Worm in the Apple iPad

Despite the iPad not yet being officially released in our little ‘pore yet, apparently Singaporeans are one of the most iPad-crazy countries in the world, judging by data from auction website eBay. (see here)

Image via CrunchBase

Apple said that it will release the iPad in July for another nine markets, including Singapore, however, after much fanfare, to tell you the truth (though I still love the iPhone) Im getting sick of the whole Apple = gawd routine.

Lets check in on the grass roots indicator on iPad:

Technometry friend who has played with the Ipad says: no expandable storage, no go.
Work colleague who has also got her hands on them says; just like a big iphone, – can play Angry Birds on bigger screen, but thats about it

Did a search on features that suck on the iphone, and all that came up were marketing articles that touted that the iphone was actually the best thing since sliced bread.

Till I play with one, I gonna be very skeptical, just like I am about the whole Apple 4g lost phone scenario.

Ring Ring! Any Phone Recommendations?

Image by djwudi via Flickr

Im in the market for a new phone. Not that the current one has outlived its uses, but I have that yearning. That craving for a new gadget. It gets stuck in your gut and festers until that purchase is finally made. Its a cherry pit in your craw. So what am I not looking for?

Im not looking for a phone which doesnt have wi fi. Come on, data plans are good now days but nothing beats free and relatively convenient.

Im not looking for a phone that looks and feels toy like. I want heft and sophistication. I want a sturdy build and classic lines.

I’m ambivalent about whether the phone should have a touch interface. Both have nice features which shouldnt be discounted. Touch interfaces are more of an “experience”, – traditional interfaces tend to be quicker to access and call up menus (the difference between tap pause wait tap and tap tap tap)

The Web browser has to display the internet well. So far, I’ve only seen the iPhone do this successfully. Am looking forward to the LG BL40 and seeing how that displays. Though I am a bit worried about the size, as a phone does have to fit into a conventional pocket easily. If it can slide into a jean pocket, then its passed the test.

Price of course is a consideration. But I’m willing to spend for that coveted gadget. Not a luxury phone, but more likely a cost in the ball park figure of a smart phone.

Your recommendations are most welcome!

Opinion:The Blackberry Curve 8230

Why the BB Curve? Lost my iPhone,  and my flatmate who has many contacts happened to have a pristine, BB Curve, still in the package! You cannot beat good mates!Have used the BB Curve for over a half year now…

Image via CrunchBase

First Impressions
The Blackberry line of phones has always been touted by RIM as ones for business. However, my first impression of the phone was that it looked toylike and far from executive. The matte silver casing did little to create any gasp effect and this was compounded by the weight of the phone itself, which was very light. Excessively light, if that makes sense. Normally, I would be agog at a function filled phone that are lite in the pocket, however, in my opinion, mobile phones nowadays need a fine balance of heft and weight to convey a certain sense of gravitas. So, first impressions were ho hum.

Switching the phone on, from insertion of the battery took about 40secs to a minute but felt like forever, especially in comparison to other phone models. I say the egg timer icon needs to take a holiday – someone get the
idea people to come up with a new and engaging icon.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

SMS’ing: Cupping the blackberry in the same manner that a persons prays with joss sticks, fingers encasing the sides, and two thumbs used as the primary digits to navigate between the buttons had me in conniptions for about a week or so.

The trackball – white and glowing, like a prop from tron, does a good enough job to allow you to navigate through the menus and application icons, but the sensitivity took longer than it should for a user to attune themselves. Learning to spin, rotate and again spin and depress the ball had me wincing everytime I would scroll past the application that i desired to use…and using the trackball to select and activate the application was also an act of digit-agility. That being said,after some weeks, my fingers and thumbs have taken on the agility of russian gymnasts, trained at an early age in a kibbutz. But it did take some time. And, as I mentioned, some wincing. To date, out of phones used – Nokia is my preference for best and easiest to use text messaging. Motorola, the worst.

Someone needs to take the interface and make it a look more palatable.  It looks child like, doesnt have the same panache that many phone interfaces have. The font, display of sms messages etc, are  basic and without oomph. I know this shouldnt matter in a business setting,  but some style never hurts. The screen resolution to me seemed washed out.

Camera: The pic quality is poor, and the photos take some time to manifest  themselves after shooting for viewing. The result is always disappointing,  grainy and grizzled.

Speaker sound is good, I must admit that the first few times the BB rang, I thought the sound was coming from the general air around me, rather than the  silver gadget in my right pocket. I did have previous issues with the iphone and hearing the ring tone, so this was a pleasant aural pleasure.

Battery life was good. Average use and talking, had the phone last for about three days before a charge was needed. This was especially a marked contrast when compared to the drizzle of the iPhone which required a daily charge – though admittedly, there are different purposes to the two phones. The iPhone is more of an experience and status symbol, the BB more of a phone of a traditional use.

Image by Dan_H via Flickr

Havent gotten around to using the push email function, which admittedly is one of the main features of the BB. Reason: like to keep work at work…at the moment, anyway.

Internet: Had trouble connecting to wi fi and opening the browser. Though my expectation of the browser display was not good when compared to the abilities to display webpage that Apple have conjured.

More to come.