I'll confess, I tried watching What's Up Tiger Lilly a few years ago. I didn't get more than 40 minutes into it before switching it off in a mixture of boredom and disgust.
I'm not sure who first came up with the idea of revoicing a movie - making snarky comments about the action on screen - but this is one of the most influential and successful.
How it became so successful is entirely a mystery to me. For a comedy film, it is almost utterly devoid of jokes.
One thing I do when I'm watching comedies which I don't find funny is to count the number of jokes I think there are supposed to be. If there are jokes that I don't find funny - that's ok, we all have a different sense of humour. But this is a comedy film which goes minutes without a single identifiable joke.
The main problem is that the original film has large stretches without dialogue. Rather than edit this down, the audience is left watching "action" on screen which is simply dull.
What few jokes there are range from pretty decent to annoying and repetitive - but it's not enough to sustain the film.
This is my attempt to review it fairly after a week of usage. Some people have accused me of being unfair in my review of the Nokia Lumia. I think I was harsh - but all of the problems I experienced were real. This review of the Pro+ is unvarnished - I paid for this out of my own pocket and am beholden to no one.
tl;dr
Almost the perfect form factor. Let down by buggy software and a laggy processor. Excellent keyboard, average screen, but constant reboots means I'll be sending this phone back to see if it's a fault across all the devices, or just mine.
Specs
Because this is an unusual and somewhat rare device in the UK, I'll let you have the tech specs first.
On paper, it is underpowered compared to the latest multi-core phones. I'm coming from a Samsung Galaxy S which, nominally, has a similar processor and the same RAM. So it has been interesting to see how fast it "feels". Honestly? It's slower than the original Nexus from a few years ago.
First Impressions
It looks like an elongated BlackBerry. The keyboard is of the same design, the back has the same tactile feel, even the charger is on the side - just like a 'Berry.
It comes with the requisite USB cable and plug, as well as a pair of headphones, and a minuscule instruction leaflet. So, I stuck it on charge for a few hours (as suggested) and then let rip...
A few times I touched the screen an waited for a keyboard to popup. It took me a few moments to realise my mistake. Once you get used to it, the keyboard is close to perfect. I installed SwiftKeyX to make the typing suggestions slightly better.
The UI feels slightly "toy like". Motoblur really is dreadful and shouldn't be foisted on customers. Replacing the homescreen with something like ADW Launcher makes the interface so much better.
Graphics and scrolling is very laggy. It's only 480*640, so it's not pushing a lot of pixels. When scrolling through web pages I found that music playing in the background would stutter and freeze.
You won't be playing many 3D games - even if the processor wasn't so crushingly slow, the screen is a bit too cramped for anything immersive.
For web browsing and - crucially - writing emails, this device is a champion. When it doesn't crash.
Random Reboots
The big problem with the Pro+ is that it randomly reboots. I don't mean certain software crashes, I mean that the device spontaneously hangs, and the whole phone reboots.
I've pulled off the panic logs, but I don't know what's causing it. I've reset the phone several times but it still occurs. This appears to be an isolated problem with this unit - so I'll be returning it to see if another one exhibits the same problems.
MotoBlur
*sigh* Moto Blur. Seriously. Handset manufacturers should stick to making hardware. Trying to tie me in to your ecosystem by way of yet another username and password? No thanks. I learned my lesson when Nokia Ovi closed. And when Vodafone 360 swallowed my data. And whatever ridiculous service Sagem had. I'm not signing up to anything else. My loyalty to your hardware has to be earned - I won't be kept to ransom. Especially when your service rarely works.
Keyboard
The keyboard on the Pro Plus is as good as any I've used on the BlackBerry. Fast, precise, and easy to enter symbols and numbers.
The only drawback is that it isn't the BlackBerry keyboard - so the symbols are all in the "wrong" place. Take a look.
(Note, on the UK model that I have, the $ symbol is replaced with £.
I can understand why Motorola have made some changes, but it really does confuse this BlackBerry addict as to where the "correct" keys are. Why on Earth are ALT and shift swapped? I also question the need for a physical "voice recognition" button.
On a BB, holding down a key automatically capitalises it - on the Android, it gives you all the available accents. One of those little things which takes a bit of getting used to.
As an added bonus, there's a wiggly red line spell check - so you know exactly how bad your typing is.
Apps like the browser also have keybaord shortcuts. Pressing menu+A adds the current page to your bookmarks - for example. Though useful, they're subtly different from the Blackberry shortcuts, which may confuse some refugees.
The best feature is being able to page-down through a website by pressing the space bar!
Software Updates
I'm not a fan of how Android software updates happen. I think Motorola's recent blog post explains some of the mystery behind the delays. What is annoying about the software on this device is that Motorola won't say when or if it's getting an upgrade. Their software update pages ignore it like the black-sheep of the Moto Family. Even the Motorola community forums don't list it. This rather gives the impression that it is a stillborn device.
Because it's not wildly popular, there's no support from third party Android ROMs like Cyanogen mod. So far, there's just a solitary thread on XDA Forums.
Other Stuff
The camera is reasonably quick to start, and the flash is very bright. Sadly, there's no way to switch off shutter sound. The camera is missing some of the fancier features of other phones like face detection - but it's basically fine.
There's a multi-colour notification LED which is very useful.
A front-facing camera is also built-in. Curiously, it's not available for use. Wonder why?
Final Verdict
I've used this device exclusively for a week. It has crashed enough that I am going to send it back - I hope this is just a problem with my unit though.
Ultimately, it's almost enough of a BlackBerry to convert die hard RIM-fans - but it's not quite powerful enough as an Android to turn heads.
The keyboard is a joy to use. I would quite happily suffer through the poor performance for the joy of typing on this thing.
The Motoblur customisations are shockingly poor. I'd rather have vanilla Android than this barely thought-out, cartoony interface.
If you need an Android with a keyboard, this is the phone to get. It's fast enough for day to day use - and you'll be able to play a few games on it. The screen is a bit of a let down, and general performance is a little sluggish.
For those BlackBerry refugees looking for their first taste of freedom, this is an excellent start.
The Perfect Phone?
Assuming it doesn't keep crashing, how does it score on my perfect phone scale?
Pretty damn high. It should be faster, the screen should be AMOLED, there should be a lanyard strap, and the front-facing camera should work. The form factor is great and the screen isn't too cramped - although there's ample space to put in something larger or higher resolution.
Maybe I'll wait for the Motorola Pro++?
Geekyness
For those using Linux, lsub shows
22b8:2e00 Motorola PCS
So shove that in your udev rules and you'll be able to start developing apps.
Root
Luckily it is trivial to root the Motorola Pro Plus - so mucking about with it is fairly easy. I do wonder if it will ever see the latest version of Android.
Remove Camera Click
The camera click is annoyingly loud and cannot be switched off. To permanently disable it, get root on the device, then use
adb shell
su
root@umts_elway:cd /system/media/audio/ui
root@umts_elway:/system/media/audio/ui# mount -o remount,rw -t ext3 /dev/block/system /system
root@umts_elway:/system/media/audio/ui# rm camera_click.ogg
Gobsmacked. This was the first piece of theatre in ages which left me open mouthed throughout. But let me start at the beginning....
I'd only vaguely heard of Howl's Moving Castle before I saw the Southwark Playhouse's latest show - although, to judge from the audience, it attracts fanatically devoted readers.
Entering Southwark's vault is a treat in itself. Cavernous, bare bricked arches, flaming torches on the wall, and a plain white cardboard set.
A white set. Very Peter Hall, I thought. But from the second the show started the set came alive. Highly intricate projection work, surround sound, video, music, narration, all spun together to create what I can only describe as "live action cinema."
It reminded me of the Las Vegas show EFx. Magic, mystery, and multi-media. Magical spells shot from the tips of magicians' wands - in EFx practical effects were used (fireworks, to you and I), in Howl the high-definition projectors cast a dazzling array of spells on to the set and even the performers.
The story was brisk and engaging - although some of the aforementioned devotees thought it should have been longer. The acting and directing first rate. Not knowing the story, I've no idea how much writer Mike Sizemore nicked from the original author - although I doubt she made jokes about super-luminal neutrinos - but it's hilarious and heartfelt.
My only criticisms? Working with special effects can be tough. Used too often (like the fire-demon jumping from place to place) they loose their impact - yet used only once (the surround sound dragon) feels like a wasted opportunity.
In places the music drowned out the performers - possibly due to the acoustics of the room. The actors funnel so much energy into their characters that it would be a shame to mic them up. Perhaps a slight fiddle with the volume knob?
It was the best of phones - it was the worst of phones...
I want to start this review by saying three things:
I got this phone for free - thanks Nokia!
I'm an extremely demanding mobile user. I recognise that I am an edge-case; what I find annoying, you may not.
I've tried to stick to actual bugs, not just "it does things differently."
Sergeant Elop's Lonely Phone Club
Imagine, of you will, you have just purchased a brand new copy of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on vinyl.
It is beautifully designed, an astonishing work of art. You play side one and it is sublime - perhaps the perfect start to any album.
The you flip the disc to side two - and it's Justin Bieber. A screeching, horrible, tune free noise that damages your calm and makes you want to smash your stereo.
That's the Lumia 800 from Nokia. It's Finland's first Windows Phone 7. It's beautiful and infuriating in equal measure. Continue reading →
I'll confess, I tried watching What's Up Tiger Lilly a few years ago. I didn't get more than 40 minutes into it before switching it off in a mixture of boredom and disgust.
