A few weeks back, I had the chance to attend a focus group discussion on the Samsung OMNIA (SGH-i900). This is the first time Samsung is opening its marketing team to feedback from bloggers, so props to them. Inevitably, the OMNIA (as it will be referred to for the rest of this review) will be compared to the iPhone with its full-face touchscreen and minimalist form factor, but this writer stands by technology agnosticism.
First Impressions. The build is fairly solid i.e., no unacceptable creaking whatsoever, and one would be hard-pressed to spot the part where the phone body meets the battery cover (I couldn’t find it). The OMNIA is certainly on par with the iPhone’s build quality and yet it still manages to have a user-removable battery. However, a stylus is nowhere to be found, and I’ll tell you in a bit why that is the Achilles’ heel of this otherwise svelte phone.
User interface & overall usability. The OMNIA is a Windows Mobile 6.1 device (I’ll call it WinMo for the rest of this write-up) with a custom UI on top Samsung is calling “TouchWiz”. True to its name, TouchWiz is a cocktail of icons sized big enough to be comfortably triggered with tap and flick gestures. Plus: the generously-sized, bright-as-sunlight screen only does TouchWiz the justice it deserves. The good: for the most part, TouchWiz works, and hides the complexity of Windows Mobile well enough when working with the basic phone functions, i.e., SMS and calls. Read More »
Like every other event I’ve been to, yes, this endorsement comes late -
I’m going to the first-ever WordCamp Philippines. Double YAY!
WordCamp Tees also available, which can’t come at a better time since WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg himself will be gracing the event on top of the already-comprehensive scope of topics coming up. WordCamp tee signing with Matt needs to be squeezed somewhere in the schedule.
Creatures with no sense of direction and zero commuting skills will appreciate the pretty map here. The badge is nothing to sneeze at either. Now if I could just figure out where to snip the code and put it on the side of this theme, I can finally move on with my life. Read More »
This image is could be the most unflattering shot of the Whopper I have - and probably ever will - come across. I feel bad because I’m predisposed to pick a Whopper over a Big Mac, or heck, even a Wendy’s Big Classic any day. Is it the uplifting “Have it Your Way” pitch that’s prominently displayed in every branch? Memories of which, by the way, root back to my high school years when I had to live within a student’s allowance, and “have it your way” and the Burger King mascot gave a sense of empowerment: that a paying customer like me can be an ass and decline to be served the pre-made sandwiches in the queue; that I want a newly-rolled sandwich without the ketchup, without the mayo, and with extra mustard on the side? (by the way I still do that in this day and age). Read More »
iTunes 7.7 (out for just a few hours now) added a nifty little “MobileMe Preferences” icon to Windows Vista’s Control Panel (also on XP). iTunes on Mac OS X 10.5.4 doesn’t have this yet, and I find it quaint that Windows users get the portal to MobileMe first. As of this post, I still couldn’t sign in with my .mac MobileMe ID - not in my part of the world, at least.
The wait for the Second Coming of the iPhone continues.
I just always noticed that perfectly intelligent people turn into babbling brooks when asked why they like Apple.
bradgeiser in response to CrazyBeautiful - Plurk.com
It pains me to play the anti-Mac fanboy once more, but there’s no denying the wisdom in those words. *snarky, snarky*
This blog post brought to you by the guy whose primary email address ends in me.com
UPDATE: Dan responds in the comments below.
The majority of Microsoft’s customers are thieves that would only pay for Windows if they had no choice.
From Myths of Snow Leopard 7: Free?! — RoughlyDrafted Magazine by Daniel Eran Dilger
Mac bigotry zealotry at its finest: sweeping generalizations backed by nothing more than their cult devotion to the Church of Steve. Last time I checked, the Enterprise comprised the majority of Microsoft’s customers. I work in the Enterprise and part of my responsibilities is to make these decisions to purchase hundreds of Windows computers in one fell swoop - at that rate, the price of Windows is almost dispensible.
For the most part, Daniel Eran Dilger writes one of the (if not the) best Apple commentary and puts together very good observations on Apple’s strategies and dynamics. Every so often, it’s comforting to be reminded that it doesn’t take a whole lot to fall for the fanboy trap that is Apple bigotry zealotry. No, not even Daniel Dilger whose writing I hold at a notch higher than most.
UPDATE: 17-Aug I re-published everything back to WordPress. Heh. So much for WP-hatin’.
So the theory goes, the dieties of blogging are conspiring against allowing me to keep a blog running for longer than six months. Sometime in the past month, my webhost moved to a new server and it came with a little note that I needed to make changes to my domain registrar. So I did the little NS-change dance and something got majorly screwed in the process; the short of it is: the poor blog was beyond help. The database is still there and intact (boy, I hope it is), but I kept getting errors about something that does not completely redirecting or whatever. Read More »
It’s one thing to call out arrogance when one’s convictions are not shared by many, and another to call out and exhibit arrogance.
To exhibit arrogance is to go about the community and do an unnecessary and uncalled for encore that extends beyond the sickening, simulated, one-man echo chamber.
I have yet to come across one who strikes the flint without the intending to start a fire. Light from the fire attracts the flies, but that’s an expected consequence. The wise man never starts fire when he can’t deal with the flies.
To strike multiple flints, to call fire upon fire, to exhibit arrogance and have the stomach to claim intentions of searching for common ground with those who do not share one’s convictions is easily summarized in one word: hypocrisy.
Let me just say it1: I have major beef2 with the current state of advertising in blogs, in general. For one, the enterprising companies present what at first would seem like a win-win situation for the blogger whose naivete exceeds that of a twelve year-old’s: we’ll give you a list of advertisers, whip up a paragraph or two and make them look good and thou shalt be blessed with the riches of heaven.
That in itself is not the issue, however; we have, for the longest time, lived in the age where everything your senses can grasp is driven by advertising in one form or another; from the moment you wake up and smell the coffee, hit the showers and the very commute to school or work. We have probably become so used to, and grown blind to advertising that the bombardment of billboards of all sizes no longer seem to be of any bother (not until the next major storm hits and the billboards start wreaking havoc in the highways, that is). Naturally, advertisers would look for the new avenue, and blogs, unfortunately, are a convenient target. Read More »
I was going to hit the sack when I came across this PEX post about a frustrated Globelines customer who goes by the name “Dissatisfied Globe Subscriber“. He recently put up a new “blog”, and I quote:
Last week, I already issued a warning. That was Monday, telling them that in 1 week, if they do not do something about this problem, I will resort to the following:
(1) Permanent disconnection of our Globe internet
(2) We will not pay a single cent. If we have to battle it out in court, we will! Fuck these Philippine companies! You are already the customer, and yet, you are the one hassled out!
(3) I will create a blog and spread this incident all over the internet (which is what I am doing now).
I apologize on his behalf for the atrocious grammar. I busted a couple of neurons reading that. Read More »
