Maybe I Am Getting Android

Having suggested that Android has some way to go in the usability stakes I got challenged to try living with it, so today has been a day of trying devices to see which fits best.

First was the HTC Hero - a popular device, available from many operators as well as SIM free from the usual suspects. HTC's TouchFlo/Sense shell blurs the boundaries between devices running different operating systems so this didn't seem a big challenge. However I did note that the Hero seemed to stutter under the weight of the interface. I did like the Scenes concept - a different interface for different occasions - but the pronounced 'chin' affects typing in landscape mode so I decided to look elsewhere.

The Tattoo has the same Sense UI, but the physically smaller screen has a lower resolution than any other Android device and is also the only resistive screened Android device too. The lower resolution means the Sense UI works better than on the Hero, but otherwise its a compromise device built down to a price and realistically the £90 price difference doesn't make up for its shortcomings.

The G1 (aka Dream) and Magic are still also available but neither of these devices is particularly good value when compared to newer Android devices.

There are non-HTC Android phones of course. Motorola have arrived back in the smartphone game with a pair of Android devices, the DEXT and DROID. Only the former is currently available in the UK and its a well built device but its a big phone and MOTOBLUR is a bit too focused on social networks for my liking. The Samsung Galaxy is a beautifully made phone and has a gorgeous screen - sporting Samsung's OLED technology I believe. Unfortunately its also ferociously expensive - and not really competitive for that reason.

So I was led back to the T-Mobile Pulse - concerns over the quality of the screen allayed by trying different handsets over the last few weeks - it starts to look like a bit if a bargain product. Its £100 less than the Tattoo and nearly £200 less than the Hero. For that £200 you give up the digital compass, ambient light sensor, drop from a 5mpixel to a 3.2mpixel camera and lose a bit of sensitivity in the screen. Not too bad a trade off, especially as the Pulse comes equipped with Android's biggest screen so far at 3.5".

So the Pulse it is. My take on Android so far is that it is a work in progress and is some way behind the iPhone and Windows Mobile in maturing. Unlike the iPhone however it's very much your device rather than one that's on loan from the manufacturer; in fact in many ways its an open source version of Windows Mobile, with all the problems and advantages that implies. As I use it I'll report back on the success or otherwise of the Pulse and Android as a whole.

This Just Might Be the Droid We're looking For

Motorola have launched their second Android phone in the US and it looks a bit special. That's not because of the hardware which is still pretty good (its very thin for a keyboard packing device and has a high resolution screen) rather its the first appearance of Android 2 which makes this big news.

Android 2 packs an improved user interface and a significantly enhanced bowser which competes much more closely with Safari and Opera Mobile.

The Droid marks the first implementation of Google's new version of Maps with Navigation. The combination of Street View, Latitude and Voice Navigation will have dedicated GPS manufacturers quaking in their boots this morning.

Which phones will recieve an upgrade to Android 2 hasn't been disclosed yet, but I would guess that the Hero and Dext will be in that group, whilst the G1, Pulse and Tattoo might not.

In the light of this update I think I may have to revise my reservations on the Android OS - once I've tired the new version anyway.

Not Getting Android

I might be in a minority of one here, but I've spent some time with a good selection of available Android devices and, thus far, I'm struggling to see what appeals.

The home screen is different on each device I've tried and, other than the very Windows Mobile-like Sense on the Hero, somewhat random in its operation. The browser is some way behind Safari, Opera Mobile and Palm's WebOS browser in page rendering. The devices I tried had two email clients and an SMS app - contrary to the joined up thinking currently pervading networking.

There's also the small matter of branding. Android phones can be branded Android, Android with Google or Google. Each level indicates a different set of capabilities and, I imagine, will turn out to be hugely confusing for the average consumer.

The inability to sync with Exchange is going to cause issues with acceptance in business. Sure you can add-on the capability but IT departments have to look at the bigger picture and decide whether this bolt-on solution makes for a provisionable and supportable device. I suspect any IT team worth its salt will be avoiding that unnecessary level of complication.

And why, given the free nature of Android hasn't there been a price drop to the end user. In fact the HTC Tattoo is likely to cost more than its Windows Mobile cousin the Touch 2.

Whilst I really like some of the hardware which has arrived with Android installed I'm pretty sure that I'll not be jumping ship anytime soon. At least until Google and its partners sort out some of these issues.

Toshiba's Smartphone Jinx

Regular readers may remember my comments about the need for Toshiba to get the TG01 right first time to avoid the kind of failures which have plagued every one of it's European smartphones.

Not good then for Toshiba to have shipped the TG01 with a virus laden memory card in Germany and delivered a suspect build of WM6.1 when the device could really have done with waiting for WM6.5.

And now you'll find that the TG01 is absent from Orange's shelves and website. The reason? A faulty batch of chargers.

Now if Toshiba had set out with the deliberate intention of hosing it's own credibility in the smartphone arena I doubt they could have achieved it more completely.

What's doubly disappointing is that people who have used the Tosh with 6.5 installed tell me it's a game changing device with regard to speed of operation.

F1: Button To Mclaren? Highly Unlikely

There's a story doing the rounds in the national press that Jensen Button is in the frame to replace Heikki Kovaleinen at Mclaren next season. Its a tasty rumour but unlikely to come to fruition.

Mercedes is unlikely to sanction an all-British lineup for commercial reasons, it needs to make capital from its F1 tie-up in many countries and having a local hero in its car makes that job much easier. Its likely that Hamilton's team-mate will be Kimi Raikonnen, if he's interested; Timo Glock, should Toyota release him; or Heikki Kovaleinen if he can finish the season with a flourish.

So where has the rumour come from? I suspect its probably a ploy from the Button camp to force Ross Brawn's hand. I suspect that Button would rather not have to measure up to Hamilton's raw speed next season. Alternatively it may have been leaked by Mclaren in a bid to force Kimi Raikkonen's hand. Whether the ex-champion is really looking to put a couple of dreadful seasons behind him with a truly competitive drive or is just looking for a final pay off before heading off to do something that he enjoys remains to be seen but if its the former then his negotiations with Toyota can't really be that serious can they?

Question Time Descends To New Depths

I've tried very hard not to say something about the Question Time aired on the BBC on Thursday night but find myself unable to not comment.

First of all let me say that the decision to invite the BNP to be represented on Question Time was absolutely right and those who protested the decision showed their poor understanding of democracy. Freedom of speech is a right and not just for those people who say things we like to hear. The BNP and Nick Griffin's policies and views are abhorrent but by polling over a million votes and getting two MEPs elected they earned their right to a platform.

What should have happened was a debate on immigration policy where the BNP's views could be aired, discussed and then discredited. Instead we got an angry, partisan audience and a panel that, Chris Huhne aside, acted like a group of playground bullies. The media has spent the day congratulating itself for making Griffin look a fool, when in fact the 'lynch mob' will have only strengthened Griffin and BNP's appeal in the disenfranchised groups that they target.

The net effect will, I'm sure, be an increase in the BNP share of the vote at the next elections, not least because none of the established parties have any idea how to deal with the issue of immigration. Is it a problem, how should it be dealt with, is there too much or too little? Its fine for them to beat each other up about it and play it as an election card, but real discussion of the issue seems beyond them.

For the record I believe that Britain needs to encourage immigration amongst young, qualified and skilled workers, because otherwise our aging population and decreasing birth rates will lead the country to bankruptcy through its pension and healthcare costs.

But its not people like me or the audience of Question Time that need to be convinced. It is those people vulnerable to the lies and half-truths spread by the BNP and, instead of being given the opportunity to see those fallacies punctured by intelligent debate, they saw a man put in front of a baying mob of the very people they fear.

Good work Dimbleby, the only thing you exposed was your own incompetence, the arrogance of Straw and Greer; and as a bonus you practically validated the myths of the BNP in the process. Journalism at its best. Not.

How Important Is The Phone To You

Has the emergence of the smartphone changed your mobile communication habits? For me the answer is a definite yes.

Its more even than the emergence of the smartphone too, the arrival of flat rate data tariffs (take a bow T-Mobile and Web n Walk) has completely changed the way I use my phone. Voice calls have become a real rarity, whilst text messages have increased. But most of my mobile communication is now centred around email and instant messaging.

That makes me wonder just how much value I'm getting from my mobile contract...

F1: Donington GP Bid Down In Flames

Looks like Donington's bid to take over the British Grand Prix has finally failed, with the BBC reporting that the circuits bond issue had failed to secure sufficient interest. The bond issue looked to raise the £135m necessary to complete circuit changes demanded by Bernie Ecclestone.

The BRDC has said that Silverstone is prepared to step into the breach and stand-in, but only as a part of a longer contract. If those negotiations break down it raises the prospect of the British GP being missing from the calendar for the first time in the history of the World Championship.

Omnia Lite Disappoints

It's turning out to be a disappointing week for smartphones, first the Pulse, hampered by a dreadful touchscreen and now the Samsung Omnia Lite - a Windows Mobile 6.5 device.

The original Omnia was a popular device and although the Lite isn't a direct replacement it does carry over the WQVGA screen and form factor.

Speed is a serious issue on the Lite, if the unit I tried was a representative sample. The user interface was slow and the phone didn't seem to be repsponsive at all, lagging way behind screen taps. It's not a WM6.5 issue because the Touch Pro 2 is quite a snappy phone with 6.5.

Again the touchscreen disappointed, although this was only a resistive display so that wasn't too much of a surprise. It was still far superior to that of the Pulse, yet not really good enough to deliver anything like a decent user experience.

There are much better Windows Mobile devices about, even at the relatively cheap £260 that the Lite commands on pay as you go.

Pocket Scrobbler Looking Pretty good

Pocket Scrobbler recieved a minor upgrade recently that has made the app look better, scrobble faster and integrate into Windows Mobile in a much tidier way.

Scrobbling is the process of uploading your listening history to last.fm to generate charts, playlists and recommendations based on what you listen to.

If you are a last.fm subscriber you also get access to the radio function which builds a radio station based on an artist you choose or other criteria around yours or your friends playlists.

The time taken to do a bulk (rather than live) submission of your listening history has been slashed and the inbuilt browser seems to work more reliably now.

All in all a pretty useful update and well worth downloading if you're a windows Mobile and music lover.

Nokia Starts Legal Proceedings Against Apple

Nokia has taken umbrage at Apple's free and easy attitude to its patents and issued papers in a US court seeking redress. The patents involve voice and network technologies which make the phone part of a smartphone work.

Apple's shares took a hit after the announcement, unsurprisingly as conservative estimates of license costs suggest a £15-20 hit per device. Assuming the patent only involves the iPhone and doesn't impact the iPod touch that's a potential liability to Apple of somewhere in the region of £375m to £500m. A hefty hit even for cash rich Apple.

T-Mobile Pulse

UPDATE: After publishing this article I have since tried another three Pulses and it looks like my initial poor experience was the result of a damaged device. Having now tried the Pulse alongside other Android devices (Hero, Magic, DEXT) I can say that the screen the Pulse is at least as good as the other devices. As a result I can say that the Pulse is well worth looking at if you're interested in trying Android.

The T-Mobile Pulse looks, on paper anyway, to be something of a bargain, bringing Android to pre-pay and for less than £200 as well.

Unfortunately I have to say that the example that I tried this morning was fitted with the worst example of a touchscreen that I've encountered in 16 years of handheld usage.

The screen is capacitive - allegedly - but response is so variable across the display that 15 minutes was enough to persuade me that this device is unfit for purpose. If someone had told me that the screen was a resistive one that had seen several years of solid service I might have accepted those problems but for a brand new device its performance was totally unacceptable.

On the plus side it appears that T-Mobile have a new pre-pay internet tariff which gives six months of unlimited data for £20. If you're planning on buying a phone SIM free then it looks like this might be the data tariff to be jumping onto.

Windows 7 On Course For Record Launch

For anyone who worked in the industry at the time, August 1995 will be remembered for the absolute consumer frenzy that the launch of Windows 95 generated. Since then all the OS buzz has been generated by Apple.

Times are a changing though. Windows 7 has broken Amazon UK's pre-order recood, previously held by one of the Harry Potter books.

That's no mean feat and suggests that is the UK at least the new OS has caught the public imagination. Can Microsoft maintain that buzz through the forthcoming Zune and Windows Mobile 7 launches I wonder?

XDA Zest RIP?

Over the last year one phone that has stood out for its performance, stability and a really impressive software package. That's the XDA Zest - O2's version of the Asus GM5 - which has seen off the challenge of newer phones with some better specs as well as WM6.5 and come through with flying colours.

It has always been a bit of a bargain but I fear that O2 has none left in stock, signalling the death of this quirky, yet powerful device. Whilst I ponder on my next device I have moved back to the Zest as my daily driver. In terms of value for money, its the best device I've ever owned.

Lengthier Contracts Making Pre-pay More Attractive.

Its not uncommon to read about people signing up to lengthy contracts just to get the latest and greatest phone. The current trend is to try and tie customers to a two-year contract in order to reduce 'churn' - the operator's name for the percentage of users they lose at the end of their contract.

This marks an interesting watershed in the value of a contract - in the last four years contract lengths have nearly doubled and its likely that the great Smartphone you just bought will be superseded before its a quarter of the way through those two years.

The impact on the buying decision is interesting too. The Palm Pre is 'free' on a two-year £35 per month contract. That's a mighty £840. Poor value when you consider that the Pre's SIM free price is likely to be around £400-450 when it becomes available. With the various top-up bonuses available you could end up £200-250 better off by not taking the contract - and have the freedom to start and stop payments as and when you see fit.

Sometimes a contract phone is an expensive mistake so be sure of your numbers before putting pen to paper - however shiny and attractive that new phone looks.

F1: Button Seals Title In Brazilian Chaos

Congratulations are in order for Jensen Button having clinched the 2009 World Driver's Championship with a gritty drive at Interlagos.

The race was somewhat chaotic however anyone who complains that Grand Prix are processional got a season's worth of overtaking in one race. A large number of those from Button himself.

Performance of the day must go to debutant Kamui Kobayashi who was resolute in defence and impressively quick. Shame he blotted his copybook with some awful examples of weaving, culminating in knocking Kazuki Nakajina out of the race. I suspect he won't race again this year - either because Timo Glock returns or the FIA bar him - but if Toyota continue in the sport next year expect to see him in one of the red and white cars.

Palm Pre Hands On: Its Good, Very Good

Okay I've had some hands-on time with the Pre, a couple of hours with one device and a once over on four different demo units in-store. And I'm impressed.

The Pre has a clear speed advantage over everything else that I've tried from the iPhone to Windows Mobile and all points between. Until I get to sample WM6.5 on one of the 1GHz Snapdragon devices I think the Pre will remain top of the speed charts. Impressively multi-tasking doesn't really appear to impact performance, I had two web pages, contacts, the calendar, email, Google Maps and Youtube open at once and was still able to open and use the camera without delay. And the camera application appears to process pictures in the background so that you can happily snap away picture after picture without any waiting - there are dedicated digital cameras that can't manage that.

The home screen and applications draw seemed relatively simple and no more complicated for a new user than a simple feature phone. After suffering the mish-mash that is Motoblur on Android it was a refreshing change.

Frankly WebOS impressed me, but then I more than half expected it to, but what about the hardware problems that others have complained about? Well the issue with the slider mechanism seems to be a complete fallacy - of the five units I tried all had solid sliders and whilst it was possible to induce some twist in both the open and closed position it was certainly not excessive and didn't worry me unduly.

Complaints about the keyboard have been common, but comparing it against the Treo Pro I found the keys large enough and the action precise enough for even lengthy discourses. The lip at the bottom of the lower portion of the slider is quite sharp, but not in the direction I was expecting - its the very bottom edge of the slider and not the return lip of the bottom half of the phone. Again it seemed a minor issue, although I guess I would prefer it to be more rounded.

In all other respects the Pre was as impressive as I'd been led to expect by reviews and commentators. I remember first using the iPhone 3G on launch day and thinking 'this has moved the game on and everyone else is going to be playing catch-up'. Today I had that same feeling using the Pre with its fantastic UI and brilliant multi-tasking. Its not a device without issues but it is a very well-rounded product and the number of people I saw buying suggests that Palm and O2 are likely to have a pretty good opening weekend of sales.

Which leaves me with a dilemna. I had been planning to wait until I'd tried Maemo on the Nokia N900 before deciding on my next phone, but as that's delayed till early November I'm more than half tempted to go ahead and buy the Pre anyway...

Must exert self-control...

O2 Claims Good Start For Pre

O2's official Twitter feed is claiming that it sold more Pres today than it normally sells phones in a day. An impressive claim that could do with some backup in the form of numbers.

Still its good to see that plenty of customers have seen past the early negative reports.

Palm Finally Ships UK Pre

So the Palm Pre arrived in the UK today, to some mixed reviews it has to be said, yet part of me still wants it to be so good that I have to buy one when I try it.

On the other hand the stories of a sloppy slider and a razor sharp bottom lip have me hoping that it's so bad that the final feelings of loyalty to Palm are expunged forever and I can dismiss the Pre completely.

Tomorrow will be my first chance to get hands on with the Pre and there's a real sense of anticipation building.

A Small Change, A Big Impact

As I said yesterday the arrival of WM6.5 hasn't made a huge difference to the way that my Touch Pro 2 works, but as I've been finding out since upgrading, those small changes added together make for a massive improvement in usability.

Primary bonus is the massive difference in performance - mostly down to a much better UI overlay - Sense rather than TouchFlo. The TP2 is now as fast with the UI enabled as it without, not something you'd have said about TouchFlo.

Whilst Sense is a bit prettier than TouchFlo, which was already a nice interface to use, its also functionally better. For example the Home tab now shows the weather at your location and your location under the clock - much better use of the available screen real estate. There's also a programs tab, whereas previously a tap on the Windows key was required to access the programs list. The weather is shown as a mini icon under the clock but also full screen animation of clouds, rain drops, etc. which is just eye-candy I know, but very nice eye-candy.

There's been a change to the way that grab and scroll works too. Now when you are in a text field the default behaviour is to select text rather than scroll the window, making copy and paste a much easier task. Its a subtle change but evidence of the fine tuning that has been going on at both Microsoft and HTC.

The Touch Pro 2 already offered a impressive set of hardware features - including probably the best keyboard you'll find on a phone sized device - but the updated software package now allows you to take much better advantage of those features and turns the TP2 from an 'okay phone' into an incredibly powerful tool.

Is The Touch Pro 2 Transformed By WM6.5? Not Really

So I've had some time with the 6.5 powered Touch Pro 2 and I think I can sum up Windows Mobile 6.5 in one word: facelift.

The new update pretties up Windows Mobile (well in some areas anyway) but otherwise doesn't have a lot to entice you into buying a new device. The only real innovation I've found so far is the new Flash enabled version of Pocket Internet Explorer. Which is good but not as good as Opera Mobile which is the default web browser.

HTC have done some sterling work in updating their interface overlay Sense (the re-skin formerly known as TouchFlo) this looks a lot nicer, adds some useful new features and most importantly, is no longer the performance hog it once was. Its now feasible to use Sense as the primary UI without suffering the performance hit of old.

As a package the TP2, Sense and WM6.5 do make for a compelling device and given the right marketing from HTC and Microsoft will sell well.

If all other 6.5 upgrades work this well Windows Mobile could be shooting for its rivals over the next year or so when Windows Mobile 7 launches and all other bets are off.

Touch Pro 2 Gets First WM6.5 Upgrade

HTC released the first of its WM6.5 upgrades yesterday, with the Touch Pro 2 first in line. Whilst I have some reservations about some of the changes in 6.5 and I also have my TP2 running very nicely indeed on 6.1 (that despite my initial reservations about the device) I do intend to apply the update this evening to see how the new release looks in its final shipping version.

Twitter Triumphs Over Trafigura Gagging Order

Yesterday's story about the gagging order preventing The Guardian newspaper reporting on a future parliamentary question was taken up by the Twitterati and information about the company in question spread like wildfire. Trafigura (they have the decidedly unhealthy toxic waste disposal policies) were the company in question and by early morning UK time that information had been so widely disseminated that Trafigura was number one trending topic on the micro-blogging site.

A wonderful example of the power of Us over Them. When one person tweets its just a social update, when one million tweet it can make the world a better place.

A wonderful side effect is that Trafigura's attempt to cover things up generated far more negative publicity than the original question probably will. You can run, but you can't hide...

Nokia N900 Slips Into November

Sometimes I think Nokia do it deliberately, tease us with a sparkly new Smartphone and then delay it repeatedly until its not such an attractive proposition. Its happened with Communicators and Symbian devices alike and now the Maemo platform is going the same way.

The N900 has an awful lot going for it, but its mid-October release date has now slipped to an unspecified time in November - very frustrating indeed.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that Nokia ships software unfinished, however a healthy dose of realism when discussing availability and shipping dates certainly wouldn't go amiss!

Will Loyalty Save The Pre

First UK reviews of the Palm Pre are starting to hit and they are, frankly, somewhat worrying. Of course its almost impossible to make a judgement on a device without actually using it (not that it seems to bother some commenters!) but reports of a less than brilliant hardware keyboard, poor auto-correction and iffy-performance don't make good reading.

Given that the WebOS application catalogue is limited at the moment; and the Pre apparently lags somewhere behind the iPhone in at least some areas; would your loyalty to Palm sway your decision towards the Pre?

F1: Money Worries To Scupper Donnington GP Bid

Seems that we may all be back to Silverstone next summer after all, as the only thing coming out of Donnington is the whooshing sound of missed deadlines flying by. With Bernie Ecclestone demanding to see proof that funding has been completed by the team planning the rebuild of the Donnington Park circuit and latterly stating that its now too late to complete the modifications required for 2010 it looks like Simon Gillet's project is stalled on the grid.

There is some talk of Monday being the absolute, final deadline but short of a miracle expect to hear that Silverstone is back on the calendar pretty soon.

Moto Dext Makes Good First Impression

Had my first experience with Motorola's entry into the Android world today and I have to say first impressions are very good. The hardware is very solid and feels like it will stay that way. The keyboard is particularly good after the iffy quality of the Xperia X1.

Software wise I'm still on the fence with Android. It doesn't have the user friendliness of the iPhone of the familiarity of Windows Mobile but it is much more responsive than either. Definitely looks like something I could get the hang of...

Nokia N900 256MB Application Limit Fixed

Early reviews of the new Maemo 5 based Nokia N900 Internet Tablet/Smartphone hybrid have been critical of the artificial limit being placed on the application space. Despite looking to ship with 32GB of storage application space was limited to 256MB on the prototypes which have been doing the rounds. Given the avalanche of Maemo 4 software waiting to arrive on the new platform, as well as a QT compatibility layer this seemed a little restrictive.

The good news is that Nokia have said that shipping devices won't suffer this limit and users will be able to install applications in a 2GB partition.

Quite an exciting unit this and battling with the Palm Pre for the position of my next smartphone... Slick WebOS or customiseable Maemo? Now there's a decision...

F1: Button The Target Of Ridiculous Criticism

Martin Brundle, amongst others, is claiming that Jensen Button needs to put in a 'Champions' drive before the end of the season to be considered a worthy champion.

What utter nonsense.

Should Button clinch the title (which I'm sure will happen) he'll be a worthy champion by virtue of his season long performance. Lest we forget that season already includes six wins and points finishes at every race bar Spa, where he was eliminated as the innocent party in a first lap accident. Those six wins were part of an imperious start to the season where he left everyone, including his teammate, standing. If the later races have been unspectacular then the consistent racking up of points in the face of improving opposition has been solid and sensible.

With just five points required from the last two races its entirely possible that Jensen could cruise to the title even if his opponent deliver perfect scores. That will not detract from the result in any way. Do we percieve Rosberg or Villeneuve to be any less champions because of the way their championships were won? Or Mansell and Andretti unworthy because theirs were achieved in massively superior machinery? No, we don't.

The driver's and constructor's titles will be just reward for both team and driver after a difficult year since Honda's withdrawal and the way they have been won will detract from the validity of neither.

Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5, Marketplace And MyPhone Launch

Today marks the start of a busy launch schedule over the month of October.

Microsoft's launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 hasn't really set the world alight though - Microsoft just doesn't have the sex appeal of Apple and Google.

There's a small selection of handsets available today and an even smaller selection of 6.1 handsets that will get an upgrade.

On the other hand MyPhone has come out of beta and looks the business - pretty much free it makes Apple's MobileMe look a bit amateur hour. The only chargeable parts of the service are the remote tools: locate and wipe. At a one of charge of arourd £4 it makes MobileMe's annual fee look positively outrageous.

Finally the Microsoft Marketplace has launched and looks like a good solid base to build an appstore. Installing applications is as straightforward a pass as its possible to be and there's a good variety of software even if there aren't a huge number of apps.

All in all this seems a good selection of upgrades for existing WM owners. there's no compelling reason to upgrade, but when the time arrives 6.5 looks like it can probably hold its own against the iPhone and Android - at least until WM7 arrives.

Palm Fixes iTunes Syncs, Waits For Apple's Next Move

Two updates in a week from Palm, the first WebOS 1.2 quickly followed by 1.2.1 the main purpose of which is to leapfrog Apple's iTunes lockout and re-enable Pre to iTunes sync.

With recent decision of the USB-IF to back Apple's interpretation of USB usage Palm has now stepped into the area of risk, with the Pre now blatantly telling iTunes that it is an iPod when in media sync mode. Potentially Palm could lose the right to claim USB compatibility and use the USB logo. Not the harshest of punishments I'm sure you'd agree.

As I've said before, Apple's continued war on Palm and the Pre is likely to bring the US equivalent of the Monopolies Commission down on them like a ton of bricks by virtue of their almost unchallenged domination of music downloads. A domination which looks suspiciously like its being used to restrict buyers choice of MP3 player...

Riccardo Scares His Wife

Riccardo Patrese is one of the true greats of F1, not a champion, but nonetheless with much to show for one of the longest careers in the sport. This video post-dates his retirement and shows Riccardo ferrying his wife Susie around a track in an indeterminate Honda. I'll leave you to guess how that turns out, but if you know any Italian you'll certainly pick up on plenty of swearing... Had me in stitches though...