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I was looking over the photos I took in 2009  and thought it might be nice to add a few of my favourites to a set on Flickr. The ones I chose aren’t necessarily the best shots from the year but the ones that remind of the year just gone.  Here’s why I picked the ones I did…

It seems to be the done thing to speculate wildly about Apple’s much rumored super special magic tablet, and as I’ve got one of these internets, and keyboard and an ability to type that seems to make me qualified to comment. So, here goes…

Firstly, lets look at what we actually know. That won’t take long – just two words in fact – “nothing really”. The Wall Street Journal* published and article that MacObserver suggest is about as close to an official leak as we’ll ever get, and there are reports that Apple have organized a press event for the 26th January. That’s it.

* The original article is can be found on the WSJ here, but I’m not paying for a subscription so can’t read it… or share it.

Before I lurch headlong into poorly thought out predictions, I’d just like to  say that right now I’m best  to rid myself of Apple and the days are numbered for both my iPhone and Mac Mini. I don’t see  myself buying one of these mythical beasts as right now I can’t see how it would replace anything I’m using right now. With that said, time for some baseless predictions.

My big hope is that the tablet sets Apple’s sights on bringing eBooks into the mainstream, by including an application and book store that does for books what iTunes did for music. If eBooks are on the agenda, then I’d expect to see electronic, multimedia editions of magazines right there alongside – with single issues and subscriptions sold through iTunes. If the written word is the focus, then it would be very similar to what Apple did with music and podcasts. New eBook readers seem to be appearing on a daily basis, and Apple might think the time is right to do here what they did with the iPod and iPhone – enter a market that’s just gaining a foothold, refine the experience and add just the right amount of shiny, stick an Apple logo on and ship it to the masses.

If  eBooks are on Apple’s agenda, I really hope they stick with a format that’s already pretty widely used- Secure ePub. If they do this, then they’ll open up their potential market way beyond tablet owners, and maybe help to marginalize the threat from Amazon’s Kindle. An knock on effect would be that publishers would have to get their arses in gear and start getting their back catalogues out as eBooks, and as a Sony Reader owner, I wouldn’t complain about that. Of course, just as likely is that they’ll invent a whole new format just for shits and giggles.

If rumours are to be believed and this device is going to come to market at or around $1000 then I don’t think it takes a genius to work out that this will be much more than the worlds shiniest eBook reader, it will have to do a lot more. I’m imagining a supersized iPod Touch – web browser, media player (that plays nicely with HiDef content and will plug into your TV) and maybe , just maybe Apple can even “innovate”  some multitasking magic to make this an Apple device that’s useful in the “real time” online world. Oh yeah, and of course if you want to install software then head on over to the tablet’ very own app store. Now that Apple have illustrated  just how lucrative a single player marketplace can be I don’t expect them to abandon it any time soon.

If both of these ideas are anywhere near the mark, I’d say Apple’s biggest challenge will be the screen – the  reason I like my Sony Reader is the fantastic screen that makes reading a pleasure, if its plain old LED (or other backlight dependent technology), then I’m not convinced it’ll be much fun to read for long periods.

Generally I’ve never been a fan of tablet devices, in my time at Proporta I was lucky enough to get my hands on a range of tablet devices from various manufacturers and the same problem cropped up time and time again – using a device that size in the way you’re expected to is just akward. Typing is a pain, you either have to support the device with one hand and poke the screen with a single finger (which is slow) or rely on keyboard that’s split across the two edges of the device (which is a pain as it takes an age to get used to them). It doesn’t really end there though, you’re sitting down and ready for some tablet-ing, then you can’t just put it on your lap and type away, that is unless severe neck ache is something that helps you sleep at night. That said, Apple did manage to produce the first mobile phone with truely usable on screen keyboard, so maybe they’ve got an ace up their sleeve, we’ll have to wait and see.

What do I base all this on? The same thing as pretty much everyone else – nothing. It’s all one big guess, it would be fucking sweet if I was right though. I’ll even write my very own “told you so” post to celebrate. Not that anyone will read it, they’ll be to busy blogging about how cool the tablet it and how they can’t wait to buy one. Suckers.

Oh yeah, in reading the literally some articles about the tablet I came across Robert Scoble’s response to an article by Joe Wilcox on Beta News pointing out just how very wrong Joe Wilcox is about everything tablet. One thing struck me about all the example Mr. Scoble gives about brilliant tablets currently being use – they’re all fixed in place. Not a single one solves the clumsy mobile experience that has, as far as I’ve seen, always accompanied tablets.

So, just a few weeks to wait to find out for real, and one think I can say for sure, the tech press is going to be full of unbearable levels of all things Apple until way after this tablet ships.

Ever since Amazon launched the Kindle for US customers way back in November 2007 Ebook readers started to get some attention, the Kindle was by no means the first, but when Amazon released an updated Kindle (creatively called the Kindle 2) in February 2009  it seemed as though eBook readers had really arrived. Well they had in the USA at least. It wasn’t until the second half of 2009 that their popularity looked like spreading outside the US –  Sony released their “Pocket Reader” and “Reader Touch“, Barnes & Noble released the Nook, iRiver announced the Story, Foxit had the eSlick and Endless Ideas introduced the BeBook. Oh, and rampant rumours gathered pace that some company called Apple would be introducing a tablet reader of some sort at some unspecified time. Maybe. Perhaps.

I enjoy reading, but much like my old fashioned ways of  preferring to  buy CDs over MP3′, I’d never really understood the attraction of buying an electronic copy of a book. I’d tried with my my iPhone and older PDA’s (Palm Vx anyone?) but I never found it an enjoyable experience. The backlight in LCD screens is harsh and bright, and the device just never felt quite right. All it took to change my mind on eBooks was one short demo of a true eBook Reader with an E Ink screen. Unlike traditional LCD displays, E Ink screens don’t have a backlight built in and this means if you want to read, you’ll need an external  light source (like a lamp or the sun) which is generally readily available if you plan to do some reading. The benefit from not being backlit  is that when you’re reading your book, the screen “feels” much more like traditional paper, the display is crisp and the screen non-reflective. An even more important feature is that E Ink displays don’t draw power to keep the screen on, they only use the battery when the screen is being refreshed, once it’s updated the battery is left alone until the new refresh. This is why the battery life for eBook Readers is generally quoted in terms of the number of page turns you’ll get from a single charge. It’s all pretty clever, but if you’re  really interested, I’m sure Wikipedia will explain it better than I ever can.

What I can say for sure is that I was blown away by just how impressive and the text on screen was, despite a grey background, it was very close to reading real type on paper and I  decided I wanted one. Great, all well and good, just the minor  problem that aside from a few minutes spent playing with a demo model I  had no idea what to look for in a reader. Enter everyones best friend, Google, and after a bit of searching I came across the fantastic Mobile Read and their even more amazing forums.

The Mobile Read forums cover everything from beginners guides (handy, very handy) hardware specific reviews, tips and troubleshooting, recommendations on where’s best to buy your books, how to find free content and even a pretty active community discussing the best new books and throwing out ideas of authors you might like to check out. If you’re taking the plunge into any new technology, finding an active, helpful and friendly forum is always a massive plus and I can’t recommend the forums on Mobile Read strongly enough. Some time spent on here will save you from all manner of headaches and make it a breeze to decide which reader is right for you.

The two biggest questions I needed answers to were…
1) What format must my eBook reader support?
2) Where can I get me some books?

The answers didn’t take long to find and were…
1) Secure ePub
2) Waterstone’s and WH Smiths

I won’t bore you with the details, but Secure ePub is slowly becoming the most common format amongst online eBook sellers, and even Sony have ditched their own proprietary format and are switching the US-only eBook store to use ePub, so make sure your device supports it (if you buy a Kindle it won’t, but I think that’s to do with their licensing restrictions as much as anything). As for the book stores, buying books is a breeze (and getting easier all the time), the online stores have improved greatly over the six months or so I’ve been using them and I reckon I’ve bought around 20 books without issue so far. They all include excellent instructions on how to make sure you reader is correctly set up before you checkout, but if you followed the instructions when you first setup your device you won’t be troubled.

The reader I settled on in the end was the Sony PRS-505, until it was replaced by the Reader Pocket Edition a month or two back this was the easiest to find reader in the UK and you may have seen it promoted in store at Waterstone’s. I’ve got absolutely no regrets.  It’s a solidly made piece of kit with a nice brushed aluminium finish, and it’s smaller than a standard paper back and weighs about the same as well. It has an amazing battery life and charges using a standard mini usb cable and allows you to expand it’s ample built in storage using either MemoryStick or  SD cards. Overall, this a real quality piece of engineering and a joy to use. It definitely beats carrying around a 900 page hardback like Neal Stephenson’s “Quicksilver“.

A month or two back Sony released the PRS-505’s successors, the Reader Pocket Edition and the Reader Touch Edition but for once I’m not looking for an excuse to upgrade any time soon. The Pocket Edition is the PRS-505’s most direct replacement and is priced accordingly (around £180), however it has a slightly smaller screen, plasticy case, no memory expansion slots, a smaller capacity battery and fewer buttons (it excludes dedicated buttons for paging forwards and back which may seem a small omission, but in my opinion is very important). The Reader Touch is more expensive (around £220) as it has a touch screen interface and lots of “advanced” features that I’ll never use. They both seem to be as good at reading eBooks as the PRS-505, so I’m sure they’re both great devices, but  I won’t be upgrading for a while yet.

Most people that spend a few minutes with it have been impressed, usually by just how good text looks on the screen.

Since I bought my Reader I’ve really enjoyed my reading on it, it’s hard to say whether I’m reading more, but I know I’m more likely to remember to take it with me when I go out in the mornings. Buying books has become  more satisfying experience as well as your order is delivered instantly. I’ve definitely bought more books since I started using my Reader.

If this all sounds too good to be true, then I’m please to be able to tell you it is. There is one big factor that will ultimately determine whether or not you’ll want to buy an eBook reader. It’s an obvious one, but I can’t say it enough (and I do, to anyone that shows an interest in my Reader), it’s all about the books. If you can’t get the books you enjoy then it’s a pointless purchase. Publishers are adding new books all the time and slowly but surely more and more authors books are becoming available but do yourself a favour and spend some time here and here and see what’s available. If the range of books will keep you happy, then you won’t be disappointed by the hardware.

As has been reported over the last few days, o2 have issued an apology to customers for the appalling performance of their network in London. I’ve been unfortunate enough to be an o2 customer for the last 18 months and it amazes me that  it’s taken so long for this problem to be acknowledged.  It’s just a shame that the only response so far is to say sorry.

My experience of o2 is, I’m sure, not an uncommon one. My iPhone is nothing more than an iPod on my walk between London Bridge and Old Street every morning and evening, and even at work during the day I can’t rely on it. Sometimes the phone will ring and then drop or scramble the call sometimes it wont right and I’ll be alerted to a new voicemail for a call I never recieved – if I’m lucky this will happen straight away, if I’m not so lucky I won’t get the message for 4 or 5 days. Once in a while the phone rings, I answer it and actually have a conversation.

In the original article from the Financial Times, head of o2 Richard Dunne mentions that the problems are mostly confined to London (we’re lucky like that in London) and outlines their three step approach to making things better. To me, their grand plan strikes me as a list of “things we forgot to do”.  Surely continuing to optimise your network (step one) and upgrading your infrastructure (step 2) are things any network should be doing – especially when you get an 18 month exclusive on the biggest mobile device ever.  I really can’t understand why it’s taken so long for o2 to hear the annoyance of their customers, especially when their resident twitterer works so hard to keep people happy.

The main thing that struck me about this apology was it’s timing. Call me cynical, but it seems to me this is nothing more than an attempt to placate some of the legion of subscribers they stand to lose to other networks now the iPhone exclusivity is over and contracts are starting to expire. For me, it’s much too little, much too late.

I’ve been forced to tolerate their shoddy network for 18 months and even defended them in the past,  fully expecting them to step up and get things sorted. Instead, things got worse.

My contract is up in a week or two, and I’ll be off to another network, I look forward to having a nice reliable phone again… but at least o2 are sorry, right?

Over the weekend the Renault World Series rolled into Silverstone and a friend had luckily secured a couple of VIP passes for Sunday.  After going last year we sensibly (really?) decided that we better be on our way out of South London by 7:30 if we got wanted to get there for the first VIP perk of the day – a grid walk at 11:00. We hit the road as planned at half seven and I reckoned we’d be there by ten, half ten at the latest.

It was looking good, until we met the tens of thousands of other race-goers in the traffic jam from hell coming off the M1. Collecively we set the record low for covering 11 miles (about 2 hours 15 minutes). We finally arrived at our dedicated VIP parking area (no parking in fields for us, not today) at about half 12, 2 hours late and nicely timed to miss the grid walk. Not really the best of starts…

On arriving we headed over to the Renault Motorsport Villiage to to grab a drink (more VIP perks) and then we watched most of the Formula Renault 3/5 race from the grandstand overlooking Maggots. While you do get to see the cars flying paste you don’t really get to see much racing. Still, I got some good pictures.

We made sure we were back at VIP central to get in on the second grid walk ahead of the Megane Trophy race. This time we made it and after hanging around behind the pits for ages we were finally shepherded onto the track and and got to watch the grid form and each car be swamped by mechanics. Sadly it was quite a short visit, they said something about “not letting random people wander around the grid when a race starts”. Can’t think why.

Grid walk excitement over, we trekked round to Luffield to watch the rest of the days racing and enjoyed an excellent view of the cars final stages of the circuit.

The Megane Trophy was followed by the Clio Cup before Nigel Mansell took to the track in a Formula Renault 3.5 to show off his skills and do a few donuts. Nice to see Red 5 back at Silverstone.  Renault F1, obviously not wanting to be out done, then sent out their 2009 car to do a few laps. No donuts unfortunaltey but it’s so impressive to see how quickly an F1 car changes direction. Oh yeah, and they’re lound,  very very loud.

Sadly, we had to call it a day after that. We dropped by the Renault Sport Villiage to grab our free bags of swag and then made for the exit. It only took just over 4 hours to get home, fucking sucked.

So, over 8 hours on the road to see about 5 hours of racing. Still, when you get to spend 10 of those minutes walking down the grid at Silverstone before a race, it’s definitely worth it.

You can see some of my other pictures over on my flickr page.

Before heading out for the final day of The Great Escape there was the little matter of Manchester United vs. Arsenal to get out of the way. A better than expected performance from the Arsenal (and perhaps the few beers) left me feel optimistic for another great day ahead.

First stop was The Arc once again for the ‘M for Montreal Matinee’, I got there just in time to catch the last 10 minutes or so of Beasts set before Duchess Says closed out the show. While Beast were alright – quite dark, tuneful sound, Duchess Says reaaaally weren’t my thing. Perhaps about as far away as it’s possible to get. Weird discordant synths, messed up, distrubing whiny/screamy vocals. Yeah, I left after about 3 tracks.

After Duchess Says, I procured myself a well earned beer and found myself a relaxing spot on the beach to plan the rest of the day. The Great Escape’s great text service let me know that Ben Kweller was playing a “secret street gig”  at The Parlure Speigeltent, and as I’d heard his name mentioned a few times I wandered over to see what he was all about. It probably wasn’t the best place to get an real impression but his short set showed a folksy, country influenced sound from a very talented singer/songwriter but first impressions are that he’s well worth listening to a bit more.

There was just enough time after Kweller to grab a quick bite to eat and trek along the seafront to my favourite gig venue in Brighton – the Concorde 2. The lineup looked great, and as it would be the last event I’d see over the weekend I hoped it would live up to expectetations…

Heartless Bastards
Female fronted rock band playing a muddy, raw, brand of indie rock. A really American sound, a great way to start the evening.

Turbowolf
These guys were great. Bristol based and destined for big things I reckon. Straight up frantically fast paced heavy rock. Loud guitars, mental vocals and a they sound great live.  Nice.

iLiKETRAiNS
I wasn’t really expecting this after Turbowolf had finished assaulting my ear drums.  They certainly slowed things down a bit with sorrowful guitars. Another great band, but a bit confused at why they’d play when they did.  Apparently, they like trains…

Juliette Lewis And The New Romaintiques
I’ll admit that I wasn’t convinced that this would be any good, I really wanted to see it out of curiostiy and I never listened to Juliette and The Kicks. I thought that this would be an example of an actress being convinced she could play in a band and talent be damned. Well, shows how wrong you can be. This was an amazing set, with great tracks and Juliette Lewis sure can sing. The tracks I’ve come across on Myspace really don’t do it justice, if you get the chance go and see this band live. Just one more thing to add and in the least offensive way possible, I reckon Ms. Lewis might be a little bit crazy. But in a good way. I think.

So, that just about wraps it up. Out for a few more drinks before up on a grey and rainy Sunday morning(ish) to head back home. Bring on The Great Escape 2009.

Check out  some of my pictures from The Great Escape 2009 on Flickr

I had an early start on Friday as I’d promised to head into Hove and  help a mate with his IT woes.  Up and out early, I headed off to resolve a few tech headaches hoping it might eradicate my own alcohol induced one .

I had reason to work fast as the days opening gigs looked well worth checking out. Before I left for TGE Kat recommended some Canadian bands to keep an eye out for, and she must have friends in powerful places as Friday kicked off at 12:30 with a 4 hour long Canadian showcase at The Arc on the seafront.

I got there just as Ultimate Power Duo were kicking off a great set, bouncy punkish tracks from a band that obviously get a kick out of performing – their track “The Code Of Silence” is definitely worth looking out for.  Hey Rosetta! were up next and played a brilliant laid back tuneful brand of indie. Arkells followed on with some bouncy soulful tunes before Ohbijue finished things off with beautifully arranged tracks and haunting vocals, stunning. I was impressed by all of the bands and am already trying to pick up their albums.

Next I had a few hours to kill – meaning a few more beers while trying to decide what to do that evening. The picks of the evening being…

Hospital Bombers
Amsterdam Indie pop with violins. This is the sort of band I can picture playing on outside stage on a sunny day summer festival. Not best suited to playing the cramped and dark Hectors House on grey and rainy day in Brighton. Good band though, and I hope I get the chance to see them again.

The New Wine
I actually don’t know the best way to describe this band.  I can say for sure their Norwegian. Best I can come up with is funky indie pop. I was impressed with the 20 or so minutes I caught of their set, my description doesn’t do them justice, give them a go.

I thought I’d change the pace a bit for the end of the night, so left the rammed ‘Komedia’ headed downstairs to the Studio Bar just in time to catch the end of French band Gable. This was without doubt the oddest act I’ve ever seen and I suspect some form of mind altering substance would enhance their performance. Definitely have a listen but…W T F. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Anyways, onwards…

Emily Baker
The real reason I headed downstairs was to see Brighton local Emily Baker.  Brilliant, simple folk songs backed by a great band and sung superbly.

The Boy Who Stole the Sun
All the way from the Isle of Lewis, The Boy Who Stole the Sun (aka, Colin) is a singer songwriter with a stash of not just great songs but great stories too.  Simple but great, this is a name that you’ll be hearing soon I reckon…

Two days down and one great one left to come…

Check out  some of my pictures from The Great Escape 2009 on Flickr

300 bands across 30 venues in Brighton all for £50? Sounds like a Great Escape to me. From Thursday to Saturday a diverse selection of bands covering pretty much every genre from expermental electronica to folk via punk, emo, hip hop (and to many more to mention) were represented by bands from across the globe. I had a blast, saw some a bunch of new music (most of it good) and drank more beer than is advisable.

I’ll try and give a summary of those that I can remember over the next few days, so lets kick of with Thursday…

Underline the Sky
One of “The Road to V” acts chosen by Just Jack. A female fronted, Ipswich based pop punk band with some catchy tunes and just enough edge to be interesting. There’s no groudbreaking tunes here, but I reckon you’ll be hearning more of their catchy tunes over the next year or two.

51 Breaks
Another entrant for the Road to V that played The Brighton Coalition on Thursday afternoon. A polished alt indie act with some synths thrown in made for a very enjoyable set. It was a shame it was so short as I’d have be happy to hear more. I hope they do well on the Road to V as I could defintely see them up on stage in front of a massive crowd.

Video Nasties
They played a decent set in Audio on Thursday night. Hyped up Indie rock that’s definitely turned up to 11 – I think my ears are still ringing. They did their best to get the crowd going and I’m surpised they were scheduled as an opening act.

I Was A King
As all the venues started to fill up I found myself downstairs at the Ocean Rooms. This Norwegian band were already in full flow.  Their sound is melodic, laid back indie with a hint of the 60’s.

Cursive
I was persuaded that the sudden influx of people that Cursive might be a band worth hanging around, and I’m glad I did. Beatifully crafted songs from a clearly talented bunch. I’ll be adding these guys to my CD collection for sure.

Once these guys finished off I headed upstairs to catch the end of a pretty damn loud set by the funky punkish Panama Kings followed by Baddies.

That about wrapped up Thursday, and after another hour or so of aimless wandering I got home looking forward to what Friday would have to offer.

Check out  some of my pictures from The Great Escape 2009 on Flickr