Posts by Sandy Ritchie

Sir Clive Sinclair in tech tin-rattle triumph

Atari must be spinning in their tech grave at that Lynx-alike.

Retrograde step, 16bit back to 8bit too.

Wake up! BlackBerry QUIETLY updates BB10

I run a z10, been testing beta 10.3.1 for months, its very nice. I've surprised myself I'm still using a 2 year old phone as my daily but there just isn't (in my view) a phone OS to beat it right now.

Wetsuits, sunshine, bikini babes and a competitive streak: Epyx California Games

Still a proud owner of a Lynx

3 up the attic, 1 MK1 and 2 MK2 models. Plus pretty much all games produces, except the Telegames produced ones (too expensive) at the time, although Telegames did provide me with a shack load of games. As did early days ebay and QXL before that. Fond memories of posting dollar bills in envelopes to USA and waiting weeks for acknowledged receipt and then months for games on a slow boat.

Say goodbye to landfill Android: Top 10 cheap 'n' cheerful smartphones

Wot no Z10?

I'd have imagined when comparing touch screen only phones you must have at least considered the BB Z10. Same OS as the Q10-5 but touch screen only, making it comparable to the derth of 'Droid phones you compared.

Personally I think you should have frisbee'd the Archos* one right into the bin and kept the column inches for another BB.

*no one buys Archos anymore, they suck donkey balls. Its clear they are a Frenchese firm as they don't give 2 sheets about their customers.

Whoah! How many Google Play apps want to read your texts?

Solutions?

BB OS10.2.1 (or 10.3 when it drops), It runs Android Apps in a sandbox, just sayin'

WTF happened to Pac-Man?

interesting find

I was playing an old Pacman machine yesterday (Easter Sunday) while my son played in the local kiddies play centre (the place was an arcade back in my day). They just happened to have some of the old arcade cabinets set to free play, I presume to keep the adults occupied.

Half way through level 1 one of the ghosts turned into a pink ghost rabbit, early Easter egg I supposed.

Anyway, it has a tenous link to this topic, but hey it was pacman.

Toshiba Encore: The Windows 8.1 tablet that might catch on

I've got one of these, only its the piddling 32gb model. What I like about is that I can stick a 64gb card (yes not a 32gb) in it and store my media stuff on there meaning big "metro" apps can on the built in memory. If your installing a Windows "proper" app you can define where it installs, i.e. the D:\ drive micro SD.

It might not be as pretty as an ipad, it might not be as light as an Android tab (nexus etc) but what it does have up its sleave is its FULL windows. Plug the micro HDMI into your screen, a OTG cable into a USB hub and then connect your mouse/keyboard combo and bobs your mothers brother, you've got a fully fledged PC. I've done this on several occasions now.

I do miss 3G built in (my old Galaxy Tab P1000) has this, but then it connects quite happily to my BB Z10 hotspot.

All I need now is for someone to confirm if a Fitbit Flex will work on the desktop app with the built in BT4.0 and my computing life will be complete, in the meantime I'll just connect my Fitbit Ultra dock to the OTG once a day.

Three-yaarrgh! Major UK mobile network's data goes down

grrrr!

I'm so angry.... my internet goes down for nearly 3 hours, this isn't good enough! This is just the icing on the cake of no issues in the last 5 years that makes me want to leave 3.

On no! Wait a minute, 3 hours downtimes in 5 years, and it wasn't even that bad as it was just my data that didn't work for 3 hours (I could still call and txt). Heck I think I might just stay a loyal 3 customer, especially when they've rolled out that free 4g update across the UK.

Phew, lucky I didn't do an el reg bitch fit and insta quit and flame 3 for their cheap and cheerful service.

Helghast-ly holiday: Killzone Shadow Fall

I guess I really am the only person not to have played/completed Resistance:Fall of man, well until recently.

Yes it feels like its a 2008 game because of the graphics, that said the game handles well and delivers shocks and surprises pretty well. Probably more so because it is old.

New use for old iPhones: Watch your house get robbed in REAL-TIME

An android app would be different in that.....

You wouldn't be watching your house get burgled you'd be responsibily checking up on your family pet?

Dr Alex Moulton: 'An inspiration for generations of engineers'

Awwwww!

Think I'll go for a drive in my classic mini tonight in his honor, find some rutted roads (won't be difficult) to bounce along.

Ten... Apple iPad Mini alternatives

Playbook hoorah!

You can snap up a 64gb Playbook for £129 at the moment, making it a bargain. Its a very solidly made little tablet, meaning I can let my 1 year old play with it to his hearts content without fear of it smashing into little pieces the first time its dropped.

BB10 OS has been promised for the playbook too.

Tablet tech is really a Psion of the times

I dug out my 3a recently, couple of fresh AA's and it worked fine.... although the internal memory had wiped loosing all my once "valuable" data, namely expenses spreadsheets etc.

Amazon crimps free Kindle 3G surfing

Hmmm

Why is it these days its blame everyone, not target the guilty!

Google Nexus 7 Android tablet

meh

Loaded with all the goodies.... but no 3G. Pointless house tethered brick. I'll stick with my Galaxy Tab, it might be a bigger brick, and a couple of years old.... but its got 3G so I CAN use it anywhere.

PS3 fans buy more digital content than Xbox buffs do

meh

I have both, I've used my 360 for Payperview movies and its pretty good, I've bought DLC for games, and I have Live.

I have a PS3 and I pay for + so I get some freebies and some discounts, I buy DLC for games, never watched a film, I use my PS3 with PlayTV box.

So basically I use both units for most of what they can do.... I find neither one better than the other, they are just different in deliverying largely the same sort of stuff..... that is all.

Ten... active camcorders

ZX5

The Kodak ZX5 Playsport can also be bought in blue and green.

I picked up a green one from Amazon, only £71, in part due to the colour, its the cheapest. That said if I drop it in a swimming pool I won't loose it.

Just make sure you've got a beefy PC for processing the vids....

Final countdown for NASA's NuSTAR X-ray black hole telescope

hmmmm

Talking about Event Horizon.... why does the ship look so much like the one from the film namesake.

Sony PlayStation Vita

meh!

The reason that games load slow... and the reason memory cards are so expensive can be summed up in one word! Freetards!

Freetards did their best to ruin the PSP with homebrew and illegal iso files.

So Sony had to go the extra mile to try to make sure piracy isn't such an issue, that way they can snag all the best developers without fear of their games being ripped off.

I picked up a 3G Vita on release day, and safe to say its the best portable console I've had (I have a 3DS and PSP still in regular use).

Price seems to be a sore point with everyone, yes its expensive, the 3G was actually more than £100 more expensive than the Morrisons bought PS3 I just got. But once you've used the device you'll realise where the money has been spent.

Once Sony master remote play for PS3 games onto the Vita and it better happen this time (not like the partial remote play we currently have, that was put in place for PSP originally) the Vita will become the killer portable handheld we've all been waiting for.

Oh and the pictures in this article clearly point to the 3G model being reviewed, I challenge you to get more than 3 hours of gameplay, minimum brightness (which is fine indoors), sound on, bluetooth off and 3G switched on.... ;-)

Orange Tahiti 7in Android tablet

I like ZTE kit

But I'll stick with my 1 year old 7" Galaxy tab, cost me a couple of hundred when I got it last year, and so far its cost me £40 in data costs. £20 credit on T-mobile converted to 6 months web package. And I've hammered it almost every day, downloading massive updates, games, tethering and T-mobile don't seem to give a monkeys.

Plus decked out with its 32gb micro sd, plus the build in 16gb its a great device for watching tv/film on.

Plus with a decent bit of battery monitoring software will run for days even used fairly heavily.

I look forward to a decent replacement for my GT, but it will be a long time coming I fear.

NT daddy turns his hand to Xbox

eh?!?!?!

Is this groundhog day?

There was me thinking I could fire up my 2006/7 vintage Xbox 360 and with the current updates I can...

A. Play games. (standalone or online)

B. Communicate with friends.

C. Play music

D. Play Movies

E. Stream content from my Pogo drive (music/movies/TV shows).

F. Access On-Demand content (netflix/youtube etc, iplayer)

G. Bing t'interweb.

Ok so to me knowledge I can't surf online, bu then thats what my netbook/fondleslab/phone are for.

So what additional content could I expect to make my Xbox360 more "media" orientated?

HTC Explorer budget smartphone

meh!

HTC did this last year with Wildfire, worse phone than the ZTE Blade. The blade might not be as sturdy, but ebay sources have good quality hard silicone cases which not only make the Blade look nice but add to its solidity.

Can't fault the screen on the original OLED ZTE Blade, I toyed with mine for 6 months before gifting it to my Fiancee and she's had a good years worth of use out of it. Her first smart phone and she wouldn't be without it, she even tollerates the once every 4 months crash that the custom rom seems to suffer from.

Polaroid develops Android camera combo

whaaat?

With no integrated POGO?

They already had a "poor-ish" camera with Pogo integrated and they sell well on ebay... so a decent Android powered smart camera that could also print its own pictures (albeit small ones) would surely sell well!

Beeb rescues old Who episodes

d'oh!

Nearly had me there, until I scanned the page again, April 1st.... d'oh!

Rainbow Islands

BB

Bubble Bobble is probably the first time I worked togeather with my sister towards a common goal, up until we purchased Bubble Bobble (all 99 levels and then loop to level 1 if I remember correctly) for our 464 it was all fighting over who played Harrier Attack, Rolland goes digging, Rolland in the caves, 180, Manic Minor... or out home brewed favourites Zombie Maze (Keyed in by my dad from a 464 programming book).

Painters wrap Forth Bridge job after 121 years

meh!

Why change the saying?

I mean we still use, not enough room to swing a cat (of nine tails), freeze the balls off a brass monkey (cannon balls) and the likes.

Like painting the forth bridge... never ending with no apparent benefit! How about like paying your taxes... you keep paying them, but the country still goes down the pan and the professionally unemployed still get by with no income but have full sky package and a 40+ inch LED telly.

Toshiba outs 'world's thinnest, lightest' tablet

huuuuge!

Bugga me, is that a child in a well pressed shirt holding that tablet, for 7.7" it looks massive compared to my fat 7" galaxy tab!

Pogoplug maker intros nano Nas for smartphones

hmmm

All of which route through pogoplugs website....

I got a pogoplug, it promised so much and failed to deliver all but the most basic audio streaming.

Bury council defends iPads for binmen

good thinking Bury!

Thats all I can say!

What people don't seem to realise its its gallons per mile for bin lorries, and that each bin lorry has 3 (minimum) staff on board to deal with driving and collection. So dealing with missed bins is an expensive business.

A few ipads save tens of thousands and yet folk are mumping about £9k wasted! You wouldn't consider it a waste if your bin was accidentally missed (or you were just too slow it putting it out in the morning and lied to the council to get them back out) and the bin lorry was back round 10mins after you phoned as they were still in the area.

The council where I work buy laptops, because a laptop is a fully featured PC and then call it mobile working, even though your tied to a desk and a CAT5 point, or maybe a wi-fi point in the canteen! When for less money they could have virtualised the desktop environment, buy a cheap 3g enabled tablet and job done.... genuine mobile working, a gucci device in your office provided man bag!

Its just double standards with private industry, they virtualise and provide staff with tablets and its forward thinking and enabling, a council does it and they are just wasting money!

How to... re-energise your Android smartphone's OS

2011 calling...

Wow August and the Reg have just cottoned on to what we've been doing for 8 months.... most of us will read this topic as un-news and we'll all feel more stupid for reading it.

Still credit where its due, you used the best phone to test a cracked rom. ZTE Blade is a fantastic wee phone for the money. I got mine back in January for £89 when colleages were buying the HTC wildfire, with its slower processor, poorer quality screen, massively inflated purchase price (basically double the ZTE), oh but it had build quality (aye you'll need that when you have to keep the phone for 12 months longer than the blade to make it cost effective).

Cyanogenmod 7 is one of the most stable ROMS i've tested, in fact its currently in everyday use by my fiancee (Non-tech savvy, all she wants is txts and internet).

iPhone 5 now set for October launch

oooh

might get a 5, still currently very happy with my still supported 3gs. Less pleased with Galaxy Tab which was promised to be upgraded by Sammy to honeycomb on release.

Oh Android i trust you as far as i could thrown your chunky metal butt.

Naked at 30: Osborne 1 stripped to its chips

meh

Looks like it could be fixed if someone checked for dry joints on the CRT board.

Asda slashes Samsung tablet price

Carol

I dunno... .you bought an Advent! I've said it before and I'll say it again, Dixons quality. Hope you took out the new for old replacement warranty! You'll probably need it! ;)

Hands up who had a shonky Saisho telly when they were a kid!

O2 tariff rejig bundles tethering with data

meh

£15.50 for 50mins and 250 txt..... Fail! And tied in for 12 months, double Fail!

3 give you 100mins, 3000 txts, and 2 gig data for 1 month rolling contract.

Sure you might not always have a 100% stable connection, but i'd rather that than a congested O2 connection.

Its "Deals" like these that made me leave O2 2 years ago, after having foolishy been a loyal customer for 7 years.

Samsung intros 'skinnier than iPad 2' tablets

MEH

I'm so glad I bought a 7" Galaxy Tab..... d'oh!

Still it meets my needs, and I've got a future upgrade path I guess with the 8.9 and 10.

Apple cuts iPad price

meh

Front facing ipad 2 camera will actually be of some use though I don't doubt.

Unlike the front facing cam on my Samsung GT, where no working Android apps have been released to utilise this. Well Tango kinda works, if you can live with not actually being rightway up on the screen (90 degress seems to be the standard displaying of your "avatar").

Apple iPad 2 snapped in all its skinny glory

meh

Skinny glory? Looks quite thick to me! Classing it as skinny because its narrow at the edges isn't a valid argument. Thats like saying i'm skinny because my fingers are a lot less narrow than my bulging waist.

Archos 101 8GB Android tablet

Meh

Archos..... *shudders*

Future updates.... buy the all new (looks just like the last model) Archos 102.

Dont do it guys, don't but them, don't give the Frenchies the satisfaction of selling more poorly developed un-supported devices.

BT eases iPad hotspot hop-ons

meh!

BTFon and Openzone has been around for ages for iphone.... and certainly around before 20th January for Android, I've had it since Christmas.

There was however an iTunes update yesterday, is this what your reporting? Maybe you could report if it works better than the old BTFon/Openzone app which would try to connect to FON on your home BT Internet network, and then give you restricted access (i.e. No access).

Apple refuses frozen iPhone repair

Meh

I thought this was a story about 1 phone which failed in Norway, and that it was potentially down to the cold, although quite why the phone would be so far below zero doesn't make entire sence. I keep my phone in my pocket, which keeps it above freezing, in a handbag it would still likely be above freezing.

But from some of the posts on here you'd think every phone in Norway had broke.

Archos 43 16GB Android PMP

meh

Downside is its made by Archos... expect no updates,ever! If something isn't 100% working on the Archos now it never will be! You'll wait for Flash support for the next year and it will never come.

The Girl with the NSObject Class Reference tattoo

hmm

I've read all the Dragon books, and all I can say is at least the author had more than a passing knowledge of hacking PC's, murder, and general sickness... making the books a great read.

Huawei S7 7in Android tablet

errr...cos it's cheaper!

So thats your sole justification... cost?

Who'd have thought it lesser functionality for less cost!

How about £125 for a TV licence, a jotter and a marker pen... you've got similar functionality, and reduced portability for less money!

meh!

What a load of garbage, why would anyone buy this?

I posted this message from my HSDPA linked (t-mobile 6 months internet for £20 sim) Sammy Tab, £399 from PC World, not £549 like the ipad 3g!

Sammy Tab is a great Android device, as an ios user i picked the Tab over the ipad because of the size, connectivity and cost!

Android's Gingerbread finagled onto iPhone

meh

I'd rather see iOS running on an Android tablet, that way I could have some decent games. I have an iphone and a Sammy Tab, oh how I long for the graphic goodness thats on the iphone, to replace all the crap games available on Android Marketplace.

Ten... sub-£150 PMPs

ZTE Blade (orange SF)

Blade FTW. Stick an 8/16GB micro SD in it, Stick a T-mobile £20 for 6month internet SIM, switch on Aeroplane mode, use it as a sexy OLED screened pocketable PMP with good battery life.... and added emergency internet access whenever you get bored watching films or playing Android games.

Install a Modaco Froyo ROM and take advantage of wireless tether when you do have your laptop travelling with you.

£99 + £10 Orange SIM (punt on ebay at cost), + Free T-Mobile sim + £20 top up coverted to data, +£15 on an 8GB Micro SD = Pocketable PMP+ for at most £144.

Or stick with Orange and you get £10 credit + 4gb Micro SD bundled = £190 until you can afford to upgrade.

iOS 4.2: An 'ace' for iPad, a 'meh' for iPhone

Yawn!

I still don't understand why the register bemoans that old iphones don't get full functionality of IOS 4.2.... Can every Android device run 2.2?

Anyway, i'm not a fanboi or hater... got an iphone 3GS, and my droid phone is in the post.

Most smartphoners don't give a flip about apps

Freetards?

I love the way The Register (and its many posters) brand anyone wanting something for nothing a Freetard..... and yet Jailbreakers are completely acceptable members of society.

If you want a product unlocked to a Mobile operator then buy the smartphone off plan.

Angry Birds take wing on Android

I'd recommend trying it....

Its a good fun game, nice graphics, easy to complete most levels but very difficult to get 3 *'s in each level.

Play for 5mins and find you've lost an hour of your life! ;)

3 offers best iPhone deal

meh!

I've been with 3 for 13 Months and never had any problem, I bought an iPhone 3GS from O2 and had it unlocked and i've used the 3 Sim in it for 6 months, in fact features like tethering have been great (not blocked on 3 just frowned upon).

The £15 sim only deal for iphone 3GS and iPhone 4 is genius! If you've got an old iphone and your happy with it you get a brilliant bundle which is only tied into a 1 month rolling contract.

When some iphone 4's appear you could easily switch.

I'm no fanboy, I like my iphone though, sure unlike HTC there isn't a new phone on the market every fortnight with the "new" all singing iphone killer feature, but what they do offer they do well.