Iphone Life blog

I received a pretty nifty email today from a representative of Iphone Life. They've agreed to try me out as one of their bloggers on their fantastic Iphone Life online magazine. I've been following news and reviews from their site for some time now and thought it could be useful for someone (c'est moi!) to offer an asian perspective on the eccentricities of owning an Iphone/Ipad in Singapore. It's made my day cos I think the whole point of blogging is to get your message out there and i think Iphone Life is going to be one of those platforms.

Check out my Iphone Life blog entries here.

Why I might get an Android Tablet (even though I have an Ipad)

Watching Flash videos is a big deal for me. Most folks won't understand why but for me, it sucks to not be able to watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert from my Ipad. I'm even considering signing on to PlayOn Premium to be able to catch Comedy Central from Singapore without having to boot up my desktop/laptop etc etc. Which brings me to the main point about having an Ipad.

For busy parents with 2 young kids, it is a necessity to be able to surf the net in 3 seconds (from the time you realise you have a 5 minute 'alone-time'), then get called away for 2 hours because of an 'emergency', and then return to continue surfing where you left off, possibly in a different room, because you will have to attend to some other pressing need of the screaming nature in about 15 minutes' time.

It's not complicated..

Update: You need to keep your desktop switched on in order to run the PlayOn app on the Ipad/Iphone (which I haven't managed to succeed yet at getting the router to work with the PlayOn port forwarding settings)

Finally an Ipad competitor from Samsung

Finally Samsung has developed an Android based 7" tablet called Galaxy Tab. It's smaller than the Ipad and comes with a USB port and front-rear cameras. Hmmmm i might just get it and pass my Ipad to my kids!


Check out a picture of the Galaxy Tab and the original link here from Slashgear.com.

Blogging with Blogbooster app for iphone

This is my first posting from my iphone. I was pretty lucky to download this blogbooster app when it was still free (now $2.99). It syncs well with my blog and has an easy interface. This app will definitely be going into my top 10 app list. Too bad it doesn't yet have an Ipad version but I'm guessing that the iphone version will work just as well - the iphone isn't really suitable for long blog postings given the small keyboard (I've made about 10 typos that I've had to correct so far and at this point, my fingers are seriously cramping...that's all for now...)

Update: My blogbooster app is not working...it's dropping out of my top app list pretty soon if noone fixes this app.

Update 2:I'm now using PenMyBlog for my postings cos it's free. For reasons why I don't want to pay for blogging apps, refer to my previous post below "When we hesitate to pay $0.99 for that killer app"...

When we hesitate to pay for that $0.99 killer app

This cartoon from Oatmeal.com just about sums up our irrational attitudes towards killer apps that we hesitate for days & weeks cos we need to pay $0.99 for them!

Just got myself an Iphone 4!!!!

Yeah, it's been a difficult decision, giving up my preference for an android phone like the Samsung Galaxy S. In the end, I got really pissed off with waiting for the Froyo 2.2 update (that would have meant true flash browsing, wifi tethering for my iPad and storage card support for applications), and the lack of android marketplace paid apps access for those of us in Singapore. I was also disappointed that Google Turn by Turn Navigation does not seem to be coming to Singapore In the near future. Furthermore, fring's highly publicized breakup with Skype also meant that the hitherto android advantage of skype video call support had vanished in the near term and Apple's Facetime will be far superior for now.

On the other side, the Iphone 4 pricing was pretty affordable at $280 with the Starhub sun surf 300 plan ($58) per month on a two year contract. Since I was already with Starhub cable tv and broadband, I will also get an additional discount if I switched my cellphone plan to Starhub.

I've also managed to find 1 more cool app to add to my Top 10 List of Ipad apps:

7. Mover (incredibly fuss-free app to transfer photos from Iphone to Ipad)

3 months with the Ipad - Top 10 Apps

It's been a hectic 3 months, relocating back to Singapore from Boston and settling down with the family back into life at home. I've also been surfing the app store every now and then looking for interesting apps. Mostly, I use my Ipad as an 'instant-on' web surfing device whenever I have a little time. Nothing else boots up faster than the Ipad for that moment when I need to check something online. However, my Ipad usage has increased ever since I downloaded this wonderful app W.TV . Like some bloggers, I have no idea how W.TV hasn't gotten sued by Hollywood but it's there! I don't see any ads so I have no idea how the company Rumtel gets its revenue from this app.

ANYWAY, 3 months with the Ipad also gives me the knowledge and experience of which app really MATTERS... to me anyway! So here is my top 10 App list:

Compiled on 4 Aug 2010
1. W.TV (free movies - IT'S FOR REAL!)
2. Perfect Browser (allows true tabbed browsing)
3. Scrabble
4. Flight Control HD
5. Kindle for Ipad
6. Skype (Much faster than having to take out and boot up the laptop)
7. ...
8. ...
9. ...
10 ...

Well, I haven't been able to come up with top app 7-10 cos the 1st six are by far much more heavily used on my Ipad than the rest of the 90 apps on my Ipad.