Updated Top 10 App List for Ipad & Iphone 4 (Jan 2011)

Updated Top 10 App List (Jan 2011)
My Top 10 Ipad app list:
1. Cut The Ropes HD
2. Kindle HD
3. Stanza (for reading .cbr files, that's comics!)
4. AirAttack
5. AppsFire
6. Scrabble
7. Skype
8. Perfect Browser
9. Pleco (chinese dictionary)
10. Broken Sword: Director's Cut

My Top 10 Iphone 4 app list:
1. Kindle
2. Ibooks
3. ComicGlass
4. Veggie Samurai
5. Soundhound
6. Nightstand
7. Skype
8. Facebook
9. Straitstimes
10. Google Apps

Rumorpad: What will Ipad 2 be like?

(Blogpost also appeared on my Blog for Iphonelife.com)



Lots of articles and bouts of investigative journalism have delved into the “will it-won’t it” subject of the ipad 2. However, I prefer to rely on the tried and tested methods of gut instinct and rumour mongering :) ; I will also be supplementing these tools with impressive tables and graphs (if available).

Clearly, ipad 2 or 2G ipad could have:
• A Front facing camera (hello iphone, meet ipad)
• Maybe a Rear facing camera (but who would use the Ipad for photo-taking?)
• At least 1 USB port, thus allowing USB printing and more accessories
• Extended battery life
• Extended storage
• Thinner hardware
• Support for new standards such as 4G services.
• Perhaps Retina display (but some industry observers cite the high cost of having a 10’ Retina screen)

However, Apple has often surprised many fans and observers by choosing to take the road less travelled (such as dropping Flash support) and unlike Android and Windows hardware manufacturers, their business model doesn’t involve packing all sorts of hardware support into their products. They have resisted the temptation of packing all possible features into their phones, tablets and laptops, and eschewed Flash support, external storage solutions (like SD cards) before, and there is therefore little reason to believe that they would do the same for a 2G ipad.

Typically it seems that they identify 1 feature that would be game-changing and implement it very well, thus differentiating itself from the other industry players. For example, it was the focus on the AppStore that made the iphone such an incredible success even though Androids and Symbian phones typically have more hardware features. The Macbook Air went for manila-envelope slim while the 1G Ipad was all about the user –interface: 9.7’ Capacitive, glossy IPS backlit colour touchscreen.

Some of the game-changing features and technology that have made news recently are:
• 3D images without the need for eyewear (like Nintendo 3DS)
• Gesture recognition (think Kinect or PS3 move for ipad)
• HD front facing camera for Facetime in high definition
• Roll-out of 4G services in many countries, enabling even faster download/upload speeds and its facilitation of a comprehensive Apple-hosted cloud computing experience.

I’m guessing that one of these will be introduced into the 2G Ipad, even if it means that the 2G ipad launch slips into 3Q or 4Q 2011. Given Apple’s leading industry position now, just a statement from Apple to hint at a 2G Ipad launch late 2011 will suffice to kill the sales of any Android 3.0 tablet launch early to mid 2011.

The only Iphone case review I’ll ever do – cos it’s also a Li-Polymer battery pack at only 59 grams!

First posted on Iphonelife.com 23 Dec 2010:

I normally don’t pay attention to Iphone cases because I prefer to spend my money on apps, mp3s and epubs. However, after coming across this Exogear iphone battery case in one of the tech forums that I regularly trawl, I must say that this is a bloody good idea and has a fantastically sleek design to go with it.



I’ve seen various battery packs for Iphones but this one from Exogear takes the cake IMHO with to-die-for good looks and at 59 grams, won’t make you feel like you’re walking around with an i-brick in your pocket.

The specs for the battery are pretty good for a long-haul frequent traveller like me though I haven’t verified the actual performance because my wife is probably not reading my blog these few days and hence it won’t be in my xmas stocking; and nobody is sponsoring me for this article.

•Standby time up to additional 300 hrs
•Talk up to additional 7 hrs
•Surf up to additional 6 hrs
•Watch up to additional 10 hrs
•Listen up to additional 40 hrs
•Built -in battery meter
Nate Adcock (also an Iphone Life blogger) reviewed Mophie’s Juice Pack on 4 Dec but I think Exogear’s battery case looks better and is $10 cheaper at $89.95 vs Mophie’s MSRP $99.95. BTW, this is Mophie’s battery specs taken from Nate's post, which makes the Mophie seem slightly better because it is rated at 2000mAh vs Exogear’s 1500mAh.

•Up to 8 add'l hours talk time on 3G; 16 hours 2G
•Up to 7 add'l hours internet on 3G; 11 hours WiFi
•Up to 44 add'l hrs audio playback
•Up to 11 add'l hrs video playback
However, Mophie (also Li-Polymer)weighs in at 70.8 grams versus the raw Exogear case @ 59 grams. So I think the Exogear is probably lighter and therefore wins this round. Mophie also has a 1500mAh Juice Pack Air@ MSRP $79.95 but has worse specs than the Exogear. You decide.

Updated on 29 Dec 2010:

Mophie Juice Pack Air 1500mAh is retailing for about S$109 in Singapore and I've decided to experiment with an OEM battery case from Sim Lim Square (lvl 4 Ipad accessories shop) rated at 1800mAh retailing at S$65. It has doubled my battery life to 2 days of usage (originally, I would have reached the red bar on my iphone every night). Can't find the Exogear anywhere at SLS. I would say that the additional weight is noticeable but I'll rather have the extra battery life. 1800mAh is probably the bare minimum battery capacity IMHO. There's another OEM case offered by an SLS shop on lvl 5 at 2300mAh and $69 but it doesn't have the battery led indicator to show the level of charge remaining.

British humour about Tech products - I know it's not about the Ipad/Iphone

I've decided to branch out a little from the usual posts about Ipads or Iphone related stuff. It's gonna be slightly random when I come across good stuff like this youtube video of classic British comedy

How was it for you? ...On Angry Birds Day?

This is a rather belated post about what happened in various cities during Angry Birds Day 11th Dec 2010. And so it seems that Scandinavians, in this case, Rovio, the developers of Angry Birds who hail from Finland, are not great party organisers and therefore the world-wide turn-out was reportedly not fantastic. There were, of course, a small group of hardcore fans who did show up at gatherings in New York and Los Angeles dressed up as – what else – Angry Birds. But by and large, it is likely that the demography and profile of the typical Angry Bird player would mean that he/she would most likely be found doing homework or too busy/embarassesed/not prepared to go public about their addiction at such gatherings.



Over in London, blogger Julien Fourgeaud reported Flash mobs holding Angry Bird signs at Covent Garden (which is a bit like Fanueil Hall in Boston if you’ve never been to London before). However, apparently the security guards at Trafalgar Square (this would be like...er Rockerfeller Center in NYC with much older looking buildings all round) have never heard of the game and were quite disapproving of the gathering there – probably the idea of an Angry ‘something’ Mob got them nervous – understandably so if you have never heard of the game before.



Most other cities reported very sedated celebrations (not a surprise considering the game is not the same as WoW in intensity), revolving around polite gatherings comparing notes about high scores and usually a viewing of the Angry Birds Peace Treaty Video - you’ve probably seen the Angry Birds Peace Treaty video on youtube by now – it first appeared on Israeli TV and is a spoof of the Mid-east peace process. Check it out here on youtube.

Infinity Blade from Epic Games to debut at App Store on 9th Dec!

Remember Epic Citadel? That awesome game app that wasn’t really a game? If you recall sometime ago, Epic Citadel enjoyed a brief moment on various Top App lists several months ago when lots of curious folks downloaded this free demo of the Unreal 3 Engine for the Iphone/Ipad. It didn’t do anything much in terms of fun except let you wander around a medieval castle but the graphics were stunning and controls were intuitive.


(Screenshot courtesy of the makers, EpicGames)

So here comes Infinity Blade which will debut on Thursday 9th Dec at $5.99, promising game-changing visuals and *spoiler alert* a new way of sustaining re-playability by regenerating the player as ‘the son’ (like a multi-generational fruit-fly experiment with experience points) with all of your equipment intact if you, *and you will*, die before completing your quest. Official Trailer’s over here on Youtube.

The price tag is in a way justified if it’s as cool as promised and apparently it’s a universal app, or what I call: ‘D1P2’- download once, play it twice, on both your Ipad and Iphone.

Pigs beware! Angry Birds Xmas edition is here and Angry Birds Day is officially 11th Dec 2010

Rovio, the Finnish Developers of top iphone app, Angry Birds, have hinted in their twitter feeds that there will be an Angry Birds Christmas edition. Apparently it’s going to be a free update for those who purchased the Halloween edition but probably a round of $0.99 donations for the rest of us.

Not content to sit on their laurels, it also looks like Angry Birds is going to take on life outside the iphone in a big way (where it started). It’s already possible to purchase Angry Birds T-shirts and plush toys. Now what’s really amazing is that the 11th of December has been declared a world-wide Angry Birds Day (That’s a Saturday BTW). That means there’re going to be flash mobs comprising of Angry Bird fans gathering in most major cities (Android fans are invited too).

Apparently, there’re plans to release console versions of Angry Birds on the Xbox, PS3 and Wii as well. Imagine playing Angry Birds using the Xbox Kinect.....:)