Who said 3G phones have to be bulky??

The new SonyEricsson W880i can prove you wrong. It is one of the slimmest mobile around (only 9.4mm in thickness, that is less than 1 cm!), definitely the slimmest 3G phone I've ever seen, and most probably slimmer than many of the current 2G mobile phones around! Good on ya Sony and Ericsson! With this phone coming into the market, I can imagine more people will be jumping onto the 3G band... well those who stays with 2G had other reasons... right?

Since I haven't blog about gadgets for so long, I hope I haven't lose my touch yet. Let's have a look at some photos first:

There are two versions of the SE W880i. The one I have has a stainless steel finish, with charcoal black on the back. The other available colour (which I also like), is black on the front with a metallic orange back cover. The metallic silver is so cool, it's quite a cyber feel. Buttons are quite small comparing to other phones, due to its tiny form factor. However, you will get use to it very soon. There is one problem though, these buttons are not soft to press! Meaning no cushion for your fingers so if you type too much SMS you might feel your fingers a bit hurting. Because this is a 3G phone, a front camera is placed a bit off the center on the left, which is to give room for the earpiece at the center. The 1.8" screen size could also seem smaller to someone who prefers a bigger one.

On the left hand side of the phone, a Walkman shortcut button which gives you a direct access to your songs. It is one of the many useful buttons I have been pressing quite often. A bit further down they had the special SonyEricsson headphone/ charger/ USB jack. It is obviously used for listening to music and/or making calls using the included headphone and mic, or charging the phone, or connecting to the PC via USB, to use with the Disc2Phone proprietary software that converts CDs directly onto the phone, or loading song files from the PC. Personally I think the headphone plug that goes into the phone is a bit too big and if they can make it smaller it will be even better. Right below the jack connector you would not believe that the phone still have some space for the M2 memory card! Just open the latch and the M2 will be revealed! Amazing!

On the other side of the phone is a volume adjust/zooming dial. Move it up and down (or left and right, depending on the phone orientation), you will increase/decrease the volume of the speaker or headphone, or as a zooming button if you are viewing or capturing photos or videos. Near the bottom of the phone is the camera shutter button, which is a traditional location for most phones nowadays.

Flipping to the back side of the phone there is another camera on the back which is 2.0 megapixels. However, there will be no lights or a self-reflection mirror. Taking photos at a dark place or self-potrait will be a challenge. A slot next to the "W" Walkman sign to offer a place for a mobile string. The battery cover is of course located at the back and it is such a genius design that it was able to fit the battery into a phone that is almost as thin as the battery itself!

Going back to the buttons, it glows with a soft white light, not using a bluish one like the K608i I've got. Unfortunately, the middle control buttons are not visible in the dark so you will have to guess which way is up, down, left or right (not that hard to guess?) The "c" cancel/delete button also double as an On/Off button, so make sure you don't get mixed up with the Return button on the left or you will have to boot up the phone again. But rebooting the phone is now a lot faster as well as the menus are really easy to navigate now and has improved a lot since I had my first SonyEricsson 3G mobile phone - Z1010. (As a side note, I this is my 5th SE phone, my 3rd SE 3G phone.)

On the left is the main screen, which I have my HK idol Stephy Tang as the wallpaper. The point of showing this picture is to see that SE now offers a big clock which is translucent so it is very easy to see the time than ever. Others are standard like reception gauge, 3G or roaming mode, battery indicator etc. Although you can see all the grids on this photo, but trust me the quality of the screen is exceptionally good (although the Nokia 6300 has even sharper and more colourful screen...), photos that were taken with my older K608i mobile which equips with a 1.3 megapixel shows up better quality on this screen.

They have several new themes that come along with the phone. I am using this one called Citybeat although it is browsing all the menu items in sequential but it looks really good on the phone. Which is a change from the standard 3x4 looking menu.

Finally, as usual, I am holding it and took a photo, so you can see approximately how big this phone is, and you can already see how slim it is from the main picture. Another point worth to mention is this phone is very very light! Only 71g according to their spec. Very very cool gadget.

It has Bluetooth V2.0 (A2DP) but no Infrared port. Phone stand-by time will be an issue if you are to use it to listen to music a lot.

Pro: Very slim and light, stylish, practical, good sound quality. Internet browsing is very very fast and offers fullscreen and rotation. Supports external M2 memory card.

Con: No camera flash, buttons can be hard on the fingers, battery can be used up too quickly if playing games and listen to music quite often. Internal phone memory is just 16MB.

The Sexy New Pink DS Lite!

This time is my attempt to review the sexy pink DS Lite gaming console from Nintendo. Note that the pink colour shown here is a bit different to the actual colour because of the lighting conditions. I think the system itself is slightly close to a flesh colour than pink. The pink ds lite uses white fonts all over it. On the external package, it says "COLOUR: PINK".


Pink DS Lite gaming system with a pink stylus. However the tip of stylus is a half-transparent whiteish colour, which is the same colour as the tip of the stylus of the polar white version. The black DS Lite has a pure black stylus. The top and bottom has a glossy finish.


At the front there is the volume control on the left side, and a headphone /microphone jack. However, this core pack does not come with any headphones. Only comes with manuals, an AC charge adaptor and a spare pink stylus. The middle part can be removed to insert GBA(GameBoy Advance) game cartridges. On the right hand side of the DS Lite, where the pink stylus is located, and the power switch.

At the back there is the "L" and "R" buttons at each corner, a slot to put in DS game cartridges, a place to put a wrist strap, and the USB charge port. On the bottom shows a small part of the stylus on the left, a compartment for the battery, and other information was printed at the bottom.


Once the DS Lite is opened, the top and bottom screen can be clearly seen. However, only the bottom screen is a touch screen. The speakers are located at the top half, shown as the ":::" on each side of the top screen. On the lower part of the game console, has the D-pad (not sure why it is called that) on the left, and 4 large buttons (X, Y, A, B), and two smaller buttons (Start, Select).

The Nintendo DS Lite is surely a valuable gaming console worth to invest in, and now it comes with "white", "black" and the new "pink" colours, I'm sure it'll be one of the most ever popular gadget that every gadget guy and gal should have.

SonyEricsson K610i

I finally get a chance to review this nice, attractive and sexy mobile phone. Always catch my attentions whenever I see this one at the shops. This red looks really good on phones as not many red-coloured mobile is available on the market. The SE K610i is another 3G compatible phone. It has a typical SE phone interface, response time is quite good, except the Entertainment icon looks like a playstation controller (I wonder why! :)

The joystick is also pretty cool when it lights up. It had a much better design than my SE K608i, but I wonder after a long term use of this phone, will it behave the way like mine one? There are times when I push the joystick downwards trying to go through a list or move down, it ended up selecting or confirming which was quite annoying. Have to use "up" instead and go all the way around to a selection I want to make.






The volume buttons and the camera shutter button are on the right hand side, and this model does not hv a camera lens cover, so my friend still keeps the plastic protective sheet on. This camera has a 2.0 megapixels resolution, so it would take better pictures compares with the K608i which is only 1.3 megapixels. I don't find the back of the phone too special though.


Finally, the size of the phone is very good, and feels comfortable holding it. However, it would be wise to put a wrist strap on anyway, just in case your camera slips out of your hands while trying to take a snapshot.

Latest photo of my yabbie

This is the latest photo of my yabbie. Looks really healthy and is getting bigger everyday. Had this yabbie for a year now I believe? Just wondering how much bigger it can keep going...

The photo is taken with the new Canon IXUS 65! It has not be modified so beware of the time to view this image in original size! (~3MB)

UPDATED: For some reason blogger.com shrunk the original photo so doesn't take as long to view now.

CANON IXUS 65 - 3" MASSIVE LCD SCREEN!

What a camera this is! Well I decide to buy it after I discovered a special at Bing Lee! Yeah impulse buying I say, without any research, and it wasn't the latest model. But I trust Canon so much (sorry, but Sony just not my cup of tea, more on that later). The quality of Canon cameras captures me.

I've been looking around for a good camera for awhile. My first digital camera was a Canon IXUS v3. So this model is a few steps up. From 3mp to 6mp. By the time I bought this home and had a look at the official Canon website, I found a 10mp model just out, the IXUS 900Ti. Well that's probably why this model was on special. Anyway, enough background, time to talk about this camera.

Would you look at that massive 3" LCD screen! I haven't seen Canon have such a model before! I know that Sony and others made some 3" LCD digital cameras already, but this is perhaps the first one from Canon and I think they did a brilliant job! Maybe because my now older digital camera only 1.5" so I have been opted for a large screen for a some time.

The box is stylish and good small size.

Okay here is the picture of the front of the camera. Why didn't I introduce the front first right at the beginning? Well almost all the Canon camera has the same looking front (except this one doesn't have a viewfinder!) as well as the feature of this camera is its large display screen, and also any photographers would spend more time looking at the back than the front, correct!?

Beside the obvious viewfinder is not there (well it's a digital camera, doesn't really need a viewfinder anymore...) the flash, microphone and the camera lens are all located at the front (obviously?). This camera shoots out orange assist-focus beams rather than a white-ish one. Guess it's better for the eyes?

The top side of the camera, from the left is the mode switch that operates between "display photos" <-> "movie" <-> "photo shooting" mode. I find this switch is a bit hard to push, either all the way to the front or all the way to the back and not easy to stop it midway for the movie mode. The mode switch is a lot nicer on my older model. There is the small "power" button, and on the right is a large shutter button with the "zoom lever". On the far right is the speaker (isn't that great nowadays cameras can play sound too); The bottom of the camera has the standard hole to fit a tripod, and a cover for both battery and memory card (which takes SD/MMC compatible cards); On one side there is A/V and digital output to the TV and computer respectively.

Here is another picture of the back. See how reflective it is for the screen, can see my own IXUS V3 camera while taking the picture. On the right hand side, from the top there is a "one-push" print button, then a touch control dial which is use to set different "ISO", "flash", "shooting mode" and "macro/infinity" settings, or use as a directional pad. In the middle is the "function/set" button, which also acts as a confirmation button. Beneath the dial is the "menu" button, and further down is the "display" button.

From this angle, the camera does look a bit like my HP rx3417 PDA. Hmm, is that where they get the idea from?

Comparing to my Ixus V3 digital camera (also from Canon!), the first obvious thing is that the dimensions of the new camera are reduced. Also with a slightly bigger optical lens (can fit and see more stuffs), no viewfinder, thinner, lighter, and a much bigger LCD screen! Performance-wise, the start-up and general response time are much quicker, better and more precise photo shooting, as you would expected from a newer camera. 3x zooming instead of 2x now and the list just goes on. Overall, I'm very happy with my upgrade.

Pros:

• Great handy size
  
• Very good response time
  
• Massive screen
• Quality images

Cons:

• Mode switch is a bit hard to move around
• Quite easy to put your fingerprint marks on it

So far I am still able to find excuses over general Sony products. Like I prefer Canon cameras over Sony ones; Nintendo Wii over PS3 and Nintendo DS-Lite over PSP; Apple iPods over Sony music players. The only Sony gadget I have at the moment is my 3G SonyEricsson K608i mobile. I guess after they merged with Erisson, I prefer their phones over others. Btw, I'm blogging on my ASUS laptop and not a Sony model :)

Most of the image shots are using the Canon IXUS V3, except when comparing both of my Canon cameras, I have to use my bro's Sony cybershot.

Very soon, I will put some photo samples of my new digital camera.

The NEW 2nd Generation iPod nano!

WOW! I have a chance to get my hand onto the latest iPod nano 2nd generation! The reviewing iPod nano will be a silver colour 2GB iPod nano. Would you look at that packaging! It's HHHHHHHHECTIC!!!! The top of the clear case shows the capacity of the iPod, and the BIG "iPod nano" with the apple logo is marked on the side. Once opened, inside the case there is an USB 2.0 cable, a set of earphones, a dock adaptor thinggy, a quick starting guide and a sheet of two tiny apple logo stickers! But wait... no iTunes software come with it as the package won't fit a CD! I think they assume everyone should be able to find iTunes online now. Well, a wiser idea for them would be putting the latest iTunes software actually on the iPod nano itself as all the user would have access to the computer anyway. Maybe do something like: just plug it in, and then suggest the user to install the software automatically, or open it from a folder manually?










I have also included what the packaging of the first generation of iPod nano looks like for comparison here. The original iPod package is about the size of a CD case so that it can fit the iTunes installation CD inside.

The new iPod nano is actually looks quite like a "mini" version of the iPod mini, isn't it funny?! Here I have actually compared the noticable differences between the newer generation of iPod nano with the original. Besides the obvious colour different (the original comparing here is a black 2GB version) The feel of the material is also different. Where the original is glossy feel on both the front and back, the new version is more of an aluminium matte material which does not leave any fingerprint marks as the original does. Even the touch-scrolling pad is made of different materials. In terms of scrolling sensitivity, it's about the same.

On the far left photo shows the "Hold" switch at the top and the connector ports at the bottom. The other photo shows the back and it's clear that this new version lacks one good feature - the mirror! You know a guy like myself sometimes do need to use one hehe :)

Also there is an extra logo "please don't throw me into the bin". Well who would really throw their iPod away anyway? Just give them to me :D

Once the new iPod turns on, the screen is indeed much brighter than the previous version; When "dialing" between menu items, the "click" sound is different; There is an extra function called "search" under "Music" which can be used to search songs quicker. However, it is only available to the new iPod nanos and iPod videos, even upgrading the previous iPod nano firmwave to v1.2 still would not get that feature. One odd thing about the new iPod is that under Settings -> About, it is showing a capacity of 1.7GB only, compared to the 1.8GB shown on the original one. Where is that missing 100MB ?!?!?!?!!?!

Finally, as what I normally would do, I held it and took a photo to show its approximate size.

I love this kool product yet again from apple. However, I won't be getting one because I read lyrics off the screen so I will be getting the bigger and new 80G iPod video instead. Hopefully I'll have a review about that soon.

Another Motorola - This time the RAZR V3i with iTunes

This time I'm taking a gadget check on this ultra thin nifty device. The new V3i from Motorola is almost like a pizza with extra toppings. It is based on the original model RAZR, which I must say I really like the design. This version has added iTunes and so you can kinda leave your iPod at home. It has a chromy colour (graphite?) than the original RAZR which is silver. This phone is certainly very shiny and eye-catching.


The camera button, volume control and a voicetag button are located along the sides. At the back the speaker is at the bottom, and there are some instructions on how to open the back cover to place the super tiny Transflash (or microSD) memory card. I cannot believe how tiny the memory card was and this is the first time I seen one.


When the phone opens the keypad illuminates to a light blue colour. The keypad is somewhat less rubbery feel than its 3G cousin. I've noticed that the keypad wasn't as solid to press on compared to the V3x. When the phone closes, beside the small exterior screen show the phone's background pattern in colour as well, the "M" logo also glows. I found it pretty cool.



The iTunes menu - it is very similar looking to the actual iPod, except the response is a bit laggy. The menu can be scrolled with the 4-way joystick button.


The size of the phone when opened against my left palm. Also showing its cousin here.



Last thing that I quite like about this phone is the packaging. The box is very well designed it's worth to mention. Pull one side out and both sides will slided out, push one side in, and both side will put away. Wonder if they can make a phone one day which opens up this way? :)