Posts by CitizenErazed 19 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Sep 2009
All else being equal, Kinect is actually something NEW. PS Move is the Wii controller. Personally I think all motion-based gaming is bound to fail - without proper haptic feedback the sort of games that gamers really want will never work (look at Red Steel for example).
I'm not weighing in apart from that.
ITT: Fanbois argue like it's 1999
There are only two reasons I want the update - one, for the market app that's not a pile of something messy, and two, for whatever theoretical battery usage improvements I might get out of it. But I'd still like it, /because/. It doesn't help that everything that's mentioned is basically rumour and speculation - the most concrete evidence we've ever had is a tweet from HTC saying 1st half 2010.
The Motorola Droid (US) has no multitouch, yet the Milestone (EU) has multitouch, despite them being the exact same phone. I know my EU Hero has multitouch, not sure if the CDMA US Hero also does, and they're more or less the same hardware in a different case. I'm sure I read somewhere a while back that Apple has some pretty nasty patents on the multitouch tech in the US, but I could be making that up out of Apple dislike.
'For *core* smartphone functionality - the iphone just works'
So I can ssh using my iPhone without jailbreaking it? It's a smartphone - so I can customise the interface beyond moving icons about - without jailbreaking it? Can I have Spotify syncing away another 300 song playlist while I play sudoku?
Three functions that are important to me on a smartphone, the iPhone does none of them.
And this is our fault - well, I say our, what I mean is the marketing behind new devices. For a decade or more they've been busily telling the nation that new device x is going to be faster, more powerful and easier to use than old device z.
Paris, cos she's an easy new device.
Or, alternatively:
Elite console (with HDD): £189.99
Extra control: £29.99
Year of XBL Gold (which is NOT needed to access the other online services): £34.99
£254.97.
PS3 (120gb sllim): £244.69
Extra controller: £34.99
Replacing the non-DualShock controller that came in the box: £34.99
Microphone Headset: £25
HDMI cable, audio cables etc...
Films: £~13-~20 a time.
£339.67
So there's the difference, infact.
"Tell that to the dealer who's down one car.
Who exactly has lost what when someone pirates a game?
I'm not condoning piracy, but copyright infringement is NOT the same as theft."
Well, the developing company has lost one sale (and yes I know piracy doesn't neccessarily translate straight into lost sales, but let's say for the sake of argument with a game like MW2 it would do), which means the developers who worked on the game may lose bonuses, future payments or even work.
The paying customer, meanwhile, has lost the trust from the developer. Because now we're treated to ever stricter levels of DRM and moralising adverts - none of which work, and all of which do nothing except to annoy paying customers.
There is no justification for piracy. Don't agree with copyright law? Don't agree with DRM? Don't agree with EULAs? Fine. Don't use the product. But don't pretend that not agreeing with it still entitles you to use the product, just not to pay for it.
"however I do feel their games are a bit pricey"
Then don't buy them, it's a luxury item for a reason.
Think they're too expensive? Don't buy them. Don't like what the developer's done with the game? Don't buy it. Don't like the DRM? Don't buy the game.
There is no justification for piracy, saying 'I really want to play the game but I've got no money, oh well, I'll steal it' is the same as saying 'I really want to drive an Aston Martin but I can't afford it, I'll steal one'.
"If a computer comes pre-loaded with Windows but you don't want it, you aren't forced to get it. Either suck it up and get the computer, or go without"
Yes, because last time I walked into my local PC World, there were thousands of PCs on the shelves without Windows. I had that choice...
Having used a HTC Hero, I doubt I'd ever use another non-touchscreen phone. However, had my first touchscreen phone been a Blackberry Storm or something similar, I'd be swearing off touchscreen as the sign of the devil. A cheap or badly designed touchscreen is almost no touchscreen at all - I'm thinking of the ones they put on ticket machines in National Rail stations, which are awful to use and massively unresponsive. Oh, and the one on my old TomTom One - shocking to use, you have to /really/ push down hard on the screen and one day I'm sure I'm going to put a finger through it.
But the new generation of screens are wonderful, and when backed up by proper haptic feedback and software designed to take advantage of it (IE, not Symbian) they're almost as good as a physical keyboard, with the added bonus of changeable key layouts for different apps (Example, the Hero's layout changes slightly on e-mail entry boxes in the web-browser, giving you @ and .com as seperate keys) and loads more screen real estate, which makes web-browsing a much nicer experience.
The iPhone 3GS is 12.5mm thick, give or take. The Palm Pixi, on comparison, is 10.55mm. And that has a removable battery. The Samsung Tocco Ultra is 12.7mm, and that incorporates a physical slider keyboard. So no, the size of the phone has nothing to do with the battery being replaceable.
I used the same research material you did, good sir.
Why do all the iPhone lovers feel the need to preface their comments with that? You don't see me doing it, a la 'I hate Google but my Hero R0X0R5!'.
If you like something, shout about it! For me there's a few too many features missing and concerns over control (replaceable battery. PLEASE.). Although more network choices can only be a good thing, even if they all charge the same. Might force one or two of them to do something about that vaunted 'customer service' I hear so much about...
Paris cos she's often defending her loves...
@Simon - I have wifi at home, and in the office, and if I'm out and about there are innumerable coffee shops that I know of that provide free/cheap wifi. So having free access through 'The Cloud' isn't a big issue to me.
Orange possibly aren't the best network to get the iPhone, and it's moot for me because I just took out an 18 month contract on a phone, but more competition can only be good. The handset will still be prohibitively priced, but perhaps O2 will finally get round to upgrading their 3G network to compete.
Paw - not sure where you are, I'm on orange and get blanket HSPDA access in London and out to Essex. At worst I might get plain ol' 3G. Even at Reading festival I was getting 3G and good speeds, with all my o2 iPhone chums complaining of slow network access. Probably because 10,000 other people there had iPhones on o2, but hey ho.
Jeffrey - they're generally quite good about not doing that with smartphones, my Hero's completely untouched apart from a splash screen on load. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I've owned several non-smartphones with Orange and where that menu is existant, it's also easy to disable.
Anyway, moving swiftly on, this move = good, no matter what network it was. O2 are far too comfortable with the iPhone, and have even been using their iPhone tariffs on their other smartphones, such as the Pre. Now they might actually have to be competitive on pricing.
Why are O2's smartphone deals so prohibitive? I've got the HTC Hero from Orange, and I'm paying them £40/month for 18 months, for 1200 minutes, unlimited texts, 500mb internet, free satnav and exchange. And I got the phone for free. Yes, okay, they say 'unlimited' internet, but their terms and conditions are quite clear on what they mean by that.
The day I buy the Star Wars series AGAIN is the day I decide money's just not worth having.
Seriously, I can't see any point to blu-ray, except to say 'Look at me! I've got the latest kit!'. Honestly, is (for example) Shawshank Redemption significantly improved by a slightly higher resolution?
So, applied the update, like a good little network sheep I waited for the Orange one. Everything's much faster and swapping between home screens is smoother, but...
Peep will not download tweets for love nor money on mobile internet. Nor will Spotify search, but only on mobile internet. Connect to WiFi and it's fine - go wandering and you can't get a thing. Anyone else?
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
