P.s. I renewed my domain earlier this week so I should be sticking around a bit and I know I haven’t exactly stuck to my new years resolutions, lets hope that can change over the summer

Samsung
The latter part of 2010 was brilliant for Samsung. Their flagship phone, the Galaxy S really caught the spotlight as the device to aim for and while Samsung’s touchwiz interface and other tweaks to Android (such as the file system) dragged scores down in the reviews, it still caught on in the consumer space and the latest figures show that it has sold over 10 million Galaxy S phones up until January.
Yet it is MWC and so time for a refresh that being the Galaxy S II. This really does look the bees knees and if I had to put down money for a phone now, no doubt this would one of the few phones in the final decision. At 8.49mm thick it is the same thickness as my iPod touch and that doesn’t have all the phone, GPS and NFC radios. On the subject of NFC, or near field communications, it includes the same NFC hardware that is in the Nexus S and it seems more and more likely that the technology will make the push into western markets. (It is already a big thing in Japan.) Aside from that it also includes a 4.3 inch super AMOLED plus screen which should be very nice to watch videos and play games on. 1GB of RAM will also provide plenty of space for multitasking and the 8MP camera on the back will hopefully be a good shooter. As for the processor inside it, the dual-core, Samsung made Exynos processor has not been seen yet and so we will have to wait to see how it performs as this is its first device but if last years hummingbird processor is anything to go on it should be reasonably good.

HTC
After a brilliant start to 2010 HTC started to fade as the dominant Android manufacturer, particularly after the Galaxy S was released. The Nexus One/Desire really set the stage as to how to do android properly and the Desire is still a good phone a year on, especially with it’s declining price point. In September HTC released the Desire HD with updated specs and a larger screen but from personal experience around campus, I seem to see more Galaxy Ss than Desire HDs and HTC has been loosing market share to Samsung for it.
So, I was expecting great things from HTC to come back to their strong point, it was them after all who brought android to market in the form of the G1 and then improved it with the Hero. But it their offer seems fairly lackluster this year. The Desire S (not sure why HTC are going with the S moniker as that can really be attributed to Samsung), gets an updated MSM8255 1GHz processor with 768MB of RAM and ships with 2.4 Gingerbread. The Wildfire S is also updated and this one to an extent makes a lot more sense. The screen resolution has been increased from 320×240 to 480×320, which is what Android was originally designed for, and now means that developers should find it easier to write apps for the device.
As for the Incredible S, I was hoping this would be HTCs flagship phone to win back market share from Samsung but I am honest (I will be by saying I am a spec junkie) I don’t think it will. The MSM8522 is not quite outdated but it is still last years hardware and the same processor that is in the Desire HD. As we move to dual core processors occupying the mobile space, a single core processor is a disadvantage nevermind last years hardware. But, it may yet win out on price which will certainly not be as high as the Galaxy S II.

Motorola
Moto unveilled the Atrix at CES and it was undoubted one of the best devices of the show (the other one being the XOOM Tablet). Coming with an Nvidia Tegra2 processor and 1GB of RAM and a 960×540 qHD display, this phone is really blurring the line between a phone and computer. Still the amazing thing about the phone is the accessories that come with it, notably the laptop dock. When docked in the laptop dock the phone runs what Motorola call the Webtop with is in effect a small version of linux but the amazing thing is it runs it off the phone so the laptop dock is not necessarily a laptop it is more like a keyboard and large screen dock. I don’t feel like I can accurately describe how this thing works together so here is a video Engadget took at CES. As you may have seen, the other dock is a multimedia dock for outputting 1080p video to your TV.
This is going to be a really good phone for this year and is definitely going to give Samsung some competition.

LG
LG’s android offering in 2010 was mainly of the budget phone variety, the Optimus One selling quite well. Then late last year the Optimus 2X was announced followed by the Optimus 3D. The phones are powered by a Tegra 2 and TI OMAP 4 respective dual core processors. The 2X has been give to reviewers and many have found the phone to have good hardware but is let down by LG’s modifications to Android. The Optimus 3D includes LG’s glasses free 3D display which is used in the Nintendo3DS but it will be interesting to see how android works on a 3D display but early indications show that TI’s OMAP 4 processor is just as good if not slightly beefier than a Tegra 2.

Sony
The Xperia Play has to be one of the worst kept secrets in the tech industry ever. First it was rumoured, then engadget got pictures then a hands on all before the device was announced. Still the device is an interesting one, bringing a playstation style slide out control pad it is clear the device is aimed at the mobile gaming market but by being the only phone that has this hardware I think it will be unlikely that it will be supported in a big way by developers. Which in turn consigns the controls to the games specifically developed by sony to take advantage of them and sell the device with other developers using onscreen controls that will work with all phones. That is not to say that it is not a good phone bringing an 854×480 display and decent processing power it is still going to be good at gaming. The Xperia Arc was also shown again having being unveiled at CES and the Neo was also announced.
The problem I find though lies with Sony who, with their first android phones, had a horrible experience updating android and with the customisations needed to go into the Xperia Play to make the controls work, it is only going to delay updates again.

All things considered, the phones released over the next few months are going to have some serious power behind them and dual core CPUs will be the main consideration when it comes to choosing a high end device. If I was to put money down now for a phone it would have to be a Galaxy S II.

The game started well with both sides seeming fairly even matched but the Packers got the first touchdown just under 4 minutes from the end of the first quarter and followed up with another TD from an interception. The second quarter started with a Steelers field goal and finished with a touchdown each for either side and 21-10 to the Packers at half time. Yet with a number of injuries in the packers defense, they couldn’t hold the steelers at bay who scored the only touchdown of the third quarter closing the game to just 4 points. With another TD by the packers three minutes into the final quarter, I felt the game was beyond reach of the Steelers but as I have learnt with american football, a 10 minutes is a long time and plenty of time for the game to change. Change it did as the Steelers got another touchdown and a 2 point conversion closing the game to 3 points and needing only a field goal to level the game. The steelers then held the Packers eight yards from the end zone and ended up scoring a 23 yard field goal kick on the 4th down taking the score to 31-25 and the ball back in the steelers hands. A drive down field then saw the steelers get to their own 13 yard line but an interception on the 4th down saw the ball turned over back into the Packers hands allowing them to run out of the rest of the clock.

Overall it was a very good game with two tightly matched teams, without the two early touchdowns I feel the Packers would not have been able to contain the Steelers offense following injuries but the Steelers couldn’t full capitalise on it and trailed all the game. It certainly got rather tense toward the end of the game and I thought there were a couple of times that the steelers were going to get through but the packers held strong and deserved the win, especially after the departure of Brett Favre.

Yet the Super Bowl is as much about the football as it is about watching the commercials. Here are the ones that I thought were the best.












And here are the trailers for the films I want to see

The full list is here

As 2008 closed I felt, not neccessarily sad, but certainly that sometihng was ending (which it was obviously). It had been a brilliant year, finishing high school, a really enjoyable holiday at Nana Beach which I still look back on with fond memories, and then starting college. I went into 2009 feeling that I couldn’t really have a much better year. And time showed that was the case as 2009 unfolded in front of us. Nana passed away in May as mum began her radio therapy treatment. Nan’s passing then put us all under quite a bit of emotional tension which, as Poppa spent more and more weekends here, bubbled under the surface for a few months but just out of the reach of talking about it. It came to a head last christmas Eve and I forget the exact events but Dad flipped and I such a way that me and Katy both remarked that we didn’t fancy spending a considerable amount of time in each others company in the planned holiday in 2010. Soon after christmas, before new year, while sat round the dinner table Katy and I brought up the events of Christmas Eve and our feelings as to the state of our family. Feelings that don’t need to be discussed here but I feel going in to 2010 we were in a better position with them being out in the open.

And 2010 happened and I feel exactly the same as I did at the end of 2008.

The year started on New Years Eve which was a fantastic night spent in the company of really good friends. The majority of the first part of the year was still the same old life at college which was fun all the same. Days off in the snow were memorable, making massive snowmen and sledging down the hill at the back of wayfarer’s drive. March brought a road trip to Warwick Uni to attend the Warwick TEDx conference which was extremely interesting and the drive there and back was thoroughly enjoyable. Aware of the impending A-Level exams, work and preparation became the main focus of life from easter time right up to my last exam at the end of June. Amongst this backdrop of revision we had our college leavers ball and said goodbye to a good number of friends made during time at college.

July brought an amazing holiday in the USA, to which Mum and Dad cannot be thanked enough. Starting in Las Vegas, we saw the Grand Canyon which is simply breathtaking and took in the sights around Vegas however the oppressive heat, even at 10pm, meant that we couldn’t spend that much time outside and darted from hotel to hotel to stay in the cool of air conditioining. We did however manage to meet up and go to the Stratosphere Towers with our neighbours who moved away a few years ago, by coincidence they were doing the same trip but in the opposite direction and we were both in Vegas at the same time. From Vegas, we drove up through death Valley and spent a night in a small town called Independence (it still reminds me of the club in wigan) and the day after carried on our drive north and passing over the Sierra Nevada mountains via the spectacular Tioga Pass. We spent 4 nights in a log cabin on the banks of Bass Lake, about 30 miles south of Yosemite National park. The first couple of days we were there we spent relaxing on the lake and the areas surrounding the cabin and then the last full day we venture back up the Wowona Highway (of which a 17 mile stretch was dug up for roadworks) and spent a day touring Yosemite National Park via the Glacier Point coach tour. This was thoroughly enjoyable and the driver leading the tour was superb and very knowledgeable.

From Yosemite we then drove through California to spend our last 5 nights in San Francisco which was fantastic. The city is very nice to be in and has an incredible micro-climate hence temperatures of around 10-15C which was very nice compared to the 50C the car was measuring in Death Valley. The city is like no other and me and katy both remarked how nice it would be to live here or take a gap year here. We spent the last week of the holiday with relatives in Knoxville, TN which finished off an amazing trip.

Arriving back home, the waiting game began with results day looming. Yet time passes and the two weeks passed quickly and results day dawned. Not wanting to check UCAS beforehand, I headed to college to collect my results. A*AAB in maths, further maths, geography and physics respectively meant that I was going to Sheffield to study Civil Engineering. I Spent the following weekend in a field listening to some fantastic music at V Festival at Weston Park. The weekend was fantastic having watch Madness, Kasabian, Florence and the Machine, David Guetta and many many more. I then returned home to find myself with a job for 3 weeks before I went to university and then I left and life hasn’t really been the same since.

I have met some fantastic people at uni an shared some brilliant moments with them. In a house of 13 there is never really a quiet moment and certain nights will always be remembered. Not all of uni life is drinking and nights out and work is still being done and with exams looming revision will yet again be rearing its head. That said, civil engineering is really interesting (and yes I include concrete in that). Between us, we have our favourite modules but I am certainly in the minority of those who enjoy sustainable engineering. Having lived away from home for a considerable length of time now, family life is very different to university and a lack of banter is never really very good. I look forward to getting back to uni and many coming nights out this semester.

Generally, a lot of things have still  been fairly constant this year. I still love driving and as always I still keep up to date in the movements of the tech industry, specifically Android and phones. However other tastes have changed throughout the year and I have started listening to some brilliant artists this year notably Deadmau5, The Temper Trap and Ronny K. It is often remarked as to how varied my music tastes are and this leads me on to this years music playlist which I hope everyone can enjoy some songs in it even if trance is not to your tastes.

Many tracks here remind me of many different place, a lot of memories of V Fest, holiday and uni. There is also a spotify playlist available here my2010

I hope 2011 will be just as good a year that 2010 has been and I have a few resolutions I hope to keep. One is to read more and I hope with my kindle this is possible. I also hope to write more on here and the last one  is to take more pictures, hopefully lots of pictures with my DSLR but also of people and nights out. I hope this year has been just as good for other people and see you in the new year.

San Francisco by night

A collection of pictures took at the California Science Institute (The museum building was designed by Arup but I didn’t know this so I have no pictures of the building)

Pictures taken from various boat rides out into the bay

The Golden Gate Bridge

Other Pictures of San Francisco