first look at the iPhone 4

I now have an iPhone 4.

It has just been one and a half day since I got hold of it, and already I'm trying to write a review about it.

To summarize: Apple’s iPhone 4 is the best smart phone available in Japan, at least during writing, but it is far from perfect.

Moving from iPhone 3G to iPhone 4.

The Softbank dude said that I could transfer all of my iPhone 3G contents easily with iTunes.

Well, like every piece of new technology, even the things that you expect to be simple is going to be difficult and confusing.

Although I consider myself a techie, I found no solution on how to correctly transfer my iPhone 3G data to the new phone. The iTunes has been giving all sort of errors, and after various methods of problem solving failed, I decided to give up, and start fresh.

Sadly, starting fresh is the best solution for a headache-free experience.

After getting this small hiccup out of the way, I started to realize that I now own a device with a lot of potential to it. I started to like it.

The retina display.

The new glass display is absolutely gorgeous, with almost no pixelation at all.

Images appear sharp, colors brilliant, and the touch sensitivity has been improved to lessen miss-selection of digital buttons and cut time to get thing done faster.

Apple has truly made a beautiful display, and I like it a lot. Pictures look better on my iPhone 4 than on my Benq computer display; no exaggeration at all.

The improved camera.

I am very impressed with the new camera; focus and exposure is selected by touching at the spot you want the camera to meter exposure on, and it is as simple as that.

New 5 megapixel main camera with LED light ( surprisingly helpful and very useful ) plus a VGA front camera makes the deal sweet.

This might sound naïve to some, but the new photographic opportunities that the new camera and imaging sensors the iPhone 4 brings is the feature that I found most exciting, and I could see myself taking more pictures using my iPhone 4 than my Nikon D90 from now on.

Don’t worry Nikon D90, you’re still my main camera, but the iPhone 4 fits into my pocket, closer to my penis; meaning I cannot avoid from using it for simple, daily photography.

Always remember this oh my dear D90; I can never get enough of your long, big lens and how good it feels when I grip your body hard while I play with your rigid focus ring and all those perky buttons on your chest.

Mmmmmm…

The new camera takes pictures with decent enough quality, even during low light. The ability to take HD videos on the phone is HUGE, and I look forward to learn more about photography and video with this new gadget.

The iPhone 4 is fast.

The iPhone 4 is fast compared to other smart phones on the market right now, and I could see it go faster with software updates. I look forward for apps that make full use of this additional processing power.

The flaws are true.

The new antenna for the iPhone 4 has problems, and I could easily drop the signal bars by gripping the lower side of the antenna. That is why I bought a cheap 980 yen Elecom silicon case. Problems solved.

In the end, all I could say is that the iPhone 4 is worth the upgrade (it’s free in Japan if you agree with a 2 years contract), and I could see myself being very productive with the new HD video-capable 5 megapixel camera.

Great phone, Apple, but could you fix the always buggy iTunes?

Please!

Fuckers.

Video Games for 2008 Winter Holiday

Yesterday I got my copy of Peter Molyneux’s latest masterpiece: FABLE 2 for the Xbox 360 and I were stoked to play it right away, but I can’t because I got a party to attend to. So I went to the party, do some eating-while-talking activities, trying to socialize with people; and then got home at around 2000 hours.

I immediately wrap-off the plastic cover of the game, put the disc into the console and played the game until I had a headache that I almost puke at 0330 hour the next morning. Then I went to bed, dreaming about fantasy lands…

It has been a while since I got so hooked onto a videogame, and it is for the proper reason: the game is brilliant.

I loved the first FABLE, and this second installation is far BETTER. I know it is not a perfect game; the combat is fun but kinda clunky, the animation is quite stiff and there were lots of other limitations; but all these negatives were so small compared to how much fun I got from playing it.

You got to utilize swords, guns and magic in combat, engage in quests to further the interesting storylines, own a shop or house to lent to make money, get married and have kids, get a job, be a hero or a jerk to the town and so on.

I’m still far from finishing the main quest, and I intend to fully enjoy the open game world by straying from the guided path by doing random jobs and mini-quests scattered all around across the huge map.

The dog companion was a great addition too! The dog A.I. really makes you feel like you’re adventuring out with the real man’s best friend.

And oh, I forgot to mention that I also got Gears Of War 2 and a Space Invaders T-Shirt along with my Fable 2 order. I need to finish Fable 2 first, and then I’ll take my dirty hands on Gears Of War 2. Those 2 games are basically my “Winter Holiday Games” for the year, and I think I picked a good choice.

What about you? What is your “Winter Holiday Games” this year?

buying a new mp3 player

i'm buying a new mp3 player prior to the coming summer break; i'm planning to travel a lot and my 2 years old creative zen v plus looks extremely outdated now. so i'm going to buy a brand new mp3 player and give the old one to my little sister.

after spending some time researching about the current mp3 players out there, i have finally shrank my options of choice to 2: the apple 8gb ipod touch or the new 16gb creative zen.

although the 16gb creative zen does not have the cool new touch screen interface and the wifi capabilities of the ipod touch, it is still a very solid mp3 player and a more-than-capable portable video player with support of countless audio and video format. it is cheaper and the media storage is significantly bigger (16gb against the ipod touch's 8gb). the creative zen also support sync with windows media player (my main media player on my computer), and divx videos could be moved to the player and be played instantly without the use of additional codec converter; a very HUGE plus!

so what about the 8gb ipod touch? it's a lot pricier (34960yen compared to the zen's cheap price tag of 18663yen) but it definitely has the most features with support for additional widgets (if you use hacking software to install 3rd party utilities), the cool touch screen user interface, wifi capabilities, internet surfing etc.

without a doubt, the apple ipod touch is the COOLEST portable audio player out there, but like all other apple products, it suffers from freedom of compatibility and flexibility in moving media files from the computer into the player. it has limited format support, and everything must go through the clunky apple itunes software. the touch screen is a cool feature, but i predict its coolness wears thin quicker than expected.

although at this point, i prefer the more practical creative zen, the coolness of the ipod touch cannot be forgotten. so i'm in a dilemma; should i get the cool and trendy ipod touch, or the more practical and highly cost-effective creative zen?Apple ipod touch

Positive points:
* the touch screen user interface is extremely cool
*the design is more slick
*its an apple product, a branding power that you could use to brag to your friends
* support of additional widget through hacking that could further increase its functions

Negative Points:
*a lot more pricier
* limited support of audio and video format
* strictly dictatorship-style of apple bonding the player with the clunky itunes
* lower storage capacityCreative Zen

Positive points
* a lot more cheaper
* great compatibility with various audio/video format + ease of use in synching
* greater storage capacity
* expandable media storage with the sd card slot
* highly cost effective

Negative points
* not as cool as the ipod touch
* no wifi support
* no widget support
* you cannot brag as much as you could with the ipod touch

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

after setting my priorities straight, i have finally decided to go with the creative zen. i'm also getting the sony headphone with noise canceling technology; and the price of both plus the skin pack is still cheaper than buying a 8gb ipod touch alone. practicality, ease of use and cost-effectiveness wins against trendy coolness.

Finished GTA IV !!!

What a satisfyingly long and fun ride! After clocking 32 hours of running around Liberty City doing errands for mafia bosses, russian businessmen and all sort of crooks, while spending some time shooting cops on the face, buying hookers and visiting the local strip club, finally I’ve beaten GTA IV. Well, at least the main story.

After spending some hefty time with the game, I can safely say that this is the best game that I have ever played, ever! GTA IV is the best game of all time and if you haven’t played it yet, do yourself a favour and go play it! It’s simply amazing.

The story, although not the best out there, keeps you interested all the way through and there were some emotional moments that would make you laugh, angry, sad and happy. Each character in the game has their own memorable unique personalities, especially the main character, Niko Bellic. I couldn’t stop mimicking the way he talks and his accents, it’s so cool!

One of the main fun factors of this game is none other the new physics engine. Your environment and surroundings react realistically, the cars are fun to ride, when you bump onto someone, or if you shot someone’s foot with a shotgun, they’ll react like what they’re supposed to in the real world. The developers had created the most realistic representation of our world through the use of their new graphics + physics engine. Nothing is more exciting than driving in a sports car in a high speed police chase, hit-and-running innocent pedestrians while you try to steady the aim of you machine gun to shoot at the coming swat trucks and biker gangs.


The game is chock full of stuff to do. If you don’t want to do the story missions, you could steal any car, find a good spot with a lot of innocent pedestrian, and let loose on a killing spree, shooting at the virtual men and women of Liberty City. Then the cops will come and try to kill you so you must shoot them too. It’s fun.

The amount of effort put into the sound of the game is also amazing. There were lots of radio stations that you could listen in your stolen car. Cars and guns sound real and brutal. You could hear pedestrian talking on their phone. When someone you kill dies a horrible painful death, they will scream a horrible painful death-scream.

This is definitely a very violent game and not suitable at all to kids. If you’re someone who couldn’t take entertainment-violence, this game is not for you. But if you’re like me, who likes some virtual violence in the safety of your own home, a good story, fantastic gameplay, and an overall entertaining time, GO PLAY THIS GAME NOW!

The game fucking ROCKS!

p\s: The game's multiplayer component is wicked fun! You could go online and play with other 15 people and wreck havoc in the Liberty City, playing all-time multiplayer favourites like deathmatch and racing, to unique multiplayer modes like cops and crooks. After finishing the main story, I still am planning to put the disk on my 360 for a long time because whenever I got the time, I'm sure using it to play online multiplayer for some crazy mindless entertainment! Totally worth it!

29hb 4 2008

it's the 29th of april 2008, marking the launch of one of the most anticipated games of all time; grand theft auto IV. i've never been this excited for a game release since half-life 2!

i pre-ordered the game months before and i just got confirmation that they just shipped it from the store, going right into my mailbox. i just can't wait to get my hands on this game; the wait is simply killing me!

although i've only finished gtaIII, played half through gta vice city and almost completed gta san andreas, i knew that this is going to be the best gta game yet!

new shooting mechanism, new physics engine with the amazing euphoria technology, liberty city setting with more detail and realism, beautiful graphics, awesome character and storylines; the list of good things to come from this game is getting me all worked up to play.

the new multiplayer gameplay looks totally fun too!

come on sweet little game, come to papa! my xbox360 needs some working up to do!

i got a new video camera !!!

i finally got a compact video camera that i can call my own!!! i've been wanting to own a video camera ages ago but because video cameras are bulky and insanely expansive, i always restraint myself from getting one; until now.

i bought a toshiba gigashot v10 hard disk video camera for 59800 yen from amazon.jp which is very cheap for a small video camera. it utilizes toshiba's new world smallest hard drive (about the size of one hundred yen coins; i've seen this at the toshiba muzeum) and what i really like about this video camera is it's weight: merely 260g and it's tiny size: i don't know the exact size but it's surely smaller that my own palm. for such a tiny body, this guy packs a LOT of punch.

the 4gb hard disk could record about 120mins of HD footage but the battery only last for 80mins. but with the included extra battery in the package i couldn't be more happier. along with the camera i also bought a 2gb SDRAM card to support the hard drive so that i could shoot more stuff.

i've been messing around with my new v10, shooting different kinds of videos and images in differant situations and to my surprise, although this is a budget video camera, the image quality (movie & still) is quite impressive. the only problem that i encounter is that the camera performs slightly below average on places with little light source. but on a shiny day, the image is brilliant !!! i also wished that they had installed a mechanical lens cover that can be put on and off with just the touch of a button but other than that, me like me new kamera yeah ! totally worth my every yen !