You think the iPad is really “usable” and “intuitive”? Read this report from the leading Usability experts of Nielsen-Norman Group written by Jakob Nielsen himself. You’ll be surprised at his findings and might even agree with him.
If you don’t want to read the long report, Jakob has written a summarized version of his findings – iPad Usability: First Findings From User Testing
Download the report:
Usability of iPad Apps and Websites: First Research Findings
What does Samsung Galaxy S, SingTel, and Super Junior (a popular Korean pop boy-band) have in common?
Well, SingTel is the first in the world to launch Samsung Galaxy S. Samsung Galaxy S is an ultimate Android phone that’s Korean product. Super Junior is a Korean boy-band that will be performing LIVE in Singapore for the first time in an exclusive performance on Sunday, 6th June. See the commonalities?
It is simply an amazing deal. So how do you get to purchase the Samsung Galaxy S for a low price, get an awesome SingTel subscription plan, and get to watch Super Junior live? Go to SingTel ONLINE shop now and be the first 800 to pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S and you’ll be able to get a free pair of tickets to Super Junior live concert.
For those wondering where your Flash Player 10.1 Beta is, you might have to download it from the Market. Just do a search for “Flash Player” and you should be able to find it.
If not, just open this link on your browser: www.adobe.com/go/getfp10android and it will load up Market with Flash Player 10.1 Beta.
Let me know how your experience with Flash Player 10.1 Beta is, and how it works for you.
For those who can’t wait, here’s how you manually update your Nexus One to Froyo.
Go to “Settings” and “About Phone” and you should see “Android version 2.2″. Enjoy.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a gaming event by Nokia and Barkingseed. Boy, did I have fun with the games.
One of the more popular games that caught everyone’s attention and addiction was “That Roach Game”. It’s essentially a very simple game of “whack-a-mole” game, except you’re just killing roaches. As Margaret Chan would say, “I’ll crush you like a cockroach.” Check out the videos below for the game play.
If you like it, get them at the Ovi Store for free.
Ninjani is another game similar to the “whack-a-mole” style, except you’re shooting shurikens at ninjas. It’s slightly tricky to play this game because the ninjas keep jumping around and disappearing. It also incorporates a storyline into the game.
If you like it, get them at the Ovi Store for free.
This is a new game not yet released. It is a puzzle game that involves moving rows and columns to get 3 or more similar colour and monsters connected in some way (does not have to be a straight line). That’s it. Simple and fun puzzle game, great for any ages. Check out some of the pictures.
As I mentioned previously, these games are exclusive to Nokia Ovi Store until August 2010. Furthermore, there are a series of monthly competitions will be held for four months beginning 7th of May across the South East Asia Pacific region, including Singapore.
So what are you waiting for? If you own an Nokia phone (touch screen or keypad) and have Ovi Store on it, download these free games and play them. Do your country proud by winning this competition!
Prizes up for grabs include the Nokia X6 and exclusive Barkingseed.com merchandise. (Barkingseed.com is the official portal for the Nokia-Breakdesign competition.)
Spot the similarities? Like it? Hate it? I like the old design better since the focus is on the results, not the menu at the side.
{Community} Technology Update 2010
The Singapore user group communities, Professional .NET User Group, SQL Server User Group, and Windows IT Pros User Group, once again, have come together to bring to you a day of in-depth sessions and demonstrations of the new Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and Visual Studio 2010.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 is packed with a wealth of new features and capabilities that can help organizations to scale with confidence on a trusted platform, improve IT and developer efficiency, and enable self service business intelligence. The benefits of the enhanced capabilities extend to application and multi-server management, complex event processing, master data services and powerful BI tools.
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 is an integrated environment that simplifies the whole development lifecycle, from design to development. Developers can use existing skills to model, code, debug and deploy a growing number of applications types.
With SQL Server 2008 R2 and Visual Studio 2010, users will be able to create compelling applications that deliver business value soonest while maintaining the quality and integrity of your IT assets.
Why should you attend the event:
Who should attend the event:
Database Administrators, IT Professionals, & Developers
This is a not-to-be-missed launch FOR THE COMMUNITY, BY THE COMMUNITY.
FREE FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS, DETAILS ON REGISTRATION SITE.
Not yet a member? Join now for free.
Click here for detailed agenda and register for the event >>
For enquiries, please contact Vivian at
Email: vivian@rhapsodyconcept.com.sg
Tel: +65 6296 7769
Interested in learning how new innovations in Microsoft’s Web Platform and developer tools like ASP.NET 4 and Visual Studio 2010 can make you a more productive web developer? If you’re currently working with PHP, Ruby, ASP or older versions of ASP.NET and want to hear how you can create amazing websites more easily, then register for a Web Camp near you today!
Microsoft’s Web Camps are free, two-day events that allow you to learn and build on the Microsoft Web Platform. At camp, you will hear from Microsoft experts on the latest components of the platform, includingASP.NET Web Forms, ASP.NET MVC, jQuery, Entity Framework, IIS, Visual Studio 2010 and much more.
Web Camps also provide the opportunity to get hands on with labs and get creative by building in teams. All this with Microsoft experts on hand to guide you through.
On Day 1 you’ll learn through demos and presentations and Day 2 is a fun hack day for doing labs and working in teams to win prizes. Check out the full agenda here.
James Senior is based in Seattle and is Microsoft’s Web Evangelist and holds a special interest in the ASP.NET MVC, jQuery and Social Web technologies. He is a noted author, blogger and speaker and generally helps developers make smart decisions about which technologies to use.
A published author on the topic of software quality, James writes a blog focussing on technology at www.jamessenior.com. You can also connect with him on Linked In, Facebook, Twitter (@jsenior).
Dates: June 04-05, 2010
Location:
Microsoft Auditorium
Level 21 NTUC Centre
One Marina Boulevard
Microsoft Singapore
I had a chance to play with the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS for half a day, taking some photos at Universal Studios Singapore Canon Event. I don’t actually know how to use a camera properly, or take great shots. So I’m going to talk about my experience with the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS from a normal person’s perspective.
As usual, here are some specifications of the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS that I find informative.
| Canon PowerShot SX210 IS | |
| Total MegaPixels | 14.1MP |
| Zoom | 14x Optical / 4x Digital / 56x Combined |
| Colours |  |
| Storage Medium | SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card, MultiMediaCard, MMC Plus Card, HC MMC Plus Card |
| Shooting Modes | Smart Shutter (Smile, Wink Self-timer, Face Detection Self-timer), Low Light, Color Accent, Color Swap, Fisheye Effect, Miniature Effect, Beach, Foliage, Snow, Fireworks, Stitch Assist |
I think the most notable are the Smart Shutter, Color Accent / Swap, Fisheye and Miniature effects.
At the event, we were told to try out 3 major features of the camera’s functionalities. I have no idea what effects these were, but what the heck I’ll just try them out for fun.
This is my most favourite effect, the Colour Accent. Colour Accents essentially only takes 1 colour, accentuates that colour in your photo, and makes every colour black and white. I’m the kind of person who takes photos just for fun, and I’m not that artistic in any way. But the Colour Accent effect had me wanting to take more of these photos. Just take a look at the following photos.
Girl Walking Alone
A Lonely Street
Sad Boy
The Yellow Line On My Feet
Roger Rabbit...?
What am I waiting for?
I don’t know about you, but I think those photos I took are a few of my best shots ever.
Pink Guy
Colour swap takes 2 colours and swaps them with each other. You can only do a 2 colour swap. Personally, I don’t quite know what to do with the colour swap, but here’s a funny try I did. I turned this guy into a shade of pink. It didn’t turn out very well though. What do you think?
A FishEye effect enlarges the center of the photo. There are 3 modes in the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS – Low, Medium, High – which are the strengths of the enlargement. Again, I had no idea why one would use a FishEye effect, but I tried it out anyway. It is probably for some funny shots. Here are some of my attempts. 
Shrek's Lair
This photo had a medium FishEye effect which made Shrek’s house a little more twisted then it originally is, which I thought it gave a better eerie feel.
My Big Spikey Ball
Growl! I enlarged the spikey ball with the heavy FishEye effect. Time to smash everything into bits and pieces. Just kidding. What did you think? No Photoshop at all! Wee!
And this is my personal favourite. I made DK skinny! Weight loss without the exercise. Some of the interesting uses of FishEye effect. 
The Miniature effect gives your photos the illusion of a toy-like view, blurring the top and bottom and focusing the center portion to create that miniature effect. I have absolutely no idea how to use this effect, so I have only just a few, which didn’t turn out well at all. However, the best one is this.
My first attempt to ever using the Miniature effect. If I had a chance to play with this effect more, I might be able to create some nice toy effects.
I only had it for a few hours, and spent the entire time using it. However, I think the photos came out better than I expected.
+ Easy to use, producing great clear photos
I’m an amateur photographer, but with the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS, I took photos of such clarity and with interesting effects that I never thought was possible with my amateurish skills.
+ Love colour accent
As you saw above, I took a lot more photos with the colour accent effect. Out of all the effects, I love this the most.
+ Fast shooting speed
Amazing speed at taking photos, especially with the Smart Shutter which I didn’t really write much. It was so quick that it could capture your smile at that precise moment. You’ll never miss a perfect smile again.
- Stiff dial to change camera modes
It took me a while to get used to this, but I had to constantly keep changing camera modes with the dial. The stiffness didn’t help much, but I guess after a while it’ll loosen up.
- Wish colour accent could target objects instead
This is a feedback I gave Canon to their research team. If they can target objects to have colours, and everything else be black and white, I would be able to take more “Roger Rabbit” style photos.
Canon PowerShot SX210 IS is a camera that allows you to take great professional looking photos, with various effects like the Fisheye, Miniature, Color Accent/Swap without using Adobe Photoshop at all. If you want a good camera with these professional effects, Canon PowerShot SX210 IS is the one for you. It is currently selling in Singapore at the recommended retail price of SGD$649.
Thanks to Canon and Ogilvy for inviting me to test out their new cameras, being a newbie photographer and all.
If I can take great photos with a Canon camera, so can you!
Take a look at all the photos I took with the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS.
Motorola BackFlip is currently exclusive to SingTel due to the fact that it offers MotoBlur. Motorola BackFlip is a new phone form factor with the keyboard at the back which you flip to the front like opening a book cover, except it is the cover you’re reading, and not the contents inside.
As usual, I will only show the significant specifications I feel that are important.
| Motorola Backflip | |
| OS | Android 1.5 |
| Display | 3.1″ 320 x 480 256k TFT |
| Camera | 5 megapixel, auto-focus, LED flash |
| Processor | 528Mhz Qualcomm 7200A |
| Any MultiTouch? | No |
| Connector | Micro USB |
Nothing really significant except the special form factor. Let’s go through what’s interesting about the phone.
First of all, the most significant will be the new form factor, where the keypad is actually behind, and it flips out to give you a nice keypad size. The keypad is rugged-ized with this flat 1 piece plastic. The keypad takes some time to get used to because it’s so flushed and the tactile feedback isn’t that great.
This is a comparison between the keypads from the Motorola Dext and Motorola BackFlip. Take a look at the amount of space you have for the keypad from the BackFlip. That’s essentially the greatest plus point.
Instead of offering you a trackball, they gave you a trackpad behind the screen. This means you get your control your screen from behind. However, I thought the trackpad was slightly too far away for my tiny Asian fingers, and I had to stretch a little behind. It is essentially just a replacement for your trackball, which works great while scrolling pages without obscuring your view.
The back cover is an interesting slide lock. It took me a while to figure out how to fit the back cover in. Essentially, you put the cover behind, and slide it to your right until it clicks. To release, press down the button with the lock sign and push it left.
You have your usual removable battery, 2GB microSD card that comes with the phone, and your SIM card. Notice that there is a red lock near the microSD card. Push that upwards, and you can remove your microSD card without removing your battery. Why didn’t they do the same for the SIM card?
If you put the Motorola BackFlip on your table, and lifted it up, the clock application will open much like the Nexus One when you dock it.
Motorola BackFlip is an awesome companion device if you like to watch TV. SingTel offers MobileTV for a subscription fee (similar to StarHubTV). The keypad acts as a dock or a stand for the device, allowing a great viewing experience. Notice how good the viewing angle is too. This is probably the 1 most compelling feature that will make me get this phone.
This is an awesome idea to include the camera as part of the keypad. It allows you to take photos as usual, and when you flip it open, it becomes a front-facing 5 megapixels camera. 1 camera that acts as 2 types of cameras. Simply awesome benefit from a flip. However, you will smudge the camera protective lens when you type, so remember to wipe it off before taking photos.
A small minor thing, but great. If your phone needs charging, the MicroUSB will glow, indicating you need to charge. I like it.
This is how thick the Motorola BackFlip is compared to the Nexus One. As you can see, it is pretty thick at 15.3 mm.
This phone is really targeted at the low-end consumer market, for those who want a cheap smartphone with a keypad. Compared to the Motorola Dext, it is just a small step up. It also comes with MotoBlur, which is the same service you get on the Dext.
+ Love the ability to stand
+ Huge Physical Keypad
- Keypad is difficult to use
- Android 1.5 only
It is currently exclusive to SingTel from Saturday, 1st May 2010 from as low as S$0 on selected price plans.
