Let there be light

So it was a given that I'd be sticking with iPhone at this point anyway, I'm too heavily invested in the ecosystem to change unless they REALLY mess up. That said, I do like the look of iOS 7.

Although frankly, quick access to brightness controls is enough to sate my desire for something fresh for another year.

'Bout time!

iPhone 4S / iPhone 5 Low Light Comparison Photo

Well, this certainly looks brighter, iso artefacts don't seem too bad either. Though I have  far from a professional eye in that regard.

Phones were held side by side, and focussed on the bin under the counter.

Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011

As I find out the news that Steve Jobs has passed away, I've just finished editing photos, uploading them to the web, and recording a radio station, all at the same time on an iPhone 4.

If not for Steve Jobs, and his vision to change the way we did things, I wonder if I would've been doing that. Love him or loathe him, the tech industry and the world has lost an absolute great today.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends, and all the folks at Apple. Rest easy Steve, you set out to change the world, and for that we shall always owe you a great deal.

Who Knew?

Turns out it's impossible to browse the internet without finding Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and cleavage together in the same photo.

Image source unkown

iOS 5 announced. OOOOH! Shiny! Coming this Autumn

Image via Favim (Source unknown)

Thank you Apple, by formally introducing OS X lion to the world you've finally given me opportunity to use the image above.

So today Steve Jobs (amongst others.) took to the stage in San Fran' to talk about OS X Lion, iOS 5, and the new iCloud. Pretty exciting stuff! Although I'm going to make my focus the new features in iOS 5. I'm sure OS X Lion has many sexy features, and at a $29.99 upgrade price its going to be a no brainer for any Intel Mac owner, but iOS 5 is my area of, expertise? Interest? Both? Either? It's going to be a long summer, as iOS 5 isn't due out to consumers till the awesomely vague 'Fall', but there is plenty to get excited about.

Of all the areas of iOS that suck the most, notifications is probably at the top of the list. In iOS 5, they will be much much improved. An unobtrusive bar at the top, no more popups to interrupt whatever you are doing. And a lock screen that actually displays useful information. Any notifications that you might have received, a swipe opens the relevant app. (Eerily similar to lock screens on Jailbroken devices running MobileNotifier.)

Image via  This Is My Next

Twitter is getting integrated right into the OS, and it wouldn't surprise me if that sees an influx of new people using Twitter. You'll be able to share photos and post them to Twitter right from within the camera app or the photo album. Tweet buttons are also getting added to make sharing weblinks easier from safari, locations from Maps, and videos from YouTube. I'm assuming those buttons wont appear if you haven't activated Twitter from within the settings, but if they do, yes, I'd expect to see an influx of Twitter users

The camera app is also getting some improvements. There's a camera shortcut on the new improved lockscreen. Pushing the button takes you straight to the camera app, even if you haven't unlocked your phone you can still take a new picture, and without opening up your other photos to prying eyes. (Hopefully this will avoid those 'Just give me a second to unlock, oh, moments passed' scenarios.) You can take pictures with the volume up button, exposure and focus lock are being added, and there's basic editing built in; Cropping, red eye removal and 'quick enhance'. The latter of which seems to add a post process HDR/exposure correction type feature. There's also pinch to zoom, which is damn cool on the phones that already have this (the Samsung Galaxy S amongst others.) but which in my opinion is next to useless. Digital zoom is just digital zoom, I'd much rather crop later.

iMessage is where RIM see their big draw in BBM made less of a big draw, and where the developers of Whatsapp, Pingchat, and Liveprofile start to panic. Its Apples own messaging client. All you'd expect, texts, pictures, video, group chat, all with delivery, read, and typing notifications, and its all securely encrypted. Yes, its true that many of those apps are cross platform, but I can see myself using Whatsapp much less when the official Apple equivalent comes along. And oh yes, it's available on ALL iDevices, so you can start a conversation on your iPhone, and carry it on on your iPad or iPad touch.

Image via   This Is My Next

From a personal and professional level, I'm also excited to see that iDevices will no longer have to be activated with iTunes. Out of the box now, a new user is greeted with a helpful 'connect to iTunes prompt. But in iOS 5, a welcome screen. At the moment anyone upgrading from an old iPhone to a new, mainly due to the micro sim, goes home from the store with an new iPhone they can't use yet, and an old iPhone whose SIM card is about to go dead at any moment. This is far from ideal if you need to be contacted in the time it takes you to get home and get your new device up and running. And when you do get you're shiny new iOS 5 device home, you'll be able to sync it wirelessly with iTunes, no more having to remember to sync or backup. (Looking at you Mrs.)

There was some other little bits. Dictionary available iOS wide, so any app can use it. (Although whether that is available if you don't have autocorrect enabled remains to be seen.) And a new reminder service, which is location aware. No idea what sort of effect that will have on battery life but its pretty sweet in theory.  Dozy commuters can presumably make sure they never miss their stop again.

Awww yeah! Delicious

I could totally go for a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale about now.
Image via @adriannecurry

That... could be awesome.

It took me a few seconds to realise what the photo was showing me.

It's hanging from a fridge. Screw the fridge, the magnets in that sucker are the new velcro. Got a metal surface? Add a new, sexier, lighter, iPad 2 to it. 

Smart Covers are literally the only thing I am sad is missing from my 1st gen iPad.
via Engadget

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Or as I prefer Happy Birthday Mike! Because there's few things I hate more than people who claim to be quarter Irish, Danish, Armenian, Wolverine or whatever, especially when they're using that as an excuse to don stupid hats and drink far too many pints of 'the black stuff'.  You know the ones. I don't care if your Great Grandfather was Irish, you were born in Minster, that makes you a Swampie, not a beloved lost son of the Emerald Isle.

In Chicago they turn the river green with dye for the day, in the UK we have a different tradition, we turn our high streets black with vomit for the night. Wouldn't be so bad if these faux Irish drunkards used the free Guinness hats for puking in.

So yes, Happy Birthday Mike! Curses to you for dragging me out tonight! I'm really not happy about it at all.

Ahhhh, rage subsiding, I guess it isn't all bad.

Not again

Damn that new iPad 2 sure does look svelte. But who put it next to a cheap white digital photo frame like my Nan got us all last Christmas.

White iPad 2 you say? Oh jesus, well don't hang around! Go get a Smart Cover on that thing and quick. (In orange preferably.) 

Canny marketing Apple, very canny.

A Fine Boozer

The Red Lion in Sittingbourne makes for a good pint on days the sun shines, and during the hours it actually shines in the courtyard.

Such as today.

Taken using an iPhone 4 and Pro HDR

Employee of the Month!

As with any employee of the month award, we first require some background, so the other employees don't feel to slighted, we need to know just what this employee has done to earn such an accolade. So here we go. 

Friday night I was drinking beers with a couple of friends. (If you're interested I was drinking Budweiser '66', which is an improvement over the pisswater of normal Budweiser in my opinion.) 

We we're making serious inroads into the first beer of the night, the movie has just started, and then the phone rings. It's my friends other half, she's got a flat tyre. Well we could hardly leave her by herself with a flat on a Friday night, and as one of our number was driving and sober anyway we piled into the car and off we went. I took a few beers with me because hey, its Friday, and I'm not the one driving.

We arrive, and she's got all the tools to change the tyre bar one. We need a flathead screwdriver or similar to prise the hubcap out of the centre of her alloys to get to the wheel nuts.

This is a problem... We don't have a screwdriver, there's not a similar tool kept with the jack and iron, so this presents a problem. We're gonna have to go all the way back home for a screwdriver... But then, who should save the day...

Its, an Inanimate Carbon Rod!*

Turns out the pry tip on the edge of the Brewzer beer tool was a perfect fit to get under the hubcap and prise it off, the tyre was successfully changed and off we all went home to more beers. Thank you Brewzer. You not only open my beers, you saved three guys from the embarrassment of being stymied by a hubcap. I can't think of anyone else more deserving in my employ.

*Okay so this technically is a Inanimate Stainless Steel Rod, but if I called it that then The Simpsons gag doesn't work. I'm pretty sure stainless has carbon in it on some level.

So long Ibiza, until next year.

Yes I like Piña Coladas. There was however no rain to get caught in.

Taken at SunSeaBar, I can thoroughly recommend the fish. Especially the dentex. Odd name, really tasty fish.

A Shadow over Milton

Not that I'm saying the people of Milton worship the Deep Ones.*




*Though I wouldn't be surprised.

Man Up.

I was reading my Twitter feed. (As one does these days.) As I did so something posted by the folks over at Picturecool caught my eye, seemed poignant. Someone, who I would love to credit but Picturecool rarely link to the source, had created this image. It was pretty cool but the slogan was a bit harsh for my liking. Hardness, does not necessarily equal goodness, or manliness, in my eyes. 

So I tracked down the original photo (Taken by Robert F. Sargent, I found a copy here.) And I created my own simpler, more straightforward version for my iPad, inspired by the original wallpaper. An iPad wallpaper to remind us all. (Not just the men.) That hey, just get on with whatever you are doing, it's really not that terrible. You could be asked to do much, much more.

(Click for larger size)

THE WORLD IS ENDING!*

*Or maybe your iPhone 4 struggles when your big plates of meat cover the antenna?

So, today Apple issued an iPhone software update that corrects a mistake in the signal strength displayed which goes all the way back to the first iPhone. The day before Apple are holding their first press conference, which is specifically addressing the iPhone 4.

There has been much, much talk of how terrible the iPhone 4's signal is and how Apple must clearly issue a recall to fix this horrifying problem. The death grip has become a thing of legend. And the stink it's caused on the tech blogosphere reminds me of the Facebook privacy hoo-hah from 2 months ago (Remember that? When everyone was angry at Facebook? Swearing to quit using it etc? Yeah, that died a death didn't it?) There's even been rumours that tomorrows press conference is to announce that CEO Steve Jobs is standing down over the whole issue. Which is possibly the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard.

Firstly. The iPhone 4 has been out less than 30 days. If you are that unhappy with your iPhone 4, return it. Secondly, 2 million iPhones have been sold. And I'm not convinced this is as big a problem as is being made out.

But! Apple did release the update, and I installed it, and could finally get the death grip magic touch to actually effect my signal! At home I now saw a drop from five bars to four, and in my local, (a previous blackspot for signal) was able to get the signal to drop from 5 bars to 2 by applying the death grip. However, my iPhone 3G used to be lucky to get 2 bars in my local in the first place, let alone 5, AND usually when not trying to deliberately drop signal I keep my iPhone4 in a case anyway.

My own very unscientific conclusion is; yes, the iPhone4 gets better reception than my old iPhone, and yes, if you hold a phone in a way to cover the antenna, its going to interfere with signal. Try having a conversation via a V3 RAZR with your hand clasped over the plastic bottom and see how well you get on!

Some people are having a death grip problem. But, if a cellphone has only 1 bar signal, you KNOW you're in a bad signal area, and hold the phone accordingly. Once on my old phone, in the middle of nowhere I had to call my bank, no signal, the phone was fine on speaker phone in my hand with 1 bar. The whole 90 seconds it took me to enter all my account details and press the right options and listen to the recorded woman telling me my call was important. That was all fine. As soon as I was through to an operator, turned off the speaker phone, and placed the phone to my head, Call dropped.

My big man noggin blocked all the signal. I really must stop trying to crush walnuts with my man mind while in areas of low signal. But if that Happened when I had five bars I would be fuming! but knowing it was with one bar... I expected it. Apple is too blame here. Artificially enhancing the indicated signal, but not to blame for our own bodies interfering with signal strength.

Bad signal happens, Apple has now provided the information to deal with it. Man up and do so!

Quattro, Vier, Quatre, Cuatro, Fyre, Four.

Four, the number of hours sleep I have been getting each night because of a desire to watch as much World Cup and World Cup highlights as possible?

No, well, yes, but not the four in question. This would of course be the iPhone 4. I've had mine for seven days now, and here's my review.

Yeah, it's pretty awesome.

...

Oh okay okay, you want another blog post about how great it is, here it is. Everyone saw the look of the phone months ago thanks to Gizmodogate but it really stands out in person. it feels solid and well made, with a weight behind it that backs up its price. As mentioned previously in my post comparing the leaked black and white iPhones the new one has a definite 2001 monolith feel about it. The glass back and slender steel sides give the iPhone4 the feel of being carved from a slab of the future itself. It's impressive, and the buttons all click (or in the case of the mute switch, slide.) very responsively.

The screen though, is where the iPhone4 really shines (pun intended). This thing is bananas. You really cannot appreciate just how nice this display is until you see it in person. I always thought the display on my old iPhone 3G was pretty good, but it really does look like arse compared to this. To get an idea of just how big a display apple have managed to squeeze into the 3.5" physical area, check out this wallpaper created by Arron over at Razorianfly.com. The 640 x 960 pixel dimensions take up a helluva lot of space on my desktop machine, yet its crammed into 3.5 inches. Like I said, that is Bananas. Its a bit of a cliché now but the screen really is like print media. Fonts are crisp and clear, images pop out of the screen at you. It's very impressive.

It's definitely a whole heap faster than my iPhone 3G. The new model has the much faster A4 processor used in the iPad, and double the ram of the 3GS, so everything feels really quick to load. Its not significantly faster than my girlfriends 3GS, maybe a second or two at most. Carcassone was a bit of a bother on my 3G, it now opens almost immediately.

The camera is also, excellent. Apple have been pretty clever with this camera. 5MP is not going to blow anyone out of the water here. Sony Ericsson, Samsung, are among just a few of the compaines offering cellphones with 8 and 12MP cameras now, but this 5MP sensor is very very good. Ars technica have put up a very interesting article which goes into depth just what makes the iPhone4's CMOS sensor so good and it goes into more technical depth with regards to sensor size and pixel pitch than I am comfortable with summing up here. fortunately they summed it up for me, and conclude its almost good enough to completely replace a point and shoot for a lot of people, and I would agree. The video recording is certainly enough to replace any Flip video camera  or the ilk. It's smooth and great quality.

It's not all been good times though. There has been a lot of discussion online about antenna problems, and yellowing screens. The yellowing screens apparently resolve themselves over a few days of use, and maybe down to the adhesive used to bond the two layers of the screen together not being cured properly before Foxconn have shipped them, but the antenna problem has become quite noisy on the web, and the butt of many jokes.

It seems the iPhone4 has a 'death spot' that when touched by a finger (or the palm of your hand when on a call) Causes the signal to drop and eventually ends with no service. Try as I might I cannot replicate this effect with my unit. Apparently having a case prevents this from happening, and mine is being kept snug in a Gear4 case bought from O2 on the day of purchase. But even outside of that case, I cannot get my signal to drop.

I can only conclude that: 

1. I have bizarre cyborg hands which are not bridging the gap between antennas electrically. 
2. This is a problem that only manifests when in areas of poor signal anyway. 
3. Perhaps the yellowed displays from a lack of curing time are a sign that Foxconn's QA teams were not up to scratch with a batch or three of iPhone4 and have shipped defective units.

Apple have apparently sold 1.5 million units since launch. Sure there's a lot of people getting the antenna issue, but 1.5 million worth? I don't see the complaints being that high yet. I'm certainly not included in it, my signal has improved. In places like my local where before on the sofas 3G signal was an unlikely fantasy and the dreaded single dot of GPRS data reigned supreme I now pull in solid Edge data, with the occasional pop back up to 3G.

So there we go. Another glowing blog post about the iPhone 4. As I said up top... It's pretty awesome!


UPDATE: Anandtech have an interesting post up regarding the iPhone4 antenna problems after analysing the antennas gain and loss.

iPhone 4 racks up 600,000 pre-orders. Not from O2 though. UPDATED

So, the iPhone 4 was available for pre-ordering from the Apple website yesterday. And they've sold a ridiculous number already. Seems like all existing stock has been sold and if you order now, you wont get one until at least July 2nd. Prices not totally unreasonable for a sim free unlocked smartphone with a built in iPod Touch. £499 for the 16gb version, or £599 for the 32gb version. (How times have changed, I remember when my Sony Ericsson P900 broke and Dixons wanted to send me a cheque for £649 to replace it.)

What I find most frustrating about the new iPhone though, is the complete lack of any useful information from O2. I've registered my interest as an existing customer, and they've been sending me emails, which is good. And they've all been optimistically titled like a countdown, whipping their readers into a frothy mess. The latest '8 Days to go' Is telling me what to do with the new micro-sim that the iPhone 4 uses.

Great. But you know what would be really useful O2? Something like, I dunno, A price? The ability to pre-order my upgrade for delivery on the 24th? My local O2 store not to be closed for three weeks refurbishment including the launch day? Yes, all of those things!

At this point I'm just guessing how much O2 are likely to charge, just based on what Vodafone leaked accidentally the other day. Which is no way to go. Come on O2 tell us something useful!

UPDATE: Orange have released their iPhone price plans, and include how much it will cost to take it on their network, adding another frustration that I'm still in the dark with regards to O2's prices.

UPDATE: O2 are obviously avid readers of my blog and have finally updated with handset prices. Pretty much same as the other networks though seems a little more expensive on the lower tariffs. Back when I worked in phone retail £30 per month on a contract was the sweet spot for good prices. Now it definitely seems that £40 per month is that sweet spot. Weirdly on the lowest O2100 tariff it's actually more expensive to buy the phone on a 24 month contract than 18. Obviously O2 have done their maths with regards to ARPU and come to the conclusion that they wont make as much money out of the 24 month there. Strange to see though.

Probably the Best Blog Entry in the World.

It is a well known fact that I like beer, and I Like Carlsberg. I like the fact it can be found in many many pubs on draught. I like it's 3.8% alcohol content which means I can drink throughout the evening without getting leathered on the first two pints. I even like the shade of green on it's cans. Maybe watching Ice Cold In Alex as a child influenced my fragile mind but I like to think that It's just because it's a tasty beer. 

Savvy marketing from Carlsberg as well, over the years they've had one of the most notable taglines ever (see blog title) and they've got their name out there across the world especially in football. And as its the world cup, I've more excuse than normal to be drinking and watching the games and exposing myself to savvy Carlsberg advertising.

One thing I've never been able to figure out though, is why the hell do a Danish brewer sponsor the England national team? Shouldn't Shepherd Neame have jumped in on that what with them being "Britain's Oldest Brewer" and all?  Although, given the evidence from the Faversham Hop Festival maybe its best that England sticks with Carlsberg, they do put their name in all the right places.

Recipe: Sour Victorian Mojito

My girlfriend first drank a caipirinha in Brazil, during carnaval. I remember the first time I had one, August 2006, Ibiza. I had drunk so many mojitos at the Sun Sea Bar that they had run out of mint. And recommended the caipirinha as a very suitable alternative. (When you're drinking so many mojitos that a sunset bar runs out of mint, you know you're in for a good night.)

One of the many mojitos enjoyed during that afternoon was named on the menu the Victorian mojito. Rum, apple schnapps, pieces of apple along with the usual mojito ingredients of mint, lime and brown sugar. However since then a Google search will quickly reveal that a Victorian mojito doesn't involve rum at all. Its a mojito made with gin, and favoured by Hemingway. (Is there a drink in existence that doesn't claim to have been favoured by Hemingway?) Well ladies and gentlemen, I present to you. The Sour Victorian Mojito.

Why sour? That is unfortunately a side effect of the town I live in. You just can't find apple schnapps, so a bottle of sour apple Mickey Finns it is,  but that has actually worked out pretty well.

The apple normally adds an extra sweetness to the mojito, for those who already find a mojito too sweet this would almost certainly be a bad thing. However the sourness of the Mickey Finns add an extra bit of bite to the rum and the limes. It really brings out a wider range of flavours. One day I'll try this with apple schnapps and I'll add angostura bitters to see if that works as well. However for now...

You will need:

• 2 tsp of brown sugar
• 2-3 lime quarters, depending on garnish.
• 8 mint leaves.
• 2-3 slices of apple, again depending on garnish.
• Crushed ice (if you don't have an ice crusher put the ice in a tea towel and beat it with a rolling pin.)
• 2 measures of rum
• 2 measures of an Apple Sourz equivilent.

I used Mount Gay rum for mine today, as that's what I had available. I can also recommend Havana Club Anejo Especial.

And its just as easy to prepare as a normal mojito. Muddle the brown sugar and limes at the bottom of the glass, throw in the mint and muddle it some more, fill the glass halfway with crushed ice, throw in the apple slices, fill the rest of the glass with ice and then pour the apple liquor and the rum. Then give the whole thing a good stir to mix the flavour. Add a little bit of extra crushed ice to top up the glass as garnish, then slice of apple and mint on the edge if you like.

Now all you have to do is go outside in the sunshine and enjoy it!

If you're unsure of how to properly prepare a mojito, and have an iPhone? You should check out this app from Havana Club.

Not Australian

When I worked in a call centre, people used to ask me a lot where I was from. "Uh, we're based in Kent." No they would say, where are YOU from. "Uh, Kent." And it would continue. No no where about in Australia are you from? Originally? "Uh, always lived in Kent. Sorry... cobber."

I guess growing up with Neighbours on BBC 1 after all the kids programming might have effected a slight twang to my accent but, I'm sorry callers, not Australian.

I'd love to visit though, and failing that would like to sample some of the local produce. However we don't get too many Australian beers penetrating the UK market, especially on draught. European? of course! American? Yup. Japanese? Yeah, actually, a few. But Australian? Fosters and Castlemaine XXXX are about it. And drinking Fosters is a far more popular pastime on a Friday night than a XXXX. But then hey Britain is a nation of drinkers rather than lovers. BOOM BOOM TSSS!

My apologies, but back to the amber nectar. 'Australian for beer', 'Get some Australian in you' 'Down Under piss water'. Oh yes, we all know the slogans*, but you know what? In Australia, no bugger drinks Fosters! It's Tooheys or Carlton, or Victoria Bitter. Fosters nary gets a look in. You'd have more luck finding a bunyip than finding Fosters on draught, and it's only slightly more common in bottles.

Which is how I know, this woman, is not Australian.

*One of those might not actually be a Fosters slogan.