I bought an iPhone 3GS last week, on November 5. A short essay on my thoughts follows the picture set.

In the end, it was the sixteen-gigabyte black 3GS that I went for. Of course, I didn’t wish to buy it outright — I instead opted for a reasonably-priced Telstra corporate plan that includes a fair bit of the traditional voice and text allowance, but a lot of data built-in. And from what I’ve seen over the last week, that data will be the most important part.

While I did, in part, buy an iPhone because I am a self-confessing Apple fan (not to be confused with ‘fanboy’), the by-far larger logic behind the purchase was the fact that the iPhone is the benchmark on today’s phone market. Even after two or three years of a nearly non-changing design and fairly standard feature set, it is the phone to beat.

While the iPhone 3GS did not offer the revolutionary change highlighted from the transition from first-gen iPhone to second-gen iPhone 3G, the 3GS offers the best features, speed and general ‘happiness’ of any smartphone on sale. While it works great simply as the phone that it is, with the excellent Mobile Safari, decent email (not BlackBerry-beating, mind you) and nice standard feature set, the collection of over 100,000 third-party applications for download at your fingertips is the number to beat, as well.

It’s not difficult to access these, either; the App Store can be accessed in a single tap, anywhere, anytime, especially here in Australia on the Telstra network. While Telstra is seen as the ‘big bad looming shadow’ over the domestic telecommunications industry, it offers network speed and coverage that is unparalleled.

The phone is amazing – not because it bears an Apple on the back (that doesn’t exactly hurt it though), but because it offers unbeatable interconnectedness with the outside world. The phone has started to interact with almost everything I do; and there are about 99,950 more applications for me to discover and that number is still growing.

It may not be ‘king’ forever, but for now, the iPhone, in 3GS form, is simply the best there is.

With under 400 MB available, it might be time for something new. More on that this week.

The recently-announced Motorola Droid for Verizon Wireless, by far the most publicised Android release since the system’s establishment with the HTC T-Mobile G1, is certainly an attractive handset which will benefit hugely from the updated Android 2.0 software.

While the Droid benefits from having a beefier processor and most likely a more optimised system than the HTC models featuring Android 1 we have seen this year, Android 2.0 ‘Eclair’ builds further upon refining the experience for the consumer – making things more complex in features yet simpler in use, optimising performance, and continuing the pursuit of that “killer app” for an increasingly saturated smartphone industry overshadowed by the iPhone.

The Droid from Motorola looks like the best effort in terms of hardware paired to the Android platform so far. One could imagine it as an evolution of the idea behind the first Android model, the HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1); the front offers a large, 3.7-inch slate-style multi-touch screen, with a row of soft keys below. The screen slides to the right to reveal a physical QWERTY keyboard and directional pad.

It’s a tested style of hardware, and consumers are at least responding to it. It’s a texting- and emailing-friendly style, while still offering the benefits of a huge touchscreen; a touchscreen even larger than on the iPhone. However — and I don’t profess to have handled the device personally — from videos, it seems as though the Droid still suffers from some “scrolling lag” as I call it; opening the app shelf, browsing lists, and the like, are just not as snappy as the iPhone. I’d be willing to bed that Apple’s still got the upper hand in performance.

However, the “killer app” of the Droid is being the first widely publicised patron of Android 2.0, which we shockingly found out today carries free live turn-by-turn navigation incorporating 3D Google Maps – including satellite and Street View functions. This is a game changer in a huge way, perhaps best illustrated by TomTom NV and Garmin’s stock plunging around 20% over the day.

As Google frequently updates its Maps service, costly upgrades from more traditional GPS companies will not be necessary.

Google Maps with Navigation combines cartographic and visual navigation with Street View, which enables the user to ’see’ a lane to turn in or the set destination. Pretty amazing.

Of course, this feature cannot be unique to the Droid, as Android 2.0 will be used on countless devices starting very soon. The Droid merely has the advantage of being known to some of the public already, and until Apple makes its move, live, cloud-based over-the-air turn-by-turn spoken GPS for free (well, not counting data of course), is just huge. This is amazing.

Street View showing a destination with photography, rather than just text.

Up-to-date satellite photography provides a more visual perspective to traditional maps, although Google’s standard maps available by default.

The Droid looks solid: pretty nice hardware and improved software – especially as it incorporates Android 2.0’s free live GPS. It’s a step in the right direction – Android continues to mature and become a better product at every release. And this creates competition, and that’s better for everybody – manufacturers and consumers alike.

The plus side for Apple fans is that Google says it has a version for the iPhone – if Apple allows it. A rift has grown between Apple and Google, and there are two routes: Apple accepts the GPS features, and the two can mend their cuts; or, Apple rejects the GPS, and risks severing ties with Google, but perhaps incorporating the technology from the mapper they bought – Placebase… However it plays out, this will be interesting.

—
iMac
This new evolution of the iMac now features becoming-popular 16:9-ratio displays, in 21.5-inch and 27-inch variants. The base processor is now the 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo, so I doubt that they are ’slouches’. A sub-A$3,000 quad-core 2.66GHz model is also available. An SD card reader can now be found on the edge.

—
Updated peripherals
Finally (it’s a miracle!) the bundled keyboard and mouse are wireless. While the slimline keyboard retains its ‘old’ shape, the less-than-spectacular Mighty Mouse has been ditched and replaced by a widely-rumoured, new multi-touch enabled model named the Magic Mouse. As one would expect, it’s a thin, slate-like thing that incorporates the multi-touch abilities of the iPhone, and the notebook trackpads.

—
MacBook
The “white” MacBook has been replaced after three years of less-than-reliable fall-apart polycarbonate existence. While it’s still glossy white plastic, it’s now constructed in the same unibody fashion as its elder, wiser sibling, the MacBook Pro. It’s now much lighter, bordering on two kilograms, but (perhaps wisely), it still harbours a 2.26GHz processor and is more than an inch thin. Well, I guess the MacBook Pro has to have some perks of its own.

[all images via Apple]

… it’s a real pity they only have the “Rogue” to show off. They’d be so much more effective if Verizon had, say, an iPhone.

But yes, it is a problem that AT&T’s 3G coverage is – in a word – abysmal. It is an unforgivable detractor from the iPhone experience.

Update: Throwing more salt on the wound, Verizon has announced its plans to support Google Voice over the cellular network.

[source: Digital Daily]

My Australian Nokia E71 (coupled with a Vodafone pay-as-you-go account) didn’t want to play nice here in the States. It couldn’t decide between AT&T or T-Mobile when it decided to actually connect in the first place.

Our readers will recall my high praise of the BlackBerry Pearl on Optus back in Australia and specifically its keyboard; luckily, AT&T supply a similar Pearl 8120 but with a grey and silver keyboard. Very attractive indeed. This is now my American phone. Smiley face.

It happened just by chance, rather than by careful prior planning. It turned out I was in the city, near to the CBD Apple Store as it was today, so I thought I would swing by and find myself a copy of Snow Leopard, merely coincidentally on its first day of availability.

The excitement at the Store was a bizarre mix of opposites: there was just one poster advertising Snow Leopard in the form of “upgrade your Mac”; but, the amount of Mac users who were clutching their copies made it evident that I was not the only one there who knew / cared it was something to buy it on the first day.

Coming back to the now, though; Snow Leopard has been freshly installed on my ‘new’ MacBook. When I say ‘freshly installed’, I really mean ‘upgrade installed’. I’m leaving for the U.S. tomorrow on a jet plane, and I don’t have the time to sort and resort for a fresh install…. But I will do it when I get home.

I suppose carelessly I left the install running while I did other things; therefore, I can’t really gauge how long it took to install, but about one hour, I estimate. The bizarre thing was that when I returned to my computer, and instinctively tapped my (Bluetooth) keyboard, everything looked exactly the same…

That was because I did the upgrade install, my background, dock items, everything – had been replaced as it was. Bizarre, since the lack of aesthetic upgrade for Snow Leopard made it look pretty much like nothing had happened. Lo and behold though, holding down an icon produced application-specific Éxpose, so something had gone on.

After using Snow Leopard for a few hours, in its first release (10.6.) it seems great. Everything is a little quicker and a little snappier. Feature-wise, nothing is different, but just easier – i.e., thumbing through PDFs in icon view.

What is so beneficial is the quicker boot-up and shut down time, and the quicker start-from-sleep time.

So, after all, nothing to be too excited about. Merely refinements and improvements – but well worth the A$39.

Packaged in a plain black box with a few essential accessories, this is not the finalised retail version. A few glitches in the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system will be cleared up before shoppers can pick them up!

Check back soon for the full review!

Thanks to Cheryl from Upstream for the hookup!

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

— Arthur C. Clarke.

The latest Android handset from Taiwanese manufacturer HTC, the Magic, may not fulfil dreams of any wizardry taking place beyond its pebble-like form, but is it sufficiently advanced to satisfy Sir Arthur’s definition?

As a fan of HTC’s developing work with the open-source Google Android platform, I was keen to use the Magic after observing the potential of the first phone produced by HTC using that operating system, the Dream. That phone, while demonstrating what really could be possible in the future by mixing HTC’s excellent skill set with handset design with the power of Android, failed to show any real progress in the user experience field.

Despite this, the Dream, sold as the T-Mobile G1 in the USA and Europe, has been a massive hit with punters who are looking for a capable, reliable alternative to the Apple iPhone. Despite its flaws the nature of the phone won over people looking for that potential and for a future investment.

A year has passed since the G1 hit the US market and six months since the Dream was unveiled here in the Asia-Pacific region. The Magic deletes the popular QWERTY keyboard that featured on the Dream but adds more solid hardware, a better all-round design, and more refined technology to improve the overall experience of the phone.

Hardware design

The Dream was a ‘different’ course of action for HTC – and not just with the inclusion of Android. The sleek designs of handsets of the day, like the original Touch Diamond and Touch Pro, were thrown out and in their place, a wide, matte-black sliding brick of a handset (to be crude) emerged. Practical, yes; aesthetically appealing, perhaps not.

The Magic, however, cures any hurt feelings generated in the HTC-Android fan crowd; the Google operating system camp no longer has to put up with sub-par design. The Magic is beautiful. It sits in one’s hand like a small, rounded white pebble. It is light and sleek and glossy. However, the white colour hides most finger trails around the body.

The crisp and large 3.2-inch screen nearly fills the width of the phone and, when off, the blackness of it somewhat overwhelms the more feminine beauty of the body shape. Turn it on, though, and it is colourful and vibrant. While the screen does not offer the haptic feedback (vibration when touched) of its Windows Mobile sibling, the Touch Diamond2, it is visually satisfying. All portions of the Android system are produced well on-screen and there was no trouble with size limitations.

The front face of the phone is dominated by this display. Below it, are some handy soft keys, though, including the standard Android home, contextual menu, return and search keys, plus two send-end shortcuts. An indented, lit rollerball seperates the two sides.

The border of the phone is nearly clear of obstacles for the hand. A piece of (plastic) brushed silver trim adorns the sides. On the left, a simple, unmarked up-down volume rocker alters the sound level of the phone. The top is similarly devoid of features and the bottom of the phone is interrupted only by the semi-proprietary HTC ExtUSB port, used for charging and syncing. Any standard mini-USB cord can be used but only HTC headphones need apply; there is no 3.5-millimetre port to be found here.

The rear face of the handset is similarly glossy white and features the small Google branding as seen on the Dream, plus an upgraded 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera. Featured here is the only HTC branding on the phone.

In terms of size, the phone is about 90% the size – height and width – of an Apple iPhone 3G S and the same thickness. It is significantly less wide than a BlackBerry Bold, but larger than most consumer Nokia handsets such as the 6210 Navigator.

Software operation

The Magic for Australia, sold and licensed by Vodafone AU, is loaded with a vanilla copy of the Google Android 1.5 “Cupcake” system. This update has substantially increased the stability of the system, and added creature comforts like the on-screen QWERTY keyboard that should have been delivered in the Android 1.0!

The Android system works remarkably well and is fairly easy to adjust to if you are coming from a standard phone. Coming from other smartphones is similarly simple. The Android software layout is pretty well the same as other common mobile OSes such as iPhone OS and the new LG S-Class system; graphical icons, sliding screens, flickable lists. You get the gist.

Operating the core features of the Android system, like the scrolling application selection field and the three home-screen layout, where “gadgets”, like clocks and web-links can be placed systematically, is easy. Android is designed for the consumer in mind; there are few advanced features on this phone, and this is a plus for the kind of person interested in the Magic.

Disappointingly, the Google branding on the phone (which does not appear in countries like Singapore) prevents any Microsoft Exchange support from being added. If you are looking to use a work or school e-mail account which utilises Exchange on this phone, you need not apply.

Similarly, the support for even IMAP4 type e-mail is spotty. My own TB Tech mail server, hosted by Bluehost USA, was rejected for failing to authenticate properly. There is no option to override this and confirm its safety – even though I obviously know that my account is virus free. It stubbornly resists.

Luckily, the Magic redeems itself somewhat by offering a great web browser. It’s no Mobile Safari, but it’s far better than the Opera mini offered on the Touch Diamond2. It is fast, renders quickly and is easy to navigate around.

Large, finger-friendly graphics are the norm in the operating system. Unlike the HTC Windows Mobile builds, there’s no mish-mash of old and new portions to the system. Everything is perfectly designed for easy operation and it delivers. The processor needs to be faster, though, to deliver that iPhone-like immediate reactions!

Those who chide the iPhone for still not featuring application multi-tasking will be satisfied by the Magic, though; Android 1.5 offers much better support for running several applications at once and the handy notification bar, which remains at the top of the screen at all times, can be dragged down to show all new notifications like updates from Twidroid, the excellent Twitter client for Android which I discovered during my evaluation.

Everyday use

The Magic is touted as a smartphone, so it was a severe blow to my impression of the phone that my Bluehost IMAP e-mail was not supported. It was a problem on the Dream and I expected it to be rectified on the Magic. Alas, no. Not having instantaneous access to my work e-mail was a problem at times, but something I could go without for a few hours on end!

Walking down the street and using the Magic was no problem, especially due to its diminished size in comparison to the behemoth HTC Dream. However, the on-screen keyboard offered with Android 1.5 was simply atrocious.

The keyboard was so bad and so inaccurate for double-thumbed mashing that I nearly had to resort to using my Nokia E71 during the evaluation period. Luckily, a pretty good auto-check system is built in for the inevitable mis-typings that you will experience. In two weeks I did not become accurate which is simply unacceptable.

This is the fault of the Android operating system, mostly; but HTC are to blame for not offering better integration with their handset. I have come to expect an iPhone-like typing experience, but clearly this is too much to ask! It was awful to type on this handset. I could perhaps have got used to it with a longer period and it was not as if I could not type. It was just bitterly slow.

Using the web was a much better experience, though. Google Search is built right in, as one would expect from a Google operating system. Handy links to Facebook, eBay, and the like were already included and this was a blast to use such features right out of the box.

The camera is a heinous blow to the credibility of mobile phone cameras of 2009. How dare HTC build in such a disappointing camera that cannot handle any low-light situations whatsoever. The iPhone 3G S can basically serve as a replacement for a point-and-shoot. So say it mildly, the HTC “cannot”.

This phone does not suit me for day-to-day use. It might have, had the e-mail worked. I do hope this is fixed in the future, along with that keyboard!

However this phone is not aimed at BlackBerry-rocking addicts like this journalist. It is aimed at lifestyle-phone enthusiasts who have a GMail account, keep their calendars on Google Calendar, use YouTube all day long and want to navigate their way around with the excellent Google Maps client built in. It’s a half-baked smartphone, but that won’t matter to its owners.

Indistinguishable from magic? The HTC Magic offers no special features, but it delivers well on everyday tasks like web browsing, is designed impeccably, and offers the benefits of the Android system. A great upgrade from the Dream, but, no, it’s not quite there.

That responsibility rests on the shoulders of the HTC Hero!

I haven’t used an iPhone 3G S yet. I can quite easily imagine what it will be like, though; I’ve used the iPhone 3G running the 3.0 software extensively.

My vision of the 3G S experience was easy to create. This is down to the fact that the 3G S is nearly identical, hardware-wise, to its predecessor, the iPhone 3G.

While some minor hardware changes have, admittedly, taken place – such as the move to silver mirror lettering for the iPhone text on the rear – the aesthetic changes have been so minor that they may come to be a detracting factor to the primarily non-discerning buyer of these phones.

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Affirmative commentary

2009 has been an evolutionary year for technology, not a revolutionary one. Products have been updated satisfactorily but the space for new product has been fairly lacklustre; in keeping with this year’s trend, then the iPhone 3G S is far from disappointing. It is a relevant, and pleasing upgrade.

I am somewhat hesitant to label the 3G S a new model. I feel that, hardware- and specification-wise, the 3G S is exactly what the older iPhone 3G should have been. And, in some ways, what the original aluminium iPhone should have debuted with.

However I am of similar mindset to John Gruber of Daring Fireball on this one. The original iPhone, and to some extent, the iPhone 3G, dared to show the public that they didn’t really need tangible keys, or a flip cover, or boring operating system to own a true smartphone. Similarly, Apple showed us that we really didn’t need or want MMS, or a landscape experience, or a video camera. Until now.

It is the decision of the mother company that we are ready for these features now. Probably a smart move; imagine if all of the iPhone’s innovations had been released back on June 29, 2007. One problem is that global mobile networks were simply not ready for the hugely increased network traffic that resulted even from the fairly spartan original iPhone.

Should the full mobile iTunes store, third-party data-using applications, full Exchange support, MMS, tethering and video recording (and with it, mobile video uploading), there would have been network chaos.

3G would have been necessary, of course, from the very start. It was the case, though, that the American networks were lagging behind with this technology and Cingular was undergoing the transition to AT&T. Not a good time for so many network-intensive features, then.

The European and Asian networks would have coped, of course. But if America couldn’t, then it wasn’t going to happen. Of course we must also look at sites like YouTube. It is having difficulty coping now with the 1200% increase in mobile video uploads after only one week. Back in 2007, when the site was immature, it wouldn’t have. —

So in this way, logically and categorically, the iPhone 3G S delivers the features that the ubiquitous nagger who constantly says “But the iPhone can’t do this!” has been whining about for years in a timely fashion.

It can be easy to forget that Apple only began building the iPhone platform three years ago; and selling it only two years ago. While more staid companies like Nokia and Motorola engaged in the pioneering aspects of the mobile industry, their lack of inspiration over the recent years left a gap which Apple filled at just the right time.

The speed increases that come from the faster processor and doubled memory will be good news for power users and gamers, certainly. It is a satisfying, if predictable, upgrade that will benefit the platform in the years to come as applications – specifically, games – become more intensive and involving.

Video recording, as mentioned previously, will simply be a hit. The younger generation who will undoubtedly flock to this phone – those who understand the speed boosts and benefits – are going to embrace video capture on the fly like they embraced mobile photography five years ago.

YouTube may not cope under the pressure; technically, and financially. The site lost in the vicinity of $600 million last year. The 3G S will, I predict, directly cause an increase of around 25% in videos posted to the site. Unless more ads are applied to YouTube videos soon, the site cannot remain financially viable even for its wealthy owners, Google.

The updated 3.0-version software works, as it always has, in great harmony with the hardware. The features exclusive to the 3G S, such as voice control and video capture, are implemented beautifully and easily for the end user.

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Negative commentary

Truthfully, there are few real disadvantages to the iPhone 3G S and almost all of these are completely objective. For example, there are those who still whine about the lack of a physical QWERTY keyboard. My answer to that is that it won’t happen in the near future.

You can deal with personal objective problems with the 3G S in one of two ways:

1. Purchase a different phone and be quiet, or;
2. Take what you get, and like it. Be happy Steve knows best.

However there are of small problems that do not reflect on the phone itself that have sat at the back of my mind since WWDC. Instead, they reflect on Apple’s philosophy behind the 3G S.

These issues all stem down, really, to what can really be labelled a small lack of true innovation. While the 3G S represents the pinnacle of what’s doable in the mobile industry – the ‘best of the best’, one might say – it could probably do better.

Perhaps I am incorrect, and have just been bred badly by being spoonfed better and better Apple products thrice a year. But it is almost like Apple did not put in the same effort it has in previous years, and in the two previous iPhone iterations.

If there was an emotional scale, the original iPhone rated as a cheer, the iPhone 3G as a clap and the iPhone 3G S as a sigh. The rumour mill predicted the correct specifications days before WWDC. It failed on the aesthetic changes, though; blogs expected at least some change. And this is there the 3G S underwhelms most.

While, technologically, the 3G S is a far superior phone to its predecessor, the immediate psychological recognition tells a different story. We are taught, almost hard-wired, to associate pleasing aesthetic difference with positive change.

Take the example of Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Obama’s politics have been moderate at best and not too much ‘change’ has happened as yet in his administration. But the radical aesthetic differences between himself and Bush continue to cast positive light on the United States and its political spectrum.

We have to reverse this example to understand why the 3G S naturally disappoints us somewhat. The core has changed substantially; it is far better, can achieve so much more, and is technologically innovative. But as long as the outer shell remains the same, or at least mostly the same, we experience that nagging feeling.

Luckily for the iPhone, that outer shell is pretty darn good-looking, so it doesn’t really need an update. It will last another year looking the same way as the 3G and it will get away with it down to pure sex appeal. But it can’t look that way forever, or else the kind of people who buy the phone who are non-technological, and non-savvy, will not see the wonderful change occurring inside.

But what of marketing? The 3G S advertisements tell us that it is the “fastest and most powerful iPhone yet. However as a modern species we have come to know that advertising is a free market and we can be told anything. We want to see, feel, and experience things for ourselves, not be told about it.

And if we can’t tell the difference immediately, you won’t develop the kind of satisfaction that arose with the original iPhone and somewhat with the iPhone 3G – which were both aesthetically separate from anything before them.

—————

Concluding, though, the iPhone 3G S is once again a great phone and model for Apple. It will serve over the next twelve months as the main brand ambassador for the company. The iPhone has in spirit taken over from the Mac, and the iPod, as the core symbol at the heart of the brand; a symbol of everything that can be done, being done.

The iPhone combines the power of a Mac with the popularity of an iPod. This core belief remains true in the new model, and I am certain it will be at least as popular as ever, if not more so.

Even I am considering laying down on an iPhone now. And they say I don’t like to tie myself down.—

Firstly: an apology. We currently have a white HTC Magic in our midst. Our ‘tech-photo’ lens is broken. Darn! Coming soon…

On a brighter note, the third-generation Android model from HTC, the Hero, was unveiled by HTC late last night AEST time. To me, this model is not so much about how it works production-wise, but a showcase of the company’s amazing talent with re-interfacing somewhat clunky mobile operating systems.

While Android heralds an open-source win for mobile device software, I’ve often thought the UI has left a lot to be desired; it works, sure, but the quality doesn’t match the tireless efforts put into phones like the HTC Magic.

Hero interface tour by HTC [5 minutes]

Like their work with Windows Mobile 6, HTC have completely reskinned their own custom Android ‘Rosie’ release. The result is spectacular; beautiful colours, gradients, fonts and effects. Exactly what I have come to expect from handsets like the Touch Diamond.

It seems that HTC’s pattern with interface skinning has been revealed. HTC, largely before they became a brand in their own right, manufactured handsets for the likes of O₂ and i-mate. The interface was the bland, utilitarian Windows Mobile. However more recently HTC have beautified – and made at least usable to the non-pro consumer – the WinMo OS.

Now, with Android, there have been two ‘good’ phones (both of which I have used for a while) but the software has needed that magic touch (oh, what a pun..) that, as it would seem, is now being bestowed upon the range.

The Hero mixes the concept of the Dream with the quality of the Touch Diamond2.

Without holding one in my hand, which will undoubtedly occur later this year, the Hero’s hardware looks a little blocky. It reminds me firstly of the Dream (the HTC / T-Mobile G1) then of the second-generation Touch Diamond. Blended into this mix is the little HTC-Android-device kink in the bottom of the face. I love that.

The white or brown palette is very 2009. I like.

The concept looks amazing, the software wonderful. The hardware will need to convince me, but I can’t wait for this one.

Last week, TB Tech received a new, aluminium-grey E71 smartphone from our friends at Nokia and Open Haus for demonstration. Our upcoming review will tell if this stylish and ultra-thin QWERTY smartphone is as good as its excellent predecessors!

For now, though, as usual our more creative shots come first with the more traditional daylit images to feature in our review, which is in the works.

Sydney is the latest recipient of a Graniph design t-shirts store, the vital brand from Tokyo that is spreading the typographic goodness around our wardrobes.

I haven’t had much time to visit them over the past few months but I finally had a chance to take a proper look over the Easter weekend, and came away with two shirts.

The shirts

‘Helvetica Pink’. I think it types speaks for itself.

‘Hidden Alphabet’.

More Helvetica-ry goodness.

The store

The store is located in Galeries Victoria. Although the brand has been westernised to some extent, there are obvious cues from the Japanese origins – the tags are full of Japanese script and many prices are in yen!

Graniph Sydney. Photo credit to JJ on Flickr.

The shirts are everywhere – neatly folded, one on top of the other. There are only ever two or three of a kind so they are snapped up very quickly before different designs replace them.

The prices are high – the more you buy, the cheaper each shirt gets. But buying one shirt will cost between A$30 and A$40.

The packaging

Packaging is minimal. But the carrybags are fantastic – bright orange tight Helvetica on white.

Graniph carrybag, propped up on my trusty MacBook Pro.

—-

Graniph is a totally niche brand and the experience is very different… but it’s absolutely refreshing to have a taste of type in our clothing. And apart from stuff like the Helvetica shirt, they have genuinely good taste and style in their whole range.

What: Graniph Design Tshirts store, Sydney

Where: Shop RG09, The Galeries Victoria
500 George Street, Sydney

At TB Tech, our product reviews present an experience unlike any other. Through our thorough and involving textual review, publicising our everyday experiences — rather than glossed up, promotional description — accompanied by our spectacular photography, the best reviews of today’s consumer tech comes from right here.

Our current spectrum involves notebooks, cell phones, smartphones, media players, and accessories.

Throughout 2009 and 2010, TB Tech will be embarking on a ‘Branchout’ programme to widen this spectrum of news, observation, first looks, and full reviews. As well as providing more on our most popular consumer technology fronts, we will also be expanding to further areas of modern, social observation:

To match the evolving interests of tech-observers, we are very pleased to bring you our preliminary Branchout ideas!

We will be continuing our theme of function through design in all of our endeavours to stay true to our founding philosophies of ‘the power of fusion between aesthetic and performance in any product’.

Into the future, complementing our premier area of interest, consumer technology, we will be delving into the converging worlds of auto design, design through society — including architecture, housing, and urban planning — the design industry, and we will be continuing our work in photography.

The spectrum is widening. With our expanded interests, you can be sure to see more of what you already enjoy. But complementing this will be new endeavours that will craft TB Tech as a social observer, a tool to source out quality technology through design, as well as an excellent casual read for everything architecture, interiors, auto design, interfaces, as well as our natural environments!

I look forward to working with our readers into these new areas!

–Tom [editor]

TB Tech has managed to secure another fantastic smartphone exclusive: today we can bring you exclusive pictures of the HTC Dream smartphone for the Optus network in Australia and the SingTel network in Singapore!

This handset is the first in the world to run the Google Android software. It has been selling for the past half-year in the US as the T-Mobile G1 but here is the first model with HTC-only branding!

Update: and we’ve been featured on Engadget – an honour. Click me for more.

Expect a full review, as well as a more detailed rundown of the base Android system and its effectiveness, in the coming weeks!

Our feature on Engadget!

Toshiba has entered the netbook fray – a market frothing with new competitors introduced every other day, with the 8.9-inch NB100. This model is the Business specification – is designed to be a good performer on the business scale and slide easily into the briefcase, or handbag.

While Toshiba’s PR stays remarkably true to its word on the performance scales, it’s clear that the NB100 has been aimed squarely at the medium-to-enterprise business crowd. If you imagine a 2004-era Tecra business notebook, scale it right down, and add a webcam, you’ve probably imagined something like the interior of the NB100.

It’s not boring, but it is utilitarian to the maximum level.

On the plus side, the specification that has become known as standard fare on netbooks – the 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 120GB hard drive, 1GB RAM, 8.9″ screen size – works very well in this model.

The low-voltage processor powers along with standard office and productivity applications, and if using the standard Windows XP iteration with simply Internet Explorer, Office 2007 and ‘Pinball’ for entertainment, there shouldn’t be any performance problems.

Try more intensive games, though – which may be difficult due to the lack of an optical drive – and the fun most likely stops there. There’s no discreet graphics, and therefore no dedicated video memory. However, the lack of an optical drive and a pittance of graphics ability is basically accepted in the netbook market.

It would be nice to see that changed, though, and Toshiba could have tried to innovate a little more with this product, especially judging on the brand’s improvements on its design and innovation over the past year or so.

The body style could be described as quite square. The outside edges are all “just-rounded” squares, and there is an unfortunately protruding normal-specification battery. This is pretty much unforgivable, since no other major netbook needs for their battery to stick out.

The glossy black lid is probably the most exciting aesthetic feature of the notebook, but it’s a fingerprint magnet.

Moving inside, we find a good, bright, crisp screen which operates at 1024×600 resolution. Not great, but fine for office activities. A shortfall is the absolutely tiny keyboard that takes a while to become accustomed to. Toshiba – HP has mastered the art of the comfortable netbook keyboard. Why can’t you?

The reason they can’t is the fact that they’ve squeezed in the F11 and F12 keys and heaps of probably unnecessary shortcuts. But mercifully, they have included a good-sized touchpad with the buttons in the right place. And here, Toshiba have trumped HP’s Mini and Acer’s Aspire One.

If you work for a medium-sized business through to an enterprise-level company, who mainly employ Toshiba products, it’ll be likely that you can get your hands on one of these netbooks easily. If you’re a consumer, they retail for around A$900.

Quite frankly, Toshiba could have done better with this netbook.

Luckily, a few saving graces – such as a good screen and proper touchpad buttons, as well as the feeling you’re working on a normal laptop rather than a downsized, underpowered “Happy Meal” of a notebook, bring it home.

Veneer Graphics, the project of Will Dawson – our resident designer – is now alive and active!

Of course, the studio itself has been around for quite a while, but the website – which both myself and Will have toiled over for a great length – marks the establishment.

TB Tech and Veneer share a strong partnership covering our various aspects of design and interaction with our technology.

Perhaps the best recommendation we could give is what you’re looking at, since great-looking site like this are what Veneer do best. Give them a visit today!

This short film – a project of Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher – is entitled “What do you pledge?”, and as well as featuring an all-star cast, brings up the key needs of the world right now. It’s a video that’s in-tune and inspiring.

While each topic discussed adds to a big load, a a world who can dedicate their hearts and minds to these is a world that will solve these problems.

That’s right, we’ve got the beast – the 2.53GHz MacBook Pro 15-inch. The one with the 512mb 9600M GT, the 4 gigabytes of RAM, the 320 gigabyte hard drive. Oh yeah.

As for first impressions, they are exceedingly positive. The machine is beautifully designed, construction and quality is top-notch – everything feels ‘just right’ – and the impressive specifications make OS X extremely fast – a huge boost from earlier Core 2 Duo processors.

Here are our initial photos, with a review forthcoming.

The box

Apple have significantly reduced the size of their packaging in order to maintain a strong environmental profile. The small boxes, which of course feature Apple’s traditional sublime design, also feature a convenient handle.

One side of the box features a vivid shot of the machine open with ‘Aurora’ staring back at you, the other with the model and closed notebook.

The notebook

The notebook’s design speaks for itself, but in the flesh the materials used, put together with excellent build quality, leave a lasting impression of satisfaction.

While the overall shape of the notebook remain similar to the previous generation, Apple has clearly interpreted the needs of the premium market and taken these into account. Small touches like a more comfortable keyboard, large trackpad with multi-touch, and magnetic lid mechanism build on the model’s credibility.

Themes from the previous model have been carried over, such as the dotted speaker outlets. Such carryovers have been modernised tastefully.

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While our impressions are positive, our review will reveal further details. Will the high graphics performance mean battery life suffers? Does thinner mean less sturdy? Check back soon for the answers.

I took a comprehensive look at the BlackBerry Bold back in 2008, and was very pleased with the well-rounded device, and we’re pleased to bring you another first-look for this device – the Bold 9000 for the Telstra Next-G network in Australia.

The device has been fully released to the consumer and business markets now, and here in Australia, Telstra are offering the Bold on their Next-G Business tier.

We have taken a look around the device, finding things put together a little better than the pre-production device we saw earlier on, and the software feels much more complete.

Rather than repeating the review of 2008, we have put together some photos of the BlackBerry Bold 9000 for Telstra, along with its packaging:

In fitting out the Bold’s packaging, Telstra have chosen a branded sleeve over a totally new box outfit.

On the rear side of the sleeve, a large graphic and legible type illustrates the standard features, as well as Telstra add-ons such as BigPond Music.

The standard BlackBerry box sits inside the sleeve.

Telstra’s BlackBerry Bold is the standard unit with no colour customisation.

A Telstra branding has been added to the face of the device.

Comparison time! The Bold gives the impression of w-i-d-e, but in actuality, it’s not too much wider than Apple’s iPhone 3G.

In thickness, there’s not much in it between the Bold and iPhone 3G.

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Reiterating our sentiment from our 2008 look the carrier-less BlackBerry Bold, this is a sleek, stylish and thin device. The software is now less buggy, which is a big improvement.

In Australia, Telstra maintains the fastest, and largest, mobile 3G network, so the Bold is a strong performer over-the-air. Telstra’s networking advantages make this device even better for lifestyle, or business use.

It’s our pick of the business smartphones – but will it retain that title once the Curve 8900 arrives later this year?