The most obscene contraption for the iPhone!

Read this on TUAW. This is simply classic. A Hong Kong company has created an accessory for the iPhone 3G's camera which transforms it into a telephoto lens.

This obscene looking extension is not the end of the joke... the marketing and use of english really makes this product hilarious, and goofy!

The website writes: "Overcome the short coming of camera cellphone that can only near-sighted, it also makes distant view for you at the moment. The new design to run of rays can effectively avoid the contortion of image, and makes the super wide angle, the larger luminous flux, the higher visual acuteness, good for color reduction, which makes the high quality of photography. "

What the heck?

As to whether it really works, I'm unsure, but if I don't even understand the product, how will I buy it?

More iPod touch 2.0 screenshots

1) The lyrics function: (To add lyrics in iTunes, right click on track, select 'Get Info' and edit 'Lyrics')


2) Google maps, which is way cool! You can view it in 'satellite' mode as shown, or 'map' mode, and using Wi-Fi triangulation technologies, maps is smart enough to detect my location (my house in Hougang) as pictured below. However, one disadvantage (more so on the iPhone 3G with GPS) is the lack of turn-by-turn navigation.


3) Scientific calculator (when iPod is turned to landscape mode):


4) Tap Tap Revenge is THE best free game app available as of now on the app store. A simple music tapping game, very well executed with wonderful graphics, supports awesome double player mode, has a vast range of difficulty levels and allows you to download additional tracks. However, it's a bit buggy at times... but still fantastic play! (No. 9 top free app on the app store now)


Will continue to post more Software 2.0 reviews in the coming days!

Buying a camera soon? Wait for after Photokina!

Photokina, the world's largest biannual trade fair for camera manufacturers and imaging companies, will be taking place this coming September. This is an extremely massive fair with all major manufacturers taking part. Hence, these manufacturers will be announcing new cameras and products in time for Photokina so that they have something to show off then.

So if you're intending to purchase a new camera before September... STOP! and wait till after Photokina when all the manufacturers have announced their new stuff before making your decision. Already there are some major announcements. Canon has announced the EOS 50D SLR, a superzoom 18-200mm EF-S lens, a new Selphy compact photo printer and a couple of point-and-shoots, while Olympus also has a few point-and-shoots and one 20X prosumer camera. I'm still waiting to hear the big announcements from Nikon and other major companies.

What this translates to for us consumers is to hold up spending that cash and wait and see first, as you don't want to buy into old technology.

Internet Explorer 8 privacy features

Hmm... haven't posted on Microsoft stuff for some time. IE 8 is currently in development and recently the team announced an interesting feature regarding user privacy. This is THE single feature in IE which I so longed for, and I'm glad it's here.

Remember how Apple's Safari web browser has a "private browsing" feature which keeps online activities private (e.g. not saving history), and how Firefox has a "delete private data" option which rids the browser of stored data? I use these features frequently. Soon, IE 8 will finally include a similar feature, or rather, a similar set of features.

InPrivate browsing (what a nice name for private browsing) is a mode which lets you control whether or not IE saves your browsing history, cookies, and other data. Delete browsing history simply deletes traces of your browsing activities. InPrivate Blocking informs you about content that is in a position to observe your browsing history, and allows you to block it, while InPrivate Subscriptions allow you to control the list of sites which InPrivate Blocking blocks or allows.

I think such privacy features, though not new, are very useful in certain situations. For example, for public computers in school where leaving your digital footprint behind for another user to view may be unwanted, or when you use your friend's computer. Yet there are times when you're just casually surfing and don't require the browser to keep traces of your activities. This is also good when you want to clear your browser of all tracking cookies or clean up the history list... at least it can be done in a single click which is more convenient. I'm looking forward to IE 8, and let's hope Microsoft implements this properly.

iPod touch is the ultimate iTunes remote control

Today I tested out the remote control third-party application which allows my iPod touch (or iPhone) to remotely control my computer's iTunes library via Wi-Fi. With that, I can play, pause, fast forward and rewind tracks from anywhere around my house.

Here's a video of how it looks like:



However, do note that in order for the pairing to be successful, you need to disable your firewall (for both Mac and PC). Once paired, the performance is rather snappy and is very full-featured, assuming a reasonably fast connection speed. You can even play video files remotely, browse playlists and search for content on your computer.

As a free download from the App Store, this is highly recommended, and you can trust that it's stable as it's written by Apple.

Software update 2.0: The feeling of a new iPod touch

I'm so excited about the iPhone/iPod touch software update 2.0 that I don't quite know where to begin. Ok, I created an iTunes account today (yes it's now in Singapore exclusively for iPod touch/iPhone owners), paid 10 bucks and downloaded the 2.0.2 update for my 16GB iPod touch, previously running 1.1.5.

After a long-drawn and somewhat frightening update process which lasted about an hour, I finally have third-party apps! The initial feeling is beyond description... it's like having a completely new iPod! The improvements are SO significant from 1.1.5 and I think every iPod touch user MUST buy this update.

I'll be playing around with this "new" device and will post more stuff in the coming days. But for now, here's what impressed me:

The first thing was the third party apps. I was surprised at how easy it is to install and run them. They really add functionality to your iPod, and lots of fun too. I recommend trying out "Tap Tap", a free music game, and the Remote Control application which can control your iTunes library. Second, the ability to capture screenshots (.PNG) to transfer to your computer. Third, lyrics on the iPod. This may sound trivial, but it means a lot to me since I've been using it on my old iPod nano. Fourth, the apps from the January software update, which includes mail, notes, stocks, maps, weather. This also includes the customisable home screen and web clip.

All in all, this is a very affordable upgrade, and gives your otherwise bland iPod home screen a fresh new look. A word of caution though, the update process is quite time consuming, albeit automated. The restoring of music and videos took the longest time for me. I also noticed that with new applications, the iPod seems slightly more laggy. Well, after I get over the reality distortion field, I'll review this update proper :)

iPhone 3G arrives in Singapore on Aug 22

Cool!! Just a mere 4 days more to when the iPhone will be made available to Singapore. Received this email from Apple:


Check these links out!

1) Where to buy iPhone: http://www.apple.com/sg/iphone/buy/?cid=MARCOM-SG-128666-C0007292

2) iPhone guided tour: http://www.apple.com/sg/iphone/guidedtour/tour/medium.html

Update (20 Aug): Be sure to check out this Singtel iPhone FAQ page too: http://home.singtel.com/singtel/iphone/support_iphone.html

Beijing Olympics: "Professional" cameras not allowed?!

This is utterly silly. If you're there for the olympics and happen to bring an SLR with you, the officials would most probably stop you from entering with that "professional" piece of equipment. It has been suggested that people bring point-and-shoots to the games. Only official press photographers are allowed to carry "professional" cameras in.

So what happens if you do bring your D3 or 1D along with you to Beijing only to realise that it is banned? I mean, are they going to confiscate the D3 or safe-keep it for you while you enter without a camera? Would anyone trust leaving such expensive equipment with a stranger? What exactly do you consider a "professional" camera? Does all SLRs qualify as professional? That is their definition I think... but cameras like the Nikon D40 or the Canon 1000D aren't professional at all. Furthermore, there are small SLRs such as the Olympus E-410 that isn't very much bigger than a point-and-shoot...so why won't they allow them in if size is the issue?

Is it then a matter of image quality, that they are worried that taking such good images with a "professional" camera would circulate around the internet? Are they banning journalism by the public? Well they missed the point as cameras don't take good pictures, it is the photographer. I can still take amazing shots with point-and-shoots, and these cameras nowadays perform pretty well too!

To me this is purely discrimination against photographers; it is an unjustified measure which limits everyone's freedom as an individual. Photography is not a crime!

Vista reliability monitor: all time high!

Check this out! The reliability score of my Vista system is at an all time high of 9.96! Almost perfect score if I keep this up for a few days more... hmm wonder if it will ever hit 10.00? :P


Well, for those who don't know what I'm referring to, Windows Vista has this application 'Reliability and Performance Monitor' which will keep track of how healthy your system is based on performance counters, event trace data and configuration information. It also considers errors such as application failures, hardware failures etc.

When you first install Vista, the score is a perfect 10, then depending on how many subsequent errors there are, the score fluctuates. A long period of healthy performance would give you a higher score and vice versa... it's one of those cool things in Vista that's just plain fun to look at. Btw, I don't know anyone with as high a score as mine!

Update (16 Aug): My reliability index has hit 10.00!

The Mojave Experiment: Microsoft strikes back

Vista isn't selling as well as it should have been. That's the hard truth that Microsoft has been battling with for quite a while now. I've written about this before, saying that it is a matter of perception users have as opposed to Vista really being that horrible. Why then does this perception exist? That's because of a few well-known tech bloggers and columnists who mistakenly write that Vista sucks. People read them, believe them, and spread them, despite not have encountered Vista first hand to judge for themselves. Also, many people don't consider that since Vista's launch, many problems have been fixed and the state of it today is vastly improved from its launch days.

But the other half of the equation is a problem that lies with Microsoft: they did not do sufficient and aggressive marketing to sell Vista. Thankfully, this is all about to change. Microsoft has since realised this (albeit a tad late) and has recently launched an innovative and smart marketing campaign in the US entitled 'The Mojave Experiment' to deal with this perception problem that I've mentioned.

It's a controversial marketing strategy they have adopted, but I think it's good. At San Francisco, Microsoft employees headed to the streets and found Windows XP users who had negative impressions of Vista. These willing participants were put on video, asked about their Vista impressions, and then shown a "new" operating system, codenamed Mojave. They then tested out Mojave, and more than 90 percent gave positive feedback on what they saw. Then they were told that Mojave was actually Windows Vista!

This experiment does prove a point: that people are actually dumb enough to believe that Vista sucks when they haven't even tried their hands on it.

This experiment is just the start of more aggressive Vista marketing to 'resuscitate Vista's image as well as lend strength to the Windows platform among stepped-up competition from Apple and Google', as written in a cnet article. I'm glad that at least Microsoft is doing something about Vista, but this should have been done eons ago.

Guaranteed 'laugh-like-siao' pictures

Took these crazy pics of HH during GP today when Mr Hoe wasn't around... ^-^
I seriously had problems stabilising my camera phone as I was laughing so badly!
[Click to enlarge]

NDP preview 08: fireworks

Went to catch the national day preview fireworks yesterday with Photog members Jian Wei, Keith and Lynn. Met Winston and Kenny there too :) they were doing video!

We went to Esplanade and camped there from 5pm onwards, armed with 4 tripods and cameras and my REMOTE TRIGGER (which proved useful)! It was quite crowded by around 6 plus, and directly beside us on both sides were children eager to watch the aerial display too. I also saw photographers all around us equipped with long lenses and pro bodies.

The fireworks show started at 8. We were really close; I could feel the ground boom and to my dismay the ash fell on us too. The aftermath was quite unpleasant :( This year's fireworks was closer to us than before... and as I happen to read from a CNA article: Major Sean Tan, chairman, fireworks, National Day Parade, said: "This year, what we have conceptualised is to bring the fireworks nearer to the audience. LOL. But nonetheless it was a pretty unique experience!

Here are some of the better shots I got:







And a group shot =)