type as me

It's that time again when I get to upgrade my phone, and after much thought I've gone for the Sony Ericsson C905. As I have an iPod Touch, I didn't think it would be worthing getting an iPhone, or similar, and the lure of the 8.1 mega-pixel camera, Wi-Fi, and GPS was too much to resist. And hey, I'm a Sony Ericsson lover, and it would take a lot for me to look somewhere else.

First impressions are good - the camera is great, though obviously not as good as a stand alone camera with a decent lens. Not only are the photos of high quality, but the video is nice and smooth. I had contemplated getting a video camera, but I won't bother now, as the C905 does the job very well. I have noticed that due to the size of the photos, when they get compressed for media messages, they become pretty unusable. This is putting a dent in my Twitpic addiction, and I'm not sure there's a way around this without taking the photos in a lower resolution, which kind of defeats the object of getting this phone...

The phone does link well with Blogger, and I may have to start using this for posting photos and videos from my phone. You can add other blogs to the phone, but it doesn't seem to like MyOpera It just sends it an MMS (which has arrived at the time of writing this post), and as my MyOpera cannot remove the operator message, I'm reluctant to do this.

The Wi-Fi on the C905 is excellent, and using Opera Mini with it is superb. The GPS, on the other hand, is not so good, and it doesn't help that the Java version of Google Maps doesn't seem to be compatible with it. It appears to be a known issue, so hopefully there'll be an update to fix this at some point. I didn't expect much from the GPS, but at the moment I'm struggling to see that it'll be useful at all!

Apart from a few niggles, I'm happy with the choice. The camera alone makes it worthwhile for me, as I'm finding myself wanting to take my camera with me more and more. This way, I can carry less, and still take some decent pics. Hopefully the GPS will improve, but this phone should keep me going for a while!

I've stumbled across a mobile phone application called Trutap, which lets you blog to MyOpera through it. Marvellous!

Sent from my phone using trutap

I saw this pic on Idiot Toys, and thought that it needed a lick of red paint. Who's up for a trip to Grizedale Forest?

I like the concept of iTunes' Genius playlists, it's just that my iPod doesn't seem to be that good at creating them. It's like he gives up halfway through. He's all eager, and up for the challenge when I tell him to go and find the similar tracks, and for the first three or four, the little chap gets it spot on. Then it goes downhill, and he decides to take a break, or something.

Yesterday, for example, I set off to work feeling lively and in the mood for something upbeat to accompany my walk to work. I choose "Don't Stop Me Now", by Queen, and set off on my merry little way. I pressed the Genius button, and a playlist was created. I would expect to see on said playlist some more upbeat tracks, maybe some 70s rock, some more Queen. I was secretly hoping for "Mr Blue Sky" by the ELO as it's one of the best tunes ever created.

The first few tracks didn't disappoint, but as the playlist went on, it all went horribly wrong. On came "Warwick Avenue" by Duffy, not exactly upbeat. I could appreciate what iPod was thinking - "I'm going to mix it up a bit, change the mood" - but then he went crazy, as he always does. I swear he has about 20 tracks that he puts into every Genius playlist he creates. No matter what I choose as my starting track, you can pretty much guarantee that these tracks will appear at some point. It's sloppy, and shows a lack of effort and thought.

IPOD: But you like those tracks, don't you? So what's the problem?
ME: Well I would quite like a bit more variety, you know. You've got over a thousand tracks to choose from.
IPOD: Yeah, well, I like these ones, and they're all bunched together - easy to find. And why are you blaming me? It's your music. Not my fault you have a taste for bland and generic tunes.
ME: But I could give you dozens of tracks that would suit that list better.
IPOD: Well then make your own bloody playlist. Listen, pal, I didn't want this job. It's not what I signed up for. Some geezer does a fancy update, and expects me to do extra work, and for what?!?! Nothing. The Union isn't happy about it, and neither am I. If I was you, I'd stop complaining.
ME: Or what, eh? You're my iPod, and you'll do what I tell you to.
IPOD: I'll tell people about the fact that you listen to Chas and Dave.
ME: OK, fair enough. Carry on.

Imagine the scene... It's late at night. Holly's unsettled, and I try to comfort her. She slowly calms done as I pace back and forth, and then falls asleep in my arms. I go to put her back in her cot, and slowly move her toward it. Reminiscent from the above scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, I carefully place her down, knowing that one false move could start her off again, and unleash a rolling boulder* if she wakes.

But success is oh so sweet It's just not how you'd want to emulate Indy.

^{*metaphorically, of course. The room's not booby-trapped with spears, rocks, or poisoned darts. Well, not that I know, anyhow.}