HTC Hero to hit the UK 21st July

If you are fed up with all things iPhone, then you should be aware, very aware, that there is a rather sexy looking Android offering hitting the UK mobile phones scene. HTC are giving us oodles of quality in their new Hero phone, which runs the Google Android operating system.
This little darling has a 3.2-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen, which is ripe for playing back the supported MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 and Windows Media Video 9 movie files. You also get MP3 playback, a 5.0 megapixel color camera with auto focus, plus Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. I almost forgot to mention the internal GPS and Compass.

As if that wasn't enough, you can also download a whole host of applications from the Android Market, which is accessed right on the handset. This gives you access to superb games and utilities to further enhance the handset.

It takes a different standpoint from the iPhone. If you are familiar with the Apple device, you will know that applications are presented as a single screen (or multiple screens) of icons, you tap one and launch the application. To post something to Twitter, you tap the icon, type your tweet, then close the application and get on with something else. HTC have added an overlay to the Android OS called 'Sense'. This gives you up to seven home screens, which you can personalise with different apps, widgets and feeds. So, Twitter can occupy a whole screen, constantly updating and informing you of new tweets. No need to launch the application, it is just always on and looking for those important updates.

There is a whole lot more to the handset than I have mentioned here. It is due any day, either in a graphite grey colour on contract from Orange, or in white Sim Free from various resellers for around £400.

The video reviews are online, you can find them on the links below. A full review of this handset will appear later this week. Many thanks to Clove Technology for supplying the Hero.

Video coverage;
Part One - Unboxing & Goody Bag
Part Two - Performance & User Opinion
Part Three - Teflon coating, camera & gallery app
Part Four - Widgets, widgets & more widgets

Apple Tablet ? Cue the Archos 9 !

Whilst we all wait (very) patiently for Apple to bring us their version of the tablet or netbook Mac that we all want, Archos have announced a very interesting device. Take a look at the Archos 9 PC Tablet below, running Windows 7, with its Atom processor and 80GB or 120GB hard drive.

Look down the left hand side of the screen and you find a 1.3 megapixel webcam, plus shortcuts buttons for setup, on-screen keyboard and left/right mouse buttons. Along the right side is the power button and an optical navigator for moving your pointer around the 9-inch screen. There is also stereo speakers and a mic. That screen looks quite nice too. It is a resistive touch screen, with multi-touch, so you can use it with your finger or a stylus.
For multimedia nuts it has a kick stand at the back, so you can sit it on a desk for movie watching. It also sports twin antennas for Digital TV reception on the go. This includes HD reception with recording too. Optional 3.5G sim support for internet on the go, all bundled for £450-£499, not too shabby.

Now, if Apple take this concept one step further and add their design flare, this would take such a device to another level. Imagine a sleek aluminum shell, wi-fi, bluetooth, iPhone OS with a rear facing 3-megapixel camera too. iChatAV right out of the box. iPod dock connector for charging and displaying content on your HD TV. This could be one serious piece of kit. Being an Apple OS lover, the only thing holding me back from this Archos device is Windows 7... that just sucks!

Innova innovate with FibaPrint Ultra Smooth Gloss

When someone buys an inkjet printer (in my case the Epson R2880), you often get a sample pack of paper with the device. This is not just out of kindness, it is marketing. Papers are normally developed especially for the manufacturers inks and when you see the results, it is more than likely you will continue to buy their own brand papers. Unless you are in the graphic design industry, it is unlikely that you would even research any other papers, so I have done a little bit of that work for you.
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Come back Steve... with a NetBook

I am sure you will all agree with me that we want Steve Jobs to come back to Apple, in good (and continued good) health. It was expected that Steve might have returned for the WWDC, but it did not happen. Just prior to WWDC there were rumours that he was due to come back at the end of June, with a special event for his return. This would be great and lead me to thinking about what Apple could do for the big Steve Event.

With the repositioning of the 13-inch MacBook into the Pro line, this has got to have left the space open for a smaller device. Could it be that Steve will return to launch the Apple NetBook. A device with no physical keyboard. Instead an 11.6-inch touch screen, with some sort of dock or wireless connection for accessories... mice, keyboards, headsets etc. Whilst this would be great, if Apple could come up with something based on a slightly smaller 10-inch screen, the extra portability would certainly meet with a standing ovation. It could run on the iPhone version of software, or OS X Snow Leopard in it optimised form. This sort of device would negate the need for users to carry a laptop at all.

I am 100% certain that Apple IS working on a NetBook device. I just hope that they do not make us all wait too long. They will add their successful design skills to the device for sure and it will be a very sexy product. So, come on Steve, come back, we need you to give us that 'One More Thing...'

TomTom coming to the iPhone

When this was announced at Apple's WWDC I almost wet myself. As a long time TomTom user I can remember this being rumored with the first iPhone launch, but it never happened. Now TomTom have made it official, with a very snazzy looking iPhone 3G/3GS docking cradle for your car and details of the application that will be available from the iTunes App Store. I hope to be able to bring you a full video review including installation guide soon after the product is released. Check out their official release video below.

Geekanoids May 2009 Competition Result

In May we ran a competition on YouTube, with some iPhone 3G cases up for grabs. Well, the winner dfoggin produced an unboxing video of the prize. He gave us kind permission to share the video with you too.

You can check out dfoggin's YouTube Channel here or his wesbite here.

Apple Redefine MacBook Pro - Opinion

Yesterday, June 9 2009, Apple launched an array of new products. The first to receive the Phil Schiller treatment was the MacBook Pro lineup. This was a surprise to me, as I really thought that the WWDC would concentrate on Snow Leopard, iPhone OS 3.0 and the new iPhone model... more on that later.

A thread over on Mac Rumors, which I have posted to, posed a very good question. By launching the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, or should I say re-labeling the existing unibody MacBook, were Apple admitting they were originally wrong to release the unibody MacBook in the first place?

My opinion on this is NO. I do not think they were wrong with the launch of the 13-inch unibody MacBook. It was and still is a terrific machine. However, they need to always innovate and bring out new machines, with new features. By adding Firewire 800 (they listened to their users on this one), plus introducing the SD card slot and improving the battery life, the model had too many pro-level features. Had they kept it as just a MacBook, potential customers would not even look at the Pro models, as the 13-inch version offers just too much. Had they gone the other way and dumbed down the 13-inch model by perhaps keeping the old screen and battery configuration, customers would have complained. So, I think they did the right thing. They gave us new innovative battery technology, more colourful screens and that SD card slot is really handy.

In doing this repositioning of the 13-inch unibody model, they also left just one white MacBook. This model is a good specification, but it sits there all alone. I think they did this on purpose. It really does leave the door open to phase out the MacBook altogether. The obvious next step is a 10-inch or 11-inch NetBook or perhaps the much touted Mac Tablet with touch screen. It also allows them to introduce more than one NetBook model, with pricing starting at around £500 for the base model, up to the current MacBook pricing of £700 without confusing its customers. This was a good move on Apple's part. It really does mean we WILL see a new device, sooner rather than later.

Apple WWDC 2009 Keynote Coverage - part 4

Apple delivered some excellent announcements today, check out my coverage of the iPhone 3GS. This new model is available soon, with new features. Improved camera, better battery life and so much more.

Apple announce new iPhone 3GS

Apple's biggest announcement today for me was their new iPhone 3GS. With so many mobile phones to choose from, they had to make this update really count. This time around we get better battery life (big improvement here), improved camera, video recording, voice control and much much more. Keep checking back on Geekanoids over the next few days for more details and video coverage. In the meantime, Apples official word on the iPhone 3GS can be found below.

Apple today introduced the new iPhone™ 3G S, the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, packed with incredible new features including improved speed and performance—up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G—with longer battery life, a high-quality 3 megapixel autofocus camera, easy to use video recording and hands free voice control. iPhone 3G S includes the new iPhone OS 3.0, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 100 new features such as Cut, Copy and Paste, MMS*, Spotlight Search, landscape keyboard and more. iPhone 3G S customers get access to more than 50,000 applications from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world where customers have already downloaded over one billion apps. iPhone 3G S offers twice the capacity for the same price with a 16GB model for just $199 and a new 32GB model for just $299.** And beginning today, iPhone 3G is available at the breakthrough price of just $99 for the 8GB model—a huge milestone for the high end smartphone market.

“iPhone 3G S is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet and we think people will love the incredible new features including autofocus camera, video recording and the freedom of voice control,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of WorldWide Product Marketing. “And with a breakthrough price of $99, we are thrilled to get iPhone 3G into the hands of even more users who want them.”

iPhone 3G S offers incredible speed and performance, on average up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G, so you can render web pages quicker and launch applications faster. iPhone 3G S takes advantage of the OpenGL ES 2.0 standard for stunning high-quality 3D graphics, making mobile gaming and other graphic intense applications better than ever. iPhone 3G S is not only faster, but with longer battery life you can watch more videos, listen to more music, browse the Internet or keep using your favorite apps even longer. The new iPhone 3G S also supports 7.2 Mbps HSDPA for faster networking speeds.***

iPhone 3G S features a new 3 megapixel autofocus camera that takes amazing pictures and video, making it easier than ever to capture, edit and share those moments instantly with family and friends. The new autofocus camera adjusts focus, exposure, color and contrast for the best possible image and includes an automatic macro focus for extra close up shots. With the new “tap to focus” feature, you simply touch the display to select an object or area of interest and the camera automatically re-adjusts focus and exposure. You can record incredible high-quality video clips and edit them right on your iPhone 3G S by simply trimming the start and stop points. With iPhone 3G S you can send photos and video by email or MMS and post them to MobileMe™ or YouTube with just one tap.

The voice control feature in iPhone 3G S offers hands free operation for both iPhone and iPod® functions. Simply speak the appropriate commands into the built-in microphone or headset microphone to dial by name or number. With voice control you can play your favorite music by artist, album or playlist and activate the Genius feature by saying “play more songs like this.” You can also tell iPhone to pause the music, play the next track, turn on shuffle or ask, “What’s playing right now?”

iPhone 3G S features a new built-in digital compass for instant navigation.**** The Compass app shows you which way you are headed and rotates as you change direction. You can orient yourself to true north or magnetic north, and iPhone’s built-in GPS automatically displays the coordinates of your current location. The new built-in digital compass is also integrated within Maps, so it automatically orients any map to the direction you are facing.

iPhone 3G S provides new accessibility features including VoiceOver, a screen reader that speaks what appears on the iPhone 3G S display, enabling visually impaired users to make calls, read email, browse web pages, play music and run applications. The new universal Zoom function magnifies the entire screen, and the White on Black feature reverses the colors on screen to provide higher contrast for people with low vision. iPhone 3G S also supports Mono Audio which combines left and right audio channels so that they can be heard in both earbuds for those with hearing loss in one ear.

iPhone 3G S includes the new iPhone OS 3.0 software with more than 100 new features including: Cut, Copy and Paste; MMS; Spotlight Search to search across iPhone or within Mail, Contacts, Calendar and iPod; landscape keyboard for Mail, Messages, Notes and Safari®; expanded parental controls for TV shows, movies and apps from the App Store; and the ability to capture and send audio recordings on the go with the new Voice Memo app. iPhone 3.0 software also includes a new Find My iPhone feature that works together with MobileMe so you can locate your lost iPhone on a map, send a message that will appear on the screen or play a sound to help you find it even if your phone is set to silent. If you cannot find your iPhone, you can erase all data and content on your iPhone with the new Remote Wipe feature. New iTunes® features available with iPhone 3.0 software include wirelessly downloading movies, TV and audio programs as well as iTunes U so students can download learning materials on the go.

iPhone 3G S gives users access to the revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world with more than 50,000 applications. The App Store allows developers to reach tens of millions of iPhone and iPod touch® users around the world. To date, customers have downloaded more than one billion apps from the App Store. And with more than 1,000 new APIs available with the iPhone SDK, developers can create even more innovative applications using In-App Purchases, a new Maps API and Push Notifications.

iPhone 3G S also features built-in Nike + iPod support making it an incredible workout companion. Users simply place the optional Nike + iPod sensor ($19) in their Nike + shoe to seamlessly connect with iPhone 3G S to track miles run or sync with the latest generation gym equipment.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone 3G S will be available in the US on June 19 for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and just $299 (US) for the new 32GB model in both Apple and AT&T’s retail and online stores, Best Buy and Wal-Mart stores. iPhone 3G S requires a new two year contract with AT&T for qualifying customers. iPhone OS 3.0 software will be available on June 17 as a free software update via iTunes 8.2 or later for all iPhone customers. iPod touch customers will be able to purchase a software update for $9.95 (US). Beginning June 8, iPhone 3G will be available for just $99 (US) for the 8GB model. New MobileMe features for iPhone require iPhone OS 3.0. MobileMe is available for an annual subscription price of $99 (US).