Is 4G by EE another example of Rip-Off Britain?
With the announcement that EE will be launching its new 4G LTE network in 11 cities across the UK (not an impressive rollout, I agree), the thing that concerns me is, what will it cost?
4G is a highspeed internet connection that, supposedly, puts 3G to shame and even outstrips wifi connections. If you’re used to connecting to the internet whilst on the move, downloading and viewing videostreams, then the appeal of 4G is plain. Who wouldn’t want faster internet? I certainly would. But what’s the cost? I do want an easier life but I’m not about to pay a premium for it.
I called up my service provider to ask about pricing and, although no price plans have been released at the time of writing, one thing was clear – it was going to cost more than what I’m currently paying each month. And that really annoys me. At the moment, I’m paying a hefty monthly tariff as it is and I would expect to be moved onto 4G, at no extra charge. Eventually 3G networks will disappear and 4G will remain – it would be a bad thing for consumers if we ended up paying more for what is essentially a network upgrade. Broadband has been steadily upgraded over the past few years, at no extra cost to the consumer, so why should mobile internet be any different?
This is just another way for businesses to get as much as they can out of the consumer. Personally, I won’t be moving to 4G unless I get a good deal.
New iPad mini: Apple’s lack of innovation
So Apple has finally announced what has been on the rumour mills for the past few months – the iPad mini
It actually doesn’t look too bad and has a decent screen size – much more usable than the Google Nexus 7, the Samsung Galaxy Tab or Blackberry Playbook. And I’m sure when you have it in your hands, like all Apple products, it will feel like a solid piece of kit, well made and oozing quality.
However, the excitement pretty much ends there. There’s no retina HD display, no new features – we’ve seen it all before with the original iPad. Sure, it’s a handy new size and I think a welcome one, considering the bigger 9″ iPad is quite heavy in your hands. But there’s really nothing else to it. I’m considerably underwhelmed by Apple’s attention to the manufacturing – the ‘beautiful aluminium/glass enclosure’, ‘it’s incredibly thin’ blah, blah, blah. Honestly, Apple needs to realise that we are not all nerdy nor anoraks. Sure, it’s been put together really well but that’s not the USP that users are looking for – it’s not all about looks – we get that! Lets move on! We want the iPad to do things that no other tablet can do. We want new hardware features – or has Apple run out of innovation?
Personally, I feel that the effects of Steve Jobs’ are slowly fading off the company. It hasn’t launched a single innovative product since Jobs passed away – it’s all been about a higher resolution screen or slight modifications in design. There’s nothing new coming to us from Apple – nothing creative, nothing that makes our daily lives more easier, nothing that really changes the way we do things. Come on, Apple! Where’s that spark we all admired you for?
Apple needs to return to its creative roots and start to jump ahead, rather than releasing versions of the iPad that just keeps it ahead of the competition – and the competition ARE catching up; it won’t be long before Apple loses out to the momentum of other manufacturers and is relegated to a niche market, as delivered by Microsoft many years ago with the PC. The current seniors of Apple – Tim Cook and Phil Schiller – are, to be blunt, just not inspiring. I don’t feel excited by their ‘amazing’ announcements – mere empty words. I just don’t feel like I’m intrigued to see a presentation by Cook or Schiller – they don’t have the imagination that Jobs had and this is starting to show in their products. The launch of a new ‘thinner’ iMac is just testament to that. Apple has suffered over 75% drop in sales for the iMac, compared with the same quarter last year – a sign of Apple’s slow demise?
I sign off, unthrilled, uninspired and underwhelmed.
Apple slips with the iPhone 5, as it runs out of ideas
Having had my new iPhone 5 (upgrading from an iPhone 4), I’ve had a chance to explore its features and get a feel for the latest version of the iconic handset. And I’m quite disappointed.
The iPhone 5 has a lovely look (I’ve opted for the black) and still has a feel of quality and robustness. I like the fact that it’s all black and it’s actually quite light but still feels solid. It’s a good looking phone and, in my opinion, still more classier than the other smartphones on the market (including Samsung).
I’ve heard about the problems with scratching on the new metal back, so I put my phone into a new leather cover straight away. Hopefully that will avoid the phone being disfigured from the back.
The quality of the screen is sharper than the iPhone 4 I had but I suspect, no big difference for those who own a 4S. Certainly the audio is much louder and puts the 4S to shame.
Reception was fine – I got no inkling of antenna-gate, so I guess that’s now dead and buried. Battery life seems similar to the 4S. The new lightning USB lead does make you feel like it’s flimsy and doesn’t connect to your phone securely enough, even though it’s tight and snug. In terms of processor speed, I feel that the new phone is only slightly faster than its predecessor – I don’t think there’s anything noticeable enough to make me think ‘wow!’.
An 8MP camera is great to have in your pocket and a welcome upgrade for the phone. I loved the panorama mode (although there are other apps that were on the market, offering this).
Siri is still as problematic as it ever was – I just don’t see this catching on in its current form. It needs a serious upgrade in features and responses before this becomes something I can’t do without. I actually like the Maps App – it IS better than Google Maps but it does have the inaccuracies we’ve all heard about. I typed in one post code the other day to find that the navigation tried to take me 5 miles further away (good job, I knew where I was going and was only testing the Maps feature). But it is more elegant in its design and looks. Smooth scrolling and lovely graphics make this app one to watch as it gets revised. What is annoying is to have the directions pop up at the top of the screen, obscuring my view of where I’m meant to be going – surprised I’ve not heard anyone else complain about this.
So why is it that I’m disappointed?
Well, quite frankly, its the size. It’s only from having the iPhone 5 that I’ve realised just how good a job Apple did when it brought out the original iPhone and all its successive models up to the 4S. With my 5, I’m constantly struggling to reach all across the screen when I’m just using one hand. When I’m driving and have the iPhone propped up , the extra length causes the phone to regularly fall to one side. I never had these problems with the iPhone 4, or the 3GS before that. The iPhones I’ve had in the past were genuinely easy to use in every sense of the word. I never realised that the phone was designed to be in easy reach of my thumb when clicking here and there. Moving to a 4″ screen just doesn’t work. I have to jiggle with my iPhone 5 to select those options furthest away from the palm of my hand.
And I just don’t see what extra I’m getting from the longer screen. It’s not that big a difference over the 3.5″ screen of the previous editions. I don’t see that much extra when viewing videos. And what IS annoying is that so many apps just haven’t been upgraded to fill up the screen – many apps that I’m using are still working off the 3.5 inch size, so what’s the point of a larger screen.
Apple is slipping
So, as a follower of Apple for over two decades and as someone who is fond of the products and owns a few of them, Apple is slipping. There is nothing really groundbreaking with the iPhone 5. Sure, it’s thinner but, like many people, I’m not buying a phone because of its advances in manufacturing. If thin was king, then the MacBook Air would be the dominant laptop around. Having a longer screen it new for the iPhone but unnecessary and not new for the smartphone market. It seems that Apple is chasing sales that it may have lost from Samsung bringing out bigger phones – Apple shouldn’t be following Samsung’s lead but rather creating its own lead, as its pedigree demonstrates. I held off buying the iPhone 4S because I didn’t see enough of a jump from the iPhone 4 – the iPhone 5 is just another small step and not the big leap forward that many were expecting from Apple.
Is Apple running out of ideas and drive, now that Jobs is no longer with them? It seems that this may be the case because in the past year, we’ve certainly seen no major advance in smartphones.
Apple, you’re slipping.
Social Networking causing trouble?
Social Networking can be used to polarise and get people together, to attend an event, come together with opinions and views, and get people to learn from each other.
But can this go wrong??
This story was published today on Sky News – what do you think?
Six Held After Mass Water Fight In London
Six people were arrested, another was taken to hospital and one of London’s busiest shopping areas was closed after a mass water fight got out of hand.
Officers believe around 1,500 revellers took part in the event, which is thought to have been organised through social networking websites.
Police told Sky News Online that one man was detained on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. He is still being questioned.
The other five people have now been released on bail. They were held over various offences including affray, possession of an offensive weapon, two Section 5 public order offences and theft.
One person was treated in hospital after receiving facial injuries. The reveller is thought to have now left hospital.
The fight began at 1pm on Friday and high temperatures throughout the afternoon swelled numbers.
It began as good-natured fun but then soon descended into a police incident.
Revellers spilled out to Oxford Street, temporarily closing part of the shopping district whilst police tried to bring it under control.
Scotland Yard was forced to issue a Section 60 order allowing officers to search revellers in the area.
Officers managed to disperse crowds eight hours after the fight started.
The water fight eventually petered out at around 9pm, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said.
A posting on the internet advertising the event said: “As soon as the clock strikes 1pm, let battle commence – get as many other people wet without getting wet yourself! Last one with a dry T-shirt wins!!!”
Speaking about the water fight, a police spokesman told Sky News Online: “It is thought to have been organised in good faith and then escalated.”
It’s out! First impressions on the iPad
So, the iPad is now officially available and from the comments around the web, it seems to be a success but not a big one!
Those who have been lucky enough to own one, are impressed with the technology.
The touch screen is just as responsive as the iPhone/iPod – which is still quite impressive when you compare to other smartphones and touch screens around on the market. Other manufacturers have had a few years now to catch up but they are still lacking the beauty and responsiveness of the Apple gear.
But, the iPad’s screen seems to be more prone to fingerprints and marks – not good! Apple should have come up with something to help with this. So, screen = still one of the best on the market, finger marking = still one of the best on the market!
Next, apps. Well, judging from what iPad owners are saying, the apps are performing well and just as impressive. But the market is limited to reading books, games, watching videos – Apple seems to have hit the mark here.
But my question is, and always has been, is this enough? I don’t think so. I came across one iPad owner who said that they were impressed but not found anything that it would replace.
It’s early days yet so we will have to wait and see how things develop. I think that there will be a demand for owners to be able to do more with their iPads. To be able to do some read productivity work – and maybe iWork will help with that. But I’m sure there’ll be demands for more apps that lean towards business.
What about internet? Not heard too much on that yet, so please post your comments with how your experience with iPad has been. And to keep the balance, let’s have some non-Apple pundits throw down the gauntlet and tell Apple what they’re doing wrong, and what’s missing from the iPad.
The new non-Magical Apple iPad!
Ok. So everyone’s talking about the new Apple iPad. But is it a good idea? What’s the fuss all about? Haven’t we seen it all before? Is it, as Apple claim, magical!
And if you’ve already been taken in by the Apple hype-machine and got an iPhone or iPod Touch, like myself, is it worthwhile you investing in yet another Apple product, line the pockets of Silicon Valley, just to keep in with the latest fad?
At it’s most basic, the iPad is a larger version of the iPod Touch/iPhone. So it plays videos, audio, games, carries apps and photos, hooks up to the internet and is an e-book reader.
Unlike the iPhone, it doesn’t have a camera and you can’t make calls on it.
So what’s the point?
I’ve got an iPhone and it’s great. It’s portable, I can do loads more than I could on any of my previous phones. I’ve had Nokia, Palm, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung – there’s always been something about each phone I’ve hated – whether it’s texting, navigating, taking pics or even making calls. The iPhone went a long way to solve all of that.
So I can happily say, I’m very very satisfied – Apple’s done well here and that’s why the iPhone took the world by storm. Sure there’s improvements that can be made – is size one of them? Nope. I need my phone to be small, accessible, flexible and mobile.
So iPad isn’t gonna replace that, is it?
Right! Let’s have a look at the iPod Touch – I’m fortunate enough to have one of these as well. Does everything the iPhone can do except make calls and take pics. The main use for iPods is, and always has been, audio – playing mp3s.
Will a bigger screen make a big difference with audio? Not really.
Unless you’re watching video or browsing the internet. That’s where the iPad is more useful.
Instead of packing my portable, twin screen DVD player into my car, when I’m about to head off on a 6 hour round trip, south of the northern lands, I could just throw in the iPad, try to find some way of fixing it to the back of my headrest, then work out how to hook it up to the car’s audio system, have wires trailing all over the place.
Hmmm. Sounds like hard work.
OK. Scrub that. Let’s picture a sunny day, I’m taking a break from work and going out to lunch. I’ve got my sandwiches. It’s nice and warm outside (better make the most of it, cos it doesn’t last more than a week in this country!!) and I sit down to watch a video on my iPad, which I stuffed into my sandwich box in the morning (I did have to fork out a hefty £10 for a massive lunch box, just to get the iPad to fit!). I wipe off the crumbs from the screen and start to watch.
The screen is crystal clear, there’s no reflection from the blazing sun (18 degrees – lovely!) and I’m enjoying the video – struggling to hear the sound – but nevertheless, I’m gonna enjoy it! It’s my new iPad and I’ll find a use for it!!
Cynicism aside, I do think it’ll be good for video. And for gaming. Maybe even social networking. Why? Because these things thrive on bigger screens.
But it’s not enough. I want more!
Is the iPad a tablet PC? Nah, I don’t think so.
But that’s what I want it to be. That’s where the value is. A PC on the move – more portable than a laptop but with all the power! This is where I see things going. I can vision students carrying their iPads, preparing dissertations, taking notes; business people throwing away their paper minutes, agendas and reports, dipping into their email, making meetings much more informed and dynamic.
But the iPad is not there yet. It needs more features – being able to run an office suite, some creative work, editing on the move and publishing. It needs a more fully, functioning OS – not the iPhone OS, which, let’s face it, is a stripped down version of the beautiful and flowing Mac OS X.
The bigger screeen helps but the iPad needs more.
Personally I wouldn’t buy one yet because I know that Apple is probably already brewing the next version, complete with more functionality than the original – the same way they market all their products.
Sweeten the customers with a new concept, don’t put everything in at the start, get the money rolling in and the customers hooked. Then bring out another, more improved version that puts the last one to shame, meaning we’ve all got to go out and buy another one.
The iPad is good but not good enough – there’s not enough magic there yet. I’ll be waiting for the next one.
If you’ve already got an iPod Touch or iPnone then the reasons to get an iPad are blurred because you’ve already got the kit you need.
But what if you don’t have either the iPod or iPhone? Should you buy it?
Someone has to. It needs to be a success so that Apple will push it forward again and launch the one I’m waiting for – iPad 2!
All this technology 