Microsoft surface

The highlight, for me, was trying out Microsoft Surface, the tabletop multi-gesture surface (or, probably more accurately, it’s a smoked glass touch sensitive coffee table). The one I tried was their original £10 model but with Samsung now manufacturing these the price has already come down to £5k. Once it hits around £1k they think the home user may be interested.

But this isn’t just a large table-top tablet. The abilities of the Microsoft Surface are really quite amazing, which it’s able to implement using IR sensors below the table top to detect levels of heat.

Two demonstrations of what it could do stood out. First, a transparent pass card was placed on the surface. Embedded in the card, but not visible to the eye, were the user credentials. Upon seeing this the Surface, below where the pass card was placed, showed a keypad and allowed the user to enter their password. This means the card itself became the pin pad.

The other demonstration used a combination of physics and graphics. Balls dropped down the screen to settle on one side. You were then able to pick a number of disks and place on the surface, each performing different tasks – one could adjust the gravity, another would be seen as a solid object, etc, etc. So the gravity one, when turned, would cause the balls to realistically tumble around the table depending on where you’d pointed it. A simple demo but powerfully showed what the table was capable of.

I’d say the only thing about Surface that I wasn’t keen on was the slightly matt finish of it – I’m guessing to reduce finger prints, etc.

Windows Phone 7

I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve not tried out Windows Phone 7 before and, thanks to a nice man from Microsoft, I was able to try out his personal HTC phone (which I believe was an HTC Mozart). As a die-hard Android fan, I have to say that I was quite impressed. The interface looks very nice and is very smooth in use.

I’m still not sold, however, due to various shortcomings of the OS (lack of apps, 3rd party apps can’t fully multi-task, etc).

I’m told that at my place of work, who currently use Blackberries, will shortly also be offering managers the option to use Windows Phone 7 instead. I’d go for the Microsoft option.

Nintendo 3DS

Also, a few days ago, I had my first opportunity to try out the Nintendo 3DS running Pilotwings. It was only a brief try-out, concentrating on the game and the 3D camera.

The 3D is, it has to be said, impressive – it has a real feeling of depth. It takes a second or so to adjust your eyes to it, though, and there is my main issue – after playing for a few minutes my eyes struggled to adjust back to normal. A colleague of mine started to get a headache.

Ignore all the tat in the papers at the moment about massive returns as that’s not the case. However, BBC’s Click programme recently reviewed the 3DS and said that pretty much everyone that tried it in their office switched off the 3D after a few minutes. If the 3D is all you’re buying it for – try first!

If, though, you’re happy to turn off the 3D then you’ll instead have a powerful games console. The graphics are vastly improved and the improved controls are easy to use.

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Downloadable from the Creative website, it’s a 119MB file which is installed like any other app – this download includes both the Android update plus ZiiO firmware updates. Download links are at the bottom of this post.

According to Creative the changes are as follows…

• Upgrades the OS from Android 2.1 (Eclair) to Android 2.2 (Froyo).
• Adds support for Text-To-Speech.
• Adds the new Recovery mode.
• Adds the new Amazon Kindle application (for US region only).
• Updates the ZiiAcademy and ZiiStore applications to the latest versions.
• In the Browser application, you can now set User Agent to Desktop or Mobile.
• Allows application data to be moved from the system storage to the device media storage if the application supports it.
• Updates the User Guide to reflect new features.
• Adds eight additional language translations (Danish, Greek, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, and Turkish) for the User Guide.

Nothing particularly stand-out, other than being able to installs apps on media storage. However, a quick look at the Froyo upgrade list also shows that we should be looking forward to a faster, more optimised, experience and the ability to run Flash.

Before installation, be aware of the following…

• After installing this firmware, you will not be able to downgrade back to the previous firmware.
• If you are currently using a live wallpaper, it will be reset after installing this firmware. Shortcuts and widgets on the Home panel will also be reset. You will need to reselect the wallpaper and add the items and widgets back to the Home panel.
• Before you install this firmware:
  1. Back up the tablet contents.
  2. Delete current widgets on the Home panel so that the upgraded widgets can take effect.
  3. Ensure that your ZiiO’s battery level is at 25% or higher.
  4. Use Task Manager to close all applications.

I have to say, the upgrade process is really smooth – everything is explained on-screen as you go through it and it took less time for the upgrade to install (about 5 minutes) than it took to download it!

Once complete, I was presented with a reset Home screen. Next to the X-fi bar is now a Task Manager widget, which shows the number of running apps and a shortcut to the Task Manager app. But that’s about it – the ZiiO is already quite nippy so I haven’t, as yet, noticed any speed improvements.

Amazon Kindle has been installed (I wonder how much Creative were paid for that one – especially as the ZiiO comes with its own book reading app!).

I then installed Flash Player 10.2 (a 4.2 MB download) and headed off to YouTube – works great. The recent launched iPlayer app only works with Android 2.2 but is a little harder to find without the Android Marketplace. However, I did, and that too works too – unfortunately I’m on a slow wi-fi right now so can’t test it properly.

All-in-all, a nice and easy upgrade process which I’m sure over time will be beneficial – nothing too obvious to see right now, but that’s probably a good thing!

Downloads

There are separate download depending on your current ZiiO firmware level. You can check the firmware version by tapping Settings > About. The firmware version is displayed under Build Number.

Download Android 2.2 (for firmware versions 1.00.27 and 1.00.28)

Download Android 2.2 (for firmware versions 1.00.13)

Download Flash

Download BBC iPlayer App

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Here’s what developers said about the “revolutionary” FaceTime feature on the new iPhone…

“FaceTime is the feature that will really take the iPhone to the next level for me,” said Vincent Ganneau of Haploid.

“Everybody has been talking about face to face chatting for a long time,” said Sean Vosen of Vokal.

“This changes everything in terms of what we can provide, what people can do, the reach, the speed and who can use these devices. It has blown me away.”

Wow. What is this amazing new feature? It’s video calling. Something I had on my phone years ago.

Except FaceTime (poor name) only works across iPhone 4s. And on Wi-Fi. And on the same phone network. Unlike my chunky old 3 mobile which would work on the 3G network to any other 3G connected phone.

Or have I missed something?

Sorry, distracted by the chance to have a rant about a product that isn’t actually revolutionary. New iPhones often have a single feature that’s new, but everything else is old hat but re-packaged. And the iPhone 4 is more of the same.

No, what I was going to write about was something that has been mentioned before on BBC blogs, and even on the BBCs own Feedback radio programme.

Everytime Apple launch a new product, the BBC go to town with what amounts to nothing more than full page ads for Apple. So, a new product has been launched – it’s evoltunary rather than revoluntary.

But where’s the BBC page about the HTC Desire or HTC Evo? The HTC Desire has already been declared to be an iPhone killer and the HTC Evo advances that further with a front facing camera (yes, HTC beat Apple to it), 8 mega pixel rear facing camera with twin flash and the ability to create WiFi hotspots.

But there’s nothing on the BBC site.

Indeed, the last time HTC had more than a glancing mention, it was when they were suing, yes, Apple. I could be cynical and say that it probably only got a mention then because of who they were suing… but I won’t

Seriously, BBC? Unfortunately, they hide behind the fact that these Apple events are incredibly popular and is, therefore, in the interests of the public.

However, the Apple fan-boy who is desperate to read about the latest Apple product launch is not the majority. And when this level of publicity does nothing for Apple except promote their product, then the BBC should be re-thinking its policy.

Maybe stick a page about it in the technology section and leave it as that. Oh, and make sure you cover other big product launches too.

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I haven’t linked to any of the apps, as they should all be searchable in the Android Marketplace.

Oh, and I haven’t listed games (they’re a lot more of a personal choice, I find).

Information

The BBC news widget is particularly useful, providing easy access to the various BBC news feeds.

Movies, by Flixster, uses GPS to good use by displaying nearby cinemas and listing for their current shows. However, when viewing other information, such as trailers, it does appear to have constant network issues and this feature therefore doesn’t appear to work. A shame.

Google Sky Map is a fascinating educational tool that lets you point your phone heavenward and view the stars and planets whilst moving around.

ShopSavvy is a barcode scanner that will then look the product up to try and find prices. Useful for when you’re out shopping.

WikiMobile provides a mobile interface to Wikipedia.

Media

Until an official BBC iPlayer app appears, beebPlayer will help – it will let you view iPlayer TV content, along with listening to live Radio. Sadly, there’s no iPlayer radio content available.

Amazon MP3 provides access and purchasing capabilities for MP3 tracks from the Amazon website. They also have free tracks, although it’s best to look these up on the main Amazon site and then search for them on the app, as there’s no option on the app to list free tracks.

Last.fm is a streaming music player for the popular website, whereas Simple Last.fm Scrobbler will send details of all the music you’ve listened to, to the very same site for statistics purposes.

And for those who haven’t come across Shazam before, it may come as a bit of a revelation. The next time you’re at the pub and can’t identify a piece of music, simply use this app and it will work it out for you.

Lastly, I come to Podcasts. I initially used Google’s own Listen app but that simply failed to pick up new episodes of subscribed “shows”. I’m now trying out BeyondPod, which is only free for the first week. So far, it seems to work nicely.

Messaging

Meebo is a good, all-purpose instant messaging client.

And, if you find the default text messaging software a little bland, you could try Handcent, which includes speech bubble style conversation threads and is generally, well, a little more inspiring.

By default, reminders on Android are a bit lacking – you get a text or a missed call and you don’t get to hear about it after the initial reminder. Missed Reminder will keep nagging you and has a plethora of options, from LED colours to flashing the trackball.

Network

3G Watchdog is an excellent way of monitoring your data usage (you just need to know what your data usage  limit is and when it runs to/from).

In an attempt to preserve battery power, the phone will automatically drop wi-fi connection when the phone is in standby. This option can be changed via the settings, but you may want to be able to switch this on/off as required. Wi-Fi Lock is a useful widget to do just that.

Office

AK Notepad is, well, just that – a useful note facility. However, if you want to stick a note on your screen, then I’d recommend Sticky Note.

Integrating with my existing online services, Quick Save will add a facility to quickly add links to Read it Later, and Astrid will synchronise and allow me to update my Remember the Milk to-do lists.

A more recent find is cloudList which allows you to create “tick lists” which can be accessed on both your phone and on their website.

WordPress have released their own app, WordPress for Android, which allows the quick editing of posts.

Sadly lacking is an app for Google Reader.

Social Networks

Facebook have their own App and, for eBay, Pocket Auctions works well.

I’m not mentioning a Twitter client right now, as I’m in the middle of reviewing a number – more on that in a later post!

Tools

Advanced Task Manager provides quick lists of running apps and ways to quickly “kill” them. There’s even a widget to perform an instant kill.

For file management, I’d turn to ASTRO which, erm, does just that.

Profilechanger is not very pretty but does exactly what I want – allows me to change profiles at certain times of the day – in my case, it goes silent overnight.

One the facilities sadly lacking in Android is the ability to backup your data and your apps. MyBackup Pro does just that – both onto your SD card and online. However, unlike most of my other recommendations, this isn’t a freebie. Give the trial a go though!

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None-the-less, because of the drum banging and ceremony that goes with an Apple launch, BBC feel the need to allow people to submit their comments. My favourite is this…

Apple never just produces ‘gadgets’; they engineer solutions that people can see fitting into their lives eventually.

It’s that last word… eventually. What he’s trying to say is that Apple find solutions to problems that don’t currently exist. Whoever could accuse Apple customers of being vain, purchasing style over price and function?

Having said that, I quite like this comment…

You can just hear the money being poured into the Apple bank account as the brainless tech sheep of this generation rush out to by this fantastically overpriced netbook.

<snigger>  The worst comment award though must go to..

Finally stupid netbooks will disappear. But if you’re going to carry around a 10-inch so-called pad why not just buy a Macbook with more power, to do work, play DVDs and all that added functionality?

Yea, those stupid netbooks. Good case against them. Erm. But, yea, if you’re going to carry around a 10-inch computer, why not just buy a much, much bulkier 13-inch Macbook at not far off twice the price of an iPad<snort>?  Stupid consumers eh? And there they are buying 10-inch £200 Netbooks. What are they thinking?

…blogger David Artiss was pleasantly surprised that he had some BBC bods commenting on his Wii post and more so that we’d linked to him from the blog

I was, however, even more surprised to come in this morning and find that the same post had been referenced on the BBC website!¹ I suspect they’ve not seen my update though, where I had constant problems with bandwidth problems and the resultant pausing of playback.

Oh well, 15 minutes of minor fame…

1. in case you’re wondering how I knew, I use Google Alerts to inform me of any reference to my site

The iPlayer has been usable in the past using the Opera-powered browser channel, but has been of limited quality and, well, not very easy to use. Now we have a very specific channel just for iPlayer. And it’s been a long time coming – the BBC have been talking about it for a year and a half.

However, I can only assume they’ve spent this time time on development and testing because the end result is superb.

The download is quick and quite compact (I wonder if it’s using components of the browser – e.g. Flash – I didn’t have time to check if this was the case). It’s slick in use (although there is a delay each time you start it) and very polished. Most importantly, programmes are easy to find and, best of all, show in full screen without any obvious problems. Considering the Wii only has 512MB of memory and no hard drive, I thought that buffering would suffer and there would be delays during playback. During the (admittedly limited) time I had to test it this morning, I didn’t see any such problems.

I headed towards last Saturdays Doctor Who episode – it looks good. A little grainy, but no obvious over-compression during fast moving sequences (such as the opening titles). Hey, it’s not HD quality, but then the Wii isn’t an HD console!

As I watch more on it, I’ll report back if I do come across any problems with stuttering or compression artefacts.

Overall, I’m damn impressed. I can see the Wii being used even more now – my wife and I missed a BBC programme at the weekend, and will be watching it on the Wii iPlayer tonight. Now we just need the other channels to do something similar…

Update: My wife used the Wii iPlayer during the day to watch a half hour show – 20 minutes in it stated “insufficient bandwidth” and wouldn’t proceed. This even we watched another half hour show and it froze 6 times during playback. There were also some sound sync issues as well. So, not so good. My broadband isn’t too bad either – usually about 2-3 meg and the wireless router is about 2 metres away from the Wii.

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Never-the-less, there was a quote from the Association of Independent Music stating that once CDs are replaced, the law could be misused to “open the floodgates to unstoppable copying”, adding that it would like to see copyright holders compensated when music was copied.

Sam from the very same Association of Independent Music read my blog (yes people really do) and commented.

We’d like to see and are working towards a new commercial/legislative framework that allows music fans to freely and legally do what technology allows, while ensuring the creators are fairly reimbursed.  We’re not there yet, but will need to be very soon..  We aren’t advocating copyright holders are compensated when music is copied for personal use – ie from CD to computer.

Now if I’ve interpreted this correctly, they’re saying that you’ll be able to copy CD’s to your PC without an issue. The BBC quote from AIM shows they want compensation when music is copied, yet Sam is saying this is not the case. Is the BBC mis-quoting or have I missed something? Sam does specifically say they’re not after compensation when music is copied for personal use, so maybe he’s talking about compensation under different circumstances? Surely if you’re copying for non-personal use, then this is already covered under legislation (either licensing or the fact, in the case of copying for other people, it’s illegal). So where does the reimbursement come in (unless it’s to get money from those who have been caught illegally copying music)?

Sam, if you’re reading this, please comment and clarify this a little further for me!

One thing in the BBC article that does worry me is “owners would not be allowed to sell or give away their original discs once they had made a copy.” I wonder how this would be policed? I’m assuming they mean this would only be the case if you retained the copy – surely making a copy would not then mean that under no circumstances could you sell the original?