iPhone App Store

It matters not how good your computer hardware is; without software to run on it you have no product. A moderately good computer can be raised to greatness by desirable software; Sinclair's Spectrum and IBM's original PC being just two examples (although "Horace Goes Skiing" was arguably less Earth-shattering than VisiCalc).

The same has not always been true of mobile phones, where the killer app (the "telephone call") has always been present as part of the operating system; it is only with the latest generation of smart phones that 3rd-party software has a chance to influence hardware sales. The phone that has created the demand (or brought it to the mainstream) for 3rd-party software is the iPhone, for which software is obtained via Apple's proprietary, and highly regulated, App Store.

This is not a review of the iPhone - there are plenty of those around already and it is too big and too complex a product for a part-time reviewer to cover in any depth. Oh, ok, if you really want them, here are my comments on the iPhone:

• For: spectacular internet device (Safari, the browser, is great), excellent user interface, stylish hardware, Visual Voicemail, ease-of-use, great display,
• Against: poor-ish battery life (although version 2.1 software is a great improvement), so-so camera,
• Verdict: superb in many respects (I love mine, and will not be replacing it anytime soon), but not quite suitable for heavy business use (if you make lots of calls then the battery life is just not good enough).

But what about the App Store? Accessed via iTunes, the App Store sells only those applications approved by Apple (around 4,000 at time of writing), which ensures that applications install and run without damaging the phone or stealing data (of course it also allows Apple to prevent competitive applications from entering the market, but that’s another story). Prices in the UK start at Free, with many apps costing no more than £0.59.

Purchasing apps directly through the iPhone UI is easy and quick – they download wirelessly, install automatically and are copied to your computer when you next sync. Payment is made via your iTunes account, receipts are emailed. Simple. Purchasing via iTunes is pretty much the same procedure and no more difficult.

In fact, there is only one real criticism of the App Store. The display of the applications within iTunes is dreadful, and the search and sort options don’t really help. iTunes offers no details beyond name, icon and category so if you need to know what the app actually does you have to click-through to the detailed page, which is a pain. On the plus side, you get user reviews, star ratings, screenshots and detailed comments from the developers, plus near-instant delivery.

On the whole, the App Store works well and is a positive point in the iPhone’s impressive feature list. It will be interesting to see how Google’s laissez-faire approach to software supply compares when the first Android phone launches later this year.

Scotland Yard, Tallinn

Details: Mere pst 6, Tallinn. www.scotlandyard.ee

Apart from the slightly bizarre accessories (more of these later), Scotland Yard is an interesting but unchallenging pub that wouldn’t look out of place in the UK, where it would probably be termed a “family pub”. The ubiquitous Guinness compliments a modest selection of local beers but bitter is conspicuous by its absence – the English theme extends no further than the decoration – and once you look beyond the scenery this is really just a local bar with a few bits designed to entice tourists from the nearby port (where the cruise ships dock).

Accessories? The doorman is dressed in a facsimile of a 19^th century police sergeant’s uniform; the bar staff wear strange pseudo-uniforms that look rather like East-European secret police outfits. One wall is covered in bookshelves filled with hardback books; beneath it, red leather benches and dark wooden tables complete the picture. The other walls are displaying an assortment of items including flintlock muskets, small-calibre pistols, hand-cuffs and, for reasons that remain unclear, 25mm shells. To finish the illusion of an English pub, there is a very large fish tank above the optics running the length of the bar.

Should you visit? Certainly – the staff, decoration, menu and general layout are worth seeing for their comedy value, if nothing else. One drink ought to be enough (something short and alcoholic - the food is nothing special and the coffee is indescribable), after which you should abandon Scotland Yard for somewhere more atmospheric and less infested with tourists. 

Google Chrome - 1 Hour Test

Google's new browser, Chrome (download), launched today after the explanatory comic (link) was accidentally posted yesterday afternoon. First impressions (after only an hour of use) are that it is very fast, good-looking, easy to use and, so far, stable. 

Installation was completely painless and Chrome successfully imported settings, history, account details and bookmarks from Mozilla. Performance does not appear to deteriorate as new tabs are opened - it just chews them up and renders them and there isn't even the slightest hint that the pages were designed in another browser (which may indicate that both pages and browser are sticking closely to the published standards).

As an application browser (by which I mean a browser that runs applications rather than one that simply displays web pages), it seems to do exactly what Google said it would do in the blog (link); unsurprisingly it seems to work extremely well with GMail and other Google products.

The internal Task Manager (shift-esc) details each tab's memory, network and CPU usage so it should be possible to identify and weed-out the resource hogs - it will be interesting to see if these figures become popular performance metrics for websites and developers. The "Stats for nerds" link on the Task Manager opens a tab with more detailed, developer-targeted, information.

In short, and without objectively testing the product's performance (my knowledge of the technologies employed is insufficient, not to say non-existent), it looks like Google have done a good job; Chrome has a useful and interesting set of features that will make it a strong contender in the browser market. Mozilla, Safari and Opera might be in trouble.

Recommendation - If you can accept the product's Beta status, install it now.

Dracula, Bram Stoker

First published in 1897 at the end of the Victoria era, Dracula has spawned countless movies, books and television shows based on Stoker’s original plot (Bram Stoker's Dracula, Dracula - Prince Of Darkness) or using the characters and Vampire “lore” that he established (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Batman and Dracula: Red Rain). The cross, garlic and stake that Stoker’s heroes use to fight Dracula are staples of the genre but the book is more than just a reference work for future writers, it is a classic work of horror fiction and a master-class on the subjects of tension and suspense.

Written as an epistolary novel, the story is told through the letters, diaries and journals of the main characters with occasional elements from local newspapers and reports. This style of writing is rare in modern novels but Stoker has used it to construct a story that advances in threads; each character writes of their own experiences and drives forward their portion of the story until they reach a cliff-hanger, at which point another character takes over.

These intertwining threads combine to give the reader an overview of Dracula’s efforts which is hidden from the characters whilst at the same time presenting a first-hand account of the character’s development. While Van Helsing and Dr. Seward search with increasing despair for the cause of Lucy Westenra’s illness, the reader, knowing that Dracula has landed at Whitby, can only watch with mounting concern as every effort the good doctors make is thwarted by fate, family or the success of Dracula’s machinations.

Similarly, the reader's experience of modern thrillers and horror films will help them to recognise far sooner than Harker the reality of his imprisonment by Dracula, whose sinister instructions about not sleeping outside his rooms are not very subtle warnings about the dangers lurking within the castle. When Harker ignores these warnings the reader experiences a strong “uh oh” moment because he knows, or thinks he knows, what will happen next.

Dracula himself keeps no memoirs and features only when written about by the other characters. His intentions remain opaque until discerned and described by his enemies and thus the reader’s knowledge of his long-term aims progresses only as fast as the characters’, even while they might have leapt ahead of Van Helsing in diagnosing a vampiric cause to Lucy’s disease.

This is not a book without faults. In places it is slow and Stoker sometimes seems to take a long time advancing the plot. The language and style of writing are a little unfamiliar and it sits firmly within the late Victorian era in terms of its treatment of women and foreigners; a modern reader will occasionally find that Stoker’s writing jars against modern concepts of morality and ethics.

Dracula remains one of the best examples of the horror genre, setting the stage for numerous derivatives and copycats. Stoker creates believable characters and sets them loose in a self-consistent alternative reality that British readers in particular will find familiar. He explores (not always in great depth) evil, self-sacrifice and heroism, forcing his characters to undergo appalling horrors for the entertainment of his readers and his book is a must-read for anyone with even a peripheral interest in the genre.

Rating: 9/10.

Verdict: get the book today - Dracula