SpendIt ShoppingFashionTechnology The Wi-Fi try guy Wi-Fi internet has become a necessity for the modern café, though some serve it better than others. On the next two pages we assess the best of the cities’ free Wi-Fi cafés, while below our ‘tech bloke’ Dave Cook road tests the latest wireless gadgets in realistic café conditions
W i-Fi connectivity has become a staple feature of many handheld and portable gadgets, so you would think that the companies making them would have perfected it by now. Well, of course they haven’t, but is the technology good enough to at least beat the printed word when it comes to whiling away a lazy lunchtime?
up.
holds
connection Using the free Wi-Fi in the comfy Spoon Café on Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, the iPod Touch is the first device to be put through its paces. Setting up your online account is a breeze, but if you want to download apps, podcasts or music you will need to link the device to your iTunes account. In theory, you should then be immersed in a world of instantly available media, but only if the Wi-Fi Unfortunately, iPod connections are prone to dropping off whenever someone nearby sneezes, or if there is a full moon that night, whereas iPhones rarely have this issue as they run on the far superior 3G service. To put the connection to the test, current arcade app Arachnadoodle was purchased from the app store for 59p but the download bar never filled up after about 20 minutes.
Next is the PSP Go, Sony’s recent attempt on the iPhone’s life as the number one mobile app provider. Connecting is again relatively simple, but before you can even access the Playstation Store to download games, you have GADGET INFO
to install a whopping great system update. This transfer lasted an obscene amount of time. It’s also worth pointing out to owners of older PSP models that this version lacks a disc slot, meaning that all the games you currently own are now worthless, unfortunately. However, the download games, or ‘Minis’ are actually pretty good and affordable, with PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe being the cream of the crop at £9.99. Amazon’s Kindle e-reader is a deceptive piece of kit, with a monochrome display that is so painfully sharp you could cut yourself on it. Thinner than a student’s wallet and just as
light, the Kindle connects to Wi-Fi with ease and never lets up for a second. Automatically locating access points and connecting to the Kindle store is simple. To put it to the test a copy of Max Brook’s zombie docu-novel World War Z was downloaded at speed for $8.17 and with minimal fuss. Paper is so last year – grab a Kindle and stuff it full of your favourite reads.
Last up is the Ubisurfer from Datawind, a netbook device that offers 1800 minutes of free internet per month. It is something of a Frankenstein’s monster of a device, using mobile phone GPRS technology and a sim card to connect to mobile and Wi-Fi networks, all rolled up in a handy compact laptop shell. The idea is ingenious and the internet connects with ease, even taking you through a neat user tutorial when you first go online. The screen is pleasantly clear, the onboard processor does seem to struggle with more demanding websites. Regardless, it’s ideal for the commute or trip to your local net café. although
All stood up well to café test conditions, and none of them made me look like too much of a berk, while offering an agreeable level of The distraction. verdict: wireless technology is worth carrying, with the Kindle having the edge over the competition as the plastic slab of choice for entertainment on the go.
APPLE IPOD TOUCH PSP GO
From £140 for 8GB model. Available from Cancom, 95-97 Nicolson Street,
Edinburgh, 0845 686 3100. ipod.cancomuk.com
14 THE LIST 18 Feb–4 Mar 2010
£199.99 from various retailers.
AMAZON KINDLE $259 (£166). Available from www.amazon.com/kindle
(ships from US).
DATAWIND UBISURFER £147.99 from www.maplin.co.uk www.ubisurfer.com
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