iOS7 is coming - 18 Sep?

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With the announcement keynote for the next iPhone all but confirmed for the 10th of September, we can have a pretty good guess as to when iOS7 is going to drop. If the phone launch is anything like last year, it will be announced at the keynote with pre-orders to start the following Friday, with a launch date a week later. This year that would be the 20th. Given that the new version of iOS typically launches a few days earlier, I'm going with Weds 18 Sep as the launch date at the usual 10AM PST (1800 UK). 

Of course I could be wrong and Apple may play around with things this time, but even so it's going to be with us very shortly. I for one, am more than a little interested to have a play...

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In Praise of GPS

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It's strange how thought pop into your head. Sitting 10Km above the Atlantic Ocean catching up on Podcasts, I took to thinking about the technological advances of recent years. Lets face it there have been lots, many of which are wonderful (step forward the smart phone in particular), however for my money one stands apart as a game changer. Personal GPS Navigation. The personal navigation device (be it stand alone unit, smartphone etc) especially those with online traffic data are truly a life improving piece of kit. Do I need push email? No, it's nice to have but far from essential. Web & Social Media access in my pocket? Again, it's great and can be useful but I could live without it.

But, a box that sits in your car, tells you if a delay has occurred on your route and automatically directs you around it? That's Genius! A device that can take you to the door of a building that you've never visited before, and save you from hours sat in Traffic? That's what the future is supposed to be about.

Now if only in flight WiFi was more prolific I wouldn't have to wait till I land to post this!

PS Noise Cancelling headphones are also right up there, but that's a post for another time...

LTE in Tring!

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20121205-143933.jpg So, a couple of weeks back I decided to move from T-Mobile to EE. Although the initial roll out of 4G is limited at the minute, the cost was much the same, and I figured I'd spend a reasonable amount of time in areas with coverage.

The first opportunity to see LTE in action came last week, with a work trip to West Brom. As we drove up the M6 through Birmingham the LTE icon appeared, and firing up SpeedTest confirmed some pretty decent speeds.

A couple of days later I was in the Tescos in Tring (Tring it should be noted is not one of the 16 cities on EE's list!). Glancing at my phone, I noticed the three little letters sat where I would expect it to say 3G. SpeedTests confirmed an LTE connection! Having done some testing, there is LTE coverage between Cow Roast and the bottom half of Tring.

Whilst this is of limited use in itself (although I may do a speed comparison against Tesco's in store Wi-Fi), it does show that EE are expanding their LTE coverage outside the listed cities and bodes well for expansion in the new year. It will be interesting to watch...