The HP Touchpad launched in the UK today so I went Carphone Warehouse and PC World to have a quick play.
From the hardware point of view, the device is very nice, if little plasticky. Much has been made of the fact that this tablet isn't as thin as the iPad 2. However, it isn't massively thicker and with its rounded corners it's quite pleasant to hold. As with the iPad 2, the screen is in a 4:3 ratio which works fine for most things, but is less than ideal for video playback. The screen is also very reflective.
The software was pretty intuitive. On the main screen you have a row of application icons at the bottom and at the top there is the Just Type box which lets you search both the device and the Internet by just typing. Pretty neat. In between these two items, cards are displayed (minimised windows) showing the currently running applications. If you flick one of them to the top of the screen, that closes the application. Windows from the same application, for example the browser, are displayed in this view stacked on top of each other which is a pretty elegant way of doing it.
The browser is pretty good. At Carphone Warehouse, access was blocked to the Guardian's website, so I was only able to try the BBC News website. This rendered very quickly and accurately and the device was very responsive to scrolling and zooming, but I did manage to crash the browser, ending up with with the busy animation which I was unable to get rid of without closing the browser window. At PC World, where the restrictions on the network weren't quite so Draconian, I was able to access the Guardian website and also CNET UK's video page, where thanks to Flash compatibility, I was able to see Flora Graham work her magic.
Based on a very brief couple of plays, the HP Touchpad is a pretty nice device. With WebOS being the third player in the tablet market after Android and iOS (the less said about the RIM Playbook, the better) it will be interesting to see whether a current lack of apps is a dealbreaker for potential customers. The other downside, shared with the tablets, is the price. The 16 gig version is £400 with 32 gig version at £479. For me, that's too expensive. Three years ago, I paid about £300 for a netbook, and that's the sort of price I want to pay for supplementary device to access the internet, update my social networks and play Angry Birds.
Showing posts with label android. Show all posts
Showing posts with label android. Show all posts
Friday, 15 July 2011
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Brief Review: BubbleDS for Android
Way back in 2008, I replaced my CD player with a Linn Majik DS music streamer. The DS connects to your router and music is streamed to it from your computer or network attached storage. Then all you need is a UPnP compatible control point to select the tracks you want to play.
Having auditioned the Majik DS against the Majik CD player, at a similar price point in Linn's range, it was clear the DS was sonically superior. For Windows PCs, the initial control point software supplied by Linn was called LinnGUI. Although it made it possible to browse the music collection on my NAS drive and select tracks to play, it was extremely basic. Once the music was playing, all was well, especially the sound quality, but the software had none of the polish you would expect the product at this price point. Indeed, its functionality fell short of Windows Media player. For example, after adding a track to a playlist, there was no way to use that track as the basis of an artist or album search.
A while later, Linn released much-improved software to control a Linn DS called KinskyDesktop. I was using KinskyDesktop on a netbook, which was less than ideal for this purpose - it's surprisingly inconvenient to pick up a netbook and fiddle about with it just to get some music to play even if it's always switched on and ready to go.
What I really wanted to control the Linn DS was a small handheld device. Once I got an Android smartphone, I waited to see if anyone would develop a control point application for a Linn DS. I was therefore very pleased to see that Bubble has developed BubbleDS for Android 2.1 and above. This app is priced at about £9 and can be downloaded from the Android Marketplace.
Once you've switched on wi-fi on your phone, you run BubbleDS. The first thing it does is search your Linn DS on the network and then you're presented with a simple screen with four tabs along the top, namely Now Playing, Playlist, Radio and Library.
The Library tab lets you browse the contents of your music server (in my case, a NAS drive running TwonkyMedia Server). You can search by album, all tracks, artist, folder or genre. A long press on an album, an artist name or an individual track brings up the usual Android contextual menu with options to play straightaway or add it to the playlist to play later. The Radio tab lets you play various radio Internet stations which isn't something I ever do.
Using the Playlist tab, you can see the tracks that have been selected to be played. A long press give you the option to clear the entire playlist, remove an individual track, find the album to which an individual track belongs (which the Linn supplied software is incapable of doing), or find all the albums by the artist of the selected track. Unsurprisingly, the Now Playing tab lets you see the current track being played and give you controls to play/pause and skip forwards and backwards through the playlist.
In use, the software itself is effective, stable and intuitive and a smartphone (or other similarly sized device) is an ideal way to control this kind of music system. With BubbleDS, Bubble have created a vastly superior alternative to Linn's KinskyDesktop software at a reasonable price. I think Linn could do a lot worse than supply a Linn-branded Android device (perhaps a small tablet) preloaded with BubbleDS with every Linn DS streamer that they ship.
Having auditioned the Majik DS against the Majik CD player, at a similar price point in Linn's range, it was clear the DS was sonically superior. For Windows PCs, the initial control point software supplied by Linn was called LinnGUI. Although it made it possible to browse the music collection on my NAS drive and select tracks to play, it was extremely basic. Once the music was playing, all was well, especially the sound quality, but the software had none of the polish you would expect the product at this price point. Indeed, its functionality fell short of Windows Media player. For example, after adding a track to a playlist, there was no way to use that track as the basis of an artist or album search.
A while later, Linn released much-improved software to control a Linn DS called KinskyDesktop. I was using KinskyDesktop on a netbook, which was less than ideal for this purpose - it's surprisingly inconvenient to pick up a netbook and fiddle about with it just to get some music to play even if it's always switched on and ready to go.
What I really wanted to control the Linn DS was a small handheld device. Once I got an Android smartphone, I waited to see if anyone would develop a control point application for a Linn DS. I was therefore very pleased to see that Bubble has developed BubbleDS for Android 2.1 and above. This app is priced at about £9 and can be downloaded from the Android Marketplace.
Once you've switched on wi-fi on your phone, you run BubbleDS. The first thing it does is search your Linn DS on the network and then you're presented with a simple screen with four tabs along the top, namely Now Playing, Playlist, Radio and Library.
The Library tab lets you browse the contents of your music server (in my case, a NAS drive running TwonkyMedia Server). You can search by album, all tracks, artist, folder or genre. A long press on an album, an artist name or an individual track brings up the usual Android contextual menu with options to play straightaway or add it to the playlist to play later. The Radio tab lets you play various radio Internet stations which isn't something I ever do.
Using the Playlist tab, you can see the tracks that have been selected to be played. A long press give you the option to clear the entire playlist, remove an individual track, find the album to which an individual track belongs (which the Linn supplied software is incapable of doing), or find all the albums by the artist of the selected track. Unsurprisingly, the Now Playing tab lets you see the current track being played and give you controls to play/pause and skip forwards and backwards through the playlist.
In use, the software itself is effective, stable and intuitive and a smartphone (or other similarly sized device) is an ideal way to control this kind of music system. With BubbleDS, Bubble have created a vastly superior alternative to Linn's KinskyDesktop software at a reasonable price. I think Linn could do a lot worse than supply a Linn-branded Android device (perhaps a small tablet) preloaded with BubbleDS with every Linn DS streamer that they ship.
Monday, 1 November 2010
Reading on a mobile phone – the end of dedicated ebook devices?
When Sony launched the PRS-500, I knew that sooner or later an ebook device would be mine. As someone who never listens to music on the move, an ebook device was going to be my iPod. I'm wary of importing products that aren't officially supported in the United Kingdom, so I held off until Sony officially launched the PRS-505. I got one, and it was everything I hoped it would be. The minor difficulties in getting content onto device were soon forgotten as I got used to having something to read with me all the time. When I ran out of anything to read, all I had to do was download something new.
This worked very well for a couple of years, but I started to notice that the cost of the books on the Waterstones website was getting increasingly silly. I wanted to read Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw only to find that while it was about £6 in paperback, the ePub version was £14. I understand that ebooks attract VAT, while dead tree books don't, but that doesn't justify that kind of price difference.
Then the Amazon Kindle officially launched in the United Kingdom, and I was mildly tempted, but I really couldn't justify buying a second ebook device. So instead, I downloaded the Android Kindle application for my trusty HTC Desire.
First impressions weren't good – the application simply didn't work. However, an updated version became available and before I knew it I was reading a sample chapter from What the Dog Saw on my phone. Having been very impressed by e-ink devices, I was surprised how readable the Desire's screen was. I set the background colour to sepia, choose a font size that suited my eyes and off I went. I expected that I would find the whole experience less than optimal, and I would be racing back to my trusty PRS-505 but so far, I haven't. In fact, it's now sitting in a drawer.
Now, to be fair, I only ever read on the Tube home, so that's about 20 minutes at a time. If I read for longer periods, say at home, perhaps the LCD display would be tiring in a way that e-ink isn't.
What's strange is that, moving to this new platform was only prompted by the cost of ebooks, which I think is the greatest barrier to further adoption of ebooks. After I finish the current book on my phone, I'm going to try again with my trusty Sony Reader and see what it's like to go back to e-ink after using a smaller LCD display.
The other barrier the Kindle system (by which I mean the Kindle store and any device which can access it) removes is finding content. The Waterstones website, at least when I last used it, is very fiddly and counterintuitive whereas the Amazon site makes it much easier to find the content you're looking for and get it onto your device.
Whatever ebook device I use, I'm completely committed to ebooks. I'm not one of those people who's nostalgic for the smell and feel of a physical book. It's just data, and I just want to download it.
This worked very well for a couple of years, but I started to notice that the cost of the books on the Waterstones website was getting increasingly silly. I wanted to read Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw only to find that while it was about £6 in paperback, the ePub version was £14. I understand that ebooks attract VAT, while dead tree books don't, but that doesn't justify that kind of price difference.
Then the Amazon Kindle officially launched in the United Kingdom, and I was mildly tempted, but I really couldn't justify buying a second ebook device. So instead, I downloaded the Android Kindle application for my trusty HTC Desire.
First impressions weren't good – the application simply didn't work. However, an updated version became available and before I knew it I was reading a sample chapter from What the Dog Saw on my phone. Having been very impressed by e-ink devices, I was surprised how readable the Desire's screen was. I set the background colour to sepia, choose a font size that suited my eyes and off I went. I expected that I would find the whole experience less than optimal, and I would be racing back to my trusty PRS-505 but so far, I haven't. In fact, it's now sitting in a drawer.
Now, to be fair, I only ever read on the Tube home, so that's about 20 minutes at a time. If I read for longer periods, say at home, perhaps the LCD display would be tiring in a way that e-ink isn't.
What's strange is that, moving to this new platform was only prompted by the cost of ebooks, which I think is the greatest barrier to further adoption of ebooks. After I finish the current book on my phone, I'm going to try again with my trusty Sony Reader and see what it's like to go back to e-ink after using a smaller LCD display.
The other barrier the Kindle system (by which I mean the Kindle store and any device which can access it) removes is finding content. The Waterstones website, at least when I last used it, is very fiddly and counterintuitive whereas the Amazon site makes it much easier to find the content you're looking for and get it onto your device.
Whatever ebook device I use, I'm completely committed to ebooks. I'm not one of those people who's nostalgic for the smell and feel of a physical book. It's just data, and I just want to download it.
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Windows Phone 7 – first impressions
Just had a play with a couple of Windows Phone 7 phones. Overall, it's pretty impressive, and certainly much better than a lot of people predicted. However, there are a number of minor glitches I noticed which affect usability.
One problem is that the on-screen keyboard, while usable, requires you to press a key to switch to an alternate keyboard to enter most symbols such as apostrophes. This is much less friendly than the on-screen keyboard on the HTC Desire, where a long press enables you to enter special characters without switching to a different keyboard mode. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft allow users to download replacement keyboard apps to address this.
Also, the on-screen animations last little bit too long. While they are impressively smooth, the additional delay they cause using the phone is annoying. If there isn't an option to turn these off or increase their speed, there needs to be.
There are also some glitches relating to screen orientation, in a few cases. For example, selecting a Facebook status update to see comments that have been posted, causes the update and associated comments to be displayed, but in landscape orientation. Turning the phone to reorient the screen had no effect. Another niggle here was that Facebook statuses had a little speech bubble symbol to indicate there were related comments. You had to press on this icon to see the details; merely pressing on Facebook status update itself had no effect. This sort of niggle really spoils the user experience, and I'm surprised it was let out of the door.
On a more positive note, the hardware side of things is excellent. The HTC HD7 is a lovely piece of kit, as is the Samsung Omnia 7. Both phones have large displays and a neat angular minimalist design. The Omnia has the glorious OLED screen which is bright and vivid, although the unit is quite thick for a phone without a slide out keyboard. The HTC Mozart is also a nice piece of hardware, being basically an HTC Desire running Windows Phone 7.
There is clearly more work to be done on Windows Phone 7, but it's only a few tweaks and updates away from being a viable alternative to Android. It will be interesting to see how Google responds.
One problem is that the on-screen keyboard, while usable, requires you to press a key to switch to an alternate keyboard to enter most symbols such as apostrophes. This is much less friendly than the on-screen keyboard on the HTC Desire, where a long press enables you to enter special characters without switching to a different keyboard mode. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft allow users to download replacement keyboard apps to address this.
Also, the on-screen animations last little bit too long. While they are impressively smooth, the additional delay they cause using the phone is annoying. If there isn't an option to turn these off or increase their speed, there needs to be.
There are also some glitches relating to screen orientation, in a few cases. For example, selecting a Facebook status update to see comments that have been posted, causes the update and associated comments to be displayed, but in landscape orientation. Turning the phone to reorient the screen had no effect. Another niggle here was that Facebook statuses had a little speech bubble symbol to indicate there were related comments. You had to press on this icon to see the details; merely pressing on Facebook status update itself had no effect. This sort of niggle really spoils the user experience, and I'm surprised it was let out of the door.
On a more positive note, the hardware side of things is excellent. The HTC HD7 is a lovely piece of kit, as is the Samsung Omnia 7. Both phones have large displays and a neat angular minimalist design. The Omnia has the glorious OLED screen which is bright and vivid, although the unit is quite thick for a phone without a slide out keyboard. The HTC Mozart is also a nice piece of hardware, being basically an HTC Desire running Windows Phone 7.
There is clearly more work to be done on Windows Phone 7, but it's only a few tweaks and updates away from being a viable alternative to Android. It will be interesting to see how Google responds.
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