The Blog of an African NERD

HTC Touch Diamond - Whoa!

Someone has finally stepped up to the plate with a credible challenger to the iPhone. This one will definitely be in my gadget collection.

MacBook Air – The African Nerd Review

With iPhone development in full swing here at Efiko Software, I need a Mac to test things, thus making the perfect excuse to get the MacBook Air. Man, this thing is gorgeous, like unreal gorgeous, like holy smokes, what is this in my hand? I had hopes that running Vmware fusion or boot camp, this would now be my default Windows computer, replacing my Dell XPS 1330.  All this was initially dashed with the maximum 80 gig hard drive on the MacBook Air.  Man, that is just straight whack. What the heck am I supposed to do with an 80 gig hard drive when my music library is already going on 20 gigs and el jobso wants us to digitally rent gigs and gigs of DVD movies since there is no DVD drive on the MacBook Air.
In fact, I suspect the MacBook Air can support at least 120 gigs, but in the name of unnecessary hype, Apple will wait some months before they release this just to generate new buzz as they did with the iPhone. A special thanks to the genius marketing of Phil Schiller. Total foolishness if you ask me. I mean, how retarded is it that the iPod has double the hard drive space than the MacBook Air or Toshiba ultra portable laptops have 120 gb hard drives. 

But like any Apple product these days, it is just too tempting to resist, so streamlining my data I was able to fit everything into a 50 gig partition using boot camp. In fact I had to reinstall mac os x to it’s barebones( removing iLife, idvd and garageband templates, etc ) to gain more space.
A funny thing also happened this week that made me really appreciate just how amazing this laptop is. My Dell had a paper clip stuck in the dvd drive requiring a Dell specialist had to come by and essentially disassemble the whole thing to replace the dvd drive. Having a look at the internal parts of the laptop gives one a greater appreciation of what it takes to build these things. Speaking of DVD drives, Apple’s decision not to include one is absolutely brilliant. I have had the Dell XPS 1330 for about 6 months and I think I used the DVD  drive once or twice and looking at my Dell XPS 1330 dvd drive you appreciate just how much space one saves not having this. The only issue now is that the MacBook Air gets hot really quick. You could fry an egg on this thing as am typing. While this laptop is borderline unreal, I would not recommend anyone buy it yet. It is still a 1.0 device and am sure there are many more kinks and glitches that need to be worked out. Once Apple fixes these and increases the hard drive, you need to head straight to the nearest Apple store near you and get one.

Loving the Dell XPS M1330

All the workhorse laptops I have owned have been at least 9 lb. So, with the announcement of the Dell XPS M1330 a while back, I was intrigued at being able to get a powerful laptop at only 4 lbs. I was very impressed with the configuration options on Dell’s site allowing me to customize it to the high end of performance, which when all said and done cost me about $3,100. The results have been outstanding, allow smooth multi tasking on graphic intensive applications.

The only minor downside is that for the kind of work I do, a large screen sometimes is needed, thus connecting this laptop to one of Dell’s 24 inch and up monitors makes an excellent solution. If you are looking for a light but powerful laptop, the 1330 might just be the answer.

My Treo vs. My iPhone

Okay. I have been playing with an iPhone for a week now. Here is how things are going.

Qwerty / navigation
This is too early to say, but I get the feeling I can adapt to this Apple’s virtual keyboard. Only time will tell.  As for this whole “hold iPhone on left hand and use index finger on right hand to touch”  that Apple is try to force people to adapt to is just plain nonsense if you ask me. Fortunately, you can still manage one handed use of the iPhone in most cases. The Accelerometer is driving me nuts. There needs to be a feature to turn this thing off cause it is just rotating the screen at times when I don’t want it to.

Now lets compare some applications side by side. Please note some of these apps were created by my company so excuse any slight bias.

Sms on Treo vs Sms on iPhone
This is one big lawsuit waiting to happen if the folks at Sunnyvale were smart enough to patent threaded smsing as Apple essentially copied this and made it fancy.

Iphone safari vs, Treo Blazer
The Treo blazer browser gets the job done, but of course Safari with the real internet blows it away, although Apple needs to to support Flash cause I don’t know how you can claim the “real internet” without the Flash Player.

iPhone Phone app vs DialByPhoto

U.I. goes to DialByPhoto hands down. With the ability have photo contacts and customizable layouts and backgrounds, you can’t beat this.  I have over 700 contacts and this finger scrolling on the iPhone is cool but is a bloody waste of time and pretty much useless if you have ever used the search and dial feature on Treos.

See the full gallery here.

Google Maps on iPhone vs Google Maps on Treo.

The one on the Treo gets the job done but the one on the iPhone is just freaking unreal. iPhone Google Maps wins hands down.

IPhone Memo vs TreoMemo

I think TreoMemo has a better stickie pad skin and has options for more skins.  However, on the iPhone things are more fluid and crispier because of a more powerful OS. On the functionality side, the iPhone Memo is a piece of crap if you have used TreoMemo.

Why? With TreoMemo, you can
- set mp3 alarms( its one thing to write a memo and another thing to remember )
- search memos
-sort memos
- type to get a memo( wait till you have tons of  memos to see how important this is)

iPhone Weather vs TreoWeather

They are both sweet but I would still take TreoWeather for the ability to customize.

See full gallery here.

iPod on iPhone vs mOcean on Treo

This is a tricky one. mOcean is essentially a duplicate of the original iPod. It takes the original iPod and makes it a touch screen. So the question here is do you prefer the original iPod or the new iPod. Personally none of them impresses me anymore mainly because I have worked on an upcoming media player that blows away both of them.

See Full gallery here.

Some other Factors

Ringtones
No Ringtone Support on iPhone, although we know this is coming in way that screws the consumer and forces them to pay up. With the RingCare Suite on my Treo, I can create and manage any ringtones I want. The power of creating ringtones is one of the best experiences on my Treo.

Sprint TV
Try going shoe shopping with your girl or being stuck at the dmv and you will realize how sprint tv can be a savior particularly with NFL network and its cast of characters that include Ocho Cinco and Neon Deion

Summary
So what now? Well, at least for me, these two devices can actually coexist. It is really simple for me. My Treo will continue doing contact management, telephony and things that iPhone won’t do well or won't even do , while I will use the iPhone for web browsing on the go and hopefully skype. Oh by the way, big confession, Many of the apps am showing on the Treo are not built in. They are 3rd party apps you have to purchase, something Palm could have easily rectified if they would have just listened to a little bit of advise

Initial thoughts on iPhone

I haven't even turned on this thing and the only thing i can say is  Un"freaking"believable. Even as hardcore Treo as i am, am worried this might be the last night i use a Treo.

waiting in line for an iPhone

okay so I decided to get an iphone and jumped on the line outside the Apple store in kansas city at about 1.45 pm checking in as customer no. 73. Here is my experience so far.. first off, mactards are really retarded as proven by the guy sitting next to me. Its like every conversation has to end with "dude get a mac, its better than a pc". Tired of this foolishness, I was able to tune him out by watching some nfl network on my much embattled and no longer hip Treo. surprisingly the other guy next to me was a treo veteran dating back to the treo 300 days who surprising told me he is dumping his 700p immediately. Damn, even hardcore treo users are jumping ship already?  In fact, looking at the line there are about 20 treo users. This can't be good for mr. Colligan and the rest of the folks in sunnyvale. oh well, 2.5 hrs to go. Damn,if this mactard does not shut up, am might have to duck tape his mouth!!

The First Person in line for an iPhone in Kansas City

Meet Dave, the first person in line at the Kansas City Apple store. I meet him there 3 pm today

Flip Phone with outer touch screen?

looks like Motorola is coming up with a flip phone with an outer touch screen. I caught this product placement in Fergie’s new music video.

The iPhone is not a SmartPhone

When you come back to reality after witnessing the hype of the iPhone, you come to the realization that it is simply an advanced touch screen phone with great design and some new innovations that make the experience better.

From a consumer perspective there is the wow factor but from the SmartPhone user perspective; Been there done that! Many smartphone users migrated from touchscreen/stylus pdas. Many of us have extensively used touchscreens and actually experimented with virtual keyboards.
I find it hard to believe that at this point in time we are ready to go back to a complete touchscreen device. Nothing beats a real QWERTY with tactile response.
All the apps on the iPhone already exist on SmartPhones, although it seems Apple has improved the experience.

I really have no issue with this phone except when Steve tries to fool us all again by comparing it against smartphones. Apparently it worked.  Just have a look at Apple’s stock price compared to Palm and Rimm after the announcement. Steve’s illusion worked but in reality the iPhone ain’t no smartphone. Now to the Good, Bad and Ugly of the iPhone.

The Good
-As expected. It is a sleek looking phone with great interfaces.
-Everything just works well together.

The Bad
-It won’t be flexible.
-No removable/expanded memory.
-OS x but I doubt Apple will let you install 3rd party apps

The Ugly
Apple wants me to pay $600 for a wi-fi device that does not stream. Now that is plain stupid. Why should I pay $500 for 4 gb version or $600 for 8gb version when I can pay $400 for a smartphone with wi-fi that streams all the media content from my PC.

Dell 24 in Flat Panel Montior

Just recently got the Dell 24 inch Flat Panel Montior. It is truly Dynamite. I recommend it for anyone looking to buy a high end monitor.
The Good:
Space age looking base stand
24” at 1920 by 1200 
Great Screen Resolution
Supports Many Inputs( DVI, vga, usb, s video etc)
See more pics here