iPhone 5 announced

iPhone 5 (photo courtesy of engadget)

So Apple have finally unveiled the iPhone 5. Colour me unimpressed.
Undoubtedly, it is a great feat of engineering. The fact that it is a whopping 20% lighter and nearly 20% thinner than its predecessor is great. It now offers a bigger screen at 4" (up from 3.75") which allows for an extra row of icons on the home screen. It sports a new A6 processor that allows from some incredible graphics from games as well as being faster on the ball when opening applications and browsing the web. It also manages to do this whilst increasing battery life.
Those who love to blog and instagram it will enjoy the additional functionality of the camera, which is another step up from the iPhone 4s (adding in the ability to take panoramic shots). Also new is the connector. Gone is the old 30 pin and in its place, a more svelte charging cable.
But so what?
This kind of thing we expect from Apple. We get that every new product we make is sexier, lighter and faster than the now ugly, over weight, bloated previous model. Apple had settled into a nice tic toc model (used by Intel) where one new iPhone would be a complete overhaul and add in loads of functionality that made you wonder how you coped in life before. The next one would be a slight tarting up of it, slightly faster, slightly tweaked.
The iPhone 5 was meant to be the next big thing. It should have been the second coming of the Jesus phone, blasting aside all pretenders. Instead it is merely playing catch up, slightly increasing screen size, bragging about an extra row of icons (really???!!) and, whilst being a really nice piece of kit, not offering that old Apple "Oh my God!!" moment.
This is what is really worrying. Since Tim Cook has taken over, we haven't really had any of those. He has steered the good ship Apple well over this past year. But we haven't seen anything fresh, new or exciting. Just a few tweaks on the formula. Still, this is an enviable position to be in; coming out with desirable products that are worshipped the world over, making these products even better year on year. That would be incredible for any other company. For Apple, it is merely standard, we expect more. They can't afford to rest on their laurels, they need to innovate and push us into the future again.

Gabe Newell "Windows 8 catastrophe"

Today, I read that Gabe Newell is not a fan of Windows 8 .

This was already known, he had criticised it during its developer's release preview; nearing its release, he is now calling it a catastrophe. I have to disagree.

I have the greatest respect for Gabe and Valve software (my wallet hates them though) but find myself opposed to his way of thinking. It's difficult to counter his assertions as he offers no reasons why he feels this way. He does say this :

"Now we have to start finding ways that we can continue to make sure there are open platforms."

which gives us some indication. I think this rules out the tired design debate that has been going on since Windows 8's unveiling (seriously, Metro is a good look, and it's about time things were shaken up).

I believe he feels Windows 8 will become a closed platform, one that will restrict how Steam (their digital store and major revenue earner) operates. I really feel this is unwarranted, I can see the tablet devices having restrictions (which are necessary on those kinds of devices to ensure a consistent, smooth user experience), but cannot imagine that being transferred to the desktop. Yes Microsoft will have their own store in which they can impose restrictions, but it won't exist like in a vacuum like on the Xbox 360; that would drive away partners like Gabe said, it would also be suicide for Microsoft.

I also find this talk highly hypocritical, Steam is also available on Mac OSX, a famously closed and controlled operating system. Apple also have their own App Store on it. The exact same conditions and more exist as will do on Windows 8 when that arrives. For some reason, this is fine, but totally unacceptable when Microsoft does the same.

But I am glad Gabe Newell has this opinion....

His response is to hedge his bets. He is doing this by porting Steam to Linux!!! This can only be a good thing. For years now, Linux has been making the move from hobbyist's tinkering set, to a friendly, useable OS for the casual user. One thing that has been hindering its progress?

Gaming on Linux is awful!!!

The selection of games is awful. The quality of gaming is awful. The number of good games are few and far between. The good news is that this has been improving; indie games are coming over (such as the excellent World of Goo ) but the arrival of Steam will kick this into over drive.

It would be a grave omission on my part if I didn't mention the reason I feel why Linux gaming is in a sorry state. This reason? Graphics cards drivers are appalling! You could have the world's greatest graphics card and it will still run like a dog on Linux. I don't blame any distros for this; AMD and Nvidia...J'accuse. For years, these two have offered half-hearted support that won't satisfy the hard core gamer, leaving them with Windows as the only option.

Valve are going to change all that. All their Source games are coming to Linux (Half Life 2, Counter Strike, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, etc). They want these games to run well. As such, they have been working closely with the graphics cards vendors to ensure this will happen. This will massively benefit the Linux platform, and the gamer, because as history has shown, where Valve goes, others will be sure to follow!

The especially good news if you're a gamer looking to make the switch from Windows to Linux when this happens? Your existing purchases will be valid on any platform they are supported! (For example, you buy Half Life 2 and this will work on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux)

So whilst I really disagree with Gabe's assertions, I can do nothing but love the outcome! Who knows, Gabe might even change his mind....

Office 2013 unveiled

So Microsoft have just shown off their latest version of office, colour me intrigued!

I skipped over Office 2010 as I already had 2007 and didn't feel like paying for a few cosmetic tweaks. 2013 looks to be something different though! A brand new approach to delivery of the content (subscription and cloud based services) ,tighter integration with the Windows look and feel (in this case, Metro. This is a good thing as Office has always beaten its own drum and stuck out from a conventional Windows application), social features built in as well as making it easier than ever to avoid hideous Power point presentations!

I will definitely be upgrading come its release.

For a more detailed breakdown, I recommend this article from Arstechnica.

Introduction

This is my first post on this blog, "What I'm thinking".

My name is Ryan Graham, currently a student at Manchester Metropolitan University and interested in a career in software development. I will be running this blog and a sister one, "What I'm doing" concurrently. This blog will provide my thoughts and commentary on the news from the gaming and technology world.

What I'm doing will talk about projects that I'm working on, in a professional, educational or personal capacity.  I hope you enjoy both.