On Apple’s emergency press conference and the iPhone 4
You might have gotten wift that Apple has called for a last minute press conference this Friday.
We may be wrong on this but never in our experience have we heard of Apple calling for a last minute press conference. Things must be running on DEFCON 5 at Cupertino. There’s a lot of speculation on what this last minute press conference is all about, though many are saying that Apple will come clean on the antenna issue on the iPhone 4.
Most of the tech blogs in the US are making a big deal out of it, speculating a eminent recall but honestly speaking we’re pretty sick and tired of it all. Seriously everyone, there’s nothing to see here and we all need to move on.
The fact of the matter remains that iPhone 4 is a flawed product. It is, essentially, a phone that doesn’t work. It doesn’t matter if the screen is so chock full of pixels that your eyes can’t even see them, it doesn’t matter that it’s made out of glass and is sure as hell doesn’t matter if it can make video calls – besides you can only do it with WiFi and even with WiFi the iPhone 4 has issues.
What matters is the fact that Apple has been trying very hard to play down the issue. Even Steve Jobs said that iPhone 4 users are holding it wrong and Apple recommends you use the iPhone 4 with a case. Apple has even deleted forum postings that highlight the antenna issue and reference the recent report from US non-profit US consumer watchdog, Consumer Reports on its official message boards. This is not the first time Apple has resorted to deleting negative posts on it forums and it goes to show how they do business.
What Apple needs to do is to stop denying that there’s a problem with the iPhone 4 and to start fixing it, and what the rest of the world needs to do is move on. There are other phones out there that are just as good if not better. In the Android camp, HTC, Samsung and Motorola have caught up with Apple. The naysayers will argue that the iPhone has more apps, a lot more. We say, so does Android. In fact has more apps that can do more things with an Android phone and apps like Swype really demonstrate how Android devices are more flexible in terms of usability.
Coming up: HTC Wildfire review
(Update 16082010 1456hrs) Our review of the HTC Wildfire is up. Check it out here.
We’ve just received a unit of the HTC Wildfire. At RM1,199 and running and Android 2.1, we’re pretty keen to see how this little device performs.
Considered as an entry-level Android device, there’s bound to be some compromises, but will those compromises hamper the overall experience of the Wildfire? Or will the Wildfire provide the perfect balance between cost, quality and performance? You’ll find out in the review.
Also, we’ll compare the Wildfire with its close relative, the HTC Legend to see how it stacks up against one of our favourite HTC Android device at the moment.
It’s going to be an interesting review, so keep it locked on to SoyaCincau.com.
In meantime, if you have any questions or if there’s anything you’d like to know about the Wildfire, post a comment, we’ll be sure to answer them.
Droid X teaser video, launching tomorrow in the US
With a 480×854 4.3 inch screen, 1Ghz processor with 512MB RAM, 8MP camera with autofocus and dial flash, 720p video recording, three microphones (one for phone, one for noise cancellation and another for video recording) plus HDMI out, there’s no denying that the Droid X has awesome specs and if the success of the Milestone is anything to go, Motorola will have another hot Android smartphone in its stable.
The Droid X will be officially launched in the US tomorrow (early morning Malaysia time) and ahead of the launch, the people at Verizon — the carrier that will be offering the device — has released a teaser video online.
We don’t know what to make out of it, but it sure does look like something big is happening.
Alas, for now, we can only hope for the Droid X to make the jump into international waters just like the much liked Milestone. We’re waiting Motorola.
Check out the teaser video after the jump.
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Paul the Octopus: There an app for that
(UPDATE 1604hrs 15072010) Want a psychic octopus in your iPhone? Well, it’s going to cost you. We thought the app was free, turns out its US$0.99.
Ever had problems deciding on where to go for lunch? Or what movie to watch? With this app, your decision making woes might well be the thing of the past.
The World Cup may be over but Paul the psychic octopus is as busy as ever, this time helping you decide what to choose in your daily lives with the help of your iPhone.
Ok, so it’s not really the actual octopus and the app doesn’t really have predictive powers. It’s more like a magic 8-ball in the form of an octopus, and it’s kindda fun to play with. Wonder if we can use this to decide the outcome of the next election.
Hit the iTunes link if you want to try the app out for yourself.
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UltraTek Flipper USB – Plug & Play even wrong side up
We love innovations and how simple ideas can be cool. However there are some inventions which are totally unnecessary. Just recently we’ve seen InstaLoad by Microsoft where you can now insert a battery in any direction. Today we’ve a USB equivalent called Flipper USB.
Seriously, do we really need this? How hard is it to insert a USB Plug and Play device?
Watch the video after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »
SwiftKey Beta keyboard for Android
There’s a new keyboard for Android called SwiftKey Beta which is now downloadable from the market. While other keyboard predicts the current word you’re typing, Swiftkey is a step ahead by predicting the next word that you might type. This predictive feature is based on what you’ve typed on your device, be it email and SMS. So it kind of gets smarter as you type along.
We’ve just downloaded it and first impression is that it uses less effort than swype but it is slower. However the ease of use can come pretty handy when your hands are occupied like driving situation. That said, we do not condone texting while driving.
Check out the demo video after the jump
WhatsApp BETA for Nokia Symbian available for download
UPDATE 20100715 1135: WhatsApp BETA for Nokia is for S60 3rd and 5th Edition. FREE for 90 days and after that is chargeable at US$1.99 per year.
WhatsAPP is an IM app which allows you to communicate across iPhone and Blackberry users. The beauty of WhatsApp is that it works in SMS-like manner and it utilises notification services which is more efficient compared to most IM apps.
We have been waiting for it to extend to Android and Symbian which will make it the universal IM for all mainstream devices. Today, it was revealed that the BETA version for Symbian is now available for download.
Download it now at http://www.whatsapp.com/nokia/
Apple releases iOS 4.1 to developers
Developers who signed up for Apple’s iPhone Developers Program will be able to download the latest release of iOS 4. If you’re following with Apple’s iPhone 4 reception issues, you probably know that Apple is solving that with a software fix.
Engadget has a screenshot of a iPhone 4 with the latest update and they do notice some difference on the signal bars. Visually, the bars look bigger than normal with the 1-bar symbol being taller than before.
It is just released so we expect to hear more discoveries soon.
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