ICE CREAM SANDWICH

 ICE CREAM SANDWICH. YUMMY.

My Acer Iconia A500 has finally been updated (via the world's slowest over the air download) to Android's latest operating software - Ice Cream Sandwich.

At first, besides the obvious change in font style, I couldn't spot much difference but i've had a few days with it now and the most noticeable improvements are:

• Increased battery life
• Faster web browsing
• Faster scrolling

All of which make me a happy camper.

It's interesting to note that, as lover of new gadgets, this simple upgrade has toned down my urge for a new tablet. It feels like I just went out and picked up a new one and so has probably saved me $500-600.

Thanks Google!

Dymocks Online needs fixin'.

When I bought my Acer Iconia Tab, I also received as part of an Acer promotion a $100 voucher, which could be used with the Dymocks online bookstore.

I excitedly went online, eager to purchase the electronic version of  "The Game of Thrones" by George Martin, as I had just recently finished season 1 of the excellent HBO TV series and was anxious to read the book upon which it was based.

To my dismay, Dymocks only offered the physical book, no online version.  Bummer.

Oh well, perhaps I'll get one of the newer books in the Dexter series (again due to my love of the TV series..does anyone see a trend here?) but ba-bow. Not even a physical version of this one.

Obviously, I have committed myself to using up this voucher so against my better judgement bought "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" which I dutifully read on the train with my tablet for the next 2 weeks and promptly wished I had those 2 weeks of my life back.

Hope has now been restored however, with my next purchase "Moab is My Washpot" by Stephen Fry being most enjoyable.

I have to say though, given the struggle I have had to find anything worth reading, I don't think Dymocks will be keeping my business for much longer once the $100 has been spent and given this is there idea of spelling, then definitely not:

- a vigorous dispute between 'intelligent desing' and Darwinsim
- hard-hitting, impassioned rebuttal of region of all types.
- He eviscreates the major arguments... shows how religon fuels war, foments bigotry and abuses children.

China

I just completed a unit as part of my Accounting course which focussed mainly on the emergence of China as the new leader for world production (yes, accounting is not just all about numbers).

I had my own personal example of what the Chinese can achieve recently, and why Australian businesses should be worried:

After purchasing my Iconia tablet, I wanted to pick up a micro HDMI cable to enable me to hook it up to my fullHD TV.

I checked out local shops such as JB Hifi, Dick Smith etc and was surprised to find they don't even stock them. When I did finally hunt them down, I was confronted with a price of $59.95 for a 6 foot cable.

Embracing the power of the mobile internet via my newly acquired tablet, I checked out ebay and found the same thing from a seller in China for $3.95 delivered!

Honestly, it beggars belief that they can possibly be making a profit from that.  Surely it costs more than $3.95 just for the international postage.  One week later, the parcel arrived and the cable works as promised and I even got a paper pattern to stick on our window for 'good luck all year'.  Australian bricks and mortar stores just can't compete with that! In fact even the online ones would struggle.

My tablet - update

Typing this on my tablet and have to say it is my favourite new gadget for this year. A couple of forced shutdowns of apps has been the only issue I have encountered so far and that is more to do with honeycomb than the hardware.

All in all it's a great device which I have no regrets buying.

New tablet - Acer Iconia A500

So, I took the plunge the other day and snapped up an Acer Iconia A500 tablet whilst it was on special for $386.  I also took advantage of a special offer AMEX were holding where they give you $50 back if you purchase something over $250 from particular outlets.

So in the end it ended up costing me only $336 which, considering the RRP was $579 when they first came out,  I consider a bargain. 

First impressions are pretty good.  It's pretty zippy and has a good crisp display with excellent colours.  I have seen some reviews that suggest very high definition movies don't play too well on it but I am yet to try that out. So far I have had no issues with other formats.

One thing that always stood out for me with the Iconia vs other tablets is it has a USB input.  This is invaluable, in my opinion, as you can plug in a thumbdrive, or an external HDD or even a keyboard to type with.  Fantastic.

I will give further impressions as I get to test out more features.