Black is back. I’ve been eyeing the Nokia 5310 for quite some time already. My primary reason being it’s one of the, if not the smallest, slimmest, lightest phones out there. The personal multimedia player features clinched the deal. However, what held me back was the availability of only red and blue accented models. I thought that a silver accented model would be better. But I was surprised that Nokia actually did one better and released an all black model. Nokia has been releasing black models recently including the 6500, the 6300 (originally in silver), and now the 5310. I guess they finally realized that silver nor pink (supposedly the new black) just isn’t as classic and versatile as black. Of course they’re not the first, Apple had long discovered that black iPods and black iBooks sold better. Welcome back black!
Finally, the Asus EEE PC 900 has been launched. Yay! It is initially priced at P24,995. Way better than the rumored P33,900 before the launch. Some would say the price is still high especially since some full-featured notebooks are already within that range. But remember that the Asus EEE PC is way smaller and lighter (and cuter!) than these budget notebooks. Besides, you can be sure prices will slide down after a month or two.
Just came back with Jeff and Racquel from a trip to Hong Kong for a seminar by Adobe on InDesign CS3 development, Flex development, and a preview of the upcoming InDesign CS4.
The seminar was conducted by a bunch of soft-spoken Europeans (Ferdinand, Emanuele, Andreas, and Roger) and a fast-speaking Hong Konger named Sunny (or maybe Sony for “So!” his favorite expression). The attendees were a bunch of Filipinos (that’s us), Thais, Indians, Koreans, a Hong Konger, and an Australian. Quite an international mix.
The material was a pretty interesting (though I couldn’t resist getting drowsy every right about after lunch). InDesign CS3 and Flex development were cool but the InDesign CS4 preview almost blew me away (almost, we try to be unflappable) but I’m on an NDA so I can tell you but then I’ll have to kill you :P A lot of material was covered so we we’re pretty occupied. We did get to go around the city on the first day and at night after the seminar sessions.
A few months ago, Drawde mentioned to me how Sanyo Eneloop batteries are the best rechargeable batteries. They are a (back then) new type of batteries that are low self-discharge. This allows for the batteries to be charged at manufacture, packaged, and ready for use off the shelf. Of course this also means that in use, they last longer. This is especially noticeable when used in remotes, clocks, etc. Convinced, I tried looking for Sanyo Eneloops to replace the Sony rechargeable batteries that I have been using on my DSLR. But they were pretty much unavailable so I eventually gave up.
Then this morning, as I was putting my Sony batteries inside the charger (I didn’t need to recharge them often, which should have been a hint), I noticed the words “Cycle Energy” on the batteries. It sounded suspiciously similar to Eneloop or energy loop. So I did a quick search and found out that Sony Cycle Energy batteries are nothing but rebadged Sanyo Eneloop batteries! I had Eneloops all along! Nice!
I for one was eagerly waiting for the release of the SDK for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. I generally don’t like Apple products. I find them to too cutesy and dainty. I prefer my gadgets to be practical, tough, waterproof, and just works. But I am aware of the potential of the two aforementioned devices, especially the iPod Touch. And with the SDK, this potential would be unlocked.
But I forgot Apple’s history. When the SDK was released a few days ago, it immediately drew criticism due to it’s many restrictions. The last time Apple did this was 1984 when the Mac came out. Back then, it had the potential to take over the the personal computer market. But Apple chose to keep it closed and proprietary and eventually the Mac became just a niche product for the artsy fartsy intellectual wannabee crowd.
Maybe things will be different this time around since the iPod is essentially the quintessential media player. But unless Apple mends its ways, it’s goodbye iPod Touch for me. Too bad, it would have been great.