Phones...

So, I've ordered the HTC Desire. I think it might be out of stock at the moment (my brother's had some ordering issues with Orange), but I cannot wait until the device is in my hands.

For a while I considered the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, another Android device, offering similar functionality. Large screen, all in one Social Networking, a (very good) camera Apps, widgets and smart phone functionality. However, it was the hardware that was lacking. Less than 400Mb of RAM and no multitouch support were deal breakers. An additional flaw was that it runs Android 1.6. So, with a heavily skinned UI and little RAM, the speed of the phone let it down, despite it's 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

So, will my desires be fulfilled? I hope so. Speed is of the essence here. Add that to HTC Sence UI and some rather handy looking apps and widgets, I'm looking for a wonderful smart phone introduction. Multitouch, 1GHz processor, 576Mb RAM, 5Mp camera, 7 home screens, "scenes," Android, widgets, apps and more...

When I get the phone...

My brother (and colleague) made an original phone call on the Saturday. As far as he was concerned, the deal was made and Orange would call me at 6pm on the Monday. By 7pm, I hadn't heard anything. So, I made the call myself. I have a phobia of calling unknown people, so this was somewhat of a nightmare for me. Anyway, I made the call, made the deal, only to be told, "it's passed 7pm and so the postcode check will need to be made tomorrow. We'll call you back at 3:30..." The following day, 3:30pm cam and went. I called at about 6pm. At first, some system was down: "could you call back in an hour?" "An hour?" I said, "but that's going past 7pm again." "Oh yeah, try again in 20mins."

I gave them half an hour, called them back, everything got sorted and they said that the phone would be with me on Thursday. Great!

My bro on the other hand hadn't received his phone as promised. So, he called Orange. The order hadn't gone through properly! So, they made the order and was also told Thursday. Thursday came along and still no phone in the post. He called again and, once again, the order hadn't been done properly. Now they're out of stock! Wednesday next week at the earliest!

And so, I'm here... I wonder if a delivery has been made, or if they've messed me around too? I'm glad I've moved away from O2: they are expensive and didn't seem to bother too much when I called to cancel. I'm sure that, when I've got the phone, I'll be glad of the switch, particularly with Orange's 3G coverage.  Therefore, PATIENCE is the game. Life is stressful enough to worry about when a phone will arrive.

I've rambled. This was originally a post entitled Phones, Politics and Stuff. It's now only about phones.

T-Ray :)

Opera Mini

So, there is an alternative browser on the iPhone and the iPod touch. It's called Opera Mini. First impressions are OK. I'm not blown away by it. But I've temporarily replaced Safari with it on the "dock." I do like the home screen with nine favourites. I'm going to give it a whirl and report back...

UPDATE 29th April:
I've given up on Opera. It didn't appear to be any faster and I didn't like it rendered the zoomed out view. Also, it didn't default to mobile view as well as screwing some pages up (including Include Solutions' very own site!)

General Musings

Well, really I'm just going to have a general muse about stuff.

I'm currently in the middle of building a website. The design and layout is done. All images are sorted. The main page is online with a URL and everything! There's an associated blog, a Youtube channel, a Twitter feed and a Facebook fan page. The website has been built using Dreamweaver CS4 and I've really enjoyed learning it. I didn't know anything in January, now I have a working website (under construction!).

Enough about that! Movies. Avatar was awesome. Kick-Ass was so cool. What am I waiting for? Iron Man 2. The trailer has left me wanting more. I cannot wait.

What else has been in my thoughts? The HTC Desire. Oh yes. I no longer crave for the iPhone. Android has surpassed the OS of Apple's device. I don't think OS 4.0 will better Android 2.1 let alone 2.2 (Froyo). The Desire is out on 29th April. I will be first in line!

Busy day tomorrow. Diploma stuff kicks off. I've a nice little project planned.

T x