June 2005 Archives

Those iPod earphones .. they rank second on my list of Apple's Overrated Products. The first prize goes to the Apple iPod socks, which offer no form of gadget protection, and are insanely priced. I think people buy them because they know that Steve Jobbs tries each sock on before it goes to retail. Maybe some of that reality distortion field will rub off them.. I digress. Even before I bought an iPod shuffle, I already invested in a cheap pair of Sennheiser street wear portable earphones. I think I bought myself the MX300's. Actually, I don't really care. They all sound good. I just remember getting the one with the uber boost for Bass. I'm a music lover - and anyone who loves music will notice that if they buy an iPod, the first thing they need to buy is a new set of plugs. You may want to also consider Sony or Altec Lansing, but Sennheiser tunes are good enough. Actually, who cares. The best thing about listening to one in the mall isn't about the music: it gets rid of those nosy credit card / real estate salespeople in the mall. Ah, the Zen.

Unlike Versiontracker, which HAS to list all the available software available on the good 'ol net, The Download Squad takes a more in-depth look at Mac, Linux and Windows software and updates that are both meaningful and engaging, just like this beautiful magazine. (hehe) If you're the type who has no time to search the Internet annals for the latest software cum reviews, then this is definitely worth looking into. Brought to you by the makers of Engadget, the Download Squad is to software as its sister site is to hardware.

Another sign that the Pinoy tech industry is becoming more niched as each month passes. I can't believe how a 3rd world country like ours has several tech communities dedicated to gadget lust (We have first world amenities). Here's a spinoff community due to critical mass -- Podcentral.ph is the local community for the iPod fever. Considering almost all gadget establishments offer iPods at zero percent interest for 12 months, I wouldn't be surprised that almost everyone has an iPod. Now, you won't need to buy those white earphones that connect to your generic Taiwanese player under your shirt. hehe

The UCC Coffee chain, promoters of pricey gourmet coffee, now offers Wi-Fi connectivity courtesy of Airborne Access. So now all you laptop-toting free spirits have yet another chain of coffee shops to choose from whenever you have the urge to sit, sip and surf. Airborne Access prepaid cards are available over the counter, providing 60 minutes of Wi-Fi access for PhP 100. Useless Trivia: Did you know that UCC stands for Ueshima Coffee Company, Ltd.? It was founded in 1933 in Kobe, Japan. So now you can remember Kobe for its beef and for its coffee... Wi-Fi connectivity is now available at the UCC Coffee shops at The Podium, Ortigas; ForbesTown Center, Taguig; and The Paseo Center, Makati. Other branches will be unwired soon. This partnership thus brings Airborne Access' nationwide Wi-Fi hotspot network to 144 (still the largest network in the country today). Happy sipping!

VHS has been dead for some time now. And audio tapes are fast vanishing from music stores. Which means that the last stronghold for tape technology is the video camcorder. But not for long. By August, JVC is launching its Everio G Series, which will store movies digitally straight to an internal hard drive (20GB or 30GB). If anything, this move will reflect a trend that has been going on for some time now. Namely, that hard drives are becoming the digital storage medium of choice for large files, even for the consumer market. We have HD-based MP3 players like the iPod and the Zen Micro, as well as digital video recorders like the TiVo that are replacing videotape recorders in US homes. So it was just a matter of time before camcorders were touched by this technology as well. The Everio G can store up to 10.5 hours of video (depending on mode), which is something to look forward to. No more fumbling with replacement Video-8 cassettes when you run out of tape during a shoot. And a USB 2.0 connection ensures an easy way of directly transferring your videos to a PC for archiving without any loss in video quality. Hmmm. Hard drive? USB 2.0? I wouldn't be surprised if your future videocam can be used as an MP3 player as well...

Tired of waiting in line? Put those moments to good use by writing short stories! Flash fiction, microfiction, and postcard fiction are just a few names for a form of short-short fiction quickly gaining popularity among casual writers. You too can exercise your creativity while standing in line or waiting in traffic. Just scribble a short story on whatever you have handy--even your cellphone. Not a writer? Don't worry! It's just for fun, anyway. Here are two of my tech-related short stories:

DISTANCE (55 words)
Sacha Chua The cellphone rang, a welcome interruption to my dreams of him. I woke up smiling and reached for the phone in the dark. It lay still. No missed calls. Suffocated by silence, I curled my fingers around the phone--around his hand, 3000 miles away--and tried to sleep for the third time that night.

NO SIGNAL (160 characters) Sacha Chua "Searching..." Step back. Wave it. Turn it off. On. Damn. Three days in a row? This time for real, but she'll never believe me. Long-stemmed roses? Might work.

You can find more of my stories at http://sacha.free.net.ph/notebook/wiki/FlashFiction.php . Flash fiction is perfect for people on the go. Try it today! Post your flash fiction in the comments below.

It's big! It's beautiful! And it comes in a mouth-watering hue of melon! The June issue of m|ph is here, and boy oh boy have we got treats for you! o Find out how to make better presentations, whether you're a teacher or a corporate professional! o Learn everything you need to know when it comes to choosing the right laptop for campus use! o And while you're at it, get to know the different kinds of bags that you can take them in! o Get to meet some gadget-toting students! o Learn the roots behind the popular CD-R King chain of stores! o Find out if mobile email is for you! And of course we have our regular host of top-notch device reviews: the palmOne LifeDrive, the Creative SBS Vivid 60 portable speakers, the MSI MegaBook S260, and the Nokia 6230i, Siemens SF65 and Motorola A780 mobile phones. And there's also the O2 XPhone IIm multimedia phone! All these and more on your June issue of m|ph. Grab a copy now!

While many industries have been busy getting rid of glare from displays -- including art galleries, car manufacturers and producers of "glare-gone" products for computer displays -- it turns out that laptop makers have been busy going the other way. Welcome the Glare Type LCD display. Glare type LCD screens offer richer colors Glare type LCD displays, also known as BrightView in the world of HP and Compaq laptops and as "Color Shine" with Asus, have glossy, shiny screens that -- you guessed it -- have a lot of glare. So why would a laptop user want to put up with glare? Because these relatively new screens offer a far more vivid viewing experience. Colors come out richer and more vibrant. Plus, might I add, the glassy finish of the LCD screens actually adds a touch of class to the laptops. And the images do indeed come out more vividly. Dim the lights and pop a movie into a laptop with a glare type screen and it's almost like watching on a plasma TV set (as opposed to the rather flat images that traditional laptop LCD displays offer). And perhaps this is why the new crop of glare-equipped laptops, such as the MSI S260 (reviewed in this month's m|ph), the Asus W5 and the MSI S270 (both reviewed in the upcoming July issue), all offer widescreen displays: using these laptops for entertainment purposes is highly encouraged. This is how "glary" a glare LCD screen can be: it's almost like a mirror! There is a downside, however. First, glare-type displays may be a bother under bright outdoor lighting. Outdoor glare will get in the way of your viewing experience, and may even end up being annoying. In fact, laptops that use glare-type technology have to use very bright displays, or else the viewing experience is ruined... and this can lead to lower battery life. But everybody loves these new displays, so it looks as if glare-type LCDs are here to stay. Heck, they might even end up becoming the de facto standard. Next stop: glare shields for these glare type LCD displays?

Pens are fun. I'm not talking about the Nokia digital pen that (gasp!) lets you send handwritten multimedia messages through your cellphone. Nor am I talking about the Logitech io2 digital writing system. (Hah. There's the obligatory mention of high-tech gadgets I will never buy.) I'm talking about my trusty Pilot Hi-Tecpoint V5. There's something about black signpens that make me go ooooh, particularly when I'm writing on smooth, medium- or heavy-weight white paper. Of course, this preference means I have to be careful about the notebooks I get. If the notebook paper is too thin, the ink will be visible on the other side. Too rough, the ink will blot. Too smooth, the ink will smear. Signpens are picky, but they're worth it. I'm also quite fond of gel pens. Silver ink on dark blue or black paper, gold ink on burgundy, mahogany ink on beige... Ooooh. The wide array of papers and pens available at your nearest bookstore means you can easily experiment with various colors until you find a combination that appeals to you. If index cards came in colors like that, I'd be completely sold. Must get around to cutting my own index cards. I hear 4-color pens are really useful for taking quick notes. I'm not really a ballpen person, though. I'd love to find out where I can buy a sign pen or gel pen version... For the PDA-obsessed among you: check out Stylus Central's 4-point pens and see if you can bug your favorite PDA accessories dealer to bring some of them in. (There, I mentioned gadgets again. =) ) Hmm, that red pen/black pen/mechanical pencil/stylus combination looks very interesting; I wonder where I can get that locally? I'd love a combination pen/mechanical pencil for my deck of index cards, as I occasionally need to pencil things in. For the anachronistic among you: check out Hobbes in Greenbelt 3 for quills. Yup, quills. They're made of glass instead of feathers, but they should give you a properly medieval feel. You can also get sealing wax from there. What's your favorite kind of pen?

Computex 2005 ended yesterday. I leave you with some of the more interesting mobile gadgets that we've come across. The Transcend Digital Album has a 20GB hard drive and a 2.5" hi-res display. It plays MP3 music and displays JPG pictures. It even has an A/V out port and a remote control. Unlike the iPod photo, this unit accepts memory cards: CF Types I/II, Microdrive, SmartMedia, SD, MMC, Memory Stick, and Memory Stick Pro. This means that this unit was designed precisely with photo buffs in mind, allowing them to use this as portable storage for freeing up their cameras' memory cards.
TwinMOS has come out with a variation on the USB flash drive theme. This time, you can slot small memory cards into USB 2.0 drive cases and plug them into your computer.

Shown on top is the miniSD pack that comes bundled with a 512MB miniSD card. And if that isn't small enough for you, there's the microSD bundle below! Perhaps the key advantage of this setup is that you can use the same memory card not just for your PC but for your other devices as well. But what really got our attention was this amazing device from Geil, which is more known for its high-end PC memory boards. The David 200 iBall is a pendant media player. Not only does it play MP3 and WMA music, but it actually plays videos as well! Wear this around your neck and the sharp OLED display can flash images to stunned onlookers. Or watch entire movies here. The iBall uses a proprietary video converter to transform your PC videos into a tight, iBall-friendly format. Surprisingly, the tiny display is serviceable. What's more, the unit actually looks gorgeous as well and comes in a number of attractive metal case colors.

These are just some of the interesting gadgets that we came across in Computex 2005. For a more detailed look-see, check out next month's issue of m|ph!

...as we present to you a picture of what AOpen says is the world's smallest Mini PC: Does it look familiar? Hint: It's creamy on the outside. It has a feed-type front-loading optical drive. It's small, with a box-like form factor. And all the plugs are in the rear. Hmmm. I wonder what Steve Jobs has to say. Then again, wait til he sees the incoming barrage of iPod shuffle clones coming his way! :)

"I've found the perfect PDA," I gushed. My friends perked up. Knowing how much of a geek I am, anything I was that crazy about was bound to be interesting. They leaned over and watched as I reached into my bag and brought out... ... my Hipster PDA. "SACHA?!"

---

Introducing the Hipster PDA One of the hottest topics in the productivity blogosphere right now is the Hipster PDA, a surprisingly effective low-tech way to organize your life. Grab a pack of 3"x5" index cards and a fold-back clip and you're set to go! What's so cool about the Hipster PDA?

• Gets rid of worries. You don't have to worry about running out of battery during a critical meeting. You can drop it and it will still work. Even if you dunk it in water, you'll still be able to recover your data.
• Grows along with you. Don't be constrained by software or hardware limitations! You can easily experiment with different ways of planning, and you can expand your Hipster PDA's memory simply by buying another pack of index cards at your nearest bookstore.
• Helps you stay focused. The Hipster PDA helps you stay focused and on-track by not supporting addictive games like Tradewinds. To help you pass the time, the Hipster PDA comes with a few built-in two-player games like Tic-tac-toe and Hangman.
• Organizes real-life data. Receipts? Business cards? Movie tickets? No problem! Just tuck them into the fold-back clip and process them when you get home.
• Beams anything to anyone. You can easily "beam" information to other people--just scribble a note and give it to them. 3x5 index cards don't crumple easily and can easily be shared with other people no matter what mobile device they use.

Here's what you can do with your own Hipster PDA:

• Get a good pen or mechanical pencil. Keep it with your Hipster PDA at all times.
• Write down one task per index card. You can write down subtasks and notes there as well. Rip up the task card up after completing the task for a satisfying finish.
• Alternatively, divide your tasks into projects and write down your tasks. Check the tasks off as you finish them.
• Scribble notes and ideas down on index cards.
• Write down a month calendar so that you can easily see when you have appointments.
• Print important contact information on an index card. You can probably fit 50 names and phone numbers. Good backup if your phone is out of battery or gets lost.
• Print birthdays on an index card, sorted by month and day.
• Label your Hipster PDA with your contact information just in case it gets lost. (name, phone number, e-mail address)
• Clip a cheap pen to your Hipster PDA for people who borrow pens. Never lend your good pen.
• Keep newly-written cards in an "inbox" section (front or back) so that you can process them when you get home.

For more information, check out the following links:
43 Folders: Introducing the Hipster PDA
Technorati: Hipster PDA Check back on Wednesday for tips on making the most of your Hipster PDA!

You heard it right. Asus, the mighty PC and laptop hardware company, is about to bring its mobile phones to the Philippine market. And we got some first looks at these up and coming models. All these models come with digital cameras, which should be good news to would-be photo bloggers out there. (Speaking of cameras, Carlo took these shots. So these pictures are way sharper than those cameraphone shots I took of the MSI Bluetooth devices!) The Asus J201 is a 1.3 megapixel camera flip-phone with flash. It comes with Bluetooth and sports a large, comfortable keypad. The external multifunction screen can serve as a photo caller ID display.
The Asus V66 (that’s what the sign says… but it seems off from Asus’ naming convention) is a mobile entertainment unit with digital camera and flash, MP3 playback (I presume, since this is marketed as a music and video device), and a large keypad. I’ll try to get more detailed specs on this.
The Asus M303 is a particularly interesting model. This flip-phone has a megapixel flash camera. With its lid closed, buttons outside make this an easy-to-use MP3 player. Open, it has a sharp screen and large, comfortable keys.
The Asus J105 flip-phone’s claim to fame is that, unlike most other camera phones which use CMOS image sensors, it uses CCDs (like that used in “real

Carlo and I have been circulating around Computex, Taiwan's biggest annual IT event. Lots of interesting stuff, eye candy or otherwise. So much so that I don't really know where to start. So let me begin by showing some of the latest Bluetooth devices to come out from MSI... First, MSI's Bluetooth headphones. These are true, wireless audio headphones that can churn out CD-quality audio. Just a little more than a year ago this would have been unthinkable because the bandwidth required to transmit CD-quality digital audio wirelessly was just too much, even for Bluetooth (unlike the low-fi monaural audio that is transmitted for Bluetooth headsets). But with the use of additional compression layers in the encryption/decryption cycle, voila! Now you can play your music in the family room and listen to it in your bedroom. The sound is crystal clear, with no skips or lags. You can forget that it is actually using Bluetooth for transmitting the sound. What's more, this can also serve as your mobile phone's headset, so that if a call comes in, the music goes out (the microphone is built in). These aren't the first Bluetooth headphones in the market, but the technology has finally matured.
MSI also has wireless music transmitter and receiver modules. Plug the transmitter into the audio jack of any music device (your MP3 player, your home stereo...) and it transmits the audio via Bluetooth. Or plug your favorite headphones into the Bluetooth receiver and you now have Bluetooth headphones. The circle is complete.
And there's even a Bluetooth calculator. Use it as a standalone calc or, via Bluetooth, use it as a numeric keypad for your laptop or your PDA. Useful for those who do lots of numeric encoding.
Lastly, here's MSI's unofficial Bluetooth mascot, which can be controlled by your cellphone. Via Bluetooth, of course.
Stay tuned for more stuff from Computex Taiwan!

Hello, everyone! I'm Sacha Chua, open source geekette and m|ph guest blogger for the month of June. I'll be writing on a twice-weekly schedule (Wednesday and Friday), so check back often! When m|ph asked me if I could guest-blog, they probably remembered me as the wearable computing geek who wandered around with a head-mounted display. Little did they know I'd come a long way from my gadget-oriented pursuits. "I don't blog about gadgets or high tech," I warned them. "I write about productivity and what people can do with what they have." "Sure. You'll bring balance," they said. (What, balance to the Force?) Over the next few weeks, you'll hear about podcasting and productivity, free software and fun gizmos that will expand your mind without hurting your pocket. I'm here to share some tips and help you kick ass with whatever technology you can get your hands on. To give you a sneak preview of what's up ahead, here's my favorite portable device: the Hipster PDA.

Shocked? Read more about why the Hipster PDA is the latest and greatest this Friday.