Jumping the Shark

Well, I think it has happened. After months of expectant waiting, Top Gear - the irreverent TV motoring show hosted by JC (that's Jeremy Clarkson) Richard Hammond and James May has returned to our TVs.

2 episodes in and I am finding that something is missing, not sure what it is, but something is missing. The very un PC attitude is there, the quips are there, the fast cars are there, as is the Stig and "Star in a reasonably priced car" but it feels forced, too scripted, over produced maybe....not sure but it's possible that TG has "Jumped the Shark", it has reached the peak in its popularity and is heading off for a slow decline. Maybe it has - maybe not, only time and the remaining episodes will tell. I'm sad........but that's life

The better phone is here

I may have commented in the past about how much I came to dislike my "smart" phone. The Sony Ericsson P990i was more of an infuriation than it was smart. Constantly dropping Blue Tooth connections, before calls, during calls, after calls - consistent it was not. The it also has the temerity to crash - around 1 in 20 incoming calls would find be pressing the button to answer, holding the phone to ear to speak - talking to nothing followed by an exasperated look at the phone which had the temerity to advise me that "This phone is restarting to improve your customer experience".

It nearly went out of the window on several occasions - but all that is behind me now, the spawn of Satan Sony phone has passed on.

For the past month I have had the pleasure of using the HTC TyTn II phone. Sadly it's running Windows Mobile, happily this has yet to crash. I thought I'd give it a month before posting, just to make sure that the phone is as good as it seemed when it arrived.

Now, this really IS a smartphone. It has a features list as long as your arm, and all of them seem to work pretty well - so where shall I start.

OK, the screen is 2.8" and very crisp with standard Windows Mobile buttons and a touch screen interface. Then, push the screen back and there is a usable QWERTY keyboard. Tilt the screen up and it looks like a little laptop.

It is 3G and HSDPA (up to 9 times faster than 3G) so it has really quick web connectivity -a boon when using the built in GPS receiver in conjunction with Google Maps (or the inbuilt SatNav). Yes, Wi-Fi is there to although my data bundle from Orange looks to be shouldering the load.

ActiveSync means that it pulls down my emails from our corporate server and keeps my diary up to date whilst pocket versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint let me read attachments with ease (oh and Adobe too for pdfs)

As an MP3 and video player it works pretty well although the screen is too small for really serious watching.

On the back is a 3Mp camera with digital zoom. OK, it won't set the world alight and it lacks a flash but I knew that before I ordered the phone and I have a decent digital camera anyway. Taking snapshots with the phone is fine, and 3MP will happily print to a 6 x 4 photo in photo quality if I like.

MicroSD cards allow me to up the memory from 128Mb to almost as much as I like although the 2Gb card that came with the phone is probably enough.

Battery life is OK too - surprisingly, although WiFi use does tend to suck the power, but it can be charged in the car, at home and off the laptop so that's not really a worry.

So, how do I feel now the new iPhone has been released - not so bad really. Yes, it too has fast 3G connectivity (at last), yes it looks really cool but look at the price. My HTC cost me nothing in capital and I pay under £30 per month for a bag full of minutes and unlimited (well nearly) web access too.

RIP Sony Ericsson P990i and welcome to the family HTC TyTn II {dumb name tho}