The Nexus 4 is fantastic

Nexus 4 & it's box

If you're aware of the Nexus 4; you're more than likely aware of how much of a struggle it has been for the majority of people (me included) to obtain one. The original release in late November definitely flopped, leaving so, so many people disappointed. Fast forward to December 4th. The UK was having a second release!

I geared up at 4:30pm on the Play Store, passing time and F5ing slowly, the closer to 5pm, the more rapid the refreshing. Eventually, I managed to get through to the checkout after quite a few server crashes and successfully copped a Nexus 4 16gb at 5:07pm. Fantastic, or was it? Multiple errors?! Turns out Lloyds TSB were blocking the transaction on account of 'fraudulent activity' - are you kidding me? Weeks of anticipation and this is what happens?!. So, after nearly an hour and a half on hold with the bank and many new curse words later, I finally had the transaction authorised and was able to pay Google (pending transaction!).

Upon reading that many people were stuck in limbo from Google, with no acknowledgement of payment, shipping - any information at all; like many others I had no idea what was going on. Some were shifted to 5-7 weeks of waiting for the phone; whereas some were having their phones delivered despite being quoted 3-4 weeks. Unsettling, my patience is truly being tested here.

So, fast forward to Saturday 8th December. A day off work and I awake to a phone call from Meg at work. Our Birmingham store has a Nexus 4 in stock, it's on reserve for me. After initially crapping my pants, I rushed and dragged my girlfriend out of bed to head to town and God bless Charlotte for doing so (I think I paid her back by buying her a Harringtons jacket). I rushed down to our store, brought the phone and traded in my broken HTC Sensation. £257 after discount for a mint condition 16gb Nexus 4? I'm game. We had to rush home immediately to cancel the transaction on Google and I was preying it hadn't gone through. But all is well!

The phone itself is absolutely phenomenal. It just feels so good in my hands and I haven't even used it outside of my home yet (I'm waiting for my case to arrive!). I keep picking it up and just looking at it. It's so nice to look at. It feels like one of the more finely polished Android phones in recent years, I think this is a very good sign to the prospected future of Android (alongside the Galaxy S3). I wish I could write a more detailed review of actually using the phone, but hey - this is a blog. There are plenty of dedicated websites for that.

The long and short of it is: if you've ordered one and are in limbo - the phone is absolutely worth it. I haven't come across one of the complaints I've been reading online (battery? Over 24 hours of use here and I just hit 15% writing this..).

Boat To Row & a good night!

Last night, me, Chris & Charlotte went to see some personal favourites, Boat To Row, headline their show as a part of their UK tour - it was brilliant!

It was definitely one of my favourite times seeing Boat To Row perform - both in filming and concert. The venue was absolutely jam-packed, which I think surprised even Boat To Row. It's definitely a well deserved presence, mind you.

Misty's Big Adventure, terrifying.

The folk band were supported by Charlotte Carpenter; of whom we've filmed before for Croft Sessions  (below) and also absolutely love. So I'd definitely recommend giving her a listen. Also, Misty's Big Adventure; who for the most part have a very odd presence about them - but the character of the band make it work very well. especially when their mascot is this quite frankly, terrifying super villian (right). All through their performance he kept the energy high by being, well, terrifying.

I was disappointed that we couldn't see Young Runaways, who unfortunately dropped out last minute. Which is a shame, as I was excited to see them perform; we filmed them near enough this time last year and to be honest, they are very nice people, very humble. But hey, things happen. I really do hope we'll be seeing more of Young Runaways in the very near future!

Before and after the gig was such a laugh, we had some drinks in the Victoria pub, opposite the Mailbox and I'm disappointed in myself for not realising sooner how nice of a pub it is! I had been in there a few times; but never actually sat in there and took it all in, it's a great environment to surround yourself in and decorated so well! It's set the standard for what I want a pub to look like. We also hung about in a pub along the Broad Street canal, which made me feel about 10 years old due to the amount of the *ahem* older generation were occupying the pub. It was nice, funny and just a good night. I do always have a good laugh with Chris.

All in all, I had a very enjoyable night. I am going to make sure to get myself to more and more gigs, big or small. I'm mad at myself for not making myself go to more, even if I have to go on my own! (well, we'll see.)

Check out Charlotte Carpenter, for Croft Sessions:

Also, I'm writing this from Windows 8, I don't know how I feel about it, but I'll probably make a blog post about it.