I've got a bunch of travel coming up to exotic locations. Previously, I've bought a local SIM card when I've landed - but they're often expensive, fiddly to fit, and queuing in an airport isn't much fun. I've also bought pre-paid SIMs which have a fixed amount of data or only last a specific amount of time. But the big problem with those solutions is that you lose a fair bit of value unless you …
Continue reading →
I'm always interested in when anachronistic technology pops up in the media. Whether it's Kelly Rowland trying to send an email using Excel, or people in spaceships developing film photographs, or futuristic moonbases which use BS 1363 plugs - I just love it! So, I was watching that absolute banger of a tune "When You're Gone" by Bryan Adams (featuring Mel C) - when I noticed this: It appears …
Continue reading →
There's a pernicious myth - often spread by tabloids - that the poor and hungry don't deserve the meagre possessions which make life worth living. You see this in headlines like "Benefit Scum Have Flat Screen TV!" It ignores the fact that a) they may have bought the TV when they had disposable income, b) that a TV can provide nearly limitless free entertainment, and c) Flat Screen TVs are…
Continue reading →
There's been a little bit of confusion in the blogosphere recently about the true cost of smartphones. Ewan Spence points out that the iPhone actually costs $2,000. An instant response by Bill Palmer points out that Nokia's Windows 8 smartphones cost $2,500 Dead link.. The US and European markets are radically different in how they operate and advertise. The US tends to advertise phones as…
Continue reading →
One of Android's great strengths is its openness. The source code is (mostly) there for anyone to see. If you're a hardware manufacturer, you can use Android on your devices with just a few mouse clicks. But there's a problem in Android-land, one which has been growing for several years. Open Software has many advantages - one is the maxim "Many eyes make all bugs shallow". If you have…
Continue reading →
It shouldn't come as a surprise to any reader of this blog that I'm a phone geek. And a Doctor Who geek. So, image my utter nerdgasm when we got to see the 11th Doctor using a mobile he'd nicked. The burning question is which phone? Touchscreen It's quite hard to see throughout the episode. It just looks like a standard touchscreen device in a rubber casing. I had wondered if the props team h…
Continue reading →
