Gadget Review of the Year - 2011

Well, if I'm going to do a review of the year, it had better be right now because there's only five hours of 2011 left.

Things were a bit lean on the gadget front this year, mainly because I bought the ultimate gadget in June, a new house! We had been talking about moving for some time, but we finally decided to bite the bullet and go for it. We weren't prepared for quite what a massively time-consuming (and to be honest, stressful) thing this would be, but it's done now and we're settled in nicely.

Other than that rather expensive purchase, I managed to acquire a new Xbox 360 Slim (after the other one suffered a rather drawn-out demise). It's a much more sleek unit than the old one, and having 250GB of storage is a bonus. It has also proved its worth as a decent media player too, as I've been using it as a stop-gap DVD player and media streamer in the lounge.

I also got a second Apple TV for the bedroom, and I also got round to migrating my iTunes library onto an external hard drive to free up space on the iMac. I've been upgrading a lot of my music to Apple Lossless, and ripping a lot of DVDs, so having the extra storage has been pretty much essential.

Other than that, in November I retired the HTC Legend and managed to finally get my hands on the Gadget To Rule Them All, an iPhone 4. This is, it goes without saying, quite the most magnificent thing in the known universe and why I didn't get one sooner is beyond me. Obviously, I considered the new iPhone 4S but ultimately it came down to money, so the 4 ended up being the better deal. iOS5 is excellent, and it has already become indispensable.

The final gadget acquisition of 2011 was an Apple Magic Trackpad for my birthday just a couple of weeks ago, and like all Apple gadgets it is superb - it really takes advantage of Lion's multitouch features, and now I've got used to it I can't see myself going back to a mouse any time soon.

And I can't let it go without saying that 2011 was a sad time for the gadget world when we lost Steve Jobs. We won't ever see another quite like him.

So goodbye 2011, and let's hope 2012 is filled full of gadget-goodness for you all. I have my eye on the home cinema conversion for starters - let's see how that one pans out!

iPhone, therefore iAm

If you've been hanging around here for long enough, you'll remember my inner turmoil back in mid 2010 when I was trying to choose a new mobile phone. I eventually settled on the HTC Legend, and in the main I've been pretty happy with it. Android is a fairly decent operating system, and the availability of decent apps improved immeasurably in the 18 months that I had the phone. My main gripes were to do with the hardware of the phone itself, rather than the operating system. Firstly, there was nowhere near enough onboard storage (the phone was constantly telling me it was running out of space) and the screen was a bit small for web surfing (and more recently, Kindle reading).

So anyway, my 18 month contract came to an end and it was time for me to choose yet another new phone. Would I go Android again? Or would I, just maybe, finally opt for the iPhone? When the iPhone 4S was released, I was - like everyone else - a bit disappointed by it being just a gradual evolution of the iPhone 4, rather than an all new iPhone 5.

But at the same time as Apple showed the world the iPhone 4S, they also sneaked out - with little fanfare - a cheaper, 8GB version of the iPhone 4. With it being effectively a "last gen" phone with less storage space, Apple were asking a very reasonable price for it.

I'd heard a lot of good things about the Tesco phone network, and in particular their good-value 12 month contracts. I figured if I could manage the upfront cost for a handset, then 12 months would be ideal.

The amount of minutes, texts and data on offer for £25 a month were more than enough, but the handset prices were still a little on the high side. If I wanted the latest-and-greatest iPhone 4S then I'd have to find £335 for the phone itself. However, if I was happy to slum it with an 8GB iPhone 4 it would only be £200. Talking to friends who were still stuck in their iPhone 4 contracts for several more months, but who were still incredibly happy with the performance of the 4, I decided this was the way to go.

And here we are. I've now had the 8GB iPhone 4 for a little under 2 weeks, and I absolutely love it. I realise it's not the 4S, but compared to my wilderness years without any iPhone at all, it is just brilliant. So finally you can hear the end of my "I wish I had an iPhone" moaning. It's here, and it's staying.

Supply and demand

So now we're on to my third post about the HTC Desire and it's pricing - and let me tell you, things have certainly NOT improved.

My analysis of the situation (if it counts for anything) is that the networks have just realised exactly how popular this phone is going to be, and before you can say "KER-CHING!" all the price plans - on all the networks - have gone through the roof.

Would you like an example of this? Remember how I said that you could get the Desire for £10 per month if you were prepared to pay £164 up front for it? And then it changed to £15 per month and £226 up front? So now what do you think it could have gone up to? Have a look at this then...

So if you want to spend £25 a month on your HTC Desire, then T-Mobile would like to charge you £380 up front for the privilege! £980 over 2 years! Bearing in mind you can buy the Desire SIM-free and unlocked for about £375, this is not what I would call a VERY GOOD DEAL.

Anyway, my enquiries with Vodafone came to nothing as well - they wanted £30 per month (so these rumours of £15 per month over 18 months were somewhat exaggerated) and even threatening to leave Virgin didn't get me a deal better than £20 per month and £100 up front.

Upshot of all this then? Erm... well, it would appear that my financial wizardry has all come utterly unstuck over the last couple of weeks. To my mind, the HTC Desire can really only compete as an "iPhone killer" if it is substantially cheaper. If the prices put it into the same territory as the mighty iPhone, then it's going to have a hard time. Sorry, I did try to save you some money. Honest.

Paranoid Android

As you will already know, I've wanted an iPhone ever since they were first announced. I'm a massive Apple fan, but I've never managed to take the iPhone plunge - and the main reason is that the cost has always been an insurmountable obstacle. I've had mobile phones for the last ten years, and I've never - NEVER - paid more than £15 a month for them. I've had Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson handsets, so I'm not particularly brand-loyal. I just can't bring myself to spend £30 a month (or more) on what is, essentially, just a phone.

However, I was starting to come round to the (fairly obvious) idea that if I wanted the Jesusphone, I'd just have to suck it up and pay the money - there's really no way round it. I was doing the sums to see how the different plans and upfront handset costs compared in terms of total cost over the life of the contract. The way things stand at present is that all three UK carriers (O2, Vodafone and Orange) offer their cheapest total package for £30 a month, on an 18-month contract. The handset cost for all three is £99, bringing the total to £639. For that princely sum, O2 offer you 100 minutes and unlimited texts, Vodafone give you 75 minutes and 250 texts, and Orange can let you have 150 minutes and 250 texts. Depending on how you like to use your phone (if you're a texter or a talker) then the choice is really between O2 and Orange (Vodafone don't seem very competitive in this price bracket).

If, however, you're looking at the smallest possible monthly outlay, then you need to be looking at O2, as they are the only ones who offer a £25 per month deal. But this is over 24 months, and the handset cost goes up to £149, bringing the total cost of ownership to a massive £749. Doesn't really seem cost effective to scrimp on that extra fiver a month does it?!

All of these calculations are based on getting the 8GB iPhone 3G, not the 3GS. Clearly if you want the better phone, then you're looking at between another £100-150 on top. You might think that you could do without the 3GS and live with the 3G, but bearing in mind the announcement about iPhoneOS 4.0 this week, and the fact that the 3G won't support a lot of the new features, then that more basic phone suddenly doesn't look like so much of a bargain.

So - you have a lot of decisions to make: how much you want your monthly outlay to be, whether you're getting the necessary amount of minutes and texts and how much you're prepared to spend upfront on the handset. For me personally, the £30 18-month contract on O2 would be the sufficient for me, as I don't make many voice calls but I do text a lot. However, knowing what we now do about OS4.0, I'd have to get the 3GS and not the 3G - so total cost £738. Of course, there's a new iPhone in the pipeline due to surface in about June or July, so it would probably be prudent to wait until then. Perhaps the 3GS price will become the entry level model and the price will drop, or perhaps the new handset will have some great new design or features that make it a must-have. So what's a potential iPhone purchaser to do, bearing in mind all these factors?

Let me tell you my current thinking - don't get an iPhone at all. Get an Android phone instead.

The new HTC Desire is a phone that matches the iPhone on a lot of levels, and in some ways surpasses it. It may not be made by the mighty Apple, but having done the research it seems just as good if not better. For a start the screen on the Desire is a 3.7" 800x480 pixel AMOLED. Compare that to the iPhone's 3.5" 480x320 TFT. The Desire's camera is 5MP as opposed to the iPhone's 3MP. The Desire is packing a faster processor and more RAM than the iPhone. Other than that, they both have accelerometers, digital compasses and assisted GPS and are both the same size and weight. Hmm, iPhone - you're suddenly not looking so clever.

Software-wise, the Android operating system is open-source, customisable and supports true application multitasking out of the box.

However, where the iPhone is, of course, a winner is in regards to its App Store. Yes, there's an Android Market, but at the moment it's really not in the same league as Apple's. But, as it currently stands, all my regularly used apps - Wordpress, Evernote, Shazam, eBay, Last.fm, Spotify, Facebook - are already available on Android, with the only exception - Dropbox - being on its way in the coming weeks. What you lose in apps, you make up for in Google integration. As a heavy user of Google's products - gMail, calendar, contacts, reader, Picasa, Youtube, maps - this is a definite bonus. And with the Android Market expected to increase massively over the next 12 months, I can see the gap between the two offerings becoming much narrower.

And that brings me on to the price - what's all this talk of Android? Why bother? All things being equal, just get the bloody iPhone. But things are most certainly NOT equal.

If I want my 100 voice minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet (as offered by O2) then T-Mobile have quite the tempting offer. The upfront handset cost for the HTC Desire is £164, and then the monthly tariff is either £15 over 18 months, or £10 a month over 24. Total cost over 18 months £434, or £404 over 24 months.

Let me reiterate: 100 minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited internet, 18-month contract. Total cost of ownership for an iPhone 3GS on O2 = £738. HTC Desire on T-Mobile = £434. £164 for the handset upfront as opposed to £249. £15 a month instead of £30. A saving of £304 in total.

As the youth of today like to say - NO BRAINER. Android here I come.

Essential upgrade - maybe

Word on the street (i.e. internet) says that there will be a new version of the iPod Touch arriving as early as September this year. And, if rumours are to be believed, it could come complete with everything from a built-in camera to a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

The things I would most like to see, and the things that are most likely to be included in the update, are a camera (hopefully the autofocus/macro model from the iPhone 3GS) and the GPS capabilities (also from the iPhone). These two things would make the Touch even more indespensable than it already is. The number of apps that would benefit from a camera are immense, and equally GPS for being properly "location aware" would be brilliant. Less likely, but also high on my personal wishlist, would be a built-in microphone. I'm guessing a processor speed bump and more RAM are a given, as is the version 3.0 OS.

However, if these things really were included the the third-gen Touch, wouldn't it be straying just a bit *too* far into iPhone territory? Already it's 75% iPhone, and these additions would push it to about 90%. The only thing missing would be the telephony features. I'm thinking that Apple would be wary of eating into its iPhone sales (and associated revenue from the stupidly long and stupidly expensive tarriffs).

Needless to say though, if they did manage to put a camera and GPS in the next model, mine would be straight on eBay and I'd preorder the day it was announced - providing it can come in at a sensible price. Let's hope that the money men at Apple see the sales opportunities for a better Touch and don't fret too much about their iPhone contracts...

And... thanks for nothing.

So the WWDC keynote has been and gone, and it was all a bit... well... meh.

The iPhone 3.0 OS looks like a good upgrade, but it wasn't exactly a surprise as it was announced months ago - and if I want it on my iPod Touch it'll cost me, whereas iPhone users get it for free. What's that all about?! But it's definitely worth the outlay as it will give me the ability to CUT, COPY, PASTE AND UNDO!!

As for Snow Leopard, again it looks like a worthwhile step forward. And the best bit? Only $29! That's a serious bargain. Oh, wait... what's this?! Intel only? Ah. Not for me, this brave new world. There will be no snow on my ageing G5 Leopard.

And so on to the much anticipated new iPhone hardware - the iPhone 3GS! Marvel at the camera that is THREE WHOLE MEGAPIXELS WHICH CAN RECORD FRICKIN' VIDEO! Gasp in wonder at the introduction of HSDPA! WHOA! What is this, 2007?!

Way to go Apple. Sometimes you disappoint me greatly. But I still love you. I think.

WWDC today - but do I care enough?

With only a few hours to go until Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference 2009, it is now pretty much accepted wisdom that there will be an announcement of a new iPhone. If this is true, it'll be the third year on the bounce that they've released new iPhone hardware. Now I'm all up for technological advancement, and bearing in mind I'm about 6 weeks away from the end of my current mobile phone contract I may well be in the market for just such a device.

However, I have a few issues with the whole iPhone sales model. If Apple continue this 12-month cycle of hardware upgrades, how are customers going to fare with this incessant pace of change? If I got myself a new 18-month contract for a 3rd generation iPhone as soon as it's released, I'm pretty much guaranteed to have an obsolete model after 12 months. So do I then get the 4th-gen iPhone when the contract expires, knowing that if I'm just a bit more patient I can have the 5th-gen in just another six months? My god, it's enough to make your head spin!

But my *real* problem with the iPhone is unfortunately more fundamental than the obsolescense of the hardware. The cost is just a bit rich for my blood. I know that you're getting what is arguably the best mobile phone in the world, but the monthly cost is what's putting me off. The cheapest contract for an iPhone is £30 a month, for 18 months, with an upfront cost of £100 for the 8GB model. For that outlay, you get 75 minutes and 125 texts and unlimited data.

Now I can get a super-shiny Nokia E71 (which admittedly, isn't an iPhone but is widely recognised to be the best smart phone on the market bar none) for free on an 18-month contract with 200 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data for £20 a month from three.co.uk.

There's an interesting comparison between the two phones from Wired.com - just try to ignore the geeks and concentrate on the phones...



So over the life of the 18-month contract the iPhone will set me back £640, the Nokia will cost me £360. That's some significant margin - £280 is a lot in my world.

So there's my problem - I *know* the iPhone is better. I *know* it's cooler. I *know* it's made by the almighty Apple. But when I already have an iPod Touch (which is 75% of the iPhone anyway), I just can't justify the cost. My iPhone-owning friends have all said "but it's only an extra £10 a month", but the flip side of that is that "it's a WHOLE £10 extra a month".

So yes, let's have some shiny new hardware. Let's make the best phone in the world even better. Let's bask in the glory of Apple's design and vision. But more than any of those things, LET'S MAKE THE DAMN THING CHEAPER.

*** UPDATE ***

So now the WWDC keynote has been and gone, and Apple have announced their new iPhone model, the iPhone 3GS. So far as I can tell, it's very similar to the old model but now sports HSDPA and a 3 megapixel camera with video capability. Both of which the Nokia E71 has had since it's introduction over a year ago. But the best bit? The upfront cost for the 8GB iPhone 3GS is a bargain at only £185. Which, from my earlier calculations, pushes the total 18-month cost up to £725. Excuse me if I don't rush to buy one.

Remotely interesting

I've had two Roku Soundbridges for quite a while now. I started with just the one soon after they were first released in the UK, and I loved it so much that I bought a second one soon after for another room. The principle is simple - they're merely audio streamers that use your iTunes library to wirelessly pipe your music to an attached hi-fi. The good bit is, the system works seamlessly and they look nice, which is always a bonus.

However, a couple of months back, my original Soundbridge gave up the ghost. After extensive testing, I came to the conclusion that it was shafted (I think it may have been the power supply) but try as I might, I couldn't get it working again. I looked around for a replacement unit, but it turns out they're now as rare as rocking horse poo, and the only place I could get one was secondhand on Fleabay. I considered alternative options like the Squeezebox Duet and the Sonos multiroom system, but they were way out of my price range. I thought about an Apple Airport Express, but discounted it because I needed to be able to control it without sitting at my computer.

However, it was while I was researching these options that I came across the iPhone/Touch remote app for controlling iTunes. I'd never really noticed it existed before as I had no real need to use it, but I decided that it just might be what I was looking for to make the Airport Express a viable option. I searched around a bit more, but strangely I couldn't get a definitive answer about whether I would be able to use it to remotely control an Airport Express attached to iTunes. Not even the combined geek-knowledge of Richbos and OliTee could answer the question.

I figured that there *should* be a way of using the Remote app to control iTunes to, in turn, stream its music to the Airport Express - all via wi-fi. If it did what I wanted - and if it worked correctly - it would be quite an elegant solution. I could be sat in the kitchen, use the Touch to browse the iTunes library held on my iMac, choose some music and tell it to be sent to the Airport Express in the lounge. Or was I just expecting too much?



First things first - I downloaded the free Remote app via the Apple App Store. Dead easy, and all done in seconds via the Touch itself. Within no time I was enjoying controlling iTunes using it, despite being sat only two feet from my iMac. So far, so good - but a bit pointless without the Airport Express.

I managed to secure myself an Airport Express on eBay for the very reasonable sum of £45, and just two days later I was feverishly unboxing it. I figured that I might be able to just plug it in and get cracking, but even though its an Apple product, it's not *that* clever. There's still some configuration to be done - but it's reasonably simple.

Firstly, my Airport Express was still configured to its previous owner's settings, so as soon as I tried to connect to it with my iMac it requested a password. Fortunately, it's an easy job to do a factory reset and wipe the unit of its configuration. Hold down the reset button for ten seconds, and there you go.

Once that was done, I ran the Airport Setup Utility on my iMac. My mac is normally hooked up via ethernet, but for this step I had to activate the built-in wi-fi so that the iMac and Airport Express could talk to each other. Very quickly the iMac had detected the wireless signal that the AE was broadcasting, and I connected to it. The utility then takes you through some simple steps to find out how you want to use the AE. I opted to make it a client device on my existing wi-fi network (which was sufficient for my purposes) and with that it was set up and raring to go. A 3.5mm jack to stereo RCA lead to connect it to the AUX input on my hi-fi and I was ready to unleash some tunes.



I fired up iTunes, and after a bit of searching I located a previously unseen dropdown menu in the bottom right of the screen which listed both my computer and the new Airport Express as speaker options. From this you can choose one or both to determine where the audio from iTunes gets sent. I chose both, just for fun, and hit play. I was pleasantly surprised to hear my music emanating from both my computer speakers and my hi-fi speakers in the other room, both in perfect sync with each other. Result!

So then - moment of truth. I switched on the iPod Touch and selected the Remote app. I went to the 'settings' screen (from where you choose which iTunes library to connect to) and, right there in front of me, were two new menu options for 'Speakers' - it listed my iMac and my Airport Express, with on/off switches next to them! I navigated through to my library, found a new album and pressed play on the Touch. Again, without so much as a hiccup, the music changed on both computer and AE.

I then discovered that you can activate and deactivate the speakers from the 'Now playing' screen without having to go back to the 'Settings' page every time. Simply tap the album cover, and not only do you get shuffle, repeat and genius options at the top you also get speaker options at the bottom. I spent a good five minutes switching the speakers on and off - just for fun!

So the upshot of all this is - yes, it works as I wanted it to. And it does it beautifully. So well, in fact, that I'm thinking of eBaying my other Soundbridge and buying another Airport Express. It's a brilliant, elegant and simple solution - how very "Apple"...

Mobile

So about that mobile tech I mentioned earlier, I'm just dropping this quick post in from my iPod Touch to test out its Wordpress app. The Touch was a birthday present, and I'm really very impressed with it so far. In fact, I'm starting to see the appeal of the iPhone now.