Review: Google Reader

I've recently moved away from a combination of FeedDemon (at work) and NetNewsWire (at home) to Google Reader for all my RSS reading.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the result and it makes it a lot easier to read feeds at work on my PC and not have to worry about syncing read items with my Mac at home through NewsGator.

With Google Reader, as it's all online, I get the same view wherever I am, even on my mobile. It works a treat in Safari as well (faster than in Firefox in fact).

The basic functions of any RSS reader are there: the ability to show expanded or list views, OPML file import/export, the ability to display only unread items etc. There are also a few other really handy features, like the ability to 'star', 'share' or 'tag' interesting items you come across in your feeds.

Starring works in much the same way as in gmail and is effectively a way of bookmarking an item so you can easily find it later on. I find it useful to star items that I want to blog about later so I can quickly refer back to them.

The sharing facility is a great idea, it enables you to create your own list of selected items from those that you are reading. People can then either look at a page of your shared items or subscribe to a feed so they can see what interesting items you deem worthy of sharing. You can see this in action by looking at the 'What we're reading' section on the right hand side of this blog.

You can also tag items that interest you, a more versatile form of starring, so that you can easily file or categorise items with any tag description. The tagging can also be used in combination with sharing to make public all items with a specific tag.

So the basics work well and there are some nice more advanced features. So far so good. But there are definitely some strange omissions as well (yes, before you say it, I know it's only a Google labs app).

Probably the most obvious is the lack of any kind of search tool. And this is from Google, the search king? Very strange. I would definitely like to be able to search through my subscriptions to find items I have already read but forgot to tag or star first time round.

Similarly, I'd like to be able to run permanent searches against my feeds. So if, for example, I always wanted to see a list of items in my feeds that contained the word 'apple' I could see them in a permanent list. In much the same way that you can search Google News and create feeds and email alerts from the results.

It would be nice to integrate this with your tags, so you could see items you had previously tagged with certain descriptions and then choose to display all items across all feeds that also contained that tag keyword or phrase. It would then start to become seriously powerful.

The other main thing I miss from the desktop apps (particularly NetNewsWire) are the powerful keyboard shortcuts. I used to navigate around my feeds a lot using the arrow keys for moving between and up/down the list of feeds and items.

In Google Reader you can use some keyboard shortcuts but it's not anywhere near as easy as with a desktop app due to the limitations of sitting inside a browser. I'd love to just be able to use the arrow keys, enter and space rather than shift+n/p or shift+o. It'd also be nice when spacing through unread items if when you got to the last item in one feed, it would take you to the first unread item of the next feed on pressing space again.

Mostly though, with the exception of search, these are smallish gripes. I'm happy now I have one RSS reader that I can access from any computer or mobile device with access to the internet. And I do like the now very familiar Google UI, it's clean, simple and does everything it needs to.

One final cool feature to mention is the 'trends' that have been implemented to track how many items you read, from which feeds, how often they publish etc. In the last 2 weeks (since I started using it) I've got these stats:

From your 61 subscriptions, over the last [2 weeks] you read 1,660 items, starred 38 items, and shared 22 items.

I can definitely recommend Google Reader, I won't be going back to a desktop app now. There are no doubt many more improvements planned so it can only get better. But if you can't live without searching then hold off for now and keep an eye on the Official Google Reader Blog to see when it's implemented but I'm sure that won't be too long.

Review: Nintendo Wii

I finally got my hands on the Wii on Tuesday. I've played it for several hours over the last few days and now feel I've seen enough to give my thoughts, for now at least.

I'm going to assume you've read enough about it by now that you know what it is and what it's about; so this post will concentrate on how everything I've heard compares to my actual experience and whether I think it's as good as everyone says it is.

First impressions

The first thing I noticed is how small it is. It's the sort of thing you read but don't really appreciate until you see it in the flesh, a bit like the iPod nano. When you see it you can't help but think 'wow, it's tiny'. The Wii is about the same size as an average external hard drive or just slightly larger than 3 DVD cases stacked together. In comparison, my original Xbox is huge and I dread to think how massive a PS3 must look alongside a Wii.

It comes with a little stand to place it vertically, or you can lay it horizontally. Also included in the box is the little sensor bar (to put above your TV), one Wii remote and one nunchuk controller (you'll want to buy more of these for multi-player games), the bundled Wii sports game, the power brick (which is fairly large but not overly so) and a composite audio/video cable (you're gonna want to upgrade that to an RGB scart or ideally a component cable though).

The packaging is very nice, the whole experience reminded me very much of unpacking an Apple product. Clearly Nintendo have taken a lot of queues from Apple of late.

After setting the thing up, which was pretty easy, I then started it up.

The system

When you start the Wii, you're presented with a few set-up screens and eventually get to the Wii channels. The channels are the way you navigate around the main functions of the Wii, from the games to the Mii, internet, shop, virtual console and forecast channels. You simply point the Wii remote at the screen and click a channel to select it. Much like a wireless mouse.

I attached it to my wireless network quickly and easily (it supports WEP and WPA security, unlike the DS) and updated the system software to the latest version over the internet.

That enabled me to access the forecast channel and just today, via another update, the internet channel, which uses a special Wii version of the Opera browser to enable you to surf the web!

Both the forecast and internet channels work really well, the former allowing you to literally spin a 3D globe and look at world weather, including 5 day forecasts. Very cool. The internet channel, from what I've seen quickly today, seems to work very well, it rendered this blog and the BBC website perfectly. It even enabled me to read RSS feeds, which is a very nice touch.

There are loads of spare slots for new channels, each time you buy a virtual console game (old games from previous systems, all the way back to the original NES from the 80s!) it will add it to a new channel. I haven't bought and downloaded any yet so can't comment any further on that.

But practically the first thing I did was create a Mii - a virtual representation of myself! It was very funny selecting from the myriad options of size, shape, hair (or lack of it in my case), skin colour etc. etc. The options are great and my girlfriend and I ended up with pretty good representations of ourselves after a bit of joking about!

The Miis are used in certain games like Wii sports so you can actually see your virtual self playing on-screen! Brilliant.

The controllers

There are two parts to the control mechanism, the Wii remote and the nunchuk. The remote is shaped exactly like a TV remote, with a trigger button on the bottom and a d-pad and several other buttons on the top. It uses bluetooth to connect to the Wii, so is completely wireless. You simply point it at the screen and a combination of motion sensors detect very accurately what you're pointing at.

The nunchuk plugs into the Wii remote with a short wire but is only really needed for games with more complex controls. For simple games you just need the remote.

Both parts of the controller feel very nice in the hand and are comfortable to use for long periods. They're very nicely designed and are smaller than I imagined.

I've had no real problems using them, it does take a few minutes to get used to them but once you do, it's perfectly natural and I didn't find them overly sensitive or inaccurate. The sensitivity can be altered either up or down if you so wish.

Wii sports

This is where the fun really started! I'd had the foresight to order an additional controller, so my girlfriend and I could play together. So we loaded it up and went straight for a game of tennis! The first couple of minutes we missed a lot of shots as we figured out the timing but after that we were cross court volleying like Pete Sampras!

It is so excellent and amazing fun. It works exactly as I expected it to after watching the videos of other people playing. You literally swing the remote and your Mii goes for the ball on screen. They've deliberately kept it simple, so you only control the swing, not the movement of the players. But it's excellent and we soon found ourselves getting very competitive!

You can't help but move the controller like you would an actual racket and I found myself doing big swinging movements, backhands, serves, lobs, drop-shots, the lot! But it made me realise that I should never, ever play this game after more than a couple of drinks! It would be asking for trouble and damage to various things and people!

After a few games of tennis, we moved onto bowling. It took me a a while to get the hang of this one and I got thrashed the first few games (how did she pick it up so quickly!?) but after a few more games I got the hang of it and a score of 141. Not bad. Again, I couldn't help but go through the full bowling motion, it gets you worked up after a while! The bowling is as addictive as people say and if anything we were more competitive about this than the tennis!

After about 4 hours non-stop we'd played through all the Wii sports and the Wii play game I'd bought. I actually really enjoyed all of them and they gave me a great insight into what is possible with the controller, which is of course exactly the point of them.

I've also been playing Zelda but haven't got far enough into the game to say much yet but I have found the control mechanism so far (with the nunchuk) to be excellent.

Conclusion

I've found the Wii to be almost exactly what I expected - fantastic, accessible fun. Let's just say that my other half wouldn't normally spend 4 hours gaming with me in Halo 2! But we really enjoyed Wii sports particularly and I'm genuinely excited about what the future holds for this system, having had the tasters.

They've got the hardware right and the innovation has paid off. Now it's down to developers taking that hardware and making exciting, engaging and innovative games to go with it. Wii sports shows that they don't necessarily have to be overly complicated either but Zelda shows that the control mechanism can cope well with a complex game if need be.

It's a completely different kind of gaming to the Xbox or PS3, it's not trying to be what they are trying to be. With the Wii, Nintendo wanted to stretch the boundaries of gaming and engage people that would normally never consider buying a games console, just like they did with the DS.

From what I've read, seen, heard, played and experienced I think they've pulled it off. I know so many people that are interested in getting a Wii - people that are not normally interested in gaming.

I also think it offers an interesting alternative for the hardcore gamers as well, it's a great experience and I think Nintendo will find that a lot of people pick up a Wii as a secondary system in addition to either an Xbox 360 or PS3.

The biggest and perhaps most important question though is whether it will turn out to be a novelty. So far, my feeling is that it won't. I think as long as people utilise it, the hardware has great potential. Developers have done well with the innovative dual touch-screen DS and I think the same will happen with the Wii.

I don't want to go into any more detail, the point is, you really need to try it for yourself. I've found it to be fantastic and I am so pleased it's as good as I hoped it would be. I will almost certainly pick up an Xbox 360 next year to get my Halo 3 fix but that's a very different proposition and one that I think compliments the Wii.

Basically, it's great and if you're thinking it looks good, you wait until you swing that remote for the first time. You'll be hooked.

Right, I'm off for a few sets of tennis, followed by some bowling. Superb.

iPod Shuffle - mini review

How cool are these things? The new iPod Shuffle from Apple is a wonder. They look amazing, and you just don't realise how small they are until you're holding one. They really are something special. From their oh-so-small form factor to their specific dock, they are a mini marvel. Apparently they're demand is out-stripping supply in the US, I had no problem at all ordering direct from the Apple UK site, ordered on Monday, with engraving and it was being delivered on Wednesday morning - impressive, despite Apple predicting it wouldn't ship for at least a week.

With a cool to the touch, brushed metal feel, a strong clasp and simple interface this really is a great feeling product. Lightweight, naturally, it clips onto your clothing easily and within moments you forget its even there - except of course for the rather excellent sound quality. The standard iPod headphones seem to have improved over previous versions, I found my Sennheiser CX300 performed as well as on the Shuffle as I would have expected from my 60Gb iPod Photo.

The Shuffle charges through USB. The indicator lights on the unit go from Green to Orange depending on charge state. There's a very definite off switch on the unit as well as a shuffle switch, you can play your songs back in the order they are on the iPod or have them shuffled. Loading content is done through iTunes 7 and the interface is childlike simple. Choose the whole music library or a specific playlist to Autofill content from or you can add songs individually, by album or playlist with simple drag and drop.

The iPod docks upside down, impaling itself through the phono port onto the dock. Personally I found it a little fiddly to dock, mostly due to its small size, but you can't have tiny and then complain its too small.

The transfer speed is what you'd expect and seemed to autofill quickly enough. For easy pick up and go music, if your computer's on its a pretty swift operation before you leave the house.

The packaging from Apple really is raising the bar. They are forcing other manufacturers to up their game - evident in the now ubiquitous unboxing sites all over the web. Delivered in a translucent, plastic sarcophagus, this little treasure hovers mid-packaging. Remove the plastic seal at the top and the front falls down to reveal your spoils.

Simple operation cards accompany the Shuffle, making it great introductory iPod, especially for the older generation. I can even see people picking these up as 2nd iPods for exercising with. 240 song capacity, Mac and PC, in a super-small package - an obvious christmas stocking filler.

If you haven't checked out the brilliant TV ad its up on the Apple site now.

Tags: Apple, iPod, Shuffle, 1GB, small, MP3, iTunes, clasp, simple, lightweight, USB, Mac, Windows, Autofill

Samsung NV10 - point and shoot impressions

Samsung NV10
-10.1 Megapixels
-3x Optical Zoom
-Advanced Shake Reduction (ASR)
-“Smart Touch” User Interface
-Large 2.5" TFT LCD
-ISO 1000

Over the weekend, I got to put the NV10 through its paces a little, I say a little because I didn't use it as anything more than a put-it-in-your-pocket snapper.

I had fairly high hopes for this little fella, I like the retro black look and the hookup to my Mac was as usual, a piece of cake.

However for a 10.1 megapixel camera I hoped for more and those hopes were mostly dashed.

The unit is small and light, but the screen's prone to scratching, the USB cable that plugs in and acts as a charger too, means you can't stand the camera up whilst connecting it to your computer, which means it lays on its screen or face -neither being ideal.

The back is lined with a series of touch sensitive, contextual buttons. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it does work. Not great if, like me, you choose your settings as you go, lining up a shot then needing both hands to operate the touch sensitive buttons on the back.

The macro mode is good, but didn't seem as good as the Sony T10 I used recently. The resulting images are ok, but again, I've been more impressed with my rather old (if now broken) Sony P10.

The camera responds quickly, the burst modes and video modes work well, time between shots seems fast and initial switch on to picture taking was acceptable - but overall I was disappointed.

The unit's realtively cheap to buy, about £225 on-line. And for that sort of money maybe I'm being too harsh. However, I thought that image quality was lacking, colours seemed quite dull and the heralded ASR (anti-shake to help with your images) wasn't that great either.

I've not gone through the unit exhaustively, in fact I've used it as I would any easy to pick up point and shoot. But in those circumstances, my 4-year old Sony P10 did a better job, albeit slower and more chunky.

Tags: Samsung, NV10, Digital Camera, Point and Shoot, ASR, Macro, photography, smart touch, 3x Optical Zoom, 10.1 Megapixels

Compact digital camera roundup

People ask me all the time "Which camera should I buy?", by which they are normally referring to a point and shoot digital compact.

Over the summer there have been new compacts announced by pretty much all of the major manufacturers, so here's a summary of some of the best and a quick feature comparison.

I hasten to add, I haven't used any of these cameras, so make sure you read some proper reviews before making any purchasing decisions!

I've selected the newest, most comparable offerings from each manufacturer, so these are really the high-end of the ultra-compacts with the latest features, not your budget cameras.

So, here they are, in alphabetical order:

Canon Digital IXUS 850 IS

• 7.1 megapixels
• 2.5" LCD
• 25.1mm thick
• 640 x 480 @ 30 / 15fps movie mode
• ISO 1600
• 3.8x optical zoom
• Face Detection / 9-point focus
• SD / SDHC / MMC memory cards
• Optical image stabilisation
• Approx. 270 shots on one charge
  

Casio EXILIM Card EX S-770

• 7.2 megapixels
• 2.8" widescreen LCD
• 17.3mm thick
• 704 x 384 (Wide), 640 x 480 movie mode
• ISO 800 (Anti Shake or High Sensitivity modes)
• 3x optical zoom
• 9 point multi focus
• SD / SDHC / MMC memory cards
• Anti-shake DSP
• Approx. 200 shots on one charge

Nikon Coolpix S7c

• 7.1 megapixels
• 3.0" LCD
• 21mm thick
• 640 x 480 @ 30fps movie mode
• ISO 1600
• 3x optical zoom
• Face-priority AF focus
• SD memory cards
• Vibration Reduction
• WiFi connection
  
• Approx. 200 shots on one charge

Pentax Optio S7

• 7.0 megapixels
• 2.5" LCD
• 19.5mm thick
• 640 x 480 @ 30 fps (DiVX) movie mode
• ISO 400 (800/1600 at 4 MP)
• 3x optical zoom
• 5-point multi focus
• SD / SDHC / MMC memory cards
• Blur reduction mode
• Approx. 180 shots on one charge

Sony CyberShot DSC-T10

• 7.2 megapixels
• 2.5" LCD
• 20.6 thick
• 640 x 480 @ 30fps movie mode
• ISO 1000
• 3x optical zoom
• 5-point multi focus
• Memory Stick Duo™ / Memory Stick Duo™ Pro memory cards
• Optical image stabilisation
• Approx. 250 shots on one charge

Comparison table

(click image for large, readable version!)




So, all of the cameras have about the same resolution sensors; similar sized, decently large screens; similar movie modes and at least some kind of anti-shake or blur reduction.

I think table shows that spec-wise the Canon is the leader with it's high ISO 1600 sensitivity, optical image stabilisation, 3.8x zoom, face detection auto-focus and 270 shots on one charge. However, it does sacrifice on it's size and weight and is the most chunky of the 5.

The smallest is the Casio at just 17mm thick, nearly 8mm thinner than the Canon, while still managing to pack a 2.8" 16:9 display (the only widescreen display amongst this bunch), a 3x zoom, the same resolution and good battery life. It also has a widescreen movie recording mode. Very impressive and if having the most ultra-compact camera is what you're after, this is the one.

The Nikon has the largest screen at 3" and is the only camera here with WiFi for transferring images to your computer or printer wirelessly (although that may be frustratingly slow when downloading a whole memory card). It also has the same high ISO 1600 sensitivity and face recognition auto-focus as the Canon but it is also the second thickest after the Canon and doesn't support the new SDHC memory card format.

The Pentax doesn't really best any of the others in any category but it isn't too far off in most areas. It's the second thinnest after the Casio but it has the worst battery life at only 180 shots and only manages 4 megapixels at it's high sensitivity setting (7 megapixels normally). Otherwise, it's pretty much in line with the others with the 2.5" LCD, 3x zoom and 640 x 480 30fps movie mode.

Finally, the Sony is similar to the Pentax but slightly thicker, it does though have the second best battery life and is the only one here, other than the Canon, to have proper optical image stabilisation. But one of my pet hates about Sony is their insistence on using their own memory card format. All the other cameras here use SD but the Sony uses Memory Stick Duo, so if you already have SD cards, you're going to have to buy all new Memory Stick Duo cards to use the Sony.

So, which one would I buy? In the absence of hands-on reviews, judging purely on the specs and what I know of previous cameras from these manufacturers, I would say if you don't mind the extra bit of bulk, the Canon will probably take the best pictures but if smaller is better, then the Casio could well be the one. I would also consider the Nikon as it's possibly the best all round compromise between features and size.

I definitely recommend you try and find some decent reviews of these cameras before buying one though and as always, go into Jessops or something, have a look and try them out as well.

dpreview.com is always a good place to find excellent reviews.

Tags: cameras, canon, casio, nikon, pentax, sony, digital, review, roundup, tech, technology, gadget, schmadget, scb

Canon 400D preview

Digital Photography Review have just posted a great preview of the new Canon 400D, a 10 megapixel DSLR.

It's typically thorough and detailed. Definitely a recommended read if you are considering getting one:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/canoneos400d/

Being an owner of a 350D for less than a year, unfortunately I can't justify the purchase but it does sound like it's a great update to Canon's popular entry-level DSLR.

Tags: canon, 400d, digital rebel, xti, camera, dslr, schmadget, gadgets, tech, technology, scb

Sony BRAVIA KDL-46XBR2 review

Ultimate AV have a great, very detailed review of the Sony BRAVIA KDL-46XBR2 LCD TV (known as KDL-46X2000 in the UK).

Being a 1080p capable beast, I was very interested to read it. Sounds like it's pretty excellent for an LCD as well. Worth a read if you're in the market for a top of the range HDTV at the moment.

If I had to buy a TV tomorrow, this one might well be it.

Update: Added UK link.

Tags: hd, high definition, hdtv, 1080p, sony, bravia, 46xbr2, 46x2000, tech, technology, gadget, schmadget, scb