Software Magic

I got me a new phone last week (huzzah!), a Samsung Galaxy S something +. It looks and works a bit like an iPhone, and there are several court cases going on around the world where Apple is claiming the same thing. Anyway, the new phone is handsome, works very well and I'm liking it a lot.

When I first switched it on, it ran through a bunch of setup things, and when I got to the keyboard bit, it said 'do you want the regular on-screen keyboard, or do you want Swype?' Well, I'd never heard of Swype, so I had a look at the mini-tutorial, and decided to give it a go.

If you've never heard of it either, you should check it out (if it's not pre-installed on your smartphone, you can get it as an app for iPhone, Android and Blackberry). Basically what it is is a new way of inputting text. Instead of hunting and pecking at individual letters, you just drag your finger across the keyboard, making sure you start with the right initial letter and end on the last one, and wiggle across the ones in between. It sounds deeply improbable, but it actually works incredibly well. It supports a reasonable range of languages, and I was delighted when I switched to Spanish and input 'empadronomiento' and it got it first time. Astounding stuff!

New Post, New Phone

Yes, yes, I know I haven't posted for a coupla weeks. But I been busy, see. Gotta monster web-design project onna pretty tight schedule. Anyway, here's the new post. Which follows on from an earlier one.

Phones powered by Google Android have been crashing out of the skies in a rain-like manner. So a couple of weeks ago, I'd seen the one I wanted on the Interwebz. It's the HTC Desire (stock photo - sorry, can't be bothered to take my own pic):

It was, of course, a bit of an adventure to get one. My local Orange shop had never heard of it. The next one down the road (Calle Bravo Murillo has phone shops every 500 metres), had it on display, but when I asked for it the guy brought out an HTC Hero and said it was more-or-less the same. Hmm. The next phone shop I came to was Vodafone, and they had the Desire. I went in and asked about it, but they said it was only for self-employed people and small businesses - I qualify for that, but didn't have the required documentation on me. She couldn't explain to me why I couldn't have it as a particular (an individual), so I gave her a verbal slap and went on my way. Finally, I came to an Orange shop that not only had it in stock, but also let me have it! It cost me €78 plus 1100 Orange points, and I had to sign up for an 18-month data plan on top of the unfathomable call/SMS plan I already have.

But it's a damn fine phone. As a phone, I've had no problems with it - you can grip it any way you like, and it still works (despite what Steve Jobs would have you believe). It doesn't look great, but neither is it uglee. The rubberised plastic back and sides are pleasant to hold, it has a solid feel to it. It connects to everything (FaceBook, Twitter, GMail, Google Maps, Flickr) and has toys to let you play with those things.

My only criticisms are:

1) The battery life isn't great. This isn't a huge prob for me, 'cos I'm in the office most of the time. But it does need a charge every single day. Having said that, the charger is USB, so you can plug it into a laptop to suck some juice if you really need to.

2) It takes a long time (2-3 seconds) to switch the screen orientation when you turn the phone sideways. In fact this option is turned off by default, so I suspect somebody (Google? HTC? Both?) knows about it.

And that's it. An amazing phone. And I have to give credit to HTC - they've obviously bought lots of Apple products, and learned how to package a product. And I love their tagline: 'Quietly Brilliant'. Yepp, they are.