What Happened in Week 1 ...

It is the first week of Semester 3. Things are moving slow and friends are getting updated with each other's latest information. However this is not gets my attention, but new things that many students have in their hands. With a new year, many students are buying new handphones for themselves. I saw Nokia N8 , Nokia C6-01 , two iPhone 4s , Blackberry don't know what , etc. The two iPhone 4s is from two of my friend, Jack and Co Co. With his new toys, we have been  really into some addictive games trying to break each other's record, games like Ninjump which is both available for Android and iOS. By the way , for those gang of people who is reading this, I have a new high score which is 8929, try and beat it will you ? ^^

Lectures aren't that boring as last semester as I managed to keep my eyes opened throughout the whole lecture but with more difficult subjects this semester, the pressure is present. For my case, Mathematics for Engineering II is where I weak in, from my point of view as it requires knowledge of Mathematics for Engineering I which I didn't do that well. All and all, the rest is quite okay for me, still coping in, doing pre-vision before class and revision after class, trying to get a head start.

Yesterday (Thursday), is Thaipusam and of course it is a holiday so there is no class. I planned to stay at home to study but in the end my housemate and I decided to go to IKEA to get some thing for this Chinese New Year. I planned to get myself a book selves or something similar as my space is running out with my small selves and Wallace was looking for a table lamp for a long time now after he destroyed his previous one. My budget was set, within RM100. It is my first visit to IKEA ever since I got here last year. When we reached there, we have no idea where the entrance to the main store is. Wondering around with a trolley looking for an entrance, we decided to go into it through the exit which is the cashier counter. The scene was quite embarrassing , haha ~ We got in at last, looking around for furniture that we may like, this is when another problem surface, all the furniture is in boxes, lots of lots of boxes and we have no idea the appearance, texture of the furniture. How are we going to decide then ? Looking on people who pass by, all of them have a list on their hands and this is when we know that we have to get that list first. Leaving the trolley there we went out the cashier counter which we came in and goes up another floor to the showroom. The showroom as you can read is a room which show. In IKEA's showroom, it showcase all of its products, section by section. Some small things like small carpet, is to be collected directly from there. Other things which are huge in size will be collected downstairs which is where we came from. Walking through the lengthy showroom took us almost 2 hours. It was fun, looking at the displayed set, I can get the idea of what to get before heading to the main market and 2 hours passed by without notice.

 So in the end, this is what i got for myself, a white metal selves - RM 69, a white metal dustbin - RM 19.90 , a white plastic wall clock - RM 3.30 (this is too cheap!) , a standing lamp - RM 39.90, a red blanket - RM 19.90 and a black hanging thingy - RM 9.90 . And this is how I arranged it in my room. I used the top selves to place my CDs and fake Blu-rays (Lol). Going down the second selves, I used it to place my keys , wallet , my mobile phones and my perfume. I hang the hanging thingy from the second selves on the third selves as you can see in the picture on the right which I placed my printing A4 paper on it and iPad on it. Ring files are also placed on this selves. On the last selves, I placed my text book with some files. The wall clock is currently un-powered as I have yet get the AAA battery for it. The standing lamp is on timer to on and off so that I know that it is time to wake up/ depart , dinner time/ sleep time. The white metal dustin will only accommodate paper waste. All of these are place on the red blanket which match the white colour as well as coming Chinese New Year.

Please do leave some comment on the furniture. ^^

Interest : What if you have an Android OS and an iOS device ? - How to sync calendars from one device to another ?

Smartphones nowadays are excellent personal assistant in keeping information as well as noting down future event in your calendar for future reference. The question is what happen if you have multiple devices . Are you going to enter all your information one by one ? I stumble upon this question last night and was figuring out what to do.

For my case, it is not as simple as multiple device, but two device with different OS, namely my Android phone and my iPad. So, my question was this, how am I going to sync the calendar on both device so that I wouldn't have to enter the same event twice on different device ? I am also keen in using iPad for personal management especially in using calendar in viewing my future event because the calendar app is simply better that the one on the android phone. However, it would be very cocky if I take out my iPad every time in class to note down something in its calendar. Other students may think I am showing it off, something I wouldn't want it to happen. In the end, I still have to key in the event using my Android phone. Now, the issues lies on getting this information from my Android phone to my iPad without having me to do the typing and keying in again. I need something which I can sync it from my Android phone to my iPad and I found it. It is nothing special nor something revolutionary.

My problem can be solved by using calendar sync by Gmail. Of course, you would need a Gmail account. If you are an Android user, I assume you should have one already as you need it to log into your Market app. Without it, you simply can't log in. In order for this to work, you need to set both device using the same Gmail address. First, I will tell you what you should do for android phone. Nothing much actually if you have already set up your Google Gmail account in your phone. What you need to do is to enable Gmail calendar in the calendar app. Then, by hitting the menu button, you should see the settings tab, go into it. From there onwards, you will see a list of settings you can play with. The first one should be "Calendars", go into it and tick your Gmail account. The problem with Google phone is that it won't sync for latest information once you go into the calendar app (given you had turn off the background sync to save data ^^). Hence, to sync the calendar maunally once you are in the calendar app, go to setting (pressing menu)>calendar sync>click the Gmail account. To set up the Gmail calendar in iOS device, you will need to go into settings>mail, contacts, calendars>add account(from accounts tab)>Gmail>fill in information>turn on calendars sync . For iOS, you don't have to worry about syncing as it will sync if there is a connection to the internet once you enter the calendar app, sweet.

By doing this, both device should have similar events in their own respective calendar. I hope this article helps those in needs.

Interest : Tablet ? Galaxy Tab Vs. iPad

First of all , I want to say this to Kean Aik which I asked of him to get me some picture of his Samsung Galaxy Tab but he was so reluctant to do so. In the end, I only got one useable picture. Anyway, credits to him. So , this blog is not about me, well it is about me because my interest is part of me. Moving on, this blog is comparison of the only two tablets that I had used before and my thoughts on them, although I spent more time on my iPad the Mr. Tan's Galaxy Tab. It is kinda my first review, so any comments is happily welcomed.

Construction:

It is 7 inch on the Tab versus 9.7 inch on the iPad. It may sounds like there is only an increment of 2.7inch in screen size but as it is the measurement of the diagonal of the screen, iPad's screen size is almost twice as large as the Tab's. It is confirmed that the screen panel on the Tab is Gorrila Glass but I am not sure whether iPad's because there is no mention about it , hence we will assume that it is not. In this case, the Tab have the upper hand in resisting scratches than iPad does. At the back, the iPad is made of brushed aluminium which you may notice in many Apple's product while the Tab's is made of glossy white plastic. In comparison, the brushed aluminium is more appealing than the white glossy plastics but the plastics provide better grip than the slippery aluminium. The plastic is more prone to fingerprint compared to the brushed aluminium but as it is white in colour, you can't really see it unless shine under light while observe closely. In another note, if you have sweaty hands, not really really sweaty hands, but just sweaty , you might leave your sweat on the back of the iPad, in this case which it is quite obvious. Luckily, you can wipe it off quite easily as well. Overall, the build quality of both device are on par with each other. Although Tab is entirely made of plastic, it is sturdy and solid in hand. Due different use of materials in construction, the iPad is a lot more heavy than the Tab, 680g (wifi only model) versus 380g. 300 grammes may not sound much you think ? Think again, if you have two phones which you feel one device is heavier than the other, you can check out their specifications and it will surprise you.

Screen:

Both uses LCD technology with Tab using think-film transistir (TFT) while iPad using in-plane switching (IPS) technology. You can serach about these different types of technology on your own if you are interested, not going to elaborate it here . ^^ In short, both screens are great for an LCD but of course still not match for what Samsung have in their Galaxy S line of phones - SuperAMOLED. However, in terms of brightness, the iPad have the edge here. Colouring wise, iPad's colour may look more natural (a bit pale)while the Tab is a bit saturated. Viewing angle on both device is great, not extraordinary but the iPad is a bit wider viewing angle   here, that's the advantage of using IPS LCD display. Nevertheless, you wouldn't really realise it unless you put both of them side by side and make a comparison out of it .



Operating System & its Apps:

The Galaxy Tab uses Android OS which may be new to Malaysian, but it has been a rising OS in the US market. In fact, it is more popular than the iOS on Apple's device. Android offers more customization to the user, you will be amazed by it when you truly know how to customize it. You can change your homescreen which alters your home UI (user interface), you have live wallpaper, you have tonnes of widgets (widget is something that allow you to control certain things with one click or provide you with information) and you can also have apps on your homescreen. On the other hand , iPad uses iOS like the iPhone 4 (please, it is not 4G! ). iOS , to be is much more simple , you have nothing to customize at all ! Well, maybe one or two that I can think of, changing the background wallpaper and rearranging the apps. Full stop , end of story there. If you like multitasking, Android OS would be a better choice for you because I always find out that iOS' multitasking is a fake one. It simply pauses the app the way it was when you are using another app. For example, I always find the web page not being loaded when I was on another web page with another tab on the Safari web browser on the iPad. However, when I am downloading podcast using iTunes , it does runs in the background. As for Android OS , you will be delighted by its multitasking capabilities. It is superb, you can have multiple things running in the back although i won't encourage to much of app, it will lag. =( Another thing is the task manger of both OS which is totally different. In Android OS, the app may be killed automatically to free some memory for smoother run. The iOS is another story, the app will stay open in the background, of course some may be running , some may be not but it still takes up RAM which sometimes make the device lag. So , what I have to do is to manually kill it every time, quite troublesome .


All of us know that the iOS' App store has more apps than the Android's Market. By the way, it is called Marketplace for Windows Phone 7 OS.Currently, as of my knowledge, iOS has more than 300k of apps versus more than 200k of apps for the Android OS. You may think more apps is better, not entirely true though. Are you going to use all of those apps ? I pretty sure not. So, more apps doesn't mean anything. In fact, if you are using iOS, you will end up buying expensive apps as the apps that are really worth usually cost you. Statistically, Android OS has a higher percentage of free apps than iOS and if you do really want a paid apps, you don't really have to pay for it without rooting it (same thing as jail breaking for iOS). If you want a paid apps, you can always find it in the web and download it, transfer the installation file into your Android device and wala! Yes yes yes, you can do so with the iOS, but you certainly need to jail break it which in turns break your warranty. Not so cool ... I do notice another thing though, the quality of apps certainly goes to iOS as the apps are usually nicely design unlike Android OS which many apps have bad UI. I guess this support the saying "Good thing not cheap, cheap thing not good, free thing the worse".

How it handles ?
Well, of course the Galaxy Tab feels more home in your pal, it fit right in. With its feather like weight, it is not tiring to hold it for long too and it is also comfortable. As for the iPad, it is heavy. It may not strain your hands at first but as time progress, you will feel tired eventually.

Verdict :
Both are great device, with each having its on advantage and usefulness. If you ask me why I choose the iPad over the Galaxy Tab, the reasons are as following. First, I already have an Android device and I don't see the point of having two. Then there's the price, RM 2699 (RRP) for the Tab versus RM1549 (RRP). Also the screen size, to me for a tablet which my dad refers it as a multimedia device should have large screen, the larger the better, but I think 10 inch should be the limit, anything bigger would be awkward.

Going into 2011, the year of tablet, these two devices will not be the only device on the market, with Android Honeycomb 3.0 optimized for tablet use, Android will again gain market share in this industry with LG , Dell , Motorolla releasing new tablets.

Disclaimer : Any incorrect info may be present in this blog as it is written with my knowledge and opinion. =P

What's Hapenning on 8/1/2011

It's a new year of course , but it doesn't mean a new blog . Haven't been blogging for a long time since I stopped this before SPM preparing myself for the exam. So I think it is time to make a come back for myself in this which I hope would not take up as much time as it did before. 

A new year means a new resolution, mine is of course to work harder. Maybe to deepen my knowledge on smartphone OS , eg. Android OS and iOS . 

Speaking on what's happening today. Nothing much than watching anime which is damn nice. I wouldn't know of this wonderful piece of anime if it wasn't for Jen Hoong posting a short clip of video on Facebook. Then it is to my phone, playing with the Android Market looking for new apps, nothing came up from there though. Sad, so I moved to my iPad's App Store, find a few apps that are free as well as interesting. I was going to download it only to find out that the App Store has a few problems with my payment options , I was like "WTF...!". I was so bored that I have nothing to do and came up with an idea of doing this - writing blog. 

Tomorow, I will bring some of my interest into my blog. Stay tuned...