CNET Asia Community Blog Entry – Hiding your iPhone Pics

My new entry over at CNET Asia Community Blog is up. This week’s entry, “Hiding your iPhone Pics”. Click here for the full read.

First Look Video & Review – Facebook for iPhone 3.0

For more details on the newest version of Facebook for iPhone 3.0, check out TechCrunch’s article, Facebook 3.0 May Be The Most Useful App On The iPhone Yet.

Source – TechCrunch, parislemon

Rumored Apple Keynote Event on 9 September 2009 – Possible New iPods?

Multiple sources indicated that there might be a new release of the new generation of iPods with the possible inclusion of a camera and microphone.  Speculations indicated that the three possible versions are of 16, 32 and 64GB were a price tag of US$199, US$299 and US$399 respectively. Possible upgrade to iTunes 9 is said to be included as well.

As for the Apple Tablet, according to Gizmodo, “They went on to say that although the project (Apple Tablet) has been going on under various names between four and six years, the first prototype was built around the end of 2008. Adding, “The time to market from first prototype is generally 6-9 months.” That would place the device’s release date in this holiday season. (Think not) They then said, “There was a question of what OS the device would run, too.” So the chances of it being announced at the upcoming keynote event is highly unlikely.

Stay tuned for more.

Source – Gizmodo

My Gears + Review – Sony Ericsson HBH-IS800 on iPhone 3Gs

Ever since I got my iPhone 3Gs, been wanting to get a new pair of Bluetooth headset to listen to my podcasts as my Plantronics Voyager 855 finally gave up on me (the connection on the detachable earpiece cable worn off), though still work on mono.  Been shopping around this past weekend and didn’t do much research into what the newest BT headsets have to offer (now this is dumb).

The design of the Sony Ericsson HBH-IS800 caught my eyes and I ditched out the dough right away, purely shopping on impulse and this is where the problem starts…..(only apply to iPhone 3G or 3Gs)

For the sound quality, the HBH-IS800 is considered one of the best BT headsets I’ve used (Plantronics Voyager 855, Philips SBH7100, Jabra BT8010 and Plantronics Pulsar 590A). The design is neat and clean with one button controlling practically everything, see pic below.

The headset comes with a clip for you to add onto the headset cable so to allow you to clip it to your shirt collar or jacket.

So the sound quality is good and the design neat, what’s the catch then….

Three Hong Kong is Updating all iPhones 3G with MMS

Just received a SMS from Three Hong Kong saying that they will activate my MMS account before 26 June.  The SMS also stated that iPhone 3.0 OS will be ready for download for locals in Hong Kong from 1am onwards on 18 June 2009.  WOOT.

Are We Ready for iPhone 3.0? Two More Days to Go

Extracted from my CNET Asia Blog.

Mark your calendar if you haven’t , two more days to go before the launch of iPhone 3.0 OS.  If you don’t own an iPhone, quit reading.  If you do, apart from just sitting here waiting, start wondering what the new OS would do good for you.

What’s good? well…. maybe

• cut, copy and paste;
• MMS (hmm… can your carrier handle that?);
• tethering – act as modem to your Mac or PC so to be able to share internet connection (only if you’re that mobile);
• find my phone (gee, this is a joke…. only if you’re subscribed to MobileMe);
• HTTP-based streaming audio and video (isn’t your iPhone slow enough?);
• full GPS (again, we hit the speed issue here); and
• Bluetooth muti-player gaming capabilities (no comment on that one).

As for what’s bad….. my only concern is how the laggy would the iPhone 3G be with the new 3.0 OS.  Guess we will find out in two days.

iPhanatics 2.0 @ California – 21 April 2009

iPhanatics’ second gathering is on Tuesday, April 21, 2009, at California @ Ground floor,California Tower, 30-32 D’Aguilar Street in Lan Kwai Fong, Central.

Come and join them for another hour of iPhone fun: This month’s focus will be on games, how to use your iPhone overseas and there’ll have a bunch of local iPhone developers come out and do live demonstrations of their Apps for the Hong Kong and International marketplace.

Co-organized by Beansbox and Popcorn Media Network. With Popcorn’s blogs Butterboom.com and Neonpunch.com as media sponsors.

For more info and sign ups, go to www.iphanatics.com.

Finger – Turning Your iPhone/iPod into a Chinese Writing Tablet

My buddy Belle Liu over at Beansbox just teamed up with Headnix and Zendesk this past week by launching one exciting application for both your iPhone/iPod and Mac (PC Support coming soon).  Finger is a great application that automatically pairs up your iPhone and your Mac over WiFi and then turning your iPhone as an input tablet.  Just like using your Chinese input method on your iPhone while composing email or SMS.

The app currently cost US$7.99 and is available via http://thisfinger.com.

Check it out, sure you’re gonna love it.

All You Want to Know About iPhone 3.0

Finally cut and paste is here, LOL. Well, what else is new? Apple also added spotlight search; shake to shuffle; notes sync; WiFi auto-login; voice memo; MMS and many more. Check out the following articles for more info, all good read.

Apple previews iPhone OS 3.0, adds copy and paste, Spotlight search, plenty more from Engadget

Engadget’s article with some nice pics on the new OS, iPhone OS 3.0 hands-on!

Apple posts iPhone event video from MacWorld

Apple sets $10 price for iPod touch 3.0 software, free for iPhones from iLounge

and lastly, the official iPhone OS preview page where you can watch the presentation.

Source – Engadget, ChillaFrilla, MacWorld, iLounge, Apple

Alternative to Apple In-ear Headphones

Following my post last week on the Apple In-ear Headphones (US$79), I decided to take a look at what similar products I can source in the local market.  Not looking for those expensive ones like the Shure or Sennheiser, but something more affordable and cheaper than that of the Apple In-ear Headphones.

Finally found the Griffin TuneBuds which works well with the iPhone 3G, 4th generation iPod nano and iPod Classic (120GB).

The external mic also works well with the iPod nano (4th generation) built-in voice Memo feature.  As for the 2nd generation iPod touch, iPhone 3G, and the iPhone, the external mic works with Griffin’s iTalk (available from iTunes App Store.

The TuneBuds comes with 3 pairs of interchangeable ear cushions of three different sizes and a carrying case.  The price tag on it, HK$280 (US36), not bad right?

Apple In-Ear Headphones for iPod Now Shipping

[Update] Turned out I was not totally correct on the Apple In-Ear Headphones not being compatible with the iPhone 3G, according to a review over at Gizmodo,

“As far as remote capabilities go, I tested the Apple In-ear headphones with an iPhone 3G and a first gen iPod touch (neither of which are officially supported. As Apple claims, the audio works fine with both devices. Neither the remote or the mic work with the iPod touch 1G at all, merely reducing it to a pair of headphones. On the iPhone 3G, you can’t use the volume. You can still play/pause a song, answer/end a call, change tracks and make use of the microphone. But all of those work perfectly fine on the iPhone.”

[3 December 2008] Finally Apple starts shipping the In-Ear Headphones announced during the Let’s Rock event back in September.  The In-Ear Headphones features -

• two separate high-performance drivers in each earpiece  — a woofer to handle bass and mid-range sounds and a tweeter for high-frequency audio;

• comes with three different sizes of silicone ear tips, also included are a convenient carrying case for the ear tips and a cable-control case for the headphones themselves;

• the remote and mic are supported only by iPod nano (4th generation), iPod classic (120GB), and iPod touch (2nd generation) and audio is supported by all iPod models; and price at US$79.

More news on Apple’s website.

Source – CNET via QLJ555

iPhone Firmware 2.2 Upgrade Available Now

[Update] The firmware is available now. According to Engadget, “Google Street View and over the air Podcast downloads from iTunes. Yup, public transit and walking directions too and the ability to share your location via email. Bug fixes, Safari enhancements, the ability to toggle auto-text completion, and plenty more…”

According to AppleTalk and Gizmodo, the new version 2.2 firmware upgrade for the iPhone will be launched sometime tomorrow, (21 November 2008 for US).  So look out for it and see what the upgrade really do apart from the security patches.

Source – AppleTalk, Gizmodo, Engadget

The Perfect To-Do App on iPhone

[Updated: 7 October 2008] Been using ToDo and Toodledo for over two weeks and indeed those two works great together.  The best is that I found the ToodledoSync Extension for Microsoft Outlook from Chromatic Dragon.  Now not just having my to-do list on my iPhone but on Microsoft Outlook as well, woot.

[21 September 2008] Ever since I started using my iPhone 3G, I’ve been looking for a to-do applications that allows me to sync my my to-dos/tasks to my PC.  Since I uses Outlook most of the time, I wanted one that can sync up with my Outlook.

KeyTasks from Chapura was the first such application that I came across. The interface is neat, straight sync to Outlook and nothing fancy.  The downside to it is that KeyTasks is subscription-based and it costs US9.99 a year to use the service.

The next application that come close to my requirements is ToDo from Appigo.  It doesn’t sync with Outlook, but it syncs with two online task management services, Toodledo (which is free) and Remember the Milk (free but ToDO only works with their pro accounts, which means $$$).

I signed up with Toodledo, downloaded the Firefox plug-in for Toodledo and the Mac Widget plug-in, tried it out for a week and I’m loving it.  Not only can I track my to-dos/tasks on my iPhone, but on Firefox (both PC and Mac) and my Mac (pops up as my dashboard widget).  What I also like is say when you add a to-do/task such as a phone call to be made or to email someone, you can access the iPhone contacts and dial that person or email straight within the ToDo application.

Cost is US$9.99.  Check out the overview video below from Appigo.

iPhone 2.1 Software Update

Finally have time to install the new iPhone 2.1 update on my iPhone.  Took me a little bit over 40 minutes for the whole update and install process (237.8MB altogether this time).  Really like the new functions, such as more info on tracks/podcast played on the iPod and time remaining from last played; the 3G/EDGE signal upgrade (reception seemed a lot better at least for me); shorter backup time (gee, thanks Apple, finally) and installation for new apps; and the Genius playlist which I don’t have time to play around yet.  As for the rumored better/longer battery life, still need couple days to tell.

However, been getting a lot of mixed reviews all across the wire.  Engadget ran an article saying that some users been experiencing degradation to their 3G signals and been having problem with their email.  Guess we’ll find out how all that pans out in a few days.

How’s your upgrade working?