New Movie: Real Steel

I feel that Transformers is getting a bit old. The 3rd installment of the movie is coming out on 1st July 2011 but I'm hardly excited. However, this movie, starring Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman, looks more captivating. Like Transformers, it also features robots fighting each other. It is set to debut in Oct 2011.

Michael Jackson's and Akon's Hold My Hand song was actually completed a year before MJ died

Michael Jackson may have passed away in late June 2009, but it seems that the late King of Pop is still producing hits even past his death. The latest single from Akon and Michael Jackson, Hold My Hand, has only just been released on radios and is very popular. Contrary to belief, "Hold My Hand" is actually a 2-and-a-half year old song. It was completed in June 2008, a year before Michael Jackson died.

A quick search online would uncover the "Hold My Hand" story. Michael Jackson was working with many musicians the few years leading to his death. In particular, he was collaborated more with Akon. They recorded "Hold My Hand" in June 2008. Interestingly, the song leaked onto YouTube, with videos of the songs appearing on June 30, 2008. Apparently the YouTube managed to remove all the videos containing the song. I did a quick search and the earliest video I could find was uploaded on Dec 4, 2008. (Video below)

I didn't find out what happened to the song since then and why it is only released recently when it is clearly completed, based on the video below. After Michael Jackson died in 2009, the news reported that some of his uncompleted music would be completed and released. Many people would therefore assume that "Hold My Hand" is one of those songs that was completed after his death. In actual fact, the song was only unreleased. Regardless, MJ fans should still appreciate his music, no matter when it was done.

Starbucks to sell wine and beer, age limit rules apply, jacking up of prices to follow

Starbucks has started selling wine and beer in their flagship store in Seattle, USA. It's an experiment to try to draw a bigger evening crowd. The 40-year-old coffee franchise is one of the largest coffee chains in the world. It is also the first to introduce "premium prices" for a regular cup of coffee and the idea that you can drink large amounts of coffee at any time of the day.

Currently, the big green giant reported that most of its customers patronise before 2pm and that it is also losing out to its competitor despite numerous efforts to stay at the top. Therefore, in an effort to draw a bigger evening crowd, Starbucks is going to start selling beer and wine. It is a move that will help people to "relax" after work. Starbucks fans need not worry as the stores will be re-designed to look more like a modern bar, with dim lightings than the current traditional coffee store look. At the moment, only the flagship store in Seattle is trying out this new approach - selling coffee in the morning and alcohol from evening onwards - and if successful, Starbucks will expand this venture to the rest of the world.

As always, there are some drawbacks to such a move. Starbucks has always been associated with coffee and a move into the alcohol business may not be beneficial to its name. Also, there will be age limit rules if they decide to sell here in Singapore. It is not clear how they would enforce the age-limit if they wish to attract every age group. Underaged teens can no longer tell their parents that they'll be hanging out at Starbucks per se. Students should not be allowed to study there, or at least once it reaches "happy hour", though I've yet to decide if this is a pro or con. It is possible, too, that tipsy customers may get rowdy and create a scene in a Starbucks outlet, further ruining the image of Starbucks as a place to chill out.

However, from a consumer's point of view, this means that wine and beer are much more easily accessible, though coming from Starbucks, it is likely the prices will be sky high. In the end, it is a very high risk maneuver for Starbucks but it is worth a try.

PS: I can't embed this but you can view a quick
YouTube video: CBS -Starbucks Baristas to Bartenders.


Sources:
1) The Week - Starbucks' Gamble on Beer and Wine, Will it Work? (Oct 20, 2010)
2) The Week - Starbucks: Changing Baristas to Bartenders (Video) (Oct 19, 2010)
3) The NewsFeed - From One Addiction To The Next (Oct 19, 2010)
4) Yahoo! News - Starbucks Adds Beer and Wine To One Store's Menu (Oct 19, 2010)

New Music: Shayne Ward - Gotta Be Somebody (Video)

Shayne Ward released this single early November 2010. It's actually a cover of Nickelback's Gotta Be Somebody back in 2008, which I absolutely loved ever since I first heard the song on the radio. While I like some of Shayne Ward's songs, I very much prefer the original Nickelback's Gotta Be Somebody to Shayne's cover. There's no denying that Shayne Ward has an fantastic voice, but for some reason, he chose to go with a deliberately over-processed electronic voice in this one, very evidently present when he sings the first line in the song. This ultimately disappoints fans.

Overall, the song is rather high-pitched, a very big contrast against the low Nickelback's version. Shayne's version is still great, with energy and a catchy beat, but it is just not as powerful as the original. It should be out on Singapore radios in the coming weeks.


Shayne Ward - Gotta Be Somebody (2010)





Nickelback - Gotta Be Somebody (2008)

New Music: Rihanna ft Eminem - Love The Way You Lie (Part 2)

When I first heard "Love The Way You Lie" by Rihanna and Eminem a couple months back, I sort of have a feeling that there would be a follow up because of the way the song ended. Now it looks like there indeed is a continuation. Rihanna and Eminem have returned with part 2 of the hit song. This time, the song is slower and emotionally more intense than the previous, with Eminem really venting his anger out in his rap. Expect this song to hit local radio in the coming few weeks.

New Movie Trailer: Green Lantern (Video)

Come 2011, yet another comic book character is hitting the giant screen. Just a couple months back, at Comic Con 2010, . the Green Lantern movie was officially announced. Among comic book fans, a Green Lantern movie is highly anticipated, proven by the loads of fan-made Green Lantern movie trailers found on YouTube (admittedly, some are pretty impressive).

So DC Comics and Warner Bros have teamed up to bring what the fans wanted. Here's the official debut of the Green Lantern movie trailer. Hit the main post for the trailer.

Titanic 2 is neither a sequel or a good movie (video)

There are some movies that should be made and others not. Unfortunately Titanic 2 is of the latter. While its name may fool people to think that it is a sequel of the 1997 James Cameroon's Titanic, this movie is of no relation to that most successful blockbuster of the 90s. The movie was released in August 2010.

The story goes like this. The Titanic went down in April 1912 after striking an iceberg whilst on its maiden voyage. And 100 years later, on April 2012, some smart company decided it was a great idea to recreate the ship, name it Titanic 2 and sail its maiden voyage on the same day, same time and along the very exact same route. Unfortunately, in the middle of the journey, global warming caused the Arctic icecap to breakaway, which sent a tsunami filled with icebergs heading towards the Titanic 2 (surprise surprise). Needless to say, the icebergs hit the ship and sank it. That's really all to it.

Just how bad is this movie? An average rating of 2 out of 10 from 1357 voters should suffice to say. I haven't watched this show though I've caught bits of it on YouTube, thanks to a very kind person who decided to upload the entire movie. I've watched the trailer and it was already enough to put me off. It is very obvious that the film is a low budget production. Apparently, many people felt the same way. The trailer below has over 3300 dislikes vs 600 likes. Judge for yourself and leave your comments below.

You can follow the links below if you want to read more.



Sources:
1) Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
2) Wikipedia

She-Hulk crashes into Marvel vs Capcom 3: FTW, the latest in a line of unexpected characters (Video)

The Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds developers have been slowly releasing teaser videos of their characters and gameplay every now and then ever since it was announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) this year. The latest video features the official debut of She-Hulk.

The Marvel vs Capcom game series is well known for its huge variety of playable characters from the Marvel comic books and Capcom range of franchises. While most of the characters are insanely popular, more often than not, there will always be a few relatively unknown and/or unexpected ones that make an appearance. Some of which includes Dante from Devil May Cry, Frank West from Dead Rising, the Okami Fox from Okami, etc. Now, She-Hulks joins the ever growing list.

Not being a Marvel comics fan, I don't know who She Hulk is. In fact, I've never heard of her before. But she does look similar to the Hulk, who's also covered in green skin and wears purple pants. Ok, I'm feeling too lazy to go read up more about her, though I do know that she is a lawyer. Also, I definitely can't deny that her combos in MVC3:FTW are wicked. Check out the video below for clips of her moves.

Watch your head... And hands... And legs as you enter the ETAF Automatic Door (Video)

Doors can be as simple as a piece of wood and a handle or as complex as the ETAF Automatic Door. This door consist of 35 rows of 5cm metal bars that are split down the middle. No matter what size you are, the ETAF Automatic Door will always fit.

The ETAF Automatic Door has infrared sensors just before the door, which measures the size of the person and/or object that wants to pass through, make some calculations and slides the corresponding bars wide enough for that person to pass through.

While this door certainly makes you feel like you're entering a spaceship, it also means you have to stand still for a second for the sensors to register your body, calculate and open the door for you. On top of that, you have to make sure you have more or less the same body profile as you pass through the door as the sensors do not update continuously. Regardless, this is a pretty cool door design.




Article Source: Trendhunter

Study: Hypertexting and Hypernetworking teens more likely to engage in drugs, sex and alcohol

The American Public Health Association just recently published the results on a study performed by researchers from the Case Western Reserve University with 4257 local students. What they found was that teenagers that hypertext and hypernetwork are more likely to engage in sexual activities and consume drugs and alcohol, with the majority of them being female minor students.

According to the researchers, hypertexting is sending more that 120 sms-es a day and hypernetworking is spending a total of more than 3hours on any social network sites a day. From their study, they found that 1 in 5 students are hypertexters and 1 in 10 are hypernetworkers. Interestingly enough, they have linked that to the increase in tendency to try out sex, drugs and alcohol, presumably from the higher exposure from "communicating" more. These teens are also more likely to be obese and/or have eating disorders. They also had more stress and suicidal thoughts, sleeping disorders and are less secure. The results also show that younger female students form the majority.

Nevertheless, there was some good news as almost 1 in 4 do not send sms or social network at all and these people are generally in better health. However it is stated in the research that the correlation between hypertexting, hypernetworking and health might not even exist.

It should be noted that these results are from research done on American students, it may not be an accurate benchmark for Singaporeans, but it is a concern nonetheless. From what I see, Singaporeans are more or less following American trends, so it won't be much of a surprise if a similar study in Singapore will yield an equivalent or more dire result.

Personally, I feel that technology is a good thing, it helps you to live life more conveniently and comfortably. But too much of a good thing is a bad thing and one should know the dangers of embracing technology. Technology has blurred the line between good and bad so much so that it's difficult to discern between what's good and what's bad without having to enter some form of conflict. It does not help that corporations are throwing too much choices in our face, making it even more difficult for us to control ourselves, such as unlimited sms and free-roaming data plans to ensure that we are always connected and dependent on the internet. Ultimately, technology is here to stay and will evolve further, the only thing we can do is discipline and educate ourselves.

Article: Ars Technica
Original Source: American Public Health Association

3D designs are everywhere, but not everything is made in 3D

In a world where computer generated images (CGI) can easily be found on every advertisements and posters, it is easy to assume that if a picture looks too "nice and clean" to be real, it had to be made in 3D. The picture as shown looks like lots of other phones poster out there. The difference is that it is not made in 3D at all, what you are seeing is a real photo and not a computer generated image of a phone.

Almost every product you see in advertisements, ranging from cars to cleaning products to computers and phones and even fast food are made in 3D. While 3D is the standard to produce anything with relative ease, there are some who would still prefer a manual and more practical method.

Serial Cut Studios is one of them. It is a company based in Madrid, Spain. Serial Cut Studios doesn't make use of 3D software to create a "3D" product advertisement, instead relying on a simpler and more hands-on method, literally. They use paper crafts. So a typical Serial Cut advert would be made with paper, lit up in a studio and photographed. Really simple method with an awesome realistic result. So even if you don't use or don't know how to use 3D, a bit of imagination and ingenious thinking will still get the job done.



Source: Serial Cut

Creative Releases Their Creative Ziio Tablets

Ever since the Apple iPad went on sale and created a new market, big and small companies alike have tried to bring their own version of the tablet computer into it. Ranging from S Korea's Samsung and their Galaxy Tab and LG Electronics with their Optimus Tablet to Taiwan's ASUS and their EeePad to Canada's Research In Motion and their BlackBerry PlayBook and many many more. And now the latest to join in the tablet market is Creative from Singapore and their range of Ziio Tablets.


**Skip 2 paragraphs down if you want to read about the tablets only  =) **

Creative, internationally known for their X-Fi audio technology, has been quietly releasing some products recently such as their range of wireless speakers. Anyway, I support our local electronics company. I've owned their Zen, Zen X-Fi mp3 players, X-Fi 5.1 external soundcard, 5.1 speakers, an Aurvana earphones and Vado HD 2nd Gen pocket cam. So far, I find that their X-Fi audio technology still beats everything out there, the mp3 players put out better sounds than any other mp3 players, even the widely-popular iPod. A quick search will show you that many people think the same way. Also, their Vado HD pocket cam, is small, powerful and wins over the competing brands. Its recording quality, while more or less the same now as when it was released in 2008, still beats the "advanced" iPhone 4 HD video-recordings. I was generally happy with Creative products for their balance of price, build quality and functions and am always excited to look out for their new products.

However, on the gadget-front, this company hasn't been doing too well recently. I liked their mp3 players simply cause of the good audio and also cause they're still making button-operated ones, which is important to me since I tend to interact with my mp3 players in my pocket or without having to look at it. Then came along their Zen X-Fi 2, their first mp3 player to be fully touchscreen and trying to follow in the footsteps of the successful iPod Touch. While the audio is still great, the user interface is not responsive and a pain to use. That disappointed me. Creative has just tried to step into the touchscreen gadgets arena and failed.

Creative Ziio Tablets in 7in and 10in forms

Alright, back to the tablets, which is the main point of this post. Lol. So just last week, Creative UK has announced the new Ziio tablets. These came in the white 7in and the black 10in versions. These tablets are powered by Andriod 2.1 but are currently only wifi enabled, which means no access to the Andriod Market. Unless these devices are upgraded to Andriod 2.2, it's a feature that won't be seen on Ziio.

Besides the size, both version on Ziio have common features:

1) Creative own ZiiLABS processor

2) Both available in 8GB or 16GB versions

3) 1 front-facing VGA camera and mic for video calling

4) Resistive touchscreen (no multi-touch), with embedded stylus

5) X-Fi technology

6) Built-in speaker

7) Accelerometer

8) WiFi-enabled

9) Accessible to Creative ZiiStore for apps and games

10) Expandable memory via microSD cards

11) HDMI-out for displaying HD videos on TVs

While many are quick to say that resistive touchscreens do not offer multitouch, as opposed to capacitive ones like those used on smartphones nowadays, I personally think that multitouch is not a necessary feature.  If you had used a touchscreen phone before the age of multitouch, you would have known that. You do not need multitouch to swipe a page left or right, to type on the keyboard or zoom in or out. What matters is proper implementation of the user interface. The only reason for multitouch is for the games, which the Ziio is clearly not intended for.

I would like to have a feel of the Ziio when it reaches Singapore, but as of now, I'll just have to contend with the following 2 videos. From what I can see, HD video playback is very smooth, even when it is connected to the TV. The host even had a go at Angry Birds on the Ziio and performance was surprisingly good. I say that because of the flop Creative had with touchscreen on the Zen X-Fi 2. However, the interface is quite laggy when navigating through the apps, but that's sluggishness is due to the Andriod 2.1 and not cause of the processor. I do hope that it will upgrade to 2.2 soon and clear that up.

The Ziio is by no means an iPad-killer, but it will satisfy the needs of people who wants a cheap and yet powerful AV (audio-video) device without all the fuss of multitouch or apps or games. A device that's purely for consuming content. I, for one, am one of those people who are looking out for just such a device that allows me to watch videos, surf the net and read view PDFs comfortably. And I'm glad that Creative is the one doing it. By the way, the Ziio is mostly made of plastic, so it's also very much lighter and comfortable to hold in the hands for extended periods of time.

At a starting price of only SG$359 for the most basic Ziio, it's already half as cheap as the cheapest Apple's iPad which goes by about SG$650, without contract, and much more affordable. It even provides features that the iPad doesn't have such as the front-facing camera and a much more common mini-USB connection port. This is yet another Creative device that I'm looking at. I hope they don't disappoint me again.

Update (7/11/10): I just realised that the 7in version is natively portrait and also looks very similar to the Samsung Galaxy S. However, the 10in is natively landscape; its buttons are position along the longer side of the tablet. The 7in outputs video in 720p while the 10in outputs in 1080p.

Source: Creative SG

VLC App finally shows Apple how videos should be played on the iPhone/iPod Touch and why you should get it!

Applidium, the company which brought the widely popular, play-it-all VLC Player to the iPad has finally made a version for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The new version supports more video formats, which is the base of the popularity of the player and a much faster decoding process. It was a surprise to the fans since it was thought so that this app would not make it through Apple's ultra-strict apps-approval process. The number one issue is that this app is a direct competitor of Apple's native Videos app on the iPhone/iPod Touch.

So when the news broke out that the app is finally approved on 25 Oct 2010, the world rejoiced. Including me. ^.^

The new VLC Player App is able to play most video formats and has a faster decoding process. It is only available for iPhone 3GS, 4 and iPod Touch 3G and 4G.

I bought an iPod Touch 3G in July this year. I usually stay clear of Apple products but I decided to splash out extra money to get one for a few reasons, the main reason being the convenience of watching videos on the go, especially on my way to school. Previously, I used to watch videos on my PSP Phat aka PSP 1000. While it was sufficient for me, I didn't like the bulk and weight of it and that I had to convert the files to an MP4 format. It was just so troublesome.

I was enticed by the large screen and thinness of the iPod Touch. Unfortunately, I haven't been thorough in my research on the video playback. After I bought it, I realised that while the audio/music app was nicely streamlined, the videos app was an absolutely pain to use. Video conversion was still needed before transferring the video onto the iPod and the onboard conversion-process in iTunes was useless. Furthermore, the video had to be specifically supported by Apple's Quicktime before it can be converted. So no MPG or MKV or other popular formats. Therefore I had to download converting software and therein lies another problem, most of these softwares do not convert into the proper aspect ratio. Letterboxing for widescreen videos are not automatically added, thus making the videos stretched. Eventually I managed to find one that could mass-convert videos with letterboxing, but the converted videos have errors most of the time.

Additionally, the video app on the iPod Touch has no sorting methods at all. At all. I have like 250 videos in my videos app now and the only way to sort the videos is to rename them individually before transferring as they only appear alphabetically. The video filenames also do appear in full, which is a problem when I have a few videos in a series with the same title except towards the back. For example, The Simpsons S16E03 - xxxxxxx. The app would truncate to The Simpsons S16.... So if I had episodes 1-22 from the Simpsons Season 16, I would see 22 video files with the same name. Truly irritating. There's also no way to sort the newest added video other than look at the green dot to indicate if it's been viewed or not.

To make matters worse, there are no substitute video player apps on the AppStore as Apple does not approve apps which "replicate functions" with other apps, as stated in the app-approval guidelines. In other words, they don't want any app to compete with their own. So in the end, I just gave up on watching videos on the iPod.

All hope seems lost but suddenly, the VLC Player app surfaced on 25 Oct 2010 and I immediately went to download it. I admit I was a bit suspicious that the king of video player has been toned down to get approved. Boy was I wrong and what can I say, it truly is a play-it-all video player, even on iDevices. I need not convert my video files anymore. What a relief! AVIs and MKVs now play smoothly. Transferring videos is as easy as drag-drop-sync. Now that VLC is on my iPod, I can chuck the Apple's video app away into oblivion. Although there is no sorting options too, at least I can see the full names of the videos and the time needed to convert the files are gone. That itself is a huge convenience to me already and I am finally using the iPod Touch for the reason I bought it in the first place. Also within 2 days of its release, the app is among the top 3 most-popular apps in the AppStore. That shows how many people hated the Apple's video app.

Conclusion: DOWNLOAD THE VLC APP NOW!

NEW MIX! DJ ManFred - Fireflies and Airplanes (Music)

Features SHINee, SNSD, Miss A, Katy Perry, Flo Rida, Lil Jon, Timbaland, B.O.B., Owl City, Cascada, Ke$ha, Taio Cruz, Jay Sean and many more!

I didn't quite like the last mix I made, Shake Mix and Bake. It's not the songs, but rather the overall feel of the mix, I felt that lots of the transitions were shabbily done. So, I set about to create this mix to try again. Once again, I added a few korean songs to some requests. If you would like me to mix a song of your choice, let me know in the comments below. Thanks. =)

If the song above doesn't load, go here to listen.

Tracklist for "Fireflies and Airplanes"

1) Lil Jon ft Kree - Give It All You Got
2) Owl City - Fireflies (Remix)
3) B.O.B ft Hayley Williams - Airplanes (Remix)
4) Train - Hey Soul Sister (Remix)
5) LMFAO ft Hyper Crush - La La La (Remix)
6) Taio Cruz ft Ludacris - Break Your Heart (Remix)
7) 3OH3 ft Ke$ha - Blah Blah Blah
8) Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music
9) SHINee - Lucifer
10) SNSD - Run Devil Run
11) Miss A - Break It
12) Timbaland ft Katy Perry - If We Ever Meet Again (Remix)
13) Katy Perry ft Snoop Dog - California Gurls (Remix)
14) Cascada - Evacuate The Dancefloor
15) Hyper Crush - Ayo
16) Flo Rida ft David Guetta - Club Can't Handle Me
17) David Guetta, Akon, Kid Cudi - Sexy Bitch vs Day N Nite (MashUp)
18) Lil Jon ft LMFAO - Shots (Remix)
19) David Guetta ft Fergie, Chris Willis, LMFAO - Getting Over You
20) Jay Sean ft Nicki Minaj - 2012 (Remix)

Megapost: Windows Phone 7 Makes A Hot Debut! (Lots of Photos) [Updated 10:15am SGT, Lots of videos too]

After building lots of anticipation of Windows Phone 7, Microsoft has finally debuted their new WP7 OS and phones on Oct 11, 2010. There have been images and videos of phones bearing the WP7 OS since the official announcement of it earlier in Feb this year. Not to be confused with Windows Mobile OS, Window Phone 7 is set to take on the smartphone world.

Windows Phone 7

Microsoft may have been leading the smartphone OS many years ago with Windows Mobile. However, the new generation of smartphone OS which are touch-operated, heralded by Apple's iPhone has slowly pushed Microsoft out of the picture. Even though Microsoft has upgraded the WinMo platform to a more finger-friendly 6.5, the Redmond company just couldn't catch up with Apple's iOS and the fast rising Google's Andriod. Not wanting to give up, Microsoft announced in early 2010 that they are developing Windows Phone 7, leaving many wondering if they can really pull it off. Many leaks and teases were dropped in the period leading to the official debut on Oct 11, 2010. Impressions have been really good and praises were given for the slick and fresh minimalistic user interface, the silky smooth animations and deep integration with Microsoft Office, Hotmail and XBox-Live. However, limited information was made know and many questions about this amazing new OS were left unanswered, until tonight.

By the way, the images I used below are all captured and edited on my own while watching the keynote live via streaming off Microsoft's website. The stream is of a variable quality, so some of the images were captured during hi-quality broadcast and others during the low-quality, thus some of the images are sharper and some are fuzzier, pardon that. =)

The windows phone 7 homescreen, scrolled from top to bottom, picture left to right.

So right off the top, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer formally introduced the Windows Phone 7 platform to the world. Microsoft has already signed deals with many top phone companies, such as HTC, Samsung, LG, Dell, Asus and others, to bring WP7 to you. During his keynote, he has unveiled 9 WP7 devices that will be available to consumers soon. Microsoft has also gathered telcos around the world to exclusively sell WP7 phones when they are available. If you look closely at the list the Microsoft has shown, you can clearly spot SingTel. =)

Above: The 9 windows phone 7 devices that will be on sale soon
Below: A list of companies that are collaborating with Microsoft to bring WP7 to you. SingTel is among them.

So a quick tour of the Windows Phone 7 experience, or based on what I can remember. It's been about 2 hours since I watched the keynote and I can forget things quite easily, so bear with me. Haha.

2 pictures above depicts the WP7 homescreen. Each square is called a "Live Tile" where information for that tile, if any, is constantly updated and reflected there. Unlike other phones out there, almost anything can be put on the homescreen, such as SMS notifications, Emails, individual contact card, a facebook feed widget, photo slideshow, weather display, apps and almost everything imaginable. The colour of the tiles, or rather the colour theme can be changed as you can roughly see in the 9 phones picture above. Unfortunately the background have to remain black, but that's only for the homescreen as you will see soon enough.

A repeating theme that you will see with all the apps are that to view a different screen, the user will have to simply flick the screen left or right, instead of pressing any physical or soft buttons.

People Hub

A contact card, flicking the screen left and right reveals different information about the contact.

Windows Phone 7 has a different way with dealing with contacts. Instead of just an app showing contact information, Microsoft has made it into a hub where you can view all sorts of information related to that contact. Being called People Hub, it is a place where you can find anything you want with your friends. 

When you launch the People hub, it starts simple, showing a whole long list of contacts arranged by alphabets and with their corresponding profile pictures. Selecting any contact will take you, with a nice transition animation of course, to the contact card where you can find all the personal information such as phone number, email, address, website and any other information you have stored. For each contact, you are given the option to link the contact to any social network available, such as Facebook and Twitter. Doing so will allow you to flick the contact card screen to slide it to the left, which will reveal the What's New screen where all the status updates and tweets for that current contact. Pretty amazing. And what's more, the phone will automatically take the profile picture from either Facebook or Twitter and use it for the contact card image. Very useful!

Music+Videos Hub

Music + Videos hub, where you can listen to music and view videos

Next is the Music+Videos hub. In here, you can use Microsoft's popular Zune player to play music, much like Apple's iPod player. As expected, you can browse the music according to songs, artists, albums and playlists. In addition, you can also view videos in this hub. Video apps like YouTube are able to integrate here so that all the video needs are presented simply in this one hub. The hub will feature a "music and video history" list that will show you what you have recently played and allows you to view them again at a touch, without having to go through all the menus. If you subscribed to video or audio feeds through the integrated apps like YouTube, there's even a screen where some new and recommended videos are listed.

Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft Office integration and Pictures hub

WP7 also offers really deep integration with their new Microsoft Office 2010. The phone allows you to take quick notes with OneNote, which is the homescreen for the Office hub. All the other programs such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint are also in the Office hub, which allows you to view and edit the documents on the go. You can choose to save the documents on the phone or in the Microsoft cloud so that you can access the document on any computer through the internet without having to plug the phone in and transfer. It's much handier that way. Also, a bonus feature is that you can run Powerpoint slideshow directly on the phone with all the transitions. Yup, that's not made up, it was demo-ed there live with a WP7. And with the correct cable, you can even connect to a projector and set up a slideshow, all from the phone. Say goodbye to lugging a laptop the next time you have a business presentation to do. Just whip out the phone, connect to a projector and you're all set!

Pictures Hub

Next is the Pictures hub or basically a photo-viewing app, but with a difference. What set this apart from other phones is that you can link the Pictures hub to a Facebook account or other photo-sharing websites. So besides just viewing photos on your phone, swipe the screen to the side and you're presented with photo feeds from Facebook. That's all too convenient. Anytime you want to view your own photos and/or Facebook photos, just need to start up the Pictures hub and everything will be there. No more do you have to open both the photo and Facebook apps separately. You can also upload the photos to Facebook through the Photo hub. Simply put, anything you want to do with photos, you can do it in the photo hub, though I'm not too sure about photo-editing just yet.

Camera

Ok, the next, which I don't have any photo of, is the camera function. The camera quality and megapixel count will differ from phone to phone, but all will use the same camera app. The camera is similar to all other phones and offers touch-to-focus. You can switch the camera on by pressing the shutter button on the side of the phone or launching the camera app. Start up time is impressive at about 2-3 secs from app-launch to photo-taking ready. When the photo is taken, the snapshot slides to the left and out of the screen while the camera is ready for another shot, similar to an iPhone camera, except that the iPhone camera has a pretty jarring bar at the bottom of the screen to display previous snaps and that takes up precious screen space that you will need to use to help frame the next shot that you want to take.

If you want to view the previously taken photos, all you have to do is just swipe the screen to the right and the photos on the camera roll will slide in and you can see all the photos taken thus far, not just the ones taken in this session. You can also choose the display style as just plain or with a film-strip look. A small but visually appealing move.

From the video below, you can see that the camera app allows you to make very detailed adjust to suit your photography needs. All settings like ISO, Shutter Speed, Exposure, Metering, Resolution, HDR, WDR, Panorama, Scene Modes and many other adjustments can be made directly in the app.

Email Hub

The email app and calendar (black screen)

One must-have app for business users out there is the email app. Simple and easy to use, you know how it is, flick the screen left and right to view message categorised in different ways. The email app is easy to set up with Hotmail and uses all their features. Furthermore, the email app can sense appointment timings and other events and automatically update it to the calendar app if you instruct it to. Quick and convenient with no fuss. To add even more intelligence, the phone will let you know if the new appointment clashes with any other booking for that same time slot. As you can see in the screenshot above, the black screen is the calendar app. The left column shows the booked time slots and the right shows the new appointment that clashes with the current bookings.

Maps App

The Maps app, zooming out shows the map, zooming in enough shows the satellite view.

The Maps app in WP7 is exactly what you will expect. You can view maps and search by locations. The WP7 will function like a GPS and direct you to the destination turn by turn. As a bonus touch, when you're zoomed out, you will see the map and directory, however, zooming in close enough will change your view to a satellite view with the road names overlaid on it. Nothing much to say besides that.

WP7 Apps

Some of the apps on demo. From left, U-Verse AT&T, IMDB and eBay.
All of them sport the same user interface to maintain familiarity and intuitiveness.

Of course, any phone nowadays count on the apps to enhance the experience and WP7 is no different. With about 2000 apps developed already, there's a new world waiting when the first WP7 hit the stores. While 2000 may seem like a small number compared to the 250,000 on Apple's AppStore and the 90,000 on Google's Market, I don't think you need 20 Facebook apps or 15 YouTube apps. Regardless, once the WP7 starts selling, the appcount will definitely pick up. All the apps on WP7 conform to the same style of displaying photos, videos and information on the screen. Menu screens are navigated by flicking left and right and there are almost no screen buttons. This is to ensure that the apps stick to the same interface design as the WP7 so that it will feel familiar and is easy to use. From the screenshots I see above, the style is definitely unique and very pleasant on the eyes. The video below will show you the "appstore" or Windows MarketPlace. Looking great too.

Games Hub

The Games Hub pages.

The last feature that Microsoft is betting heavily upon is the integration with XBox Live. WP7 will be able to support some of the XBox games and also shared leaderboards and avatars. This essentially makes the phone an extension of the Xbox console. If done properly, they may just attract the millions of Xbox Live users in the world to consider getting a Windows Phone 7 to enhance their gaming experiences. Furthermore, games graphics and performance on Windows Phone 7 phones are looking good. The games are able to utilise the built in accelerometer to enhance gameplay. With quite a good lineup of games, WP7 is set for mobile gaming too, behind Apple's iPhone and Google's Andriod powered phones. Also announced by Microsoft is the partnership with Electronic Arts (EA) to develop games for the WP7, some of which will also find their way to full-fledged games on the Xbox.

The Sims 3 (top and middle), Illio and Milo (bottom)
Both games are fully rendered 3D.

The video just above shows some of the games that are already developed for the Windows Phone 7 platform. Big names like Guitar Hero and Bejeweled can be found. With Microsoft also a game developer, one can expect some great games from the software giant. At around 1:02, you can see CarneyVale, which is a Singapore-produced game.

Conclusion

Microsoft has shown that with Windows Phone 7, they are still able to compete in the smartphone market. They have brought in a fresh new user interface, that may wow some and disappoint others. However, they have also shown that touchscreen phones can offer a fantastic experience based on a properly designed and functional operating system.

Animations are plentiful on this OS, but so far, I haven't seen so much as a lag in any of the phones that have been demo-ed.  Many of the animations are small and subtle but the overall effect is visually stunning. What results is a brilliant balance of visuals and performance.

Unlike Andriod phones, these WP7 phones are to conform to Microsoft's list of hardware specifications before they are allowed to run the WP7 OS. What this means is that you can expect all WP7 phones to run alike, smooth and without hiccups. As the software for all the phones are the same, what will differ is the hardware.  Vendors are free to add on additional features that will improve the experience of the phones. Samsung has made their Omnia 7 and Focus phones with their acclaimed Super AMOLED screen and HTC has added a slide out Dolby Surround speakers for their HTC Surround. LG has made a side slideout keypad for their phone and Dell has a bottom slide out keypad for their Dell Lightning.

HTC Surround with their side slide out Dolby Surround Speakers

Samsung Focus with its Super Amoled screen

In case you have the feeling that these phones will be extra expensive, the HTC Surround and Samsung Focus have been announced to be selling for US$199.99.  That's equivalent to about SG$270, with contract. It's still cheaper than the Apple iPhone 4. With a polished OS, more features and at a lower selling price, I say that Windows Phone 7 may just be a formidable opponent to the iOS and Andriod platforms.

NB: For some reason, WP7 does not support "cut and paste" function at the moment but Steve said that there are plans to enable that via an update when 2011 rolls in shortly.

NEW MIX! DJ ManFred - Shake Mix and Bake (Music)

Features Super Junior, Hyun A, 2NE1, Justin Bieber, Akon, David Guetta, Wonder Girls, Katy Perry, Adam Lambert, Ludacris, Agnes, Taio Cruz and more!
Track Duration : 42 min 50 sec
If the music widget above doesn't load, just refresh the page. Otherwise, listen to it here.

I just made a new mix. Unlike all my previous mixes, I decided to mix in some korean songs for fun cause I thought they sounded nice. Feel free to listen and download the mix above. If you like the mix or want to hear a particular song in my next mix, let me know!

Full track list below:

1) Akon ft David Guetta and Clinton Sparks - Take A Chance
2) Example - Kickstart
3) Wonder Girls - Nobody
4) Usher ft Pitbull - DJ Got Us Falling In Love
5) Mike Posner - Cooler Than Me
6) Katy Perry - California Gurls
7) Adam Lambert - If I Had You
8) Hyun A - Change
9) 2NE1 ft Lil Jon - Fire
10) Super Junior - Bonamama
11) Taio Cruz - Dynamite
12) Will.I.Am ft Nicki Minaj - Check It Out
13) David Guetta ft Michele Belle - Read Your Mind
14) Taio Cruz ft Ke$ha - Dirty Picture
15) David Guetta ft Chris Willis - Louder Put Your Hands Up
16) Agnes - Release Me
17) Justin Bieber ft Ludacris - Baby
18) Katy Perry - Teenage Dreams

Facebook To Start Hi-Res Photo-Sharing, It's About Time!

Facebook is a great social network. It allows you to share photos and videos. While video sharing is adequate, I find that the photos is the exact opposite. Although Facebook allows you to upload high-resolution photos, it downsizes them to a 720pixel high photo, meaning at a lot lower resolution.


It may not be a bother to many people, but it does bother people like me who want to share and appreciate hi-res photos. This has led people turn to other photo-sharing sites such as Flickr and Picasa to satiate their need for ultra high definition photos.  Finally, Facebook has listened and now allows people to share high definition photos. Just how high? They've kindly provided images to illustrate their new system. Although the photos will be very large in size, I believe that the display size will still be the same as now, but with the option to zoom in on the photo for its full glory.

Facebook will now support very high-res photos

Also, Facebook improves the viewing interface of photos with a new lightbox style that you will see on many websites, such as STOMP, where clicking an image will lead to a white box expanding over a dark background to display the photo.  One benefit of this is that you no longer have to load a new page everytime you want to view a new photo. Instead the lightbox widget pop out and you can view photos and even albums without ever leaving the page. As only the photos and the comments will refresh, you can browse through photos much faster.

Facebook promises a more comfortable photo-viewing with this method. Although I myself always wanted photos against a dark background, I'm a little apprehensive of this lightbox style as I find it a little annoying if it is not implemented properly. The Facebook blog also included a screenshot to give a preview.

The new lightbox style will show a popup photo display.

Also, Facebook has promised to update their uploading and tagging system. When uploading photos, the new uploader will allow you to choose between uploading at standard or high resolution. Also, tagging is improved and it will allow the user to tag multiple images at once, making it even more convenient to share photos over this giant of a social network site.

The new uploader allows you to choose between standard and hi-res.

Finally, Facebook says that it will slowly roll out this new photo display over the coming weeks, so let's just see how things work out. Good things may just come to those who wait. ^.^

Source:

Facebook Blog

Samsung Galaxy Tab Promo Video Released, Pokes Fun At iPad's Lack of Flash (Video)

Since the iPad was announced, there were plenty of imitators that released their own version of the tablet, running either Windows 7 or Andriod. However, none of them was as hyped up as the Samsung Galaxy Tab. There are supposedly two sizes available, 7in and 10in, but the 10in is not being released yet.

Anyway, with the release of the 7in Galaxy Tab coming very soon, an official promotional video has been released. Obviously trying to show that it's better than the iPad, Samsung just had to poke fun at the iPad's lack of features, I suspect partly in revenge for the accusations Apple shot at Samsung a few months earlier.

While the iPad is basically nothing much than a bigger and more glorious iPod Touch. Its hardware is rather simple and functionality is limited to the apps that can be created on it. Where the Galaxy Tab shines is the smaller and more portable size, 7 inch is easier to hold with one hand and its lighter. To add more features than the iPad, it can browse the web in its entirety with Flash enabled, take photos, do video chat and even stream video to watch on a nearby TV. Since it runs Andriod OS, it's open to the over 80,000 apps on the Andriod Market.

To me, a big plus is that the 7in size is a good balance between comfort, portability and convenience. Based on the video too, it looks like it's more comfortable to use than an iPad, although I find that the iPad might be better at playing games, though that's not I will plan to use the Galaxy Tab for if I had one.

Need An Extension Cord? How About Pulling Out The Powerpoint Instead?

We've all encountered and hated that the powerpoints sockets are always just barely out of reach when we need them the most. The usual drill thereafter is that we either mutter some vulgarities and fetch an extension cord or just grumble and move nearer to the powerpoint. If both aren't possible, then a big sigh of disappointed, probably followed by more cursing. The team at Yanko Design (Japan), however, had a different approach. So instead of being verbally provocative, they provoked their brains. The result, why not build an extension cord into the powerpoint itself?

By making the powerpoint extend-able, there is no more need to go into a frenzy whenever your laptop battery is out of juice. Simply pull out the powerpoint from the wall socket, plug in your laptop AC unit and everyone's happy. Probably the only thing that the person will be unhappy about is to get out of the chair and pull out the powerpoint, but that's not the fault of this invention anyway. Check out the pictures below, taken from the Yanko Design webpage itself.

An example of a use of the invention. I've encountered the exact same scenario depicted.

Source: Yanko Design

"Michael Jackson The Experience", Minus The Glitter Glove, Plus The WiiMote (Video)

Game companies will do anything for money, especially when it comes to exploiting a celebrity (think Hannah Montana). Now that Michael Jackson has passed on and his legacy is very much alive, Ubisoft was quick to take advantage and made a MJ-dancing video game for the Wii. Check out the trailer in the main post.

While the trailing is actually quite impressive, reminding me of the "This Is It" movie trailer, I have a strong inkling that the game is going to be quite thrashy. I wouldn't criticise the graphics, given the limitations of the Wii. With that, I would say the visuals are not too bad, though MJ looks a bit.. erm.. gay? However, I doubt playing the game will make you feel as accomplished than if you were to say, learn the real dance moves. I know I'm being mean, but there are much better ways to appreciate MJ than to dance unnaturally while grasping a wiimote.

Non-Newtonian Liquids, They're Much Cooler Than The Name Suggests (Video)

Newton, especially in physics, is an important word. The father of physics and the SI unit of force. Issac Newton is so respected in the physics world that his name is synonymous with physics itself. While generally everything in the world obeys the laws of physics, there are always some that don't. In this case, non-newtonian liquids.

A non-newtonian liquid is one that is liquid in nature but behaves like a solid. There are lots of examples out there, including shampoo, tomato ketchup, paint and even our blood. I'm not really a scienc-ey person, ever since I graduated from junior college four years ago. So, I shall let the video below do the explanation. It's kind of like Mythbusters style, except that its on a much lower budget and is somewhat quite entertaining too. And like this post, its from G4TV too. Haha.



Source: Wikipedia - Non-Newtonian Fluids, G4TV

NewsDay iPad App Ad, Shows That An iPad Can Indeed Be Used For Everything (video)

Apple iDevices are always touted as being able to do everything, even to the point of saying "there's an app for everything". NewsDay, a newspaper app on the iPad made this interesting advert to show that the iPad can really be used for everything. The only drawback is that the device may not work as intended after that. "Read more" to view the video.





Source: Engadget.com

Megapost: LG's World's Thinnest TV and Optimus 7 + Some Info About OLED and WP7 (Video)

LG is usually not the first name you think of when you talk about mobile phones and televisions. But that doesn't mean that they are not trying to be ahead of the curve. At the ongoing IFA Consumer's Electronics show in Berlin, they have unveiled some new products and technology, including a prototype Windows Phone 7 and the world's thinnest OLED TV.

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World's Thinnest OLED TV (2.9mm Thick)

When you talk about thin televisions now, Samsung's LED TV or Sony's Monolith TV are the few that will pop to mind. Technology in TV sets has always been improving, from Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), to Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), to Plasma. More recently, they have evolved to Light Emitting Diode Backlit (LED) to achieve thinner displays with a high contrast ratio, of which Samsung is the forerunner.

Samsung LED Backlit TV, it's already as thin as it can get

However, there was also another technology quietly sitting in the background. It's called Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED). It offers the very good colour reproduction, the best viewing angles and highest contrast ratios among all current technologies. It is also the thinnest and is very flexible, in the literal sense of the word. Check it out in the video below.

While OLED is already in widespread use in electronics nowadays, the main drawback of it is the high price when it comes to bigger screens. Thus it hasn't been heard of in current television sets, though there were some shown by Sony a couple years back at about 5mm thick but those were only about 11" wide and cost a few thousand (wow!).

Sony's 11" OLED Display at 5mm thickness

Now LG Electronics have revealed their newest TV that uses OLED technology. It is only a prototype, unfortunately. Regardless, it is an amazing TV set to behold. It is the world's thinnest at only 2.9mm thick! You can see it in the video below. The viewing angles are just wonderful, images can be seen the moment you can see the screen. And the colours are deep and rich. No price has been put on it or whether it will go into mass production soon, but it's such a beautiful TV.

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LG Optimus 7 - A Windows Phone 7

As mentioned above, LG is not one of the first companies that comes to mind when talking about smartphones. They did try, if you remembered, with the LG Cookie and LG Arena. Ultimately, LG can make a good phone but their user interface and OS just simply do not offer a nice experience. Today, almost every new smartphone has at least a 1Ghz processor, good graphics capabilities and multitouch screen. But what sets them apart are the interfaces and operating systems. There are currently iOS, Andriod, Symbian, Meego, Windows Mobile 6.5, Blackberry OS, WebOS, Bada OS, etc, each with their own design and features.

There is a new, highly anticipated operating system, due to release later this year. That is Windows Phone 7, not to be confused with Windows Mobile OS. It is an entirely new operating system developed by Microsoft and offers a fresh new way to integrate your lifestyle into a phone. The interface is totally unlike what we've seen in iOS or Andriod. Various demo videos have surfaced on YouTube and the OS is currently looking very sleek and professional and smooth running.

Windows Phone 7. It's homescreen features "Live Tiles" which shows you important information on the go.

Many big companies have already signed on with Microsoft to bring this WP7 into the market when it is released. Among them is LG. The Optimus 7 is a prototype Windows Phone 7 that they are showcasing in IFA 2010 right now. Interestingly, Dell is also joining the smartphone industry and came up with some cool looking phones, including a Windows Phone 7 phone. You can read about it in my earlier post here.

LG Optimus 7 Phone

I am not too sure but I think Microsoft do not allow Windows Phone 7 phone makers to skin their devices, unlike Andriod, so there is not way to distinguish one WP7 phone from another. The only way is to provide native apps to their phones to enhance the experience. What LG has done instead is to make their devices work with one another. For example, this LG Optimus 7 allows you to stream photos and videos from the phone to a pair LG TV via DLNA wireless technology. It is not really a new thing but LG has made it more fun by introducing "flicking" gestures. You can view the photos on the phone and if you like what you see and want to share with everyone in the room on a big screen TV, simply flick the photo off the screen to the TV and the TV will display the photo. Pretty neat huh? It can also be done with videos and looks really interesting. Check the two videos below to see it in action.





Technology-wise, LG Electronics has shown that they are not too far behind in the smartphones and television race. They have shown some innovative ideas and will not be overshadowed by the larger companies like Samsung.