HTC are catching up, but this Desire just isn’t as slick as the iPhone.

Battery life – Both not great. Maybe a day. DRAW

Apps - iPhone has gazzilions. HTC downloads from anywhere. DRAW

App Store – iPhone WIN

Screen - Both gorgeous but iPhone keyboard better. iPhone WIN

Usability - HTC much more configurable but not as logical. DRAW

Capacity - iPhone all internal memory simple. HTC upgradeable. DRAW

Price - Near as damnit the same. DRAW

Look & Feel – iPhone more luxurious and solid. iPhone WIN

Fashion Victim – iPhonista backlash. HTC WIN

Bugs & Wobbles – HTC has a few more niggles. Gadgets crash. Jerky screen. Apps hang. IPhone WIN

Thoughtful - HTC has so many little extras to discover. HTC WIN

So HTC are getting there. It’s pretty good and I don’t mind using it. However, my iPhone keeps peeking at me from my desk, winking, smirking.

It walks on water and feeds the poor. No, it’s not Bono. Ladies and gents I bring you the iPad… Tadaa

All hype aside, here are some practical tips & thoughts after my first 3 days:

1. It’s heavier than you think it should be
2. The keyboard is really easy to use
3. iWork apps have limited functionality but a must have if you want to use the iPad for business
4. The iPad marks the ‘real’ beginning of cloud computing
5. Great apps on the iPhone are not necessarily great on the iPad
6. iPhone apps run but are annoyingly small on the iPad
7. US iPads don’t work on the UK App Store (it isn’t open yet, but there are workarounds)
8. The Apple case is the only one to have (Folds into a wedge shape which helps lap usage as it’s a flat device) but is globally sold out (if you can find one, buy it)
9. WiFi is not great
10. The screen needs wiping all the time (but only because you want it perfect)
11. HD video playback is crystal
12. Battery lasts for ages
13. Flash is really missed (bring on HTML5 and sharpish)
14. No webcam is criminal
15. Wordpress app is really buggy (used here )

So, Gen 1 iPad, I have to say I love it. It’s understandably not ‘there’ just yet but you can buy one now without disappointment.

It’s Free Fix month again and that means we’re running our Laptop Surgery at Adam St for you lucky people. If you’re out and about and depend on your laptop for work or play then you know how important it is to have it running smoothly.

If you’re laptop is feeling poorly, bring it to us and we’ll give you 30mins with our laptop Guru.

The next Surgery will be held on 20^th May from 11am at the usual place: 9 Adam St (www.adamstreet.co.uk), near Embankment station, London.

Please book in a slot with us by calling 08456 447758, emailing info@theengineroom.co.uk or if you’re a member, by letting the wonderful people at Adam St know.

Happy Computing!
The Engine Room.

Dell has finally launched its widely-trailed rival to the MacBook Air. Dubbed Adamo, the laptop lays claim to the Air’s title of “world’s thinnest laptop”, measuring 0.65in at its thinnest point – although it is slightly thicker near the hinge.

Us here at The Engine Room are a mixed and odd bunch. Most of us have iPhones and use them for both work and play in mixed and odd ways. In this blog we cover a few of the more sane iPhone applications we use on a daily basis. All these applications are available to download for FREE here: http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/appstore.html at time of writing.

First up we have MyRail Lite. It’s an essential application for people living in or around London who commute into work via train. It displays an exact duplicate of the platform timetable display for any given station including departure time, arrival time, platform number and all stops and times on the way to your destination. The only time I’ve seen it misbehave is when the actual station is having trouble with it’s timetables too.

Next we have TwitterFon. It’s a neat little iPhone app for reading and updating your Twitter account if you have one. It’s nicely laid out and very simple to use. You can follow twitter links and scroll through recent friends’ twitters on the move.

One of my favorites is the apple Remote application for iTunes. It allows you to use your iPhone or iPod as a remote control for your iTunes. Provided your iPhone or iPod are on the same wireless network as your computer with iTunes on it then you can search, play, skip and adjust the volume of your music in real-time.

For those of you who are forever correcting leaning pictures on the wall or the tech savvy carpenter this little tool will come in handy. Aptly named the iHandy Level, it users the iPhone’s inbuilt motion sensors and displays a very accurate spirit level.

The last little tool is more of a toy. It’s called RJDJ and users your iPhone’s microphone to sample sounds from around you and turn them into a spacial sound-scape you can manipulate by touching the phone’s screen.

A few off the wall experiments show how you don’t need expensive advertising to promote a new product like the new Samsung SSD drives.

The video shows the supercomputer opening every program in Microsoft Office 2003 in half a second, while during another experiment it copies a DVD from one drive to another in a shorter time than it takes for the DVD to hit the ground after being dropped out of The Viral Factory’s office window.

The video also shows the “recycling” of every speech that George Bush ever made, about six gigabytes worth, instantly.

The Viral Factory’s creatives have been shown a thing or two by their IT manager after his short film about Samsung’s new hard drive racked up 1m views and nearly 1,000 largely positive comments on YouTube.

Watch Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dWOEa4Djs

I was quite excited to go to CeBit this year (Tech expo in Germany). I’m a CeBit virgin so didn’t really know what to expect. Here are my 3 key learnings:

* Only go if you are a serious home user geek OR need something in the big business Enterprise space. i.e. You are PM’ing a large CRM rollout for a bank (Not that they will be investing in anything soon)

* There appears to be a lack of investment in anything new tech wise. I guess the reasons are obvious

* It is huge! Think 25 x Olympia. Wear confortable shoes and get lots of sleep the night before

So. I guess I feel pretty neutral about it really. Kinda fun but no real juice. Shame.

Check out the website www.cebit.de

PS My fave piece of tech was a 103″ Touch Screen Plasma from Panasonic. Funny, My front room wall is just the right size.

Small TV