Multitasking Has Finally Arrived

Apple CEO Steve Jobs delivering his presentation on the iPhone OS 4.0 yesterday
The anticipated fourth version of Apple's iPhone Operating System, dubbed the 'iPhone OS 4.0', was officially announced yesterday. The new OS will have more than 100 new user features, including playlist creation, 5x digital zoom in the camera app, customizable home screen, tap-to-focus for video, auto photo-geotagging, and support for Bluetooth keyboards. But what really got me excited was the one thing that everyone has been anticipating on Apple's smartphone device for years: Multi-tasking.

There's a reason why Apple hasn't been implementing multitasking into the iPhone OS until today, and that was to preserve battery life and performance. Apple has finally found a solution to that with its multitasking feature unique to iPhone OS. Although users are still confined with one app on screen at a time, double-tapping the home button now allows the user to bring up a new menu at the bottom screen that reveals working apps that users can switch to without literally shutting down the current app.

Another impressive feature that I was so excited to hear is the ability to create folders. Now users can organize apps into folders with drag-and-drop simplicity, thus eliminating all the clutter. This also allows faster accessibility to your favourite apps, and with this new feature, users can manage up to 2160 apps at once, that's much more compared to the current 180 apps the iPhone can carry.

Other features worth noting are security and compatibility enhancements for business features, better mail management, iBooks apps, a gaming social network and iAds, a new way of displaying ads in mobile devices without hindering productivity.

The iPhone OS 4.0 will be available for download in June for iPhone 3Gs and in September for the third generation iPod Touch (and yes, it will be for the iPad as well). Unfortunately, owners of the iPhone 3G and older iPod Touches are out of luck as they will not be able to enjoy some of the features (arguably no multitasking), due to hardware limitations. That said, now is the perfect time to get the iPhone 3Gs, though I'm sticking with my iPod Touch until a 64GB iPhone is out.

The Future of Laptops

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Nano-Chromatic

Honestly I love the newer design of this release of the iPod Nano. I prefer this than the previous smaller biscuit-sized Nano released late last year, which had an awfully tiny screen.

Newer Nano

Steve Jobs has announced a line up of new products for this year's holiday season at the Apple's "Let's Rock" Event in San Francisco earlier. The star of the show was the revamped iPod Nano. Check it out.





So what's new with this 4th Generation Nano?

• Thinnest iPod ever built
• Much taller than its predecessor with an even larger screen
• New curved aluminum design, and curved glass over the display
• arsenic-free glass, BFR-free, Mercury-free, PVC-free and highly recyclable materials (cleanest, toxic-free iPod ever built)
• Enhanced user interface
• It's got an accelerometer! (you can flip it into landscape mode)
• Shake the nano and it shuffles your songs!!
• Voice Recording program built-in
• Improved battery life: 24 hours of music and 4 hours of video
• Comes in purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, and silver
• Available in 8GB and now 16GB!!
• Comes with headphones with a built-in inline remote, with volume controls as well as next/previous (nice!)

In other news, the iPod Touch body has also been revamped to look like the iPhone 3G, only thinner. More new games were also added into the Touch. As for the original iPod, The thickest iPod Classic (160GB) has been discontinued due to lack of popularity, and so the thinner 80GB Classic has been upgraded to 120GB without altering its size and price. And lastly, iTunes 8.0 is finally here!


iTunes 8.0 has a new feature called 'Genius'. Something to do with smarter playlisting, which seems pretty cool.

Source: macworld.com

New iPods Coming Soon?

My iPod is over a year old already and it's still rockin! Speaking of iPods, Apple will roll out new products on September 9. Could it be a revamped iPod Nano? New softwares for the iPod Touch? Or will the much awaited iTunes 8.0 with a recommendation engine finally come to light? Stay tuned as the next appearance of Steve Jobs and the unveiling of Apple's latest wares continues.

Operation Ville Valo

I'm going back to putting my headphones on again because one of these days I gotta get back on the running track and start moving.

The First iPod

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, for your eyes to see. The first ever iPod. Doesn't it look fat? This is the great, great, great grandfather of all iPods.

The 1st generation iPod was released on the market on October 23rd, 2001 and became an instant hit. Apple called it a revolution in the music industry. Back then hard drive mp3 players were hard to come by, and when Apple introduced the iPod to the masses, it revolutionized how we all listen to music.

This iPod used the FireWire connection to upload songs from the computer, which was considered faster compared to a USB connection. Back then the iPod could only synced to a Mac. It only carried 5 gigabytes of hard disk space to store digital music, capable of storing 1,000 songs. But 5 gig was considered a lot back in the day (Apple released a 10 gigabyte iPod the following year). It was the size of a deck of cards and it only came in white. The screen was entirely monochrome, but so were mobile phones at that time. And no, it couldn't display photos and play videos.

One of the best features of the original iPod was the mechanical scroll wheel. The wheel eventually evolved into a much more convenient click-wheel, which became a signature for all iPods of today (except the Touch and the Shuffle). And yes, it's patented, so you can't find the same interface on any other portable media device, and that's what makes the iPod stand out from the rest.

iPod Touch Alternatives

Touch-screen is the future! But if you're looking for alternatives to the iPod Touch, then check out these 5 touch-screen portable media players on the market. Some of these gadgets even offer more than Apple's little gizmo. It's alright to be different than the rest.

Samsung YP-P2 (8GB, black)

An excellent-sounding MP3 player that will appeal to those looking for a cool touch-screen interface and stereo Bluetooth capability.

Slacker Portable Player (8GB/40 stations)

The best player for audiophiles and control freaks, but its excellent accompanying service makes it perfect for those who want their music provided to them for very minimal effort and cost.

Archos 605 WiFi (30GB)

This is one of the best mobile distractions money can buy. It plays your movies, music videos and TV series tremendously thanks to its magnificent 4.3-inch touchscreen in 800 x 480 resolution. Watching your favorite videos on this baby is far more convenient than lugging your laptop or squinting on an iPod.

Cowon Q5W (40GB)

The Q5W aims to do everything a gadget-aholic may want in a portable video player. Unfortunately, its confusing dual interface and high price hold it back from greatness.

Cowon D2 (4GB, black)

If you can get on board with it's PDA-like touch screen interface, the reward is great-sounding audio, an assortment of features, and a fantastic battery life.

Source: CNet.com

Currently Listening To...

The Last Call

by
Sirenia

from the album
Nine Destinies And a Downfall

Killing Time With Solitaire

Yowza! At last, I've beaten Solitaire on my iPod while I was chilling out with Marriz and Ah Chong at Foodzone this afternoon. Took me some time to beat this game. Saja killing time and getting some peace of mind after hours of revision today. I've got Accounting test tomorrow. :P

Double The Size

Well, what a surprise. Apple has just recently announced its new line of higher capacity iPod Touch. Previously limited up to 16 GB upon its release last year, the new Touch now comes in 32 GB. Also, they even increased the size of the iPhone up to 16 GB now.

What do you know. If I didn't buy my 80 GB iPod Video in the first place, I would be considering this one right now. 32 GB is pretty neat for my songs collection, which has already reached a total 20 GB. But to think about it, that number would definitely increase in time, and that would make a 32 GB obsolete in no time. I guess I should just wait until at least an 80 GB iPod Touch is made available, then I'll pass my current iPod to my brother.

When the iPod Touch was announced last year, I was mesmerized by the fact that the multi-touch interface has been adapted into an iPod, but they've announced that a little too late. 2 months before the announcement I've already purchased an 80 GB iPod Video Black. Sigh. But I realized at that time that a 16 GB iPod is ridiculously insufficient for my ever-growing library, so I decided to stick with what I had.

I still love my iPod, regardless.

PC versus Mac; an On-going Debate

I've been a PC user since I was 10. Being a PC user for over a decade, it has been part of my life, from the days of MS-DOS till the Windows XP. Despite the typical problems and troubleshooting PC has to go through over the years, I've still managed to get through, and made good use of my computer as much as I could. But ever since my mind's throbbing with Mac-fever, I couldn't keep my head straight, thinking, "Oh, when will I get one for myself?" or "I just feel like I wanna get rid of this piece of Dell crap and get myself a Mac!" But is it really a wise decision?

It all started when I first installed iTunes for my PC. iTunes is a Media Player that generally plays my mp3 playlists in my computer. I've grown to love managing my playlists on iTunes, but what I really dig most is the Cover-flow. How cool it is to actually have cover artwork for your music, it's really intuitive. I completely stopped playing my music using Winamp as a result. Back then when I started using the software, I only used my Sony Ericsson as my portable mp3 player, and I didn't really need anything else.

Then the software actually introduced me on how cool and exciting it was to sync everything onto an iPod. So, yep, you guessed right, I bought myself an 80 Gigabyte iPod Video (Black) soon after that. And since then, everything was good. I loved my iPod so much, and again I said to myself that I didn't need another portable player. The iPod is just right for me. That's when until I found that iPod works much better when running on a Mac. Okay, I wanted to ignore that, because I find that my iPod works fine on my PC. But it got me all worried somehow.

iPod; the only gadget you'll ever need. Also, get the Nano, the Shuffle, the Touch and the iPhone. Damnit, get 'em all!

After months of research, I've learned a lot of stuff I need to know about Apple and their range of 'innovative' products. Could it be that the holy grail of the PC is the Mac all along? I've been asking around for others' opinions. Some say that the Mac is better than the PC, others still say that it's the other way round. I've watched how the Mac-users impressed me with their Macbooks and iMacs, how cool their videos looked after hours of editing, how fun and useful the widgets are, and how awesome the bundled iLife softwares are. There's also been a claim that the new OS X leopard is ten times more powerful than Vista.

So here I am, typing this blog with my trusty Dell Inspiron 6000, whining about how much I crave a Macbook. I've had this craving since early this year, and it's killin me. Everywhere I go, the ads says it all, "Why you'll love a Mac", "Get a Mac", "Switch to a Mac" etc. Even some my friends who have just switched to the Mac loathe about how good their powerful toys are and how better Mac's are compared to PCs. For one thing, here's what I gotta say. Macs are damn expensive! All the ranges of Mac computers and accessories are way overpriced. How do I expect to get one so easily when the prices don't seem to go down?

Despite the problems and issues faced, I still love my Dell, and I'm thinking of upgrading the RAM so I could perform my work better and more productive. If I get a Mac soon, will I be able to do the same chore I'm used to do on my PC? True, the Mac has all the coolest softwares, and what Apple claimed "only the best softwares you'll ever need!" I use PhotoShop for my image-editing work, and Mac's got the system software that'll run PhotoShop much more smoothly. I use Pinnacle for my video-editing, and Mac's got the easiest, fastest and convenient tools for that as well. I love organizing my stuff on my PC, and Mac's got all those and they're much more fun and easier to use. But it all comes to one thing; doesn't that feel like Apple is keeping its users from using third-party softwares? Where's the freedom in that? I love freedom!

Finally, Macs claim that their hardware is a powerful beast. They've got those Intel Processors and the OS X is one hell of a monster truck. But couldn't I do that with my PC? Upgrade my RAM and get a new Motherboard, or hey, why not just get a new one? Personally, I'm no beginner in computers. I realized that the intuitiveness of Macs is for those who just want to get things done easier and 'funner'. I'm tired of complaining and whining. I guess I'm just gonna save up and upgrade my Dell instead. I can still do what I want things done on my PC. All I really need now is just to speed my laptop up, and that's it.

Less troubleshooting, powerful performance, invulnerable from viruses, highly useful applications and an over-all sleek design is what makes the Mac an oh-so-perfect computer. But I'm sick, and my head aches from all the Mac-craving. Sick! Sick! Sick! I'm sick of being a sucker for all the tech-hype! Sometimes you can't always get what you want. I should be grateful of what I have now. At least I could still breathe and blog.