• Advanced Task Killer
• Aldiko eBook
• AllShare
• AndroidIRC
• Asphalt5
• autosquare
• Barrage Lite
• BBC News
• Bet calculator
• Betfair – http://iphone.betfair.com
• BigOven
• Bites
• Brightkite
• Bubble
• Bump
• cab4me
• calculator
• Calendar
• Camera
• Car locator
• Chess
• Comminity Fix
• Currency converter
• Daily Briefing
• Depth of Field Calculator
• Digger Free
• Dos Whistler
• doubleTwist
• Droid Auctions for eBay
• Earth
• Email
• Epicurious
• Evernote
• eWallet Viewer
• F1 Racing
• Facebook S!
• Fishin’ 2 Go (Lite)
• FM Radio
• Foursquare
• fring
• Gallery
• GamerCardroid for Xbox 360 Live
• Glympse
• Goggles
• Google Mail
• Google Sky Map
• Google Translate
• Gowalla
• Guitar hero 5 Demo
• Healthy Recipes
• IBM Seer
• IG Index – http://www.igindex.co.uk/dealing/lt/home.htm?locale=en_GB&webSiteId=igi
• iMapMyRun
• IMDb
• iMediaShare
• Internet
• Kayak
• Labryingh Lite
• Last.fm
• Layer
• LevelMatchCity
• Linked
• London City
• London Tube Live
• London tube Status
• Maps
• Market
• Memo
• Mini Diary
• MixZing
• MotoGP Pocket 2010
• Movies
• mSpot
• Music Player
• My Files
• myPlayer
• Navigation
• Network Discovery
• NewsRob
• No to 08
• Ocado
• Orange Wednesdays
• Pinball
• Pkt Auctions eBay
• Places Directory
• Qik
• Qype
• Remote RDP Lite
• Ringdroid
• Robo Defence FREE
• Rummble
• Runkeeper
• Samsung Apps
• SAP Note viewer
• SCVNGR
• Settings
• Shazam
• Shopper
• ShopSavvy
• SIM Toolkit
• Simple Last.fm Scrobbler
• Sky News
• Sky Remote Record
• Social Hub
• Speed Hud
• Speed Test
• Spotify
• Springpad
• Sar Wars Sounds and Ringtones
• Stock Alert
• Stocks
• TagReader
• Talk
• TED Mobile
• Tennis
• The Schwartz Unsheathed
• The Weather Channel
• TheWeather info
• ThinkFree Office
• ToonWarz Lite
• Trapster
• TripIt
• TTS Service Extended
• TubeStatus
• TV-Guide
• Tweetcaster Premium
• Twitter
• UK TV Droid
• Urbanspoon
• Ustream Broadcaster
• Ustream Viewer beta
• Video Player
• Vingo Voice
• Vodaphone McLaren
• Voice Dialler
• Voice Recorder
• Voice Search
• Waze
• WeatherBug
• Where’s My Droid
• WiFi Mapper
• WiFinder
• Wimbledon Tennis Feeds
• World Cup 2010
• World War
• WorldWideTime
• Write and Go
• XDA
• Yelp
• YouTube

I am a power-user when it comes to technology (as shown in my education and career choices) and I always want the best tech. So when it came to choosing a mobile phone I wanted one that offered a lot of functionality. After some some thinking I decided to get an Android based phone. The problem I had was the HTC EVO 4G that I had been lusting after for months wasn’t going to be available in the UK. Fortunately Samsung came to the rescue by bringing out their Galaxy S.

The 2 main things about this phone attracted me are the hardware and Software (of course!):

Hardware

Its technical specifications are the best of any phone in Europe right now. I will caveat that and say that the technical specifications are the best of any phone in Europe right now – for what I want. Other phones do have better features in one or more of the following categories:

• Longer battery life
• Better camera
• Better protection (i.e. scratch/water/fire/shock/drop proof)
• Better audio
• Better data or wLAN network

but this Samsung has the best all-round package for what I want. I’m not going to do a Samsung Galaxy S vs iPhone 4 hardware comparison in this post – maybe later. If you are interested you can easily compare them yourself.

Software

The software can be broadly broken down into 3 categories: Operating System, Applications and Development of Applications.

Operating System

I am a big fan of Android – even more so now that I have used it for a few weeks.

First of all – yes I know, it is a rip-off of the Apple iPhone interface. But I’m a consumer – so I don’t care, I just want what is best for me. Anyway, the IOS4 software (and OSX) is based on LINUX, it just has a wizzy UI – that’s a fact – get over it!

Secondly – I really do believe that Android is the best OS available right now. It has a nice look and feel, its memory management is really good (and it works), all of the applications (including core applications) can be superseded by custom applications (this is very powerful).

• Watch Androidology 1-3 for an overview of the OS
• Watch Android – Apps are created equal and  Android – Apps without borders for an example of how applications can embed or superseded other applications

Applications

Over the past few years, it has become very apparent that hardware alone does not make a good phone, it is actually the applications and the user experience that drive people to pick up and use their phone.

I was a little concerned before I bought my Samsung because I had heard that the Android applications were not as polished as those on the iPhone. However as soon as I saw them on my phone I was relieved – they look every bit as good as their iPhone counterparts.

In terms of finding applications, I have been very impressed with the number and quality of apps available on the Android Marketplace. I now have literally 50+ apps on my phone (including having deleted some) and all have been very good – and free!

• So far I have only bought 1 app (Tweetcaster). I went 3 weeks without buying it (the only limitation was a small advert at the bottom of the screen) and decided to purchase it after having tried some other Twitter clients and decided that it was the best for me. The order process was very quick and easy. The process was:
• Un-install the old app (would be nice if I didn’t have to as it meant I had to re-enter my configuration, but the instructions told me to do this)
• Find the Tweetcast premium app in the Android Marketplace (easy – this can be done by text input or by voice)
• The app was $4.99 (it would be nice if it converted it to £ for me)
• Selected ‘Buy’
• It then uses Google Checkout to buy the app. the Android marketplace is already linked to my Google account, so as I have used Google Checkout before (on my PC), it knew my credit card details. I just had to confirm payment. Once done I was able to install the application.

Development of Applications

I would really like to develop some applications – mainly to tie into the GetMeCooking website. I haven’t really coded Java since University, but after a bit of reading and watching videos on the Android Developers website and a few other websites, I was able to understand the concepts and write my first program (a list of items which when selected, launched the web browser at a target URL). Pretty good!

This year a lot of ‘high-profile’ Apple developers have defected over to Android, mainly because the Apple environment is too restricted. I won’t write about this now – maybe later

My Summary of the Features that Samsung mention in the Advert on their Website:

• Smart Alarm – Pointless. All it does is wake me up 5 minutes early
• Daily Briefing – Useless as its features are too limited
• Integrated Calendar – Excellent. It is integrated with Google Calendar
• Car Mode – Really good. It seems to pre-cache everything so as long as you stay on-track you don’t need a data signal. This also means that you can download the journey via wLAN to save any mobile data costs/usage. The disadvantage is that if you do veer off-track, you will need a data signal (not usually a problem in the UK, but too costly to use abroad)
• Layer Reality Browser – Really good, although really slow to load (should be significantly faster with Android 2.2…?)
• Wireless Tethering – I haven’t had a need to use this yet, but it is good to know that it is available. It did come in handy on occasion on my Windows phone
• Camera – Fast and responsive. Anti-shake seems to work well. I have also found the video (and audio) to work very well
• Social Hub – Good feature, but I don’t use it. I keep up-to-date with all the social networks anyway
• 4″ Super AMOLED screen – is really nice. Can bes seen from all angles, very good response rate and vibrant colours. Is better in sunlight than other phones I have owned. Plus it is extremely sensitive to touch
• SWYPE text input – Superb. You really have to use it to understand just how good it is! Well worth going through the tutorial to understand all of the features and get the most out of it
• ThinkFree – I haven’t actually used this yet, but I will. I was impressed to see that an PDF reader is built in – plus it is good so I haven’t bothered to install Adobe’s reader
• Internet browser – Is very good. Web pages appear very quickly and I haven’t had any issues at all with it
• TV remote Controller – I haven’t got a compatible TV (needs to be Samsung 2010 or later) and I’m not sure I would use a phone as a remote control anyway – but it’s there if I want it…
• DLNA with Multi Codec Support - This is excellent. With no configuration, I am able to play videos/music/photographs from my Windows PC or Windows Home Server over my wLAN
• Android Market - Not as nice to brows around as the Apple one, however it has a basic but functional search facility. I have been very impressed with the number and quality of the apps on the store. As there is no validation of apps on the store there are some instances where there are many apps that have been written by the same person (basically the same app but with different titles) – but this is quite rare. I have read that the app store will be improved soon
• Desk Mount - I haven’t got it and I won’t bother getting it

Niggles

The only real niggles I have with the phone at the moment are:

• Connectivity to the PC – It uses a program called Kies. When I first installed it, it worked well but since a patch came out recently it doesn’t always detect the phone. I have read in forums that they are aware of the issue and are looking to resolve it
• Google Sat-nav – It is great, except a recent patch came out and stopped it from working! It knows where I am on the map, but says that it can’t find the GPS! I have read that this will be fixed soon
• Soft Case – It didn’t come with one (this is mean!)
• Earphones – Good that they are noise isolating (I hate being able to hear peoples music even when they are 3 desks away), although they are not very good quality. They will do for now but I might replace them in the future

Some Blog Posts I Intend to Write in the Future Are:

• A list of all the apps I have installed to-date
• Reviews of some apps
• Things I like about Android

Let me know if you have any specific questions – I will be happy to answer them

It came out yesterday so I walked into my local Vodafone shop (in Milton Keynes) but they didn’t have one in stock – and didn’t know when they would (useless!).

Tonight I called O2 and got my PAC code (was painless – but taking a while to arrive…). I’ll be ending my contract 5 weeks early – I’ll have to pay for the remainder of the contract.

I have been working out the best deals for the phone. I don’t care about minutes or texts. All of these tariffs have at least 100 minutes (plenty for me) and at least 1GB data included, except for the £15 plan which has 500MB’s.

The £15 plan is the cheapest overall (it’s a 24 month plan but cheaper than the 18 month plans). However I am going to go for the £25 month plan, then I’ll downgrade to the £15 month plan as soon as I can in the contract. 500MB’s is actually plenty of data for a mobile phone as I am often near WiFi anyway. If I need to, I can step up to the £25 plan again at any time.

Plus if I order through Quidco, I will save an additional £50.

Some notes:

• http://www.best-mobile-contracts.co.uk is a good site for quick tariff comparisons
• I have used Mobiles.co.uk  a few times before and their rebate deals sound good, but they make purposefully tricky to get your money back. I haven’t ever got the full money back.

Android

I am a big fan of Android because it is open source, not tied to a single handset, comes with some really great software (including satellite navigation), some new and innovative software (such as Google Goggles and Google Layers) and has a very good user interface. Plus it is JAVA based so easy to develop for and has a very strong developer community.

The only problem is that there are no handsets that I want at the moment. The best one available in the UK is the HTC Desire, but that doesn’t have a front facing camera (neither will the HTC Desire 2). The best (most fully-featured) Android based phone in the world at the moment is the HTC Evo 4G, but this is only available on the Sprint network in America (plus it has really bad battery life). The DELL Streak is nice, but at 152.99mm is really too long for what I want.

There will be a lot of good Android based phones coming out this year – but I don’t know when (and when I am lusting after a new gadget, I don’t like waiting!).

Windows Phone 7

Previous versions of Windows mobile have been out for years and although pretty good, they have always been a bit buggy. I have owned several Windows based phones and have always had problems with all of them (6.1 has given me far fewer issues than previous versions – but it has been far from perfect).

Windows Mobile has always had an okay developer community and you can get most types of applications for it for free with no adverts.

The Windows Phone 7 operating system is due out later this year and it looks promising. All applications for Windows 7 will need to be written in Silverlight and all games will need to be written in XNA. I am a big fan of both Silverlight and XNA.

It doesn’t have Zune incorporated into it, rather a facsimile of it (so basically the same) – this is a very good thing.

The Windows Phone 7 interface as a whole looks very good – I like the concept as they are really making the phones interface personalised to the user.

However I don’t think they are doing enough. While the music interface will be good, I think the mobile interface will end up being clunky and slow to navigate around.

Microsoft do make some really fantastic software, but they suck at promoting it. For example, compare their official Windows Phone 7 website (which was hard to find via a Google search by the way!) to the official iPhone 4 website – if you didn’t know anything about the phones and just saw those 2 websites side by site, the clear winner would be Apple.

Apple iPhone 4

I am not a big fan of Apple. They keep bringing out devices with low-spec hardware – and software missing features that competitors have had for several years. Plus as people spend lots of money on apps, they then feel obliged/trapped into sticking with Apple so that they can retain those apps (with Microsoft or Android, if you buy an App you can then use it on any hardware with that operating system, not just a single device).

I see the Apple iPhone 4 as being a good smartphone for the mainstream, unlike Android which although is gaining on market share, I think is still being bought more by the technical community.

The iPhone 4 was announced this week and it does have some very good features – noticeably:

• A really good quality screen (although small in size compared with other phones)
• Very good battery life
• 802.11n WiFi
• Physically small phone
• The resolution of the iPhones and iPad screens are proportional, meaning that applications can be scaled to run on any of them (although they are better if they are custom-developed for each device)
• Gyroscope

The bad points of the iPhone 4 are:

• Small screen
• Non-standard screen resolution, so it not true 720p (this is because it is 4x the resolution of the previous iPhones – so that applications can be scaled to run on it).
• No kick-stand (so you have to hold it if you want to watch videos, etc.)
• Glass on the back (I think this will be reflective and annoying when it is on your desk)
• No FM Radio (I use the FM radio on my Windows phone every day when I walk into town to get my lunch!)
• CPU is likely to be under-clocked (as per previous versions of the iPhone) in order to improve battery life
• Only 32GB’s (max) internal storage
• No expandable memory (e.g. Micro SD card slot)
• The main camera has a small diameter lens
• Main camera is only 5mp (other mobiles have 8mp)
• Only single LED flash on the main camera
• Only a VGA quality front facing camera
• Video chat is iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 only (this is likely to change in 2011)
• Video chat is only possible over WiFi (this is likely to change in 2011)
• Currently no video Skype support (this is likely to change soon)
• No standard USB connection (this is a big deal when you go to a friend’s house and want to charge your phone!)
• No HDMI output port
• No free satellite navigation software (this is a big deal for me as I use it a lot on my current phone). You can purchase TomTom for £60 – but I would much prefer Google maps
• Not true multi-tasking
• The App Store encourages developers to make all apps either paid for, or to include advertising (many Android and Windows Mobile applications are free with no adverts)

Many applications are being written for Android and Windows first, then the iPhone. This is because the iPhone is:

• Harder and slower to code for
• Many applications are banned on the App Store which are allowed on other devices (this has resulted in some high-profile developers moving from Apple to Android)
• You can develop Apple apps on PC’s, but you need additional software to do this (more hassle) – Apple are not making it easy to do this. There are many more PC’s out there than macs, therefore there are many more PC and JAVA based developers out there than Apple ones.

Summary

The Android and Windows operating systems are more open, have cloud based technologies (this is becoming increasingly important) and have better hardware, but the Apple iPhone 4 is a nice phone (albeit with some serious limitations) and does have a good range of apps.

My personal preference right now would be the Android operating system with HTC hardware (but with the iPhone screen technology – only bigger).

If there was a decent handset for Android I would get that. I am half-tempted by the iPhone – but only half-tempted. I really want Android, but I think I’m going to have to wait a few months for some decent hardware to come out. Then again, I don’t like to wait. So I’ll make my decision once the iPhone comes out.

The idea spawns content, design, usability and interaction.

Once I have an idea in my head, I brainstorm content and features in OneNote.

Then comes usability.

Then comes basic design.

Then comes the coding.

Then comes iteration of all of the above and lots of sleepless nights

Currently I am developing:

http://www.moorespeed.co.uk

http://www.getmecooking.com

I have started:

http://www.baconaholic.com – a fun site about bacon

but I have been too busy with the above websites to spend any time on it. I will get round to it someday.

I created these StackExchange sites:

http://london.stackexchange.com/ – Q&A site about London

http://sapbasis.stackexchange.com/ – Q&A site about SAP BASIS

http://www.starbase24.com/ – Q&A site about the Star Trek Online MMORPG

But they didn’t get off the ground. The feedback I was getting from the Star Trek gaming community was that they didn’t understand the concept of the site, so just stuck with forums and sites with FAQ pages. This is a real shame as forums and FAQ pages are really terrible ways of getting information to questions and the StackExchange sites are excellent.

and then there is:

http://www.performit.co.uk – I updated it recently, but it needs a decent design (currently looks rubbish)

http://www.performit.co.uk/network/ – I haven’t updated this in years and I’m not planning to

http://www.techboy.co.uk – haven’t updated this is ages. Lots I would like to add (in particular results of races) but other things take priority. I haven’t got much incentive to work on this

http://blog.techboy.co.uk – I would like to tweak the design (it is currently quite hard to read) and add my own logo. maybe change the entire template. Any ideas? I would also like to add more content, but I haven’t really got much incentive to do so

I currently subscribe to around 10 SAP RSS feeds, which is okay, although due to the nature of SAP and its modular approach to software; items are cross-posted to various RSS feeds meaning that I see a lot of duplication.

Now SAP have started to use Twitter, but their approach to it is to just export the subject line of their RSS feed ‘SAP Developer Network SAP Weblogs‘ (which I subscribe to) into their Twitter feed which is http://www.twitter.com/sapnetwork

Because of this, the SAP Network Twitter feed is essentially SPAM, so I have unsubscribed. Shame

Large companies (especially large software companies who sell products in this market) need to use tools such as Twitter and RSS responsibly and effectively – and encourage their partners and clients to do the same. Otherwise they will continue to get a bad reputation for it and lack the ‘feel-good’ factor that other companies manage (such as Stackoverflow and 37Signals). Don’t even get me started on the SAP Developer Network (SDN) forum grr!

Oh and in the interest of fairness I shouldn’t just highlight SAP’s failings. I should also point out that the Windows Mobile Development Team Twitter feed is also basically SPAM too.

I will keep this list updated. Feel free to comment.

All software is freeware unless otherwise specified.

• HTC Hot Fixes (all need to be re-installed if you hard-reset the phone)
• .net Compact Framework 3.5. Some of the program listed below require this. To install: Connect your PDA using to your PC. Ensure that Active Sync is running. Run the program and follow the instructions. Then you need to reset your PDA (on the HTC Touch HD you need to remove the back cover in order to press the reset button)
• Auto Call Record (automatically record all telephone conversations)
• BBC iPlayer (good for catching up with BBC TV and radio programs)
• Bing (Web search, maps/directions, weather, etc. Replaced Windows Live Search)
• Bluehoo (a social networking program, uses BlueTooth). Good in theory but I have yet to find anyone else using it
• CERegEditor (registry editor – installs and runs on the PC)
• CleanRAM (Cleans your RAM)
• CurrencyConv (Currency Converter)
• Depth of Field (a Depth of Field calculator for Canon photographic lenses)
• Diamond Light Saber (Star Wars light saber)
• DivX Player (plays DivX videos)
• Dog Whistle (a dog whistle. I don’t know if it works, I need to find a dog to annoy…)
• eWallet (place to keep secure data such as passwords, credit card details, etc.). You have to pay for this, although I got it bundled with a PDA years ago and this version still works
• F1 2009 Mobile (Formula 1 2009 information on your Pocket PC)
• Fennec (Mozilla based Web Browser). I prefer Opera
• Flix (shows local cinemas and listing the film showtimes)
• Fring (IM and VOIP – lots of formats)
• Friendmobilizer (Facebook client). To be honest I don’t like this… I’ll give it a fair try for a couple of weeks but I’ll probably end up deleting it
• Fonebook (Facebook to Outlook synchronisation – far better than OutSync which only synchronises photos). Not strictly mobile software, but is useful if you synchronise your mobile with Outlook. It allows you to get photos, telephone numbers, birthdays and other information from Facebook. It also allows you to associate Facebook contacts with existing users in Outlook (e.g. David/Dave) as well as allowing you to create a new contact sourced from info in Facebook.
• G-Shotgun ()
• GClippers (pretend hair/beard clippers)
• Google Maps (Google mapping program. Includes Google Latitude which lets you share your current location with friends. It also includes Google Streetmap functionality)
• Google Mobile App ()
• GYRATOR (uses the G-Sensor to auto-rotate applications to match the screen orientation). Lots of customisation options. It does need some setting up. I very rarely use this, but it’s nice to have installed
• HTC Light Saber (Star Wars light saber). Diamond Light Saber is better, but it is nice to have this one installed too
• i-nigma (reads 2D barcodes. Can be found on sites such as http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/)
• IGIndex (online sports betting and financial spread betting). Note: To get this to work you have to change the default protocol to the socket option (this is on on the logon screen | Settings | Protocol | Socket). Even on the largest font setting, the text is very small, but it is usable
• Lighter (a pretend lighter – for concerts, etc.) It’s actually not very good
• leTour 2009 (information on le Tour de France). A poorly written application and hard to read on the screen. Otherwise it would be good
• Media Centre for Windows (access your music, photos and videos)
• Microsoft MyPhone (Synchronises and backus up information between your phone and the web )
• Mobi Cocktail (Popular cocktail recipes)
• Mobile Manager for Netflix ()
• MoorHuhn ()
• MTreeSize (Displays the size of each folder on your internal disk)
• NoData (disables data connections – good for when you are on holiday and don’t want a big data connection bill!)
• Octrotalk (IM program)
• Omniano the Band ()
• PHM Soft Reset (enables you to soft-reset the phone without having to press the physical reset button – which on the HTC Touch HD is a pain because you have to remove the rear cover)
• Pocket Last FM (a lean but decent Last FM player)
• Pocket Scrobbler (requies a LastFM account – free. Mine is http://www.last.fm/user/Techboy_UK)
• PockeTwit (Twitter program – cool interface. Better than Tiny Twitter)
• Power Radio (a radio client)
• Qik (Stream video to http://qik.com in real time. My account is http://www.qik.com/techboy). This program works, but it does run very slowly
• S2P – Slide to Play (a stylus-free MP3/WMA player application. It fully integrates with S2U2)
• S2U2 – Slide to unlock (a simple lock/unlock application which has the iPhone style slide unlocking)
• Shoot Me (has a variety of weapon noises)
• Skyfire (web browser – plays more content, such as video; than other browsers)
• Skype (VOIP)
• Throttle Storage (Graphically shows used space)
• Touchtris (Tetris clone). It works, but it’s a bit fiddly to miss with a finger interface
• Track My Run (Tracks progress as you run/walk)
• VXUtil (network applications)
• WiFi Monster (WiFi discovery software)
• WirelessTime (lets you schedule when you want your phone, Bluetooth, WiFi and sound to be active or inactive. It comes with English and French languages installed)
• WSpeedMeter (shows current speed, co-ordinates and altitude, uses GPS)

I have tried, but not currently got working on HTC Touch HD:

• Betfair (online sports betting and gambling program)

I haven’t got around to installing yet:

• tnyynt SD TuneUP (speeds up the SD card)

Useful Notes:

1. To make Opera the default browser:

You can actually reinstate Opera Mobile as the default browser (PIE would have been made the default browser if you had installed another browser such as Skyfire or Iris, and uninstalled them subsequently).

Launch Opera Mobile manually via Start Menu > Programs. In the address bar, enter “opera:config” and go to the page. The “Preferences Editor” page will be shown. Scroll down until you see “Install“. Tap on it to expand the section. Enable the tickbox for “Browser First Time Launch“, then tap “Save“.

You have now reinstated Opera Mobile as the default browser.

Leave a comment to let me know of any other cool/useful apps!

I carefully unwrapped it, took it to work and charged it at my desk. Then I called O2 and got the on the ‘special’ number discussed here http://www.modaco.com/content/blackstone-blackstone-modaco-com/278122/unlimited-web-on-o2-can-you-use-for-other-apps/. I was in a queue for about 30 seconds, then someone answered. I told her that I would like to change my bolt on from texts to Web and she put me through to someone else.

I then told this new person the same thing and she sorted it out for me straight away, no questions asked. It will be done tomorrow. I was on the phone for about 5 minutes in total.

So I am very happy!

All I have to do now is transfer my number from my current O2 phone to the new one (I already have the PAC code) and raise a support call with Quidco because it says the £40 refund was declined.

The other exciting news today is that I’ve entered the 6 hour Questars adventure race (round one of a series of 4 races) with Steve (as a pair) which is on the 28th March in the New Forest, Hampshire. This will probably be my first race of the year – and my first real opportunity to try out my new bike

We have gone for the hardest category which is the Questars Trio, 6 hours (I did the 5 hour version with Dave last September):

Questars Trio races have three stages – trail running, mountain biking and kayaking. Within each stage there are a range of checkpoints to visit. Each checkpoint has a value and the winners are those that have accumulated the most points within the time limit. The race is continuous. Transition between stages is all part of the race. Teams choose in which order to do each stage.

Navigation between checkpoints is straight forward, with the course set so that you can make use of the many cycle tracks, footpaths and bridleways in each area.

I’ve also had confirmation from mobiles.co.uk that my HTC Touch HD order has been processed, so I should get it on Monday.

It was out of stock when I ordered it (Thursday) but is now showing as in stock, so I should get it in a few days.

It is based on Windows Mobile 6.1, has a decent screen (resolution of 480×800) and a 528MHz processor (the iPhone has a 400MHz processor which is under-clocked and a low resolution screen – I’m not a fan of the iPhone).

The only thing it has not got which I would like is a slide out keyboard, however the touch-screen keyboard is supposed to be pretty good so I will see. I can’t hold out for one of these.

When I ordered the HTC Touch HD from mobiles.co.uk, I did it via Quidco to get £40 back and another code I found for the Jabra 2010 Bluetooth headset and car kit (enter ‘mobiles.co.uk code’ into Google to find this – and you enter the code when you order the phone on the mobiles.co.uk website). I also chose the half price line rental option for 5 months (which I know is a pain to claim back, but is worth doing).

When I get the phone I won’t open it, but I’ll try to get the unlimited SMS bolt-on swapped for the 1Gb web bolt-on ) lots of people have succeeded in doing this, even though the contract says it’s not supposed to be possible. If I can’t get that, I’ll return the phone.

If I can get it, I will then change my current O2 number to PAYG, then from PAYG to the new SIM card in order to retain my number.

I hate all the hoops you have to go through when you deal with phone companies. Grr!