Archos 80 G9 With Apple iPad 2

Today I snapped a few shots of the Archos 80 G9 with Picc0110's Apple iPad 2 to give the readers of the Todoleo Tech Blog a better idea of its size next to Apple's current tablet.




Granted the iPad 2 is made of better materials and has an exceptional industrial design. The Archos 80 G9 has much more built in functionality, expandibility, a more open OS and comes in at less than half the price of the entry level iPad 2. I'll be writing more about the Archos 80 G9 soon.

As usual, fell free to leave comments and/or questions below.

Three UK To Sell Galaxy Nexus

I just read on the Official Three UK Blog that 3 UK will be selling the Galaxy Nexus, the Google phone running Android Ice Cream Sandwich!
Good times! My favourite network stocking what may well be my next favourite phone!

You can read the full post here.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below or on Three's Blog.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich [4.0]

Sticking to Google's tradition of naming versions of the Android OS after tasty desserts, Android 4.0 was officially unveiled today and it is called Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS for short).



As written on the Official Google Blog:


"With Ice Cream Sandwich, our mission was to build a mobile OS that works on both phones and tablets, and to make the power of Android enticing and intuitive. We created a new font that’s optimized for HD displays and eliminated all hardware buttons in favor of adaptable software buttons. We also dramatically improved the keyboard, made notifications more interactive and created resizable widgets."

ICS will be the default OS on the new Google Galaxy Nexus smartphone, and Google also announced that the ICS OS should run on any device that runs Gingerbread (Android 2.3). I'm looking forward to seeing what the vibrant communities at MoDaCo and XDA Developers come up with for handsets such as the HTC Desire, the ZTE Skate and the Samsung Galaxy Pro...


As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below. I would also advise popping into the MoDaCo Android forums and seeing what will be brewed up in the Android kitchens there...

How I'm Transferring Music To My Honeycomb Tablet [Linux]

In Linux some devices just don't work as they are designed to on other operating systems. I experienced one of these situations last week when an Archos 80 G9 was delivered to me and I was wanting to transfer some music over to it. I could have used a network share, but I still like being able to plug things in to my ageing Linux laptop and drag and drop files over.
The Archos 80 G9

On the specifications of The Archos 80 G9, in the system requirements for Linux it mentions "MTP Tool". A quick Google search and a Wikipedia click later I had learnt that MTP stands for Media Transfer Protocol, and is an extra series of packages that allow your favourite Linux distro to recognise and read/write to external media player devices. In the Synaptic Package Manager I found a useful package called gMTP. It works great on my Lubuntu machine.
The gMTP UI
Using the application is easy peasy, it is simply a drag and drop experience. While I type this post, I'm transferring my Jennifer Paige discography over to my Honeycomb tablet in the background...
Thanks to Darran Kartaschew and all those who worked on and made gMTP available.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below.

Nokia Tune Remake Won By V@leric

Nokia held a very interesting crowdsourcing competition recently to come up with a replacement/remake for the classic Nokia ringtone.


The Nokia ringtone has been alerting/interrupting the world for well over a decade now first with its monophonic, then poliphonic, then mp3 versions of the same classic tune. The original tune was composed by Francisco Tárrega in 1902, and was the first identifiable musical ring tone on a mobile phone.


This year Nokia crowdsourced the Remake of the "Nokia Tune". The competition was won by V@leric (aka VAS_SD, aka Valerio Alessandro Sizzi) with this "Dubstep" remix:
Hipsters rejoice! Dubstep will soon be alerting/interrupting the world (if Nokia doesn't die of Windows Phone 7...).


You can listen to the competition winner and the other entries here.


As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below.

Habermas-Chipotle-Glee Count From Public Parts

After having listened to the audio book, I have just finished reading the paper edition of Jeff Jarvis' Public Parts.



Here's Amazon's product description which gives you a good idea what it is all about:



"In Public Parts, Jeff Jarvis travels through history to show the amazing parallels of distrust and fear that met the advent of innovations such as the printing press and the camera. He reveals amazing, almost unnerving, connections between our suspicions and discomforts through history as technology has inexorably changed the world and our sense of us within it. Based on extensive interviews, Jarvis introduces us to the men and women building the Internet today. Some of them have become household names-Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter's Ev Williams- many more of them may soon be recognized as the industrialists, philosophers, and designers of our online future. He reveals the promising ways in which the Internet is already allowing us to collaborate, organize and create in dazzling ways-how we manufacture and merchandise, buy and sell, teach and learn. It is a world being built on an ethic of transparency and generosity but as Jarvis shows, it is a world that's already impacting economies, industries, human health, and many other facets of humanity in meaningful and measurable ways. Jarvis makes an urgent case that the future of the internet-needs as much protection as the physical space we share. It is a space of the public, for the public and by the public-and it needs respect and protection from all of us, no matter how we use it."



As a This Week in Google (TWiG) viewer/listener, I often play the Habermas-Chipotle-Glee drinking game in the TWiT.tv chat room when I am able to follow the show live. The Habermas-Chipotle-Glee drinking game is a tongue-in-cheek drinking game based on the sometimes extremely topical and relevant, sometimes tangential mentions of Habermas (German sociologist and philosopher), Chipotle (Chain of North American Fast Food Restaurants) and Glee (US TV Series). You have a drink each time one of the three is mentioned.


As I read through Public Parts, I did my best to count mentions of Habermas, Chipotle and Glee. Below are the results I have found. In the spirit of "openness", "collaboration" and "betaness" delineated in Public Parts, I would like to invite anyone who has read the book and counted the H-C-G mentions to please correct me if the count is wrong (leave a comment below please). Even better, if you are Jeff Jarvis and have a more accurate count please let me know. Here are the count results:
  1. Habermas (27)
  2. Chipotle (3)
  3. Glee (0)
Even though I didn't catch a mention of Glee, rest assured that it was present in the spirit of the book ;-) . Assuming your drink of choice is served in 25ml spirit shots be prepared to consume a standard 0.75l bottle of it. If your tipple of choice is wine (in 250ml servings), be prepared to consume 10 bottles of wine... If my H-C-G count is correct, Jeff Jarvis has achieved close to enological-mathematical perfection for the Habermas-Chipotle-Glee drinking game for Public Parts. He must have been practising while writing the book. That would also expalin the #fuckyouwashington trending topic...

Now that I've finished reading the paper edition of Public Parts, I'll send a copy to my mum. It's the sort of book that will clarify issues in and around social media to her while being in a form-factor she is comfortable with: a hardback paper book.


As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below. I look forward to hearing from you.

Rugby World Cup 2011 Android App

This is an excellent app I have been using to follow what is going on (early in the morning for me) at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

The RWC 2011 Android Application is available for free in the Android Market (here's the link). The Homescreen to the application is simple enough: six buttons which take you to the main sections.
Match Centre

News
My favourite and most used sections are the News one and the Match Centre one. Here you can follow matches live (as I have on my way to work a few times), read the latest news and keep up to date with events in the southern hemisphere at the RWC.

In the video section you can also watch highlights (or depressing video evidence of defeat) from matches (beware, it can be very data intensive). The Team section lets you interact with other fans, find out more about the stadia used and New Zealand as well as purchase match tickets.

Well, I had better get back to the second quarter final of the day. France are beating England at half time.

Daily Record Gadget Filler Fail!

I had to laugh out loud last Friday! In the canteen at work I flicked through a copy of the Daily Record and got to the Gadget and Tech section. My eye was caught by the familiar image of a white Orange San Francisco, a phone I know well. Reading the article "Smartphone's a California Dream" just made me laugh.
Something is horribly wrong with this article...
The article is quite simply a quick review of the Orange Monte Carlo and starts off mentioning the Orange San Francisco. As the article goes on to review and  comment on the Monte Carlo, there is no naming of the successor to the Orange San Francisco. The author of the review is speaking of the Monte Carlo, but obviously the editor/impaginator has picked the name and put in a picture of the Orange San Francisco. (update: since the review was in the paper it has been rectified in the Daily Record blog here)
The image that should have been used (and was  used on the DR blog)
Brace yourselves, my own review of the Orange Monte Carlo, Orange's own branded version of the ZTE Skate, will be here on this website in the coming weeks.

As usual feel free to leave comments and/or questions below and share the link.

Jeff Jarvis' Public Parts Now Available

It's a book we've been teased with many an episode on This Week in Google... Public Parts by Jeff Jarvis is now available to order from amazon.co.uk, to download as a Kindle Edition, and to download as an audiobook from Audible.



I downloaded the Public Parts audiobook (read by Jeff himself) last night and have been listening to it while walking in the autumnal sun today.

So far I have thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook and will have to make sure I read the paper edition with a bottle of something to play the Chipotle-Habermas-Glee Drinking Game. In the audiobook I have already caught a mention of Chipotle...

I'll post my full impressions once I've read the hardback copy which should arrive in the post on Friday.

As well as listening to Public Parts, this evening I will be watching This Week in Google (with Leo Laporte, Gina Trapani and Jeff Jarvis) live on TWiT.tv. I think it's a Jarvisian day. Or is it a Jarvite day? Or even a Jarvisite day?

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below!

HP Replaces Leo Apotheker With Meg Whitman As CEO

HP has been like a soap opera of companies in the tech industry for the last couple of years. This time last year the company was embroiled in the Hurd saga, that consisted of lies, sex (or not sex), and scandal. Mark Hurd was replaced as CEO by Leo Apotheker who during his 11 months as CEO decided to kill off what used to be Palm (part of HP) and the excellent WebOS. Now HP have a new CEO: Meg Whitman.

This timeline of Leo Apotheker's time as CEO of HP on Bloomberg.com was what I found interesting. The chap hasn't really been a stable sort of CEO. I think he may be the sort of figurehead/scapegoat boards of directors choose to cut jobs and departments. Quick in, fire a few thousand people, quick out.

Lets see what happens to HP. Will Meg Whitman, former candidate as Governor of California reverse some of the decisions Apotheker made? As much as I would like HP to make a U-turn on WebOS and devices tied to the OS, I think it is highly unlikely since Meg Whitman was on the HP board of directors and probably was one of the Apotheker-puppetmasters...

Social Networks Change Faster Due To Competition

Google Plus is now in Beta, which means anyone can sign up and start using Google's social network. Just go to Google.com and you should see the Doodle promoting Google Plus.
The Google doodle promoting Google Plus Beta



Once you are on Google Plus you get all the excellent features the new social network offers.
Google Plus Homepage
Facebook has just revamped and reorganised its homepage and layout. Many commentators on the interwebs claim that this is a knee-jerk reaction to Google Plus. This concept is pretty plausible and I'm inclined to go with it considering how many new "features" Facebook has rolled out since Google Plus's launch into field trial status. (excuse the pun, it was just too easy!)
The New Facebook Homepage
Identi.ca and StatusNet have had a major upgrade since the weekend too! There were massive changes to the UI, to the APIs and social network. As well as updating your status, you can now post bookmarks, events, polls or questions. It's pretty sleek and an impressive step forward. Well done to Evan Prodromu and everyone involved in the upgrade.
The New Identica Homepage
Twitter hasn't changed much in the last few months. Twitter's users are still getting used to all the "new" fancy UI and features so it may be a while before they change anything.
Twitter's "New" Hompepage
Meanwhile more and more interweb users have never heard of or have forgotten about Myspace, Bebo and Friendster. I believe that Apple's social network is some sort of secret society that even Apple Fanboys and Fangirls have never heard of. Ping?!
Ping. It's a bit like a Secret Society.
As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below. If you "liked" this blog post, why not "+1" it? (yes I do find it funny)

Identi.ca and StatusNet Cloud Being Upgraded!

One of my favourite microblogging services, Identi.ca, and StatusNet are being upgraded. As I write this blog post, I am unable to access Identi.ca as post-upgrade processing is being carried out. 



You can find out more about the status of the StatusNet and Identi.ca upgrade here. (Please excuse the last pun). 


For once I'll probably be using Twitter as a first post location...


Thanks to Evan Prodromu and everyone making these services so great!

Don's Golf Drive at 50 fps [Photo]

Here's a slideshow of 50 photos I took with my Panasonic TZ20 in "Burst Mode".


I took the pictures in High Dynamic Mode (Artistic Setting) and in Burst Mode (50 fps).


The album was uploaded from my Ubuntu Linux laptop to Picasa Web Albums using Shotwell Photo Manager. The slideshow for this blog post was created using the Picasa Web Albums "Share As Slideshow" option.
Ka-Chink!
As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below. Please also Google +1 the article too.

How To Install Offline Google Mail

Today Google announced that Google Mail, Google Calendar and Google Docs will be available as offline web apps. Offline Google Mail is available now in the Chrome Web Store. This means that you will be able to read, organise and write emails while without an internet connection. Awesome!
The Offline Google Mail interface!


Make sure you have the three main requisites for this "How To":

  1. A working computer with an active internet connection
  2. Google Chrome or Chromium web browser
  3. A Google Mail account...


Here's how to install Offline Google Mail in a few easy steps:


Go to the Offline Google Mail Chrome Web Store page. You can use this link to do that.

You will be asked confirmation to install Offline Google Mail. Go ahead and click "Install"
Once the Chrome app has installed, you can run it from your Chrome new tab screen.
When you do that you will be asked for confirmation to allow offline mail.

Go ahead and tick the box next to "Allow Offline Mail" and then click the blue "Continue" button.
And that's it! You should then have access to your GMail when offline and the funky new UI!

Thanks to Google and the GMail team! I think this is a great new improvement to their services!

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions. You can Google +1 this post too.

Nokia Developer Forum Website Hacked!

I just got an email from Nokia Developer regarding a security breach at http://developer.nokia.com/community.


Here's how it reads: 



You may have seen reports or received an email from us regarding a recent security breach on ourdeveloper.nokia.com/community discussion forum.
During our ongoing investigation of the incident we have discovered that a database table containing developer forum members' email addresses has been accessed, by exploiting a vulnerability in the bulletin board software that allowed an SQL Injection attack. Initially we believed that only a small number of these forum member records had been accessed, but further investigation has identified that the number is significantly larger.
The database table records includes members’ email addresses and, for fewer than 7% who chose to include them in their public profile, either birth dates, homepage URL or usernames for AIM, ICQ, MSN, Skype or Yahoo. However, they do not contain sensitive information such as passwords or credit card details and so we do not believe the security of forum members’ accounts is at risk. Other Nokia accounts are not affected.
We are not aware of any misuse of the accessed data, but we have identified that your email address was in one of the records accessed, though it contained none of the optional information, so we believe that the only potential impact to you may be unsolicited email. Nokia apologizes for this incident.
Though the initial vulnerability was addressed immediately, we have now taken the developer community website offline as a precautionary measure, while we conduct further investigations and security assessments. We hope to get the site back online as soon as possible and will post developments there in the meantime.
If you have any questions on this, please contact Nokia.developer-discussions-support@nokia.com.
The Nokia Developer website team.

Nokia Developer site hacked, and I didn't even get a Nokia N950 running MeeGo. Bad JuJu Nokia!

Please rectify the problem and send me a Nokia N9 and/or your first Nokia device running WP7 please! ;-)

Ubuntu 11.10 Starts To Be Shinier

I've been testing the Alpha version of Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot for a few weeks now. The updates have been pretty meaty (150+MB a pop), but the improvements have been regular and substantial.
Last night before going to bed I updated Ubuntu 11.10 on my laptop and then went to sleep. This morning when I booted up I noticed quite a few UI improvements and overhauls.
My Ubuntu 11.10 Desktop. Notice the new darker "Dash Home" icon/button in the top-left corner of the Unity Dock and the new "On/Off" settings icon in the top-right corner of the screenshot.



The biggest UI overhaul seems to have taken place in the Ubuntu Software Centre (the app store - Mac OSX and iOS - "inspiration"...). The new UI is shiny and just as intuitive and easy to use as it used to be. Below are some screenshots of the new Ubuntu Software Centre experience:
The Ubuntu Software Centre homescreen.
The Ubuntu Software Centre while installing an application.
The Ubuntu Software Centre while looking at application details.
The Ubuntu Software Centre while browsing applications.
As you can see the Ubuntu Software Centre has had quite a UI overhaul. I have enjoyed using it so far and haven't encountered any problems with it.

As for the rest of the Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot there have been quite a few improvements in terms of speed (especially at boot up/ shut down) and stability on my machine. You can find out more about Ubuntu at www.ubuntu.com

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below. If you liked this article, please Google +1 it.

Orange Monte Carlo - BAP [Pre Review]

I've had an Orange Monte Carlo for a couple of weeks now. The ZTE made follow up to the Orange San Francisco (ZTE Blade) is a ZTE Skate under its glossy fingerprint magnet finish. My affectionate name for the Orange Monte Carlo is BAP. BAP is an acronym which stands for Big Ass Phone.
The Orange Monte Carlo. BAP.

To give people an idea of what a BAP (Big Ass Phone) the Orange Monte Carlo is, with its 4.3" capacitive display, I took some photos of it with other devices. A full review of the BAP will be on todoleo.com soon. Here are the photos:
Orange Monte Carlo next to HTC Desire.
The Orange Monte Carlo next to a Nokia 1100.
Orange Monte Carlo next to an HTC Wildfire S.
Orange Monte Carlo next to Samsung Galaxy Pro.
Orange Monte Carlo next to a Royal Wedding Phone.
Orange Monte Carlo next to a HP Palm Pre 2.
Orange Monte Carlo next to a Nokia E71.
This post is a follow up to my original thread in MoDaCo Forums. As often happens, the excellent community at MoDaCo Forums is working hard on getting the most out of the Orange Monte Carlo (ZTE Skate) and a method for rooting the device as well as an early custom ROM kitchen are already available. Thanks to Paul and everyone involved in the MoDaCo community!

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below or on the MoDaCo Forums. I'm already bracing myself for intense criticism of my photography, lighting and @fatoldgingercat fluff in the photos. Just to let you know, I took the pictures, wrote and published this blog post while in and before getting out of bed this morning.

Oh, and if you liked this article, please also Google +1 it as well.

Shock And Awe Tech News!

This has been an amazingly busy week in the technology business world. I'm bowled over by these two major earthquakes in the tech industry.


Google and Motorola's boards of directors unanimously agreed to the acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Google. Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”


Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said, “This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world. We have shared a productive partnership with Google to advance the Android platform, and now through this combination we will be able to do even more to innovate and deliver outstanding mobility solutions across our mobile devices and home businesses.”


So Google will be taking over Motorola. I think the combined company should be called Googorola.


Today there news that was equally as earthshaking to the industry: HP will discontinue operations webOS devices.


I'm personally sad to see the end of WebOS because of how much I love my Palm Pre 2. Oh well, it's not personal, it's just business...


Here are the sources: 


I'm off to weep under the duvet.

INQ Cloud Touch [Review]

As many regular readers of this blog know, I'm a big fan of budget Android devices. Google's Android OS is an open source operating system that manufacturers (and users) can modify to their liking and adapt to needs and/or devices. Many of you may have heard of or seen HTC Sense, HTC's take on Android's UI, or Motorla's Motoblur, or Samsung's TouchWiz. In a similar fashion to how these major players in the smartphone market skinned and adapted Android for their smartphones, INQ did so to create a new Android experience on the INQ Cloud Touch.



The INQ Cloud Touch is a relatively inexpensive Android smartphone which has social media and the mobile internet at its core. Facebook passes from being an application (and/or web app) to an integral part of the device. People who use/live on Facebook will feel right at home with the INQ Cloud Touch as it is probably more of a "Facebook Phone" than the HTC Cha Cha or the HTC Salsa in my opinion.
The Main Homescreen - Facebook Rules!
The main homescreen of the INQ Cloud Touch is comprised of a group of custom Facebook widgets: a large Facebook News Feed (browsable) and above it a widget of your favourite Facebook contacts, one of your integrated Facebook and Google Calendar, one for your Facebook notifications and one for Facebook Places (Facebook's answer to Foursquare and/or Google Places). At the bottom of the homescreen there is a static dock that appears on the other homescreens you can slide through. The other homescreens are customisable but come pre-populated out of the box with a Spotify widget and the most popular pre-installed apps (Twitter, Windows Live Messenger, Facebook Messaging, Youtube, GMail).

Facebook is not the only service that INQ wove into the DNA of the INQ Cloud Touch. I was pleasantly surprised to find Spotify as the default media player on the INQ Cloud touch. As well as playing media files stored locally you can also stream your Spotify playlists if you have a Spotify Premium account.
Spotify Playing TWiG (local file)
Plugging my favourite headphones into the INQ Cloud Touch wasn't a problem as the device has a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack. In the funky box you also get a very iLike white set of headphones with microphone. I definitely liked the headphones that come with the INQ Cloud Touch as they are earplug style ones. They even come with size adapters for the plugs!
The INQ Headphones Bundled With The Cloud Touch
Sadly I can't afford Spotify Premium at the moment, so all my cheesy Spotify playlists have been there in the Spotify media player reminding me of their existence (and teasing me as well as tempting me to subscribe to Spotify Premium).
Tempting, oh so tempting. Spotify Premium Needed!
Battery life was pretty good on the device. In my day to day use it lasted long enough to get me through the average day. Mainly I use the device for social networking (Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter), Email (GMail), IM (GTalk) and as an mp3 player for listening to podcasts while I walk to work. Managing battery life was easy with the power and service monitor launched by the dedicated button on the left hand side of the phone.
The Power Control Screen (Launched by Info button)
As well as everything that comes set up and ready to go on the INQ Cloud Touch, it is an Android phone, so installing your favourite apps and games from the Marketplace is easy peasy. Angry Birds played smoothly and was entertaining on the INQ Cloud Touch. I must admit that I have almost stopped using Facebook and reduced my usage of Identica and Twitter since the launch of the Google Plus field test. As well as the Google Search widget, I installed the Google Plus widget and a few more apps such as Foursquare. Performance of all these apps was great and I didn't really have any problems with them.

I have now been using the INQ Cloud Touch for more than two weeks as my primary smartphone and have not really had the want (or need) for anything more powerful (or expensive) than the Cloud Touch apart from in the camera department.
The shiny red back of the INQ Cloud Touch with 5MP camera.
On the shiny red back of the INQ Cloud Touch there is a 5 Mega Pixel snapper (without flash of any kind). I didn't like the results of the camera and the lack of flash for it is definitely a negative point. The nightclub frequenting iPhone or Blackberry user (who Frank Meehan mentioned...) wouldn't be able to take very good pictures if they were to upgrade to an INQ Cloud Touch. Sharing and sending the pictures would be extremely easy with whichever service you please. Google Plus Instant worked a dream with the pictures taken, but sadly not many were worth sharing.
A Picture of @fatoldgingercat taken in optimal light conditions with the INQ Cloud Touch
Here's the geeky technical paragraph of the review you can skip if tech specs don't rock your boat: the INQ Cloud Touch runs on a 600 MHz processor, which is pretty smooth and responsive on Android 2.2. The crisp 480x320 screen is encased in solid feeling plastic and the chin at the bottom of the screen has three buttons (Menu, INQ Home and Back). The smartphone comes with a 4GB MicroSD card and you can expand the storage on the INQ Cloud touch up to 32 GB (I tested it with my card and it worked fine). The smartphone is a quad-band GSM device so it will happily work in the US of A on GSM networks too, and it also does HSDPA (3.5G for us Europeans, 4G for Yank marketers...). The speaker on the back and speakerphone performance are excellent. The INQ Cloud Touch is available in red (as my review unit is), white and black.

Right then, time to wrap up this long review with some sort of conclusion. I have been a fan of INQ since my experience with the INQ Mini 3G. I liked using the INQ Cloud Touch and enjoyed using it as my main smartphone. Battery life was good, performance was good and once I got used to INQ's UI I forgot I was reviewing a phone most of the time. If you are a Facebook addict or someone who is afraid of technology but are used to Facebook, this is definitely the phone for you. The INQ Cloud touch is easy peasy to use and a fantastic first smartphone. It is affordable, fashion conscious and powerful enough to last a while. I'll be sad to send the INQ Cloud Touch back.

Quick disclaimer: the INQ Cloud Touch I have been using is a review unit provided to me on loan by the friendly people at INQ. I received no payment for this review and remained as impartial as any INQ fan can when reviewing their products. Leo Laporte vs Mike Arrington moment averted...

Find out more about the INQ Cloud touch here.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions. If you liked this review please Google +1.

How I'm Following The London Riots

Today is a sadly eventful one as far as news and the "London Riots" are concerned. This blog post is not about the rights or wrongs, it is not a criticism or condonation of events. I would just like to explain how I'm following what is going on.
Mouse and the two smartphones I'm using at the moment.



While at work today I was on a break. In the staff canteen the TV was on and someone had the SKY HD box on Sky Sports. As usual, I was checking my Twitter and Identica feeds on my smartphone (using Mustard!) and noticed some recent tweets and dents about more "London Riots". We switched the TV over to BBC News 24 and started watching the rioting and looting in the Hackney area of London. Between tweets, dents and the live BBC News 24 coverage it was all very involving.
My computer desktop with the BBC iplayer and Gwibber for Twitter and Identica
I am now at home, and still following the events that are continuing to unfold live. I have realised that the way the news is being reported and the way I am following it are fundamentally different from how I followed news ten years ago. Ten years ago (2001: Genova Riots at the G8 and 9/11) the way I followed the news was entirely passive and curated by the news channels and agencies reporting. Now, as well as the curated BBC News coverage, I am also actively following and engaging with people over Twitter and Identica over the news. It is a completely different experience and in many ways much more engaging.

This is the sort of thing that Gina Trapani, Leo Laporte and Jeff Jarvis discuss often on This Week in Google. Now that I think about it while experiencing it, I understand the whole technological and social shift in news more. Is this just the beginning of a more federated news service/system? With this sort of news technology so widely available, do print newspapers have any point apart for conveying specific journalists' and opinionists' take on the situation? Do most people prefer today's news today or yesterday's news today?

This is not a complete thought train by any means. It is just my ramblings regarding how and by what means news is reaching me now compared to just a few years ago.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below.