Tag Archives: Technology

Software, Technology

App request for Google

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Can Google please upgrade the Google Translate iPhone app to include OCR so it can do this, but just for plain text on images? I don’t need a video feature or AR capability, or the clever editing that provides the illusion the translated text is on the billboard, sign or whatever, but it’d be awesome if it OCR’ed the text, translated it, and spat out a plain text English (or whatever-language) version of the sign, bit of paper, etc.

I’ve mentioned the coolness of the OCR video translation app (at least as far as the demos go) before, but if you haven’t seen it, check it out. A step towards Star Trek’s universal translators!

Technology

Curse you, Steve Jobs

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My friend Tom (aka Flashboy) has just bought a very lovely 11″ Macbook air which I am currently ogling (and typing this blog post on).

WANT.

Don’t need, not planning on buying, but seriously, this is one sleek piece of engineering. I still don’t want a Mac as a matter of principle, still like Windows 7, but am teetering on the edge now. This is absolutely beautiful, and the more my operating system moves to the web (and I become a Google/Dropbox head), the less the OS matters.

Damnit damnit damnit.

Technology

Features I want to see in iOS5

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Dear Mr Jobs (and also FAO the nice folk at Google).

Five months into my iPhone 4 and a few days ahead of the release of iOS 4.2 (which I don’t imagine will fix any of this), here’s some things I’d like you to do in iOS 5.

1) Fix the on-screen notifications. One notification at a time only? With a multitasking phone with push notifications on dozens of apps? BORKED.
2) Swype. Android and Nokia do it for text input, and its pretty awesome.
3) Proper Gmail client. Y’know, again, like Android. Your threaded conversation is ok, but not great. Google, don’t be petty about the platform. Plenty of loyal Google users use iPhones, get over it!
4) Proper Gmaps client. Y’know, again, like Android… with turn-based Nav and other good features. As above to Google folks.
5) Pre-emptive dialling. This was the only thing I missed from Windows Mobile 6.x (and earlier) – where you typed in a number and it used pre-emptive entry to work out who you wanted from your address book. Much easier than searching for a name in the contacts…
6) A more dynamic home screen. This time its Windows Phone 7 that has stepped up its game.
7) Speed up Appstore browsing. It’s a little slow.

I’m happy for you to leave out Flash. It sucks, and the sooner the world realises that HTML5 is the way to do things, the better.

Well, that’s it from me for now. What do you think needs changing in iOS?

Technology

Laptop advice – get a SSD!

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As the unofficial tech support for a number of my friends, colleagues and most of my family, I’m always, *always*, asked what Laptop people should buy.

After a couple of weeks using a new machine with a Solid State Disk (SSD), my advice is fast becoming: get whatever you like the look of, but make sure it has an SSD in it if you can. Sacrifice the storage space for the speed…

Hard disk technology has been largely static for the last 10 or so years – platters spinning like super-condensed long-play records. The things that have moved along include reliability, energy consumption, storage density and the like. However… speed wise, they’ve not progressed substantially. Most consumer drives have platters that spin at 5,400 (slow) or 7,200 rotations per minute (rpm). The read/write and seek times on these disks (which determines, by and large, how fast applications respond when they need to access the disk) are limited by these spin rates.

With SSDs, there are no moving parts – we’re talking the same storage technology used in USB keys, iPods, etc. So a) read and write times are often much, MUCH, faster, b) performance doesn’t degrade over time (no platters to get worn down), c) energy consumption is reduced and d) they deliver much awesomeness. They’re totally worth the extra money if they are an option from your laptop vendor of choice… Oh, and if you get Windows 7, it’s written to take advantage of them…

Technology

The new Apple iWotsit…

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I don’t need it. I don’t know what it is, exactly, but I’m confident that all my communications, entertainment and computing needs are currently met, perfectly happily. If anything, I have a surplus of communications and entertainment tools and media. Too many ways to get in touch. Too many ways to watch TV, film, see photos, listen to music, read books, email, call, Skype etc., on the move.

But damnit, I’ll bet that whatever Apple release tomorrow I’ll want. Because smug and self-satisfied as Mr Jobs is, his company is awesome at design and fantastic at getting us to ‘need’ things for no reason other than they’re beautiful and elegant. I’m not a Mac, though… that’s one thing I’ve managed to hold firm to.

Cross posted at Chivalry House.

Personal

Vital tech purchases of 2009 and anticipating 2010

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2009 marked the year I stopped buying any old gadget that appealed to me (due to an increased awareness of how tiny my flat is and the need to save for the wedding) but there were a few vital gadget purchases made which makes me glad to be an inhabitant of the future.

1) The iPhone 3GS. Never loved a phone before; now I do. Invaluable piece of tech as a productivity and entertainment tool. Am an addict, apparently, or so says Amanda. I’m still not a full blown member of the cult of Jobs, but this device I love.

2) Sony PRS 505 e-Book reader. Now an old model, this e-Book reader, with e-Ink, long battery life, effectively infinite storage capacity and usable open-source software has made travelling much more relaxed for me. Gone are the days of carrying multiple books on short trips (I read too fast!).

3) The MSI Wind netbook. For when the iPhone is not enough… it’s good to have a bit more edge in a package that weighs about 1.5kg with a battery life of about 5 hours.

4) Dell Studio XPS 13. For when the Wind is not enough. Beautiful LED screen, keyboard, sculpted design and great speakers for a laptop. Finally let me retire my 5 year old IBM Thinkpad R40.

5) Not really a purchase, but I traded for a Nikon D80 with Arvind. I’m not much of a photographer but the D80 makes things look really classy. I just need to work out how it works properly now…

In 2010… the only piece of tech I’m excited about is the new Apple tablet (if that happens), though I’ll be watching what happens with Android in anticipation of my next phone upgrade in early 2011. That said, if 3D TV becomes affordable and more compelling (having seen Avatar, I’m intrigued but not sold on home 3D TV), if people come up with some tech that I haven’t even imagined rather than just a “faster horse”, well, then, I won’t be held responsible for my actions…

Technology

Multiplatform life

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In a break from the monotony of soup reviews, I bring you a take on technology.

Conversations with some friends lately about new mobile phones inevitably led in one direction – “I don’t like Apple, I don’t want to buy an iPhone.” It’s a semi-rational objection, merging a dislike of Apple’s corporate practices and the known limitations of the iPhone – lack of replaceable battery, no multitasking, no native Gmail app etc.

The implication of the non-technological objection seems to be that if they start on this slippery slope, they are endorsing all the ‘closed’ business practice that Apple espouses — from App approval in the AppStore, to a relatively constrained development platform, to their close-lipped strategy around announcing new technology.

My view? Nonsense. Buying an iPhone doesn’t convert you to the Cult of Jobs and owning a Windows PC doesn’t make you inherently unfun or David Mitchell-esque. Of course, if Apple’s business practices extended into human rights violations then I think the argument might extend, but to the best of my knowledge this isn’t the case… you’re just making a decision about the technology you use, not advocating any greater moral principles. The iPhone, I admit, should come with a health warning – “this phone may make you whitter on tediously about its greatness.” And I do think it is great, but I nonetheless manage to maintain my broader dislike of Apple’s corporattitude.

I live a multiplatform life; I use Windows 7 PCs at home and at work, a Windows XP netbook, most of my ‘applications’ live in the cloud (we planned our wedding in Google Docs), but use Microsoft Office applicatons for much client work, I use Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and Cisco Webex Connect and I own an iPhone – previously I’d used Windows Mobile handsets – since 2001!

I have nothing against Linux but I have no use for it, and I prefer Windows 7 to OSX. I may well try Android when it comes round to 3.0 and I’m next due an upgrade. I have an Xbox 360, a Wii and a PS3. I use a Sony e-Reader. I have a Nikon DSLR and a Canon compact digital. I use Twitter and Facebook for my status updates and social network interaction.

My digital life is complex… I won’t be pigeonholed by my choice of phone. Will you?

Technology

Broadband whinge

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Having mustered the enthusiasm to blog a little more, and 8 weeks away from our wedding, our broadband has died. It’s hard to tell if its the modem or the DSL line, but I’d like to say at this point that both the modem and my service provider SUCK.

The SP – Pipex Homecall (as was Bulldog, as is some distant part of Tiscali), doesn’t have support numbers obviously listed on its website. Instead, you have to submit an online form through its tedious self service tool, RightKnow. And this is the 5th time in two years something has gone wrong with the line (well, potentially gone wrong with the line), and comes weeks after I discovered they’d been double charging me for 10 months – something they were barely apologetic for and I had to scan and send them 10 months of bank statements to prove. They promise to get back to queries within two days – which is a long time when you’ve got as much going on as I do! If broadband is the next essential utility after electricity, water and gas, these guys are going to have to get better at responding to faults. Tools.

The modem – is less than a year old and came with an 11 YEAR warranty. But I can’t afford to be offline, so I’m not going to get to call it in before I have to buy a replacement. Eat it, D-Link.

Anyway, rant over. This can be a social media monitoring test for those guys, see if anyone offers me anything by way of apology or compensation, but I think its unlikely. [sigh].

Update: It was the network. The router is still alive. Apologies, D-Link. You’re OK. Pipex, you suck.

Personal, Technology

GPhone

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They launched the T-Mobile G1 today (they being T-Mobile, Google, HTC and everyone else, but also the T-Mobile team across the office from me).

It looks pretty awesome, the screen is really responsive, the long touch thing is cool, the UI is lovely, the browser is nice, the screen is pretty.. it’s generally cool. Register your interest here.

I want:
– one handed texting
– pre-emptive dialling
– video messaging

…and I think it needs Exchange support (much as I think Google Apps is awesome — and yes, they’re a client too) for those business users. But maybe someone can write an ‘app’ for the phone to provide this functionality…