My Life With IT

Longest Delay in Mobile Launch

WishBoNe — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:00:08 +0000

I have been anticipating Samsung Galaxy S. Ever since I tested it at Singtel’s pre-launch, I wanted to own it. It’s a pity that I missed the launch at Samsung’s launch event because of work. Therefore, I tested the mobile phone and love the anti-glare under the sun.

However, there has been a long delay at Starhub to launch due to the exclusive rights being extended by Singtel. It seems that by the time the phone is launched by Starhub (in Sept 2010), the fever to buy Samsung Galaxy S would have subsided, IMHO.

The phone itself is great. With the capabilities of Android and the thousands of growing applications in the Android Market, I am sure to find good ones for my uses. I would have thought that after the energetic drive with roadshows and special invitations, Samsung would have expanded to the rest of the telcos after the stipulated time.

It seems to be a growing trend for telcos to secure exclusive rights to sell the mobile phones for a while before being released to other telcos. A long delay isn’t what I would expect for this round. Unless other telcos have done the same thing before, then I wonder how the business law in monopoly works in Singapore.

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Game Trials by Big Fish Games

WishBoNe — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:17:23 +0000

Been testing out the following game trials since one hour should be enough to help me decide whether the following would be worth the purchase.

1 Penguin 100 Cases. Rather cute game with some story line thrown in. Puzzles vary from hidden objects to jigsaws and speed collection.

Fiction Fixers – Adventures in Wonderland. Looks like this might be a series of in future. Quite fun with 2 modes if I remember correctly; timed and adventure.

Explorer: Contraband Mystery. A game by National Geographic comes with facts about what National Geographic knows best.

Treasure Seekers: Enchanted Canvases. Beautiful graphics with various puzzles, hidden objects to play.

The Crop Circles Mystery. Love the graphics and upgrades available. With a map to choose from, the game play is rather flexible in a way.

After playing the trials, I know that the games that I like should really have different styles. Not easy since the game developers will have to crack their heads on how to keep people entertained and the game worth buying even if Big Fish Games offer the lowest price atUSD6.99 per game.

One hint, the Catch of The Week at Big Fish Games is something to look out for since it’s at USD2.99. Quite a steal.

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Portable Players Choices

WishBoNe — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:02:17 +0000

Decisions, decisions. Having decided that I would like to own a good portable player, I have been looking at the various options available, specifications and models. I liked the style and specifications of the following.

Sony Walkman NWZ-X1060 is one neat device. With a noise cancelling technology, way cool for me to listen while travelling. Price? A little steep when compared to the next device.

Creative Zen Fi 2 has a touch screen. With all the features I have in mind except for adding applications unlike the following. Price is half of the Sony Walkman above.

The popular iPod Touch by Apple. With all the features excluding radio. I don’t know if the new version will include radio or not. Just can’t remember. However, I can install any application. Cool, right? Seriously, I don’t know if I should wait for the new version that comes with a camera. I mean, I have a great camera and with built in camera for iPod Touch, I can’t upload the photos unless I subscribe to a data plan. Or, I can tether it to my mobile phone.

Now, the choice is to buy which one.

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PC Games Trials (Big Fish Games)

WishBoNe — Sat, 15 May 2010 01:41:44 +0000

Sometimes, I can’t help but try out some of the games in Big Fish Games. Been testing a few of the games that I felt were interesting.

Life Quest: A little like SIMS but without the awkward 3D since it’s a PC game. Interaction had to be fast since there’s competition, I don’t remember if there are 2 ways to play but speed is the key here.

Liong: The Lost Amulets: I like the mixture of hidden objects, find the difference and mahjong in this game. There’s also a wheel that will decide your next puzzle type.

Kuros: Beautiful graphics and charming music. A little hidden objects involved and puzzle. I like the fact that I can play at my own pace.

Plan it Green: A wonderful game about being environmental friendly with nuggets about each green movement facts and benefits.

Emerald City Confidential: Adventure with dialogues and detective work. I like.

Plant Tycoon: Grow plants in real time. If plants are combined correctly, the seeds can grow into something special with bonus. I’m attracted to the graphics mostly. In addition, time can be slowed. I forgot if it can be paused.

The plus points of being a member of Big Fish Games is that there are daily catches going at US$2.99 if you are in the club (free for 1st month).

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Cafe World Connection Lost When Serving Food

WishBoNe — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:42:50 +0000

Dear Cafe World Developers, thanks for giving me the opportunity to play.

I used to like playing Cafe World. I don’t scald myself. I don’t have to remove the clothes in the kitchen when some cooking is about to be done. I don’t have to do anything except click on the stove and my chef will do the magic. That was simple until there is this problem of constantly connection problem whenever I attempt to serve my food.

Loading can take from 30 seconds to 5 or 10 minutes. It uses up my RAM way too much at its whim. I am frustrated to say the least when I am supposed to be just spending 5 minutes in this game and move on to the next. When any game gives me the same problem despite many fans in the fan page stating the same problem, I am NOT a fan neither do I like the game anymore. I am using the Like function as it’s the only way to give feedback. That’s all.

I am so closing the cafe. It is trying my patience way too much with the repetitive lost connection when attempting to serve food. It’s a simple case of serving food. What is wrong with the connection?

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Won 3 Premium Themes from WPLuxe and WPNow

WishBoNe — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 02:52:33 +0000

I love premium themes! Thanks to WPLuxe contest, I have won 3 spanking new themes for my sites. The sites that I have updated and still need some troubleshooting are:

A Mind of My Own

Foo Thoughts

My Life with IT

Therefore, all the sites need some time to let me see what is causing the issue of display alignments. I love the themes and will have to change the logos to my site names.

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Web Browsers Keep Crashing

WishBoNe — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 12:55:33 +0000

I don’t know what’s the deal. Cafe World or Facebook seems to be crashing the web browser for no reason. I tried Flock and it was unable to keep within the flock. I tried Firefox and the fox couldn’t take the weight. What does it take for the system to load properly or is it my Windows Vista needs defragment or it needs a format?

I don’t know what I can work with anymore since the system is unstable in my laptop. Either Cafe World takes its own sweet time to load and eat up the RAM like it loves mutton a lot or it loads fine and just crash the browsers. Look, it’s a simple thing. The laptop should be able to take the load. Just keep the browsers smooth and I just do my business and everybody’s happy. Deal?

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Foursquare Thoughts

WishBoNe — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:23:33 +0000

Having been using Foursquare for quite some time, I realised that it can be improved. IMO, anyway. The issues that I have been facing:

The sorry page that states Foursquare is down. Is there any server maintenance that we need to know?
The search function can fail suddenly. The only way is to update the location again.
The session timeout for the browser is inconsistent or I have noted the timings wrongly. Can I have a “remember me” so that I don’t have to login every time for the mobile too?

I wonder if I’m the only one facing this problem or it’s because I’m using Windows Mobile.

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HTC Legend 1st Impression

WishBoNe — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:12:26 +0000

M1 and HTC organised an Android workshop recently and I went for it in hopes of winning a $500 discount voucher. Alas, twice, I didn’t get it. However, I did get to play with a demo set that the promoters were going around. It feels a little like iPhone with the screen being draggable. That’s where the resemblance ends.

There are so many applications that are free in Android market for Singapore that I had the urge to get one since Omnia has been getting senile lately. I haven’t formatted it yet since I dislike having to re-install software every few months. A good mobile phone should be working fine as long as it is fine. I am discounting the fact that I don’t delete SMS, install and uninstall occasional software to see which are the interesting ones like tracking distance, weather, Latitude (which failed to load since Omnia kept stoning away each time I loaded it despite me installing in the HDD), etc.

What I dislike is that the restriction of installing applications only in ROM. That’s not enough for my 1001 needs! There’s a slot for memory cards and OS should be able to allow installation in the memory cards since the ROM has limited space. Now I wonder if I will truly install the 30, 000 applications that Android market has.

HTC Legend is a piece of art since the aluminum is sculpted as a whole. The guy even dropped the phone twice to show that it is still working well. The battery didn’t pop out since the back is covered and I don’t have to worry about cutting a call off suddenly. I love the optical trackball option as the finger on the screen can activate programmes accidentally like what Omnia often does when I’m dragging PockeTwit. I’m afraid that by comparing Omnia with HTC Legend, it’s unfair since Omnia came out quite early and has a miserly 94MB in ROM that often screams at me to remove programmes or clear the SMS.

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Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 1st Impression

WishBoNe — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 01:40:39 +0000

Knowing that Xperia X10 is released, I went to check out the test set at iluma. The phone can be set to having a software lock after unlocking the touchscreen. It uses a pattern lock. Not sure if there is another option for that since I was more interested in the camera. Unfortunately, I was unable to take any photos because of the lack of memory card. The screen looks great compared to my Omnia.

I tested out the MediaScape and TimeScape. The icons look too tiny on the 4″ screen. I thought they would have the large square icons look. The phone feels large in my hands as Omnia is a lot smaller than Xperia X10 afterall. Design is rather masculine with just 3 buttons. The touch screen feels good since Omnia can be too sensitive at times when I’m scrolling.

For a full review, check out GSM Arena. I like the specifications. Meanwhile, let me find a test set for HTC Desire.

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Links for 2009-04-04 [Digg]

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Bait Ball Feeding Frenzy Ends in One Gulp [HD VID]
Nature's Great Events HD Web Extra: In late summer the plankton bloom is at its height. Vast shoals of herring gather to feed on it, diving birds round the fish up into a bait ball and then a humpback whale roars in to scoop up the entire ball of herring in one huge mouthful. It must suck being a bait fish!