Iron Man

I never managed to see Iron Man at the cinema. Something to do with it being released in the same week as the birth of my son... By the time I was able to get back to the cinema, the film had finished its run.

But I got given it on DVD for Christmas.

It's great.

This was the summer of superhero movies, with The Dark Knight (which I did see in the cinema) generally being held up as the biggest and best. Well, the Dark Knight was certainly the biggest (and longest), but I'd say Iron Man is in competition with it for 'best'.

You see, all the best superhero movies are origin movies. Batman Begins was fabulous because it showed us what made Bruce Wayne become Batman, Spider-Man is better than both its sequels for the same reason. Likewise Superman.

And likewise Iron Man. It does all it needs to do with style, tells the story and then stops, before its overstayed its welcome. The Dark Knight, great as it was, was a bit flabby - it had too many bits, some of which were unnecessary.

The only thing that leaves me uneasy about the film is the ending. Because having ended like that, what will they do with the sequel? But next time I'll find out in the cinema...

Doctor Who: The Next Doctor

Was it just me, or wasn't it very good?

I mean, it had its moments, but it just failed to live up to expectations.

Nothing was genuinely scary, the Cybercats were just silly and the ending was just, well, a bit of a let down.

But lets face it, none of the Christmas specials have been better than an average episode. Given that they seem to put more effort into the specials, you'd expect more.

I hope the other 'specials' we're getting in 2009 will be a bit more, erm, special than that.

C- Must try harder.

The future is finally here...

Remember when you were a kid and people in sci-fi shows had really cool gadgets in their watches, like Dick Tracey's video watch, or Michael Knight talking to KITT through his watch...?

Well, that future has arrived.

A few years ago I heard tale of a mobile-phone-in-a-watch called 'Wristmo' - it looked really clumsy and was remarkably feature-free. And you only got it in Japan.
Now you can get something so much better that that, in the UK, for a surprisingly reasonable price. The sWaP watch. Get one (appropriately enough) from iwantoneofthose.com for a mere £250.

How cool is that? It is a watch combined with all the features of a contemporary mobile phone. So you can send and receive texts and multimedia messages, it can play mp3s or even mp4 video clips, it has a built in speaker / microphone so you can actually use it as a phone without attaching any extra bits. But if you want to attach stuff you can include a wired 'hands free' kit or even a bluetooth headset.

Here's the features list:

• A watch, a mobile phone and a media centre all rolled into one.
  
• Choose from a number of different watch faces stored in the sWap Watches' memory.
  
• Pop your SIM card into the watch and it's easy to make and receive calls
  
• 1.5 inch TFT colour touch screen so you can watch movies!
  
• Includes a hands free kit, Bluetooth headset and a stylus (plus one spare) for negotiating the touch screen.
  
• The stylus is stored in a handy slot built in to the watch strap.
  
• No need to buy a new SIM card - simply take it out of your mobile and pop it in the watch.
  
• Receives SMS, MMS and can display recent and missed calls.
  
• Store up to 300 contacts.
  
• Built in alarm clock has 5 different tones to choose from.
  
• Compatible with all UK networks except 3.
  
• Record audio using the hands-free kit's mic and use the craftily concealed 1.3 megapixel camera to take pics and record video.
  
• 128MB memory can be expanded up to 2GB with a Micro SD card (not included).
  
• Supports MP3, MIDI, WAV, AAC and MP4 files.
  
• Standby time: 100 hours.
  
• Talk time: 150-180mins.
  
• Requires a 650mAh rechargeable battery (included).

Sounds fantastic! The only alarm bell I get while reading that list is the word 'stylus' - can it not be operated using fingers?

But can I justify buying one? No.

:o(

I already have a gadget phone that does all that and more. And I have an iPod. The combination of those two satisfies most of my portable gadget needs. And the sWaP doesn't do wi-fi, e-mail or mobile internet (well, it does GPRS, but...).

But it is highly cool.