Google Reader, Opera 10, Nokia N97
Labels:
girlfriend,
Google,
Google Reader,
HTC,
HTC Touch HD,
Nokia,
nokia n97,
Opera
I had no school today. Usually i have to wake up at about 6:30 a.m. so that i can get to school on time. But, last night after the blog about my love, i ended up sleeping at about 4:15 a.m. and i woke up at 7:30 because my girlfriend texted me. I looked at the time and said, ehh, might as well not go to school today. I probably never missed much anyways, Religion is just ehh. Advanced Functions we're doing logarithms, nothing too difficult about that, and for Chemistry it's the first lesson of the unit, so i'm sure it won't be anything too ground breaking.
Since my girlfriend reads these blogs, i gotta somehow keep her interested, so maybe she'd like to know how my day went. So, i woke up at 7:30 because she texted me, but then i went right back to sleep and ended up waking up when she called me. She had her chemistry exam this morning and she called me when it finished. She stopped by her [and my] best friend's place, since it was her birthday. I made myself an omelette when i got out of bed, and stuff. So when she got home, and started studying for her next exam. She's still studying for her Biology exam, and i'm proud that she's working really hard. She told me her Chemistry exam went pretty well, besides 3 questions but, i definitely support her 100% of the way. We got into a small fight last night, but we really cleared it up, :D. I really just love the way she shows how much she cares for me, i've never had a girlfriend like that, and she should already know that. It's actually my ex-girlfriend's birthday tomorrow, but more importantly my 5 month anniversary with my girlfriend in 5 days. I'm excited and am very glad that we've lasted this long, she's definitely a keeper. Although, you're not a tech geek like me, i love that you still support me, i love ya babe.
On to the techy news. A new Google reader interface!! And, i love it. As soon as i saw it, i quickly told my girlfriend in excitement. I don't know of the new features and stuff, but i do know the design is great. On Google's official Google Reader Blog, the title is "Square is the New Round" and usually i love the round designs and stuff but, i can make an exception. A few weeks ago, they changed the iGoogle layout and, personally, i liked it, but it received a LOT of complaints. Generally, i don't complain about thinks, except for Windows Vista, but that receives enough complaints from everyone so i won't get in depth about that. Anyways, the new Google Reader, i definitely love looking at it, and am glad they relocated the "Add a Subscription" bar to the top left. It makes it more visible and more easy to access for it's users. If you want to read more then you can always go to the links i post down below, but i doubt anyone goes on them, besides me.
Today, Opera 10 alpha 1 was released and it is fast. But, faster and more customizable than Firefox? As of right now, it would be a no, although extensions are rumoured to be on the way for the beta. Since it's only an alpha, the Opera browser is pretty much just your bare bones Internet broser, focused on speed. ZDNet.com did some tests comparing the good ol' Firefox and the new and improved Opera 10 alpha 1. Firefox reportedly beat out Opera in 2 tests, the SunSpider JavaScript and Google V8. But, Opera scored a perfect 100/100 on the ACID 3 test, and Firefox was just a small margin behind at 97/100. Some thoughts of mine are that Opera is really not a well-known browser and it is hard for them to get people to try out their browsers. The author of the blog on ZDNet says that "The problem that I see Opera facing is significance. Internet Explorer get its relevance from being shipped with every Windows-based PC, while Firefox has an extensive array of add-ons. What makes Opera special? Sure, I love Opera Mobile and Mini but the desktop version leaved me cold." This statement is very true because the only reason why everyone is using Internet Explorer is because the average user of the Internet just uses whatever browser is installed on their system. Since Windows is dominating the OS war, about 70% of everyone using the Internet is using Internet Explorer. Personally, i am using Google's new browser, Google Chrome, but it is in beta, and for some reason, there is some error that keeps occuring on my laptop, so i'm temporarily using Firefox. Firefox was my number 1 browser until Google Chrome come out. I heard some news about Google Chrome possibly shipping pre-installed on some systems which is actually great news. Anyways, back onto the Opera topic. I tested it out for myself and i must say it has changed since the last time i used it, but it just doesn't seem like the browser to me, since i'm such a Google fanboy and i believe that Google will one day take over the Internet.
I think i mentioned a couple days ago, or yesterday that the Nokia N97 was announced. Apparently, it is going to compete with the iPhone of course, but in all reality, there are so many iPhone competitors and none of them have really been a major competitor. What happened to the Blackberry Storm? (Epic Fail, though the design is very exquisite). Although, I, the Google fanboy, am hoping that the next phone by Google (not the Kogan Agora), the G1 successor, will get the publicity it deserves. Anyways, the Nokia N97 is a slide-phone, but slides sideways (see above picture). I like the design, although, it is kind of plain. Instead of comparing it to the iPhone i'd compare it to my love, the HTC Touch HD, :). So, the new N97, that is scheduled for a Q2 2009 release has a 5 megapixel camera, and listen to this, has 32 GB of internal memory PLUS a 16 GB microSD card. What the hell? 48 GB of memory that, my friend, is insane, to say the least. The N97 has a slightly smaller display than the HTC Touch HD, it has a 3.5 incher (TWSS!). The screen is also a touch screen, i might add. This phone is going for about $700 US, which is much cheaper than the HTC Touch HD, but more expensive than an iPhone. Reading these phone's specs one more time is making me want to cheat on the Touch HD, for this phone but, the design of the HTC Touch HD is want i really fall for. I'm very superficial and i think it might be lust. I forgot to mention that sliding the phone sideways reveals a QWERTY keyboard which is also useful. All in all, a superb phone, but an iPhone competitor? I highly doubt it, but i could be wrong. It, of course, comes with the built-in accelerometer, Wi-fi and 3G support.
I couldn't do this blog without these sites, and of course the new Google Reader keeping me up to date!! By the way, sorry if this is plagirism, please contact me if it is, i don't mean to use your news in a negative way. Special thanks to these sites.
New Google Reader: http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2008/12/square-is-new-round.html
Opera 10: http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=3129
The HTC Touch HD!!
Labels:
HTC,
HTC Touch HD
I've been in love with this phone ever since i saw the spec sheet and pictures on gsmarena.com a few months ago. I've read the 9 page review on gsmarena.com of this phone about 3 times and I think this phone is amazing. It packs a 5 megapixel camera, Wi-fi, 3G, touch-screen, accelerometer and 8 gb of storage. What's there not to love, besides the fact that it is running on Windows Mobile. Another disadvantage for the average person might be that it is a bit bigger and a bit heavy, but my phone is the Nokia N81, and the weight and size of the HTC Touch HD wouldn't bother me. Especially since this phone is packed with a 3.8 inch screen and even has a radio (for those that listen to the radio, i'm not a huge fan.) Another possible disadvantage could be the lack of a TV out port, but seriously, no biggy, for me at least. This phone completely rapes the iPhone's specs, in every way possible, besides the price. But, here in Canada if you're going to get an iPhone with a contract, in the end, the iPhone will end up costing more than an unlocked HTC Touch HD. Unfortunately, it's being released everywhere except for North America, but that shouldn't be a problem for me to get either, since i got my phone from the Philippines. As i said, the price is still a huge factor, it's going for about 930 - 950 US dollars.
The HTC Touch HD's interface is much improved from the HTC Touch Diamond. An amazing feature the Touch HD has is that you can actually turn your phone face down and it will mute your call. This is the first time i have actually heard of something like this for a phone, although it may have been done before. If you turn the phone face down while it is ringing, it will mute your ringer. This works by using the built-in accelerometer, the feature that flips the screen as you turn your device sideways (many devices have this, see iPhone, the new iPod Nano, even cameras.) As i said earlier, the HTC Touch HD's interface has improved and, of course, it used a similar design to Apple's 'cover flow' in their 'Music' tab. All that said, the HTC Touch HD uses Opera to browse the internet, and has a stylus, but who uses those things anymore? The weather tab looks amazing, and has a great looking design and a 5-day forecast. The e-mail tab has a nice look to it (see posted link later). If there are too many tabs for you to handle, (I did leave out several tabs) you can, of course, customize which ones appear on your screen and also the order they are shown in.
The contacts tab is very well-designed and this is usually the case in Windows Mobile so we'll move along.
Testing the most important feature, the ability to make calls and the clarity!!! Looking at gsmarena.com's tests of the phone it actually came out as an 'Excellent' on their speakerphone test. The HTC Touch HD beat out the LG KS20, iPhone 3G, Samsung INNOV8, HTC Touch Pro and the HTC Touch Diamond in this category.
As i mentioned earlier, the music tab features a look similiar to the popular 'cover flow.' There is an equalizer that you can set to your own needs or you can use several presets. The image gallery also looks amazing but, is unfortunately lacking the iPhone's 2-touch zooming functionality. There is the full QWERTY, the QW-ER-TY and the traditional 9 number keypads.
The sound quality of the HTC Touch HD is definitely a step compared to it's older models, the HTC Touch Diamond and the HTC Touch Pro, but is still somewhat lacking. The gsmarena crew also noticed that the video playback might have actually been worse than the HTC Touch Diamond but they figured that because of the overwhelming 3.8 inch screen, this could have been predicted ahead of time.
They put the 5 megapixel camera to test, and in most cases it was actually better then the Samsung i900 Omnia's 5 megapixel shooter. They also put it side-by-side with one of the best 5 megapixel phones out right now, the Nokia N82. Of course, the HTC Touch HD's camera is a step-up from their previous devices.
Did i mention the pre-installed game on the HTC Touch HD? It sounds really fun, it is called the Teeter. It puts the accelerometer to good use. You must navigate silver balls avoiding various holes in a maze-like course and when your balls hit the walls (Ouch!) the phone even gives you a small vibration.
This was basically my short summary of the gsmarena.com's 9-page review. I love this phone and if i had the money i would get this without even thinking. A 5-megapixel camera, Wi-fi, 3G, accelerometer, 8 GB of memory, 3.8 inch touch-screen, gorgeous design / interface and don't forget the game, Teeter. The HTC Touch HD definitely has more than enough reasons for anyone to get this phone. If i see anyone with this phone here in Canada, i would probably faint.
I just had to confess my undying love for this phone, sorry for my rambling and lack of organization.
Thanks mostly to gsmarena.com for keeping me up to date on all the mobile devices, and here's a link to last week's 9 page review on the HTC Touch HD, i hope this was a good read!! :D
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