Archive for year 2009
Who Wants to be a YouTubillionaire
0I’m sure most people would have see this by now but I thought it was worth a mention as it’s really well done.
It’s an interactive YouTube video based on the quiz show “Who wants to be a millionaire” made up of several different videos from different users. You make your way through the videos by answering the questions and if you get stuck you can call one of the familiar faces from YouTube to ask for help.
If you haven’t seen it before give it a go
Rebel Scholar iPhone Case Update
0In my previous post about the Rebel Scholar iPhone Case I said that I would probably be getting the Poison Petals case and that’s what I did.
I’ve had the case and been using it for several weeks now and it’s been a mixed reaction. When the case arrived it looked and felt great, I got my iPhone and slid it into the case. As the iPhone went in one of the rubber runners on the inside came away from the case folding over behind the iPhone and jamming it inside the case. When trying to pull the iPhone back out the case cracked and broke so that was the end of that case.
I decided that I did like the case and would like to try another one so I went on the website and ordered a second case. This case arrived quickly, everything went smoothly and I’m still using it today.
The next issue came from FedEx. Both cases were delivered by FedEx but for some reason they decided to charge me for customs on just one of the cases. This was pretty shitty but there’s nothing that can be done it seems to be pot luck as to why some things get through and some don’t. It just means that for the whole thing, 2 cases plus customs charges, I could have had one of the high end $100 cases.
To finish off the case feels great, it fits perfectly and after several weeks of constant use it still looks brilliant with no noticeable ware or fading on the pattern. If you’re considering getting a case for your iPhone I’d still recommend the Rebel Scholar but just to be aware of what I went through that it may end up costing more that you thought.
Rebel Scholar iPhone Case
0Since I’m planning on getting the new iPhone 3GS, whenever O2 Ireland sort out their stock issues, I’ve been looking around at the different cases available.
The first thing I learned is the best place to find out about iPhone case is from a guy called Carlos who runs the itsmemorphious YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/itsmemorphious). I’ve been looking through his videos trying to see what case would best suit my needs. What’s great about Carlos’s videos is that he actually uses the cases, he tests them out and really knows what’s what when he does his reviews but it’s his latest video on the Rebel Scholar that has really caught my attention.
The case he got to review just looks so good and it also fits well and would seem to give great protection to the handset. Now of course I went straight to the Rebel Scholar website (http://www.rebelscholar.com) only to find that the case Carlos reviewed was one of the high end $100 cases and to make things worse there were others there that looked better! I especially liked the Silver and Blue
OK so the high end cases are well outside my budget for a case but when you look down the product line, the mid range cases are $34.99 and the lower range cases are $19.99. The lower range cases are plain colours but I’m sure are still made using the same quality material as the high end one and so would be a good buy at that price. I think I’ll go that bit extra and go for one of the mid range cases, looking like it’ll be the Poison Petals case.
For anyone interested in getting a case for their iPhone or iPod Touch you should definitely check out Carlos on his channel http://www.youtube.com/itsmemorphious and consider the Rebel Scholar as a possibility.
The present meets the past….
0I like my retro things and so was drawn to article on the BBC News website, “Giving up my iPod for a Walkman“.
The article is about a 13-year-old boy named Scott Campbell who is asked to swap his iPod for an original 30-year-old Walkman.
The quote from the article that sums it up best is
It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape
Now some of us might laugh at that but think about it, how was he suppose to know the tape could be turned over? CDs put a stop to the whole A side B side, which actually takes away from the music singles but that’s another discussion.
What I thought was strange about the artilce was how slow Scott was to figure out the Walkman. If he had been given a new mobile phone, MP3 player or computer he’d have most of the functions worked out within a half hour but give him something out of the ordinary and unfamiliar and he’s lost.
Simply an Unreal Shot
0This is the best video I’ve seen for awhile on the net. All I can say is enjoy
iPhone 3Gs… Where it should have started??
0To start with I’m not what’s being called a Mac “Fanboy”. Any device I’ve decided to purchase, the decision has been based on the actual device and not on who manufactures it or the hype surrounding it and that’s why I’ve avoided the previous 2 iPhones. The new iPhone 3Gs sees some improvements to the hardware to bring it in to line withother popular smart phones on the market but combining it with the new iPhone OS 3.0 upgrade puts it right up there as one of the better phones on the market and now deserves my attention.
The 3Gs was announced by Philip Schiller during the keynote address at this year’s Apple WWDC on June 8th. It becomes available in the US, UK and 6 other countries on Friday June 19th and in Ireland plus 5 more countries a week later on Friday June 26th.
The big things in the hardware end are an increase in speed (that’s what the S stands for) and the addition of a better camera which is now 3mp and is capable of video capture. The 3.0 software upgrade adds things like copy and paste, SMS forwarding and MMS all things that any basic smart phone can do already.
With the changes made, it brings me to my point, the 3Gs is really the first proper iPhone. It’s the one that should have been launched 2 years ago and there’s no reason it couldn’t have been as there’s nothing added to it now that wasn’t available then. I do think this iPhone will be the one to bring in customers (including me) that were not sure before. I’ll be watching the launch in the US and UK on Friday very closely to see how things go before I make my final decision whether or not to get one next week but currently I think I’m going to be making the change.
For more information on the iPhone 3Gs see here and for information and pricing on it’s launch with o2 in Ireland see here.
HTC Touch Pro 2
0This is the HTC Touch Pro 2
This has come up in previous posts and I feel it’s a good indication what’s to come from HTC. It is now their flagship business device and looks to be pretty damn good. If you remember there were leaked photos from HTC earlier this year, one of those photos was the Rhodium.
Although people are saying that the Touch Pro 2 is the Rhodium I think now that the leaked photo was just a general prototype that will be used for other models later in the year. As I said when the photos were leaked, we should be expecting a Touch HD Pro later in the year, which will hopefully be a full featured media device based on the same Rhodium design.
HTC have announced that they are holding an event in London next week, 24th June. This event is suppose to see the launch of the Hero, HTC’s new Google Android based phone, but will also (hopefully) see the announcement of what’s to come later in the year.
Here are a few videos of the Touch Pro 2 put together by Brandon Miniman from PocketNow.com
Palm releases the Pre to the world
0OK so the Pre finally became available in the US on the 6th June and certainly the majority of things said about it are good. Although it has been highly praised I’m afraid it lost me during the first few days after release. If people are actually following this they’ll know that the Pre came to my attention back in January when I started looking about getting a new phone. Since then the Pre was looking good but just a few things have put me off it now and I have to go on what I’ve heard and read on the web as my demo model must have got lost in the post *cough*.
The build quality isn’t what I’d expect from what is suppose to be a high end phone. There seems to be a very plastic look and feel about it and really wouldn’t stand out against and iPhone or one of the new HTC phones. Also the edges of the slide out keyboard are sharp which doesn’t give a nice feeling in your hand.
The keyboard was the main reason I was attracted to the Pre to start with but even that seems to have flaws. The keys are awkward and your thumb bumps against the top half of the phone when trying to use the top row of keys.
The last thing is the applications or rather the lack of. These days it’s the applications that sell devices which Apple have proved very well and currently there are no applications that would make me consider getting the Pre.
Saying all that from what I can gather the Pre will not appear in Ireland until later in the year sometime between September and October depending on what reports you read, so this does give them time to sort out some of the issues and even fill out the app catalog. Telefonica have signed up as one of the operators in Europe so that means the Pre will be available on O2 in Ireland and the UK, who knows I might get my hands on one then to see what it’s really like.
I’ve put together a playlist of videos from PhoneDog.com showing what the Pre is like and what it can do
Sprint announce date for Palm Pre launch – June 6th
0We finally got a date today from Sprint in the US, June 6th, but still no info on a date for this side of the pond so it looks like we’ll be waiting until after the Summer to pick it up in Europe.
Sprint has announced today that the Palm Pre will be available on June 6. Sprint announced that it will be available nationwide in Sprint stores, as well as at Best Buy, Radio Shack, and select Wal-Mart stores. The webOS-based phone will retail for $199.99 (after rebate and service agreement)
After the announcement of the launch date we were hit with the usual stories of “Expect Palm Pre Shortages” so anyone planning on getting one on or around the day of launch better get planning their over night camping in queues.
For more info on the announcement check out these links:
- Sprint’s Palm Pre Homepage
- Palm’s Official Blog
- Everything Pre – for all other sotries surrounding the Pre
Palm Pre Rumours Heat Up
0Sprint have launched a sweepstakes to give two people the chance to win a Palm Pre. It starts tonight and runs until the 18th May, which gives more fuel to the rumour that a launch date will be announced on that day.
Link to the sweepstakes here http://sweepstakes.sprint.com/palmpre/
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