You touch the right spots (iOS 4.3 preview)

Part of what I've been looking forward to see in Honeycomb is the transitions between open apps. It's like an alt+tab using your fingers. The transitions are apparently great in HP's touchpad (i.e. the video keeps on running through the thumbnails). Same is somewhat true with the demos of Honeycomb, including the drag and drop between windows.

I've complained about how the iOS will lag against these new features on Honeycomb, but come on, Apple knows better than that.

Here's a hands on video featuring the new iOS features:

• The five finger "close" gesture will close your current app and return to home (the counterpart of tapping the home key)
• A 4-finger scroll upwards is the equivalent of the double tap on home, revealing the apps that are open for multi-tasking
• While a 4-finger towards the left or right scrolls through open apps.

It looks great. Good sign of things to come.

Rumor has it, the ipad 3 may not even have any dedicated buttons, just a screen. I can see that working. Again, a step ahead of the competition. Damnit. This iOS upgrade will help with the catchup, but it of course will not be enough.

My love's a revolver, an iphone killer

I'm overdue for a new phone, but I'm holding on to my money till a Honeycomb phone arrives. If rumors are true, a version will materialize by Q3 this year: the HTC Revolver. Not much news about it, except for the fact that it will have the new OS.

I was supposed to get an iphone 4 by Christmas last year, but I put it on hold to balance out my spending. Good thing I did! Right now, prices of the iphones are dropping. Stocks are also starting to build and promos are popping up left and right. That only means one thing: there's probably going to be an iphone 5 soon. Already, Engadget reports a bigger 4-inch screen for the iphone 5 (in contrast to the current 3.5 inch screens). Other sources also point to a slide-out keyboard, which will be a first for the iphone series. The iphone will probably go the route of the ipods in terms of diversification: the 5 will be the touch, a new iphone nano will be the nano, and the 3Gs and 4 will be the ipod classic. Fearless forecast, Iphone 5 out by July.

Very exciting news for Apple, BUT I'm still going to wait for that Honeycomb phone. Still am clueless even as to what sense a Honeycomb OS will be of use to a small device, but I'm really after the technology. I need an Android phone that will match up to my iphone. No other smartphone is up to par up to now. The Nexus S is a close second. There are no concrete competitors in the near future. So, I'm pinning all my hopes on the Revolver and its Samsung and Google phone counterpart.

Here's Google's official Honeycomb video preview. Not as impressive as the Xoom hands on, not as sexy as a Mac, but full of potential.

Worth the wait, I tell you. Don't buy an ipad! As for me, I'm sticking to my 3GS for now.

Iphone 4 vs EVO 4G

One of the things I hate most about the iphone (and Apple) are its users.

*before you start hating me, I own an iphone too. But I'm not stupid.

Another thing I hate about Apple, is its closed systems. It limits its users. It's like a cult. You get into it for one reason, then everything else you need can only be sourced through them. No freedom.

Freedom as a consumer is to be able to have more options.

And on the flip side, here's one laying out the potential problems of an EVO 4G:

But again, just to be fair, the iphone isn't exactly the most stable phone out there. Mine (as well as those my friends use) hangs about once a month. The home key also gets stubborn after about 9 months (and why wouldn't it, it's the only fricking button). Since I upgraded to iOS4, some of the apps are buggier than usual. And as you all should know by now, the iphone4 has that stupid antenna problem.

How do you hold your Nokia? | Nokia Conversations - The official Nokia Blog

I love when companies dig up each other's dirt--especially when done in an unusual and humorous way. Just the other month, Adobe had that patronizing message on their website addressing Apple's closed systems and industry suffocating business practices.

Now, Nokia takes a swing at the iphone4's signal issues and Steve Jobs' very misquoted and simplistic response to user inquiries, the now infamous, "you're not holding it right."

How do you hold your Nokia? | Nokia Conversations - The official Nokia Blog

Engadget makes a point, mocks Apple

Ever since Engadget found that iphone 4 prototype in that bar, I've been sensing some tension between them and Apple.

They make a very good point in this collage though.

Who's holding it wrong now?

It's not us, it's you

The past few days, there have been a slew of articles about poor reception on the iphone 4. The problem seems to appear when you hold the phone with your left hand, covering the bottom left part of the phone. Doing so reduces reception and apparently drastically reduces data transfer.

Earlier today, Apple finally replied to the issue. In email exchanges about the supposed drop in signal, Steve Jobs reportedly just said, "just don't hold it like that".

Later, an official Apple statement advices users to either use your right hand or get a protective casing.

*laughs at Apple*

This is obviously a hardware problem. To make the iphone 4 even thinner than the old 3GS, they have to make internal components more flat. The long antenna (and you do want it longer for better reception) probably goes around just behind the circumference of the phone.

Being a hardware problem, there's nothing Apple can do about it. There is no software fix, no update. And they certainly can't recall the phones. They are after all working. It's a flaw in the design of the phone.

So at the end of the day, no biggie. Just use your right hand, get a protective case, or just don't hold it that way.

The interwebs have had a field day on this issue and I'm sure Apple and Jobs have been misquoted more than a few times, but in essence, that is what Apple is saying. And it sounds ridiculous and funny.

They could have handled the situation better. The way things have been said and responded to leaves a lot to impressions on how arrogant Apple handled the problem.

5 Best Things About iOS4

Apple just released iPhone 4 and along with it (2 days before) they rolled out iOS4 as well.

When you have an iphone, you know who among your friends own iphones as well (perhaps because you all have the same message and ring tones). It's amusing how we were all giddy with anticipation. And why not, it's a free upgrade to a better OS promising long-awaited features in the wraps.

The best features of the upgrade:

1. General improvement in speed, transition + wallpaper The icons seem to pop out of the screen more. The transitions between pages (when you scroll to the left or right) is smoother. When going back to home screen the icons have a different effect, like they're popping in from the outside. They seem like small improvement, but they are what you see most of the time so it matters.

The new wallpaper option is just dandy. It also helps make those icons pop out.

(iphone pickup line: hey, that's a nice wallpaper. they really bring out the color of your apps).

2. Folders I used to have about 8 pages on my iphone. Now, I only have 5 with ample space on each page for new apps. That's almost a 50% decrease! All the games I don't play are now cluttered into a folder (2 actually), apps I use for travel are stowed away, the default iphone apps I never use are out of sight, and in general I feel more in control. My phone seems less cluttered.

3. Spell Check, Undo, and User Dictionary When you first start using an iphone/itouch keyboard you worry a bit. But as your brain learns what your (fat) fingers are pressing, you learn to appreciate the keyboard. One thing you struggle with a bit longer is auto-correct.

Somehow, the phone thinks it knows what you want to type more than you do. If you're typing a word and it has a suggestion (which it hurriedly tries to prompt) and you ignore it (or just don't see it) and continue to type, it keeps ITS suggestion.

But now, we have an undo. When the phone suggests something, and you continue to type causing it to accept its suggestion, just hit backspace and the edited word pops up. Tap it and you just undid the auto-correct. Nice.

Even better is integrated spell check. As how you would think it would work, red squiggly lines indicate an unrecognized word. Tap it and the alternate suggestions appear.

Last is the user dictionary. This can be a bit tricky to find. You have to select another keyboard aside from your probably default US-English one. After doing that, you will have another option in the keyboard settings which is User Dictionary. What's the big deal? Well, if you have words that the phone usually corrects (especially non-English words) put it in the user dictionary and the phone stops prompting to correct it.

3. Threaded Emails + Google Calendar & Notes Sync Following in the barely visible footprints of Google (read: finally), you can now see connected messages via threads. It's not as pretty as how Gmail does it, but that's expected. Google Calendar & Notes can now also be supposedly synced (even without MobileMe). Google Calendar sync works on the fly almost real-time and is great. I haven't really figured out how to sync Google Notes yet.

The Unified Inbox I suppose is also a good thing, but I don't really mix nor have multiple email addresses.

4. Cellular Data Off Switch I no longer have to edit the Cellular Data Network everytime I want to turn off mobile internet. There's now a switch in the Network settings that can turn off Cellular Data.

Curiously though, I don't know when they ended it, but Globe Telecoms no longer provides per kb data charging. I reckoned that I could save money moving back to per kb charging with such easy switching, but well, P5 for 15 minutes will do I guess.

5. Multi-tasking You'll probably first notice it when you use Safari. Web pages load in Safari even if you're in another 'tab' and even when you 'close' Safari. When you go back, the page has loaded already. Finally!

I'm not sure though how many other apps already know how to use this feature though. I know it works with Foursquare and Safari. It doesn't work with TweetDeck yet.

You'll know it's multi-tasking cause of an isosceles triangle near the time at the top of the iphone.

Also, when the app can multi-task, if you tap the home button, it will give you a list of previously opened apps so you can switch with ease. If it doesn't work, you go back to home.

Other notable new features:

• Digital Zoom for the camera
• Improved picture importing (uploaded pictures are clearer when zoomed in)
• Quick Search / Spotlight Search (the search that comes up when you swipe to the left from home) now includes internet, Wikipedia, and SMS search.

Post upgrade, I've been on my iphone as much as I was on it when I first got it. It's fun trying to figure out all the new features and trying to make them work. It's a good thing that Apple gives free OS upgrades, even for their consoles. And these aren't just geeky, technical updates we're so used to in the PC world. Consumers actually look forward to something new in their upgrades.

Again, the new things aren't really new in the real world--they're available elsewhere also for free and for quite a while now--but in the ever growing closed almost autistic world Apple users live in, it's a good thing. At the end of the day we're happy that we've been given more choices on how to modify our shackles.

Should you upgrade to iphone4? From what I gather, if you've a 3GS, you're crazy to want to upgrade. But if you're using a 3G and below, go ahead, don't feel guilty thinking about it. Or better yet, get a discounted 3GS and then wait for the iphone 5. You lose out on the gyroscope and the front facing camera, but you can live without those.

3G users have lived without a compass and voice dial (two things which I use a lot) and just a year and a half after the 3GS was released, they can now upgrade to iphone 4.

If you're not an iphone user, should you get an iphone? See, I'm an Apple hater but I have an iphone. As far as I'm concerned, as of last year (when I got my phone) it was the best option. I think it still is. It has the best hardware, pretty decent software, and still the best apps store.

Given a few more years though, I'm switching to an Android phone. I reckon they would have caught up with the hardware by then. The Android app store is growing exponentially by the week and in a year or so they would have already caught up with Apple. This is not to mention that the Droid apps currently do a lot more than iphone apps do.

But I'm also pretty sure that in a few years time, when Android finally catch up with Apple, the evil geniuses at Apple would have already come up with something that makes smartphones obsolete.