Is this Goodbye iPhone?

Apr 06

PhiliPhone, Technology , , , , , No Comments

I am a self confessed Apple fan. Our house is well equipped with Apple branded gadgets and has seen several iterations of the current devices passing through it’s doors on the way out to eBay.

Currently I own an iPad, iPhone 3GS and a 4 year old 15″ MacBook Pro. My Wife has an iPhone 4 after recently upgrading from a Motorola V3 / iPod Touch combo. My kids even pretend to have iPhones and iPads all the time, not knowing anything else in their 5 and 3 year old lives.

I am not trying to show off here, I just want to make it clear how entrenched in the Apple Ecosystem I am at present. Yes, it is very sad! ^_^

The iPad Effect
The thing is, since taking possession of an iPad, I have found myself for the first time ever, thinking about selling my iPhone with out the express intention of replacing it with another iPhone.

In fact, I am actively seeking a replacement for my 3GS that includes the features missing on or equal to those of the iPhone but at a cheaper price.

These include a decent camera, HD video, Wifi hotspot sharing without the ‘Apple tax’ (i.e. extra charges just because it is an iPhone), and the fabled ‘openness’ of other platforms.

This is the enormity of the iPad’s impact on my gadget life.

First Candidate – Nokia N8
It is with this purpose in mind that I have applied to trial the Nokia N8 and I heard today that it is on it’s way. I can upgrade to the N8 with Orange UK for just £49.99 today, as opposed to £230-ish for an iPhone 4, but if I wait until June I can get the N8 free for £10 less than I pay now for the 3GS.

Once I have received the N8 trial unit I will be going ‘cold turkey’ and hiding my iPhone for the two week trial period. The N8 will be my only phone/mobile computer (other than iPad)/camera/video recorder for those two weeks.

I will be seeing if I can live without the App Store on my Phone, how the iPad works with a non-Apple phone, if at all and what the Ovi Store experience is like for someone so used to Apple’s way of doing things.

I will post here as much as I can about my experiences over these two weeks, but I will probably put out more regular updates over on Twitter.

The Orb – Ultimate Geek Ring?

Feb 09

PhilTechnology , , , , , , No Comments

Orb Silver

This post looks at the new Orb Bluetooth headset which converts from a ring, worn on the finger, to a Bluetooth earpiece and back again; and why I want one!

I think I may have mentioned before that I consider myself a Geek and I am really not afraid to admit it. However, if I were a soon-to-be-married Geek, this is the ring I would be asking for (it is too late for our 10 year Anniversary, what’s the next one I can ask for a ring as a present?).

It has been developed by a company called Hybra Advance Technology and it all sounds a bit futuristic and fanciful, but it might just be real because it won the 2010 Best of Innovations Award at CES last month with a promised launch date of ‘Spring 2010′ for the OLED version and later in the year for the very nice looking full colour FOLED (Flexible Organic Light Emitting Diode – in case you were wondering) version.

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