I've only gone and done it!!

So then, after I'd written my last blog about iOS 7 it triggered something in my mind! Why do I persist with the iPhone when I know over in Camp Android there are some equally if not better handsets and more importantly a operating system I think I'll get on with! As you may have guessed by now on Sunday afternoon me and the rest of the family took a trip to the O2 store on Team Valley, traded in our iPhones and are now both signed up members of Camp Android, my wife traded in her iPhone 4G for a Galaxy S4 and I swapped my iPhone 5 for a rather marvellous Samsung Galaxy Note 3! For some reason as I was sitting talking to the very pleasant guy there I realised that I was nervous - all over changing to an unfamiliar phone!

So two days in and I can't belive I waited this long to move, the difference between iOS and Android is enormous - Android is amazing! Although it is the Touch whizz version of Android is still marvellous! So far the customisations, swipe keyboards, the play store, widgets have all impressed me! I've still got a great deal to learn and work out but at this point I can't see me ever going back!

Oh yeah and in the Note 3 I think I've chosen well for my first handhighlyset - is a spectacular handset and I'd recommend it to anyone - unless you've for tiny hands as it's massive!

iOS 7

As I'm sure I've mentioned on here quite a few times I've had an iPhone since the first one was released - the first I didn't bother with was the 3GS but other than that one I've pretty much had the lot! With all of these phones obviously came the varying versions of iOS or OS as I think it was originally! Through time iOS started to become a bit stale for me - no major overhaul, instead adding new elements such as Games Centre and Newstand! I had reached the point where I was thoroughly bored with iOS and started to look what else was out there from other providers! Then Apple announced iOS 7 - seeing it for the first time when it was announced at a WWDC I though it looked amazing, they'd changed the way it looked, behaved, and it felt as though it would be like having a brand new operating system! 

Its been a month since iOS 7 was unleashed on my phone and has it turned out to be the iPhone saviour that I'd hoped it would be?..........erm no! When I saw it on the initial demo from Apple I thought the colours were spectacular however when I downloaded it my phone felt a bit like my 4 year old had gone a bit nuts with her crayons! One thing I hadn't released before release was that everything zoomed in and out each time it's opened or closed, if I'm moving between apps etc then it gets annoying! Instead of wasting a second having it zoom why not do away with that and open the app quicker!?  I'm not alone in hating the new calender - I used to find list view really handy but it's not there anymore! My phone and wifi signal appear to be weaker - I'm sure I have No Service in the top left more than I used to (not proven though) and the processing time for the more significant apps like Facebook are noticeably slower - given the number of people using Facebook I'd have expected Apple to work with Facebook to make sure they worked perfectly together - it doesn't feel like they did! 

There is however one thing I really do like and use a lot - Control Centre! I love not having to dive into menus etc to just switch on and off Wifi or Bluetooth and the built in torch has replaced an app I had! 

In summary after a month iOS 7 just feel like iOS 6 with a rather flamboyant new coat on! Combining this with each iPhone now having the same form factor things from Cupertino are going a bit stale for me! 

Drivel

When it comes to updating my blog I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who wants to regularly update their blog but really cannot think of things to type about! I'll often think about something to type about and then decide that it's rubbish and not worth posting! Maybe I should do that and see what comes out - after all a lot of the blogs I read are absolute arsing drivel! 

Manchester

I think I've been to most of the major cities in the UK, all of which have seemed like pretty decent places but often there's something very samey about a lot of them! Obviously and from a completely biased point of view Newcastle is my favourite and I will always have a soft spot for London after living there for a while. Irrespective of architecture etc i think cities have a 'feel' and that's what I pick up on! Manchester is one of those cities which I really like the feel of - there's an atmosphere to it which (in my opinion) places like Birmingham and York for example don't give me! Don't think I'd move there though!

Premium Build Quality

From the hundreds of documents, articles and YouTube videos I've watched recently on the latest smartphone handsets there seems to be one phrase which is used in every review! Premium Build Quality! Most seem to come to the conclusion that although it's a great phone and maybe the best ever - they're all not quite as good as the iPhone 5! Having owned an iPhone 5 since launch day I can confirm that although it's well put together, feels good to use and probably has Premium Build Quality - they scratch and crack far too easily which to me doesn't scream quality! As soon as I got my iPhone I bought screen protectors and a plastic cover which I think completely removes the look and feel that Apple were going for! So despite this protection mine has chips in the paintwork on two edges and when scratches underneath where the cover (Belkin) has been! So is a phone with 'Premium Build Quality' a good thing - not anymore to me! If it doesn't look like it'll scratch far too easily then I think that's more important to me now!

Apple Control

I'm sat here flicking through my usual morning trawl of various websites, I normally start at BBC News, pop to a couple of Newcastle United ones, maybe a cheeky peek at Flickr and technology ones but I always seem to end with a peruse through the latest updates on macrumors.com.

One of the articles made me wonder whether Apple are getting a bit too big for their boots and believing their own hype! The story I read was one about Apple banning an app called AppGratis from the the App Store - the app basically finds good deals, promotions etc for other apps however Apple have decided they don't like how it's done and so they have killed the app! As with any iPhone user the apps available to me are those which are tightly controlled by Apple, instead of being able to find an app that does what I want, I'm instead limited to one that Apple will let me have! They claim that it's to protect the iPhone and maintain the experience but I think this is becoming a problem! I used to enjoy each week waiting for the time when the App Store was refreshed with all the new apps by Apple but however I often look through and am disappointed! I suspect that there are lots of developers out there with some amazing ideas for apps which will significantly enhance the iPhone user experience but are instead being blocked by the very tight control Apple has around the App Store! I wonder what would happen if Apple loosened their grip but still kept a close eye on the security element!?

Facebook

Sometime back in 2007 the Social Network as we know it today was still quite a new concept and I'm sure most people had accounts at MySpace, Friendster and Faceparty - then along came Facebook! Initially I loved Facebook and as more people got into it the bigger it became, I'm pretty sure it got to the point where eventually it became one of the main methods of communication for those people using it. It is great for arranging events, catching up on what people have been doing and generally being all round nosey! At first it was all about status updates, photos and general Tom Foolery - however it's now gone a bit rubbish!

My love of Facebook is now dying very quickly - my timeline is now no longer full of updates - instead they've been replaced with very annoying adverts for things I will never buy! Also the use of the share button is annoying the hell out of me - why people feel the need to constantly share every photo of a lost dog, every tacky and awful Christian poster and all round vomit enducing slogans is beyond me!

The only reason I stick with Facebook is that I have friends and family all over the country and world so Facebook is the best way to keep in touch - if it wasn't for that I would have deleted my account ages ago! In the mean time I can see a lot of people in my friends list being hidden or deleted!

Photos and the HTC / Samsung debate

So then, since my last rambling about the Galaxy S4 my normal stupid amount of research by article reading and YouTube clip watching has been taking place to help me make up my mind which I prefer! For me the biggest clincher in the competition is the quality of the photos it produces! As neither phone is out there in the hands of the public it's hard to see for myself what the exact quality of the photos is like, however from looking at some sample photos on the Engaget website to me there looks to be some things about the HTC which I didn't expect.

HTC One Samples - http://www.engadget.com/gallery/htc-one-sample-shots/

I fully expected the HTC One images to be impressive however from the ones I've seen the photos from the HTC were a bit disappointing and uninspiring! They seemed a bit over processed, a little fuzzy and lacking in contrast whereas the ones from other seem sharp and have good contrast. I think what HTC is trying to do the the megapixels issue is applaudable however after seeing the sample images I was not impressed!

All of which didn't help my decision making process as I was starting to warm towards the HTC One! Back to the drawing board!!!

The new addition from Samsung

So then, after months of anticipation and probable dribbling from quite a few people Samsung last night finally unveiled their new flag ship phone - the Samsung Galaxy S4. I think it was definitely the maddest, and possibly the worst unveiling of a phone I have ever seen. So much cheese!!

Anyway, as somebody who is contemplating switching from using the iPhone to an Android phone I was really excited to see what the new Samsung phone would look like and what amazing new features it would have to offer. So, after watching a hour of people arsing around doing hideously scripted jokes that really weren't funny was I impressed with the phone?

Erm, no, not really! I mean yeah it's nice and I'm sure a 5" 1080p AMOLED screen is great but from my point of view it seemed as though the majority of features they've added were things which I would either hardly ever use or switch off straight away - who wants to have a small picture of themselves added to a nice picture. The air gesture feature to me seems a bit pointless - why not just press the screen, hovering 2 cm over the screen sounds like more arse. From what I've seen I really like the look of the Android operating system - more than I do iOS but it looks to me as though the S4 is running like a very Samsungised version of Android and I would expect that it's full of Samsung bloatware!

So overall I expected to be wowed and amazed by the S4 and I definitely had the feeling of 'Meh' afterwards. The ultimate test will be actually holding and using one but at this point in time I think that other newly released handsets are tickling my fancy!

Have a watch - see what you think!

Blogging

I've had this Blog thing for ages and I know I don't update it anywhere as much as I should or would like to but I have yet to activate the switch in my head which makes me automatically think when something happens 'you know what I'll blog about that'. I'd guess that I'm like most people where my first reaction is 'Great! I'll put that on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram' but not in a blog. Why that is I'm not totally sure, maybe it's because I don't find updating it on my iPhone all that enjoyable or maybe it's the lack of time I spend sat in front of a computer with either the time or subject to update a blog.

There are some great bloggers out there who you can tell really love and nurture their blogs and use them as an outlet for their thoughts, and general opinions but I am a long way from that yet. I could probably fill pages of total drivel but not sure that's worth anyones time to read!

I'm going to try and make the effort to use this more to express thoughts etc initially from time to time and we'll see where it goes from there.

Things are Changing

Back in December last year I put a post on here that my devotion to all things Apple was waning fast, and since then nothing has changed. I've still got my iPhone 5 and to be honest it's got very boring! iOS is still the same look and feel (only a lot faster and a few more features) than the original version back in 2007 and from comments made on Apple blog sites there doesn't look to be much of a desire from Apple to change! There's talk of an iWatch - meh! and a faster iPhone 5S - meh! Will the iWatch have the contactless payment chip in it which the iPhone hasn't?

Over the last week I've gone into normal research mode which happens when I start to consider other options for things I use a lot during the course of each day - I've watched YouTube videos, read articles and my conclusion is that unless Apple produced iOS 7 with a completely overhauled interface I will be taking my hard earned £ and heading off to the nearest O2 store to get an Android phone! I had considered Windows phone however the lack of a fully stocked App Store means I'll probably give them another phone cycle before I seriously consider them! The thing I like about Android is it's configurability and customisableness and it's nowhere near as constrained and controlled as the iPhone! It sounds like fun!

So come on Apple - you've got a while to make improvements because I'm on a lengthy contract with the iPhone 5, otherwise I'm outta here!!!

I almost forgot

If anybody reads this then hope you have a great 2013! Especially if 2012 was actually a bit pap!!!

New Year Resolutions

I personally find it very easy not to break New Year Resolutions simply because I don't make any - and this year is no exception! There are a few things that I will definitely attempt this year but to describe them as resolutions is a bit far fetched!

As out second child is scheduled for arrival next month I'm definitely going to have to make a lot of effort with our first daughter to make sure she doesn't feel left out as I fully anticipate that the new arrival will be the focus of a lot of attention! Also with the new arrival will come a lot more husband type responsibilities - I'm already thinking I'll have to double or even treble my input!

As for other things I'll probably try a few attempts to get fit which clearly won't work as I don't have the motivation! I'll also probably try and make time to keep the garden this side of being a jungle! We'll see!!!