Roger's Favorite Things

Here are my top 5 favorite tech products.



1. Tivo Series 3
Tivo has become the heart of my home entertainment system. Its not just a DVR anymore but instead has become a home media center. Recording shows is the main function, but it can do so much more especially when connected to my home network. Stream video, photos, music. Rent and watch movies from amazon or netflix. Watch youtube videos. Transfer recorded shows back and forth between my computer. Convert shows to my iphone. The possibilities are endless. No need for a Home PC Theater set up.
Full Review




2. iPhone 3G
Nothing can compare to the iphone's intuitive interface. Checking email, surfing the internet, taking pictures, playing games at your fingertips never felt so natural.
Full Review




3. Eye-fi memory card
This is a perfect example of thinking out of the box. Instead of enabling the camera to perform wireless transfers, why not just do it for memory cards. I had my doubts but this thing actually works. Not only does it transfer my photos wirelessly to my computer but it can automatically upload to flickr - my photo sharing website. 2 birds with one stone. Love it.
Full Review

4. Western Digital My Passport portable hard drive
This small, compact, and sexy external hard drive is all you need to back up or transfer your files. The best feature about this drive is that there is no separate power supply needed. Yes, that means all you need to do is plug it into your USB slot (in Windows or Mac) and you are good to go. No software necessary.




5. Logitech Harmony 880 universal remote
You will only need to purchase one of these universal remotes in your lifetime because you can always update the remote using your computer and the internet. The remote is configured by connecting to Logitech's Harmony website application. The application has a comprehensive database of all tv components. So all you need to do is find the new component you just purchased and the remote will know exactly how to control it. Not only that but you can also create a custom sequence of commands to perform with a click of a button. For example, I have a "watch a dvd" command which will turn on my tv, dvd, and receiver and set the correct inputs all at once.

Tivo + iPhone = :)

Time is a luxury these days, especially with 2 needy boys. No more time to sit on my couch and watch my HD shows on my Tivo. But now I have a solution - watch my Tivo recorded shows on my iPhone during my weekday commutes to work.

Setup

1. Tivo Series 3 - to record TV shows.


2. Tivo Wireless Adapter - to send shows wirelessly to my computer.


3. Wireless router - to receive shows wirelessly.


4. Tivo Desktop Plus - to manage/transfer and convert shows to compatible iPhone format.


5. iTunes - to sync shows to iPhone.


6. iPhone - to watch shows.

Now you might think this is a big hassle, but I already had most of this set up already. The only new thing I added was the Tivo Desktop Plus Software to make this entire process complete. The software unfortunately is not free ($24.95) but is well worth it as it does practically everything automatically. Believe it or not, the only manual thing I do is sync my iPhone. Dont believe me? Well, let me explain.

First of all, I just configure Tivo Desktop Plus to download to my computer any TV show on my Tivo ie. Heroes, Prison Break, Terminator. These are .TIVO files. Secondly, I tell it to convert the .TIVO files into the iPhone format .mp4. Lastly, it adds the shows into my iTunes library. Keep in mind that all of the above is only a one time set up. So now, whenever a new episode of Heroes has been recorded on my Tivo, it will also be waiting for me in my iTunes library in which I just have to sync my iPhone. Major kudos for Tivo for simplifying such a complex process. The Tivo software doesnt work 100% of the time. Sometimes, it doesnt transfer over the recording automatically. Or it transfered the recording, but didnt convert it to mp4. Had some issues with some Heroes episodes. But maybe its because NBC adds some DRM into its shows. Who knows.

Not only can I transfer my Tivo recorded shows, but I can also transfer Caden's as well. ie. Teletubbies, Wiggles. Now Caden can watch his TV shows when we're on vacation like when we're on an airplane OR in the hotel room. Huh? Yes, Apple sells an iPhone AV cable in which you can hook your iPhone up to a TV. But Im still debating whether or not to spend $49 on it. Yes, Apple is charging $49 for that stinkin' cable! What a ripoff.

iPhone Review

I just got the new iPhone 3G from work. I never had a "smart" phone before, so I wont do much comparison with other smart/pda phones such as the treo or blackberry as I have no experience with them whatsoever.

Pros

• Email/MS Exchange
  I can check all of my email (work and personal) anytime, anywhere. Love the integration/sync of MS Exchange. All of my work contacts and calendar appointments are only a tap away.
  
  
• Touch Screen
  Apple did an excellent job of matching what feels natural to us with its gestures ie. swiping left to right as if Im turning a page of a book or zooming in or enlarging.
  
  
• Browser
  Viewing the Internet on a phone using a "real" browser is great. I dont like phones that use some custom internet viewer and web pages that are slimmed down to support them. I want to view web pages exactly as they are as if I was using my computer.
  
  
• Apps
  I like the wide variety of useful apps that I can download directly to my iPhone ie. Weather, Notes, To do lists, Tip Calculator, Games, etc.
  
  
• Voicemail
  Listening to voicemail with 1 click. No more will I have to dial my own phone number, press #, type in my password, and press 1 to listen to my messages.
  
  
• Camera
  When taking a photo, the entire screen is used making it very easy. I can also turn the iPhone sideways for wider coverage.
  
  
• Graphics
  2 words...Eye Candy. The graphics look so crisp and clear especially on a black background. I just want to eat those little application "pills".
  
  
• Earphone Headset
  Not only can you listen to your music, but you can also answer phone calls with it. The earphones have a small microphone on the wire. Dual purpose. I like it.
  

Cons

• 3G
  What 3G? I dont see it. Where is it? They should rename the phone to 3E (E stands for the slow Edge network) because I never get 3G. I cant even get it in San Francisco of all places. Not sure on where to put the blame, but there are only 2 choices - Apple or AT&T.
  
  
• Battery life
  Your lucky if it lasts a full day without charging. In otherwords, you will need to carry around a charging cable where ever you go. Here are some battery saving tips from Apple.
  
  
• No filesystem
  Cant store any files on an iPhone except for music (mp3s) of course. Yes, that means I cant store any word, excel, or pdf files. I can only view them when they are attachments in my email. I wanted to store a Caltrain pdf schedule on my iPhone, but cant even do that. Yes, I can go directly to Caltrain's website every single time to open the pdf, but then that would take too long especially when I dont get 3G.
  
  
• Keyboard
  Typing on the iPhone takes some getting use to, since the keyboard is on the screen itself. So you definitely wont type as fast as the Blackberry or Treo, but then again, the iPhone looks better. The on screen keyboard does get larger when you turn the iphone sideways, but it doesnt work for emailing or texting. Eh? What's up with that? Also, the iPhone has an auto complete feature where it tries to complete the word that you are typing. It does not work well and is sometimes really annoying. There are times where I want to misspell a word or use an acronym on purpose, but it will obtrusively auto complete it for me no matter what I do.
  
  
• Crashes
  Sometimes, when you are displaying a web page or using an application, the iPhone can all of a sudden crash. Usually, the browser or application just quits. But in some cases, you have to restart the iPhone itself.
  
  
• Pricey Accessories
  For example, the USB charging cable costs $19 and the outlet power adapter which is sold separately costs $29. So that means if I wanted an extra charger, I will have to fork over an extra $48 just to charge my iPhone over a plug outlet? Ridiculous. Talk about Monopoly.
  
  
• No Picture Messages
  You can send text messages, but you cant send picture messages. Weak. Instead, you can only send pictures as email attachments.
  
  
• No Software
  Does not come with or work well with any software except for iTunes. I wish you could use Outlook or something to be able to sync contacts or notes or something. I only use iTunes to sync music or to update the firmware. But I guess that's what MobileMe (paid subscription) is for syncing with the "cloud" vs. a local desktop.
  
  
• No Copy and Paste
  

Conclusion
The iPhone is only halfway there.

Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card

I've told you before that I love anything wireless that makes life easier right? Well, here's a cool new product that will blow your mind. Okay, it might not blow your mind, but its still cool. I dont know why I never thought of it :) Currently, you download your pictures from your digital camera using a USB cable. Its not too hard, but does take time especially if you take a lot of pics. Anyways, if your digital camera uses an SD card, you're in luck. With the Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card, you can wirelessly transfer your pics to your computer. Of course you will need to have an existing wireless home network. But who doesnt? :) One thing that I try to do is use my wireless network for everything. Right now, I have my Tivo, Wii, and laptop connected. And later on Ill add on more wireless enabled electronics. Centralizing all of your wireless products to your computer home network makes things much easier. Not only can you control things via your computer, but it can also enable these products to be online which is really powerful. Whoa, how I digress. Anyways, back to the Eye-Fi. So from reading the reviews, it looks like it automatically syncs when the card is in range of your home network. Cool! In otherwords, you can transfer your pictures without even thinking about it. All you have to do is turn on your digital camera and be in range of your router. GENIUS!

More Info

Free Tech Support Question #1

Do you have questions about computers, software, networking, or the Internet?
Any problems or issues? Want some recommendations?

Let me see if I can help. Depending on how many responses I get, Ill choose one to answer.
You can ask a question by posting a comment to this posting. Try to be as SPECIFIC as possible. Ask away!

ANSWERED!
Since I only received 2 questions and they are quite similar I will answer them both.

Question #1:
John said...
How do I tell if any of my picture files has a virus in it? My computer is slow starting up but I didn't install programs to start immediately at boot-up. I notice that when I format my computer, it's fast again, but once I install the pictures it becomes slow.

Answer:
"How do I tell if any of my picture files has a virus in it?"
- Its hard to know if you've been infected with a virus unless something actually goes wrong with your computer. In otherwords, you could have a virus on your computer now and you wouldnt even know it. My suggestion is to install antivirus software and perform a scan. The scan will tell you whether or not you have been infected with a virus. I have listed 3 free and good antivirus software in a previous post - http://www.rogerchew.com/2007/04/my-favorite-free-software.htm

"My computer is slow starting up but I didn't install programs to start immediately at boot-up."
- Now let's not jump to conclusions about your computer being slow to boot up and having viruses. They could be totally separate issues. You might have thought that you didnt install programs to start immediately at startup, but think again. Many software programs have tiny little helper programs that run at start up. Quicktime, Real Player, iTunes, HP printer software are to name a few. I have some tips for getting rid of programs that run at startup but Ill save that for another post.

"I notice that when I format my computer, it's fast again, but once I install the pictures it becomes slow."
- Formatting your computer is of course last resort and probably will fix 99% of your problems. You dont install pictures. I think you meant that you download pictures on your computer hard drive. Having many pictures should not slow down your computer much. The only way it would slow it down is if you had so many pictures that it takes up most of the space on your hard drive. If you start getting warnings that you are running out of hard disk space, then you probably have too many pictures on the drive. The hard drive needs a good amount of free space. The more free space that you have, the better your hard drive will perform.

Question #2
Janine said...
My computer has picked up several viruses recently, and I've cleaned them off using various software programs. The pop-ups have stopped now, but how do I know that all the viruses are gone and not embedded somewhere else? Would you recommend that I reformat the entire hard drive to be safe?

Answer:
Let's not get confused between viruses and spyware. Usually, pop ups are most likely caused by spyware. Its much easier to get infected by spyware than viruses. For viruses, you pretty much have to do something intentional like open up some .exe attachment from your email. Spyware is a different story. You can get spyware from just visiting a bad web page. In some occasions, you can have both viruses and spyware. In otherwords, you can have viruses that install more spyware on your computer and vice versa. In any case, you should install the antivirus software to scan for viruses and install antispyware software to scan for spyware. I've listed recommendations of free software on both of these in my link above. I highly recommend Spy Sweeper for removing spyware as well as protecting your computer. Its not free (annual subscription fee), but if you are always having spyware issues, its well worth it. Again, reformatting your computer is the last resort. If you have thoroughly scanned your computers with all the software I recommended and nothing is found, then I wouldnt worry too much about it.

Why Sony Sucks

That's it. I've had it with Sony. My handycam camcorder that I've had just over a year broke this week. The LCD screen wont turn on. The reviews were great when the camcorder came out, but a year and a half later people submitted bad reviews because the LCD would stop functioning after a year and a half. Out of the 13 reviews on this site, HALF of them mentioned the same exact problem I had. And guess how long the Sony warranty is? Yes...1 year. So now Im yet again stuck with a Sony camcorder that doesnt work and would cost $200 to fix. Oh, did I mention this is my second Sony camcorder? My first one broke too. I cant transfer any video from it to your computer. I bought lots of Sony stuff because of my Sony credit card. That's where they got me. I was addicted to racking up all those Sony points by purchasing with my Sony Card.

After buying and redeeming my Sony points for Sony products I learned a couple of things about Sony.

1. Quality stinks - How many of you have Sony products that broke or dont perform well? On the outside Sony products look really cool and sleek. But its very cheap on the inside.
   
   
2. Proprietary - Sony loves to have their own proprietary interfaces and equipment. They have the Sony memory stick which only their camcorders, cameras, and TVs use. They have an iLink cable, which is suppose to be just a firewire cable. They have Blueray discs that they are trying to promote. It's always Sony, Sony, Sony. But they do this on purpose, so that it forces you to buy more Sony products.
   
   
3. Sexy - I have to give it up to Sony, their products are sexy. They probably spend 90% on looks and marketing while the rest of the 10% goes into the actual product.



4. Screens - I decided that Im on a Sony boycott. I will never buy any Sony product again...unless it's an LCD TV :) Why the exception? The one thing that Sony has always done well is making TV's. Their laptop, computer, and LCD TV screens are the clearest, sharpest, and best in the market.
   

My final word of advice. Dont buy Sony unless you are buying a LCD TV, but be ready to shell out twice as much $$$.

Have you had a bad Sony experience? Feel free to comment (vent) on your experience.

Verizon Wireless - Transfer your contact list to your new phone for FREE!

I just got a new Motorola KRZR K1m phone. I wanted to transfer all of my contacts on my old phone (Chocolate) to my new KRZR. What's the cheapest and easiest way? I found a way that is free and you dont need any cables. At a Verizon Wireless store, they will charge you $10.

1. Go to verizonwireless.com and sign up for a my account.
   
   
2. On your existing phone, follow the 4 steps in the image above. It will prompt you to accept a $1.99 monthly charge. Go ahead and accept it, because if you created a Verizon Wireless my account (step 1), they will NOT charge you. I know its scary to accept it, but just check your monthly statement to make sure they are not charging you. That's it. So from now on, your contacts will be backed up daily.
   
   
3. On your new phone, follow the same 4 steps (in the above picture) and it will prompt you to download your backed up contacts.

Check out https://www.getbackupnow.com/ for more details.

Amazon Unbox on Tivo

Amazon Unbox is a cool and easy way to download movies directly to your Tivo. You must have a Tivo connected to your home network. If your Tivo is only connected using a phone line then this wont work. You need it connected to your home network, so that it can download the movie from the internet.

A couple of months ago, when Amazon launched this service for Tivo, they offered a free $15 credit which I took full advantage of. All I had to do was to register my Tivo with Amazon and I was all set. 5-10 minutes after you purchase a movie rental, I would see a blue light on my Tivo signifying that it was downloading

Pros:

• Flexible - You can either go online to rent or use your Tivo to rent. You can also keep your movie on your Tivo for 30 days after you rent it just as long as you dont start playing it. If you start playing the movie, it will automatically expire in 24 hours.
• Easy - You dont need to stick a dvd into your dvd player. You just play the movie straight from your Now Playing list in Tivo. I feel right at home using my Tivo to watch movies.
• Instant - No need to wait a couple of days for my DVD rental to arrive in the mail. I can watch a movie I rented on the same day.
• Video Quality - Video quality is really good. I cant tell the difference between the unbox video vs. a DVD.
• Specials - Sometimes they'll have rentals for only 99 cents. I've rented 3 movies already and still have $9 left out of my $15 credit.

Cons:

• Download - The download takes a couple of hours. So I would recommend either downloading the night before or in the morning. You cannot play the movie until the entire movie has downloaded.
• No Surround Sound - Though sound quality is still good.
• Selection - The selection is not that great. I found myself clicking "next" many times to find something to rent. They dont have too many new releases.
• New Releases - Newly released movies will have a rental price of $14.99 instead of the regular $3.99

Overall, I'm really impressed with the service. Both Amazon and Tivo did a great job integrating their services as well as keeping inline with making the rental process smooth and easy as both companies are known for. I think $3.99 per rental is a little too steep for me so Im not sure if I will continue to rent after my $15 credit is used up. If they lower their prices to $2.99, I'd probably use it once in a while. If they lower it to $1.99, I'd probably use it all the time without a doubt.

New 180-hour TiVo HD DVR

Tivo came out with their new and cheaper HD box today. The main difference between this one and the Tivo Series 3 version is the price...$299 vs $799. That's a $500 difference! Tivo Series 3 always was overpriced. I mean...you can almost get a 42 inch plasma tv for that price.

Tivo HD - 20 hrs in HD, 180 in SD (Standard Definition?)
Tivo Series 3 HD - 30 hrs in HD, 300 in SD

Comfort Access by BMW

You know I love simple technological things that make everyday life more simple and convenient. Take for example, driving a car.

Here are the steps for getting in and out of a car everyday.

1. Get key out of pocket or purse or what have you.
   
2. Put key in door.
   
3. Adjust seating, mirrors, etc.
   
4. Put key in ignition
   
5. After driving to your destination, pull key out from ignition
   
6. Lock the doors.
   
7. Put key away.

w/ BMW Comfort Access

1. Push ignition start button
   
2. After driving to your destination, push ignition stop button
   
3. Lock the doors.
   

What is Comfort Access?

Comfort Access is an optional feature from BMW that allows you to get in and out of your car as well as starting your engine, without ever inserting your car key. Im sure Mercedes and other high end car manufacturers have a similar option. In any case, not only is it cool but it is efficient. The only thing that I could suggest is to eliminate the 3rd step of locking the doors (that would make it only a 2 step process!). With comfort access, you still have to place your finger on the a specific area of the door handle to lock the doors (see tiny grooves in above picture). Instead, as soon as you move a certain distance away from your car, it should auto lock. I believe this is how it works for some of the BMW cars only in Europe.

But how much would you pay extra for this option? Wait...remember that you will never have to insert your car key ever again. Okay, here is the price - $500. Worth it? You decide.

Below is the full explanation of comfort access from BMW.

"Also available for the first time on a BMW in this class is Comfort Access.All cars receive a newly designed key that replaces the conventional blade-typekey but with Comfort Access the key contains an ID Sensor that the carrecognises from a short distance away. On recognition, the doors are unlockedautomatically and the car can be started with one push of the starter button.The Comfort Access system also works in tandem with BMW's familiar key memorysystem to ensure that the seating position, door mirrors, personalised airconditioning settings and radio reception are automatically adjusted to thecurrent drivers' settings before they enter the car.Walking up to his BMWproperly locked and secured, all the driver has to do with Comfort Access ispull the door handle in order to open the door. Then, as he is taking his seatat the wheel, the Personal Profile functions serve to adjust, say, the driver’sseating position, the automatic air conditioning and the radio station accordingto the driver’s personal requirements.Over and above these three functions, Car& Key Memory (CKM) also sets the interior and exterior mirrors, the centrallocking and interior lights, the audio system sound effects and, in a carappropriately equipped, the presentation on the Control Display as well as thevoice entry setting.Once the driver is ready to go, he simply presses thestart/stop button. Once he has reached his destination, in turn, he presses thesame button to switch off the engine. Then, placing his finger on the markedsurface on the door handle after getting out and closing the door, heautomatically locks and secures the car without requiring any further action. Ifhe has forgotton the ID sensor in the car the doors will not lock and the driverwill receive an appropriate warning. And should the electronic key controlsystem ever fail to operate, the driver can insert the ID sensor into a slot inthe instrument panel in order to drive the car just as conveniently the“conventional” way."

iPhone - Hands on

I finally got the chance to get my hands on an iPhone. No I didnt buy it. I just went to an Apple store in the morning when it wasnt too crowded. They had like 10 on display. So is it worthy of all the hype?

YES! I played around with it for like 10 minutes and was drooling all over it. The screen is so sexy and delicious. Its definitely pleasing to the eye. The interface is responsive as I flipped through photos by swiping my finger across the screen. The onscreen keyboard is good and corrects your mistakes easily. Surfing the internet was cool because its not some scaled down phone browser version. Instead, its the real deal as if you were surfing on a laptop or desktop. You just need to zoom into the sections that you are interested in. Listening to music on it just like an iPod showing album art is oh so nice. The iPhone is what I expected and much more.

Paying $500-$600 for it, including a monthly fee of $60, and switching over to ATT from Verizon would be quite a jump for me. But my LG Chocolate phone stinks and my dial button is starting to break. *grin*

Tivo Series 3 HD

I recently upgraded my Tivo Series 1 to Tivo Series 3 HD. Nope I dont have HD programming. So why did I get it you might ask? Well, because Tivo made me do it.

Here was the deal (expired).

For a limited time, transfer your product lifetime service from a Series1™ or
Series2™ box to the new Series3™ HD for only $199. As an added bonus, we'll
keep TiVo service activated on your old box for another 12 months for no
additional charge.

My current Tivo Series 1 w/ lifetime subscription works perfectly fine. I've been using it for over 5 years now and I love it. But what caught my attention in this deal was the opportunity to transfer my lifetime subscription. Tivo recently retired their lifetime subs on all Tivos. You can no longer get a lifetime sub on a new Tivo. Also, you cannot transfer a lifetime sub to another Tivo box. So this would be my only opportunity to upgrade my Tivo box as well as transfer my lifetime sub in one shot. I dont think Tivo will ever offer the opportunity to transfer a lifetime sub again. In otherwords, this will be the only way to get a Tivo Series 3 with lifetime. But that $199 lifetime transfer fee hurts, especially when I originally already paid $299 for my original lifetime sub. Ouch. So that's how Tivo trapped me.

Why do you LOVE Tivo? - No one can beat the functionality and the user experience that the Tivo has to offer. It is smart, sexy, and simple. You've probably heard of the cable companies offering their DVR's, but everyone who has experienced them says that they cannot compare to Tivo. Tivo is truly one of my favorite tech gadget. Tivo really did an outstanding job when it comes to user interface. Its hard to think of anything to improve it even on my standards ;)

What are the main differences between Tivo series 1, 2, and 3? - A lot. Let's talk about the Series 2 first.

1. Series 2 has the networking functionality which allows you to network your tivo to your home computer which is connect to the internet. You will need a Tivo wireless adapter to wireless connect your tivo to your wireless router.



2. Once you have this connection, you can do several things.You can use TivoToGo which is the ability to transfer your Tivo recordings onto your computer. Once the videos are transfered to your computer, then you can do whatever you want with the video. ie. burn them on dvd.



3. Stream your mp3s and pictures to your TV and home theater system.



4. Update Tivo without using a phone line.



5. Use Tivo online scheduling. In otherwords, you can go to Tivo's website and schedule your recordings there. This is cool if you are not home and you forgot to record something. However, you must schedule the recording at least 1 hour prior to the show starting since the Tivo does the online update about once per hour.



6. Real time Traffic and Weather



7. Many of the series 2 are dual tuner which is one of my favorite features. It can record 2 shows at the same time. Therefore, you can also record a show and watch another show at the same time.

Onto to Series 3

1. Series 3 has all of the features above except for TivoToGo. This is very sad, but hopefully they will allow it in a future software update. I think Tivo ran into a lot of copyright issues so until they get those settled, no TivoToGo.



2. Can record in HD.



3. THX



4. More than enough space. 300 hours standard record time. 32 hours in HD.
   

So basically, Series 3 is much like the Series 2, but has all of the high quality sound and video capabilities.

So what happens to your Tivo Series 1 box? - So this box no longer has the lifetime sub. Tivo gives me a free year's subscription. But in order to use the box after a year, I would have to start paying the monthly fee :(

2007 Technology Wishlist

• Hi Definition DVD - I really hope that we come out with a single format, but unfortunately it doesnt look like its going to turn out that way since companies are starting to come up with dvd players that support both HD DVD and Blu-ray. But having 2 formats still hurts the consumers by causing confusion. I hope HD DVD prevails because Im getting sick and tired of all of Sony's proprietory formats, cables, interfaces, etc.
  
  
• Bluetooth iPod - An ipod or any mp3 player that uses bluetooth to connect to your car's speaker system. Seems obvious, but dont know what's taking them so long.
  
  
• More Wireless - We see it everywhere now, but we need more of it. At the CES 2007 show, Samsung unveiled a wireless plasma. All you need to do is plug the plasma in. No need to hide any wires. BMW and Mercedes have car keys whereby you can open the door and start the car without inserting the keys. You can just leave them in your pocket. Any wireless connection that eliminates a physical wired connection is a good thing. We also need wifi digital camera's whereby you can transfer all the pics on your camera to your computer wirelessly. No more usb cable.
  
  
• Smarter Cell Phones - There are many new fancy phones out there, but I think cell phone manufacturers need to get back to the basics instead trying to add as many features possible onto a phone. I use my phone mainly to place phone calls, but sometimes "fancyness" and "features" gets in the way. I miss my first Nokia phone which had no features but worked flawlessly. Its battery life lasted a week too. How long does your phone's battery last now? Anyways, I think the cell phones now are dumb. Yes, they look good, have color, and lots of features, but I just want to make a simple phone call! Hopefully, the iPhone will be the start of cell phones that are actually useful.
  
  
• Evite killer - Evite should change their name to eAds since they display way too many ads. Im getting sick of it. The ads are starting to get in the way of using the application. A big no-no. The ads are getting larger and larger in more in your face. You have to dig through the ads to try to use the regular evite functions. This tells me something. Either Evite is not doing so well and therefore, trying to get as many ads out there or Evite's marketing department is way too aggresive. In either case, its bad for the users and therefore bad for the company. I havent seen a good evite competitor, but once it happens, everyone will have no problems switching. If you know of another evite site, let me know. I already tried renkoo, it sucks.
  

Apple iPhone - First Impressions

Today, Apple announced their new iPhone. To be honest, I didnt care much about it. That was until I actually saw pictures and features of the iPhone. This might be the phone that I've been waiting for. An all-in-one phone. A phone that can browse the internet, take pictures, listen to music, and that can also be your PDA. Yes, there are already phones that are capable of this (ie. Palm Treo, Motorola Q, BlackBerry, etc). But they seem to make things more complicated. Or sometimes, some features work well while others do not. The iPhone supposedly solves all that as I will discuss its features below.

Features

• Screen - The screen makes up most of the phone, since the keyboard is also on the screen. The other PDA phones are usually half screen, half keyboard which results in a small screen and a small keyboard. Also, you can tilt the iPhone to either vertical or horizontal and whatever is on the screen will conform to the portrait or landscape view. This is really good for displaying video or browsing the web.



• Keyboard - The keyboard is on the screen instead of physically on the phone. That's a good thing. But the question is, how well does it work with your fingers since it doesnt use a stylus. Oh yeah, no stylus, thats another good thing. Supposedly, its an "intelligent" keyboard and that it will know which letter you want to press without accidently pressing another letter. Hard to tell by looking at only screenshots, but my guess is that as you hover over a letter, the letter will pop out larger in size. If thats the case, then that's cool.



• Music - Plays music like an iPod. Nuff said.



• Video - Plays video like a PSP. Nice!



• Sensors - When you put the iPhone to your ear, the screen automatically turns off to prevent inadvertent touches. Now this is exactly what was need on my LG chocolate phone. Everytime, I would answer a call, the buttons on the front panel would be active, so when I put the phone to my ear, I would inadvertently press lots of different menu options and such. This is totally annoying. But I wonder how the sensor knows that Im putting it to my ear?



• OS X - Not Windows Mobile, Not Palm, Not blackberry, but OSX?! Wow, first time a phone PDA actually uses a real OS, instead of some modified and customized version of an OS. Does this mean it can run OS X applications too? Powerful!



• Phone - Oh yeah, its a phone too. Phone looks really easy to use. Especially with large and simple icons and using your fingers to dial.


• Wifi - connect to your wifi router for internet.



• Bluetooth - connect to computer or other cool bluetooth stuff.



• Multi touch - Okay so this is something really cool and exciting. Its all about the natural way we would interact with a touch panel display. This involves how the iPhone reacts to your finger movements. For example, how would you normally browse photos? The old way would be to use your stylus and click on the "next" button. But on the iPhone, you would just put your finger on the picture and swipe it to the left or right and you will see the next photo scrolling sideways accordingly. Hard to explain. But check out this video at a TED conference to find out more about this interaction.

Final thoughts

Im actually really impressed with what Apple has done with the iPhone. They really solved a lot of key issues when it came to the cell phone PDA market. Im also surprised and wonder how they kept it secret for 30 months without any leaks.

Now the question is, will I buy it? I dont think so, but we'll see. I would have to change my wireless provider from Verizon to Cingular (Verizon is the best!) I would also have to pay a lot more monthly for the internet plan. Do I really need to surf the internet when Im not at a computer? Very cool, but not a necessity. But then again, i dont have to use it for internet.

I think these are going to sell like hotcakes. Way to go Apple.

Nintendo Wii

The new Nintendo game console is coming out is called "Wii". Its pronounced like "We". It was named like that because they are gearing the console for more team-like and multiplayer games. Also, the two i's is suppose to represent two persons.
Anyways, I dont get too excited about video game consoles because I dont play that many console video games. But this video got me excited just because of Wii's controller. It takes video gaming to a whole new level.

Tivo Lifetime Subscription Ending :(

Tivo is ending their Lifetime Subscriptions. They have extended it through April 15 only by calling to activate. I still have my Tivo Series 1 w/ lifetime and it still works great. Cant live without it.