* Posts by Gizzit101

38 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Mar 2010

The best smartphones for Christmas

Gizzit101
Terminator

Re: Ug?

It supports USB OTG if you root it and slap Stickmount onto it.

Easy peasy

Gizzit101
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got to order

...a Nexus 4 from the second batch - delivery 3-4 weeks and counting.

Agree with the comment on HTC build quality - I've been a fan since my Nexus Some - really not keen on Sense though

What I'd really like to see is every manufacturer coming out with a Nexus ph9ne once each year - the "pure Android" interface and instant updates are a compelling sales-pitch.

BT to rent cheaper FTTP lines to ISPs - if they stump up £1k a go

Gizzit101
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Re: may be worth it

Hmm, I live 50 feet from my exchange - when I moved into this flat 12 years ago, and requested a broadband connection, the BT engineers ripped out fibre and replaced it with copper.

Reckon I have a case to get it reinstated at no cost? Neither do I.

Habitable HEAVY GRAVITY WORLD found just 42 light-years away

Gizzit101
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Re: whats the point

Hold up - 10% light speed is around 67 million MPH, right? I think the fastest man made object yet, the Helios probes, achieved roughly 150,000 MPH by virtue of a "slingshot" from the sun (the fiery ball of gas, not the "newspaper"). Accelerating from 150,000 to 67,000,000? >420 years to get there?

Send me a postcard

Fans rap Apple's 'crap' Map app

Gizzit101
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so is it...

...mapocalypse now?

Hooper's copyright hubs - could be a big British win with BBC backing

Gizzit101
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Hmmm

"How much, if any public money is required"?

Whatever happened to old Maggie's market driven ethos?

Let those who will profit bear the cost - I for one am sick of funneling public money into private, capacious pockets

Google Nexus 7 blighted by brightness blunder

Gizzit101
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Re: Mine is ok

Like the above, mine seems to be perfectly adequate.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there appears to have been a fairly concerted hate-campaign on the go...

Every delivery has been "Gordon Housed" - mine wasn't

Every screen is coming apart - mine hasn't

Every screen has dead pixels - not mine

Every screen suffers from light leakage - nope

I can only answer for me and the people I know, but none of us who ordered this glistenening beauty has experienced any of the above problems, or has any complaint at all

Google suspends 16GB Nexus 7 orders

Gizzit101
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Re: Does Google not know why people want local storage?

Here's the thing - you don't want one, then don't buy one.

Unlocking & Rooting isn't rocket science - especially for readers of El Reg. Put Stickmount on it and you can use USB OTG to access 32 GB thumb-drives - one of the wags over at XDA developer forums has hooked up a floppy-drive to one.

Seriously though, buy what you want to buy, and enjoy what you like.

Gizzit101
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I got mine...

...on time, no dead pixels, no wobbly screen, and I'm very happy with it.

I never saw the need for a tablet before, but now I'm a convert.

Spotify coining it at home in Sweden: But are artists getting any?

Gizzit101
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Yawn

...another Orlowski piece demanding that consumers pay more so the creative types can attain the lifestyles enjoyed by the Stones, the Beatles, Bowie et al.

Because it's the consumer who will pay - god forbid that Daniel Ek, or the oily big-media execs should take a drop in income.

I use Spotify and pay a Tenner a month for it. Currently I reckon it is good value. If they revise the pricing upwards so the artists can get a bigger wedge, I'll have to consider the point where it ceases to be worth it.

Simple as that.

Build a bonkers hi-fi

Gizzit101
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Re: hold on

Unconvinced. The job of any hi-fi kit is to reproduce the source material as accurately as possible. Hence Ivor Tiefenbraun's notorious ploy of using a concert violinist playing live to confound critics reviewing the Linn LP-12.

My contention is that any increase in accuracy of this system over a £30,000 system would be undetectable to any human ears.

Gizzit101
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hold on

...I appreciate this is very much a tongue in cheek article, but can any audiophile persuade me that any human ears are capable of detecting any difference between this, and a competently specified system, costing a tenth of the price (or less)?

Truly snake-oil - and yet these manufacturers must have a market for these bits of kit - it baffles me.

UK's brazen copyright land grab sneaked into Enterprise Bill

Gizzit101
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Jayzis

...there's an awful lot of piffle spoken on these boards.

So far, it's sounding a lot like the league of blacksmiths and farriers trying to outlaw the internal combustion engine.

Welcome to tomorrow lads.

Lowery: The blue-collar musician at the eye of the copyright storm

Gizzit101
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no objections

To musicians and artists getting fair recompense for their efforts - but to portray all the advocates of SOPA/ACTA/DEA as blameless exploited victims is stretching the truth, more than a little.

Don't misunderstand, I don't pirate - I either pay the price that is asked, or do without - but I grow weary of a predatory business model that seems to be predicated on abolishing personal ownership and substituting a license rental model. Perpetual payment for content - lovely. Especially in a country where even format shifting is technically illegal. They may not pursue individuals ( yet), but they could.

I agree that artists are not adequately compensated - time for them to explore direct distribution - vide Louis CK.

I won't steal from them, but nuts to big media anyway.

If Google's only taking a COPY of your personality, why worry?

Gizzit101
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But...

...trading elements of our privacy in return for things we consider worthwhile long predates the Internet. Schools, libraries, government, employers gave us forms to fill, and we dutifully complied.

Personally, I respect others property, and don't pirate anything...instead I do a value sum, and either pay the price asked, or do without them

Similarly, if the services offered by Google, Facebook et al, in return for chunks of privacy aren't worth it, I'll live without them.

I do resent however attempts by "big media" to turn the Internet into no more than a storefront, and a parochial one at that. This is akin to a wild-West land-grab, and we digital squatters are re being dispossessed

Rogue IPO bureaucrats feel MPs' red-hot probe

Gizzit101
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Hold on...

...am I totally misinterpreting this, or have big media just successfully derailed implementation of the Hargreaves review?

Hargreaves, and Gove before him, recommended (amongst other things) limited exception, to allow personal format-shifting. How much longer will people be technically criminals for ripping their own media for personal use?

At least 7 years this nonsense has been perpetuated to the benefit of companies who appear to be attempting to bilk the consumer repeatedly for the same content, over and over again.

It would be more honest if they just admitted that they want us to own nothing, rent everything and pay and pay and pay.

iPlayer repeat fees threaten BBC earthquake

Gizzit101
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Re: One flaw

Look at the source article - the proposal isn't a subscription model, or pay-per-view. It is "download to own".

Just like buying a DVD without the physical disk.

Nothing wrong with that, but I'd probably expect a "long-tail" mechanism, where older and less popular content starts to drop in price.

Gizzit101
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Looking at...

...the source article, the proposal is "download to own", so as pointed out, it's just like buying DVDs without the physical media.

I have no problems with this, provided I don't have to buy it again when I buy a new laptop. Either flag it as perpetually mine, or allow me to make a personal archive copy.

If anything is for sale, and I cannot afford it, or do not think it is worth the price asked, then I do without it.

SOPA poked an angry bear and set it loose on the net

Gizzit101
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Personally

I'm all for Creatives getting paid for their work, and I have an inherent dislike of those who download free stuff because "they can", or because they think "they deserve it".

That said, big media have displayed an appalling contempt for consumers, and have done themselves no favours by treating people as criminals by default.

I find alternate funding models, like kickstarter.com, and distribution models like bandcamp.com to be interesting, I'd like to see more of this, so that creatives can get more, and consumers don't have to pay an inflated price to the bloated dinosaurs.

Punters are the real losers in BT, TalkTalk copyright court blow

Gizzit101
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Gah

I have no issues with counter-piracy measures, as I don't pirate.

I do object however to the outlandish prices charged for streaming films - I have a Lovefilm and a Netflix subscription - but worthwhile included content remains sparse.

And when are the government going to get the finger out and implement the Hargreaves review that will legitimize copyright exceptions for personal format shifting?

I want to be able to legally rip my own CD and DVD/BDs and stream them on my own devices, I want Google & Amazon to be able to offer their cloud based music services in the UK.

How much longer do I have to wait?

Top Euro beaks to probe ACTA for rights breaches

Gizzit101
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I'm relieved...

...that the Register still carries articles by Andrew Orlowski.

I'd never know what to disagree vehemently with otherwise.

No Gingerbread snack for Desire owners, says HTC

Gizzit101
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each to their own

Personally I prefer the heft and quality of HTC phones - the Samsung Galaxy phones feel like flimsy tat by comparison.

The Desire can be rooted and Cyanogen Mod 7 installed - hey presto - Gingerbread

HTC make good phones, and they have committed to having unlockable bootloaders. I'll take one of theirs over Motorola, Samsung, LG or Sony Ericsson - but that's just my opinion.

BT earmarks 66 more exchanges for fibre-to-the-cabinet upgrade

Gizzit101
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Aberdeen geography

My exchange in Aberdeen isn't marked for upgrade yet either - but it appears that BT are under the impression that Aberdeen is in Fife.

Explains a lot.

Google will throw open lid on music locker service today

Gizzit101
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however

Currently in UK copyright law, there is no provision for fair use, or for format-shifting. Technically, anyone who rips a legally purchased CD to play on a mobile device is a lawbreaker.

Possibly this is why the Amazon cloud-locker, and from the looks of things, this new Google Music service are not available in the UK.

Incidentally, where is the Hargreaves report on UK copyright law review - I understood they were scheduled to publish by end of April 2011. I'll be very annoyed if it doesn't pave the way for the legalisation of format-shifting, which in turn will allow this kind of service to be offered in the UK.

Supermarkets trounce telcos on mobile services

Gizzit101
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yes but...

...coming to the end of a 2 year contract - I've worked out that the best way to ensure that you don't end up with an antique albatross around your neck is:

1. Buy a bleeding edge phone outright.

2. Get whichever 30 day (12 month if you must) SIM only Contract that represents best value.

3. Enjoy.

Why is Google's new Nexus S like no other smartphone?

Gizzit101
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...but

..what perplexes me is the justification for this to cost £550 in the UK, and 530 dollars in the US. Even buying one from the US and paying carriage, import duty and VAT would work out substantially cheaper

Not a vast improvement over my Nexus One anyway - so I reckon I'll pass for mow.

Nexus One resuscitated as 'Pure Google Nexus S'

Gizzit101
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Got to say...

...I'm a very happy Nexus One owner, and I'm bewildered that anyone cannot see the advantages of running "vanilla" Android.

With the increasing (but futile it seems) efforts of carriers and manufacturers to lock-down new Android handsets, encrypt bootloaders, and install tons of unnecessary and annoying "crapware", give me vanilla every time.

I'm running Android 2.2.1 - and I'll be running Gingerbread pretty soon. Getting updates direct from Google for the win (as we geeks say).

There hasn't been a handset released yet that makes the N1 seem dated or obsolete - not for what I use a smartphone for anyway.

Personally, I just think its a pity that the next "developer handset" is being manufactured by Samsung - I reckon the build quality from HTC is unquestionably superior. Never mind, I'll keep using my N1 until it cannot cope with the updated o/s, or until the Nexus 3/T/Z or whatever is released.

Google Nexus One spends dying days as dev phone

Gizzit101
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Got my N1...

...back in February, and I love it.

I'm not impressed with the way OEMs and carriers are going with newer phones - encrypting bootloader, preventing sideloading of apps, and generally trying to lock down the Android experience into a hedged, if not walled garden.

OEMs and carriers have been ridiculously tardy in preparing, testing and delivering updates, and for that reason alone, I'll continue to use dev phones as they become available. You can keep your Sense, and your Motoblur and your Timescape - its vanilla Android for me, with updates delivered directly from Google, as soon as they are ready for primetime.

I'm happy to register as a developer, simply to be able to get my hands on one of the next generation of dev phone. Don't care what it looks like - function > form in my book.

Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan

Gizzit101
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Praise be

The whole "fragmentation"/"legacy" issue has been caused by OEMs and carriers trying to differentiate their offerings by adding unnecessary bells and whistles. In addition, they have, in some cases, been subtly crippling some aspects of platform functionality.

Let them differentiate purely in terms of hardware offerings and price points.

I'm using a Nexus One running "Froyo" build FRF72 - and that's the way it should be for every Android device - the latest updates available without carriers and manufacturers placing roadblocks in the way.

I would have thought that Motorola especially should be grateful for their first successful handsets since the RAZR - rather than throwing hissy fits and threatening to leave the OHA and develop their own o/s, unless Google ditched their direct sales model.

Android is a massively dynamic platform, and that is its principal strength.

Bring on the Gingerbread

Steve Jobs unveils iPhone 4

Gizzit101
Terminator

but...

with both Apple and Google working on "cloud-based" streaming solutions, there will be no need to carry copies of your media files around with you.

Google have hinted that their solution will be launched with the next release of Android, and from the demos, it will be like everybody having their own private Spotify. I think some people expected Steve Jobs to unveil the Apple version last night - maybe it isn't quite ready for primetime just yet.

Maybe it isn't music and video that eat your mobile storage...but they accounted for the bulk of mine until recently.

Besides, how long ago was it that 32GB on a phone or SIM card seemed unattainable? Rest assured there are fine minds at work on either giving you 1TB on your phone, or developing technology to make huge local storage unnecessary.

Fanboi's lament – falling out of love with the iPad

Gizzit101
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No arguments....

...from me, if you want one, need one, then buy it and enjoy.

Personally, I have no desperate requirement for an iPad, notebook, netbook, or any other "intermediate device".

I cannot envision any situation that would require an additional device to my (grotesquely overspecced) PC, and my mobile phone (Nexus One running Android 2.2). so equally, I won't be queuing for an iPad, or for any other kind of slate, tablet, or similar.

Call me a cynic, but I really don't get the hostility and nonsense flung between the rival camps of fanbois. I'm not going to malign someone for choosing differently to me.

Buy what you want to buy, enjoy it while you can.

'Steve Jobs' switches to Android

Gizzit101
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Have to say...

...that some people are just better suited to Android than others.

Over the weekend someone posted a link to the 2.2 update, for a specific build of a specific device. Happily, I am the owner of just such a device, and in the space of 10 minutes I was running "Froyo" and Flash 10.1 beta. Which was nice.

However, all the blogs were stuffed with people clamouring "Will this work for my G1/Hero/Desire", or "how do I download this?" or "I'm stuck, plz mail me DETAILED instructions", or other fairly inane/naive drivel.

Equally, there were hordes of Droid/Milestone and Desire owners complaining bitterly and DEMANDING 2.2 IMMEDIATELY.

On a couple of sites, I posted trying to clarify the situation, but sure enough, five posts later, the same clamour from the lost and the furious.

Now my thinking is this: If someone cannot take the time to read some fairly clear and concise instructions, and attendant disclaimers, then they probably belong in a walled garden, where there is nothing sharp to hurt themselves with.

I appreciate that the Android user-community is multinational, some with a better grasp of English than others, but the original post and instructions were very clear, and written in very basic language.

What we have currently is

Google developing the platform much faster than the carriers (and manufacturers) are happy with,

The carriers still staunchly clinging to a "You want an updated O/S? Then get a new device" mentality.

The manufacturers introducing all sorts of (frankly) unnecessary bells and whistles in custom UIs to "differentiate" their handsets.

The customers, with unrealistic expectations of immediate updates, regardless.

From my reading of the situation, and I freely acknowledge I could be wrong, I suspect that Google pulled the Nexus One sales model in return for an undertaking from OEMs and carriers to push out updates faster.

Anyway, for the time being, I've got a Nexus One running 2.2 - bring on the Gingerbread.

Chocolate Factory eats crow on Googlephone

Gizzit101
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Nope...

I don't hate you for it...you've got something that works for you, and I've got something that works for me.

I've never seen the point of all the antagonism between people who swear by the iPhone, and those who favour Palm, or Android, or Symbian. Buy what you want to buy, use whichever you prefer. Yes, I'm a confirmed Android diehard fanboi, but I'm not going to rubbish devotees of other products.

Gizzit101
Terminator

meh.

Say what you like, the Nexus One is a decent smartphone, with a lot to recommend it.

I bought one primarily because it seemed that manufacturers and carriers were "dragging their heels" in delivering Android updates. Don't get me wrong, Android 1.6 and even 1.5 are very good, but I don't see why consumers should be locked into them, simply because of the Motoblur and Sense etc., addons.

Seems to me that the carriers and manufacturers would prefer that the o/s is static for the lifetime of the phone, sparing them the expense of recustomising and rolling out updates. What the Nexus One promised, it delivers: a well-designed and built handset, running "vanilla" Android - it does everything I need it to do, and it represents (to me) value for money.

I don't need the glitz and empty glamour of a customised UI, I'd sooner have a handset that can receive updates in a timely fashion, but each to their own.

I'll keep using the Nexus One until the hardware cannot cope with the latest iteration of Android, using whichever sim-only deal represents best value at the time. When it finally dies or becomes truly redundant, I'll buy the best available sim-free Android phone that gets its updates direct from Google, always assuming that Motorola, Verizon et. al. haven't finally destroyed the platform in a fit of greedy pique.

Mandybill: All the Commons drama

Gizzit101

What worries me...

..are some of the howlers that MPs came out with last night.

I don't expect them to be geeks, but surely they have access to professionals who can adequately brief them on the technology and how it actually works.

In addition to the examples cited in the article, one MP appeared to believe that on taking out a contract with an ISP, a subsequent change of address would be transparent and potentially unrecorded.

As can be seen from my previous posts, I don't subscribe personally to the "anything goes" freetard culture, but at the same time, I have no desire to see the internet become no more than a shop-front for old business.

Regarding the much cited "losses of billions of pounds to the creative industries", I have to ask: How many "Frankie Freebooters" will actually start paying for what they consume? I suspect that unrepentant pirates will simply find other ways of getting stuff for free.

I also have grave concerns about ACTA, and what the implications are, especially taken in conjunction with the provisions of the Digital Economy Bill.

I cannot see any legitimate recourse except for boycott, and I'll be doing everything I can to encourage a month-long boycott of commercially licensed creative works on a sufficiently large scale as to be noticeable and significant.

I urge everyone who reads this post and who agrees with my sentiment to do the same. You'll probably find me on various fora (Techcrunch, Boing Boing et. al.) trying to seed this as an idea.

Mandybill enters pre-election wash-up

Gizzit101

Well...

Type your comment here — plain text only, no HTML

I'm not a freetard - I've paid for every bit of software, music and film that is on my computer. Many years ago, before I knew better, I, (hangs head in shame) recorded music onto C90 cassettes and distributed them to friends. In my own defence, I suspect one or two others did the same.

My concern is the ability of the much vaunted DEB provisions to correctly distinguish between legal and illegal P2P traffic. I foresee much wailing and gnashing of teeth, as innocent netizens are bombarded with threatening letters.

I could be wrong, but I'm sure that I also heard a reference during the "debate on the second reading" last night, about ISPs being obliged to provide reports to rights-holders groups, to enable civil prosecution and fines.

I'm also going to predict that some of my favourite wifi hotspots in local pubs and cafes will elect to just pull the plug, rather than undergo the expense and hassle of the "technical measures" to police the connection they provide.

Finally, when I'm on the topic, I'm also miffed that despite representations, there is no such thing as "fair-use", or legal format-shifting in this country. So anyone who rips a legally purchased CD so they can listen to it on their own mobile phone is a criminal, they just rely on the BPI et. al. not prosecuting them (yet).

How long before there is legislation which obliges us all to stand outdoors with our eyes closed and our wallets open?

Googlephone sales top, um, 135,000

Gizzit101
Thumb Up

Ok, so....

...wait till next month, then go into your local Vodafone shop, and ask to play with an HTC Desire. If you love the HTC Sense UI overlay, and can't live without the optical touch-pad thingy, then buy a Desire. Be aware however, that the Sense UI might well cause delays to future updates.

I reckon that handset manufacturers believe that the o/s should be static for the lifetime of the phone, and that they regard the tailoring of updates to be an unnecessary overhead. That was a good part of the reason I went for a Nexus One running "vanilla" Android 2.1.

Of course, the plus side of all the customisation and variety is that there is an Android phone for everyone...diehard hardware keyboard fans included.

Gizzit101

Meh

...each to their own, I guess.

I suspect that the Motorola Droid/Milestone secured a fair lump of the Nexus One's prospective market share before the N1 was launched.

I further suspect that the HTC Desire & Legend will eat some of N1's lunch, especially amongst those who feel the need to paw the goods prior to purchase.

Then again, the impending launch of the N1 on Verizon/Vodaphone might increase the rate of sale, but maybe not.

Personally, I bought a Nexus One, and am very, very happy with it, and what it can do. I've been an Android user and fanboy since May 2009.