iPod Touch Alternatives

I've recently been looking for a good video and music device, that has a nice touchscreen and some cool apps, but doesn't cost the hefty £200+ an iPod touch does. It has been hard to find any good alternatives however I have found a couple of good cheaper alternatives, and some rather more expensive alternatives, that I wouldn't pick over the iPod touch 4.

+ Expensive and not worth it:

The Cowon S9

In my opinion its quite an ugly touch device, with pretty much the same functions as the iPod touch. Its got a curvy design and an ugly black back finish, which doesn't appeal, in any form. For an 8GB model it would cost you around £160-220. You can get the last iPod touch, the 3rd generation, for £150 from Argos. I really don't see the point in spending more money on something that's not from a reliable company like Apple, and doesn't have any added extras.

- Expensive but no where near as worth it:

The Sony X-Series Walkman

I'm sure everyone knows Sony, and I admit they produce some of the best phones. However when it comes to music players and fun devices, I think there still stuck in the 90's. It used to be the thing to walk around with your big walkman, but its not know, and Sony still haven't updated their products. I wouldn't pay £140 for this X-Series Walkman, because I could just as well fork out an extra £60 for the iPod Touch 4. It has pretty much all the functions, but it lacks the Apps, which I would pay an extra £100 for.

Same price and worth it:

The Zune HD

The Zune HD is just a classier version of an iPod touch. Its quite a beautiful gem in all honesty. On the degree of functions is pretty much the exact same as the iPod touch, however in looks and style its a notch above. The Zune HD also comes with FM Radio, which I love. For the same price as the iPod touch 4 8gb (£200), you can get the Zune HD, with all the same functions, and 16gb of space. If I wanted to spend £200, I would chose this as my iPod touch alternative.

- Expensive and very much worth it:

The Archos 28, 32, 43, 5 or 7

These devices are all touch screen pieces of class. First lets talk about the Archos 28, which you can get for under £100. It has music, video, and its an Android run internet tablet, with apps. Its a pretty nifty little piece of equipment for what it costs. You can move up in size, and the Archos 28, has a relatively small 2.8 inch screen. So if you want a 3.2 inch screen (the closest to a iPod touch which is 3.5 inches), add another £15. If you want a 4.3 inch screen its £180 with a 16gb hard drive. The Archos 5 which has a rather big 5 inch touch screen, will set you back just over £200 for a 500gb hard drive, yes thats right, 500gb. You can even get a whopping 7 inch Archos home tablet, for £130, however it lacks many features like 3D games and other key elements. The Archos 7 inch internet tablet costs around £230-260. These are all pretty remarkable devices, depending on what kind of thing you want, they are all deals. I think for what they cost, you get a lot more than you expect, I see them as the next best thing to the iPod touch, and although theres not facetime on most of the Archos devices, if you move up to the Archos 10, you get calling, which is pretty cool.

The Archos 28

The Archos 32

The Archos 43 next to an iPod Touch 4

The Archos 5 on Google

The Archos 7 Home Tablet, which lacks some features, like 3D games and a Flash Player

The Archos 7 Internet Tablet

The Archos 10 Internet Tablet

I think if I'm looking for a cheaper alternative to the iPod touch, I'm going to head over to Archos.

iPhone 4 Key Security Flaw

A recent flaw has been discovered in Apple's latest iPhone 4. The flaw can give you access to a code protected iPhone, to use any function you want. Anyone who loses or gets their iPhone 4 stolen is at risk of having their security completely breached. To complete this little trick, you slide to unlock on the iPhone, then hit emergency call. Then on the emergency call screen you double tap the home button, which will take you directly to the home screen. (I just tested it on my friends iPhone, and although hard to complete, after a while with the correct technique it worked.) There is also another method to gain access to the entire iPhone phone application. To complete this you must go to emergency call on a locked iPhone, then key in ### then press the green call and immediately press the lock button on the top of the iPhone. This is verified by watching this video.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/10/iphone-snoop/

Although I am not suggesting that everyone should try this, I am trying to say that this is a major flaw in the iPhone's security. When people think iPhone, they think a safe, cool, smartphone. This issue could condemn the iPhone, lead to huge uproar within Apple, and serious customer concerns.

Although Apple claims in the latest update, it has been taken away, the person whos iPhone I tried it on, was on the latest firmwire.

Check out this BBC video for more on the matter:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11817567

Whats wrong with a good old normal classic phone?

Hello Blogger,

Its Sunday afternoon here, and I've just returned from Argos with a new phone. I've been struggling for a while recently after selling my iPhone, to find a good durable nice phone. I've been borrowing my brothers Sony Ericsson for a while now and overall its great, with music player and loads of other little extras, but I hate texting on it as it takes years without the qwerty keyboard. So I spent some time researching to find a cheap simple phone, that has a good qwery keyboard. And I discovered the perfect answer, Alcatel and Vodafone have come up with great phones, that are cheap, effective, and have a qwerty keyboard. Alcatel came up with the OT-255, a simple little phone, with a nice blue colour, and a sweet qwerty keyboard. Yes, I admit, it lacks many functions, like Facebook or a huge 10mp camera. But it's great for what it is, A PHONE. Plus its only £20.

The other option, which is the phone I got, is the Vodafone VF345. Its a nice little neat phone, with a good black shell, simple functions, and its even got a qwerty keyboard. And guess how much it cost? £10. Yes that's right, a phone with FM radio, calling (WOOOWW!) AND a qwerty keyboard for £10. Thats a deal.

If I'm honest, its just a temporary phone until my mum up grades and I receive her Blackberry. But even if I wasn't getting her Blackberry, I still wouldn't waste money on an expensive phone. You take something like the Samsung Genio Touch. Its a good phone, with cool widgets and what not, but it lacks that essential thing for me, a qwerty keyboard. Even a touchscreen qwerty keyboard. And it costs around £80. I just don't see the point.

I loved the days when people would walk around with there crappy little Nokia's.

There phones, thats it. If you want a social networking device, or internet access, get a laptop. I think with phones, its all about the look, if they look good, if they are cool, not if they are a good reliable phone. I do admit, however, I'm stilling looking forward to that Blackberry.

The Best and the Worst of Online News Sites

Online news has become big quite recently. It always used to be about picking up that free London Paper or the London Lite. Or if you were very classy, you’d pay a bit for your high quality Guardian. However, now you’ve just got the free Evening Standard, which in my opinion is better than the Lite and the London Paper put together. However, now, lots of people that used to go and buy the classy Guardian or the Times have started to only use online news sites. With the Times recently opening a new online feature that gives exclusive access to interviews, film previews and a London planner, who knows how long actual paper newspapers will still exist? If they all do stop running, what online news site is for you? That’s what I’m here to tell you.

The Worst:

2. The rumour papers:

The Daily mail, The Sun, and The Daily Mirror

I’m not going to lie, during the summer football transfer period; these are the newspapers I will turn to for a bit of amusement and back room gossip. However, I won’t turn a page in these newspapers looking for good solid news. Its written by a bunch of idiots. Anyway what were actually talking about are the online news sites. And the online news for all three are pretty shocking. All three are just covered in adverts everywhere. Its all you see when you first go to the pages. The fonts are dire, and the layout is plain awful. The first article I saw on the page of the mail, had the worst headline and photo I had ever seen. The headline read “£100 billion cost of broken homes: Tory Minister declares children whose parents split are NINE times more likely to commit crime.”  Not only is it long, it’s boring. What’s wrong with “Children more likely to turn to crime if parents are split.” Then in the article you can mention the Tory minister and the actual figures. Plus the photo was even worse its just a completely staged photo of a police man arresting a teenager. 

1.    Sky News

Although Sky is the most used TV company in the world, they still can’t make a decent online news site. It’s very ugly and bleak as soon as you go on. However the news is a couple levels up from the Mail and the Sun. However visually it’s just not amazing. I would turn to Sky news if I wanted to just get the lowdown on the latest news. However I wouldn’t turn to it if I wanted a visually appealing online news site. I think they should revamp the colours and get rid of so much black. It just looks dull. They’re edging on becoming like the mail, mirror and the sun. Rupert Murdoch needs to watch out.

The Best:

3.    The Times Online

The Times online news website has a great simple clean and traditional interface. Although one thing I dislike about this is that it looks a bit too much like their normal traditional paper. An added bonus is the launch of their new feature Times +, it costs £1 for 30 days before the cost rises. It will give you many added bonuses including exclusive interviews and up to date London listings. The Times however is a very right wing paper. Although of course it isn’t racist, it’s views are opposed to those of the guardian, which is why I have to rank it 3^rd. Rupert Murdoch, who also owns Sky, owns the Times. I think he needs to teach Sky News how to design websites. 

2.    BBC News Online

Along with Sky News, BBC is a news source that runs only online. I love BBC, if I’m looking for some straight simple non-opinionated news, some sport news, some sports rumours or just the latest headlines its where I’ll head. I know that there facts will be right, they will always be up to date, and there website is easy to use. BBC news is the best place to head for simple world news stories. One plus of BBC news that is unlike all the rest is that you can select news by country, or area of the world. I find this very helpful if I’m looking for the latest news in a certain place, and also when working on projects. BBC news online is also very well designed. There’s clearly been time and thought put into it, and its just so easy to navigate. The layout and dominance of things is also great. 

1.    The Guardian Online

The Guardian online is a classy, simplistic website. However it’s quite colourful and upbeat, which is one of the things I like about it. What’s also very cool is how many different sections it has; it has the news from all around the world and all the different types of news, but it also has sections like Travel, TV, Community, Blogs and even Jobs. It’s the only news site that I know that has a jobs section. The layout of the Guardian online is also very slick. There is a main editorial like piece or main story then to the left two important stories. It also has scrolling breaking news above the main stories. One of my favourite things about the guardian is how they write about so many different things than other newspapers. They always get inside a story and dig deeper, they always get exclusives and they always show a different side than any other paper. Ultimately, if paper newspapers end, the Guardian and the BBC is what I’m going to turn to for my daily news. 

Whats the smartphone for you?

For a while now its been the war between Apple and Blackberry in the world of smartphones. The iPhone 3gs or the Bold. Its been the real debate. But now there are a lot more smartphones and android based phones that could become big things. So here I'm going to list the big smartphones/companies that have produced some pretty good devices and some pretty average devices.

6. Samsung/Vodafone. Although the Samsung Galaxy S is pretty classy, its got a great display and of course, theres a lot to do with it. However, they shot them selves in the leg with the H1. Although you could argue its the fault of the Vodafone 360 software, I think Samsung could have designed the phone a lot better. Although I have never owned it, I often use my friends quite often. He really hates it. He has had it for about 6 months and now when I use it, it is the slowest piece of junk I have ever used. Being a good friend, I like to try and read through his texts, however I find it impossible using this device. I click on one message and it takes about 10 seconds to open. By then he has noticed what I'm doing. Plus its such a complicated and boring phone to use. I'm going to blame this on Vodafone. The homepage is a fail, its trying to copy the iPhone, however they haven't spaced the icons at all, and its just a mess of icons.  I think if Samsung want to be big in the smartphone business, they need to use there own software for all there phones.

5. Sony Ericsson. I'm a big fan of Sony Ericsson. Before I got my iPhone 2G and before my pre-historic Blackberry, I always used a Sony Ericsson. I've had about 5 in my phone career and they've always been good for what they are. However I have never had a Sony Ericsson smartphone, like the X10, X10 mini pro, or the Vivaz, but now I'm kind of tempted. I've heard pretty good reviews about them, and although I will admit, I don't think they can beat the iPhone or Blackberry yet, I think the software could be developed so that its in with a shot.

4. Google. The Nexus one. It's the only phone Google have ever made, and it could soar to great heights. Its been predicted as the phone that is going to be up there with Apple and Blackberry, and although I don't think The Nexus one quite has the quality yet, I think within years, Google's phones will be up there with the big boys.

3. Apple. The iPhone's. I can see many puzzled faces as people read this, and before I owned one I think I would have looked puzzled, however I just don't like them. They don't seem new any more, the iPhone 4 has some new features, all the models just get new features, however there's no dramatic changes. If Apple are to stay in the top 2, I think they need to completely create new software or create a new dramatic change for the iPhone 5.

2. HTC. I know, I know, people are going to think I'm mad. But theres just something so sexy and sleek about HTC's. I am a big fan of apple. I would never use a Microsoft computer or laptop, however on a phone, it just seems so fancy and cool. The way it is so much like a tablet computer condensed into a phone is just so WOW factor. When Apple decided to create the iPhone, they used a completely different idea than there computers. And for a while I guess I liked it, but its been almost 4 years now since the first one and there's been no change. Anyway, the HTC has such a great interface and look to it. Its graphically beautiful. One other thing that I think makes the HTC win is that there's not just one model. Theres the HTC desire, the HTC touch, the HTC smart, the HTC HD. I could keep going. HTC has changed there interface throughout the years so all of the phones are different. There a huge choice and if you don't like one HTC you can always try another. Thats my reasoning for putting HTC in second spot over the iPhone.

1. Blackberry. I can't deny Blackberry top spot. Its most definitely the coolest and sleekest smartphone, currently, although its not as "fun" as the iPhone, with games and music and blablahblah. However for use as PHONE and a messenger, with some added extras, Blackberry wins 10 times over. Its fast, easy and most have a v. good keyboard. (beats iPhone there easily) BBM is probably the best software for teens and even adults to message each other. Although I don't have a Blackberry currently, I had a very very old buisness one recently which I loved, it had no features of internet or BBM, but it had a sweet qwerty keyboard, which I loved to text with. I sold it for my iPhone and in many ways I wish I hadn't. When I use my friends Blackberry's I just want one. I fall in love after using one for even a minute. I think Blackberry, currently, rightfully deserves the top spot but who knows how long it will stay there.

Wrist Computers For US Army Soldiers

Hello again,
Its the Mush here with a new blog entry. Today I'm going to be talking about some cool new wrist computers that are being tested by soldiers at Fort Dix. 8 lucky soldiers are being given the opportunity to test out these pretty ace new futuristic computers that have 4.3 inch monitors. The computers give strategic information to the soldiers along with live UAV video streams and battlefield maps. They have full AMOLED colour and motion displays. One of the most important things about them is that they use PHOLED technology, which consumes a lot less power than most other computers. It means that if they do go into full use all around the world, soldiers will not have to worry about charging the device too often. This is a new break in technology in the army, and also a new break in future technology. Even Nokia are currently creating a keyboard to use that can wrap around your wrist similar to this computer. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, if and when these computers go into use.

In response to The PWN Page 2.0: Top 5 Xbox/Ps3 Games of the year

5. Red Dead Redemption
This game, created by Rockstar games (the same creators of all the GTA games) is a single player and multiplayer game that revolves around a man in the west. You can duel, gamble, hunt and you can even collect herbs.

Mush Rating: 4/5

Have a look: 




4. Just Cause 2
You can't get bored on this game, endless endless game play, the game is limitless. There is so much space to play in, miles and miles of space to roam free. Grappling is possibly my favorite feature in this game, you can grapple over 50 meters onto a car, or even UP to a helicopter. Its rather fresh. 

Mush Rating: 4.5/5

Yes, its 11 minutes, but that's how long it takes to show you everything to do on this game. Like the recycling ads always say "the possibilities are endless":




3. Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2
This game is possibly the most addictive game of the century, ever. All of the Call of Duty games are. I think if Mario games were the game of the 1980s and 1990's, the Call of Duty and its sub-branch games like World of War and Modern Warfare, are the games of the 2000's and 2010's. There just something about the game that is so addictive. You feel you are the man you are playing as on the game, and possibly one of the most entertaining parts is playing online against your friends.

I know its getting old now, but for those who still haven't played the game, here's a very good online player: 




Mush Rating: 4.9/5

2. Call of Duty : Black Ops
This game comes out in 5 days, boy I can't wait. In fact, I think half the world can't wait. If it's better than Modern Warfare 2, then its SOMETHING. The only annoying bit about the game is that when you have never played a Call of Duty game before, your awful when you first start. No matter if your good at shooter games, if you haven't played Call of Duty before, you will get killed online when you first play. But with a good week or two's practice in the Campaign, you will improve dramatically. But back to Black Ops. I mean although when Modern Warfare 2 came out last year, it was slightly annoying how much people spoke about it at school, it was the main subject for about 3 months. And I fear the same with Black Ops, but that doesn't deter how good it is going to be. And if your nice and lavish, and own a 3D TV or monitor, you can play the game in 3D! Thats a woow!

Take a look at some game play, it looks quite impressive: 






and the 3D feature: 





Mush Rating: 4.95/5


1. Fifa 11
I'm sorry if this upsets some hardcore avid gamers. But if you have the technical skills, and quick fingers on the buttons, Fifa 11 should be your favorite game. There is so much to do, so much more than Call of Duty, there are just so many possibilities with how to play, how to pass, how to shoot, how too...... etc, etc. Although yes its similar to the World Cup game and Fifa 10, there are many many improvements, and additions. The career mode has improved immensely, and now you can play Be A Pro: Goalkeeper. I must say may favorite improvement in this game is the heading, in the previous games you could never score with your head, it was very hard, but now, its a lot more realistic, the players move from the defenders to create space to score and the crossing is a lot better. Its very fresh.



and playing as a keeper: 



Mush Rating: 5/5