#1 Technology UK Journalist In December 2008

It’s hard to know how to take both praise and criticism. As a writer and journalist I tend to run into both on a fairly frequent basis (probably more the latter given readers are generally moved more when angered than entertained) so I think I’ll be taking this with a pinch of salt…

‘Top UK Technology Journalist December 2008′

That’s me according to the Apollo Journalist Profiler, a service “used by PR Agencies and in-house PR departments to identify the key journalists in their sector” – ummm, very nice. Cheers fellas!

Of course on the other hand how this ranking system is compiled is another question entirely. If it’s based on profile you’d have to say Jemima Kiss and Jack Schofield of the Guardian and Observer should probably come out top and while not included the likes of Rory Cellan-Jones at the BBC or Stephen Fry would dwarf me.

Still I’ll take the pat on the back thank you very much, brace myself for the inevitable cosmic karma kick in the pants and not take any of it too seriously – whatever it means…

PS – companies are never going to get it are they? There is NO space between ‘Trusted’ and ‘Reviews’ – never has been, never will!

Windows Mobile 6.5 Screenshots

Could Microsoft really be about to serve up something this 2006 as it’s next generation 2009 smartphone OS? Please Redmond, don’t undo all the good will you earned from Windows 7 so fast…

Enduring Paris Hilton

Quick one this since it seems to be doing the rounds – including on the Ranieri Blog…

Yes, I was a guest at the paparazzi free-for-all also known as the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone launch (the Finns’ affordable iPhone rival). Yes there were celebrities and yes, Paris Hilton was one of them and yes, I really – like really, really – dislike Paris Hilton and everything her pseudo-fame represents.

What I didn’t realise was she spent a fair portion of time standing right behind me as I expressed these demands. Embarrassing? No, empowering and retrospectively satisfying. Of course I didn’t know my good friend Paul Monckton would catch it all on camera with me blissfully unaware mid-rant.

Apparently the socialplite was further away at this point, but you get the gist…

Despite this a great evening was had by all in the fine company of the CNet posse of Nate, Rory, Kate and Pene, the aforementioned Mr Monckton and the legendary Rob Kerr.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic itself? Too early to tell I’m afraid, but I understand the regrettable decision of employing a resistive touchscreen instead of a capacitive one was taken so I’ve already got one bullet point for my next Just the Bad Points (JtBP) review…

Right, now I’ve squeezed this heinous post out the chamber let’s hope for the sake of December’s #1 UK Tech Journalist (!?!) the good stuff comes flowing through…

Update: Yep, that worked. Here we go.

Windows 7 Public Beta

So, bring on that most monstrous of beasts:

Read the Rules if you aren’t familiar with my already seemingly cult and contentious reviews’ system. In short, with JtBP I save the gushing praise for every other review you’ll readand bring you the bullet points on any potential deal breakers with something before you commit to the long winded waffle on your favourite sites/publications. It’s a time saver.

Windows 7 Public Beta – Just the Bad Points

• It’s an evolution of Vista, not a revolution and not XP. Vista done properly is still Vista for many
• The new taskbar reeks of MAC OS X/some Linux builds and though I think that’s a great thing – many prefer to stick with what they know and it does present a learning curve
• Home networking is still more fiddly than it should be
• Jumps Lists while potentially very useful currently only seem anywhere near their potential with Microsoft’s own programmes
• Sleep and Hibernate remain twitchy on various hardware setups
• You will find some of your favourite programmes don’t work (CloneDrive *sniff*)
• Antivirus support is scant. Trials of Norton (which doesn’t then play nicely with Word 2007) and Kaspersky last less than a month leaving AVG as your best option

Now I’m breaking with tradition just this once however because I feel compelled to say BUT it’s better, so much better than it should be. It’s lean, mean and remarkably stable. In fact, I’ve already adopted it as my primary OS and it may just stop me buying a Mac…

I’ll give you guys another update in a few months as Microsoft continues the shaping but if you aren’t a technologically frigid I can only advise: try it.

Ok, I can’t possibly end on a positive so… hmmmn. Oh yes, IE remains stuck in a time warp and hopelessly, painfully, embarrassingly behind the likes of Firefox, Opera and Chrome. That’s a negative – kinda.

CES Update: The Highlights & Disappointments so far…

Apologies to all for the lack of updates since my arrival at CES this week. As you might expect it has been manic and TrustedReviews has to take priority but you can see the vast array of stories that Riyad, Andy and I have been producing on our dedicated CES page.

Highlight so far?

That’s easy. Surpassing every expectation was the Palm Pre and the company’s stunning new Web OS mobile platform. In short it takes the best of Android, mobile OS X and the INQ1 and combines it with some genuinely innovative features. Palm shares rose an incredible 35 per cent following the unveiling, if that doesn’t say people are impressed I don’t know what does. Here’s the full write-up.

Biggest Disappointment?

The Sony and Microsoft keynotes were both dull as dishwater and we didn’t get much of a look at Windows 7 but with the public beta now available that doesn’t matter too much.

Honourable mentions?

In truth, they tend to fall in line with my CES Preview: affordable SSDs (OCZ and SanDisk are leading the way at present), ultra slim HDTVs (Samsung, Sharp, Panasonic and more take a bow) plus the Sony P Series netbook for daring to try and do something different with this much-of-a-muchness category (even if using Vista as the OS when picking an Atom CPU is complete madness).

I’ll be back with more soon and I’ll also see if I can get you gets the very first JtBP review of the Palm Pre as an apology for the lack of updates.

RIM BlackBerry Storm

RIM’s first entry into the ever expanding world of touchscreen devices was inevitable but first generation products are notoriously poor. Has the BlackBerry Storm fallen foul to this rule?

The preamble: My cult and contentious reviews’ system. Designed as a time saver to highlight the potential deal breakers in a product before you commit to reading lengthy reviews on your favourites sites and/or magazines. For a more detailed description please read: the Rules

RIM BlackBerry Storm Review – Just the Bad Points

• No WiFi
• Touchscreen display slides around under finger, not just depresses
• Dust gets under the screen
• Virtual Qwerty keyboard is a love it/hate it affair (I side with the latter)
• 155g weight is heavier than iPhone 3G, Samsung Pixon and LG Renoir
• Impossible to recommend to anyone without them trying it.
• The ultimate Marmite smartphone.

CES 2009 – The battle of thin & light

Pre-guessing a major consumer electronics event can be akin to shooting in the dark but I’m going to take a brief stab at it.

I’ll be jetting off on Tuesday to Las Vegas to begin my coverage of CES for TrustedReviews and I’m beginning to spot a few trends I expect to see built upon in those huge halls at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). Most notably LED panels in both monitors and TVs, further refinement in the netbook sector and finally the emergence of affordable solid state hard drives (SSDs) for laptops.

The indicators are already out. Last week LG announced the world’s thinnest LED High Definition TV only to see Samsung a few days later claim it will produce a model more than 3x thinner.

In the meantime PQI has joined this we-can’t-keep-our-lips-shut club to proclaim a range of wallet friendly SSDs with capacities up to 128GB. This is more than enough for the average user, especially when combined with the technology’s significant benefits (faster performance, greater durability, silent running, zero heat build up and lower energy requirements).

Then comes the cert: yet another flourish in the sardine-crammed netbook sector. With most manufacturers onto generation three we should find slimmer, more portable and more powerful machines than ever before. Many likely to carry onboard HSDPA along with the ability to playback HD content, making them mini-media centres for one and all.

The common theme in this diverse trio? Thin and light. Essentially CES 2009 looks set to build on technologies we’ve long had (LED backlighting, solid state drives, HSDPA, HDMI, portable laptops) but push them into ever more convenient forms.

TVs will be wall mounted in the future more often than not, our primary PCs will go everywhere with us and our components will be faster, stronger and more efficient than ever before. Heck, even the neck and neck hot tips for the overlapping MacWorld are between an even smaller Mac Mini or a Mac netbook and you know what they say about where Apple goes?!

It’s the battle of thin and light people, get ready to enjoy it…

BlackBerry Curve 8900

Here’s something new…

Let’s face it, in your average review what most readers aren’t looking for is praise or description. We know the majority of products these days do the basics just fine and if we want a specification list we can get that off the manufacturer’s site – it doesn’t require 1,000 words.

In short, we’re all on the look out for the Bad Points, the deal breakers, that single missing or poorly implemented feature that can on occasion be like finding a needle in a haystack. It is the issue which says for you individually this product requires no further investigation and can be dismissed.

Here’s an easy example. Considering its midrange positioning, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 is the best smartphone I’ve seen from RIM to date. Build quality, screen, keyboard, software, pricing, it’s all superb and therefore omitted.

Instead the deal breaker is its lack of 3G – something many cannot do without yet will get 700/800 words into a review just to discover. Let’s cut through this – a blog isn’t paid by the word and we’re all busy people.

So without further ado here is GordonKelly.com’s first ‘Just the Bad Points’ review:

BlackBerry Curve 8900 – Just the Bad Points

• No 3G Connectivity

Got it?

Yep, it’s dead easy. Now the issue won’t always be this simple to spot, often it can be something you’d only notice from physically using the device. So this should also allow me to bring you word on the latest and hottest products FAST, after all it’s Only the Bad Points – the points that matter. Enjoy!

Feedback most welcome.

David Pogue isn’t the jerk you suspected…

I won’t be using this blog to post many links to quirky videos, cute animals and retarded celebrities (you know, the bad kind) it’s more about what I can bring to the table for you ladies and gents, but I will make the occasional exception for the odd gem.

Here’s one such example from David Pogue, the usually thoroughly irritating knowledge ‘lite’ New York Times & CBS tech correspondent. With no vindictiveness and no little self parody Pogue shows us that maybe, just maybe, he isn’t the jerk you suspected…

(Like so many things in life, the good stuff is in the first 3 minutes)

Google Android vs. Mobile Mac OS X

Looking for a good read?

A popular feature I wrote recently for TrustedReviews on the two mobile phone software platforms most likely to slug it out during 2009. Who comes out on top currently and which looks most likely to succeed long term…?

An excerpt:

If the launch last week of the wonderfully impressive INQ1 didn’t make it abundantly clear, there is an intense war now being fought across the mobile phone landscape and it has nothing to do with megapixels, gigabytes or even – despite what mainstream advertising might tell you – touchscreens. In fact, this war has nothing to do with hardware at all because at very long last it appears dopey manufacturers are getting the message that specsmanship is nothing without a solid foundation of software craftsmanship.

Link: Google Android vs. Mobile Mac OS X

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