Recent Comments:
Google Maps for mobile gets Street View and walking directions {Engadget Mobile}
Sep 19th 2008 9:36AM I've heard that these new Street View features don't work on the iPhone version... Hurhurhurhur
My coat's the one with an HTC Hermes in it (did I mention Google Gears gives me Cell ID-based geolocation now, which also works with Google Maps and Google Mobile search?)
European Commission gives approval to in-flight calling over Europe {Engadget}
Apr 7th 2008 10:23AM Yay, hopefully soon I can use 3G data with my laptop while I travel ;) imagine that - you could surf youtube on a longhaul flight! Bollocks to the expensive in-flight PPV films :D
SiRFprima GPS receiver platform boosts sensitivity, adds 3D acceleration {Engadget}
Feb 9th 2008 9:28PM Wow, the intelligent commenters are out tonight.
;)
I think I may actually get a receiver with one of these chipsets in when they come to market, my old SirfSTAR III-based receiver doesn't always cut it in urban areas for accurate log-taking (and now I've started doing OSM stuff (streetmapping) it's sometimes not accurate at all).
Here's hoping that the new chipset devices come to market soon :)
Qtrax goes "live," tracks nowhere to be found {Engadget}
Jan 29th 2008 11:39PM I'm actually at Midem at the moment (where they launched), and all of this is amusing me GREATLY. To put it one way, the Qtrax execs are making themselves bloody scarce right now! It's a good job they have offices upstairs, away from the madding crowd - if they had a stand downstairs or on the Riviera level, they'd be being swamped with press and other attendees constantly. This does make me wonder whether it was just a bit of publicity, even if it ostensibly looks like they've made a big miscalculation...
... But if this wasn't deliberate, all this happening in the space of just two days - as cockups go, this was a pretty good one!
Qtrax promises unlimited, legal P2P downloads from all major labels. Probably too good to be true. {Engadget}
Jan 28th 2008 9:12PM Qtrax have been (quite literally) spamming Midem with their 'viral' (read: crap) ads for their service... And to be honest, I don't think it looks that great, either.
The Prefueled "Fuel Pumps" (browsable kiosks with media card interfaces and wifi hotspots to connect your machine to access the web sites on your own device) look really quite similar in UI design, but they're a really nice smooth experience (although they still offer DRMed content, a big no no with me).
If Spiralfrog is STILL struggling to reach critical mass in both usership and reputation, and they've been going for ages now, what makes anybody think that this ocmpany's any different?
Amazon MP3 store to spread DRM-free love global in 2008 {Engadget}
Jan 28th 2008 9:00PM I've had a chance to attend Midem this year, and I've potentially seen the future... AmazonMP3's a good contender for the time being, and it fills a void, but don't expect it to be around in its current incarnation for ever and ever.
Retailing of static audio content is a dying art, just like physical sales... What's really going to kick the market into gear are things like wrapper formats allowing for the combination of audio, video, text, alternative versions of songs with fan-produced remixes and the ability to switch between them in a musical way, the ability for the artist to subsequently send their fans remixes or alternate versions without having to download another file at a later date...
I'm not saying that'll be the be all and end all for digital music, but it's where the industry should be ending up - not a perpetuation of the old habits of selling the very same format audio files that people were sharing freely more than a decade ago.
HTC further responds to video driver issue, will improve future products {Engadget}
Jan 26th 2008 4:04PM Un-fucking-believable.
I was THIS >---< close to getting a Kaiser in two months' time when my current T-Mobile contract is up. I was going to enjoy consolidating my HTC Alpine's GPS functionality and my HTC Hermes' phone and data functionality into one handset, and the physical design and featureset was just totally uber.
Now I'm not going to buy a Kaiser, and I'll stick with my HTC Hermes until it finally stops working. Good job there HTC, you just lost £500 from someone who was less than 50 days from getting your latest handset. Your marketing team needs a kick up the arse, and you need to stop fitting chipsets which CAN offer the functionality yet, inexplicably, don't.
This is not a new problem, my 17 month old Hermes has the same problem - but yet somehow, when I trialed a box-fresh Kaiser versus my heavily-customised and app-laden Hermes in the T-Mobile shop, even something that should be hardware-accelerated and smooth as silk (streaming News 24 over the 3G connection, in this case) was faster, smoother and quicker to load on my Hermes than on the brand new Kaiser.
Epic fail.
I think I might actually get an older handset, at least I can be sure they'll offer the functionality you expect them to have.
RIM developing angled Blackberry keyboard? {Engadget}
Dec 25th 2007 11:18PM * glances at his 8 year old MS Natural ergonomic keyboard
* glances at illustration
* shrugs
* carries on
CCTV finally put to good use: filmmaking {Engadget}
Oct 1st 2007 1:12PM Evidently they sought permission for it. (as the article says ;)
Simple iPhone headphone mod {Hack a Day}
Sep 29th 2007 1:10AM Pff, I did this months ago with my 3.5mm patch cables for my PC (because the sockets are too close together and Maplin only sell crap leads which have huge chunky moulded ends on them)... One session with a breadknife later and they're my special edition slimline version, and they work really nicely. ;)
