Posts by Bad Beaver

Blackberry Pearl 8120 smartphone

@ David Love

I'm not a texting teen ;)

Let me explain it this way: The push-technology is very popular, this is why many makers implement it into their mobiles - in addition to the regular POP3/IMAP support. That way consumers, especially regular consumers (which the Pearl is aimed at too, as I understand) and business consumers without a dire need for push (they still exist) enjoy more options.

Or lets say had RIM bothered to implement POP3/IMAP support, I would not have returned the phone in disgust, and who knows, maybe in a while had developed a need for push too. It felt crippled / came with plenty strings attached, so it had to go. Of course, if you *are* after the push service, it is a pretty neat little device, mainly because of the most impressive text recognition, trackball control and other decent business oriented functions. Yet as I said, the overall execution could be more solid, it feels a little shoddy. If you can forgo the superb predictive text, there are many non-RIM phones of better quality available which also offer push.

Pointless and lacking.

Please stop producing pointless video reviews. There was nothing in this with much benefit over text with pics. You could show more of the interface in use instead of the reviewer waxing.

Also, as you have the Macbook prominently set up there, you failed to mention that RIM's pack-in Mac software is a joke, and a bad one at that. It simply does not work. If you want to put this phone to any use on a Mac, you will have to fork out (and not too little) for Missing Sync. Excellent software, but it should not be mandatory. Furthermore, if you feel this Blackberry to be "solid" you surely never touched a Nokia E51 – that is a solid feeling phone. The 8120 is too light to be comfortable with, and its battery cover is a flimsy thin piece of plastic. I was constantly worried about breaking the phone, the cover, the little flimsy card-slot cover... The trackball also feels cheap as it grinds and scratches along. It provides a marvelous way to navigate the interface though. The interface itself is mostly too utilitarian to be called ugly, yet the media functions lack elegance and feel bolted on. The text recognition is outstanding, but the keyboard could feel better. The browser sucks. On the whole the device works well, but it is not fun. Finally, everybody seems to assume that every Dick & Jane buying this phone wants to pay through the nose for the Blackberry push service to be constantly annoyed by yet another amazing opportunity to buy generic Viagra, instead of only checking & sending E-Mail on demand. As "those people" are clearly outside of RIM's desired target demographic, and fail to generate additional revenue for RIM, RIM failed to implement POP3/IMAP support. So you either pay for the service or you will not use this phone for E-Mail.

All in all, this review is six weeks late and not too informative. Nevertheless, I look forward for your Nokia E51 review in late February, as that phone is not only cheaper than the 8120 but also surpasses it in every single aspect safe for the camera function.

Samsung ML-1630 laser printer

Well, video...

I'm, fine with video reviews. If there is something worth showing in a video. This "review" does not qualify. It's just another pointlessly gaudy piece of e-junk from Samsung, the only apparent advantage of which is that you can easily stack stuff on top of it, what will most likely happen rather sooner than later considering the target demographic, meaning this product will overheat and be replaced – also – rather sooner than later. Thank God for RoHS.

Hundreds of US fighter aces reassigned as drone pilots

Sad. Just sad.

So those flying "robots", which are truly just costly RC-planes, allow thickly bespectacled lard-asses to be "fighter" pilots. Wow. You had to be a highly trained specimen of physical excellence to be allowed anywhere near the controls of a fighter jet up until now. "I'm a pilot" will loose all its bragging rights once this news spreads and people realize your primary qualification for "pilot" is your ability to sit upright. What a shame, and what an affront to all those pilots who spent their lives staying in shape in order to be able to risk their asses. As the US are outsourcing half their wars anyway, I would propose they also outsource their piloting - even further - to India, or maybe China, or wait, just have a bunch of eager PFYs in front of gaming rigs nationwide do it for free.

Apple targeted in DRM monopoly suit (again)

Yawn

WHY?!

NetFlix sics troops on Apple TV

@ Alastair Dodd

Think again! Netflix bragging about their wish for "a wide range of options" and they cannot even support the second most popular consumer OS? Pardon?

Huh?

Ah, no service for Macs? And I wondered why I did not remember that thing...

Anyway, maybe they get past that. What's the quality of their instant service? Personally, I think DVD renting via mail is full of hassle, and also quite wasteful, so an online variant would be most welcome. Nevertheless, the online variant would have to offer at least DVD quality in both sound & picture as well as features. This is why I have zero interest in the iTunes movie service up to now, even if they did offer it in Europe.

Nokia wins hearts, minds with breakthrough mobile

cut it

You're just bitter you got no E51 to review.

Bikini-clad pin-ups cover old school jailbreak

Please explain

If making a hole and slipping out is "old school", what would constitute the "hip" way to break out of prison? Does it involve cement busting L4Z0Rs, the clever hiding of mobiles in every available orifice, and maybe also extremely shaky hand-camera? We all know Paris would possibly just strangle the wardens with her thong, but she is hardly a professional prison hipster.

US woman launches 'Taserware' parties

GaWd!

The last thing I want to face is some waspy soccer mom, probably over-medicated, with a weapon they think they can handle. I mean, she'll probably fry me over a parking lot... next up on Desperate Housewives: Girl on girl electric action in front of supermarket...

Americans can swear at toilets, judge rules

So...

It took TWO MONTHS to sort this out?

Nokia 6500 Slide mobile phone

At least...

At least it looks decent. Nokia has a lot of making up to do, and it is good to see they're at it.

By the way:

Where is the Nokia E51 review?

US HD hardware sales 3:1 in Blu-ray's favour by year end

Why I wouldn't?

Of course, if you had yourself robbed over the PS3 and HDTV, why not spend minimum €20 (used!) each on a still shoddy selection of movies, most of which are available around €5 on DVD. Makes sense.

Sperm-derived power system for nanobots patented

Wondering...

Now why would glycolysis need quotation marks? "Apparently" we teach our kids about it in school. It's not like it was "evolution" or some such strange wizardry... *g*

I think it is obvious why I chose the Paris icon.

T-Mobile wins right to end sale of unlocked iPhones

W-T-F!?

So let's better get rid of / have that law changed, before other companies start pulling the same crap.

Nokia unveils eco phone and planet-friendly charger

uhm.. 50%?!

It's nice to see Nokia return to simpler, more reduced and elegant designs while upping the feature count. Nevertheless, I concur with the notion that not only should phones be made of nearing 100% recyclable materials, they should also actually BE recycled once done with and consist of material that came from recycling processes in the first place. The whole recycling thing is nothing but a cruel joke if nobody actually does it, just as RoHS is a cruel joke.

Oz video rental giants go Blu-ray only

Way to go!

Man, those numbers... it's amazing... no matter how you look at them, they're always... bad. More BR-capable units than BR discs sold... seesh...

Bought some uranium ore? You'll need the anal douche, then

@ censored

Uhm, but the uranium doesn't bother you?

Tasers can be instrument of torture, says UN

@ Tom

Tom, no idea, but it is proven fact that if you die from being tasered, you were at least 98% guilty.

Frankly...

I can very well understand people trying to defend their product. They might even have a point – to a point. Nevertheless, if you shoot someone in the leg with a gun, and that person has a prior condition for cardiac arrest or whatnot, it is still the application of the gun triggering the fatality. Also, if you frivolously shoot someone who has no condition in arm, leg & shoulder "because he was still moving" he might as well die from the injuries even if every single shot by itself had not been fatal. The same concept applies to the Taser. The whole idea of the devices being "less than lethal" leads to airy and arbitrary use by the "authorities". Whenever I see one of the disgusting videos showing people being zapped, they are almost always zapped at least twice. So either the product itself is ineffective at its regular single discharge settings, or the person at the trigger is a sadist, or both. Whatever it is, it is objectionable.

Amazon's $399 folly book reader

@ Robert Ramsay

Dude, it has keys so you can... type stuff.

@ Roast Duck

Exactly. These things are perfect for people who have to lug a lot of paper and are also expected to actually read it. Add students to your list. I used to read stuff on my Newton (at least it has a backlight and decent size screen) but honestly, using any non E-Ink display for prolonged reading is just asking for serious eye strain. The Kindle's price is moving in the right direction, but I would rather have the versatility of the iRex (for example its touchscreen) for the money, not some ugly lo-fi gear tied to Amazon.

Tim Burton to shoot 3-D Alice in Wonderland

Good.

Burton is about the only person qualified to produce a decent new take on Alice. And yes, I'd love a good pinch of American McGee in it too.

Wave power prototype sinks after seven weeks

So?

It was not designed to resist, and it didn't, yet it did what it was supposed to do. What's the story?

BlackBerry boss blows raspberries at iPhone

Thank you, Nile

for once again, I feel that I am not alone. Only that I do not perceive the N95 as "beautiful".

“Please Steve Jobs. Eat us for breakfast. Make us look slow-witted, clumsy, unimaginative, grey and idiotic. Help yourself to the entire market that isn’t Blackberry, we don’t want it. We’d rather make toys for children and knock-off Macbooks for credulous adults. And somebody might buy the P1i if they want a slow, joyless experience. You never know. And anyway Apple cheat by having better products, which is unfair. We were once Sony. Goodbye cruel world.”

Stephen Fry's Text is here:

<http://www.stephenfry.com/blog/?p=3>

Wonderful.

That is the Pearl 2...

...that is yet to come out, right?

Nevertheless..

This piece is full of truth. Look at it. I am not getting a Blackberry, even though the Pearl is kind of nice (no WiFi though, what a joke), as it pales next to the iPhone. Now the iPhone lacks a number of critical features (not really about the keyboard though, but talk about Apple providing decent sync with their own darn product), and there is no real choice when it comes to carriers and contracts. Nokia and SE dropped the ball long ago, I will not spend money on their depressing, molasses-oozing, crash-happy abominations from cell-hell. Also, I'm not into BDSM, so Winmobile is out too.

Ergo, I am not getting anything.

Maybe some cheapish Moto and just tell people to shove it, I'll look at their pathetic E-Mail once I'm back at my desk.

Otherwise, the comments are correct, this article lacks a pinch of El Reg.

Cops coax half-naked Czech wolfman from Cardiff tree

I read correctly...

...that you cannot even climb a tree in the UK anymore without someone calling the cops? Or was it all due to the nekkidness?

Dogs blast hunter with shotgun

That dude...

...totally legless.

Transformers director favours Blu-ray Disc

Frankly...

I don't give a rat's ass about what Michael Bay thinks. He regularly insults the brains of the paying audience with crappy movies that all look 98% alike. That is unless he gets someone else to direct his retarded "vision" of a classic. If he could just shut up please.

LucasArts to wield Wii Light Sabre in UK next week

Finally

This is exactly what Wii've been waiting for, hope it comes with sound effects & all. I would rather have a "real" SW game along with it though. No more excuse for not getting a Wii.

Nokia releases 8GB N95 smartphone

It's still

a POS in my book, but hey, now it is slightly less ugly! And more space too! Sweetness! Featuremaniacs rejoice!

Hey car thief! Gonna shut you down

All of what you said

...and wouldn't dozens of local US TV stations simply go out of business once there were no more hour-long car chases to broadcast?

Microsoft: New Live Search 'as good as Google'

What..

..is that "Live Search" thingy you all talk about?

Magazines go online in iTunes-esque move

Good!

An interesting development. One would hope papers could come up with some incentive ideas too, as for example sell a 2-year subscription along with a well subsidized iRex iLiad.

Tulip tries to buy back Commodore brand

@ Jesse Bartholomew

100% ACK. Commodore created awesome machines back in the day, yet all we have seen done with the brand lately are shameful attempts to exploit that ancient glory. People old enough to remember the C64 and AMIGA years are likely also savvy enough to see through this futility.

Apple iPhone

RE: Damien Jorgensen

This is probably the most tasteless comparison I have ever seen on this site. I am not a person endorsing restrictive PCness, not at all, but you just compared the ordeal of an abductee who was stolen almost half her life to something as mundane as a mobile plan. I hope you are proud of yourself. I am also happy that we have moderated comments here for apparently no reason at all.

Re: Re: SMS etc.

The abysmal bit is not in the way SMS are being displayed. The "threaded" approach actually makes a lof of sense. What does not make sense is the inability to delete or forward individual messages, or to send the same message to more than one receiver. The latter would be not as severe - if there was at least copy'n'paste. The "Happy New Year" example in mobile-review article is very clear in this regard, in certain cases you would simply type yourself stupid. Plus there is no delivery report. Also, copy'n'paste could be used for much more than just extracting numbers, especially on a device like the iPhone, trust me on that.

Futile

There is next to zero "news" to this "new" review, yet you gracefully manage to circumvent any of the true issues. Just to name a few of the harder punches that make even die-hard Apple clientele (like me) shudder with disbelief:

- iCal sync. You ignored sync issues such as the loss of categories and lack of week-view, absences that are 100% embarrassing. Even my decade-old Newton features a week-view, and color coded categories are one of the reasons why it actually made sense to equip PIM devices with a freakin' color-screen in the first place.

- Abysmal SMS handling. You know the review on mobile-review. You know all aspects of SMS handlng are beyond belief. You don't? It's here, but be warned it's not a pretty sight:

http://www.mobile-review.com/articles/2007/iphone-sms-en.shtml

- Copy'n'Paste. You treated this issue like it wasn't there. Which is true, in a way.

These are (my) major issues. All of them could and should have been solved via updates by now, but Apple chose not to. There's a plethora of small fry bugging other people (thankfully, the 3G vs. Edge thing won't matter in the real world). You ignored all of these for a "my new shiny iTem" report. I've read more critical Apple product reviews even on iLounge. Disappointing.

@ Stuart Boston

You don't look hard enough.

Pentagon chief: no more oil for blood, man

@ Lickass McClippers

My pleasure. I think I'll try recording it in my best Rory Cochrane / Slater voice.

Astronauts chuck fridge off space station

*argh*

Yeah right NASA, keep using that &$"§%!* WMA crap.

When 'God Machines' go back to their maker

Alan Donaly's comment

Pure beat poetry, I love it :)

Burned by a MacBook

What I mean...

I hope you got me the right way. There is no need to OBSERVE comments if you let everything pass.

Why in the world are comments moderated...

...if apparently every bit of bull goes through? Everyone expected this to turn into a fanboy-fest. What is to be observed is that there are very, very few Apple fanboys to be observed. Most of the decent commenters focus, correctly, on the blatant ineptness and stupidity of Emily Turner. On the other hand, there are dozens of posts from Apple-hating crapheads, and these especially love to complain about "all the fanboys here", athough there are none to be observed.

Best one so far, Webster Phreaky:

"Bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha Apple P O S bwah ha ha ha ha ... [repeated]

This is just too hysterical, all the MacDweeb FanBoys squirming and sqawking and not a single one answering with facts or addressing he issue."

Am I missing something?

El Reg used to be a place where you would happily read letters/comments, but by now the comments section seems to turn into the same kind of cesspit it is elswhere.

Chinese fight rat plague with giant saucepan

Lemmingade? That of course...

...presumes they will blend.