Monday, June 30, 2008

Lauren Conrad flirts with AT&T's Shine, but still hang-out with BlackBerry

Oh, Lauren... Why does your life has to be very much alike your "fake" life in the Hills tv series?

Whoa, wait. It is a reality tv show, so that means it is your real life. Oops, my bad. ;-p I should've said this instead: Why oh why, you still shooting that Hills series? Let it go girl, move on to bigger things in life. Like "working", I mean really-really "working" in real life...


So the Hills is still rolling on to the next season, although many of the fans already bored with it but the main star: Lauren Conrad (LC) still draws much attention. And we all are already knew, LC always bring her BlackBerry Curve everywhere she goes. God forbid she ever forgot to bring it with her, like she never forget to look good anytime-anywhere.

But as fast as she can change her appearance from glam-gal to fashion-office girl, LC suddenly just signed a contract with AT&T to promote the LG Shine handset. Now I'm sure, those lawyers at AT&T are working hard right now to fix the flawed contract, which apparently doesn't forbid her to keep on using her fav BB phone in daily lives.

Watch the video ad below, which also stars Brody Jenner. If the link is broken, then use this URL.



[blogged with my Treo 750v]

Nokia launched Supernova line-ups

The announcement of Nokia's Supernovas didn't surprised anyone at all, one thing is because there are many rumors and leaked shots of the Supernova line-up handsets. And secondly, we've often seen how fast Nokia release newer handsets and refresh the old ones.

But nevertheless, we should look at the flagship of the bunch: Nokia 7610 Supernova. There are some "exciting" specs under the hood of those glossy body of this baby, here they are:
  • Symbian S40 OS
  • Quad-band GSM, only up to EDGE data network
  • 2-inch screen with 16M colors at 240x320 pixels
  • 3.2MP camera along with autofocus and LED flash
  • FM Radio with RDS
  • Bluetooth with A2DP
  • microUSB slot
  • 30MB internal memory
  • microSD card slot
  • XpressOn covers

According to GSMArena; the really cool feature of the Nokia 7610 Supernova allows the keypad illumination color and the theme to be changed automatically depending on the current environment.
There are three more handsets from the Supernova line-ups, they are: 7510, 7310 & 7210. And if you're interested on more details of them, head on to GSMArena
page and I've compiled some of their pictures like you can see below.


[blogged with my Treo 750v]

Sony Ericsson Maria Sharapova's Design Collection

With the growing good relationship between Sony Ericsson and its ambassador: Maria Sharapova, they both work together again to make Sony Ericsson Maria Sharapova Design Collection. Consisting of two cases, a “party” bag and a wallet. Sony Ericsson designers say that Maria has helped in creating the collection and it represents her life on and off the court.

IDC-31 Courtside Case is a phone case which can be attached to a backpack. IDC-32 Exercise Case is attached to the arm, when you use the phone to listen to music, while working out. IDC-33 Party Bag and IDC-34 Travel Wallet are just what their names say. Source is from
PhoneArena.

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

Samsung J800 Luxe, L700 and L870

When everybody are releasing new handsets next month, Samsung definetely doesn't want to be left behind. Samsung introduced three new handsets at the Singapore Telecommunications Exhibition - the Samsung J800 Luxe, L700 & L870.

Samsung J800 Luxe

Don't be fooled with the "Luxe' name behind that J800 number series there, because this 15mm slider phone has the lowest specs compared to the other two:
  • Tri-band GSM, up to UMTS data (2100MHz)
  • 2.2-inch screen with 256K TFT display, at 176x220 pixels
  • 2MP camera with photo blog function (direct image upload to blogs over the 3G connection)
  • Buetooth with A2DP
  • FM Radio with RDS
  • microSD slot
  • built-in 18MB memory
  • built-in office docs viewer
  • RSS reader
  • Mobile Tracker

Samsung L700

L700 comes in measuring only 12.8mm, and with these specs:

  • Tri-band GSM, up to UMTS data (2100MHz)
  • 2.1-inch screen with 256K TFT display, at 120x160 pixels
  • 2MP camera
  • Buetooth with A2DP
  • FM Radio with RDS
  • microSD slot
  • built-in 30MB memory
  • built-in office docs viewer
  • available in pink, silver & gold colors

Samsung L870
The top of the line, the head honcho; the 13.5mm slider phone has the best specs than the rest:

  • Tri-band GSM, up to HSDPA of 3.6Mbps data transfer
  • 2.4-inch 16M color TFT display with QVGA resolution
  • FM Radio
  • Bluetooth
  • USB connectivity
  • Internal memory 100MB
  • microSD card slot up to 4GB

There is no word on the pricing and the availability of the phone, except for the L870 will be available in Europe this August 2008. --Click on each pictures to view them larger--

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

Women point their sharp fingers to iPhone as sexist

When it comes to iPhone, everything about it are always seem like over exposed and out of the proportions. Like this one new type of complaint that comes from women with long finger nails, they feel that the universal mobile phone from Apple is treating them like second-class citizens.

Erica Watson-Currie, a 39 years old of consultant and lecture who live in Newport Beach, California, said: "Considering ergonomics and user studies indicating men and women use their fingers and nails differently, why does Apple persist in this misogyny?" Her fingernails are typically between one-eighth and one-quarter of an inch long.

Another comment came from Heidi Roizen, a prominent Silicon Valley investor and entrepreneur who likes pretty fingernails,
says she gets around the fingernail problem by using her thumbs on the screen. "My thumbnail does not hit it," she said.

Or like what our gorgeous Sub-Editor; Hannah Bloor, who used her black colored finger nails to push her Treo’s screen when she showed us The Astraware GTS World Racing Edition game in
PATV167. ;-D

iPhone is a keyboard-less mobile phone, and using its big widescreen is the only way for the owners to interact with iPhone’s features and apps. Some may have short finger nails, but some also have big fingers that prevent them to push the right on-screen buttons or the virtual keyboard keys.

If you’re willing to bear the pain, an operation to make your thumbs to become smaller is the boldest sacrifice for using the “coolest” mobile phone in the future with ease. But not everyone is willing to make such sacrifice, so instead maybe you want to consider using these
iTumbs or iPressOn nails accessories.

Even using such accessories have their own disadvantages, one that often happened is when you’re in a hurry and you don’t have the time to use them. In the end, you’ll still using your fingers to navigate the menus displayed on iPhone’s screen anyway.

Then perhaps it is time for everyone, including the macho-male with big thumbs and short finger nails, to start growing longer nails and take care of them so no scratches can harm your precious smooth iPhone screen. Just don’t overdo it, like in the picture there. ~LOL~

Sources are from:

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

Katherine Heigl uses iPhone, ...or not?

Looks like Katherine Heigl isn't that interested to use Centro, perhaps it's got something to do with the way James Marden gave the Centro to her in that 27 Dresses movie? ;-p

Anyway, Katherine has been seen using iPhone lately. But I'm not quite sure what is that phone she's using at the most right photo shot there?

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

iPhone as e-book reader, a natural born trait or a forced add-on feature?

Who says that books are dead?

Whoever said that must’ve think that people don’t actually read anymore. Oh wait, isn’t that what Apple’s psychedelic CEO used to say?

When fronted with the release of Amazon’s Kindle, Steve Jobs made his usual skillful yet bold statement that’s science proven from his sarcastic mind: “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”

That’s what he said, but don’t trust anything that Steve is trying to convince you today. Because he might change it the very next day, just like when he’s so sure that video in iPod is a ridiculous idea. He thought people won’t be watching video on iPod’s tiny screen instead of working or doing something else, but then what happened? All of the iPod line-ups are now have video capabilities, and even with bigger screen than before.
But can the same situation be applied to iPhone as e-book reader? Well, of course iPhone has a big 3.5-inch widescreen with 480x320 resolutions. Not to mention its multi-touch display is capable to bring animated and richer e-book experience, that and the colorful display are easily bested out the Kindle.

The screen is what makes iPhone so good, but at the same it also the main problem for viewing e-books too long. iPhone’s backlit display will make our eyes tired faster, and surely it also need to drink plenty of battery juice to lit it up. Such in contrast with the Kindle, which its 6-inch with 800x600 resolutions screen and E Ink technology are specially made for long stare of reading e-book pages.

I could go on and on, comparing both the advantages and disadvantages from both devices. To make it short, I hope the right thumbnail picture of comparison chart can help to quickly describe them better. Although the price for iPhone there should be altered, because the iPhone 3G will be available in cheaper price tag (around $299 for the 16GB model).

If price of the device is your concern, Brett Arends at The Wall Street Journal argues that if you read a lot, the Kindle can help you save money because e-books are cheaper than the paper kind. But he acknowledges that you have to buy 61 books before the device pays for itself.

I noticed that many of you, PalmAddict readers have also been longing to use your iPhone as e-book reader like the Kindle. The only one and the biggest obstacle is iPhone app support to do so, it is software compatibility to view the standard of e-book that has been limiting iPhone to become a true e-book reader.

What has been holding Apple from bringing the e-book into its famous iPhone? It’s a big mystery for all of us, if we’re to talk about software standard, then it’s not going to be a problem for Apple. PDF is the right format for e-book, PDF is native to OS X and Safari so iPhone is naturally will enjoy the same treatment.

While for the distribution/selling of e-book & e-book reader apps can be done through iTunes or the upcoming App Store, it is hassle free and less risky both for Apple and iPhone owners.

We wouldn’t know whether Apple will pick-up the idea of commercialize e-book into iPhone or not, in the mean time for iPhone owners can use this eBooks app. It’s a simple eBook reader for the iPhone. It reads HTML and text files stored in your ~/Media/EBooks folder, and is smart enough to enter subdirectories, if for instance, you've broken a book down by chapters.

For you who are in great fond of Project Gutenberg or GutenMark, then eBooks app is the right one for you. It’s able to make pretty HTML out of Gutenberg .txt files, and splits them by chapter using a second tool.
eBooks app has quite some useful settings, one in particular I like is the dark view of e-book pages. If you’re interested to know more of this free app for your iPhone, then read how to install it first and know how to get eBooks onto your phone. Happy reading then!


I really can’t wait to see how Apple will do next about e-book, it is always in high demands; and Apple along with Steve Jobs himself won’t be able to deny anymore. Especially when the dual-display e-book reader, that’s currently being developed by researchers at Maryland and Berkeley Universities, is released to customers.

The two leaves can be opened and closed to simulate turning pages, or even separated to pass round or compare documents. When the two leaves are folded back, the device shows one display on each side. Simply turning it over reveals a new page. Let’s enjoy the video demo below, while waiting for Apple’s next move. ;-p

But long before that dual-display e-book reader is out, there’s more important things to think about: who will evolve first, the iPhone becomes full e-book reader or the Kindle becomes useful “convergence” device (with functionality like iPhone’s such as making & receiving calls, sending SMS & email, etc.)?

It’s alright to keep the enthusiast level of ours at high pitch, and perhaps we can even dare to dream of the once rumored iTablet (pictured right)? Oooh…, I can see some of you are getting excited already? ;-)

Sources are from:


[blogged with my Treo 750v]

Behind the iPhone’s shiny body: Background processes solved with “Push Notification”

Remember the limitation to launch various apps and to do multi-tasking limitations on iPhone?

To refresh your memory, let’s read again the Apple’s documentation that says: “Only one iPhone application can run at a time, and third-party applications never run in the background. This means that when users switch to another application, answer the phone, or check their email, the application they are using quits.”

Looks like Apple understand the needs to address this growing issue immediately, before it’s getting out of their hands due to high demands from iPhone users for clarification. At last WWDC ’08 conference, Apple presented us with the new workaround on background processes with what it calls a robust push architecture available to all third-party apps. This is an Apple-owned server that developers can access and use to push notifications to iPhone users.

The “Push Notification” will maintain a persistent IP connection to the phone and let a 3rd party server ping Apple's notification service in order to push out notifications your device, which can be in the form of badges, sounds or custom textual alerts.

Any messages from developer apps get piped into user's phones in one of three different types of notifications--counters badges (for something like a new e-mail message), audio cues, and pop-up messages that look similar to text alerts.

But here’s the real catch behind the new solution; Apple has repeatedly mentioned the service could preserve battery life and maintain performance. Sure it does sound logical, having a large number of apps constantly polling for updates sucks down battery power faster, so by keeping a single connection over which data is pushed and work on the phone is minimized. You also maximize battery life and maximize bandwidth usage because data can be aggregated on the server side and be sent in large chunks rather than a random distribution of small packets.

There’s a deep thought from John Lowensohn (Webware) that we have to keep in mind: "...my guess is that the company realized this would be a great time to get a handle on all the potentially great marketing data that leaves the second an app is downloaded from the new App Store."

We’ll have to wait & see, how this “Push Notification” service will turn out to be? And what is Apple’s real agenda behind it?

You can watch the video presentation of the new “Push Notification” service below, or continue read on the sources from:
Apple addresses lack of iPhone background processes with “push notification” (iPhone Atlas)
  • iPhone push notification service for devs announced (Engadget)
  • Apple's iPhone to Use a Centralized Push Based Notification Architecture (High Scalability)
  • Why users should be scared of Apple's new notification system (Webware)


  • [blogged with my Treo 750v]

    My thought of the week: Unimportant & annoying SMS

    Who doesn't know, or who doesn't use text-messaging (SMS in short) but have a mobile phone in their pocket? Not many, I'm sure.

    It is indeed a very convenient technology made, but what will happen if instead of helping us to be happier; all it does make us hate the service and the mobile phone itself?

    It all starts with some annoying SMS spam like offering of services along with free items, or a mistaken-hot connection like what Shira Barlow experienced. The student of UCLA received a gigantic proportion of SMS and email spam on her new mobile number from Cingular Wireless, not to include surprise calls from people she don't know. Such as hundreds of birthday congrats not on her real birthday, stories about those A-list parties held recently, to big fashion show invitations she never know of.

    Later she found out that her new mobile number was previously own by Paris Hilton, so when the 'real' Paris was sitting pretty in her ‘prison’; Shira got another hundreds of inspiring and supporting SMS. Either this could be translated into a SMS spam or not depends on Shira herself, since she didn't shut down the ex-Paris number but keep on using it.

    And then it would eventually get worse: SMS spam by people that are close to you. Now, this last one is harder to be ignored and even to be stopped even if you change phone numbers many times. Because they'll ask for your new number, and it would be very rude for you not to give it to them. Or you wouldn't say no, if your girl/boyfriend ask for it right?

    Where at first it's all feel nice & cozy to receive those love SMS almost every minutes or hours, asking for every little details on what're you doing at the time. Beep... Beep... The first SMS came in saying "Have you reach your office yet honey? How's the traffic on the way there? Is it tiring you?", you reply in short to end it fast. Beep... Beep... The second SMS came in 30 minutes later bearing this message: "Have you make & drink coffee yet? How's the coffee today? Too sweet or too black?", you thought it was only a joke one so you don't reply.

    Beep... Beep... The third one came faster around 12 minutes with some angry tones within it: "Honey, why didn't you answer my SMS? What's happening??", you felt compelled to reply immediately and only to get less than one minute of reply asking about another unimportant details. I think I can stop right there giving you pictures of what could be happening later, when this kinda activities going for a week. No, maybe only for a couple of days and someone might have lost his/her temper soon.

    There’s already unwritten etiquette for writing SMS, such as using the right vocabulary or the appropriate words. But how about etiquette for sending it? Should we be restricted to certain rules for each person we wish to send it to, like when the proper time to contact the person is or how many SMS we’re allowed to send?

    Ridiculously it may sounds, but it often happened and we’re being annoyed for several times too.

    [blogged with my Treo 750v]

    White iPhone 3G spotted in House tv series

    First, it was Dr. House himself who held and showed us all his new iPhone. And now after another non-stop watching the fourth season of House, I saw a glimpse of what could be the first sighting of white colored iPhone 3G used in one of the scene.

    It is the pretty doctor number thirteen who pulled out a white colored mobile phone, and upon inspecting the screenshots with Photoshop; it seems very much alike with the upcoming iPhone 3G. It's only the back of the phone, but the position of camera gives impression it is an iPhone. ;-)

    I do believe Apple is supporting the
    House series with its mobile phone, another marketing gimmick Apple need to do after the American Idol season 6 has just finished.

    [blogged with my Treo 750v]

    Behind the iPhone’s shiny body: Apple is killing Flash

    Who doesn’t want a piece of that sweet cake from iPhone share market? It would be crazy for anyone to refuse to take part and jump in to the ever growing popularity of iPhone, especially with the new upcoming iPhone 3G is on the way.

    But what about if someone is dying to join in to iPhone party, and doesn’t get the permission from the master mind of the party itself: Steve Jobs? Well, they’ll do like what every people will do; crash into the party, either with invitation or not.

    Oh, you know who I’m talking about, it’s Adobe with their Flash player. Steve Jobs has claimed in the past that the mobile version of Flash isn’t powerful enough for use on the nimble and elegant iPhone.

    On the other hand, Adobe still shows strong interest to put their widely popular Flash player into iPhone. Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen made the comments during the company’s second quarter financial conference call: "We have a version that’s working on the emulation. This is still on the computer and you know, we have to continue to move it from a test environment onto the device and continue to make it work. So we are pleased with the internal progress that we’ve made to date."

    This indicated that Flash may come to the iPhone as an application, but that raises questions on how it would interact with other elements and applications on the phone. Persistent aren’t they?
    But Apple has their own agenda, a Flash killer technology in the making! Specially made for iPhone’s Safari web browser. Apple is working with
    SproutCore, an open source JavaScript framework the company reportedly used to build MobileMe.

    Each of us have our own thoughts & predictions, on how this party will end. Like Jim Dalrymple from Macworld has said: “It seems clear that if Apple is adopting SproutCore for MobileMe, they will promote and use the technology on the iPhone. What isn’t clear is where that leave’s Adobe’s Flash and Microsoft’s Silverlight."

    Or another good one from Rene Ritchie (TiPB): “Apple and Adobe need each other but also don’t seem to have the best of relationships. They’re both gambling big time, with huge stakes.”

    Who do you think will win, when the consumers are starting to bang and throw the chairs/tables and ask to be able to freely view the Flash contents in the websites. That would means from YouTube, Hulu, and porn too… now, that last one could be very dangerous and hazardous; especially for teenagers.

    Sources are from:


    [blogged with my Treo 750v]

    Special delivery: Q&A on FileMagnet for iPhone 2.0

    Aside from many features iPhone has, there are two particular advantages that we all love: big space of storage up to 16GB & easy sync via iTunes. But that last one there, has its advantage and at the same time limitation.

    Apple has well known for making its products to be user friendly and easy to use, even for first time users. For example simply by dragging & drop the audio/video files into iTunes, click the sync button, and voila; you’ll transfer those files effortlessly to your iPhone. But it really amazed everyone, that we can’t freely access those files inside iPhone. The lack of ability to use your device’s huge storage, is very depressing especially when you could use it to store other than audio/video files.

    And that’s what has been the idea for
    Ecamm Network & Magnetism Studio to develop together an application to tackle the duty of such simple yet essential feature for the upcoming iPhone 2.0 platform; called FileMagnet.

    Ecamm Network is already known by its famous application named PhoneView, which has similar use like FileMagnet. But I’m going to let that to be explained later, on the Q&A section below. Let’s focus on the new exciting FileMagnet, which I think will become one of the must have applications for iPhone; and of course for iPod Touch too when the iPhone 2.0 platform update has finally came out.

    FileMagnet works very easy, it will carry on the drag & drop tradition along with the fast sync between iPhone and the Mac computer. First, as usual we have to install FileMagnet into each of them.

    The Mac desktop client of FileMagnet will act as the host for every files you wish to transfer to the iPhone’s FileMagnet app, when you’ve filled the list like you can see on the right thumbnail picture; just click on the FileMagnet icon at the iPhone and then the sync will begin immediately through wireless connection.

    But it doesn’t end there, and this is what will make FileMagnet excel beyond other apps that offer similar functionality of only transferring files; where after you’ve transfered the files you can view them directly from your iPhone.

    Although FileMagnet is capable to transfer audio/video files, so far it can only view picture, standard text document, Words and PDF file. There’ll be more and more additional formats support in the future, plus the usual pan & zoom view are also can be applied when using FileMagnet.

    Screenshot of FileMagnet viewing picture files. –Click on the thumbnail pic to view it larger--
    Screenshot of FileMagnet viewing document files. –Click on the thumbnail pic to enlarge it--

    Another best feat from FileMagnet is the extended sync for all of its Mac desktop client, so wherever you are, you will be able to access the files inside your iPhone whenever you connect it on the same WiFi network. Zero hassle over cable and the pain-staking stress if you forgot to bring the USB cable. ;-D

    Alright then, I know you’ve been eagerly scrolling down to read the Q&A and found out more about FileMagnet directly from its source. So without further ado, I’m laying down them all bare naked for you the Q&A with Joshua Keay from Ecamm Network:

    1. I see you already have an almost simillar application like this FileMagnet for iPhone, called PhoneView. Any particular reasons why don't you just upgrade the PhoneView, but instead make a new app? --- On a simple level, they're similar apps, though in actual usage, they have two different usage patterns. PhoneView is a great tool to get data out of your phone, to copy notes, songs and SMS messages. It also lets you mount your phone as a storage device, like a USB drive, to transport files. FileMagnet is focused on storing and viewing files from on your phone. If you have a word document that you want to read on a plane, FileMagnet is the way to go.The big problem that FileMagnet helps solve is that there's no good way to take your desktop files with you on your phone. The closest way that you can get to that is to email a file to yourself, though those attachments are slow to download and are easily lost in your inbox. FileMagnet stores the files in memory on the device, so that even when you don't have edge access, like when you're in a plane or the subway, you can still quickly access your information.
    2. Besides WiFi, what other connections this FileMagnet can use to transfer files to iPhone? --- Right now, we're focusing exclusively on wifi as the way to get files on and off the phone, though other techniques are definitely options for the future. We're working on adding phone to phone transfer features to make it easy to share files with your friends.
    3. As we can see in the screenshots, FileMagnet can easily transfer files into an iPhone. But how about if the users have more than one iPhone and they want to connect their iPhones simultaneously, does FileMagnet allow that? --- You could pair more than one phone with your computer, though you would have to connect them separately. Copying to two phones simultaneously isn't a usage model that we designed for, though it's certainly something to consider for the future.
    4. It's so great that FileMagnet will be able to view PDF, Words and other documents format in iPhone (finally!). But I don't see Excel/spreadsheet document yet, do you plan to add other doc formats in the future? --- Expanding into additional formats is in our plans, though for now we focused on the most common document types of text documents, PDFs and images.
    5. We all understand that iPhone is an amazing entertainment gadget with various multimedia supports embedded in its platform, can you share a little bit insight on how FileMagnet will handle audio & music files? --- We are working on support for video and audio files, though the phone already has facilities for viewing this sort of multimedia content.
    6. What other new features are you preparing in the first release of FileMagnet, that you can share with us? --- Right now our priority is testing as many file types as possible and maximizing compatibility across multiple computers and devices. Our goal is to ship as soon as the App Store launches, so rather than focusing on adding features, we're making reliability our priority.
    7. This one is for our readers who like to have FileMagnet right away after reading this post, will it be available along with the Apple's App Store launch on July 11th? --- The new iPhone comes out on July 11th, but there's no guarantee that the App Store will launch that day! We're working with Apple to have FileMagnet available ASAP, though until Apple announces when the AppStore will start, we can't guarantee a ship date!
    8. And in everybody's favorite line: is FileMagnet free? ;-) --- FileMagnet will cost $5 on the App Store, the desktop version will be free! The app is developed by Magnetism Studios and ECamm Network. The Magnetism URL is www.MagnetismStudios.com

    Thank you to Ecamm Network for providing the informations and screenshots of FileMagnet, and special thanks to Joshua Keay & Glen for all the help. Keep up the great work guys!

    [blogged with my Treo 750v]

    Behind the iPhone’s shiny body: How iPhone can save files?

    It’s been a long discussion on how to make the most of iPhone’s large storage space, and most importantly is how we can save files into it rather than just viewing them for a brief moment only?

    So far until now, Apple has been limiting our access to iPhone’s hard drive. Plugging and syncing it with Mac or iTunes, is not working either. Should you crack open the newly purchased iPhone, just so you can play around with the huge storage in it? Well, don’t. Although I’m sure you won’t do it, don’t even think about it. ;-p

    Jason Snell from
    Macworld, has came up with some thoughts on how Apple can workaround the save files limitation on iPhone:

    I don’t think exposing a full filesystem is the right answer here. Perhaps iPhone applications could register as handlers of certain file types. Then if you found a spreadsheet in your e-mail (or on a web site), you could hold your finger on it, prompting your iPhone to ask what you want to do with the attachment—with options such as viewing it in Quick Look or opening it in your spreadsheet-editing program.

    That handles the opening-files issue. (Saving them on the device isn't a problem — every iPhone program can save files into its own special space.) And getting the files off of the phone might not be a big deal, either. If Apple can give programs the ability to pass their documents to the iPhone’s built-in e-mail program, it’ll be easy to get those files back off your phone just by mailing them off.

    As good as every ideas thrown to resolve the problem, they’ll do no good unless someone can actually make them come true. Some have done great job, for providing iPhone owners a real solution to freely access the storage within. Such as the
    DiskAid and FileMagnet apps, that I have discussed before at PalmAddict.

    Hopefully, someday Apple will realize how “uncommon” it is to limit the users of iPhone to access their own device’s storage space. Free to do what Windows couldn’t do, isn’t that the spirit carries by that ‘
    Get a Mac’ ads? It shouldn’t be the other way around, don’t you think?

    [blogged with my Treo 750v]

    Diablo III is coming!

    I know this one got nothing to do with mobile world, but I hope you'll allow me. ;-D

    One of the most famous modern RPG game, the Diablo; is to be continued to third series. Just today,
    Blizzard has surprised everyone, especially gamers & Diablo fans, with the announcement of the third installment of Diablo.

    This would mean there'll be two games from Blizzard, that are going to rock the gamers world soon. Aside from the
    Diablo III, gamers are also waiting for Starcraft III.

    Head on to the Diablo III website, and witness yourself the amazing graphics displayed in the demo & screenshots there. Makes you shiver, and wish Blizzard would've released it already.

    A little bit of warning though, the website can drain your bandwidth pretty fast and need plenty of Flash player support (sorry iPhone users ;-p).

    [blogged with my Treo 750v]

    Behind the iPhone’s shiny body: Apple to fight back porn in iPhone with “Parental Controls” settings

    Not all of people, and in this case means software developers, are planning good seeds on iPhone. And it looks like not only Apple that has to be worried, but all of us are also have to watch out on the bad fruits that are to come along with the new upcoming iPhone 3G.

    What am I blabbering about? It's porn, my dear good friends. Porn industries have set their eyes on the refreshed new tehcnologies in iPhone 2.0 platform, which include faster data network and more support rich web experience.

    I've just
    talked about how Apple is currently planning to build a new technology that's similar alike Flash player, within its iPhone 2.0 platform. And it's not only iPhone users in general will rejoice to hear the news, but in particularly porn industries.

    The technological feats of the 3G iPhone are key to the coming pornucopia, as wht Jeremy Capaln from
    Time.com has wrote about this. To date, mobile porn has consisted largely of still images, racy text services and "moan tones," which are sultry-sounding ringtones. In Europe there is an active market for video chatting; customers pay on average $50 a month to exchange dirty messages with actresses.

    Devan Cypher, representative for San Francisco–based Sin City Entertainment even called iPhone as the "porn-friendliest phone". "There are a few hundred iPhone porn sites now in use," says Farley Cahen, vice president of business development for AVN Media Network, the adult industry's trade body. Many others are currently in the works targeting the iPhone 2.0, which goes on sale July 11.

    Mark Kirstein, president of Multimedia Intelligence, a mobile-research firm, says "
    The iPhone becomes a portal where people can get to content directly without worrying about the social mores of the network operator." About a third of iPhone users watch video on their phone, according to Nielsen Mobile, which is nearly 10 times the number that watch video on other cell phones. Three out of four iPhone users are men with above-average incomes, and iPhone users spend heavily on entertainment.

    Apple has taken seriously about this "
    porn-friendliness" in its flagship mobile phone, Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock says the company doesn't condone iPhone porn distribution and will ban adult content from official applications, just as it has restricted adult content in the podcast section of the Apple store.

    "
    Our iPhone 2.0 software will give customers the opportunity to turn on parental controls," says Apple spokeswoman Bowcock.

    And this "Parental Controls" in iPhone has been confirmed by The iPhone Dev Team who have
    stumbled across a hidden feature in the next version of the iPhone firmware; the picture found is reminiscent of the iPhone SDK "Organizer". Further more, the screenshot shows a "Parental Controls" setting inside the "General" iPhone settings. It looks as though you can enable these parental controls and turn on or off:
    • Playing explicit songs in iPod
    • Website control in Safari
    • YouTube control
    • iTunes Wi-Fi Store control
    • AppStore control

    But unfortunately, the fight is not that easy. Some parents may not be tech-savvy enough to figure that out, though, and some kids may be clever enough to find a work-around. "If a minor with one of these phones pokes around, he could easily access adult sites without his parents' knowledge," says Holden, who authored "Adult Content in the Palm of Your Hand," Juniper's latest research report.

    Looks like it all wind down to the core again, where it's up to us as parents and adults to protect the young ones from explicit and hazardous contents that are everywhere in the net. And the mobile wireless carriers are also should play an important role to prevent porn from spreading too far into the reach of our innocent children; by limiting & ban such contents right from the start. Are you with me? And are they with us?

    Sources are from:

    [blogged with my Treo 750v]

    Sunday, June 29, 2008

    ArchPort's "wallet" shoes & sandals

    Now this is really quite some idea, those bright guys from Archpot has made a compartment inside sandals or athletic shoes for stashing in your valuable belongings.

    Like money, mobile phone, GPS device, MP3 players, batteries, etc. But of course, they all must in a very small sized otherwise won't fit into the compact compartment.

    Company founder Matt Potts came up with the idea back in 1989 while playing tennis. "It's just not comfortable to carry stuff in your pockets, especially a wallet," Potts told GPS Daily. He filed for a patent issued in 2000 and has been improving on the design ever since.

    "There are some challenges to partnering with a company that can meet all of the criteria necessary to incorporate a phone into the sole," Potts admitted. "However, some cell phones are now durable enough to handle the impact, and cell phones are getting smaller and more resilient, characteristics necessary to employ the concept in footwear."

    Although I won't be bending my feet if I had one of these shoes, especially in sports where you need rapid feet movements such as basketball or football/soccer. Cuz I don't want to break my iPod into two, but hey; perhaps I can call the
    iPod Doctor to repair it then? ;-p

    Sources are from
    ArchPort, via Crave.

    [blogged with my Treo 750v]

    Even a sick iPod needs a doctor

    I've been wanting to say that for a title ever since my puppy was sick when I'm just a little boy back then, and my dad decided to take it to a vet. At first I'm confused if an animal can get a doctor too, then my old man said: "Even a sick dog needs a doctor animal."

    And thus the same treatment should goes for your "sick" iPod, your favorite small entertainment device from Apple that you take everywhere you go; and eventually one day you'll drop it or break accidentally. According to Fortune 500 data; Apple has sold 150 million iPods since it introduced its digital music player in 2001.

    Of course you can bring the "sick" iPod to Apple for some repairs under its warranty program - but not if the damage is the customer's fault. "If you are Apple," says Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director for Jupiter Research, "your ideal scenario is to sell someone a new iPod, not repair an old one." Apple declined to comment for this story.

    And even if you still elligible to repair the "sick" iPod, you'll still have to get into the line waiting for your turn at the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store. Where usually those guys there can give frigthening diagnosis, perhaps that's their nature to tell the customers for the worse than the comforting words.

    So that's what has been in the mind and the succesful story behind the Manhattan's iPod Doctor: Demetrios Leontaris. The 33-year-old father of three, makes a living attending to broken iPods that Apple won't touch. The iPod Doctor makes house calls "Eighty percent of the repairs I can do on the spot," he boasts.

    Riding inside his black Pontiac Aztec that doubles as his office, Leontaris can repair and replace almost any damaged parts of iPod with the swift, graceful movements of a concert pianist. Surprisingly, he is self-taught. As a teenager, Leontaris hung out in his dad's shop and fixed broken computers, microwaves, VCRs and 8-track players that tenants threw in the trash. "I've been fixing electronic devices almost all my life," he says. "It's just something that comes easy to me."

    For $70 per visit, Leontaris can offer on-site repair for your "sick" iPod; if possible. But if the damage is too much, you'll have to let the iPod Doctor to take and try repair it at his place. Nevertheless, it's reassuring that your loveable iPod is in good hands. ;-)

    There are just some people who rather to buy a new one than repair a dying iPod, lower price over time has become major factor. Another consideration is time, to save more time you need to know when your "sick" iPod can be repaired or not. RapidRepair.com founder Aaron Vronko has quick tips on when your iPod is fixable and when it's time to throw it out:

    Your iPod is fixable when...
    • You get that sad iPod icon on your screen. This means your hard drive is kaput and needs to be replaced. According to Vronko, this repair is worth doing because it usually only costs 50 percent of the original cost of the device.
    • Your screen looks like some ink has spilled on it. This means you've got a broken LCD screen. The cost on these sorts of repairs are usually just 25 to 35 percent of the original cost of the unit, according to Vronko, usually around $90 or less. You can even do it yourself, if you want to do it ASAP (Vronko says his company also just sells the screen and directions for DIY types).
    • You get a battery and and exclamation point on your screen. "If you're getting this several times a week and more quickly than usual, your battery is probably dead," says Vronko. This fix is a cinch and usually costs around $20 from a professional service.

    Your iPod is probably beyond repair when...

    • It's fallen in the water. Salt water is worse than fresh water, but the real danger comes when you turn it on and it's still wet. "This is probably when you'd do the most damage," says Vronko. "You're better off taking it apart as soon as possible and removing any corrosive liquid with concentrated rubbing alcohol." You can also try sticking your iPod in a bowl of uncooked rice, but this doesn't always work. RapidRepair will try and fix these sorts of issues -- if you send the soiled device to them in a sealed plastic bag -- but it's likely your iPod is a goner. Leontaris also warns: If you ever do this, don't plug your waterlogged iPod into an electric outlet. You'll fry the circuitry. "You just make worse," he says.
    • If it's been chewed by a dog. Dog's teeth are strong, and unfortunately they usually puncture an iPod's hard drive, the screen, and the battery.
    • It's been run over by a car. Vronko says someone actually sent him an iPod that had been run over by a car. "There was one guy who wanted me to fix his Nano after it had been run over by a car," Leontaris said. "The screen was cracked. It still worked, but at that point, it was just a 4-gig iPod shuffle. You couldn't see what song was playing."

    I hope those iPod Doctors out there can do well, and avoid unnecessary hassle with Apple over the "iPod" name like what is happening to Nicholas Woodhams. The owner of an iPod repair shop named

    iPod Mechanic, is being sued by Apple for misuse of the coveted iPod trademark -- and of allegedly manipulating Apple to both send him replacement units for free as well as tricking the electronics giant into repairing out-of-warranty iPods.

    Woodhams and those aware of the scheme "never planned" to return any iPods and ultimately sold the brand new models at a heavy discount, the complaint reads -- a tactic no longer in evidence on the site, but one which reportedly cost Apple over $75,000.

    Peace on earth my friends, peace on earth...

    Sources are from:

    [blogged with my Treo 750v]

    Saturday, June 28, 2008

    Microsoft's Hyper-V has arrived

    This one is for tech admins and IT enthusiast, because it's got nothing to do with world mobile. Well, not "directly'...

    On last Thursday, Microsoft has announced the availability of its most awaited virtualization technology:
    Hyper-V. The release can be considered early, it's two months before the dead-line which was set six months after the release of Windows Server 2008.

    This originally code named "Viridian" program, was prepared by Microsoft to compete with the existing and well known VMWare program. So now, Microsoft die-hard fans are no longer have to look for drivers compability which often become a huge burden for IT admins in a large domain network.

    And with this Hyper-V program release, Microsoft has finally acknowledge the needs of its customers for running different OS side-by-side with its server OS flagship: Windows Server. Two particular type of customers will be happy to hear this;
    Mac OS X Server & Linux Server users.

    [blogged with my Treo 750v]