The Prada LG KE850 is ready and hitting the shops 5 months before the iPhone will see the shelves in the US. They're marketing it as 'The first fully touch screen phone' - which although isn't true, has a certain familiar sound to it. It of course plays video, music, 2 mega pixel camera, 'advanced touch interface', yadda yadda. It's got the added advantage of not inherently being tied to a particular network though that's probably about all there is extra.

I haven't seen many details on the specs, so it's hard to know if it really matches up, but I do know it wont have an 8GB internal storage or anything like it, using Micro-SD cards for that instead (maximum of 2GB/card at the moment). It has no WiFi, and it's no quad band, so on the US market, Apple have no fears - this phone is EU targeted only. For European sales though, Apple should be a little worried, because as I said in my last related post, the iPhone doesn't appeal to pocket PC phone users like me because they've locked down 3rd party apps. It's a beautiful thing, and sure it's smooth - I do like a lot about it, but I can't get past the pointless PR driven lockdown. They also don't appeal to the real basic users, and both of these crowds were a temptable group for the humble iPod's. The iPhone's target market is a lot tighter. It's for high end, fashionable, media using types who are confident with devices, but who are not into the deeper levels of technology. These people might not actually care about WiFi, desktop style OS, or anything the LG might lack. For them, the more significant difference might be that the LG phone is slightly smaller and 50g lighter than the iPhone, bringing it into a slightly nicer size and weight for those users. It may also be simpler to use, having less features these people aren't likely to make use of, which is a stratergy the iPod success is built on. On the whole though - direct competition isn't much of a threat. The damage being done here is to the marketing. Apple's phone is being passed about as something totally different - a 'reinvention' that nothing can touch. LG having this phone available so much faster is a mocking of this OTT media hype- a public notice that there are a whole bunch of alternatives already available, and many more on the way.

Speaking of more on the way, this caught my eye amongst the crowd. Not to go quietly into the night, Nokia have a phone in development to ride the touch screen feature as well. Anyone would think it was new - amasing what a little media attention can do to an industry.

The Nokia Aeon is a handset style phone built with touch screen sexiness. You gotta admit - this is damn sexy looking. The idea is the interface will morph from mode to mode. It's very sci-fi. And I mean the really gorgeous kind of sci-fi, not the geeky beeps and buttons kind. It's still in concept stage so not much known about it yet, may never even come to pass... but just look at it.

I know the iPhone is like.. so last week - but I've been busy, and besides... it's taken me this long to figure out my opinions on it. For those of you who've not heard of it - here's my take...

-----------------------------------------

I... just... don't know what I think about the iPhone. On the one hand, I have a natural slant against the Mac grain. But on the other I recognise they do make some top quality gadgets. Some of the services offered with the iPhone are really cool, but some of functions.. I just wonder if they'll work at all for real people.

What winds me up a bit is people thinking this device is ground breakingly new because it's got everything in one and it's a touch screen and all that jazz. This statement is a good example:

"The phone includes Mac OS X, making it the first mobile device to run an operating system. It uses Safari as its browser and is compatible with any IMAP or POP3 e-mail services. Yahoo will forward your e-mails to your iPhone for free!
Jobs said that the iPhone used software that was at least five years ahead of any phone, and there seemed not a soul in the room who didn't agree.
"We have reinvented the phone," Jobs said, and we all nodded in unison.
Oh, and did I mention? The iPhone also a 2 megapixel camera."
...
"A few questions were left unanswered, such as whether the iPhone ran Microsoft Word, and whether the new product's surface would scratch, a flaw that plagued the first generation of iPod Nanos.
But the product was so breathtaking in all aspects and included so many features never seen before in one digital mobile device that all seemed to be ignored or forgiven for the time being."

First phone to run an OS? First up.. pretty much every phone runs an OS. Secondly, I've been using phones with desktop style OS's for coming on 3 years now, and mine wasn't the first by quite a way. This is not new. Niether are phones with all those protocols or having emails sent to your mobile. It's been in common use for years. And a 2 megapixel camera?

Some people have said to me, 'It plays video! A phone you can watch DVD's on!'

But you can't blame Apple for playing the plebes. It's gotta be done and they do it well - it certainly doesn't take away from the fact that it is a very nice gadget. To avoid backlash from the geeks, and even MacGeeks can't fail to notice there's very little new technology being presented here, Steve's been careful to use words, however ambigious and hidden in the tone, that he's talking only about some of the software when he speaks of the 5 years jump. Again, it's not his fault the press have taken the revolutionary software bits, and immediately after, continued the list with fairly available technology without adding a line break in, making it look like Apple just invented mobile internet connections and touch screens.

Let's get to it. The iPhone.

It's smart. I'm told it knows when you've made a spelling mistakes and corrects it for you in txts and other typing scenarios. It detects when your face is aginst it and shuts down the screen so you don't hang up mid call by brushing your cheek in the wrong place. It adjusts it's operations to what your doing to save on battery power. It knows when you've touched the screen but didn't mean to press there, and ignores you.
If this all works - I'm very impressed and it's great to see them lifting the bar on mobile interface technology. If it doesn't work as flawlessly as claimed - it's going to be pretty damn annoying.

It's sleak. It's the thinest PDA out there. 11mm or so? My XDA wasn't much more than that, and I'm pretty sure the Pearl was thiner and techincally has PDA functionality, though I'm happy not to count it as one. But it's thin. It's not small. It's a large pannel. My SPV M3100 is a lot smaller by height and width, only thicker by depth. It's a way thicker in fact, but I still recon it's easier to fit into small pockets, and more importantly, get out of your small pocket when you hear a call. And don't say buy big pocketed trousers - that's not where the solution should lie.

But the iPhone looks smooth, and because it makes good use of the screen for viedo play - I'm happy that it's the size it is.

It's all touch screen. No (at least, very few) buttons. This is cool, and looks great. I'm not sure I like it though. I'm thinking about the real world for a moment and thinking... I put this in my big pocket and realise my keys are in there too - the poor thing wont stand a chance of not being scratched, which for a touch screen is not a good thing. So you put a case on it... but then... it's a lot thicker all of a sudden and looks nowhere near as cool. I'm just trying to think realisticly about the device. I've been using PDA Phones for years and I know how they fit into your life, I know the day to day quirks of use. Sticking to buttons for just a minute, a few nights ago I got a call late at night. I'd already gone to bed, and was able to answer the phone without even opening my eyes. Why? Because I can feel the answer button. Same reason I can return a call without taking my phone out of it's sleeve (using the hands free to talk through). Physical buttons aren't bad. There's a place for them I think.

I can also use my phone with my gloves on (both the buttons and the screen actually). It's winter. I wrap up when I go out. It's very cold and very very windy here today. Should I be an iPhone user I would not remove my glove to start or skip a track as I walk down the street. And answering a call for that matter - I don't want to have to remove my glove on an icy cold day to answer a call. I'm just thinking - these are my day to day experiences of phone usage, and they're issues. The iPhone is great if I was always at my desk or in a nice environement, but I go outside from time to time and that's what a mobile is for.
I also don't need the computer to decide what it thinks I'm trying to say, because my keyboard works with my nails, which the iPhone presumably wont. The mini keyboard on my SPV is great - I don't know what the line 'No more annoying little keyboards' is refering to. Perhaps thumb boards - they are annoying. With PDA phones, you type with your thumbs, and my thumbs are larger than Steve Job's it would seem. I worry anyone who doesn't have small thumbs will find it less accurate. specifically on the iPhone you have to use the flat of your thumb, and there's no way you can hit the right key on that touchscreen with any accuracy. So it looks at the cluster of letters you pressed, assigns weighted liklihood to each potential target based on distance from centre, and then looks at what the word could be so far, adding more weighting to the selection before picking the one with the highest percent. It may be far more clever - it might learn you're typical touch offset and vocab.
This is not what I'd call 5 years ahead if that's all it is. It's a problem no-one's (actually I bet someone has, but no major company) bothered to solve because it's a problem that keyboards don't have anyway... and it is at most, a week ahead, not 5 years. But if it works - I do like it.

160dpi. Now this is nice. It's a very high resolution screen for very sharp images.

Multi-Touch. Here we go! This is the coolness now. Nothing bad to say about this at all. Using two fingers, the actions you make in unison signal different commands. It's something Mac already uses to limited extents else where and very few other people do - it's easy, responsive, and proportionate control. By putting this out there, it raises the bar for other touch screen devices. Again, it's not a leap into the future but something from the recent past being used well.

4GB - 8GB Storage Space. Nice. Again, not something of the magical distant future - any other company can do this at will - but nice. If it had a slot for some kind of SD too, allowing you to add 2-4GB swapable cards in at will like my current all in one mobile does... then that'd be great. It'd be an especially good addition to the 4GB model, which as it stands, no-one should ever ever ever buy. Ever. Don't be stupid. Get the 8GB model. Trust me on that. Just pay the little more and get it. Good.

Swooshy Sounds and Floaty Motions. Not to be made fun of! This is important too. It's all about having a nice user experience - decreases stress with the mistakes (not that any can happen on apple interfaces) and makes you feel like the device is really part of you.

Third Party App's. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. This is where it all falls down for me. Up till now, the iPhone is every other all-in-1's equal, with a lot of polish and some nice bonus features. Up till now, I'd dare say although reporters are stupid, and nothing here is all that new - it is still the best example of this device type. And then... they ruin it. This even turns a lot of Mac fans off. Apple have made it clear they do not intend to allow software to be loaded onto the device, that was made by a 3rd party (not Apple). The reason? Same old reason Apple always have for this kind of rule - they want their reputation to be 'It never crashes!'. Indeed you better hope it doesn't, as without a stylus I'm guessing resetting it isn't as simple as pressing a button. But they want the forums on the net to be full of smug people saying 'It's never crashed - it's perfect!' like they did with the old iMacs. And they'll succeed. The main reason crashes occur is conflicts. Unexpected conflicts between programs that weren't expected to run at the same time as another unknown program, or programs that weren't tested enough under all conditions. To solve this, they ban all unknown factors, much like saying, 'We hope you enjoy our 100% ultra safe swiss army pen knife. We pride ourselves on the reputation that no-one has ever cut their finger with this product. Please note all sharp features of the unit, while remaining present for asthetic value, have sealed shut. Enjoy your £300 nale file. Jack ass.'

But then - they're not after me I guess. They're not after the people who say 'I just want it to make calls', nor the people who say 'My phone is like a full PC! Last night I added a cool app that makes...". They're after the people who want a cool phone, that can play videos and music, but don't want to have much else on the one device. It's the high end mobile users who are just about ready for a bit more than their camera phone. I'd say there's a significant market for that - and in such a catagory, the iPhone is without doubt the best.
Meanwhile, I'm eagerly waiting on the SPV manufacturers to integrate a few of these cool features (the multi-touch and the 8GB storage especially), and upgrade as soon as they do.
__
Phil

So last night I went into London to meet friend from uni, Gemma.  We had a great night in Soho, starting with some Japanese nosh and heading on to a comedy club.  I love eating Japanese since I learnt to speak the language.  The comedy club was a bit more mental that usual - less of the repressed stand-up style I was expecting - but none the less very funny.  We talked about old times, new times, and binary.  5 is 0101, not 0110 just for those who ever come up against that and might get caught out.   Yeah I know... no-one would be that silly...  dunno why I bring up that example really (tee hee).

Before I met her, Matt and I thought we'd pop over to the protesters in Westminster, just to see what the turn out was and how many visible crazies were amongst them. The protest was a Religious led voice of anti-anti-discrimination law, a law that will make it illegal to deny goods and services to anyone on the grounds of their sexual orientation. Some groups have interpreted this as a sign that the government encourages homosexual lifestyle, that everyone will be forced into approving of homosexuals, and have therefore appealed to both the Queen and the House of Lords to stop this bill. Groups who made up the crowd last night use words like 'deviant' and 'abomination' to describe the gay community, and while some in the church call for certain exceptions to be made in the bill, (so that, for example, a church wouldn't have to hire out its hall for a gay wedding if it didn't want to), many in this crowd were here to protest that it's their right to discriminate against gay people in business and across society in general. It's a shame, because there is maybe a valid point in the moderate argument that the church shouldn't have to offer services in such a way that contradict their practices. Unfortunately, that exemption will stand on much less favoured ground now that it's bundled with the more extreme views of last nights gathering, who will be slated in the press and make us (Christians) all look like bigots who are to be ignored. Thank you, my fundamentalist brothers and sister. Now shut the hell up and let the grown ups talk.

There was a bigger turn out than I thought. I honestly expected a small group of like, 50 people, but they made up maybe 1500 while I was watching. It's a way off their target number (like.. a long way) but still, it's a shame to even see that many. I read a few things in the press, sound bites from these groups (Muslim and Christian fundamentalists both had plenty to say), but I think my favourite came out of the debate about the laws coming into effect in Northern Ireland,

"If a teacher teaches orthodox Christian belief that homosexual practice is sinful, then a pupil who self-identifies as being gay could make a claim for harassment, claiming it has had the effect of violating their dignity or of creating an intimidatory, humiliating or offensive environment," MP Jeffrey Donaldson told the assembly, "Is that the sort of situation we want to place our teachers in today in Northern Ireland?"

Ummm.... yyy... n.. Yes. Sorry what? Of course that's... what do you think a teachers job in society is? You're damn right teachers shouldn't be able to tell kids gay people are inherently sinful. Maybe this argument could work if it were talking about a Minister of Religion but school teachers? Have you seen the teenage suicide rates? Do you have any idea what schools are like already?

Anywho - there were plenty more along those lines. The bill was upheld, and the protesters are all very disappointed. I feel for the rest of the church really - if they'd have taken the tact of wanting some exemptions, they probably would have got them - It's not entirely unreasonable to flesh out a few specifics where the beliefs of two groups will undoubtedly clash, but they didn't - they called for the bill to be completely reversed, etc etc... like that was gonna fly. I'm sure this wont be the last time we see this sort of thing though.

As for me, I continue to shake the minds of fundamentalists one by one as often as I can, and to discourage them by any means from taking part in evangelism, politics, or.. well, the world outside their close group really. That way they don't make the moderates and conservatives look so stupid, and they don't outright offend the liberals.
__
Phil

I was much in favour of the new member states from Eastern Europe, but for some reason I have to confess, I didn't think about the obvious political shift it would cause, specifically with Bulgaria and Romania. Ironically, it’s the left wing of European politics that brought these nations in – something the right firmly opposed for fear of mass immigration to the western states and the old familiar, ‘foreigners stealing our jobs and using our social services’ attitude. Yet until now, ‘Far Right’ MEP’s have been too small and concentrated to be recognised as a special political group in the European Parliament, and with the additional countries, most of which having a ‘right of centre’ political culture, there are now the required 19 MEP’s from 5 different countries to form such a legally recognised group.

Likely to be led by an MEP from the French National Front (famous for holocaust denial), and joined by extremists with (violently) anti-Semitic, anti-homosexual, anti-Roma, anti-‘lots of other things’ views from other nations, this group will be entitled to extra funding (for what I’m not sure), a greater voice in the parliament (including agenda setting), and greater press representation.
These people are known for thinking the purchasing of a Roma girl (of ages as low as 13) to have as a ‘wife’ is quite acceptable, and that 2000 euros is a ‘high end’ price for this kind of purchase, but it’s worth it for the pretty ones. We’re talking about countries that ban peaceful protest marches when the government wishes to silence an issue, and where state ‘police services’ are free to beat minority groups without repercussion. Is this an acceptable way to run a nation of the EU? What I’m not quite sure about, is how the membership came through without their laws being adapted to come into line with European Civil Rights and Democratic standards.

I find myself torn. I think a country has a right to run itself. More accurately, in much of a ‘Prime Directive’ sense, I don’t feel it’s our right to interfere with another nation simply because we disagree with the way they do things, however strongly we feel that disagreement. This raises questions of where you draw that line, especially with the history and ongoing situation in Iraq as a recent example, but in the case of Romania and Bulgaria, I don’t think there’s as much of an ethical issue. They’ve petitioned and been accepted into the EU, an existing body of nations with an existing set of laws and a constitutions that all member states are required to adhere to. To enter an international group and then call for immediate changes that fundamentally oppose the standing members long debated and tested positions, and to actively reject the laws members must follow (and make no effort to enforce these laws in their practices) is not something you can defend with the argument of national sovereignty. The UK has battled this issue itself on numerous occasions – to adopt EU regs or not, and for a long time, the UK remained less than a full member in order to allow for these issues to be weighed. But from where I stand it seems simple enough. If the governments of the states don’t want to conform to EU law – they don’t have to be in it. They’re free to run their nation however they want if they don’t want to be a member. They’ll still be free to trade, and make treaties with any of the other EU nations, but they’ll be free of EU politics, as well as EU funding.

On the other hand, I know these nations have difficult economic situations, and that an EU influence and support will aid the people in those countries massively. It’s also an effort to further stabilise the region in a lasting way. In the long term, the development of these nations will be a benefit to the rest of Europe too (although not if the Far Right voice continues and these countries remain xenophobic and completely independent at will).

The EU is a long term game, and this is very much early days for this expansion wave, so perhaps patience will see democracy diminish this disturbing new group of extremists. But democracy always runs that risk of swinging the other way too.

Either way, whatever they cause the law to be tomorrow, they should adhere to the laws we have today. I remember reading about pride marches being attacked by the state police and armed forces, and of minority ethnic groups being rapped and beaten by authorities and groups of native citizens – and if there’s any truth to the claim that their Governments are not actively opposed to those crimes, I don’t see why the European Parliament can’t bring sanctions against them, or even terminate their membership. I'm pretty sure they'd find human rights shoot to the top of their agenda with some haste, and a crack down on these crimes rapidly put into action if the thought of EU exclusion were floated, which is not beyond our rights as other members of the body.

I'm some what in danger of losing my way here though - and have to remind myself that because one or two MEP's from certain nations in the EU are Far Right, that doesn't mean those entire countries are Far Right. My desire for a response is to those nations unwilling to enforce present EU laws, not something to be floated against nations who politically lobby for those laws to change. The right of any MEP to speak of and debate alternate policies is key to the success of international groups like Europe, however unacceptable the policies may seem to other members.

Bleh - maybe I shouldn't care so much - it's only Europe after all :-P
__
Phil

I just left the office and called my mum while I walked to the station. I was using hands free, and as it's cold, I also wore my hat, scarf, gloves, and duffel coat. Having watched a fast paced American drama just before I made the call, I talked in that same constant flow with emphatic gesturing style they tend to on such productions. Swiping my oyster card and heading down onto a tube I continued to talk to my mum while I walked by the carriages to the tail end and boarded, wrapping up my conversation before the tube set off and headed into the tunnel. It was at *this* point I realised people had been looking at me strangely, and I continued to hold nervous attention from the 3 people in the next carriage. With my winter gear well concealing my hands free, no-one had thought for a minute that I was on the phone, and instead, I'd appeared to be an escapee from a mental institute having a crazy eyed wildly motioned chit chat with myself.
This makes me smile now, which only compounds my look of craziness.
__
Phil