We’ve all heard it: Microsoft (nowadays Google and Apple, too) being referred to as the “evil empire,” or Windows Mobile being called a “dying breed.” There are some truths to these statements: if you really think about it, smartphone brands, their parent companies, the user base, the developers and the community are a lot like nations, each vying for success and dominance. So, what would each smartphone brand be like as a country (or other stately body)? Well, I thought about it for a while and what follows is what I came up with. I’ve spent time in each or with people from each community, and these are the conclusions I’ve drawn. In chronological order, I present the Five Nations of Smartphone. Enjoy!

Microsoft Windows Mobile

An ancient empire that disintegrated and fragmented with the passing of time, this country used to be home to many with traits similar to those of another country’s population: productivity, organization and efficiency. The government was a forefront to the creation of organized nations, but as time wore on, it became less and less interested in its nation and allowed it to split into many states controlled by those who built the infrastructure.

When the government all but disappeared, one infrastructure state rose above the rest to continually enhance the environment and attract new citizens despite the disadvantage of its datedness. This state unofficially approves of workers who use the infrastructural enhancements to benefit parts of the population who still lived under older infrastructures. In this way, everyone has access to the best of what the state has to offer.

However, the original government has returned and is building something at the center of the old empire. They say they will bring together all the separated states under one unified environment, and that this new nation will be the best yet. The walls surrounding this project are littered with tiny peepholes where the curious population looks on. Some workers have even been allowed inside the perimeter to get an early taste of what awaits them in this future country. From atop the grand walls, the smoke byproduct of creation arises, and promises something new.

Research In Motion Blackberry

Existing since the early days of organized nations, this country has relied on its population of serious and productivity-minded people. The infrastructure and the environment are spartan; form steps aside in favor of strong and secure function. The workers build only what they must, skipping out on the creativity that the country’s population has no interest in. Meanwhile, the government looks on ambivalently, working fervently on national security and only interfering in the lives and business of its population and workers when this security is threatened. The government’s forays into creating a new, more advanced infrastructure and environment were met with considerable failure, and the government returned to the mentality of “if it’s not broken, don’t try to fix it.”

An odd phenomenon that this country has experienced is a rise in a population group of addicts. There are citizens of this population that do not share the same productive traits as other citizens, but instead rely on the country as a means for trivial social interaction. This group neither understands nor appreciates the country for anything more than its ability to join its citizens, but do not tax the system. They are therefore widely overlooked by the government and the other part of the population, but are often taken advantage of by workers who know they can successfully cash in on their addiction.

Apple iPhone

On the surface, one sees a young but very powerful nation that seemingly sprouted from nothing. Its population grew at a shocking rate and now outnumbers nearly every other. The workers flocked to it, promised by the government a vast fortune to be made at the hands of this growing population. Unsurprisingly, the government was correct: the best of the workers flourished, dominated the population, and made their great fortunes.

However, all is not well. The workers are hindered by harsh and restrictive laws. The government steps in frequently to enforce what they consider to be a perfect environment for their population. Although the resource potential of this nation is immense, the government restricts what some consider to be the best possible uses of these resources. These workers disobey and disregard the government ordinances and are labelled outlaws and removed from the environment as frequently as they are caught. To the enlightened population, these workers are heroes: they are a light in the dark, a release from the restrictions set forth by the government. These workers are appreciated by a few.

The rest of the population knows the country, the environment, and the infrastructure only through the propaganda of the government. They are convinced that there is no good alternative, and that each improvement made by the government is a world first, even if other countries tread down the same path many years before. The longer the population experiences this propaganda, the more reliant they become on the offerings of the government.

Google Android

A peculiar country only recently founded, this nation builds upon the values of an open society. It is nearly an anarchy, with the small existing government tending only to the environment and having all but a small hand in the infrastructure. The infrastructure is dominated by states, the largest of which is also in control of another country’s disappearing resources.

The workers are motivated by the prospects of nurturing this nation into eclipsing another country, an empire of propaganda. At their disposal is the vast and infinitely open environment created and managed by the government, which they are able to bend to their will due to the lack of almost any real regulation.

The population is young, intelligent, and informed, and they have come to this country purely by choice. They wish to live in a world where the mentality of their homeland is the standard, and freedom without compromise is the ultimate objective.

Most recently, the government has attempted to pull the fragmented nation-states back into a central body in order to strengthen the country and the environment, though the states fear this will potentially harm the infrastructure.

Palm webOS

Built on the disappearing remains of an aging empire, the government constructed a new, advanced and well put together environment for its people. However, a flimsy infrastructure (even when alleviated by small but prominent changes) and a lack of outspoken propaganda in favor of the fledgling nation to this day keeps the population low.

This population, however, is nationalistic, kind, and talented. Citizens look out for each other and help whenever they can. The veterans remember with nostalgia the former empire but look readily on in hopes for a greater future. The population’s workers all pitch in for the greater good, amending the environment under a tolerant and appreciative government.

Then, when the old government could no longer support itself, a gentle giant took over and reassured the population that life would go on without any drastic changes. The new government rewarded the population’s workers for their efforts and encouraged them that the future will be bright for this country. They promise an expansion of the infrastructure as well as continuous improvements to the environment, and the population has never been more dedicated. In a recent competitive event, the population’s nationalism again proved far stronger than that of the anarchist nation.

In Conclusion

So, yeah. Thoughts? Analyses? Am I off my rocker? You be the judge.

Alright, I’ll come clean. Get ready for it: Ignition Unlimited wasn’t my highest priority from September until now. Comes as an absolute shock, right? Yeah, I didn’t think so either. So what happened, you ask? College. College happened, and it’s a one hell “happened.” Eight and a half months came and went like 37 minutes instead of 37 weeks, and so much has happened between then and now. One thing hasn’t changed, though: I still love cars, and that’s why Ignition Unlimited is making a comeback. I’m sorry for the hiatus, but it’s go time. See what’s going to happen here after the jump.

Plans

That’s right, I’ve got some new (plus old and refreshed) plans for this site. These plans are (including but not limited to)…

• Sunday Roast — (Returning Feature)
  The single Sunday Roast I did end up writing was really fun to write, so I’m going to (try to) write one of the every Sunday. Don’t worry, I’m not going to run out of cars any time soon, and as long as Toyota keeps coming out with new cars, I’ll have content forever. Apparently they’re killing the SC430, though. Oh well.
• Le Mans Coverage — (Somewhat of a Returning Feature)
  I’ve made at least one post about Le Mans (aside from my 2010 12 Hours of Sebring post), and as the season (American Le Mans) presses on, I’m going to cover it… in an opinionated fashion, obviously.
• Carthropology — (Possible New Feature, Working Title)
  An idea I had during my off time in a conversation I had with a friend, this weekly or biweekly feature will be a study of specific makes or models of cars and those who drive them; essentially, I’m going to be making some big owner stereotypes… should be some jolly good fun!
• Automotive Haiku — (Possible New Feature)
  An idea I had when I was driving the other evening and the sun was in my eyes. I think it’s a stupid idea, my girlfriend thinks it’s a stupid idea, and most people who read my failed poetry will think it’s a stupid idea, but who knows? It might be funny.
• Guest Posts — (Definite New Feature)
  I won’t say much to spoil it (because there’ll be a link at the bottom of this post once the first one is in), but someone is actually crazy enough to write on here other than me. Wow, right?
• Technology — (Definite New Features)
  I’m a mobile developer now! It’s what I do for work, play, and all around life. As a result of this, I’ll use this blog to update people who follow them on some of my current projects. Let’s see what I can do on the WebOS platform!

Otherwise…

…it’s just business as usual. Ignition Unlimited is back. Here’s to hoping it stays!

Ah, April Fools’ Day: Google is now Topeka, the excellent webcomic xkcd goes terminal, and my college announced that next year the campus will be dry (this was especially well-played because alcohol policy was in the process of being changed only yesterday). Among all these April 1st shenanigans, the 2010 New York International Auto Show pressed on, with its usual stock of interesting reveals (which I shall definitely be covering in the coming week). Toyota, however, decided that it would be the perfect day to launch two new video ad campaigns in order to increase attention for new models in its subsidiary brands. Oh, they got my attention alright…

BMW Lexus Films

Does anyone remember when BMW released that phenomenal set of eight short films in a series called The Hire from 2001 to 2002? If not, a brief synopsis is in order: Clive Owen played a wheelman known as “The Driver,” who takes on various risky driving-related missions. As well as being highly entertaining, these videos showcased BMW’s strong lineup at the time, including its M-model lineup. The series was an enormous viral success and helped boost BMW sales numbers that year. Today, nearly nine years later, Lexus announced a series of their own videos centered around the upcoming CT200h hatchback. And thus the first red flag was raised.

The CT200h?, I thought, That’s a luxo-economy car, isn’t it? It is. Powered by a 1.8L inline-4, the CT200h is expected to produce less than 200 horsepower. It’s also front wheel drive and has an eCVT transmission. What’s that you say? This powertrain configuration cannot possibly be fun? I agree, that’s what it sounds like to me, too. However, Lexus doesn’t think so. Watch this teaser to see what I mean:

Lexus’ new series, which apparently is set to launch on May 13th, 2010, is called Dark Ride. The name stinks of low-grade sci-fi, does it not? Anyway, this is what I’ve gathered from watching this: Lexus has made a BMW Films clone using a car that will be plagued by tremendous understeer and a 0-60 time that will be lucky if it sees the low 9-second range. As my friend accurately pointed out while watching this video, you never actually see the thing accelerate from a dig. I’m guessing that’s because no filmmaker could shoulder the impossible task of making Prius-like acceleration footage look action-packed. I don’t blame them.

Reinvent The Whiff

Swing and a massive miss, Toyota. In order to attempt to raise the hype of its new models, Scion’s advertising department has begun airing a series of episodes called Reinvent The Wheels on YouTube. A bastardly hybrid of MTV’s Pimp My Ride and the generic “contestant presents to a panel of judges” reality show model, Reinvent The Wheels pits a group of “design professionals” (the likes of which are pastry chefs, DJs, and special effect artists for independent films) against each other in a competition to see who can each best customize one car from Scion’s new, desperate line of vehicles. Of course, as you probably expected, the designs concepts shown in the first episode (all I needed to watch to get the point) are hilariously atrocious. Video literally speaks louder than text, though, so watch this:

It cannot possibly be anything but a lose-lose situation: either it’s acting so bad that it’s actually NOT funny, or these are real people. For the entire world’s sake, I’d really hope for the former.

The Real Joke

APRIL FOOLS! …I wish. But it’s no joke. There are no intentional lulz to be had here: Toyota’s marketing department is really, actually determined to use these campaigns to help their sales. In the case of the Lexus series, Dark Ride, it seems the goal is to capture a younger, more “sporty” demographic using some weird footage of a gilded economy car. With the Reinvent The Wheels campaign, Scion is trying to flout its apparent customizability to even more tasteless youths than before.

You know what the real joke is here? It’s probably going to work.

Storylines. If I had to pick one reason why I enjoy watching endurance races more than any other types, it’s the fact that there are so many different “stories” occurring at any given moment during the race. Such was the case at the 58th running of 12 Hours of Sebring, the grand opening to the 2010 American Le Mans Series.

Before I go into talking about this race, though, I have some definite explaining to do. No, your RSS reader is not broken, and no, I haven’t been posting to a secret part of this site: the date of the last post I made is indeed August 9, 2009. Sad thing, isn’t it? Well, I’m back now, and I have new plans and ideas for Ignition Unlimited. Believe it or not, I’ve even convinced a guest writer to occasionally drop some content on here! Amazing! I’ll go into detail about the future of IU later, because now, it’s time to talk about Sebring.

Changes

Going into my second year of following this race, I knew what to expect but I didn’t know exactly how the 2010 12 Hours would differ from the 2009 race. My first answer came from glancing at the entry list every once in a while starting months before this race: it became clear that the Peugeot vs. Audi fight was over for this year, at least at Sebring, as Audi was nowhere to be found. Although Peugeot was to be the only diesel running there, new regulations put higher limitations on diesels in order to make the competition between them and petrol-powered prototypes more fair. This was evident, to a degree, as I’ll discuss later. Another change was Highcroft Racing: last year’s favorite for the whole ALMS Season, Patrón-Highcroft Racing ditched their P1 Acura ARX-02a for a modified P2 ARX-01c, a change that surprised me until I found out that the Prototype classes were to be merged for the 2010 ALMS Season. Like Corvette Racing (who transferred last season from GT1 to GT2), it seems Highcroft is in search of a greater degree of competition. Speaking of classes, there were five at this race: Prototype 1 (where you have your diesel Peugeots, a Lola run by Aston Martin, and others), Prototype 2 (the class of the aforementioned Patrón-Highcroft Acura team, a Porsche RS Spyder and one other), LMP Challenge (a new class of single-make/model racing using Chevy-powered Oreca FLM09 cars), GT2 (the biggest factory-backed class, featuring BMWs, Ferraris, Porsches, Fords, and more) and GT Challenge (the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup class).

The Storylines Of Sebring

Unlike last year, when the main event was an epic Audi-Peugeot face-off, this year’s Sebring 12 Hours was characterized by many little events that led to a fairly unsurprising end result. Since there were so many, it’s time for–yep, you guessed it–IU Bulletpoints… with video!*

• First Few Hours
  The beginning of this race was amazing, and I’m not sugar coating that at all. Really. Tons of passing action from all classes, coupled with the great fighting from LMP1 (yeah, believe it or not, the non-diesel P1 cars could stand a chance against the Peugeots) and GT2. Video speaks louder than words, though, so check this out. And don’t act like you’re not impressed. I couldn’t imagine why any woman in the world could resist Emanuele Pirro (green Lola-Judd with the British flag on the rear) after that insane pass, not to mention he also had a better single-best-lap time than the winning Peugeot.

• The Harsh Reality
  Sometimes things just go wrong. If your race comes to an end three-quarters of a lap in, and it’s the car’s fault, well, that’s what you call a bad day. Unfortunately, such was the case for Autocon Racing, Jaguar Racing, and Drayson Racing. All of these teams had catastrophic mechanical issues either at or very close to the beginning of the race. Although Drayson partially recovered after their Lola-Judd’s alternator decided to take a permanent vacation, both Autocon and Jaguar were both out for good. The real heartbreaker was Jaguar, though: on only the first lap, a cylinder head cracked and ended their day. It’s really too bad to see that happen to a fledgling team, but the reality is harsh: shit happens.
• There’s A Reason Why It’s Called “Endurance Racing” – Part 1: Cars
  Think about it: you have a piece of expensive, well designed machinery running at maximum capacity for 12 hours straight. You’d figure something always has to wrong, right? Well, miraculously, some cars never do run into problems, but all the others… yeah. A few instances of this notably stood out in this year’s Sebring 12 Hours. One of my favorite teams, Patrón-Highcroft Racing, had a little electrical problem in the cockpit of their Acura ARX-01c that turned into an issue that cost them 24 minutes of driving time (they were penalized for having too many crew members working on it over the pit wall) and therefore a first-place finish. Patrón Racing’s Ferrari F430 GT also suffered a slight issue while in the hands of its owner, Scott Sharp. It sort of lit on fire. See for yourself in the video below.

• There’s A Reason Why It’s Called “Endurance Racing” – Part 2: People
  If something doesn’t go wrong with the car, something can definitely go wrong with that fire-retardant-nylon-wearing mush of organic material that plops into the carbon fiber bucket seat for each stint. Yeah, you read that right, ladies and gentlemen: humans make mistakes while racing! It’s understandable, however: the cars are hard to drive (even for one lap, let alone all 12 hours), it’s physically uncomfortable (a driver had to receive medical attention for overheating while in a closed-cockpit car), and it’s tiring. The biggest failure of the day, though, was obvious: Corvette Racing’s pit crew. I’ll let the video do the talking; it was a mistake that cost them the race, needless to say. And, oh yeah, Team Falken Tire’s pit crew should probably make sure all the center-locking lugs on all four wheels are completely tight before letting their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR leave the pits (yeah, yeah, I know the axle end was broken, but they shouldn’t just be sticking a rim on there and praying that it’ll stay).

• The Results
  I’ll be bold with this: compared to last year, the end of the 2010 Sebring 12 Hours was boring. The P1 class was won undisputedly by Peugeot’s 908 HDI. P2 was slightly more interesting, with a 1st place finish from the independent Team Cytosport running a Porsche RS Spyder. Risi Competizione’s Ferrari F430 GT won GT2, and, oh, Level 5 Motorsports won LMPC and an Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup won GTC (for some reason I can’t seem to get excited about the Challenge classes).

• Odds And Ends
  There were a few other events of note on Sebring day. The two best came afterwards. Firstly, one of the winning Peugeot drivers, Alex Wurz, dropped a sweet F-Bomb during a live interview on Speed TV’s post-race coverage. Secondly, Radio Le Mans announced that Wolfgang Ullrich, Audi Team Joest’s head honcho, had been spotted multiple time throughout the day, in the stands and in the pits, observing the competition carefully. This is because, for the past week, Audi’s new car (the R15 Plus; don’t worry, I’m covering that soon), its crew and its drivers were at Homestead Speedway doing high-speed testing, and starting today, Audi was at Sebring attempting to beat the P1 lap times set during the Sebring 12 Hours. After a disappointing loss last year, Audi’s sights are now set firmly on the top of the podium at Le Mans.

The End Of The Beginning

Thus ends the 2010 12 Hours of Sebring. This exciting prologue is making it look like the beginnings of an excellent American Le Mans Series Season. I will again follow all 24 of the Hours of Le Mans on June 12th, and I will also be returning to the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park on July 25th. It’s race time.

* Videos courtesy of MT89Motorsport’s Youtube Channel. These are awesome, thanks!

Yeah, yeah, I know this game came out in November of 2008, and that it’s almost a whole year later, AND that Need For Speed: Shift is coming out in slightly over a month, but I still feel the need to give a commentary on this game. Until I saw the light of games like DiRT, Test Drive Unlimited, and Forza Motorsport 2, I was a big Need For Speed fan.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted was (and still is) one of the greatest “arcadey” racing games ever made (those police chases almost become zombie-horror-survival-esque with their one-versus-infinite feel), so it was natural for EA: Blackbox to try to replicate that feel after two games that didn’t do so well (Carbon and ProStreet). Did they succeed? Read on to find out.

A Failed Attempt?

Indeed. Most Wanted‘s concept worked wonders the first time. Carbon was an undeniable flop of a game. ProStreet was a completely different breed of game (a faux-sim, if you will), so it doesn’t count, although EA’s CEO John Riccitiello thinks it’s comparable:

I thought it [Pro Street] was an okay game, in terms of gameplay. It’s not good… …Undercover will be a much better game.

Wrong you are, John, because Undercover is pretty damn poor. I know I enjoyed ProStreet, which I traded in to get Undercover, a lot more. It’s a better game overall, because it’s not trying to be Most Wanted; it’s original. Enough about comparisons between the Need For Speed games… time to talk about Undercover by itself.

The Good

I’m starting with the good so you can see that I just don’t blindly hate this game, and because there is actually a surprising amount of good in this game (just not right stuff, unfortunately). The map, Tri-City, is colossal. It’s got 109 miles of roadway, which only loses to Test Drive Unlimited out of the games I’ve played. The map has more than enough polygons, as to not have the jarring “ride” of TDU, and they manage to make the visuals of a moderately boring desert-combined-with-coastal-town (yeah, I was confused too) quite beautiful with the lighting and shaders the game’s graphics engine employs. Speaking of the graphics, the cars look absolutely amazing as well. The paint shades look excellent and you can definitely and easily distinguish between the finishes available for the paints (see my matte black Veyron as an example, although excuse the poor quality of the image). The attention to detail is also excellent, except when the cars get damaged, in which case the damage looks rather generic and it’s not exact (for instance, swipe the left front quarter panel only and the whole front bumper appears scratched).

Then comes the car list, which I personally think is the best they’ve had in a Need For Speed yet. You’ve got everything from the old Corvette Stingray to the Bugatti Veyron, including a little personal favorite of mine, the Volkswagen R32 (again, see my image below). Europe, Asia, and America are all represented, although the representation from Asia could be a little bit stronger. At least they have the R35 GT-R.

The last good thing about the game I’d like to touch on briefly is the soundtrack. Every Need For Speed has had at least a few good songs on its soundtrack (well, except Carbon maybe), but this one definitely takes the cake. As well as representing very well-known names such as Justice, Nine Inch Nails, and The Whip, Undercover features some interesting and fun tracks from slightly less mainstream bands and artists such as Ladytron, Ojos De Brujo, The Pinker Tones, Mindless Self Indulgence, and The Fashion. I have not yet switched to my own music streaming from my iTunes Library while playing this game, which is something I usually find myself doing fairly quickly with Need For Speed titles. Hell, it’s actually an iPod-worthy soundtrack.

The Bad… Uh-Oh

Oh boy. Here it comes. I actually don’t even know where to start. Factual inaccuracies? Good idea.

And yes, as a disclaimer to possible fanboys, I know this game isn’t a sim, but damn, these errors are truly unforgiveable. Here are a few, NOT ALL, by any means, but a few:

• Possibly a deliberate error, the pricing of cars in this game is ridiculous. A Nissan GT-R is $225k while the Veyron is $325k, and an Audi S5 is $115k.
• It is commonly known fact that the Lamborgini Gallardo LP560-4 and the Audi R8 are very, very closely related and that the Gallardo is the better performing of the two by a considerable margin. Why, then, is the Gallardo less expensive and in a lower performance tier than the R8 in Undercover?
• The Veyron is a tank, weighing in at over 4000 lbs. How can a police-equipped Porsche 911 Turbo (with a very heavily rear-biased weight of 3500 lbs) perform a PIT maneuver on a car with a mid-mounted W16?
• The A.I. in this game can handle a car on the highway at 200 MPH like doing a slalom on foot. No human will ever have such reflex. They also can spin you out with great ease, like the police, but if you try to do the same to them, it’s like hitting a brick wall.

As you can see, this Undercover has absolutely zero regard for physics, and this becomes even more apparent as you progress through the game, unlocking cars that handle better and upgrade parts to increase handling even further. I was at Lime Rock a few weeks ago (yes, I know, I know, a post about that is STILL in order), and I watched as the Acura LMP1 car tore through corners at over 80 miles per hour with complete control. This morning in Undercover, I took a hairpin turn in the Veyron (which, if I may point out, is not a stellar car for insane handling) at 160 miles per hour, flat out, no brakes, nothing, and did it cleanly, too. Seriously, what were they thinking?

It’s clear that they tried to mimic Most Wanted, but they honestly could not have made the game look more like it AND be less like it. The same feeling of “Oh damn, I gotta escape!” is not there during cop chases, the A.I. make the races extremely annoying, and the plot is more or less the equivalent of mixing 2 Fast 2 Furious and The Transporter. No, seriously, that’s actually what they were shooting for:

Undercover, according to Riccitiello, is instead taking cues from action films. “For those of you who ever saw movies like The Transporter – it’s sort of a cult classic among people with a B-movie mentality, which fits me perfectly,” he said.

My Final Verdict

Well, Mr. Riccitiello, The Transporter may be a B-Movie and fits you well, but Undercover is really a D-Game and doesn’t fit me at all. I was hoping so much for a newer, better Most Wanted, and this is the mess I get instead? Really?

For pretending to be Most Wanted, and of course, failing, I give Need For Speed: Undercover an Ignition Unlimited Media Rating of 3/10.

A week ago, I did an unboxing video for the extended battery I got for my Touch Pro. Well, now I’ve got some more new stuff for my phone, and another unboxing video. This time, however, I’ve been using the two items for a couple weeks, so I can also give a “long term test” result on each… after, of course, you watch the unboxing and see what items I’m talking about. The video is after the jump.

The Unboxing Video

A Review Of Each Device

I’ll start with the microSD card, because it’s easier to explain and will take less time: this thing is great. With 8GB of storage (rather than the 2 I had in my old SD Card), I can keep a large amount of music (currently 4.3GB or 575 songs) and still have too much space on there to know what to do with. Plus, because this is the fastest SanDisk card on the market (Class 6, capable of data transfer speeds of 6 MB/s), everything on the card loads instantly, from music to video to programs… and probably anything else you can think of. What makes this all even better, though, is I got this card through Amazon for about twenty bucks, and it came with a USB reader (albeit a tiny one that’s ridiculously difficult to get the microSD out of when you’re finished with it). There really isn’t much more to say about this device, so I’ll move onto the Voyager 855.

Until very recently, HTC was very stubborn about including any port but a proprietary mini-USB on their devices, including my Touch Pro. The phone did come with a ridiculously large adapter which plugs into that mini-USB port and includes two more mini-USB ports, a 2.5mm and a 3.5mm. It’s good to have, but it’s unwieldy as having another whole device in your pocket (not to mention the fact that it plugs into the bottom, making it yet more impractical). I needed a solution to the music issue because I love HTC’s TouchFlo 3D Audio Manager interface. When I remembered the fact that phones now have Bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP (that’s Advanced Audio Distribution Profile and Audio/Video Remote Control Profile), I started searching for a Bluetooth headset. However, most Bluetooth headsets are only one piece, giving one ear’s worth of music, but the stereo solutions were even worse: big, bulky, and expensive. Who knew I’d get the best of both worlds for less than I possibly imagined? The Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth Stereo Headset can convert: you can use only the main Bluetooth earpiece, which has the controls on it, or you can plug in a stereo piece, which has a cable of good length that goes to an earbud for the other ear. The controlling of calls and music is flawless using the controls, and there’s nearly zero latency in pausing, stopping, and switching tracks. Not bad for something done over the air. If I have any criticism, it’s that the sound quality doesn’t really stand up to wired competitors, especially in terms of bass and treble, but it shouldn’t… it’s completely wireless! This thing is phenomenal.

Want These?

So you want one (or both) of these things now, but you’re worried about how much this sort of high-tech stuff costs? Well here’s some good news for you: the SanDisk is $22.56 and the Voyager 855 is $31.49. It’s insane… these two bits of tech can be bought, together, for just north of $50. It’s a steal.

Grand touring is great. I’m taking a short road trip to Lime Rock this weekend, and I promised I’d post some sort of updates regarding my travels and the race… and I’ve just found out how I’m going to do that. Twikini, by Trinket Software, is exactly how I’m going to do that. It’s got everything your normal Twitter client has, mobile or not, but this piece of Windows Mobile software goes many, many steps further. How does this so well integrate into a grand touring experience? Make the jump to find out!

I’ll cut right to the chase… no other Windows Mobile Twitter client, not even those with elaborate, sliding touch menus can stack up to Twikini. Why is that? The answer is in simplicity. Trinket Software designed it to do one thing: to be a Twitter client. Using that approach, they created a stable and reliable tool, and then carefully picked and chose features that would enhance the experience. This is where the grand touring bit of it comes into play: let’s say I find a gorgeous vista overlooking an epic driving road. I can whip out my Touch Pro, use Twikini to write a quick comment about it, attach a picture, and note its GPS location, all in one swift action. I can’t think of an easier way to document a road trip, so that’s what I’ll be doing, without a doubt.

This Windows Mobile app won’t break the bank, either: for less than a fiver, you can have the best WM Twitter client on the market. You can download a trial and buy the software, along with reading further information about it, at Trinket Software’s Twikini site. Enjoy! I know I do.

Here’s a supplementary PocketNow video review of Twikini if you’re still not sold on this phenomenal piece of software.

Well, since this new Ignition Unlimited is here, I thought I’d start off after this beginning-of-summer hiatus with a tech post. In April, I ditched my old Verizon XV6700 for a new Verizon HTC Touch Pro. I love this new phone, but when I got it, I had a few issues with it.

Firstly, Verizon had locked the GPS for use with only their stupid “VZNavigator” program, which is coded in such a way that it looks like it belongs on a “dumb phone” rather than a smartphone like the Touch Pro (which runs an HTC-modified version of Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional). Luckily, Verizon has since unlocked the GPS in a new official ROM update, which I will link to in the bottom of this post after the jump. Rest assured you’ll be seeing a lot more posts that somehow include what I’ve done with this GPS update… The second issue with the phone is that it has less RAM than the competitors. It’s slow sometimes, but I really can’t complain, and nothing can be done about that. Lastly, this phone, being packed to the brim with battery-drinking features, has pretty poor battery life. Luckily, I could do something about that: I bought the official Verizon Wireless extended battery for the Touch Pro. Details and an unboxing video, as well as how to order it are after the jump.

The Unboxing Video

Want One?

It’s not the easiest thing in the world to get ahold of. This is the process I went through: I first called VZW Sales, via the 800-256-4646 number, and they confirmed that the battery was indeed available in my area. I was told to call my local Verizon Wireless store, who told me I had to actually come into the store to order it. I was finally able to order the battery at the Customer Service desk in the store for $49.99. They did ship it via FedEx, though, so if you order one… MAKE SURE to be home when it arrives or else you may be driving 36 miles to pick it up at their depot like I did. Oh well, at least the road the depot was on has one of the single greatest hairpins on a public road in Massachusetts.

Was It Worth It?

Yes. Totally. Even though an increase from 1350 mAh to 1800 mAh doesn’t seem like that much, it is. Let me put it in perspective for you: before, I’d have made a few calls, written a few texts, had the phone check for emails on the hour, and browsed the web a little over the course of the day, and by the time I’d get the phone back to its mini-USB power adapter, it was down to 50%. Now, however, with this new battery, I can do all of that written above and listen to a couple hours of stereo Bluetooth music (how? Oh, you’ll see…) and still have around 60% left by the end of the day. It’s absolutely awesome.

So, in conclusion, if you’ve got a Verizon Wireless Touch Pro and want it to last longer, go for this battery. Seriously. It helps a lot.

Oh, and here’s the ROM update from VZW… this is free and a must-download by all means. Grab it here.

Ignition Unlimited is back in action! As you notice, things are different. A lot different. This post is to describe what I’ve done to the site, what my new direction for it will be, and other plans for the future of the site. I felt like going with a more luxurious feel this time around, to support my grand touring aspirations, so I went with chrome, leather and carbon fiber. Continue into the post for a further description of all my plans and everything else I have to say about this update.

I’ll write briefly about the new theme and layout before I start on the really important stuff. The layout is Jeremie Tisseau‘s OneRoom, but heavily modified by me for a more ‘automotive’ feel. When you enlarge images and other stuff? That’s Shadowbox JS. And the header, rotating all those featured articles? That’s Featured Content Gallery. Enjoy those new features as part of the reading experience!

When posting comments (which I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to do… let me know how my posts are!), if you use an email account associated with the Gravatar service, then your avatar will appear instead of the default one. A configured Gravatar is a useful thing to have! I’ve also sorted out and improved all the categories that posts are organized into. All the posts from before this big update can be found under the Legacy category. You’ll also notice that everything related to cars in one way or another has its own category as well. Also, don’t mind any minor areas of the site that don’t appear 100% finished yet… I’m working on it!

But wait a second… isn’t everything on this site related to cars? Well yes, in a way, but not everything I post will be as related as it once was. For instance, I’m going to give more coverage to car-related TV and movies, and also even some technology and music that really doesn’t relate much at all. Why, you ask?

The more I immerse myself in the passion of the automotive world, the more attached I feel myself becoming to one certain aspect of driving, and that is grand touring. I love the idea of using a car to travel long distances, to explore, to just drive for the sake of driving. This summer I plan to go on a few “road trips” of sorts, and I will undoubtedly document those journeys on here. Be ready: this site is taking a different turn. Welcome to the new and improved Ignition Unlimited.

Ah, The Fast And The Furious trilogy quadrilogy: the single biggest butt of jokes in the history of car movies. The first, The Fast And The Furious, was possibly the largest impetus to the rise of ricers; the second, 2 Fast 2 Furious, was a terrible, terrible movie with a dry, boring plot and horrifyingly gross cars; the third, The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift was an interesting spin on things and possibly the best of the bunch (although that’s not really saying much). When I heard there was a fourth one coming, and that it would restore the cast of the original movie, I was wondering if they were attempting to redeem the sorry series with a retry of the original. Despite this, I wasn’t expecting much, as it is still part of the F&F series. Well, this past weekend I went to see Fast And Furious, and it was not exactly what I expected…

My Thoughts

Alright, I’ll go right out with it: I was expecting bad, but this was absolutely horrible. I don’t even know where to start, but I guess I’ll begin with the plot. It seems as if they took the plot from the second movie, nearly exactly, and swapped out some characters, cars, and objectives. Yeah, that’s right, the second movie. The worst one. Needless to say, the acting is horrible, with stellar, over-the-top performances from Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. The minor characters were acted stereotypically and in a way so easy to guess, I had the movie figured out literally twenty minutes in.

The Fast And The Furious series is about street racing, right? Well there’s ONE main race, and it’s unrealistic and packed to the brim with CG and corny drifts. It also featured what would be the coolest navigation system ever – if it existed, and furthermore, didn’t look like something out of Star Wars.

And now, the cars. Oh, this is going to be fun. Well, it’s the second movie all over again: riced imports against old muscle that border on tasteless. I had an admittedly hard time keeping myself from cracking up at a scene I know should have been 100% serious: a certain funeral (I’m giving no spoilers) sees a group of ricers’ racers cars parked along a cemetary road, sporting their oversized wings and wheels. It was almost insulting.

Paul Walker is given the choice of any import on the city’s impound lot to use in his undercover mission, and after filtering through plenty of rice but also legitimately awesome cars such as the Honda S2000 and the new Nissan GT-R, he goes with a cool yet horrifyingly outdated (and overused in this series) Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, only to tune it exactly how he does in the second movie. Boring. Vin Diesel’s got yet more old-school muscle, both a Chevelle SS and the same Charger from the first movie. Boring again. Later in the movie, Diesel and Walker steal a riced 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI from the impound lot. That should really please the Subaru fans who saw this.

Ok, ok, there were some good cars as well, but let me make this point: they do NOT, in any way, redeem this movie, especially because most of them are only featured for a few seconds, tops. A black Buick Regal GNX plays a fairly integral part for the first five minutes, then disappears entirely for the rest of the movie. The best part of the movie only lasts for about five seconds, though: a white, rally-tuned Ford Escort Cosworth RS shows itself, light rack and all, at the beginning of some miscellaneous drag race. At the very end of the movie, the audience is slightly rewarded (like I said, nothing redeems the rest of the movie) with seeing Jordana Brewster driving a JDM-spec Honda NSX-R. Finally, there’s some Porsche Cayman which I guess could be considered cool. Overall though, in terms of cars, I was left far short of impressed.

Conclusion

I wanted to give Fast And Furious a chance. I really did. I heard it was the best of the series, and after Tokyo Drift, I was convinced that the people responsible for this movie had what it takes to make a good movie. Sadly, no. The fourth movie in this series is a tremendous failure, bringing back the same things that ruined the second movies. I’ll give this an Ignition Unlimited Media Rating of 3 out of 10. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t. Wait until DVD to see it, if ever.