Mobile Phone Blog:

Well blow me down, me old china, it’s occurred to me today (‘cos Only Fool & Horses was on the telly) that in all the time I’ve been doing Famous Phones posts on this blog, I’ve not once done a blog post about the granddaddy of all famous phones. You know the one. Del-Boy’s executive mobile phone (I’m feeling all nostalgic, what with it being Christmas)…

Right, first things first; the phone that everyone calls the Del-Boy phone (the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X) is very clearly not the actual Del-Boy phone. In fact, I suspect the actual Del-Boy phone was nothing more than a prop knocked together by the BBC’s ever-innovative props department. It does look the part, though… (more…)

They’ve created a monster of a device… and it’s called the Samsung Galaxy Nexus!

The latest Google and Samsung collaborated handset, the Galaxy Nexus, has finally been released… and we can tell you we’re not in the least disappointed!

The first phone to run on the latest version of the Android operating system 4.0, also known by its pet name of Ice Cream Sandwich, the Nexus follows the Honeycomb approach and does away with hardware control buttons, instead favouring virtual software ones, located at the bottom of the screen. The new OS also has some brilliant camera quirks, such as the ability to automatically ‘stitch’ shots together to create a panoramic view, shoot a timelapse video and also zoom while recording.

A fantastic HD Super AMOLED display is another first for this device and it measures in at a whopping 4.65 inches and boasts a resolution of 720×1280. The curved effect of the Gorilla Glass screen also means there’s a super-fast response time of just 0.01ms… now that’s quick!

The Galaxy Nexus packs a 1.2GHz dual-core Cortex A9-based processor and 1GB RAM. The device harbours a 5 megapixel camera which is capable of shooting 1080p video, while the front-facing camera is 1.3 megapixels and can be used for video chat.

Dubbed ‘future-proof’, the Galaxy Nexus has both LTE and NFC onboard, and the battery size is a fearsome 1750mAh meaning the phone should last a good day or two before needing a recharge.

A budget iPhone could be among Apple’s forthcoming product launch items after listings appeared on Apple’s internal inventory.

9to5Mac reports that it has unearthed SKU codes (catalogue numbers) which point to a revamped iPhone4 handset. Apparently the numbers in question differ only slightly from the SKU code used for the original iPhone4, meaning we could potentially be overly-excited about nothing more than a slight modification of the existing latest Apple model.

It could also signify that a budget version of the iconic handset is due to launch, alongside the more premium product that is the iPhone 5… all will be revealed next week when Apple takes the world by storm, yet again!

It seems like only a few months ago (probably because it was only a few months ago) when I did a blog post about Waterloo Road, and how it was a bit… well, mental. It’d reached the point where suspension of disbelief just wouldn’t cut it any more; it required disbelief to be hung from the neck until it was dead. Well, it started again last week, and I pleased to report that, in order for the events of the first episode alone to be accepted, disbelief would have to be brought back from the dead, killed again, and then the ground sewn with salt.

Yes, last week’s episode set the unbelievability stakes pretty high, right off the bat, which I say is brilliant. For starters, there’s the new headmaster, and what a back-story… (more…)

Well, blimey o’riley. Who would’ve thought, after the mauling I gave to the last series of Spooks (magic physics-defying bullet!),that last night’s episode would actually manage to impress me? Well, alright, “impress” is probably too strong a word; let’s instead say that it wasn’t completely awful.

Also, Guy of Gisborne isn’t in this series, what with his character being dead, and everything. This can only be a positive thing, because Richard Armitage gets right up my nose. Maybe it’s that monotonous yet whiny voice, or maybe the fact he looks like he’s wearing eyeliner 24/7, or maybe it’s because the man cannot act, but I can’t stand him. So, good riddance, says I! But anyway, what about mobile phones? (more…)

Woohoo! I am now away on holiday, down in the wonderful county of Norfolk! In memory of last year’s escapades in Cumbria (you know, wherein I got terrified by chickens, before they made me their god), I thought I’d begin this week’s blog posts with a bird-related one. Basically, what I’m saying is that I wasn’t recently privileged enough to witness something momentous. Yes, I’ve finally seen Birdemic: Shock and Terror.

I know I’m prone to making sweeping, hyperbolic statements, so I want to make it very clear that I’m being 100% sincere when I say this: Birdemic is, easily, without any shadow of a doubt, the single worst “movie” it has ever been my pleasure and/or misfortune to sit through… (more…)

Now then, you may or may not know that I’m a huge fan of Andy Hamilton, and have been ever since I listened to Old Harry’s Game. The man is a comedy genius. Likewise, you may or may not know that I’m also a huge fan of Hugh Dennis, the undisputed king of deadpan, and have been ever since I watched The Mary Whitehouse Experience all those long years ago.

So, take it as read that I’m a huge fan of Outnumbered, written by Hamilton, and starring Hugh Dennis. Well, I say that, but we all know the real stars of the show are the three kids, especially the youngest, her with the greatest worldview ever, ‘cos I suspect she’s one of the funniest characters ever created… (more…)

Right then, this famous phones post is going to be a bit of a unique, special one. and I’ll tell ya why. Basically it’s because there’s no actual, present day mobile phones in the thing I’m talking about. What there is, though, is something far, far more intriguing. Y’see, the thing in question is a video game; specifically, it’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a game I’ve been waiting to play for sooooo long.

Now granted, the main theme of the game sure ain’t mobile phones; no, the main theme is, as anyone who’s been following it knows, human augmentation. Y’know, cybernetics, transhumanism, and all that. But the brilliant thing is that the world Eidos have created is very plausible. Unbelievably plausible, in fact.

Put simply, I don’t think it’s too far away from what will be the real future of mobile phones, and that intrigues me. Has a video game really just shown us what the future could be like? (more…)

[WARNING: This blog post WILL contain spoilers. If you don't want the film ruined forever, don't read it till you've seen it. You have been warned.]

Now then, if we’re talking action films, they usually come in two variants: the average, straightforward shooty death movie, where it’s all about the ‘splosions; and the twisty, turny kind, where they can make your brain hurt, before having that bit at the end where everything becomes clear. If they’re done well, that is.

Salt, starring the impossibly gorgeous Angelina Jolie, is an example of the second type, done really well. And yes, it had mobile phones in it. It’s a Columbia Pictures film, and they’re owned by Sony, so as you’d expect, they were all Sony Ericsson phones.

In fact, two of them were phones I owned myself, so that was nice… (more…)

You may have noticed that when I do Famous Phones posts, I’m quite often behind the times in what films I see phones in. F’r'instance, I recently blogged about the film Eagle Eye (really good film, by the way, despite Shia LaBeouf being in it), a good three years after its release. There’s a reason for this, and it’s because I am most likely to see films when they’re on the telly.

Anyway, Twilight had its network television premier, last night, so I’ve now finally seen the horror for myself. Now, if you’re a fan of Twilight, I’ll be fair, and warn you that you’re not going to like this blog post. You’re really not going to like it. I would imagine that you’re going to like it, in fact, roughly as much as I liked Twilight itself… (more…)