthless stats

In 2012 the GDP per head was £15,696 with a population of 3,063,456 that gives £51,147,461,376 which is around $83,738,613,481.69.

So Bill Gates $78.5 billion is around 0.937 the GDP of Wales :)

PS4 with Black Friday underway: TOUGH, you CAN'T HAVE ONE!

Andrew Lobban

Re: Sadly...

I knew wonga et al were bad, but holy shit that is horrendous!

Smartphone addicts go floppy under the sheets, warns DOCTOR WANG

Andrew Lobban

I refuse to believe that is the doctors name!

Ultimate electric driving machine? Yes, it’s the BMW i3 e-car

Andrew Lobban

Re: Finally an electric car I may want...

Yes, agreed. So nearly there. Can't wait to buy one when they finally cross the line.

Andrew Lobban

Re: That's some battery

Everyone has different taste, but I fully admit to thinking that the i3 is a good looking vehicle. Something different, unique and dare I say futuristic. Certainly better than some of the electric/hybrid design disasters that have hit our roads in recent years,

Apple to cough up $100m after kids rinse parents' credit cards on apps

Andrew Lobban

Re: They didn't give their kids the password...that's the whole point of the law suit

Quite right, although just in case you weren't aware, you can disable in-app purchases completely in the IOS settings menu now, as well as require the password immediately every time(rather than the 15 minute default), think it was added with iOS6.

Andrew Lobban

Re: The in app purchases are insanely priced

Couldn't agree more. Many of the kids games are clearly designed to exploit the 15 minute window after a parent has entered the password and handed the device back to their child. Constant friendly looking popups that kids press with no appreciation of the consequences.

I've pointed out to quite a few of my friends with children that they should switch of 'in app purchases' in the iOS settings to avoid any surprises.

To be fair to Apple in the UK, one of said friends (before i got to her!) got stung for £69.99 by smurfs village. One e-mail to Apple support and the money was instantly refunded along with a nice email about how to adjust the settings. Doubt you would get that a second time though, responsibility is definitely yours at that point i assume.

Apple tech FOUND ON ANDROID: Passbook gets pay-by-bonk

Andrew Lobban

iWatch

Perhaps the iWatch that we have been hearing about could simplify the process. Digging around in my pocket to get my phone out is not much less hassle than getting my wallet out. A watch, nicely synced to the phone that never leaves my pocket is much easier to swipe, almost no effort at all in fact. Would be one good use for such an 'extension device' like this rumored watch.

Could this be Google's slick new touchscreen Chromebook?

Andrew Lobban

Video

Still available at

http://www.androidauthority.com/chromebook-pixel-video-154370/

BT's shock new wheeze: Make phone calls from smartphones

Andrew Lobban

@ Bill the Sys Admin

I've often thought that Apple would have already done this as well.

For example, if i receive a facetime call, whether the caller has called, in my case, 1 of 4 possible email addresses or my mobile number, i can answer that call on my mobile, my laptop or my ipad. It works flawlessly. If that was also the case with normal voice calls, what a brilliant service that would be. Google voice, as you say works on that principle but as i live in the UK I've never tried it.

Presumably the network operators would never allow this as Apple (or whoever) would suddenly control video calling (Facetime), texting (iMessage) and normal voice calls. Effectively all you would need from the network operators is a data allowance and they wouldn't like that.

Reg Hardware Awards Best of 2012

Andrew Lobban

Where is Orange in the mobile provider list? I know they are now officially EE, but that wasn't the case for most of 2012 and not many will have 4G contracts yet so cant vote for the EE 4G option. As a result i had to skip this as orange are the standout provider in my area.

UK Apple cart Square punched in the wallet as sales, profit fall

Andrew Lobban

So they drop status as a premium reseller and lose some big clients as a result, this effected profits. Who'd have thought it eh! Bugger all to do with Apple as no doubt the clients are purchasing from a different supplier now. Headline got me in though...

Microsoft 'surprised' by Google Gmail 'winter cleaning'

Andrew Lobban

Re: I agree gmail sucks now.

Have posted this before but thought you may find it useful.

Like you, I don't like the images in the gmail interface either, there is a solution though. Go to settings and about half way down there is a 'button labels' option, set it to 'text' and everything is much clearer :)

Review: Apple Mac Mini 2012

Andrew Lobban

Re: Quality?

The update from Apple to fix the HDMI issue was released today. Just fire up the Mac App Store and download.

Apple chief Cook is highest paid CEO in America

Andrew Lobban

Whilst the best part of half a biliion dollars over 5 years is indeed chickenfeed to a company like Apple, most of the executive team will be not far behind. I wonder what the total wage bill for the VP and above staff is on a yearly basis.

Apple are not exactly alone here either, every major company, tech or otherwise offer similar extreme pay and bonuses at the executive level. I can understand the creation of extreme wealth when selling a company or floating one that is owned by a small number of people. But to pay a salary that is effective tens of millions a year is surely not justified.

As a 'normal' person who works damn hard for what would be considered a slightly above average salary here in the UK, its difficult to understand what could possibly merit such extreme salaries. I guess it's one of those things thats got out of hand over a long time. I doubt very much that company boards want to give away such enormous amounts of company profit, but if they don't pay it then someone else will pinch your CEO and all their knowledge, vicious circle thats got completely out of hand??

Watchdog halts Toyota Grand Theft Auto-esque advert

Andrew Lobban
WTF?

The ad has been shown on TV as well, I've seen it a few times. Not once did i think i should rush to my car and drive like an idiot.

Seriously 2 complaints is all it takes for a totally innocuous advert to be banned. What the hell has happened to us, I mean seriously..... words fail me.

iPhone 5 unlocked US prices placed on Apple website by accident

Andrew Lobban

Re: Pricing

If you buy the 64GB version in the UK, you are paying £180 or ~$288 for 48 GB of RAM, £50 between the 16, 32 and 64 GB versions is more than enough difference considering the very small additional component cost. Surely this pricing model can't last.

Apple iPad Mini 8in tablet review

Andrew Lobban

Re: The screen

Technology moves forward, always has, always will.

You are of course Inferring that Apple deliberately leave out features so they can add them in the next revision, of course you a right, no disagreement on that.

I'm not convinced its the case here though. If Apple wish to sustain battery life at current levels, there is simply not enough room in the iPad mini's case to achieve that, they would need to find a way to fit in the battery that currently lives in the full size iPad. Of course Apple may accept a drop in battery life for the extra sales a retina mini would no doubt bring.

Andrew Lobban

The screen

It seemed obvious that this was the resolution Apple would choose for this sized device. The device is too small to support the battery power required by Apples retina display so battery life would have been horrible, it would have also added to the cost. As there are many 100's of thousands of apps that support 1024 x 768 screens it was inevitable that they would choose this resolution, rather than introduce a new, not compatible one.

Having played with the device in the local Apple store, the screen, while not as nice as a retina one on the full size ipad, is lovely, perfectly useable and you'll soon forget about the lower res, if you even cared in the first place.

Device specifications, while important, do not matter to the general public and these days, have little or no bearing on the user experience. I do wish it was £50 cheaper though, it really would be a no brainer then, as I've posted before though, with the iPod touch pricing as it is, the iPad mini was never going to be under £250.

Sky squeezes even more money from customers, gets fewer new ones

Andrew Lobban

Hardly surprising that although still increasing their subscriber base, they are doing so by smaller amounts each quarter. With over 10 million subscribers and approximately 26 million households in the UK, they can't be far off a dish on 50% of properties. With just about everyone who wants sky, already having it, its the ARPU thats important and the continued push for broadband take-up that are the key factors for continued company health.

Apple's 13-inch Retina MacBook torn asunder for your pleasure

Andrew Lobban

Re: What are those things?

Yes, those 6 black enclosures hold the battery. High res screens need a lot of power, this 13" retina battery has an extra 10.5 watt-hours (74 instead of 63.5) compared to the non-retina 13".

Apple unsheathes MacBook 13-incher

Andrew Lobban

Re: price comparisons

Yes, you have to add the tax which is different in each state. If you take that US price and convert it straight to £'s, at todays exchange rate it gives a cost of £1375.95 but you have to add the VAT at 20% which then gives £1651.14. So on that particular example it would appear that in the UK we get shafted for an extra £200+. Of course import taxes are different in each country as well as distribution costs, and in general, almost all products carry a premium over US prices. Quite depressing really although many European countries are even worse off than in that regard than the UK. I'd be surprised if there was any substantial difference in actual profits per sale to Apple on a country basis, the prices reflect charges in that particular climate.

Retailer leaks iPad Mini price list starting at £200

Andrew Lobban

Pricing

Given the new iPod Touch starts at £249 in the UK and the iPad at £399 its difficult to see how an iPad mini would slot into the existing line-up and still be a competitive choice. Assuming it does exist then I cant see how it could sell for any less than £300 as a starting price, which frankly is too expensive to make sense. Maybe the iPod touch is on its way out at it'll be priced as an alternative to that. Hard to see it fitting in though.

Inside the real-world Double-O section of Her Majesty's Secret Service

Andrew Lobban

Re: Lewis @Tom13

I happen to agree with virtually all of the points that Lewis makes in his climate articles, be he presents those articles in such a poor way that he just opens himself up for abuse and the valid points are lost/written off as a result.

Andrew Lobban
Thumb Up

Lewis

Articles like this are extremely interesting and this one was also well written, with none of your usual deliberately inflammatory remarks. Apply the same knowledgable and methodical approach to your other articles and your readership will most definitely rise as will your credibility, especially with your climate and nuclear articles. More of this please :)

New I-hate-my-neighbour stickers to protect Brits' packages

Andrew Lobban

Re: What's New?

I depends where you live. I am in a relatively small (3-4000 pop) village. I know the postie well and he often signs the delivery for me and leaves the parcel somewhere safe with a note through the door to tell me he's done that. He does the same for everyone I know and i suspect everyone that he delivers too. Now in my mind, thats a great service. Although I fully accept that this is not possible in large citys and probably totally against the rules.

Apple MacBook Air 13in review

Andrew Lobban
Thumb Up

@steve78

There are many great features about mac laptops that I love but you are spot on with the trackpad comment. That is obviously your main means of interacting with the device and every single non Apple trackpad I have personally tried hasn't even come close to the muti touch pads used on macs. Worth the premium alone in my opinion.

Last remaining reason to order an iPhone 5 disappears

Andrew Lobban
Stop

Sigh

I'm all for amusing articles about phones from all makers, but what a load of shite this one was. Whether you are an apple fan or not surely all agree that this was worse than a non story.

I know that anything with iPhone in the title is click bait and filling said article with deliberately provocative tripe will get the comments rolling in and hopefully someone might click on an ad or two, but for fuck sake please stop this crap. The Register used to be witty, critical and an often unmissable lunch hour read. Now, and especially in the last few months, it's worse than your average gossip mag. I need a new source of intelligent, critical and witty IT news...

Fans rap Apple's 'crap' Map app

Andrew Lobban

Shockingly bad.

I've been using the betas (for development) for a few months and the map app has been utterly terrible since it was first available. I assumed it wasn't finished and would be updated properly before general release. Oh how wrong i was, it doesn't even qualify as a second rate replacement for google's map app, satellite resolution is crap everywhere around me and the locations are simply inaccurate. Its actually unbelievable that it has been deemed worthy of release. As others have said, download google earth until the problem is solved, hopefully soon.

The world's first Windows Phone 8 hands on – what's it like?

Andrew Lobban
Stop

Re: Disappointing

I still use a Nikon D40 SLR with a 'measly 6MP sensor. I have a number of lenses for different situations. I can guarantee you that any images I produce will easily be considerably better than any camera phone currently on the market. MP does not equal quality.

Apple hoards LTE patents to deflect Samsung attack

Andrew Lobban
WTF?

5%

To be fair, if Apple have 5% of the LTE patents then i'd hardly class that as hoarding. What percentage do Nokia have, Samsung, Google, Microsoft etc.

Also, how the hell can there be 6000 patents on LTE?! Surely that should be a standard and not patentable at all??

Microsoft: Gmail rival Outlook.com will 'look good on your iPad' 

Andrew Lobban

@Paul

I don't like the images either, there is a solution though. Go to settings and about half way down there is a 'button labels' option, set it to 'text' and everything is much clearer :)

Apple wins EU-wide Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 ban

Andrew Lobban
Stop

Re: This has to stop.

This does indeed have to stop, however make no mistake, each company is a bad as the other. Whether you are an Apple fan, a Google/Hardware partner fan or simply a technology fan, these bans on hardware and software features are bad for the consumer.

Its the system that needs changed though, as any company in their right mind will use the system to protect their own bottom line and customer base. How to fix the system? Thats the million dollar question.

Apple sneaks iPad 2 with 32nm chip into retail

Andrew Lobban

Re: wow, I've got one!

the charger that comes with the new iPad is 10 watts, 5.1 volts and 2.1 amps. Anything less will obviously charge the device more slowly, especially if in use at the same time. I dont know whether more volts/amps allows the device to take charge faster. As for charging times, it's simple maths and there are millions of posts about it all over the web.

Andrew Lobban

Re: wow, I've got one!

I agree that the charging on the new iPad is a pain in the ass. However its a hell of a powerful machine and I think users have to psychologically get over charging portable devices with a USB or other low power socket (i.e. car cigarette sockets).

You wouldn't try to charge a high end laptop from a USB port and with the new iPad thats precisely what you are trying to do if you take that approach.

HD glitch for Apple TV punters

Andrew Lobban

Re: ...that would seriously inconvenience a Sky subscriber. Can you?

I had hoped to do this with Netflix, I was very excited about the prospect of ditching sky. However (and everyones viewing is different) for me Netflix is nowhere near a replacement for subscription tv. No current tv series, no current movies, no sport. Great if you are happy with lesser and slightly older moveis and great if you don't want to watch the current series of anything and aren't interested in sport.....

Netflix has a long way to go, I personally hope they get there because while running the trial I have been very impressed with the quality of the streams and the service in general, unfortunately, as they say, content is king.

iOnRoad Augmented Driving

Andrew Lobban
Devil

Words fail me!

This is not a good idea, this is the polar opposite of a good idea. Anything, and i do mean anything that gives reason to look away from the windscreen is a terrible idea. The concept of a hud to project speed and other small amounts of data onto the windscreen serves the very purpose of preventing you from having to glance down. This is not integrated enough, neat enough or useful enough to be anything more than a distraction.

Sorry officer i hit the back of your car, because my phone failed to warn me quickly enough that i was too close...

Icon because it kind of looks like the front of a car, a car that id dangerous because the driver is watching a video of whats going on ahead rather than simply looking out the much larger and clearer windscreen!

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