A Cure For Wellness - Lonnnnnng creepiness

I'd been looking forward to seeing this since I saw the trailer come out. It's got a funky title, a seemingly interesting premise, and the backdrop looked nice and spooky.

Official movie poster (20th Century Fox)

So, at 2 hours long, this Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean film saga, The Ring, and Rango) movie is not an easy one to stay focused throughout, and it's a bit weird. 

*spoilers ahead*

Lockhart

I'll break the plot down as simply as possible.  Lockhart working for some big business, been promoted to the board, they call him up to talk about a merger with another business in order to save the whole business and make the top tier very rich (including Lockhart - played by Dane DeHaan).  Apparently the top dog (Pembroke played by Harry Groener) who needs to sign off on the merger has gone on a spa break to Switzerland, and sent a letter back saying he's not coming back. Lockhart is accused of dodgy dealings on a previous account he worked on, so the other members of the board send him to Switzerland in order to convince the main boss to come back and sign the paperwork.



Seems a little convoluted, but feasible. 

So off DeHaan goes, the typical swagger-filled arrogant young go-getter, engrossed in his career, thinking it will be a nice trip to Switzerland in and out.

There's a few memorable-ish characters along the way, like the driver who takes Lockhart from the airport through the town to the sanitarium on the hill where the spa and ultimately Lockhart's boss is.

Everyone is looking so happy at the sanitarium having "treatments", DeHaan gets told his boss is busy having one of said "treatments", Lockhart gets snarky, then told to come back at 7pm. He heads out tells driver to take him to hotel, car crash on way back to hotel.

Dr Vollmer

Lockhart wakes up in the sanitarium with a cast on his leg, tries to figure where his boss is. Tries to check out the secret looking areas in the sanitarium, talks to random patients, figures things aren't quite right. Meets a young girl called Hannah (Mia Goth - girl in the poster), as well as the Director of the Sanitarium  Dr Vollmer (Jason Isaacs).

I kind of lost the next hour or so as Lockhart tries to figure out exactly what is wrong, involving some eels, the water, some more eels, some more passive looking people, and some more water and some human experimentation.

Turns out the water is used to help filter eels through people's bodies to produce "the cure" and that is what has been keeping a centuries old baron alive (Dr Vollmer - the Director of the Sanitarium) in order to continue his line by having a child with his sister (Hannah - the young girl). (see I told you this was weird).

Lockhart figures this out, also figures out his leg was never broken, goes looking for Hannah. Turns out Hannah got her first period so is ready to have a kiddo. Vollmer has her in the caves beneath the Sanitarium to rape her and get her pregnant to continue his line of pure blood. Lockhart shows up before Vollmer can do the deed, a fight ensues, and just when Vollmer is about to feed Lockhart to some eels, Hannah smashes him with a spade to the head, he falls in and gets chewed up by those eels. Meanwhile, embers have emerged from the fire that was started during the fight and has set the sanitarium on fire.

Lockhart and Hannah escape, and end up crashing into the other members of the board from his job back home who have come to see what the hell is going on. They try to tell him to go back and help get the top dog Pembroke, Lockhart says "nope", and he and Hannah ride off together. The end.  😐

Confusing as hell, wayyyyyyyyyy too long, interesting concept but tried way too hard to make it creepy. Just ended up being convoluted and I left the cinema thinking "what just happened?"Not worth watching in a cinema, and only watch on Netflix if you're fully awake, have time on your hands and a fetish for eels.

4/10

Ola Beach Club - Hello and goodbye

Ola Beach Club's front facing the sea

The latest players on the scene on Sentosa, I was excited to check out Ola Beach Club one afternoon after work. Nice bar area on the front, storage for paddle boards etc out back, pool, funky seating arrangements out on the beach, this place looks the part for sure.

Strolled up to the place with my partner, and saw around 5 staff kind of joking around with each other at the bar area and none really paying attention to any customers (there were only maybe 3 or 4 sat out on the beach seating area in the first place). I grabbed their attention and asked to sit by the pool where there was a bit of shade as we fancied a bit of food. Waitress kind of threw down the menus and then walked off, only to come back and then ask us if we wanted a drink. While we were trying to give our drinks order she interrupted to tell us that about half of the food menu was not available, hmm ok, just the drinks then. Off she went and gave the order to the bar. One staff member frantically juicing fruits on her own, 3 or 4 stood around doing absolutely nothing. One in particular, literally did zero. I kind of felt sorry for her stood there all the time, maybe she could have been helping with the juicing?  

So we figure what we want to eat, but then trying to get a wait staff's attention was impossible, as they were all just joking around with each other and not paying attention. Finally we get someone to come over and take the order and we sit and wait for the drinks.  Before the drinks arrive, the guy comes over with the bill already.  Seriously? What if we wanted more orders later?  The place was dead, it's not as if it's hard to track our bill. Was pretty annoyed by that alongside the lack of menu items available and poor service.

We had the truffle fries and popcorn chicken (nice and spicy). To be fair, the food was ok, kinda pricey though and I resent having to pay a service charge especially when it was so poor.

I guess this place must be better at night time as a bar?  Or some other time when it's busier?  Who knows, I'm not sure I wanna bother with it again. TBC seems to remain the better Sentosa option...

If you're interested to see for yourself:

Ola Beach Club

46 Siloso Beach Walk

Sentosa, S(099005)

Tel: 6250 6978

http://www.olabeachclub.com

Linx 1010b Windows 10 tablet

Whistlestop review of this product that i've had in my possession for months now...

The Linx 1010b has an Intel Atom Z3735F Quad Core processor, 32 GB storage (with SD card reader), 2 GB RAM, and comes with Windows 10 Home preinstalled along with a Keyboard dock. All available for £139.99 (S$275 approx.)

• Comes well packaged

• This thing is heavy as hell, particularly with the keyboard attached.

• Setup is very quick

• Battery life is excellent initially, but charging the device is very very hit or miss with how long it takes to fully charge.

• Keyboard dock trackpad is poor, but gives a little additional battery.

• Sometimes disconnecting the keyboard and connecting it isn't seamless, but reliable mostly

• Product quality is generally good and performance is more than adequate. Not gonna set the world alight, but for a cheap Windows 10 tablet, what more would you expect?

IPhone 6C, 7, 5Se rumours...

Officially, nothing is known about the next iPhone. For all I know Apple might have decided that enough is enough and they're just gonna focus on cars and new MacBooks. Rumours and speculation are always rife and here's a few I've heard going around which may or may not be true...

iPhone 6c

Basically a plastic 4 inch version of the iPhone 6 with mostly the same internals only a cheaper build, and more budget friendly price point. Seems feasible.

iPhone 5se

Rumored to be an updated iPhone 5s with a 4-inch display, A8/M8 chips, the 8/1.2 megapixel cameras from the iPhone 6, and Apple Pay.

Seems to be a weird name, but maybe it could stick. Perhaps it's a code name. Certainly the premise seems like it could fly.

The end of the headphone jack

A fair amount of rumours out there that suggest the next major release of the iPhone is going to do away entirely with the 3.5mm headphone jack in favour of relying on a new set of bundled EarPods which work wirelessly over Bluetooth.

Sure, why not, right? Except all your existing wired earphone would be rendered useless overnight. 

On the positive side though, the lack of an opening in the iPhone body for headphones could make it easier for....

Dustproofing and waterproofing 

Could the iPhone 7 really be entirely waterproof? It is known that the existing iPhone can resist a fair amount of H20 exposure. 

Could Apple be making this official? It's something that the general public would certainly be looking for. A very very useful feature.

Wireless charging

A technology that has existed for a while, and a chance for Apple to milk it with selling accessories!

Redesigned form factor

As with each major release (ie. Not an 'S' release), this is the norm. Sorry no clue what though. Perhaps slimmer if there's no headphone jack.

Storage starting at 32gb

With Apple's fairly successful foray into the rented and subscription based media scene, users are dying to get that additional storage on the Low range model in order to take full advantage. A 32gb base model seems the logical step.

OLED display

OLED means thinner, brighter and lighter devices. That makes sense. 

Better camera

Some Rumours have emerged that suggest there could be a second rear camera to simultaneously capture pano and zoomed shots. This kind of thing is unseen. Who knows?

That's the round-up anyway. Let me know your thoughts in the comments...

Microsoft Lumia 550 - Windows 10 Mobile on a budget

When I was back in the UK this Christmas, I was doing some supermarket shopping and happened to stumble upon the Lumia 550 on the shelf advertised for £99. I'd already heard of the device, knowing that it would be debuting with Windows 10 Mobile installed on it alongside the higher specced 950 and 950XL.
I asked to purchase one and was told that it was locked to a network and that they have to remain locked for a year before they will unlock it officially.

I went away and decided that I needed to get one of these somehow to try out the latest iteration of Windows 10 Phone/Mobile/for Mobile. Friend of mine was coming over from Chicago, so I asked to pick me up an unlocked version. Retailed at $139 (USD), and came out at $153 after taxes added.


So now I have one in my hands, and I got the chance to start it up, play around with it and use it as my daily driver for a few days. Here's what happened:

1) The device is packaged well, with just a charger. No earphones, no removable USB cable, nothing. But what would you expect for this price. It's a bargain.


2) For the price, the screen on this phone is excellent. Bright colours, not too bad viewing angles.

3) Despite being a budget phone, the performance of this device is not bad at all, and is 4G LTE.

Those three points had me feeling pleasantly satisfied with myself for investing in such a great value phone. Maybe I'd sell my iPhone, maybe I'd subscribe to Groove Music, maybe  I'd consider an upgrade to a 950 or 950XL at some point....


Then, Windows 10 Mobile happened.

I've loved the concept of Windows Phone and their live tile interface since it came out. I had a Samsung Omnia 7 and thought it was great. It really is awesome. However, since the days of Windows Phone 7, things haven't really moved on in terms of the platform. I mean, how long do you want to fill the app-gap? Its not as noticeable anymore, but it is noticeable.

Also, if you're going to release a new operating system, make sure it's ready for primetime. Windows 10 Mobile is nowhere near ready. It had 38 updates waiting for me right out of the box. And those updates took over an hour to download, install and finish. Then after that, there was an entirely new OS update 10.0.10586.29, which took about 2 hours to download, prepare to install, then install. Not good Microsoft, not good at all.

Anyway, I finally got to using the device and it looks very pretty. But, it isn't always responsive, and then there's the settings app which looks much nicer than the settings of Windows Phone past, and matches the desktop settings app, but, still is confusing for finding some things as basic as changing the timeout time for the screen turning off.

Alongside that, I set the alarm to wake me up in the morning, and it just flat didn't work. Didn't go off at all. The settings were right but it didn't go off. Annoying.

Then I downloaded WhatsApp, and tried to use it with my phone on silent. But, when WhatsApp notifications arrived they still made a noise.

I could go on more about irritations of Windows 10 Mobile, it just doesn't seem to be finished. It feels like beta software.


Another slight annoyance with the device is that it is a fingerprint magnet (I believe the white version wouldn't be so much though).

After everything is said and done, even after one or two days I'm longing for my iPhone 6S Plus again. And I will definitely go back to it, feeling ultra disappointment that Microsoft STILL has not got their act together.

Despite this, if you're in the market for a cheap phone that does the basics just fine, then this wouldn't be a bad device to go for, but comparing it to the 640XL of my friend's, I would suggest you go for that at the moment, because Windows 10 Mobile just isn't ready yet.


UPDATE:
Several other reviews suggested this device has all day battery life. I can confirm that for me this hasn't been the case. With intermittent use such as Facebook, Twitter and a few other apps, the battery was down to 5% before 6pm. Whereas my iPhone which had not been charged since the day before was still at 12%.

iPhone 6 Plus - 6 months later

Let's keep this short.

I loved the Lumia 1520, but couldnt wield the massive screen.

Apple come along with another option slightly smaller so I try it out.

So here's the lowdown after 6 months:

'Pluses' (scuse the pun)

Great screen which most apps are now optimised for.

Great camera which takes great shots but struggles sometimes in low light.

Great battery life; sometimes two days of continuous usage.

Great software: I still love iOS for its simplicity.

Downsides

It's tricky to grip the phone without a case, it can be slippy.

Some apps aren't optimised and look silly when scaled up to fit the screen.

As you can see, the positives outweight the negatives. Easily.

I can't wait to see what they do with the 6S Plus in September. I won't be getting rid of this phone until then (which is really unusual for me)

Nokia Lumia 1520 Review

Since Microsoft announced the Lumia 1520, and its awesome specs including a beautiful 1080p full-HD screen, I've wanted one.



Not only for the high specs and Windows Phone goodness (not that Windows Phone needs high specs really), but because i've never partaken in the 'phablet' movement (not quite a phone, not quite a tablet).  I can see the appeal of the phablet with the extra screen real-estate and chunkier battery for extended battery life, and so, I decided to pick up one of the Lumia 1520s.

So. First things first. This phone is a work of art; its absolutely beautiful. I got the white version with 32Gb memory, and I even added a 32Gb SD card to the equation as I figured I'd want plenty space for HD video on that stunning screen.

Despite the size of the 6" screen imposing it's presence on the phone, the phone itself is very slim and svelte, and certainly not too heavy.  I have quite big hands, and I can just about operate the phone with one hand, but realistically I used two hands more often than not. That said, typing on this phone is a joy and browsing the web on the awesome screen is fantastic.

I won't do a review of Windows Phone, but I will mention that even though the operating system is great in my opinion, they haven't really optimised it to take advantage of the phablet form factor. The OS is essentially just an enlarged version. But it still feels very slick like all other Windows Phone devices.  (I had the Windows Phone 8.1 preview installed too)

Speaker quality on the device is excellent, with speakers positioned well on the back at the top and bottom. Equally call quality was great, despite feeling a little weird with holding the device to my ear.

Camera bump

The camera. Ohhhh the camera. It's 20Mp, and is really really really really good. I recommend getting the Nokia Camera app (formally Pro Cam) for free from the store to customise the camera's picture output like a boss.  The camera just protrudes a little from the back of the phone, but not much, and it doesn't affect handling the device at all.  It takes stunning pictures, and you'll wonder how you lived without it.

this is a slim phone

This phone supports Qi Wireless Charging, and with the larger 3400mah battery, it take a while to fully charge (around 5 hours), but then the battery life for usage on this device was phenomenal. With heavy use of installing apps, browsing the web, listening to music, watching videos locally and on youTube, after a full day, battery was only down to 40% and that was pretty heavy usage. I bet you wouldn't need to charge every day if just light use.

Conclusions:
This is a beautiful phone. I love it...   But... for me, I just can't get used to the phablet form factor.  If I were to become more accepting of phablets, this is the one I would go for in a heartbeat.

Lenovo Miix 2 8 - Unboxing

I originally managed to get my hands on a Dell Venue Pro, despite it not being available in Singapore, and used it for a couple of months before parting company with it.  It had a grippy back but didn't feel cheap.  Even so I'd prefer something more metallic.

I was however missing the convenience of a tablet running full Windows 8.1! So I checked out the alternatives from Acer and Toshiba and of course Lenovo.  I managed to get the Miix 2 8 from Amazon.co.uk for £199 and for that price, I thought I couldn't really go wrong, surely?

The item was delivered promptly and came in a neat box which strangely has a different shaped lid so its not easy to open (why do companies do this?). But within the box there was the tablet, the license details for Student and Home edition of Microsoft Office, and the charger/cable.  Pretty plain sailing.



Tried to boot the device out of the box but it was dead, which was unusual as devices usually come with at least 20% for an initial boot. Anyway. I plugged in and switched on and we were away; standard Windows first boot. It took around 10 minutes to get through everything which struck me as slow, but ultimately was not an indicator of the device's actual speed, which we'll address in a future post...

 
 
 
 

Enjoy the pics and a full review will arrive soon!  ?:-D

Edge of Tomorrow - Movie Review

Let's keep this review short and to the point.

Went to see this last night with expectations of something in between Groundhog Day and Starship Troopers (which isn't a bad expectation).
I figured there would be a lot of regurgitated plot lines from ''history repeated" style movies. However, it turns out the plot line was quite unique overall.

The action scenes were very intense and felt like you were actually there in the world of Mr Tom Cruise. There was little to no corny cheesiness of any form of relationship between Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise's characters.
It was complex enough to be plausible in terms of the time travel related aspects, but not too complex that one would need to waste time trying to figure out exactly what was going on.
The cast was well chosen, with a few dodgy British over-exagerrated accents thrown in, but nothing that distracted from the scenes.

Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable action-fest with a well constructed storyline, with a little bit of humor thrown in along the way.

I'd recommend you to go see this one.

I give it an 8 out of 10.

Apple, back in the game...

So WWDC has been and gone, with some interesting insights into what is coming in the near future from Apple; at least from a software perspective!

I was actually expecting to see some hardware announcements there, whether an iWatch or a refreshed iMac or Macbook, or whatever. Just expected to see something.

I was disappointed.

But then after looking at what's coming in OS X 10.10 "Yosemite", and iOS8 I quietly forgot about my absent-hardware-invoked sadness.


First up, OS X "Yosemite". A new simplified, more iOS-esque flat design. Gone are the drop shadows and reflections and rounded window corners. In are a flat aesthetic, gradient-less colours, revised cartoony icons as well as a nice feature which allows the user to go for a dark background to the finder bar.
Also present is a new Spotlight search which appears centre stage when activated. A rejigged notification centre which allows more customisation and reorganisation by the user to see the most relevant content at a glance.  I'm currently awaiting the link to the beta of this... Hope it comes soon!

iOS 8, has a stack full of new features and refinements which take it to the next level, and in some minds a step way ahead of Android. Notifications can be handled from the notification itself e.g.  users can respond to messages right there in the notification. Notification centre itself has be improved much like Yosemite to allow 3rd party functions as well as user customisation. iMessage now acts much like WhatsApp with media and location data incorporated. Users can make use of 'Continuity' which allows them to work on the iOS device, then 'handoff' the workflow to a Mac to resume the work; This also works with users being able to field calls and messages from their Macs as well. There's also iCloud Drive, like Dropbox, there's improvements to Siri with music recognition powered by Shazam, Health apps, as well as an improvement to Spotlight... Many features and enhancements.

As well as all this, Apple also announced 'Swift', a new programming language for Mac and iOS.  The image below shows the main highlights, but this probably needs a post of it's own at some point!

So I'm not disappointed, I'm excited by these new pieces of software and can't wait to get my hands on them.  Given the improvements to iOS, I might even be convinced to go for a new iPhone too (when they finally announce/release it... ;) )

Why I want a Windows Phone

When Windows Phone 7 initially came out in 2010, I was intrigued and loved the fresh take that Microsoft had on the mobile user interface.  Live tiles: awesome.  I got myself a Samsung Omnia 7, with a great 4-inch screen in a great form factor.

I enjoyed using it a lot, and I became something of an advocate for the platform.  So much so that when I had the chance to get a new Nokia Lumia 800 on first arriving in Singapore; I did just that.

I used, I enjoyed, I advocated... But slowly, I started to become disillusioned with Microsoft and Nokia on account of the lack of my favourite apps being ported to the platform.  Soooo I switched back to iPhone, and after realising iPhone screens are like postage stamps, I invested in a Nexus 5.  Don't get me wrong, Android 4.4 Kit-Kat is a great operating system, I like it a lot; the widgets especially. Google Now is also a great feature and I found myself talking to my Nexus 5 more than any other device before (without feeling weird).

So my main disgruntlement with my Nexus 5 is the battery life. It's really really bad. And Google have been promising a software based fix with 4.4.3. I hope it comes soon. And I won't be getting rid of my Nexus 5 only on account of the battery issues.

However. I've missed Windows Phone. And I've seen it develop into a solid mobile OS, and steadily gain a little market share and resign Blackberry to the bin.  Most major apps are now available for the platform, and they're being executed with high quality (in-keeping with the elegant OS UI).

On top of that, Nokia have slowly been refining their hardware year on year (I almost bought a Lumia 925).  Their most recent announcement of the Lumia 635 and 930 (global version of the Icon) in particular left me salivating.  A beautiful form, screen, and with it, a more customisable modern version of the Windows Phone operating system with smart features such as Wi-Fi Sense and the long needed Action Centre for quick access to settings and notifications.  The most encouraging thing here is that Microsoft appears to be listening to the consumer.

Google Now is good.  Siri is ok.  Cortana, appears to be a step above both of them, and even in it's current beta stage, is encouraging to me and presents what a digital assistant should be like.

So, enough ramble, the conclusion here is that I want a Lumia 930 in June. Heck, I'd even settle for a Lumia 635 as it looks like a great budget device!

When I get one, I'll post a review right on here, so please keep checking back!

Would love to hear your comments/experiences with Windows Phone/Android/iOS in the comments section below...

Hiatus over

It's been a lonnnnng time since I posted. And it's time to get back to it...

Windows 8.1 Blue - Kudos Microsoft

I have a really old Asus netbook that has had a version of every single operating system you could think of on it over the years, it's even had a teardown for a new hard drive when the old one snuffed it.  I have been running Windows 8 since it's first leaked Alpha versions and was reasonably pleased with the initial release (despite having to play with my registry to enable downscaling resolutions to run 'metro' apps.)

I downloaded the official Windows 8.1 ISO from Microsoft and did a clean install.

Install times were a reasonable 25 mins, and of course boot times are about 10 seconds from cold to the login screen.  Awesome.

The Metro Control Panel ("PC Settings") now has a lot more options to handle customisation and system information.  It feels more substantial, and it feels more complete.

The Start Screen is now more customisable with new bigger and smaller Live tile sizes, so tiles such as the weather can display more information and those apps that have no Live tile function can be squeezed in without taking up too much screen real-estate.  Well played again.  As well as the tile functions there's far more colour scheme options and patterned wallpapers that can be used along with an option to use the desktop app's wallpaper (my favourite way of linking the metro and desktop worlds thus far).  The customisations can now happen from the side menu bar meaning changes can be seen as theyre made; a much smarter way of doing things.  Microsoft seems to be listening, and listening well.



Another thing is the return of the Start button from the Desktop app.  Personally, I didn't care about this too much, and now it's back, it looks ok, but I couldve lived with or without it, didnt concern me at all.  But it's back.  Yay.




All in all, this is a great step forwards from Microsoft, and I really look forward to seeing the full release of this version later this year, perhaps alongside a Surface Pro 2 machine???  :-)   There are hundreds or little items that have been tweaked or changed to improve the User Experience and it's mainly for the good.  I'll keep using this as my main desktop and when Mavericks gets a full release I'll be getting a new Mac to test alongside a nice fresh Windows 8.1.  

2013 is an exciting year!

The right opportunity is worth waiting for

Most of my time in Asia was spent with one company, English First.  I originally joined them as a teacher, as I was coming from a teaching role in the UK and I'd knocked out a TEFL Diploma in one of the 6 week boredom-breaks in the Summer between school years.  Cushty.
Anyway, I'd done some time teaching English, and it was quite easy and most students were keen to learn (which always helps).  After several months I came across an opportunity with their global product development department as a Project Manager.  Long story short, it was a great experience and I ran several projects as well as playing my part in others' projects; some project management tasks, some hands on development tasks such as wire-framing  logic design, user experience and so on.  During all my time in Shanghai at EF, I never felt that I was wasting my time and I always felt fully rewarded just by the work I did and what was coming ahead. Truly a great time.  
When I moved to Singapore (following my wife who was promoted to a role based here), I scouted out several jobs and eventually landed a role, which didn't actually have any tasks to do, so I left.  I joined another company, stayed there a while but the CEO's vision and my own didn't match up, so I left.  I joined another company, had a long term plan, but came up against a CEO who couldn't listen and a miserable team (but seriously talented and pleasant), so I left.  I don't wanna say it's Singapore's fault as that would be unfair.  I've been told it could be my own fault for being "fussy".  
But I approach it in the same way that the late Steve Jobs described, ""If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."  Considering I've almost died once before, this is how I'll continue to live.

Xbox One vs PS4 (do you really need either?)

I'm always excited to see new hardware coming to the market, and when they do I always find myself in the quandary of "do I want/need one?".

I currently own a PS3 slimline version.  I use it occasionally for games (FIFA in particular, or whenever new interesting titles drop such as The Last Of Us), but mainly as my media viewing device.  Now that may be Blu-ray movies, or it could be something that I stream from my netbook, or it could even be some YouTube content using the YouTube app on the PS3.  I'm pretty much satisfied with everything that it has to offer me and I'd say I use it maybe 3-4 times a week.  Great.

So why would I need a new console?

Well, from the look of the games coming to the new PS4 and Xbox One, the graphics and performance look almost lifelike.  I was extremely impressed.  Xbox One added a Blu-ray drive, hmmm about time Microsoft. PS4 added ermmmm, a touchpad thing to the controller. Useful.

So as things stand, that's about as far as I understand in terms of what they have that can really convince me to upgrade my home entertainment system.  And in case you didn't catch the tone of what I'm saying here, let me clarify, I'm not convinced I need to upgrade anything.

My personal feelings aside, the devices both seem well designed, and would slot right in underneath the television in most consumers homes I'm sure.  Sony have priced their PS4 reasonably with no additional costs or catches.  Microsoft have really maxed out the price for the Xbox One and justified it by saying that the Kinect comes with it.

Where Sony have really won already, and Microsoft have shot themselves in the foot (then nailed the bleeding foot to the floor), is with the handling of game ownership.  Sony does not require an Internet connection to authenticate a game, nor does it impose any restrictions on the sale, resale, lending, borrowing, frisbee throwing of games to your friends/strangers/who ever.
Microsoft have a series of ridiculous restrictions that require a user to be connected to the Internet at least once every 24 hours (ET phoooone hooooome), and the whole (potential, depending on game studios) farce of restrictions on games 'registered' to your Xbox One that won't be transferable to anyone else without the game being re-bought.

The other crazy thing is Microsoft's response to criticism of the Internet issue. "Just buy an Xbox 360 instead".  Smart Microsoft, really smart.  On top of that, the Xbox One won't even make an appearance in Asia until 2014!?!?!?!  Wowzer.

So it seems Microsoft might have already lost the war before they even got started.  But then again, does anyone really need a new console anyway?

Being Chatted Up

Apparently WhatsApp, of cross platform messaging fame, has set a new PB for messages sent and received in a day.  27 billion messages handled, that's a big jump from the stats given for April.  Boom.  Well done WhatsApp.

I use WhatsApp, and I also use Line and WeChat and Facebook Messenger and Tango and Google Hangouts and Skype.  Seems the only ones I haven't bothered with Viber and KakaoTalk, although I've been told they're not bad.

I use all these different apps depending on who I'm speaking to.  For example, I use WhatsApp with a few friends but also some people that I know professionally, I use Line exclusively with my wife as she likes their 'stickers', I use WeChat to keep in touch with some Chinese friends, Facebook Messenger mainly for friends, Tango for video calling with my wife when she's away travelling and Hangouts for talking to my Mum back home as she's just got an Android phone and realised she can talk to me at any time with it.

You might think,'you know you can do everything you need with just one'.  You'd be right, I could just pick one.  But my friends, colleagues and family are spread out across all these services.  This means that I've got to have a little folder of apps on my Galaxy Nexus just for all these chat apps.  And I'm ok with that, it works for me, I don't need a one-size-fits-all.

I have a feeling though that once WhatsApp starts asking me to pay for the service, I might be reluctant.  The reason being that I don't have to depend on the app because others do a good job too.  Once my free time with them runs out I can just ask regulars on that one to switch to Line or Tango or Hangouts or whatever.  Simple.

I do however, occasionally use SMS still.  So it's not totally dead for me.  I get some free with my mobile contract as well so I feel obliged to use them. But I still wonder what's next for these apps?  Video calling and messaging never really took off, everyone has already jumped on the 'stickers' bandwagon, so what could come next?  Perhaps more seamless sharing of media and news stories and other content?  Bringing some more of the apps to the desktop like Hangouts?  We'll see.

Motivating without a whip

During my time with startups I've come across a number of different management styles coming directly from the top of the business, either from a CEO or MD or main investor.  So far though, none of them have particularly impressed or motivated me to do anything more than consider my options.

Here's a snippet of the types I've worked under:

1)  Hands off

This method of managing things mainly involved providing requests from customers; E.g. This customer wants XYZ, and I promised them that we'd have to them by this date and they'd pay us this much.  This method seems straight forwards on paper, but in reality (especially when the rest of the staff hadn't even met the customer) was extremely inefficient.  The reason for this being that the request was really bare-bones, there just weren't clear enough requirements.  For example, if I came to you and said 'hey, I need a website by next Friday, I'll pay you $1000', you could create anything you wanted.  Because, there's no real detail there in the request.  So you figure, just ask for more details.  Right?  But this manager has disappeared on a 3 week travel session to the States, China, and Europe off the radar to secure more of these poorly defined projects for you to amble through.  By the time you see them again, the project is due and you deliver it, only for there to be complaints that it wasn't what they wanted.  Not good.

2)  Eyes on the Exit

This method involves bringing in some business from friends, family and good contacts in the industry.  They start with a good idea, and they believe that if they do things reasonably well for a year or two they'll be able to sell the company on and make a cool million (or more). As such, they tend to look to scrimp and save at every opportunity.  They hire good talent, but they don't pay it well.  They talk the talk, but when it comes to walking the walk, they're so uninterested in the business, there never feels like any progress is actually being made. Feels more like they're just waiting for that phone call that has a CEO of a billion dollar company on the other end with an over-inflated price for the business.  Disappointing.

3) The Big Shot

This manager thinks they are God's gift to the world of business and they seem to think they're some kind of celebrity.  It's sad really. They're good at securing contracts and closing deals and bringing in business and so forth, and they may well have even had success (or successes) with other businesses in the past.  They seem to be living vicariously through those former glories like a retired baseball player or like the portrayal of Buzz Aldrin from Little Britain TV show.  And with these former glories, and ego that it's given them, they think that staff will be climbing over themselves to work for them.  Not the case.  They treat staff like cogs in a machine that they've paid for, and therefore have the right to push those cogs in the machine to the limit, as if they're not real people, but tools.  A very demotivating style, and one that ultimately leaves that manager sat in the room on their own surrounded by their toys but nobody to play with, telling stories to themselves of former glories in the mirror.


From my perspective, I believe staff motivation comes from the need to feel good about what you're doing; sharing common goals etc.  If a manager can't share that passion for what the company is doing with their staff and feels that they need to hold the whip to get things done, I think it's destined to fail.  Look at the fall of dictatorships in countries through history, it's telling.

To Buy or Not to Buy - Surface 2.0

I always liked the look of Microsoft Surface; I was excited when I saw the announcement and although the price point isn't the best, I was considering buying the Pro version.

However, after reading the various reviews and opinions from the online community, it seemed to me that consumer satisfaction wasn't so hot.  Particularly with the battery life of the devices.

I'm not one to follow the crowd usually so when I had the opportunity to get hands on with Microsoft Surface I was on it like a shot.

My take on the Surface is that it's a solid build quality, the screen size is ok, the weight is fine too, it feels comfortable in the hands, the responsiveness of Windows 8 running on it is great... and so on and so on.

So why didn't I buy one?  I hear you ask.  Well, it seems from every source that i've read or heard or seen, they ALL say the battery life is only good for 5 hours or so.  Ultra fail.
My iPad Mini lasts 8 hours at least no problem whatsoever, I charge it every couple of days.  I want a Windows 8 tab so much, I've been studying the market for ages (the Acer Iconia W700 was on my radar for a while), but it seems that these first gen Windows 8 tabs and hybrids just dont quite cut it.

I read that Microsoft is likely to introduce Haswell processors to the Surface successor, which will obviously fix my battery life worries whilst also kicking up the graphics power a notch.  Win.

Will they alter the design at all?  I'd love to see a more adjustable kickstand on the back, and I'd also like to see Microsoft just throw in the damn cases for free.

We'll have to wait to the end of the month to see what comes, I can't wait!