iPhone 4

Well today’s the day, and my new shiny iPhone 4 is here !

Just a little bit of background. About 2 and a half years ago, I bought myself a 2nd Generation iPod Touch 32Gb. Since then, I’ve bought a 2x MacBook Pro’s, 2 x 27″ iMacs,  a Mac Mini, and a iPhone 3GS, a Time Capsule, and think I can be officially called an Apple fanboy.

My contract with Vodafone was up at the beginning of the year but I’ve waited until the release of the next generation of iPhone…and that’s today.

Now to be honest, I cheated a little, I couldn’t wait so bought an iPhone 3GS a couple of months ago. I went halves with C, and was bought with the understanding that it becomes hers as soon as I got the new one.

So what do I think ?……I love it !

First thing I notices was the size of it, having this in one hand and the 3GS in the other, there is a noticeable size difference, almost the same as between the iPod Touch and the 3GS.

The next thing was the screen….there have been may “experts” claiming that this isn’t actually “Retina display” due to the some discrepancy, I don’t really care, this screen is amazing ! Retina or not, it’s an amazing looking screen. The best way I can is switching from DVD to Bluray, but on a 3.5″ screen. Everything looks sharper, crisper with a lot more contrast.

As for the software itself, I’m now quite familiar with that, as the iOS 4 software was released a few days ago, and I’ve been playing with it since.

The camera features (flash, HD Recording, and FaceTime), I plan to put them to use at the weekend, and post shortly after, however initial impressions are a massive improvement over the 3GS, even the zoom functions works without looking too ugly.

The only think that I was kinda shocked with, is that fact that there’s no dock connector in the box, and Apple are charging £7 for a pack of 3.

I’m really delayed in posting this, thanks to Vodafone, I’ll not bother going into a full rant, but after 2 weeks of chasing, calling at the store, and the Apple store, I’ve been unable to get a micro sim…and ended up cutting mine down !

It’s still early days with the phone, and I’ll update with more info and photos later.

Below are the unboxing pics

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Belkin Powerline AV 200Mbps Networking Adapter (F5D4072uk)

Anybody who watches HD content, will know that streaming this across a wireless network is virtually impossible.

My upstairs network is wired, however downstairs (my Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3) are all wireless. This has been fine for gaming, web browsing, and everything else I normally use the Internet for downstairs, however it’s just not quick enough to stream HD content.

I’m a bit of a AV snob, and like the Video and Audio quality to be the best I can get. I like most people download TV episode from the web (just seems easier than recording via Sky, plus if you get them from the web, they tent to be a couple of days in front if the UK). I normally download the 720p version, granted they are over a gig in size, but the quality is so much better.

As you know from my previous posts about my Acer Aspire Easystore box, it’s got a Upnp Media server built in, which allows me to stream the content, and I normally watch these on my PS3 in the bedroom. If I do feel like watch the downloaded episodes downstairs, it normally means copying to a memory stick, then plugging into the PS3, then watching. This process has been fine up until recently. As I’m starting to build up a collection of Bluray Disks, I decided to look at converting these to mkv files, so I could stream these across my network, job done, a couple of films sat on my NAS Drive, converted into a readable format for the PS3. I’ve ripped these in full 1080p, and they are 11Gb+. Now my problem is, a, I don’t have a memory stick with 11Gb on it (8Gb is the largest I have), b, as you need to format the memory stick in FAT32 for the PS3 to be able to read it, I could only get 4Gb on it, and c, if I’m copying the film to a memory stick, I might as well put the bloody disk in, lol !

I’ve tested the films in the bedroom, and these work flawlessly, downstair was “play a couple of seconds, stutter, freeze, play a couple more seconds…….so decided to upgrade to the Powerline adapters (I know, I’ve finally got to the point !)

I spent Thursday morning reading through reviews, if I should go for the cheaper 85Mbps or splash out for the 200Mbps (Go on, have a guess which ones I went for, lol).

A lot of people dependant on their house hold power electrical wiring were getting on average 40Mbps connection speed through the 85Mbps ones, which wasn’t really much improvement on my Wireless, however the reviews for the 200Mbps were suggesting the people were getting 100Mbps, so went for the 200Mbps.

The strange thing is, even through the adaptors are advertised as 200Mbps, the built in NIC adaptor is only an auto sensing 10/100 card, after reading further at the specs, its 100Mbps each way (send and receive), making them a 100Mbps Full duplex.

Anyway, I got home, plugged them in, I end into a 10/100 Switch downstairs (which I then plugged in my PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii), and upstairs I plugged into the router. That’s it, done !, it worked straight away.

I plugged my MacBook into the downstairs switch and got a full 100Mbps transfer rate when copying from my NAS drive.

The ones I bought were £80, however well worth it for me, no drilling, no running cables, they just worked, I can highly recommend.

What’s in the box

Official Overview from Belkin

Powerline AV allows you to reliably transmit content from your Internet directly to your computer and other network devices through the electrical wires in your home. Transfer speeds of up to 200Mpbs makes Powerline AV ideal for streaming media to your home entertainment devices such as gaming consoles and set-top boxes.

Powerline is a great solution for areas in the home that are hard to reach by wireless connections, Powerline is the most reliable solution for providing secure Internet connectivity to these remote areas.

Setup of Powerline is simple with its plug-and-play connectivity. Connect one adapter to your router and plug it into an available electrical outlet. Plug the second adpter into an available wall outlet and connect the other end to any device with an available Ethernet port such as a gaming console, set-top box, or computer.

Official Features from Belkin

• Includes extension power cables for the optional placement of powerline adapter away from the electrical outlet
• Data speeds of up to 200Mbps
• Ideal for surfing the Internet and reducing online gaming latency
• Security: 128-bit AES link encryption with key management for secure powerline communications
• Operating range: Up to 300m in wall powerlines
• IEEE 802.3/802.3u
• HomePlug® AV-certified

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