On the 27th January, Steve Jobs announced the tech world’s worst kept secret, the Apple tablet PC, after Seth Godin, random publishers, leaked China replicas and every thing else pointed to the fact that Apple was indeed developing a tablet PC. On 28th January, I decided NOT to blog about it, didn’t have a clue on what I felt about it.

So here it is.

Do I need an iPad? No.

Do I want an iPad? Probably yes.

Why do I want an iPad? Probably need to think about it, maybe when my MacBook reaches a ripe old laptop age of 4 years, which in computer years means 100. Probably.

Ok. So here’s why I probably want an iPad. I have a feeling its going to be a love-love situation just after buying my iPhone, what I thought I didn’t need, I just felt in love with. Now nothing, even if you pay me 100 bucks to use a Nexus One for a year, would I give up my iPhone.

(1) Games. I hate the App Store. I really do. I’m spending money on Cluedo, GTA Chinatown Wars, and all sort of time wasting stuff because having the App Store with its 170K Apps is easy to download. So, what are the possibilities of the iPad? I used to bring my MacBook everywhere, now I’ll just bring the iPad everywhere.

(2) Home. I have a feeling somewhere deep inside me, I’m a control freak. I want to know how many calories I’m using. I want to know how much money I’m spending to the last dime. I imagine controlling my television, heating, lights and whatever using a tablet PC, just like what we used to envision. We would know how to regulate energy in the home, or if having the room at 3 degrees more would cause a great change in our electricity bill.

(3) Work. Its weird. iWork? I don’t know about this, but I rely on Keynote that much to give good presentations.

(4) Size. Is perfect. Giant iPod? Is great.

Why won’t I buy it now?

(1) Camera. I probably need one. Eventually.

(2) Price. 16GB on an iPhone is insufficient for me. I have too many photos and videos I want to bring around. I like the 64GB model with 3G. That’s going to be expensive. I might have to wait for my MacBook to literally start working like a snail first.

(3) iBooks. Has that tiny print to show that it is for the US market only. Along with downloading of movies and what have you not which we outsiders in the international market do not have. I would buy this over a Kindle though.

(4) Instability. Uh. I’m not going to be an early adopter of code adopted for the iPad.

I think that’s what I can think of for now. Ignore the name iPad, everyone hated the name MacBook Pro when it was first announced, but now MacBook eventually is well sort-of-okay. And even if it was called iHippo, iGraffic, iWhatever, you would have bought it anyway. Names are only important when establishing an entire product line, read: RAZR.

I am in Singapore! And I finally got my order of the Uncommon cases for iPhone as well. Well, it rocks – sort of. Well, I half anticipated a case which is non-generic and what nobody has, and apparently there it was, my black and white Sadoko like princess imprinted on my iPhone case. It fits to a tee and covers the edges of the iPhone which my previous case did not do – and hence the onslaught of ugly marks. I really like it.

However, the dock area is weird. Its protruding and didn’t let me dock properly on anything possible – including the Vestalife Ladybug II speakers which I really wanted to get. Oh well, there, I saved a bunch of money for my speakers now. At least for now.

PS: I can’t wait for the announcement of some sort of Apple tablet on the 27th January too!

Since I got my iPhone in April, so has my dad and b – both 16GB White! I seem to have some influencing prowress around here.

Anyway, just saw something which caught my eye, There’s a company called Uncommon which is offering customized iPhone cases etched with embedded 3D design – what better news could this get? It also offers a whole bunch of artwork by progressive artists, something like Moo.com but for the iPhone. Check out Getuncommon.com, I think this rocks, would be nice if someone had a real case to show how it is like.

Its just a whole host of under the hood upgrades, but all Mac OS X people should just get Snow Leopard upgrade anyway – just 29USD!

Wound magazine, which celebrates edginess and originality through works that inspire in art, fashion, architecture and design, officially unveils their summer issue across three different platforms. Wound Digital (online) and iWound (iPhone) receive their global premiere alongside the established print bible Wound Quarterly in a landmark launch.

Interested in a digital fashion magazine on the iPhone? Well, there is one right now. Check out iWound which is the iPhone app of Wound. For more details and a further review, you have to check it out here.

Can I say that the iPhone 3.0 update went kind of horrible?

1. I was first fixed up with a brick because it could not unlock my simcard. And then I spent an hour trying to unbrick my iPhone by restarting a couple of things and all sorts of things.

2. My updates are weird. Some of my apps went wrong and kept on crashing. The updates showed apps which should have been updated but did not get updated.

3. My iPhone is now slow. I don’t know why.

4. There are bugs, like this one:

5. The best feature of 3.0 (I think) was Push, which didn’t come with many apps. Well they are slowly rolling it out.

6. Some apps wanted to update with my Singapore account. The master app update wanted to update with my Netherlands account.

7. IM+ 3.0 started to crash, didn’t want to update, was plain annoying.

So I chose BeeJiveIM 3.0, worked like a breeze, had to pay for it but its the best app with Push thus far.

Send me more messages now!

I’m blogging again because I’m blah with work. You know those days where you spend five hours on one part of the project only to find that the bug is on another part? And you are using some really exotic hardware arrangement where you can ONLY find in Building A when your development board is in Building Z and of course you won’t have a debugger.

Well I’m exaggerating. But you kind of get the idea.

So back to the story. I’ve been checking out the iPhone 3GS. And I’m thinking of the things I like / and dislike about it.

(1) Looks

Well, I really like my iPhone 3G in White, and I didn’t expect it to shrink the phone to half the size because of the size of smartphones so far. I still think its a little to fat for me, especially with the cover. Maybe for the next iterations but not for now. I can imagine if there was an iPhone 4G that would be the case to switch, but if you have a good formula, why change it? (It should come in baby pink though, and put Swarovski and price it at twice the price – I know someone who will buy it)

(2) 3G S

I want this for the speed. But S goes for both Speed and Slow, depending possibly on your carrier. To me, its not a big jump, but its nice. I run Sims 3 on the iPhone, Metal Gear Solid, Monopoly, etc without any problems.

(3) Compass

This is a very nice thing to have – right now the problem with Google Maps is this. I have two points on a map, and it has a pin. Which way does one actually go? Left, Right? Forward, Backward? You only know when you move, which is horrible if you are attempting to cycle. Bad bad bad. TomTom has shown their new directional application – with no price included – I expect alot. But people will buy it.

(4) Videos. 3MP.

Okay, this isn’t that great a thing. 3MP Camera isn’t that great either. But I’ve had very nice results for the 2MP camera, I use it even more than my normal Sony Camera.

(5) Nike +

I really want . this .

(6) Well…

I guess that’s it isn’t it? I say if you haven’t gotten an iPhone, and despite my apprehension in not wanting one, now I cannot imagine not having one. But if you are already holding on to an iPhone 3G, its not exactly worth it for the tweaking of what should have been there. Besides with the SDK 3.0 being released on the 17th June, you’ll already get a nice bang for your buck.

Today is a special day. Its the kind of day where you get goose pimples in your toes. Its the keynote of the WWDC and it is different from JavaOne and Windows PDC. For starters, for the second year running it has been a sellout developer conference, developer = geek, you know, the kind who never spoke much in class, the one with pocket protectors, the one whom everyone else avoided in school.

Lately Apple has turned that into a rock concert. Because well, it has become the epitome of cool. Next time, buy your tickets to the WWDC well in advance, like all great rock concerts, they sell out fast.

Since all the nice technology blogs are all a-blogging. Here’s what I can catch so far. Since Apple’s withdrawal from MacWorld – no keynote there anymore. Apple seems to have moved the keynote to the WWDC instead. And we are seeing product introductions at the Keynote instead. Well, we all know at the State of the Union when the curtains are closed and the press have gone schoomzing in the lounge, they suddenly go, oh wait, its not that simple.

Still. Its nice. So what do we have (thus far):

(1) Numbers.

Apple has the numbers which make every single company in the world go green. Since it has died almost twenty times in the last twenty years, and everyone has predicted a Mac-Death eventually. It has finally gotten its rewards. Mac OSX – check. iPhone – check. Everything else – check. check. check.

(2) Mac Upgrades.

The Apple Store in every country is down. Whilst we are being introduced to a great new lineup for the MacBooks. Since I’ve bought mine about 8 months ago and it looks the same. I’m going to skip this for now and actually use my computer for three years.

(3) Microsoft Bashing.

Well.. its fun

(4) Snow Leopard.

Will be out in September 2009. It costs 29EUR to upgrade. Really? That’s awesome. Goodbye piracy. The price of technology has gone down so much since the last decade. Why should our software be pricey?

(5) iPhone

50, 000 Applications. 1 billionth download in nine months. Everyone else – stare in envy. New iPhone – read new iPhone!

Looks the same.

Faster.

Nike + enabled.

iPhone SDK 3.0 releasing on 17 June. Can’t wait!

(6) No one more thing and Steve Jobs rising like the pheonix?

I admit, after I was semi-coerced into the iPhone gang, I can’t live without it, especially on Holidays! Since I’ve taken it for a run in UK and Belgium already, I kind of understand the data roaming via T-Mobile. Anyway, here is the must-haves for travel according to Summerrainx. You can see my laptop bag edition next time.

Contrary to popular belief, I have not exactly very high maintenance. Honest!

(1) Trusty Bag

I recommend the LV Speedy 30. It was an impulse buy, but now I use it for everything including groceries. I throw it around but it still mantains its shape. And you can carry three days of clothes, and makeup, and skincare (Which trust me I have alot). You can even throw in an Airport Express, iPhone and charging cables if you want. Not big enough for the MacBook though.

(2) Passport + Money

Too simple to explain this.

(3) Sunscreen

Paul & Joe Body Protection Cream with SPF30. Because all of us can dream about staying young forever.

(4) Makeup & Skincare of some sort

If I’m trapped on an island with three pieces of things, I would take my pressed powder, lipgloss and facial foam.

(5) Apple Airport Express

Its kind of weird to say this, but when I was in Standford, I was stranded without wireless internet and only wired Internet! And I kicked myself for not brining along my AirPort Express because it is so small and handy and easy to set up. And well, you just need to have a wireless portable router you can put in your bag, because you may never know when you might need it. I wished it could charge my iPhone though, but it no longer does. Apparently it did previously.

(6) iPhone with a ton of Apps + Charger

- Remember to set your phone to non data roaming: Settings > General > Network > Data Roaming = OFF

- iTranslate / Translate to ask the nice waitress for beer.

- VOIP something to call home / work and avoid the expensive roaming fees expecially if you have wireless. Recommended: Skype, Vopium, Fring (with SIP Voipstunt).

- Lonely Planet App for the street guide on your gadget. However, I found that the good ole’ paper guidebook actually works better.

- Tube / Train offline map for the country of your choice: I found London Underground Tube useful… until it meant going to Zone 6 which was not on the map. Then it was back to asking the drivers. Plus unless the App is supplied by the Train / Transport themselves, you would probably won’t know if places are under renovation anyway.

What do you want from the new iPhone? Apparently alot of things. Now this bumpup I hope it ain’t too much since I personally got an iPhone myself now and I don’t want to feel too obsolete. I do wish that I had compass though.

And another set of ’specs’ according CultofMac:

* 32GB and 16GB to replace current capacities
* $199 and $299 price-points to be maintained
* 3.2 Megapixel camera
* Video recording & editing capabilities
* Ability to send a picture & video via MMS
* Discontinuation of the metal band surrounding the edge of the device
* OLED screen
* 1.5X The battery life
* Double the RAM and processing power
* Built-in FM transmitter
* Apple logo on the back to light up
* Rubber-tread backing
* Sleeker design
* Built-in compass
* Revolutionary combination of the camera, GPS, compass, and Google maps to identify photo and inform about photo locations.
* Turn by turn directions
* July 17th, 2009 release date