Last Wednesday I added to my collection of computers by purchasing a Samsung N210 netbook - a small, low-power, long-life laptop computer.

My primary reason for purchasing such a machine was for a forthcoming holiday, allowing me to backup photographs, video footage, write a journal and connect to the internet. A standard laptop wouldn't fit the bill - the one available to me was just to big and heavy. My smartphone didn't have the connectivity or storage to allow me to get pictures off from SD cards.

So the netbook option seemed to be the logical choice, and after a lot of searching (it's a crowded marketplace), I settled on the Samsung.

This particular model has a white case, a 10.1" 1024x600 matt screen, 250GB hard drive, 1GB DDR2 RAM (expandable to 2GB), Bluetooth, wifi 802.11b/g/n, built-in webcam, SD card reader and 3x USB sockets. The processor is one of the newer Atom N450 1.66GHz models which features an Intel GMA350 graphics chip as well. This processor, compared to the older Atom N270, features significant power reduction meaning battery life is significantly better than the earlier model.

I had to spend a lot of time seriously considering my requirements and trawling through reviews. Quite early on, I settled for a machine with the N450 processor which fortunately narrowed my search. From here though, machines are very similar with little to tell between them.

What settled it for me was that this model had strong reviews and featured the newest WiFi standard. Although I don't operate a 802.11n network just yet, I'm planning an upgrade in the not-to-distant future and it made sense to future proof the machine as far as possible.

As for my impressions now that I'm using the netbook, I'm very happy. The machine is slightly heavier than I anticipated but compared to an inexpensive laptop, it's certainly small and light. It fits in my backpack easily and I think it'll just fit in to my camera bag. The reduced resolution on the screen is noticeable - particularly in the vertical, but small tricks such as auto-hiding the taskbar and running a web browser full-screen offsets that limitation somewhat. Battery life is impressive and I estimate achieving anything between 5 - 7 hours of uptime depending of course on what it's used for. Admittedly this is short of the advertised 11 hours battery life, but still very good.

There's no doubt that the processor is limited, but day-to-day browsing feels sufficiently fast. Standard definition video files play okay from the hard-drive but I did struggle to use BBC iPlayer through Firefox on the supplied Windows 7 Starter. Video playback stuttered and full-screen use was out of the question.

I've configured my machine to dual-boot Windows 7 with Ubuntu Netbook Remix 10.04. I've divided the disk into multiple partitions to accommodate the two operating systems, the restore partition and a shared data partition. I find myself booting more and more into Ubuntu. It feels snappy and iPlayer here is much more successful although full-screen playback is still a struggle.

There are a few niggles with the open source system - after installation there is no wireless connectivity until an update is done via wired ethernet, and some additional software needs to be installed to make some special keys e.g., brightness work. I've also noticed the wireless does not always resume when waking the machine from a sleep state although this is intermittent and a reboot easily fixes it. I also needed to enable multiple desktops using gconf-editor which I think is essential on a limited resolution screen. Now it's configured though, I think it's a very usable and snappy system.

The Windows installation needed some work too. As seems to be the case with bought computer systems, a lot of extra - unnecessary - software was pre-installed. It took some time to install this as part of the initial setup and then more time again to remove it. I'm talking about Microsoft Office 2007 (trial), Microsoft Works, various non-standard games, McAfee virus scanner - all applications that hog disk space and have the potential to slow down the machine. Fortunately once I'd cleared all this I was able to take a snapshot of the system with one of the useful pieces of software - Samsung Recovery Solution 4.

So all-in-all, I think this was a sound choice and I'm looking forward to putting it through it's paces. As well as the uses I mentioned earlier, I will also see how it performs next to my radio equipment - I wonder if it emits a large amount of RF? As it has a large battery life I'm considering how useful it could be for operating a portable PSK amateur radio station. I suspect that it will be like other laptops I've used - on battery it'll be fine. It'll be the mains adaptor that pollutes the spectrum.

At the time of writing, the Samsung N210 was available at Amazon UK for £278 (white model) or £333 (black model).

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Tags: computers, reviews, gadgets, amateur radio

Following my comments about the closure of BBC Radio 6 Music and the availability of DAB receivers for use in the car, I decided to do a bit more research.

Whilst my point about the lack of availability still stands, there are options for listening to digital radio on the move. Rather than limiting myself to searching the Halfords website (who do not stock DAB receivers), I made a wider search and did come across receivers available from stores such as Argos, Amazon and John Lewis.

The choice is still limited. There are not many head units available and those that do exist cost significantly more than analogue radio receivers. There is a cheaper option available though - a receiver which re-broadcasts DAB on to the FM band. I picked up one of these units at the weekend ... a Pure Highway.

This is a unit which is about the size of an old Walkman (the cassette tape variety). It has a windscreen mount to hold it in place and takes power from the car 'cigarette lighter' socket. An internal adhesive aerial is provided which sticks to the windscreen or a fixed window. A few controls provide access to tuning, station presets and a settings menu. Feedback is provided by way of a small LCD screen.

Setting up the Highway is very straightforward; it can be tidily installed in 10-20 minutes. I positioned the windscreen mount to the right of the windscreen, ran the power cable through the fuse box cover and through the centre console to re-appear just before the power socket, and stuck the aerial on the rear right passenger window which doesn't open. The aerial cable is tucked in to the trimming above the door surrounds and is only visible when it appears near the mount.

Initial tuning picks up my local multiplexes: BBC National DAB, D1 National and NOW Essex. Unfortunately reception of the latter is not great and even D1 National has problems in certain parts of the county. BBC National DAB is more or less fine apart from one very small area in my daily commute. Whilst I'm happy with this for the time being; I will probably invest in an external aerial which should improve the reception of D1 National at least.

The Pure Highway incorporates an FM transmitter so that digital radio can be heard via an existing car radio. This works particularly well. On first use, the unit scans the FM band for a free frequency and then instructs the user to tune the car radio to that frequency. On my route I have not heard any hiss or breakthrough from neighbouring FM stations. The car radio RDS displays "PURE DAB" when correctly tuned, although it would be nice if it displayed the name of the tuned station.

If your car radio has a line-in socket, there is no need to use the FM transmitter. A line-out socket on the Highway allows direct connection to the car radio which should offer higher sound quality particularly if the FM band is crowded. My car radio doesn't have this though, so I can't test it.

Another handy feature which I haven't yet tested is the presence of a line-in socket. This allows for the connection of an MP3 player and uses the FM transmitter or line-out to send that audio to the car radio. I no longer need my original FM transmitter since the Pure Highway now fulfills that role!

A final feature that could prove very useful is that the Highway is not limited to use in the car. Of course, any FM radio within it's range can receive it's signals so you could convert an existing home radio to hear DAB signals. More than that though, is that it can be used as a portable receiver. By adding a couple of AA batteries and plugging headphones into the line-out socket, the Highway becomes a handheld receiver. I'm using it in this way as I type this, and sitting at my computer I get perfect reception of BBC National DAB and D1 National. NOW Essex is non-existent however. The lead of the headphones is used as an aerial, so how this will work walking about or on the train, I don't know but in theory at least, this saves the need to buy a separate unit for portable listening.

In summary, I'm very happy with my new purchase. It's brought me back in to the world of digital radio, which I vacated back in 2005 with the loss of my first car and it's DAB head unit (which broke). Whilst I maintain my opinion that there are shortcomings to the DAB system used by the UK, I'm happy to be able to receive the digital-only stations which appeal to me ... BBC 6 Music, NME Radio, Amazing Radio, Planet Rock and Absolute Radio (not digital only, but the only alternative here is AM).

The Pure Highway is available from stores such as Amazon, Argos, John Lewis and Play.com for approximately £80

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Tags: radio, dab, gadgets, reviews

There's been a lot written in the technology press recently about e-book readers - tablet like devices with e-ink screens used primarily for reading e-books but also, in some cases, as a basic media player.

Whilst the concept of e-books has been around for a number of years with the likes of Project Gutenberg and reading on PDAs, actual dedicated readers are only around 5 years old though; with more being released with the last year than in the 4 years previous.

The growth of the reader has probably been spurned on by the launch of the Amazon Kindle reader sold by the internet behemoth initially in the US. Now, the latest version is available in the UK and Waterstones have been pushing a Sony model in its stores.

As a gadget, I'm quite impressed. The thin, book size devices - perhaps with a nice leather fold-over cover - with a battery life measured in page turns rather than minutes or hours (when reading at least) certainly results in an appealing gadget but the question is will I buy one?

For some reason or another, I've been pondering this over the last couple of days. Initially I was firmly in the 'NO' camp. I couldn't bear the idea of getting rid of my ordinary books. Bookshelves look nice. They make a home look lived-in. Somehow, an e-book reader would not have the same ambience. My opinion hasn't changed greatly during my musings, but I have moved ever so slightly away from the steadfast 'NO' to "No, but I won't rule it out".

You see, there is a part of me (and it is a small part) that likes the clutter-free home. Where a living room is rather minimalist; dominated by furniture but that's all - books, DVDs, blu-ray discs, CDs are all out of site.

The technology-lover in me reminds me that at one time I thought I'd never embrace music downloads ... now I have a monthly subscription of 75 songs.

I then think of the times I carry books around in my bag and the tatty edges they earn like trophies awarded for the many miles they may have travelled. None of that for a nice e-book reader.

Before I cry 'Vive le (gadget) révolution' and rush to Waterstones waving my wallet shouting 'take my cash, take my cash', there are problems that draw me back into the 400 year old world of print:

• The cost. With e-book readers costing upwards of £150, I would be quite wary. Reading in the living room, or at work in the staff room would be great but what about reading in public: on the bus, tube, train or plane, on the beach, in a cafe? Can I engrose myself fully in the book knowing that I hold in my hand what could be quite a desirable object? Advertising to thieves? Also thinking of the beach, what would sand do to the device, or salt water for that matter? Reading in the bath? No thanks. If I drop a paperback in water, I've lost maybe £10. To loose £150 is another matter.

• The cost of a book. As I understand it, e-books aren't significantly cheaper than real books. The argument is that editing costs etc. are the same. I argue that distribution costs must be vastly reduced and the lack of a physical product naturally reduces the value. If I can't get books for cheaper digitally then I'm unlikely to embrace the idea.

• Formats. Amazon uses it's own e-book format for which a Kindle is required. Other readers use more open formats. I don't want to get involved in a format war, so I will wait until a standard for all stores appears that works on all e-book readers. Much like most digital music is now available in MP3 and will play on anything.

• DRM. I know piracy is likely to be an issue, just like with music. However, just like with music, if the product is cheap enough and easy to use I believe many people will opt for the legal option. I won't enter this market if it is riddled with DRM. I don't want to have limits on how many devices I can use, or have the possibility of a book being deleted from my device because of a publication problem.

If all of these problems are addressed, and I'm sure many if not all will be over time, then I'll reconsider my position on e-books. Until then, paper is my friend.

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Tags: gadgets, technology, books

As is tradition, here is my final blog entry for the year - and this time, the final one for the decade.

Blogs all over the internet seem to be doing it, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and take a look back over the last ten years, from a personal point of view, on how things have changed.

Back in December 1999, I was just 17 years old and awaiting the turn of the the popular millennium. (Of course this didn't really happen until 2001 but why let technicalities get in the way of a good party? The roll-over of 4 figures seems much more significant anyway). I remember all the comments: where's our flying cars, jet packs and silver suits so often dipicted in futuristic novels and films. Of course none of these came about, but a lot has developed in technology. Things that may have been unthinkable at the time.

I'm looking around my living room at the tech that sits in front of me. Computers, digital photography, a big screen High Definition television, blu-ray, Sky+HD ... Really all amazing things that probably most people would take for granted nowaday.

The Computer

Ten years ago, I didn't have my own PC - the most powerful computer system I owned was a Sony Playstation. The desktop machine was a shared family machine running Windows 98. I don't know what it's spec was but obviously it was nothing compared to now. Internet connectivity was via dialup modem - the cheapest way to get online was via congested 0800 services such as IC24. No networking, multimedia consisted of poor quality video and 128kbps MP3s.

It wasn't until 2001 that I could afford to build my first desktop computer - a measly 1GHz Intel Duron machine running Windows ME before changing to Windows 2000. There was still no networking so I had my own modem in order to get online.

2002 was the year I first became connected to broadband at the seamingly blisteringly fast speeds of 512kbps down/256kbps up. Of course nowadays these speeds can be achieved by mobile phone and the thought of speeds like this on a fixed line would be sneered at. It was 2002 that the connected world meant I could start properly developing my website.

From then it's been more computers, the addition of wired and then wireless networks leading to the sitation now where I operate a home server, a desktop machine used as a media centre, a desktop machine used for amateur radio and general use, the laptop computer and a 3G/WiFi connected mobile phone.

Gaming

I've always been a bit behind the times when it's come to computer games. I've never had a machine of high enough specification to seriously consider PC gaming bar the odd game here and there, so it's been left to the games console. In 1999 I'd saved up enough to buy my own Playstation and I remember being amazed at the visuals of games like Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy VII. Of course by now this machine was already aging - the Playstation 2 was only two years away.

The later machine I didn't purchase until 2006 and it is this machine that sits under my TV. As of now, I'm still working my way through Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Even comparing the PS2 to the original machine though, the visuals are vastly superior and the games more immersive. I know the Xbox 360 and PS3 will be a huge leap again but I don't intend to get the latest Microsoft console until later in 2010 - 5 years after it was originally released.

Talking of the players in gaming ten years ago, the likes of Sony, Sega and Nintendo where the big three. Since then Sega has dropped out of manufacturing, and Microsoft came onto the Scene with the original XBox machine. Nintendo looked shaky with it's first machine of the noughties (Game Cube) but was now stormed ahead with the Wii - the first mainstream machine to feature motion control.

Multimedia

The CRT was king for television back in 1999. I had my own personal 14" TV/VHS combi and the family unit was a 28" (I think) beast. Over the air signals were mainly analogue with me not experiencing Freeview until 2002.

Now, my screen is a 32" LCD and I like the idea of upping the size to 42". Such screen sizes would not be possible ten years ago - imagine how much room a CRT of such a size would be!

Of course VHS just didn't cut it anymore. The DVD was released in 1999 and I got my first disk in 2002 which I played through my first computer - not a dedicated player. Now I barely touch the old tapes. I have however bought myself a Video Recorder for the pricely sum of £2 in order to dub some old cassettes.

Now I'm again experiencing a format change with the move from DVD to Blu-ray. Okay it's not as dramatic since I can still play my older DVD collection, but the appeal of High Definition video is too great to resist. Sky HD provides superb broadcast picture quality compared to the often poor standard definition equivalent.

Whilst broadcast picture quality may have decreased with the introduction of digital to terrestrial broadcast and Sky; the number of channels available now is staggering. Compare Freeview today to analogue television a liittle over 10 years ago, featuring just 4-5 stations. For better or worse, no-one can argue that today we are all spoilt for choice.

Photography

Taking photographs has had such a radical change over the last decade. Ten years ago the idea of having a digital camera was completely unrealistic - much too expensive. I had a compact Praktica camera taking 35mm film allowing for 24 or 36 exposures per film. Photography was not a cheap hobby for the casual photographer. The cost of film and development had to be considered each time that shutter was clicked. I like to think that this forced me to consider each shot more carefully but I don't really think this is true - I didn't know what made a good picture so just took the snaps that appealed to me.

Nowadays, there is little if any choice in film cameras for the casual photographer. Many compact cameras now are digital, small and cheap. Where the digital cameras of ten years ago featured perhaps a maximum of 2mp, todays cameras range from 8mp upwards. We are in the situation where those who don't know just believe more megapixels equals better quality photographs. The camera in the mobile phone has now reached 8mp and more despite not having the optics to support it.

My first digital camera was the Sony DSC-P200 - a high end (at the time) 7mp camera. This suited me until 2008 when I bought a Casio Exilim EX1080 10mp compact camera. It features little in the way of manual control, but is good for quick snaps. It was also in 2008 that I bought my first DSLR - the Nikon D80, and started taking photography much more seriously than before. I'm sure I've got a long way to go but my picture taking is vastly better than pre-2008 and a world away from 1999.

Digital photographs have also led to the reduction of printing (for me anyway). Most of my pictures are on my server's hard drive and are shown in a slide show on my general computer screen. One of my presents to my partner Kate was a digital photo frame. Ten years ago, I never would have thought that by the end of the noughties a device would exist that allows easy viewing of those files - a complete album or more on show on a bookshelf with pictures changing every 15 minutes. That's so much better than a static printed picture in a frame.

The Mobile Phone

I don't know if there is another device that has changed so much in ten years that it is almost unrecongisable compared to the earlier devices.

Ten years ago, my experience of the mobile was a device with a monochrome screen, simple games like snake and the best ways of communicating with it were by voice call on the 2G GSM mobile network or by SMS text message which became popular in the late 90's.

Within a year I had experienced the first stage of mobile internet connectivity via WAP. Looking back, this was pretty pointless but at the time I thought it was amazing. I could get online and look at websites designed solely for the mobile phone. I remember speaking to a work colleague in the early 2000s who simply did not believe that getting online via a mobile phone was possible. Yes it was crude and slow but it did work. Of course HTML browsing didn't exist on the mobile for a few more years, but by using a PDA such as a Psion Revo to connect via the mobile using it's infra-red connection did allow access to the full interent (albeit in low resolution monochrome).

Nowaday's my mobile has an always on internet connection either over the 3G mobile network or via WiFi. The phone (HTC T-Mobile G1) features a full colour touchscreen display, can play high quality audio files, play certain video files, take photographs and low quality video, automatically poll my Google account for emails, calendar updates and RSS reader updates and automatically receives updates to Twitter and Identi.ca. In short, the full internet is accessible via the built in browser with very few exceptions. Nowadays, a significant percentage of my internet time is via mobile phone.

Honourable Mentions

Obviously I can't talk in-depth about every technological development, so just to mention other things that have developed in the last decade:

Music downloads; online on-demand media (BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD etc., spotify, last fm and others.); worldwide internet gaming via consoles; casual online games such as flash games; the portable media player (NOT just the iPod, but all of the others); eBooks; and presumably many other things that have slipped my mind

Technology - Where next?

I'm not going to fall in to the trap of trying to predict what technology and the 21st century lifestyle will be like in another 10 years. I think the last decade has proven how difficult that would be. We'll likely see new technologies that very few of us can imagine. Existing technologies will be developed further. I can say with some confidence that computers will continue to become more powerful and mobile phones will do more further decreasing the need to sit at a desk to be connected to the online world.

Personally, I don't know where technology will be for me more than 2 years into the future. I'll likely obtain a surround sound amp and speakers to go with it before 2012 and also upgrade from a PS2 to Xbox 360. More than that though, I just don't know.

The last ten years personally

Outside of technology, the noughties has been very interesting for me. I started working in telesales before quickly starting work in an off-licence in April 2000. 3 1/2 years later, I found myself working for the local council via a temping agency and then in 2005 I became a permanent member of staff at my current job.

I passed my driving test in 2003 and have since bought and disposed of two cars - the first a Ford Fiesta which almost literally fell apart, and the second a Peaugot 405 which I sold for scrap when I no longer needed it or had anywhere to keep it. Now I'm back to not owning a vehicle although I do still drive.

I have moved home three times with Kate, in all cases moving into rented accomodation, before settling into our current flat which has for the most part served us well since 2007.

After a number of years listening to and using CB radio, I obtained my first amateur radio licence on 2001 before obtaining my full licence in 2007.

Happy New Year...Happy New Decade

So with that, what has become quite an essay for me, I'll sign-off with a Happy New Year for 2010 and a Happy New Decade for the Tens. Oh, and for the record I'll be saying twenty-ten.

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Tags: gadgets, opinion, it's my life

I've had my Android phone for nearly four months now, and I thought it might be a good idea to run through my idea of essential applications.

These are all available through the Android Market. Some are free, and some are not. I've only given brief descriptions here. For more information, follow the external links at the end of the entry.

NewsRob

This is an application I use everyday and probably earns the title of My Favourite Application.

It's a news reader that connects to and synchronises with Google Reader. This means that whatever feeds are setup in Google are accessible via the Android Handset. By default, only feeds with unread items are displayed. If a news article is read on the handset, NewsRob synchronises that with Google Reader ensuring that other readers (on the PC, or via reader.google.com for example) show the same.

The application can be set to synchronise at a specific interval, and can be told what to download to the phone. With my setup for example, I have most feeds set to download their full content so that I don't have to rely on an internet connection to view them. However, I have a few feeds (such as BBC News) set to also automatically download the associated web page. Now I can read BBC News even when I don't have an internet connection! Sheer genius!

My Tracks

Another extremely useful application is My Tracks. This is a google application, but does not come installed by default on the T-Mobile G1.

The basic idea is to record routes. Using a GPS signal, My Tracks records the location of the phone handset at set intervals. When recording is finished, the points are plotted as a route which is overlaid on to Google Maps. Not only that, but data such as total time taken, total time moving, speed, distance and elevation are all recorded. With elevation, a graph can also be displayed.

After recording, details about the route (title, description, method of travel) can be saved and the entire thing uploaded to Google Maps for either private or public viewing. My Tracks will also export basic data (title, description, latitude, longitude, elevation, timestamp) to a GPX file for use in other applications.

For me, I use that GPX file to upload data to this website which can then be displayed on my public map. I also intend to use it to automatically geocode my photographs.

Feasibly, the application could also be used in personal training although there are applications available specific to that need.

Twidroid

Twidroid is a client that connects to a Twitter or Identi.ca account. Like a news feed reader, it can poll the service after a set interval and will alert users to new tweets or dents, and allow them to be read and replied to. New messages can also be posted, removing the need to visit the service's website from the handset.

Audible alerts can sound as well as an icon in the notification bar and a blinking light on the handset.

Twitta

This is similar to Twidroid but only for Twitter. Since this and Twidroid can only subscribe to one account, I use Twidroid for monitoring Identi.ca, and Twitta for monitoring my Twitter account.

ConnectBot

This is an SSH client for Android. I use it for maintaining my webserver when away from my computer or if I just want to ensure that the software is up-to-date with patches. Use of the QWERTY keyboard makes this very easy to use but I'd imagine there'd be difficulty using it with a device lacking such hardware.

Last.fm

3G network connections now support a sufficiently high data rate to the mobile phone handset to permit audio streaming. The last.fm application can access 'radio stations' from your last.fm profile - such as Recommended, Neighbourhood and Tag. Basic profile information is also visible.

Audio quality is high and is certainly good enough for listening through headphones on the bus. However, a stable good quality 3G connection is required. Any signal drop outs will lead to buffering or disconnections.

StreamFurious

Here's another streaming audio application. This one allows connection to MP3 Shoutcast streams.

For most cases, 3G is required which will support streams of up to 320kbps. Only for the very lowest quality audio (24kbps) will GPRS be sufficient.

Shazam

This is a piece of software that has truly amazed me. By listening to a sample of a song, it can often identify the track that's playing. I've used this on adverts before and it's worked a treat, as long as there are no other sounds.

In noisy environments, or when an audio track is the background in a soundtrack then it doesn't work.

OI Shopping List

This really is what it says - a shopping list.

Instead of writing the weekly shop on the back of an old envelope, it can be typed into this application. When doing the shopping, tapping on the item will tick it off from the list.

Shopping lists can be saved and re-ordered. The ticked items can be moved to the bottom of the list, or remain where they are but grayed out. There are also a few different styles to the interface.

ShopSavvy

Although I don't use this a lot, I really like the idea and have found it useful before.

By using the camera, this software is able to read barcodes which can be found on nearly every product in high street shops. Once the product is scanned, the application then searches to find the cheapest store.

Not only do internet stores get searched, but thanks to location detected ShopSavvy also searches the prices of high street stores potentially saving money if a competitor has the same product but cheaper than the store you are in.

ShopSavvy also stores a history of products, which I've found useful for saving ideas for presents.

CellFinder

The final application in my list is not one that has a great deal of uses but can be interesting in a geeky way. CellFinder will show the location of the mobile phone tower that the handset is currently connected to, and the handset's position in relation to it. Other data such as the tower's identification and signal strength is also displayed.

I'm sure there are genuine reasons for finding out this information, but for me it is just geeky interest.

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Tags: reviews, gadgets, android

A little more than one week ago, I took delivery of the T-Mobile G1 (otherwise known as the HTC Dream); a smartphone available in the UK exclusively from T-Mobile. It runs the brand new and shiny Android operating system developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance.

About the Device

The device is primarily a touchscreen unit and competes with other smart phones such as the Apple iPhone, Windows Mobile devices, the newer Nokia telephones and the other equipment that leaves the owner wondering why on Earth these machines are still called 'Mobile Phones' when that particular aspect is modest amongst a profusion of other gadgetry!

At 117.7mm x 55.7mm x 17.1mm, the G1 is not a slight phone by anyone's standards (unless you have been transported from the depths of 1989, where a portable telephone needed four wheels and a combustion engine to move it), but it is on par with other PDA devices and part of the bulk can be forgiven due to the inclusion of a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

The phone features a 3.2" 64k 320x480 (HVGA) touchscreen, a small number of buttons below this, the aforementioned QWERTY keyboard, a MicroSD card slot which will accept up-to at least 16GB of memory, a 3.2MP camera, WiFi, GPS, 3G and Bluetooth. In fact, the only common connectivity protocol I can think of immediately in which it is lacking is IrDA (no infra-red port) but that is becoming quite out-dated and I shouldn't think too many would miss it.

A 1150mAh battery is included (obviously), along with a SIM Card (still stating the obvious?), 2GB MicroSD card (oh how I wish camera manufacturers were this generous), Earphones and an adaptor to connect the 'phones to the G1's MiniUSB socket - that's right, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack. A small carry pouch is provided, a screen protector and a cloth to polish of those pesky finger marks that blight the screen.

First Usage

Once everything is setup, the G1 takes a minute to boot up and the first thing one is asked to do is sign in to a Google account. This is an area which people will either love or hate. The G1 is heavily tied in to Google features such as GMail, GTalk and Calendar and by adding your Google account to the G1, these apps will be continuously synchronised unless specifically told not to. This means that emails will be received almost immediately, calendar items will appear on the phone and on the website, contacts in GMail will appear in the phone contacts. Some won't like this level of integration with the search behemoth but one could always sign up for a Google account and then not use it. There is no other synchronisation option though so these users will loose out.

Once booted, the Android operating system presents a home screen which is split into three desktops containing a selection of icons linking to the various Google services and telephone functions such as SMS messaging, contacts and the phone dialler. A drawer is placed at the foot of the screen which contains all installed applications. The top of the screen contains the notification area and the usual suspect of icons indicating battery life and signal strength.

The interface feels quite intuitive, with a quick swipe of the touch-screen to the left or right to move between desktops. The notification area can be dragged down to see details of any notifications that have been received. Likewise, the drawer can be dragged up to open it and then the screen can be swiped up and down to scroll through the icons.

Applications work in a similar fashion. The web browser for example will show a full webpage which can then be navigated by dragging the screen.

Negative Points

Since the G1 is relatively new not only in hardware but in the software that it runs, there are some flaws which are worth mentioning.

One of the biggest problems is down to battery life. After a week of usage, I find that the G1 tends to need a charge every day. This is with moderate usage throughout the day using 3G internet, playing music and some games and sending a few text messages. When making heavy use of WiFi, the battery life is significantly shorter. There are 3rd party batteries on the market but I understand that these add to the bulk of the phone.

Another drawback is the quality of the camera. It is very difficult to keep the G1 steady whilst taking a picture not least because one's thumbs tend to push at the sliding screen whilst the camera button is being depressed. There is no flash, so low light pictures are pretty much ruled out straight away. On the plus side, there is a reasonable 3.2MP sensor and auto focus.

If it is the intention to use the G1 for the playing of music, the supplied player is sparse on features. One can browse music by artist, album, song or playlist and embedded album art is supported. The device will play MP3, OGG, AAC and WMA files (assuming these are unprotected files) but there is currently no FLAC support. There is also no graphical equaliser which, to my ear, makes the audio rather lacking and flat. How much this is a problem does depend on how much the user cares for audio quality though. There are additional music applications available from the Android Market. A scrobbler is available to send details to a last.fm account and TuneWiki tries to improve on the default player by integrating other online features such as lyric and community search. Hopefully, over time, audio quality and codec support will be an area that can be improved with new software.

The supplied internet browser does work well but can slow down occasionally on heavy sites. There is a zoom feature allowing more or less of a site to be displayed at once but this can take a bit of getting used to. Unfortunately the screen does not auto rotate into landscape mode when the phone is orientated as such unless the keyboard is exposed. There is no on screen keyboard which some may miss and no text search. Apart from those few small problems though, web browsing is pleasant enough. There is no Flash support at present although rumours are abound suggesting that it could be implemented next year.

Positive Points

But let us not dwell on the bad points of this phone for there are many good features too.

The GPS works very well with the supplied Google Maps application; allowing one to search for a location and navigate to it from the current location. Other GPS applications are available such as software which will record tracks which can be used to calculate a distance travelled, speed and elevation. The data can be exported to Google Maps online for viewing in a browser. Another simple application will just show the status of the GPS receiver such as how many satellites are being utilised, the current accuracy, GPS time and position.

I've mentioned it already, but the Google integration works very well. I have noticed that emails are available within 1 minute of the received date and the syncronisation between the G1's calendar and the Google calendar was very quick too. I have not had a chance to thoroughly test the Instant Messaging feature.

SMS messages are sorted by contact, so all messages to and from one person are grouped together creating the feel of an instant message conversation. This form of organisation makes communication via SMS very friendly - there's no wondering what was said in the last message any more.

The degree to which the device can be customised is a big plus for me. Android does not state that certain icons must appear on the desktop. One can remove all icons if that is what is wanted so that the only elements visible are the application drawer and notification area. I have mine setup with my main applications on the middle screen, internet bookmarks on the right and favourite applications sorted into folders on the left. Like many phones, the wallpaper can be customised and the combination of the two can make for a very personalised front screen.

One of my favourite aspects of the Android system has to be the Market. The applications and games available have really helped to make the device personal and useful. Paid applications were launched to the UK last week. Hopefully over time the Market will grow and some truly great applications will become available.

Conclusion

Overall, I am extremely happy with my G1. It appeals to my love of Open Source software and the potential for Android to become a significant player in the mobile software market is huge. Hardware wise, I find the unit comfortable to hold and not to heavy to carry. The keyboard makes working with email, SMS, instant messaging and the internet a joy.

There is no doubt that the G1 has some faults but I don't find that any of them too distracting. Really, this is cutting edge stuff. Over time, Android will be developed and will improve. Rumours are abound that an update is due soon which will provide an on-screen keyboard and stereo bluetooth support. As long as Android continues to be updated, the G1 will continue to improve.

I would already rate the Android software over Windows Mobile just because of it's customisation options and the range of software that has been built up in such a short space of time. Business users will not agree though - there is no Exchange support or MS Office document support at this time. Again though, this is likely to change through 3rd party development and software updates.

Would I recommend this phone to another? Well that depends. Heavy phone users who do not have access to power throughout the day should perhaps think again. Those who just want to pick up the phone and get going without having to investigate 3rd party applications and customisation, I'd say probably not. But for those who want to support Open Source projects, want to have their phones at the cutting edge of technology and are happy to put up with a few niggles then yes. I'd recommend the T-Mobile G1 in an instant.

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For the second time I feel compelled to write about a review broadcast on the TV tech programme The Gadget Show, which I believe was unfair.

The review was a comparison of three touch screen based portable media players (PMPs) - the iPod Touch, iRiver Spinn and the Cowan Q5. Testing focused around how easy the units were to use, their audio quality and their video quality.

The first problem I had with this review is the choice of units. The iPod Touch and iRiver Spinn are fine. They are both 8GB flash based players in the same price bracket (the iPod was £170, whilst the iRiver was £149). The third machine, the Cowan Q5, is a hard disk based 80GB player costing £320. This puts it in a completely different class of product to the others and therefore should not have been included.

The second problem is the testing conditions. The claim of the programme is that they were testing audio quality yet they cannot have used the same audio file on all three players as the programme showed the iPod Touch being used to download the test track from the iTunes Music Store. Apple uses a different compression codec for it's iPods compared to other players which will generally use MP3 or WMA. The track purchased from iTunes cannot have been played on either of the other two players so the audio comparison could possibly be influenced any differences in audio introduced by the codec.

Staying with testing conditions, the video playback feature was not tested in the same conditions for all players. The iRiver was only tested outside in a fairly open park area, whereas the other models were tested both indoors and out, with the outside being in a fairly built up area. Call me picky, but the lighting conditions being different could affect the outcome of the test.

I don't understand why The Gadget Show cannot run fair comparisons between products. If I was being cynical I would imagine it would be to skew the result towards the market leader but I have no evidence of that being the case other than the fact that the iPod Touch came out top in this case. Would it have done so if it wasn't running against the Cowan Q5? I don't know. My instincts tell me it would have, but there is now an element of doubt in my mind.

What I do know though, is that I wish the world would loose it's love affair with all things Apple, and realise that there are decent, sometimes better sounding alternatives to the iPod

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The Gadget Show returned to British television screens today, for it's 6th series; promising an hour of 'soft' tech reviews and gadget fun.

Why soft reviews? Well there's hardly a lot of in depth discussion about the pro's and con's of a particular product especially when compared to other products that it might be tested against. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In depth reviews would turn off a lot of viewers who just want to see what the latest gadget on the street is, and what some people think of it.

However, I don't think today's comparative review of lightweight, small laptops was particularly fair.

The review focused on three laptop computers:

• The MacBook Air

• The Asus Eee PC

• Sony Vaio TZ31

The problem I had with this review, is simply the choice of machines. I'm OK with the MacBook Air, and Sony Vaio - but including the Asus Eee PC in that? It only costs something along the lines of £220 compared to over £1100 for the other two. Was this a 'David vs Goliath' type test or something?

In my mind, it's a different class of computer for a different user. The Asus is designed to corner the 'cheap laptop' market and because of this does not have the processor, RAM or screen size that the other laptops have. It's a laptop that's able to take a bit of abuse due to the extremely small size meaning it can be carried nearly everywhere. I'd be terrified of causing damage to the other two and because of that, wouldn't consider them as portable since I would insist on a proper laptop bag to carry them with. The Eee PC would probably be thrown into a bag carrying everything else.

In all fairness the Gadget Show reviewers did give it the same rating as the MacBook (3 G's) but there are many other companies producing laptops to a similar specification to the Asus that I think it would have been fairer to do a comparison between them perhaps as well as a comparison between computers of the MacBook and Vaio class.

And my personal opinion on the three? The MacBook is the best looking notebook I have ever seen but I don't think I'd be happy with just one USB port. I know a hub could be used but then there's more cables, destroying that sleek look. The Vaio looks like any other laptop to me, and I'm not aware of it's specs. They said it took 3:30 to boot into Vista though, so something is seriously wrong with it's default settings and software. I've seen the Asus in a store, and it's size amazes me. It would be great for surfing from the sofa, taking on holiday, uploading stuff to this website. Granted it's not got the highest specs, but that's not what it's about.

That Asus is going on my shopping list!

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Tags: television, gadgets, computers

My latest gadget purchase arrived yesterday. It's my very first proper digital audio player; a Cowon iAudio 7.

The i7 is a small media player, using flash memory as storage. It's available in 4GB or 8GB models, with a 16GB model due for release. The unit is small, measuring a mere 76mm x 36mm x 19mm. That makes it's width and height less than that of a credit card, although it's depth is maybe slightly more than a matchbox. In short though, this unit is small. It not only plays MP3 files as you'd expect, but will happily play WMA, ASF, OGG, WAV and FLAC files. It can also view JPG images files and MPEG4 video files.

I bought the 8GB model, which cost about £50 more than the model with the smaller memory. My CD collection is stored on PC in FLAC format which is an excellent free lossless audio codec, meaning my music remains in CD quality but has a smaller file size than the standard WAV file. Even so, a single track can take up 20-30MB of memory therefore the extra space of the 8GB model seemed a worthwhile extra expense. I understand though that the 4GB model is exactly the same in all other respects and should be fine for just storing MP3 or OGG files.

First Impressions

When I ordered the device, I was expecting something along the lines of my Nokia 6230 in size. Pictures on the internet tend to be quite large and it's hard to judge the actual size. So when it arrived, I was pleasantly suprised. The unit is small, reflective black in colour with a silver band running all around it (models with a red band are also available). It's uncluttered with 3 touch sensitive controls on the front and four buttons on the top. The left edge contains two 3.5mm sockets; the right edge contains a flap which conseals the USB socket and reset button. I should say at this point, that the device is designed to be held in landscape orientation.

On switching on, the screen comes to life and the touch sensitive controls light up in very pleasing blue and red colours. The display immediately looks crisp, clear and bright

Looking through the rest of the package, there is a USB cable, in-ear headphones, documentation and a CD-ROM. Note that there is no mains adaptor supplied. Charging is done via the USB cable. Personally I like this idea, but it might not be to everyone's taste.

Audio

On to the most important aspect of this player then. To me, audio quality is very important. I've already said my CD collection is stored in a lossless format, so I wanted a player that could do my music justice.

I'll get straight to the point. This player is capable of very good audio, although the supplied headphones simply do not provide it. That's not to say that they are bad to listen to, but the difference is staggering when using even modestly priced headphones. Whilst writing this, I am listening to the player through a pair of Technics RP-F350's and while I can't say these are the best headphones I've ever heard, they beat the supplied iAudio headphones hands down. The Technics would be a bit bulky to use out in public though, but investment in a decent pair of in-ear or over ear headphones should do wonders for the audio.

Going back to what the player can do, there is a five band equaliser which allows the listener to tailor the sound to his personal preference. Personally I like to start with a flat sound, and the just enhance the bass and treble slightly. This gives a bright, clean sound with crisp, but not overpowering, bass. The player also has a few other settings which allow the user to enhance the sound quality further. I was suprised to notice an option to adjust the pan, or balance, of the sound which could be useful to those suffering from hearing difficulties in one ear. There is even the option to speed up or slow down the music, although I can't really see the benefit in this.

Although obvious, it's probably worth pointing out that audio quality is hugely dependant on the quality of the audio file. Those who encode all their music at low bitrates in the quest to fit thousands of songs on to their player will not experience the full ability of this player. Store your music in high quality MP3, OGG, FLAC of WAV files and the music will be a delight to listen to.

Formats

Being able to play MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF, FLAC and WAV files means it will play pretty much any modern audio format thrown at it. However, it cannot read common playlist formats such as M3U or PLS. This is not a big drawback though.

There are two modes of browsing the music on the system. Files mode works like a file browser and shows files in alphabetical order only. Music mode works slightly differently though and uses tags in music files (e.g. ID3 tags in MP3) to order music. As an example of how useful this is, the user can list all artists on the player and choose which one to listen to. Next the unit will list all albums stored on the device by that artist. The user can choose to listen to all music by that artist, or proceed to choose an album. The player will then list all tracks in that album. Play the first track, and the unit will continue through only those tracks in the album. Assuming the tags are correct, it will order them correctly too.

As a small caveat to this, I have heard that this doesn't currently work correctly for OGG files. There are no problems however with MP3 or FLAC, both of which I have tested.

Controls and Interface

The i7 has a mixture of touch sensitive controls on the front panel, and real buttons on the top edge.

The touch sensitive controls comprise of a record/back button; a long control known as the Swing Touch system allowing the user to skip/scan forward and backward and to browse lists of music; and a play/pause/select button. These controls are very responsive. Some might say a little too responsive but once you get used to it, they're not too bad.

The Swing Touch system works well. The user can drag his finger along the ridge, tap at either end, or hold at either end to move up and down a list, or proceed forward and back through a song or track listing.

On the top edge, the hold/power button prevents accidental use of the touch sensitive buttons whilst the device is in a pocket. With upgraded firmware, the volume buttons on the top edge can continue to function whilst the hold switch is activated.

The interface is fairly basic and intuitive, and can be worked without referring to the instruction manual.

Build Quality

I find it very difficult to judge the build quality of a player simply by photographs, so I thought it worthwhile just to put in a few comments.

Although it is made out of plastic, the player does feel solid. I've only had the player a day, but in that time I have been using it a fair bit and have thrown it into a car glove compartment. At the moment there are no obvious scratches.

It is worth noting though that there is no case of any form supplied with this unit so I would speculate that it wouldn't take too long for it to get a few marks. This is a portable player though and is designed to be taken out and about. A few scratches here and there are to be expected over time. I didn't find it very easy to come about a case for the i7, but a search for cases for the iAudio 6 (the previous model) yealded better results. The i6 is cosmetically identical to the i7, so the accessories are interchangable.

The cable on the supplied headphones is fairly thin, as is usual with portable earphones. As long as care is taken not to put too much tension on the cord, this shouldn't present too many problems though.

Extra Features

I've only been focusing on the audio side of this player. However it is also capable of player MPEG4 video files. I haven't attempted video playback, other than with the supplied demo files. Personally I don't think it's a feature I will use particularly often as the screen is simply to small at 1.3" for extended viewing. Saying that, the videos I did watch were sharp and as clear as could be expected. The colours were also nice and vibrant. It would probably be okay for the occasional music video, but not for television content and definately not for films. If you do want to view your own video content on this player, files have to be converted using the supplied software to ensure the file is compatible (there is a limit on the resolution and frame rate).

Besides video, the unit can also be used to view JPG photographs. Again I'd say the screen is a bit small for this but it's a nice little extra. Selection of an image is made by choosing from a 3x3 thumbnail grid. Trying to see what picture is selected can be awkward depending on what colours are near the edge of the image.

Should the user be so inclined, text files can also be displayed on the screen although I see very little need for this other than perhaps having short notes easily accessible. Nothing sensitive should be stored here though since there is no password option to prevent others reading them should the player become lost.

On to the more useful extras, an FM radio is provided along with 24 presets to store favourite stations. Reception seemed reasonable with the supplied headphones although I haven't tested it whilst on the move. It will be interesting to see how this unit performs when I get the bus to work, when compared to my Sony SRF-M35 walkman radio. I don't expect it to perform nearly as well but this is purely speculation at the moment.

Back at the beginning of the review I mentioned this unit has 2 3.5mm sockets. One of these is obviously for headphones. The other is a line-in socket allowing the user to connect the device to the analogue output of another audio device such as a CD player, or in my case a digital piano. The i7 can then record from this device. Quality of the recording is reasonable but it is limited to 128kbps WMA format, so could be better. There is no option to use MP3, OGG or WAV for the recording format which did seem a bit odd. Again, it's a nice extra which I can see a use for but it's no replacement for dedicated recording equipment.

Staying with recording, the unit also has a built in microphone allowing it to be used as a dictaphone. As before, the only recording format is WMA at a maximum of 128kbps but for this purpose, that should be more than adequate.

The unit can also record from the FM radio, again with the above limitations on file format. There is also a timer which will wake up the device and start recording if there is something playing overnight for example.

Finally, the i7 features a sleep timer (up to 60 minutes) and an alarm clock feature which will either start playing digital files or switch on the FM radio at the pre-defined time. This is obviously useful but since the player does not have a built in speaker, the user will need to connect the device to one for it to work.

Power

The manufacturers of the iAudio 7 state that it's battery will last for a very impressive 60 hours. I can't test that, but according to other reviews it does seem to last for a long time. Obviously keeping the screen switched on and listening at high volumes will have an effect on this time but even so, it should last a fair while between charges.

Usefully the player will charge each time it's connected to a PC via USB. In fact this is the only way to charge it since there is no mains adaptopr included. If you do want to charge this unit from a wall socket, USB mains chargers are available.

Non Windows System Compatibilty

An important consideration for me when I chose this player was that it must be able to funtion under a Linux operating system. This one does that.

The device supports UMS (USB Mass Storage) which means when it's plugged into a computer, it is shown as an extra drive. There is no extra software required. For me, this is a big plus over players such as the Apply iPod which requires iTunes, or the Sony Walkman which requires SonicStage. Neither of these manufacturers provide Linux software so that ruled them out of my consideration straight away.

Another plus of the player using UMS is that it can be used as a portable storage device, holding any file at all. A USB cable is always needed to connect the device to a computer so it's not as convenient as a USB pen drive, but it's certainly handy.

Firmware

The iAudio 7 is shipped with firmware version 1.10. Apparently there are a few bugs in this version which I can't say I noticed, although I upgraded it soon after getting the unit.

At the time of writing, firmware version 1.15 is available which irons out bugs in previous versions, and increases the limits on the number of files to about 5000, as opposed to 2000 in version 1.10.

Upgrading the firmware is a very simple process although with version 1.15, it did completely clear the device including all files stored on it, radio presets and configuration. It is therefore worth performing this upgrade before starting to seriously use the player.

Summary

The Cowon iAudio 7 is described on the box as a Digital Multimedia Player, and although true, I would not buy this product to view video files. This is a music player first and foremost and this is what it excels at.

Audio quality is excellent, although replacement headphones are strongly recommended, and battery life is enough to not need to worry about where the unit can be charged if the listener is away from a computer for a while.

The i7 sports a range of extras, some of which are more useful than others. They are nice to have though, especially the FM radio. Just don't expect these extras to have the quality or capability of the players main function.

There are drawbacks. The 2000 file limit on the supplied firmware is too small, although this is fixed by an easy firmware upgrade. The touch sensitive controls take some getting used to, there is no support for M3U or PLS playlist files and the screen is just too small for video content. Tagged browsing of OGG files doesn't function correctly either. These drawbacks are small though and do not detract from the quality of the audio player.

In short, if it's a music player that it being looked for, you can't go wrong with the iAudio 7. If video playback is very important though, it may be worth looking at something with a larger screen.

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