Samsung Galaxy S - Lovely Stuff

As my previous post indicated, I was wrestling with whether the Samsung Galaxy S ticked all the right boxes. And now having used the phone for a couple of weeks, I can say wholeheartedly that it does.  One of my big issues was the music player. I wanted to ditch my iPod and the music player on the Galaxy S is better than my iPod Touch. So much so that I am thinking of selling my iPod. The thing rocks and it actually looks and behaves differently to every other music player I have used before. While the phone does copy Apple in some ways (the build/look and OS interface) the music player seems genuinely new to me, and a great thing to play with.

Then there’s the Super AMOLED screen. My. God. It’s a thing of beauty. You know the first time you sat and watched a blu-ray on 1080p? The way that every time you saw standard definition after that you felt like you had been short changed? Well that’s this in a nutshell. I looked at my iPod Touch earlier and wanted vomit at it’s vile pixelated excuse of a display. It’s like….urgh…revolting. Maybe that means I am now a slave to super bright and juicy visuals, but I cannot go back! Everyone I showed this phone too goes “Wow!”.

Some people are concerned about Samsung not supporting their new Galaxy S with updates to the Android 2.2 OS (and possibly Gingerbread/Android 3). Sure. There’s enough justification for this as Samsung have a tendency of dropping handsets like lead weights. But the effort they are throwing into marketing the Galaxy S makes me think otherwise. There was a beta ROM of 2.2 from Samsung “released” in the last week or so, so 2.2 will materialise – at the very least we should see that. And as far as I can tell, there are no T-Mobile customisations on my SGS so I’m not worried that this should take an inordinately long time to reach my handset.

Software wise it’s a mixed bag. Some of the built in apps are great, but I wonder what is  the point of the daily briefing app being so restricted. If you could customize it a little it would be a very cool and most importantly a useful tool. The widget looks good and the app itself if well made – scrolling options etc. Very slick compared to some of the dross on the Android Market. It’s a shame it’s a so stunted though. Only being able to get news form the AP Wire is useless to virtually anyone outside of the USA without a keen interest in what happens in Washington. And the only benefit of the stock tracker is an attempt to see how low BP shares have sunk. And I couldn’t be bothered to follow that through to fruition.

Same goes for the dual zone clock widget. It looks great but you cannot turn the second zone clock off meaning it’s useless waste of screen space for me. OK – I know it is called a dual zone clock but all I want is a simple single time. I really wonder why Samsung didn’t go that extra mile and really finish their widgets off with some serious thought to how they would be used and not just how they look in the showroom. And if they’re reading this – hey! Give me a shout and I’ll tell you what needs tweaking!

There’s nothing wrong with build quality (something I was worried about to start with). It’s solid as a rock – just plastic that’s all.  It does look a little iPhone but really it’s nothing to worry about, unless that is the exact thing you don’t want to have in your pocket.

But I have to say, I love virtually everything about this phone. It’s a bloody gem – even the lack of photo flash is not a major issue for me (and I thought it would be) because everything else is so well done. The camera is great quality, it the 720p footage it records is very good indeed. The microphone seems a little too sensitive but it is not a hugeflaw.

If only Samsung had not dropped the ball with things like the lack of flash, then the SGS would be the Desire AND iPhone killer. But bonuses such as the 8Gb of onboard memory mean it is a serious contender out of the box. Word of warning to those reading reviews before buying though – I got my SGS free on a £30 18-month contract from BuyMobilePhones.net. It certianly goes against the expensive tag as that is a very attactive price point. Maybe it is a last hurrah for T-Mobile before they turn into the Orange mutant but 3Gb 3G download limit for free is excellent. along with 600 minutes. Vodaphone and O2 cannot compete with this at all. And it is substantially cheaper than an Jesus Phone.

Well…sorta. I have been huge Matthew Good fan for many years now, and it amazes me with such drivel in the UK music scene, how Canada’s most famous unknown is not well…um…known in the UK. And on this one issue, I have to say I am grateful to iTunes for providing Matthew Good exposure outside of North America.

Vancouver is Matthew’s fourth album after dissolution of the Matthew Good Band in 2002 and I would argue his strongest. His music, often deeply personal invariably offers a sometimes scathing commentary on the issues of the day. Both these concepts are in abundance in Vancouver.

The album is very accessible musically and lyrically, but provides additional depth to those fans who frequent his blog and are aware of the issues that lead him to describe himself as an ‘activist’. But that’s not to say the album is an inside joke for devotees. I would find it hard if someone could not see something special and human through the turmoil depicted in ‘Silent Army In The Trees’ or ‘Great Whales of the Sea’.Social commentary being the primary aim for the album, with ‘Vancouver National Anthem’ and the afor mentioned ‘Silent Army…’ highlighting thought provoking issues which are dealt with in a firm but not overbearing kind of way. The messages are clear but the songs stand up for themselves and it’s not a case of being preached at with the themes running riot over musicality.

The other thing you can count on MG delivering is at least one monumental angry rocker and ‘Fought To Fight’ is once such tune, and a stand out track. Sometimes sampled sound bites can be contrived but Good has the knack of keeping these reined in.

Album opener ‘Last Parade‘ is for me the album in a nutshell. A medium paced, atmospheric build up recalls songs from MGB’s ‘Audio of Being’ and quickly envelopes you in a tide of angst and sardonic social commentary set to a backing track which I can only describe as ‘optimistic melancholy’. It is one of those songs that hoists you on it’s shoulders for a wild rumpus through the woods at 80 miles per hour. By the time the five plus minute track is over you are already hitting the back button to start it all over again. Truly astonishing and one of Good’s most accomplished songs to date.

For more about Matthew, click here for his frequently updated blog.

* Note: I know this album has been out for a while…I forgot to finish this post off about 6 months ago!

Don’t know about you but I cannot believe the gall of Apple in spite of the debacle that is the iPhone4 antenna problem. It doesn’t take a conspiracy theorist to work out that there was a reason behind Steve Jobs touting the iPhone Bumper during his annual parade for Apple sycophants. There was a problem that they knew about, and probably too late in the day for them to fix properly. Now with Consumer Reports not recommending the JesusPhone4 it should hit home that Apple cannot hide this anymore, or lie about the whys and wherefores.

Samsung Galaxy S

This would normally make me laugh maniacally with smugness having generally an anti-Apple mindset because of just this sort of thing, but I am also a hypocrite. You see, just like all things that common sense dictates you should avoid (for example MacDonald’s Milkshakes, whipped cream on your mocha and Transformers 2) I want one. ME’S WANTS AN IPHONE! There. I Said it. I am disgusted at myself.

But there is method in my madness, and the ultimate reason why I won’t cave in to my fruit driven urges. Firstly the method: The iPhone is presently the best smart phone on the market. There is no denying this fact even though other manufactures have come very close. For example, the HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy S. Two supremely capable smart phones both running Google’s “Satan Phone” Android platform which according to most reviews are level pegging in usability and function. But the fundamental flaw in both of them is that neither phone offers the complete package.

HTC Desire

The Samsung has an iPhone beating screen for example, and can record in 720p. But the camera does not come with a flash which fundamentally causes trouble for anyone who fancies themselves as a happy snapper. The Desire counters this with a good camera and flash…but no onboard memory (of which Samsung offers either 8Gb or 16Gb). Coupled with a cheap 16Gb SD card and oyu have 24Gb of space. Also, the Samsung is a good looker but some say far to close to the iPhone 3GS and far too plasticky. The HTC offers great build quality and a more robust feel but doesn’t have the stylings that make Samsung such a great iPod replacement and misses out on the Swype keyboard which some regard as the best available. So it really is a mixed bag. And so you have to answer the question “what do you want in a phone?”. And that encapsulates the problem.

My Nokia E71 is driving me nuts. It just doesn’t do what I want it to – the software is clunky, it’s slow and I don’t find I take full advantage of the built in keyboard (which admittedly is great). Tweeting is not really fun and it just doesn’t seem integrated in a way that I would like. The music player is shockingly bad and the camera is bloody terrible. 3.2 megapixels of noise. No thanks.

And the last two points are the most important to me. I want to replace my iPod and don’t want to carry around additional gadgets. Memory capacity matters. When you are out and about, you rarely have a camera to capture that odd occasion when something cool happens. And to record video in HD is great when you have small children trying to wreck the world!

Jesus Phone 4

These are the reasons the iPhone wins. It has a camera that can comfortable stand up to compact units. It’s an iPod. It comes with built in memory. It has a great screen. It offers great games and distractions. It is the consumer platform of choice for millions. Only an idiot would claim the iPhone is rubbish.

But the storm is on the horizon. Apple is now facing the onslaught of Android which has gained significant leverage over the iPhone due to it’s recent shortcomings, becoming the butt of their jokes. Already developers are indicating Android is the future. So this, to my mind reinforces the decision to stay away form the iPhone 4. And that’s not to mention the damn thing’s expensive. No to the Apple Tax!

So which Android should it be? I don’t know! Help!!

“Our coalition government is united in accepting that its first duty is to clean up the fiscal mess it inherited. Not any old mess but a great, steaming pile of manure. Someone has to remove it. We can’t just hide the smell beneath the perfume of optimistic forecasts or rely on natural decay.”

If there’s one thing that really grates me it is the public services argument by the likes of Dave Prentice from Unison. I know public services will be cut back significantly but saying that the former Labour Government fought the rebuild them after years of Tory misrule is rubbish.
The unions are missing the salient point: there was no money to provide the level of services which they did. The ConDems are not hiding a fundamentally anti-public sector agenda which is Tory led. They are readdressing the balance, and a balance that has been off kilter for too long as Labour ignored the warning signs and good common sense by not putting “a little bit away for a rainy day”.
By the time this Government is finished we will have a much brighter future and I sleep easy knowing that for the first time in my adult life I can trust the government again.
I’ll do my bit. Instead of moaning about not getting a pay increment this year I’ll just just save some cash and not pay the Apple Tax. Now which Android is it? Desire or Legend…?

Darth Vader Records for TomTom

If you fail to find this prospect amusing then you are odder than me…

Original Alien Art Director Roger Christian is quoted as saying “Ridley told me some of his ideas when we were here in Toronto. He has a very clear understanding of where this should go. They kind of stopped dead one of the greatest horror franchises there’s ever been, and it had legs to go on. So I’m hoping he’ll revive another three. The world certainly wants it, and the fans want it—everybody.”

I am not sure where this could go but a trilogy would seem to point in the direction of a whole new cast and story arc, which would be a good thing in the hands of Scott.

UPDATE: Yahoo stole the story from Shadowlocked like a bunch of hacks. Shame on them. No linky for you.

Gun's new album 'Popkiller'.

I caught the newly reformed Gun at Swansea Sin City last night and my ears are still ringing. Felt bad for the boys that there was not a high turnout but that said, we really got into the swing of things. They played through a string of Gun’s finest aswell as three tracks from the new ‘Popkiller’ mini-album.

With the the likes of Skin reforming, it seems there is a real shift for the British rock bands of yesteryear, and if singer Toby Jepson is to believed, it’s all down to the internet. Following the gig, I managed to to speak with Toby and he was very insightful on the position of music in 2009, the effect of Spotify and iTunes, and what our music buying habits will be in 5 years time.

For Toby, Gun is a new chance to produce music in a climate where the artist makes the rules. The proliferation of Protools and easy access to the web means that anyone can be a musician and get their songs heard. Now combine that concept with a group of guys who have been doing it for 20 years, and you have  a level of experience that can take full advantage of these options.

And that neatly takes me onto ‘Popkiller’, Gun’s  new mini-album. Why a mini-album? Is this a test the water concept? Not according to Toby, who would rather put out a succession of mini-albums multiple times a year opposed to the big release concept that consumed the music industry of yesteryear. If fans come out to the gig having downloaded some Gun material, it suits the band just fine. Buy a ticket, and while your hear  pick up a beanie hat and that ever so tempting mini-album at only £6! And why not!

One thing’s for sure, they should shift them judging by the quality on Gun 2.0′s release. It only has six songs, but each one of them is an interesting mix of the Gun of days gone by (even with an 0141 pop sensibility) without straying too far from the distorted guitars and catchy riffs. And Toby’s wider vocal range lends the songs to produce a naturally wider range than Mark Rankin era Gun. That’s not to say there Little Angels-esque screaming vocals, but there’s definitely some new Scarborough tricks to this old Glaswegian Dog.

Standout track for me is ‘Seraphina’, which is a quick paced rocker tinged in 80′s synth pop. You can certainly hear the boys have thrown in some influences from the recent 80′s revival, but that works well and should get them heard outside of the normal rock fraternity. The riffs and choruses are here in abundance and it is very easy to have the likes of ‘Let Your Hair Down’ sprint around your head for days with it’s ‘Cars’ inspired guitar riff.

‘Popkiller’ itself is just a disgustingly catchy song, reminding me very much of early ‘Feeder’ material. If I had to say what Gun sound like, I’d probably mark Feeder out as the band to compare with (if Feeder’s recent output was up to this standard though!).

Out of the five tracks, only ‘Ripping Up Letters’ returns to type, with a slower tale of forlorn love lost in friendship, and to me this is the low point of the album, as tracks either side of it are full of energy and fizz. It’s not a bad track though, but not up to the standard of  the other four.

Overall a good effort and certainly ‘Popkiller’ makes an impact. It is a must for fans of British rock music, so if you have bought Gun before, you’ll lap it up. And on evidence of this Jepson era Gun will go far, and might well grow some new fans along the way.

You can order ‘Popkiller’ from Towsend Records, and Toby Jepson is on the road in December supporting Skin.

The Llantrisant Borders was a cornerstone of the local community – it was virtually the only place outside of Tesco’s to go and meet people without alcohol being involved thanks to the store’s resident Starbucks franchise upstairs. And even though the majority of the books there were crazy prices, the prospect of sitting down, having a coffee and a browse inevitably led to more than a handful of duckets being exchanged. The place was invariably packed, especially on the weekends and how this can  translate to a need to close down I do not know.

Border's Llantrisant to close down. Buy your books from Cardiff from now on.

It further sticks in my throat the way that Borders did the deed. Many staff had no advance warning and there were tears for some Starbucks employees too. Now you would think a company the size of Starbucks would be offering placements in other locations? I sincerely hope so, as turfing out a team of predominantly young and enthusiastic people in this manner is disgusting to say the least. And Borders should be relocating staff to Cardiff first and foremost.

Now don’t get me wrong…I do not like Starbucks. My brief stint in a branch in Leicester was a low point of my working life thanks to the inane management and anally retentive approach to customer service. But beggars can’t be choosers and in Llantrisant there was either coffee at Starbucks or a coffee in a shoebox sized M&S cafe. Well now we’re left with the shoe box. That said there is a rumour it will be back? Who knows…

So what’s going to move in Borders place? Apparently a branch of mainstream fashion purveyors, New Look. Well…that’s great. Another clothing store. Surely there aren’t enough of them around there?!?  You would have thought when Philip Downer and Mark Little bought out the UK chain that keeping one of their stores in a very prominent location would have been high on the agenda (more here), but no. That said, New Look must not have done their homework at the Talbot Green site either as the competition their store will face will be intense.

It’s ironic that Borders’ current marketing slogan is “Let’s escape”. Well you did, didn’t you? And you should be bloody ashamed of yourselves. Anyone interesting in registering their thoughts can fire them off to the UK head office @  Stillerman House, 120 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0JR or use this page.

Torchwood's Hub Entrance festooned with letters to Ianto

Science fiction fans are a special bunch, and Torchwood fans are especially enthused with their show it seems. I was meeting a friend down Cardiff Bay over the weekend, and gave a brief tour. “Do you watch Torchwood? This is where it’s based” etc… and as I pointed out the “not-so-secret” entrance to the Torchwood Hub, I immediately thought “what’s that on the door…next to the flowers?!?

Anyone following the series will know of it’s perpetually high body count, and this month’s new “Children of Earth” arc was no different. There were words of condolence stuck to the door, alongside small bouqyets for Tesco £2.99 flowers in memorial to the recently deceased character of Ianto. And it brought a wry smile to my face. Some fans fave gone as far as write poems and eulegies, and while some might scoff at this, I thought it was kind of sweet.

At the end of the day, Torchwood: Children of Earth was a fantastic piece of television that is set to send the Torchwood characters to sci-fi “classic” status. Reviews of the series as aired on BBC America have been very good, and this can only be a good thing. It’s just a shame that Ianto won’t be around to enjoy the future. Rest in piece Butty, you made some good coffee.

Letter's to mark Ianto's passing....awwwww.