Slide to Unlock

Jeanne likes playing with my iPhone. She likes to start some favorite apps including Angry Birds, where she shoots the birds backwards with the right hand and forward with the left hand (when you tell her to). She also browses the photos (backward) and videos (she even plays them). Last night, I was watching her play when, for the first time, I saw her successfully use the unlock slider and access the home screen. Maybe it’s time we get her an iPod touch.

Infinity Blade New Game+

I actually beat Zero Mech and the ancestor inside it a few days back but I wasn’t able to activate New Game+ mode so I had to go try beating them again. This time, I used the cheat exploit: Every time Zero Mech or the ancestor beats me, I exit Infinity Blade, terminate the Infinity Blade process, and start again in front of Zero Mech. Saved time going through the low-level champions again and again. I finally beat them both again and activated New Game+. Now I’m harvesting gold for the Zero Mech equipment now available on the store. This game sure is worth the $4.99 spent!

iPhone Weekend

Michelle and Jeanne went to visit the grandparents and attend Tin and Jansen’s wedding. I was left at home suddenly with plenty of time. I still did some usual chores: laundry, cooking, washing the plates, washing the car, etc. But somehow I still had extra time. Okay, I know why :P

Anyway, what better to spend spare time on than continue learning iPhone software development! The two days, I played around with Objective-C, the Interface Builder, and of course XCode. Learned quite a lot!

And when I wasn’t studying, I was using the iPhone to watch How I Met Your Mother and to play Infinity Blade with its The Deathless Kings content pack (damn Zero Mech!).

Sena UltraSlim Leather Pouch

I’ve said that putting the gorgeous iPhone 4 inside a case generally fuglifies it. But such is not the case with the Sena UltraSlim Leather Pouch. It is a slip-in pouch made of luxurious textured soft leather. The inside is lined with soft velvety material to protect your phone from scratches.  The bottom has unobtrusive holes for the speakers so that you can still hear your phone. Definitely well-thought-out. And the best thing about it is that it fits like a good high-quality leather glove. The fit is so perfect that it add negligible bulk to the phone. It is  is a perfect match to the understated elegance of the iPhone.

Rating: 5/5

Smartphone Market Share

image Credit: Nielsen

Nielsen released data on smartphone market share as of Nov 2010 to Jan 2011. From an OS perspective, definitely it shows the Android juggernaut’s seemingly unstoppable rise to the top. From a hardware perspective, it’s interesting to note how Apple and Blackberry(!) still hold a huge chunk of the market. But HTC is waiting on the wings.

It seems that at this point, focusing on iOS development is still a good strategy. Noting, of course that the other iOS devices, iPad and iPad 2, are the leaders in the tablet space. But investing in Android development should already be in the pipeline.