Milton blog

The Apple iPhone arrived in Toronto this week to a Beatles-like reception

It’s arguably the most-hyped consumer electronics gadget in history and Apple’s iPhone is finally available in Canada through Rogers Wireless. With all the media hoopla surrounding this sexy smartphone there’s probably very little you don’t already know about it.

Here are the things people are saying they love about the iPhone 3G, and the things they don’t, as compiled by the Toronto Star last week:

What people love

1. It’s so wireless. Ten different radios are under the hood of the iPhone 3G, including Wi-Fi (to surf the Net while on a wireless network), Bluetooth (for hands-free headsets), GPS (to navigate to a destination) and 3G connectivity for high-speed wireless connectivity through Rogers’ HSPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) network.

2. The display. The 3.5-inch multi-touch screen makes it a breeze to navigate through the phone’s features. Use your fingertip to flick down your contacts like a digital Rolodex. Pinch and expand to zoom into your photos. Tap to preview and play music via the iTunes Wi-Fi store.

3. Shhh, it’s really a computer. You haven’t surfed the Net on a phone until you’ve used an iPhone, thanks to a real HTML-based Safari browser with support for photos and some videos (such as QuickTime). Turn the iPhone sideways and the built-in accelerometer automatically flips the screen horizontally.

4. It’s an iPod. Store up to 8GB or 16GB (depending on the model) of music, podcasts, audio books, photos and videos – all copied over when synched with your iTunes software. But unlike any previous iPod, the iPhone also has a built-in speaker so you don’t need ear buds if you don’t want to wear them.

5. Programs galore. Apple opened up the platform for third-party developers. The AppStore means you can download thousands of applications to run on the iPhone, ranging from 3-D video games and song-writing software (think GarageBand for your pocket) to medical encyclopaedias and digital cookbooks with video tutorials.

6. It’s stable. The operating system is rock solid. We haven’t experienced a crash once. Any time you want to get out of a program you don’t have to look for an “X” to tap in order to close it – simply tap the solitary “Home” button at the bottom of the iPhone. It might not be a sexy feature, but there’s nothing more un-sexy than a crashing OS with a complicated interface.

7. Coffee is close by. Type in something you’re looking for in the Google Maps search field – such as “coffee,” “gas station,” “Indian food,” “CIBC” or “hotel” – and you’ll immediately see pushpins fall onto the satellite image. Tap the closest “point of interest” and it will present the phone number (tap to call), website, address and directions.

What don’t people love about the iPhone 3G?

1. The soft QWERTY keyboard takes some getting used to – especially for those with fat thumbs. And while you can hold it horizontally while surfing the web (to make the keyboard bigger), emails must be typed on the vertical layout.

2. No video recording. What gives? Plus, the 2-megapixel camera is the same as last year’s model (5 megapixels would’ve been nice).

3. No MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) support. You can take a photo and email it to someone but you can’t send it to a friend’s phone with a message.

4. No voice-activated dialling (e.g. “Call Home”), as you can with most other phones. On a related note, there is no voice recording feature (an invaluable tool as a journalist).

5. Google Maps doesn’t give you audio-based turn-by-turn instructions, so it’s basically useless while driving.

6. You can’t copy and paste text on the iPhone, such as a copying some words from a website to the Notes section. With any luck this oversight will be fixed with a firmware update.

7. More memory, please. Rumour has it a 32GB version is in the works. At the very least offer support for expandable memory cards, no?

– Compiled by Marc Saltzman, special to the Toronto Star

Plasma TVs, which use more electricity, can offer a superior picture because they can display truer black colours and have higher contrast ratios than LCD screens.

Choosing between the two technologies may hinge on price and how the TV will be used

It’s an inevitable question when looking for a flat-panel HDTV these days: Will it be plasma or LCD?

It was easier when there were only cathode-ray tubes and choice came down to size and brand. Now, we are confronted with different and confusing technology options. How do you choose between plasmas and LCDs?

Price could be one way.

Plasma HDTVs 50-inches or larger cost less than similar sized LCD HDTVs, but the price gap is closing, especially with the popular 42- to 46-inch sizes.

As for life expectancy, both plasmas and LCDs are capable of running around 60,000 hours, or eight hours a day for 20 years, before half brightness occurs. And they are both now capable of an exceptional 1080p HD resolution.

Plasmas are known to be somewhat of an electricity hog, but Barry Murray, marketing director at Panasonic Canada, feels that tag is a bit unfair.

“Government regulations require plasmas to list the maximum watts used, when, in fact, they consume closer to half that power in real-world conditions,” he says. “Plasmas light each pixel individually, as required, but LCDs always have a backlight running and block the light to produce colours.”

With all this in mind, how do we choose?

Ultimately, it comes down to how you want to use your HDTV.

If you are a videophile looking for the true home-theatre experience, an HDTV plasma might be the way to go.

Generally, plasmas are known for their superior picture performance because they can display truer black colours than LCDs. Plasmas can run a very low level of luminance to create the colour black and have higher contrast ratios than LCDs, producing a more detailed true-to-life picture.

LCD HDTVs are no slouches on picture quality but they still can’t block out enough of the underlying backlight to produce the same level of blacks as plasmas.

Plasmas are also believed to offer smoother and more realistic video motion with quicker pixel refresh rates, but LCDs are quickly catching up.

The new 120Hz refresh technology being incorporated in LCDs is considered one of the biggest breakthroughs in some time, according to Patrick Lapointe, director of marketing for LCDs at Sony Canada.

“Our MotionFlow technology (120Hz refresh) provides smoother motion and seamless action for sports scenes,” he says. “By doubling the number of frames on the screen every second, the eye perceives much less judder (instability) and blurriness than before.”

Viewing angles are also better on plasmas, up to an extreme 160 degrees. At that angle, you would be just about beside the screen with no loss of brightness or colour saturation. Higher-end LCDs like ones from Sony have decent viewing angles and are fine for most family room seating arrangement.

Of course, if you don’t have an HDTV set-top box from your television program provider or a Blu-ray DVD player, you just won’t get the video quality you’d expect. If your TV set-top box or DVD player doesn’t support the new HDMI interface, they probably don’t provide HD video.

If you plan to also hookup a PC/Mac or a game console such as an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, you might want to consider an LCD HDTV.

While plasmas can do an excellent job projecting these, they still have a slight risk of burn-in, a permanent ghostlike image associated with prolonged display of a static image. LCD HDTVs are immune to burn-in so they are the safe bet, but they do suffer from stuck or dead pixels (permanently lit or unlit).

Another reason to consider an LCD is viewing distance. LCDs tend to have a smoother picture in a shorter viewing distance, making it optimal for using a computer or game console with it when you want to get up close. But note that if you are hooking up a computer, you won’t get a decent picture unless it has a DVI or HDMI video card.

– by Tom Katsiroubas of YourHome.ca and the Toronto Star