Tag: Manila

Categories
Mostly Everything

Hands on with the Nokia N900 running on Maemo Interface

nikia_n900_PH

The Nokia N900, seen wild in this blurry camera phone pic, is in Manila. Yesterday was Nokia’s Christmas Party and apart from winning a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone (!!!) at the raffle I got the chance to take a peek at the new N900. I only got the better of 4 minutes with the device so here are my first impressions in bullet form. These are general impressions on the N900 as well as the new Maemo user interface.

The N900 is beautiful. It is a sturdy messaging phone, light to the touch with fast UI response.

  • The multiple desktop functions of the Maemo UI is similar to the iPod / iPhone’s. You are allowed to have four desktops which you can scroll through using your thumb. Imagine combining the widget home screen interface of Samsung and Apple’s iPhone and this is what you get. It works.
  • The “apps menu” icon has been changed to resemble a series of squares on the upper left. Pressing that opens the application menu. One noticeable difference is that “Messaging” has been changed to “Conversations” which is really the move to threaded messaging. When you have multiple messages open, Maemo shows this ala Expose for Mac OS X with each window (let’s say, two message threads and the main Inbox) all neatly aligned. You can delete a window using the big “X” on the upper right hand side. The N900 is highlighted by its really good integration of messaging applications.
  • The new UI is fast. Essentially, the changes are really aesthetic. I can compare it to how HTC made their own interface (before the SenseUI of the HTC Hero) over and above Windows Mobile to compensate for the slow and rather outdated UI. Maemo is Linux based so it does feel lighter.
  • I noticed that Maemo doesn’t have a back button. I could be wrong but going back to previous functions entails using a hidden button on the N900 which I discovered by accident. Again, I’m not sure if this is a feature of the N900 per se or as a part of Maemo.
  • No pricing yet. This phone isn’t even OFFICIALLY out yet locally.
Categories
Mostly Everything

A Decade of Zombies in Four Parts

zombiesurvivalguide

Last week, Scrivs and the gang were shooting ideas for our year end series for ForeverGeek. I think it was Franky who suggested we do a “10 Years of…” series.

So, in the advent of the pending apocalypse, I wrote a four part series titled “A Decade of Zombies.”

This series doesn’t aim to list down every single zombie film and reference in the past ten years. What it wants to achieve however, is to bring together a sort of cohesiveness into the building of a cultural phenomenon that hinges on two themes: breaking social norms in order to survive, and finding order in total anarchy.

Parts I-IV below.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Categories
Mostly Everything

How UNO Magazine helps us be patient for James Jean’s trip

james_jean

This is a little online partnership I worked with Fully Booked and my “day job” with UNO as online editor. We’re giving away three works of James Jean.

James Jean.

Who the hell is James jean??!

Thanks to my fellow editor Luis Katigbak, we found this little paragraph that best describes him:

“Like Wolverine, James Jean is the best at what he does. Unlike Wolverine, James Jean doesn’t kill people with razors that pop out of his hand. You might not know James Jean by name but you’ve seen his work. His art’s all over the place. It’s in galleries, on Prada bags, album covers, in magazines and on the covers of DC comics. Tom Herpich and Kenichi Hoshine are simlarly talented and definitely blow minds with their intense talent and vision but James Jean is the king. James’ drawings have sophistication, power and delicacy beyond what most drawers can muster.”

– Nick Gazin, VICELAND

His art is all over the place, the ubiquity is overwhelming. So there’s a book signing and a “meet and greet” but we have something to help bide the wait. We’re raffling off some of his works. To join, click here.

The following prizes are up for grabs, courtesy of Fully Booked:

One (1) copy of Process Recess volume 3
One (1) copy of Fables Volume 1 Deluxe Edition
One (1) copy of XOXO Postcard Book

Contest runs from November 4 – November 18. Deadline for entries is November 18, 11:59 PM. Editors of UNO will submit a shortlist of contestants to Fully Booked. Fully Booked will then determine the 3 lucky winners.

Winners will be announced on November 20.

Prizes can be claimed at Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street. Prizes not claimed after 30 days will be forfeited in favor of Fully Booked.

You need to leave the comments on the UNO blog. Three more days guys! We have more than 50 entries so far, so good luck!

Categories
Mostly Everything

New Nike+ Sport Bands retail for P3,295

Nike_SB09_Pink

Nike+ runners will be glad to know that the new sport bands have been upgraded. The new bands come in three colors — purple, yellow, and red interiors and the LCD screen now comes with a white background — this was a chore to use before, especially when running at night, because the screen wasn’t visible. Here is a comparison I made last year between the iPod Nike+ kit and the sports band.

Nike_Plus_SB_2009_Vert_2c_km

For those of you who purchased first generation Nike+ bands, how long did it take before the screen cracked? I know of two cases, apart from mine, where after taking really good care of the sports band, the screen would crack (I think a better way to explain it would be the LCD would just die and display gibberish).

Hope they fix this for the second generation bands. 🙂

Categories
Mostly Everything

Kobe Bryant coming to Manila on July 21 2009

Hey guys, Kobe’s coming to town! Although this is really a tech blog, some of my readers have requested to post new things about basketball / Nike gear when they come my way. So here you go!

kobe_bryant

BEAVERTON, Ore. (3 July, 2009) – Nike announced today that it would host 2009 NBA Champion and Finals MVP Kobe Bryant on a six-city tour of Asia. Developed as an opportunity for Kobe to meet with kids throughout Asia to inspire, energize and improve their basketball skills, Kobe’s tour will make stops in Manila, Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Chengdu, China, starting July 21, 2009.

From July 1st, Nike will launch the Nike Dream Season. Developed to meet the needs of outdoor basketball players in Asia, the Nike Dream Season was designed with insights from Kobe. The shoe will be a part of his signature collection and will be sold exclusively in Asia.

Kobe Bryant 2009 Asia Tour Schedule:
July 21: Manila
July 22: Singapore
July 23: Taipei
July 24: Hong Kong
July 25: Shanghai
July 26: Chengdu

Watch out for updates on the Kobe Bryant 2009 Asia Tour: Philippines on www.nike.com.ph or tune it to W.N.I.K.E. Radio on 89.9 DWTM Mondays from 10:00am to 10:30am.