The Huawei Honor 6X

Alex shows off my new phone

Huawei make the Honor 6X, a pretty good Android phone. It was time to pass the Nexus 6 to Adrian and move on.

Alex's pose satirises both the name of the device and Huawei's phone-motto "For the Brave" which they helpfully printed on two sticky-backed labels (one of which is on Alex's head).

It seems the Chinese are still wrestling with western culture.

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These days getting a new phone working isn't so hard - the process is pretty automatic. What takes the time is having to reinstall half the apps and then relog into almost all of them. Much hunting for passwords and other credentials.

Usefully the Honor 6X has a fingerprint pad on the back which saves re-entering the PIN all the time.

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I wonder just how much real-time intelligence I am giving China's foreign intelligence service. I am aware, of course, that I already keep the Americans fully informed.

My only defence is to share all my secrets with you here, first.

Blown away by VR - Google Cardboard

My "EightOnes VR Kit V2 inspired by Google Cardboard V2.0 - Easy Assembly Virtual Reality Headset With Capacitive Touch Button" kit arrived yesterday and I put it together this morning.

With the help of this video, plus downloading the Google Cardboard app, it's not so hard.

Is it possible to classify an experience as simultaneously awesome and clunky? Google's app comes with a set of demos so you can (using a lot of WiFi bandwidth) ..

• wingsuit your way across American mountains, valleys and caverns 
• take a flying tour of Chicago, Google Earth-style 
• immerse yourself in the Palace of Versaille with a charming, french-accented guide.

At these moments you know that when Virtual Reality comes of age, the world will be transformed.

Meanwhile, my hands got tired holding the viewer, and as I can't easily get my Nexus 6 out of its cover, I had to physically hold it against the back of the cardboard box.

But at £12.99 why not buy at VR 'release 0.1'? I'm now looking for other VR packages for Cardboard - more guided tours, more exotic scenery.

I already downloaded a VR planetarium and toured the solar system ...

A proper review here.

I think it would be a great Christmas present.

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Update: since the above was written I've been intermittently looking for content. There's not much, and what there is falls into three categories:

• Still pictures taken with 3D cameras. You can move your PoV through 360 degrees
• 3D Movies where you are passive - danger of nausea!
• Genuine 3D environments where you can look around, move and interact.

Only the last option delivers the true promise of VR and it's the hardest to provide. I haven't tried any games - I was hoping instead to wander virtually around some exotic faraway locations and/or see strange wildlife - but there's very little content out there, either on YouTube or Google Play. Don't know if Cardboard will be enough to kickstart things.

Badger vs. Cat

Not yet a major movie! As seen in our front garden yesterday evening.

After this stand-off, action moved to our back garden.

We've seen the badger before, through the trail camera, but that has limited resolution. Here the Nexus 6 camera gives us the HD experience. It probably came back afterwards but even for a badger, uncooked waffles are hard work!

Clare has instructed me to upload these videos to Springwatch - although I think our chances of air time would be greater if the badger and cat had actually come to blows ... .

Nexus 6: the aftermath

My new Nexus 6 'phablet' arrived yesterday and so far I am impressed. These days configuration is a doddle, as Google simply copies all the settings and apps from a back-up image of my Samsung Galaxy S3 (the one I dropped and broke on the summit of British Camp in the Malvern Hills) via WiFi. The new device is also pretty fast and I've gotten used to its size - so much so that the S3 now looks way too small and diminutive ...

One small note: the SIM card is smaller than the S3's so it'll be a trip to the Vodafone shop to burn a new one.

The cover I ordered with it is, however, a disaster. The Ringke MAX is a kind of shell which certainly fits snugly enough round the back of the phone ...

Ringke MAX shell-cover for Nexus 6

... but the power and volume controls are so diminutive on the Nexus 6 that the shell extends far beyond them on the device-edge: they're kind of buried in a long, thin trench. Ringke tried to solve this problem by having some rubber covers shaped to, er, cover these controls. Unfortunately the rubber simply compresses and the controls don't move. Great to have a cover which prevents you controlling the device.

Ringke also provided a screen protector for free. I have tried and tried again, but it always deploys as a simulation of entrapped bubble wrap. Can't get the thing flush - the bubbles stubbornly refuse to slide out to the edge. I applied sellotape and pulled it right off: it's unusable.

So I have spent even more money and await delivery tomorrow of this:

Orzly® - Multi-Function Wallet Case for Motorola NEXUS 6 - BLACK CARBON FIBRE Style Wallet Style Phone Case with Integrated Stand and Built-In Auto Sleep / Wake Sensor Functionality Custom Built for the GOOGLE NEXUS 6 SmartPhone

Can you see that the controls seem to be unencumbered?

Hopefully this will solve the problem of me dropping and breaking stuff, and will also allow the phone to be charged via the wireless charger (reviews seem to be mixed on this point).
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UPDATE: the Orzly wallet case for the Nexus 6 arrived yesterday and it's perfect. The controls are easily accessible and the case both protects the device and makes it easy to hold. Also, the wireless charger works through it, so it's just a matter of placing the device in its case on top of the charger. Great.

Time will tell if the three credit card slots, and the ability to use the compartment behind to store paper money, are actually useful.