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SEX Arc (Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc)

By joshuatly on April 7, 2011 in Android, Events Coverage, maxis10, Tech Review

Yesterday I was invited to the launch of Sony Ericsson Arc in MidValley The Library. It is fun!
So the story is, Maxis had partnered with Sony Ericsson to bring their latest and changgih-est phone to Malaysia, and yesterday they launch their Song Ericsson Xperia Arc. (As i would like to call their Sony Ericsson Xperia series, SEX)

Whats so special about the SEX Arc?
It has the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, and a big sexy 4.2 inch touchscreen, mind blowing 8.1 megapixel camera with Exmor R technology, Reality display with Mobile Bravia Engine, and Tri band HSPA and Quad Band EDGE.

At the event, we are introduced with the new SEX Arc and some of its super canggih function. The phone will be able to connected to the TV via a HDMI Cable, and show 720p image on your HD TV! The thing that blown me away is you will be able to control your phone using the TV Remote! Not any special tv remote, just the normal one that came with your Sony Bravia TV. Amazing right! You will be able to navigate your photo gallery using your remote! So no worry that your HDMI cable is not long enough or you need to sit in front of the tv and control your phone to show your awesome pictures to your family members.

It also shows that you all image on your phone will be able to project to your TV 1 to 1. So, they showed a youtube video played on the phone that linked to the TV, and a game playing using phone but the graphic is showed on the TV. Although i dont understand the use of the playing game and show the screen on TV part but, its a cool feature. Im not sure if you will need a Sony TV to do so, or any HDTV will do.

And one of the really cool feature of the phone is, the camera of the phone is really awesome and able to take photo under really low light. And i find the phone is really small and impressed they can fit a 1500mAh battery into such a slim phone.

And…. we got some real surprise! You saw the dancing android post i posted earlier (link) and it went really viral and even RayWilliamJohnson picked it up after i posted my blog post .
Sony Ericsson was kind enough and “import” the dancing droid to the show! OMG!!!!!
And of cos the andoid dance in front of us and the VIP.

Dancing Android in Malaysia from joshuatly on Vimeo.

BUT! i manage to take a photo with the dancing droid

OK the price,
its exclusive to Maxis for one month, the price will be as listed below.
Retail Price: RM 2099
with Maxis 12 month contract: RM 1749
with Maxis 18 month contract: RM 1599
with Maxis 24 month contract: RM 1499

Some early impression of the phone, other than some of the feature above, the phone is really slim and can fit into any pocket, especially if you like to wear jeans. And with Gingerbread 2.3 it should be quite fast. The skin on top of it is still OK IMO.
I noticed that the search button is missing, hmm… thats the problem of the android “fragmentation”.
Overall, if you like this, go ahead and get it.

Or if you want to read more review of the phone, head to mytechnews.info or click here here here here and here.

Oh not forget to mention, other than the phone, you will also get the accessories below worth RM429 if you get it with maxis package:
Hi-Fi wireless headset with FM Radio (MW600)
In-Car charger (AN401)
HDMI Cable
Screen Protector

Check out the Maxis Booth at MidValley throughout the weekend (till 10 April), and you can see, touch or lick the phone and do anything you want to it before consider to buy it or not.

With this partnership of Maxis and Sony Ericsson, you can expect more of Sony Ericsson’s phone will be subsidized along with Maxis package, and im looking forward to SEX Play (the PSP Phone).
Thanks Maxis and Sony Ericsson for the invitation to the event, and BTW, congrats to Chapree for winning a brand new Song Ericsson Xperia Arc.

Joshuatly2011

Comments { 1 }

Internet April Fool Prank 2011

By joshuatly on April 1, 2011 in Events Coverage, Tech Review

Every year, Google and many major websites have their very own April Fools’ Day prank.
I will post everything i found mostly via twitter here. If you found one, share is in the comment below

CNTV Prank

RT @Henryhu89 #惊天消息# 伟大的央视网被人黑啦，进入后台地址 http://my.cntv.cn/html/index.html 就能任意篡改管理后台内容，删文章……删主持人……黑客太牛B了~~~向伟大的黑客膜拜~~~

Groupon Prank

http://www.groupon.com/pages/april-fools

Angry Nerds

This one is awesome, Angry bird? Nope, Angry Nerds FTW!

What do you do when you have bugs in your code? Send in the Angry Nerds. Consider these issues…resolved.

http://www.atlassian.com/en/angrynerds

3D Wireframes

http://www.cxpartners.co.uk/news/3d_wireframes_the_future_of_wireframing_today.htm

My Personal Favourite: Portal 2 Single Player Demo

You know that, Im super into Portal (the game), i had Google Alert setup monitoring Portal 2 posts, and just now, i check my email, and i see OMFG PORTAL 2 SINGLE PLAYER DEMO!!!
Then i tweeted it, @chapree straight away reply me its 1TB big. At first i thought he got typo, and im still doing some shopping, till i saw the page:
http://www.fileplanet.com/219407/210000/fileinfo/Portal-2-SinglePlayer-Demo
975.7 GB WTF! Then i realized… OMG im tricked. Damn you FilePlanet, or Valve, or anyone that is responsible….
DAMN!!! Hahaha, but im not pissed. Im still waiting to get my Portal 2 as soon as its released!

WOW: Dungeon Helper

Poking fun to Microsoft LOL
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/game/dungeon-helper/

Google’s Prank 2011:

AutoCompleter

Google is hiring something with capability of Good typing skills (at least 32,000 WPM).

Youtube Video

Google Docs Motion

http://www.google.com/google-d-s/promos/motion.html

Gmail Motion

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/motion.html

Google HK Helvetica Prank:

Google search result font change to Helvetica if you search “Helvetica” on google.com.hk
Link

Google AdWords Prank

Awesome blog post at AdWords official blog
http://adwordsagency.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-old-school-upgrade-for-display.html

This post will be updated as i found more april fools trick and prank.
Happy April Fools’ Day!

See my very own April Fool prank here:
http://www.joshuatly.com/happy-april-fools-day-2011/

More @ Lifehacker

joshuatly2011

Comments { 0 }

World Backup Day 2011: Y U NO BACKUP?

By joshuatly on March 31, 2011 in Guide, news, Tech Review

Do you know 31th March is the World Backup Day?
I do noticed many of my friends DO NOT BACKUP!
And, i did backup most of my important files.
Since last time i get robbed, Im so greatful that day i didnt bring my laptop along with me, if i did that, all my assignments will be gone.
Today, different stories. I backed up all my important work, and even if my laptop bricked (which i do think there is a possibilities that happening in near future), or stolen, i still can get my data when im at another computer, in fact, any computer.

Since its World Backup Day, lets talk about some backup.
I learnt a good rules of thumb of backing up your data
The 3-2-1 rule!

So what is 3-2-1 rule?

3 backup copies of anything.
2 different storage media.
1 offsite storage site.

Why 3 copies

The reason for that is because, sometimes in the process of backing up, weird things do happened. Sometimes the backup failed and you didnt noticed that, sometimes your backup data corrupted, or sometimes you just lost one of your backup copies!
Anything can happened even if you backed up you data. One isnt enough, 3 is the sweet number.

Why 2 different storage media

Because, storage media do changes over time. Like CD is no longer as popular, many people uses DVD or soon BluRay media to store their files. And you must understand, media like CD or DVD do degrade or have a lifespan. If you keep all your backup only on CD, when you want your data back, only you discover, there is no more CD reader anywhere in your house! So how? Different storage media.
Online is a good media in my opinion. Since someone will always take care of your data, but still, the 3-2-1 rule applies. Because there is possibilities that one company where you store your online backup is going to close down one day.

Why do offsite backup?

Lets say you make 10 copies of your backup, store it in your house. When fire or tsunami come, gone lah! So store one copy of your backup somewhere, again, Online backup is a good solution for that, since most of the backup service do store redundant data on their side.

So after talking about the 3-2-1 idea, lets see How to backup?
Or i will talk about

How do i do my backup?

Dropbox

This is the service that i uses mainly to backup and sync my folders and files across my computer. And (secret), i uses dropbox to add torrents that i wanted to download to my home pc.
When you sign up dropbox, you will get 2GB. Then if you get your friends to sign up using your referal links, you will get quite a lot of space. My account now has 19GB of spaces, and im on my way to filling them up.
If you need more, there is a 50GB upgrade or 100GB upgrade, which is quite cheap IMO.
Best part of dropbox is, its all automatic, I dont need to care about is my file backed up ah?
I just save my file into the folders that connected to dropbox, dropbox will upload it automatically when there is internet access available.
BUT IMPORTANT: Always make sure your file is backed up before you delete the original version. Apply the 3-2-1 rule. Because i had experience once that the pngs that i put in dropbox ended up getting corrupted, but thats only once, not often. So just be caution.

(NOTE: at the portion above contains my dropbox referral link, but i dont think its still space for my account to grow. If you want me to put YOUR dropbox referral links in the post, send me a twitter DM.
If you dont like using a referral link, just click here or go to dropbox.com)

DVD Media

DVD media is still the way to go if you want to backup your files. I dont uses DVD to do backup so much but instead i uses it to do archiving. And if you do plan to it on DVD, and the backup are meant to keep for a long time, make sure you dont uses those 20 cents one piece DVD. Uses 1st class media while possible. The best and easiest to get in market is Mitsubishi DVDR.Its all over lowyat. But beware of fake media too. You can learn a lot by searching Google, Forums, or Lowyat etc.

External HDD/Pendrive/Flash Drive

This is the best way to move your files around, and also a good way to backing it up! Keep one copy of your files on a external HDD, when your PC died, or your internal hard drive died, you still have a copy of everything.
External HDD is best used to act as a backup or mirror of your internal HDD. So you wont lose everything. HDD is getting cheaper and cheaper, so its the best way to backup big chuck of data.
Remember HDD life span is around 3 – 5 years. Do check your HDD and make sure its healthy.