E72′s Rookie

In case you didn’t know, I actually use a Nokia E72 now. I bought it for myself, as my own 21st birthday present.

And I have nothing but good things to say about it! Firstly, I love how elegant it looks. Countless people (usually Indonesians) have taunted me with questions “Why didn’t you buy a Blackberry instead???”. And I said to them “Hello! Didn’t you see how mine looks much better than that brick of yours??”.

Elegant

Brick

Secondly I love its very touch-sensitive Optical Navi Key! Granted it’s not a trackpad, but it works well in navigating menu and stuff. Works great in web browsing too. Thirdly, its shortcut buttons (contacts, email, home, calendar) is fast and really saves me time.

Oh and one thing that Nokia didn’t really promote (and I think they should!) is the super-awesome QWERTY keyboard. It has the same proportion as computer’s QWERTY keyboard. What I mean is, some QWERTY phones crowd a lot of additional buttons (usually at the last row, the row with Z-M) and it messes up the proportion – some keys are a lot further to the right/to the left than it should be. I tried using my sisters’ QWERTY phones (one from LG, one from Samsung) and I had difficulties because I keep punching the wrong keys! Not with E72. My transition from the usual numeric keypad (mind you, I’ve been using it for at least 10 years!) was smooth and painless. Oh and, the QWERTY keyboard makes really really minimal sound. Typing is not noisy at all and even enjoyable with the smooth keys.

Sis’ Samsung

Nokia E72

Sis’ LG

Unfortunately I can’t yet use the most hyped Nokia Messaging feature since I don’t have a post-paid plan (yes I still use prepaid!), and thus unable to use the extra feature. I’ll sign up for the post-paid plan when I have found a job!

You can see how Nokia Messaging works in Nokia’s very own reality show though – which is entitled “The Rookie“. Basically this show is The Apprentice-style (remember Donald Trump?) reality show. Contestants fight with each other (not physically, of course!) to get internships at 4 big companies: Nokia (of course!), Standard Chartered Bank, Zouk, and Microsoft. The best-of-the-best intern of the final 4 will be crowned “The Rookie” and get a cash prize of SGD 5000!

The contestants are divided into two teams (Alpha and Bravo), and each week they have to go through different series of challenges. One member of the losing team will then be eliminated each week.

They all looked so happy and close during the photoshoot. Who knew what drama would happen.. Hur hur.

Ok I was talking in present and present future tense, but actually The Rookie has already been crowned last Saturday in Zouk! There was a contest that asked you to predict the winner and you could win a Nokia E72 yourself. Unfortunately, the contest also already ended. Nevertheless, I hope one of you reading follows my Twitter (@sylvdoanx) and entered the contest, and hopefully, will win the AWSAM Nokia E72!

You can also still catch up with the episodes of The Rookie online. Watch them go through interesting challenges such as designing a print ad, organizing a fund-raiser, and many more. A lot of drama, of course *wink wink*. And also the showcase of Nokia E72. If you’re still thinking of buying one and you don’t trust reviews, you can watch The Rookie episodes to see how it works in real life! The Rookie website also includes several behind-the-scenes videos. Oh, and, dunno if it’s relevant, but I think The Rookie’s host Bobby Tonelli is hawt! Quite an eye candy, I must say… Hehehehehehehe.

See..

(Images from Bobby Tonelli’s website)

Ok, signing out now. Hope you guys check out The Rookie, and of course try/use Nokia E72 eventually!

PS: I have a Skype iPhone cover giveaway. Enter the contest!

Skype at CommunicAsia 2010 (giveaway at the bottom!)

Navigation:

CommunicAsia 2010
Skype at CommunicAsia 2010
Giveaway!

CommunicAsia2010 and BroadcastAsia2010 is Asia’s premier business event for the global infocomm technology (ICT), broadcasting and media industries. It’s held at Singapore Expo from 15 – 18 June 2010.

The exhibitions feature almost 2,000 exhibiting companies from 57 countries and regions, keen on unveiling their latest offerings.
(info from CommunicAsia’s press release)

On June 16 I had the privilege of attending the blogger’s session from Skype at CommunicAsia 2010. I have Daphne from XPR to thank for that.

I was so in love with the Skype booth. It’s so cheery, with sky blue and rainbows all around!

Isn’t that just pretty?

We were guided around the booth by Peter Parkes, social media lead of Skype, who explained to us the new features/functionalities of Skype.

Yes that’s me listening. Hehe.

Basically what Peter informed us is the availability on Skype on other platforms other than the more traditional computer (PC/Mac alike). Skype is now available for mobile devices (Symbian phones, iPhone), and even TV!

Yes, TV!

It actually supports HD video, and the camera/microphone combo has 4 microphones and is able to pick up sound from 45 metres.

Example of the video:

There was very little grain/noise. It was quite impressive.

However the Skype on TV is only available as embedded software within select TVs. Currently Panasonic Viera HDTV supports it, with the requirement of a communication camera (sold separately). Not sure whether it’s required to use Panasonic’s own communication camera or it’s possible to use other compatible cameras. Peter also mentioned Samsung and some other brand of TV to embed the Skype software. Not sure about the details.

And then of course there was Skype for iPhone and Symbian phones. Skype in the Nokia N900 is not even a separate application, it’s actually seamlessly embedded in the phone. When you scroll through your contact list, for example, you can see the option “Call using Skype” appear. Interesting! After the event, I just had to download Skype to my Nokia E72 and it’s pretty easy to use! It can also merge the Skype contacts and the phone contacts together, but it’s not yet seamless like N900′s.

Screenshot:

Peter also talked about Business usage for Skype. Basically Skype will help businesses (Peter mentioned especially small and medium businesses) save costs on communications. Makes sense, because Skype can enable people to call, chat, send files, and even do conferences/group callings at the same time! The new feature available at Skype Business is Skype Manager, which is a web application you can use to manage the usage of Skype inside your organization. For example – if you want to manage how much Skype credits to give to your employees. You may go to Skype for Business website for more details.

Oh, and I think the Skype Manager ad is so cute!

By now you might be wondering – even if it’s on mobile phones, how exactly can I call people without Skype? Understandably, Skype has traditionally been used for free Skype-to-Skype calls but apparently it can also be used to call landlines/mobiles. You can purchase Skype credits to do so, or even better, you can use Skype subscriptions for unlimited calls to countries/Europe/World. Pretty good deal I think! Sadly, the Skype subscription worldwide that I got excluded Indonesia (my home country), so I said good bye to my unlimited calls to home. Sigh.

Giveaway! (updated!!)

Yeay! Now it’s time for the giveaway!

I have 2 Skype iPhone covers to give away!

(They both have the same design, only different colours – white/black)

To enter the giveaway contest is simple!

1. Leave a comment at this post with your name and (valid!) email, stating what you use/you can use/you plan to use Skype for.

And that’s it! Yes, it’s that easy.

You can also have another chance by tweeting about this giveaway. Please see the directions at the first comment below!

Some T&Cs:

1. The last entry of the contest will be accepted at 23 June 2010 23.59 PM 25 June 2010 23.59 PM. Winners will be announced at latest by 30 June 2010.
2. This contest is open to people who reside at Singapore or have a Singapore mailing address.
3. Postage fee will be borne by me a.k.a postage is freeeeee
4. One person (with one e-mail) is allowed one entry via comment on blog post and two entries via Twitter (directions at the first comment below!).
5. There will be 2 winners. Winners will be chosen by random numbers (Random.org)
6. Colours will be determined by random too.

Looking forward for your entries!

Note:  A number of other blogs will be having the same giveaway, I’ll post links to their giveaway’s so you can have more chances of winning one!

Sandisk Cruzer Blade – fits in your wallet

My new thumbdrive is so small and thin I put it in my wallet.

Really.

Cost me SGD 20 for 4 GB of storage. Good deal, I think. I mean, look at how pretty it is.
I was actually walking around Challenger Funan to look for a webcam for my siblings, but I saw this and I just could not resist.

This is a huge upgrade from my previous thumbdrive (which is my very first thumbdrive) which can only hold 128 MB of data. How long ago was that? Unfortunately I lost that thumbdrive.. A lot of important things inside, including my short stories. Ugh.

I think I’m gonna love it having this.

Jing!

Jing!

I was trying out this software called JingProject. Basically it’s a software to capture your screen. Not only image, it can also make video, capturing what you’re doing in your computer. And it’s totally free!

And here’s my first video called : How to Plurk!

Quick review:

I think it’s a great software! However the sharing option baffled me. I wanted to keep a copy of my capture in my hard disk and I also wanted to upload it into screencast.com. However, after saving a copy in my hard disk, I pressed the button to get it uploaded into screencast and it just refused to do so!

Another disadvantage is that the output file can only be in swf. Most of video sharing websites don’t support uploading swf.

So…

What do you think about Jing? Do you guys have any similar software to share?

I can haz Innov8?

This is not a pun. I WANT SAMSUNG INNOV8 RIGHT FREAKING NOW. NOW!!

Ahem.

Ok, so I was invited to the Samsung’s first blogger night (after shamelessly e-mailing Daniel from Samsung to be included. WAHAHAHA. Srsly!)

I arrived late because I had class until 7 PM. After class I hurriedly checked gothere.sg for directions hahaha!

Apparently Vivocity is quite big I spent quite some time trying to find the Samsung Flagship store.

I finally found it and quickly sat on a sofa beside Rinaz and listening to the presentation. Was quickly impressed by the specifications.

Photo courtesy of Nicole.

I mean, seriously, 8 megapixels? With smile shutter and blink shutter? I WANT. My current camera Sony DSC T70 has it, but then it will be great if my phone has it so I don’t need to bring 2 gadgets (heavy!).

And the great news is.. It uses Symbian S60! Woohoo! If there’s one thing that always makes me hesitant to “jump ship” from my current phone manufacturer, it’s the operating system. I’m so used to Symbian and I think it rocks. Plus, using Symbian means opportunity to add applications developed for Symbian. Yeay to Symbian!

So after the presentation, came the most exciting part : The Game! (and when you remember about it, you lose)

Photo courtesy of Nicole.

Anyway, we were supposed to take 3 pictures with our cameras (remember they asked us to bring camera in the invitation?) about the things that inspire us about Samsung Innov8.

The entries were then pasted together on this board..

Photo courtesy of Nadnut

Ok I forgot to take a picture of my own submission Nevertheless here it is, created by ScrapBlog. Haha. I RULZ.

And.. And…

I didn’t win. Sighness.

Anyway, it was a fun night. It has a relaxed atmosphere and I enjoyed myself. It was my first blogger event ever and well, what an event! It’s not big or extravagant and stuff but it was fun, to the point, and no fluff.

And before I sign off…

I CAN HAZ INNOV8????

Google is Scary….

I’m aware of the fact that Google stores cookies in my computer. Not only that, they keep track of my search history. They scan the e-mails I sent and received. All just to “display relevant ads” to me.

I can’t say much. I’m forever indebted to Google for their marvelous search engine and online AJAX applications such as Google Calendar and Google Docs.

But this time they scare me.

Please do explain to me why does this ad appear when I’m currently using the software advertised? (You can see it in the taskbar in my screenshot, the one with the blue icon.)
Do they look inside my computer process too? Taking note of what software I’m using, how long I’m using it, and such other stuffs?

Maybe next time they can look inside my media player and take note of the music I’m listening (can be seen here though) and what video I’m watching.

Geez. Talk about privacy.

Maybe the following video is right after all.

Anyway, sorry for the lack of posts. Hell week is upcoming ongoing. Gonna have 3 exams this term, not 1 like the previous term. Argh.

Have a good life folks while I won’t have mine.

Madness

Believe me, this is a freaking class diagram.

I can’t say what I hate more, this or the coding.

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Performancing –> ScribeFire

Just randomly browsing Firefox Add-ons this morning and found out that one of my favourite add-ons, Performancing For Firefox, has changed into ScribeFire.

For you who don’ t know yet, PFF (now ScribeFire) is a full featured text editor attached in Mozilla Firefox which can post the thing you typed directly into your blog (after being configured, of course).

And for my fellow bloggers who is still using B**gs*o*, I’m super sure that you all are going to love it. Like, LOVE it. I know the pain of logging in (that failed) and even if you can make it, the pain of publishing (that failed…too) since I once used that system. Ever since it upgraded into the said-to-be-not-beta-anymore version, I heard it’s getting worse. Lucky I have converted to WordPress before I’m forced to upgrade. ScribeFire removes all these logging in and publishing hassle in an instant!

Hmm, so.. What’s changed in ScribeFire? I don’t really see significant changes. Maybe it’s just that the buttons have changed color into orange, which IMHO don’t really match the whole interface which is kinda blue-y.

Using ScribeFire is really a no-fuss, hassle-free thing. Its icon sit at the bottom right corner of your Mozilla Firefox and pops up instantly when you click on it.

And voila! A full WYSIWYG editor right on your browser! Even better than WordPress’ WYSIWYG, to be honest

What’s more? You can add Technorati tags into your post instantly, you can bookmark the posts at del.icio.us using the very same tags, you can also send trackbacks and pings instantly, just from that one window of ScribeFire.

Actually I wanted to post up a tutorial to set up ScribeFire, but really, I have more important things to attend to. Like… Coding for my project? So I assume you guys are smart enough to use ScribeFire heh heh

Signing off…

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