Breath Palette: Toothpaste that gives you Cola breath

Margaret Josefin offers 32 flavors of toothpastes that are free of “ingredients like alcohol and surfactant which causes discomfort in your mouth.” The two interesting flavors I though were Cola and Indian Curry. Click here for the full list. 

The toothpastes are available in Japan for 210 yen each (around two dollars).

Could be great items for gifts… or for pranks =)

Source:

• Margaret Josefin (Japanese)
  
• Margaret Josefin (English) 
  

Camera and music playback in the next version of Nintendo DS

Nikkei IT Plus reported yesterday that Nintendo plans to release a new version of the DS by the end of the year. The new DS will come with a camera and be able to play music.

The price of the DS will be under 20,000 yen (around 180 dollars).

On top of my mind, the camera could have several uses:

• as a camera rivaling your mobile phone camera
  
• utilized in games
  
• for video chat (considering voice chat is available in certain games already)
  

And with the built-in ability to play music, it's definitely going to step on the shoes of cell phones as well as Apple's iPhone and iPod touch.  

What's it gonna look like?  We'll have to wait.  

Pure-Fi Anywhere – Shiny white speakers for you iPods and iPhone

If you’re looking for compact white speakers that can also charge your iPods or iPhone, here’s one to consider.

Some of the noticeable features:

• 10-hour rechargeable batteries
  
• comes with a travel case
  
• doubles as an iPod charger, which means one less thing you can get rid from your desktop
  
• it comes in white (it also comes in black)
  

The only problem is you can’t really watch videos with the iPod touch or iPhone since the touch and iPhone display videos in landscape mode.

Logitech sells it for $129.99 on their site.

An alternative: Pure-Fi Express
If a device to both charge your dock and play music is what you’re looking for and not so much of bringing it to places, you may also want to check out Pure-Fi Express. It’s $79.99 and only comes in white, and doesn’t have a case.

The Shiny White Office Version 1.0

One of things I really want to do is to build a shiny white home office. In this blog post, I present you with version 1 of the shiny white office. The following would be the shiny white  gadgets to build one:

• Computer: White MacBook
  
  
  
  
• Input Device: Wireless Mighty Mouse and Wireless Pro Keyboard (old version because it’s whiter)
  
  
  
  
  
• Scanner: Fujitsu ScanSnap S300M
  
  
  
• Phone / PDA: iPhone 3G – 16GB white model
  
  
  
  
• Speakers: Yamaha NX-B02WH – White Bluetooth stereo speaker from Yamaha
  
  
  
  
• USB Hub: Podrea’s PH-D4-FW or PH-D3-FW– White USB hub – 4 port
  
  
  
  
  
• Pen Tablet: Bambo Fun – White model
  
  

What’s missing?

• Backup solution: 
  I came across the HDC2-U1.0 (product info page in Japanese) in an electronics store last week. It’s compact and encloses two hard drives. It’s available in 1TB and 2TB models, and best of all it’s silver and white design would be perfect for a shiny white office. 
  
  
  
  The problem is it has no fan although on its website it claims excellent heat conductivity. From what I’ve read, it gets pretty hot. And overheating is a concern since these drives would probably be used when the computer is on. 
  
  This means the search for a white external hard disk is still on. 
  
  
• Monitor:
  After using dual monitors, I can never go back. Problem is I haven’t come across a nice looking white monitor yet.
  
  
• Printer:
  Last time I visited the electronics store, I think I saw some nice white printers. Have to look into it some more. 
  

That’s all for now!
If you have any suggestions to add to the shiny white office, please let me know!  

Fun: Making Jamba Juice’s Orange Dream Machine with bamix

Orange Dream Machine is my favorite drink at Jamba Juice. Unfortunately, there are no Jamba Juices in Japan, so I wondered if I could make the drink myself.   After searching around, I found recipes at Yahoo Answers and another one here. Here’s the recipe from Yahoo Answers:

For 24oz (Original size)

• 5oz (148 ml) of Orange Juice
  
• 5oz (148 ml) of Soy milk
  
• 2 scoops of orange sherbet
  
• 2 scoops of frozen yogurt
  
• 1 scoop of crushed Ice
  

Searching for the ingredients in Japan
OJ and soy milk was easy to find. Orange sherbet and frozen yogurt wasn’t. After looking in three different super markets, I found something close to the orange sherbet, unfortunately I couldn’t find any frozen yogurt, nor could I find any low fat vanilla ice cream. So I had to substitute frozen yogurt with just plain vanilla ice cream. (I know, the whole healthy aspect is ruined…)

Anyway, here are snapshots of the ingredients.





Now let’s blend it with our magical tool – bamix!
To blend the drink, I used the shiny white kitchen gadget – bamix! The bamix allows me to blend a drink in the cup itself. I don’t think the results are smooth as a real blender, but I’m too lazy to dig out the blender. Plus, the cleanup is much easier =)



You can read all about bamix goodess at their website.



Let’s blend away!
And here is what I got! It’s not as creamy, but it sure does taste similar!

Links and Sources:

• Jamba Juice
  
• Bamix
  
• Yahoo Answers
  
• Rouge Idea
  

Awesome User Experiences: The browser in Nintendo Spot Viewer

I covered the Nintendo Spot service for DS in Japan earlier in July. Basically it’s a service that lets you download a viewer/browser on to your DS to browse information and download games at McDonald’s.

The viewer/browser of Nintendo provides an awesome user experience for lefties. The browser lets you switch the vertical scroll bar from the right side to the left side (and vice versa) by pressing a button on the top of the scroll bar.

You can see the browser being demonstrated in the following YouTube video.

It’s a very neat feature for pen / stylus based interfaces. I also think it should be implemented in computer operating systems too. For example, Mac OS X doesn’t let you configure the position of the vertical scroll bar. A lefty who uses one of the Wacom tablets would greatly appreciate this feature.

Review: Yamaha NX-U02 – USB Powered Stereo Speaker

There are 5 things on my desk in my home office in Tokyo:

1. A white MacBook
   
2. An Apple Wireless Keyboard
   
3. A wireless Mighty Mouse
   
4. LaCie mini Hard Drive – to be replaced soon
   
5. And lastly, the Yamaha NX-U02 speaker, which is the subject of this post

So why did I end up with the NX-U02?

The problem
The search for a new speaker began when I found out that it took too much time to set up speakers for presentations. In a nutshell, here were the problems I encountered:

• Untangling cables of audio and power cords
  
• Having always to look for a power outlet
  

So naturally, I wanted a solution that could allow me to set up more quickly. I started looking for good speakers that were powered by USB or FireWire, which would not only solve my problems, but also reduce clutter on my desk.

Possible solution #1: LaCie FireWire Speakers
I first came across the LaCie FireWire Speakers. They got an interesting design and the plus is it uses FireWire, so it can leave my USB ports for something else.

It’s capable of outputting 8W (4W per speaker). One thing I wish it had were volume controls on the speakers.

They’re currently available at Amazon for $77.37.

Possible solution #2: Yamaha NX-U10
This Yamaha speaker was tempting. Here are the good points about it:

• up to 20W of output 
  
• can be powered by batteries, USB, or AC adapter
  
• the Yamaha brand name
  

The only bad part – it doesn't come in WHITE!

The NX-U10 is available at Yamaha’s website for $179.95.

The Solution: Yamaha NX-U02
I eventually settled with the NX-U02. The good points about it:

• Very simple and elegant design. And it’s white!
  
• Able to output 20W
  
• The Yamaha brand name
  
• There are three buttons on top for muting and volume controls. 

The downsides:

• On very rare occasaions, the sound does skip or hiccup probably because not enough power is being supplied to the speaker
  
• The speaker has a nice shiny white finish, yet the USB cable it comes with is black. From a production perspective, it’s probably difficult since there are different colored models. Still, if the USB cable was white, it would complete the user experience. 
  
• Unlike the previous two speakers, there are no other audio sound inputs besides USB, which means there is no way to hook up MP3 players or iPods to it. 

Conclusion:
I’m not really an audiophile, so I cannot comment too much about the sound. It sounds nice and the bass is noticeable, though not strong. For office use, I think it’s great. Unlike the other speakers mentioned above, you cannot hook it up to any other music devices. However, this versatility is traded off for simplicity in use.

It's pricey, but if portability, reducing desk clutter, and freeing up more power outlets are your priorities, I would recommend considering the NX-U02.  

I have these speakers for almost half a year, and I’m satisfied. It’s easy to bring to places and, most importantly, sped up my set up time for presentations.

The NX-U02 is available in white, red, and black at Yamaha's website for $149.95.

Worth mentioning: Yamaha NX-B02
Yamaha also has Bluetooth versions of NX-U02. It uses batteries or an ac adaptor as power source. However, it’s only capable of outputting 10W when the USB version can do 20W. It also sports a higher price tag at $199.95.

This speaker could be perfect for presentations. Having no wires makes it even more portable, but in my past experience, my Bluetooth experience hasn’t been all that seamless. I could just imagine everybody in the meeting room waiting for me to pair the speaker with my MacBook. With that thought, it’s plug-and-play USB for now.

Mac: Spring cleaning my MacBook + Using iMovie ’08 with an external hard drive

Having found out that my Mac Mini (PowerPC G4 1.42 GHz with 1GB of RAM) can’t run Logic Studio, I have no choice but to run it on my MacBook (2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 2GB of RAM). So I needed more hard drive space, and decided to do some spring cleaning on my MacBook.

Trying to find out what’s taking up so much space
After researching a bit, I found a MacWorld article talking about utilities that would help me figure out the files and folders that are taking up space. There was WhatSize and OmniDiskSweeper, which weren’t free. I decided to try out GrandPersepctive, which was free.

Understanding what’s on your hard disk visually with GrandPerspective
GrandPerspective maps out your hard disk visually. It groups the files by folders visually, and files are represented in blocks. The bigger the block, the bigger the file.


It’s a very nifty app and helped me find out what’s taking up a lot of space rather quickly.

What’s going to take up space in the future?
With that I located the big files and folders and got them transferred to an external drive. Planning for the future, I realized the biggest storage eaters will be movie projects and presentation files.

For presentation files, I've decided just to keep all presentation files in one folder so I can always keep an eye on it. So with Spotlight, I pulled up all my Keynote presentation files and moved them to one folder.

One might ask why I didn’t use smart folders. I intended to, but I found out that you can’t sort/filter by size in smart folders. Hope that gets changed in the near future.

Getting iMovie ‘08 to work with external storage
Now for the movies, what I want to do is like iPhoto, where I can have the files on a separate hard drive. I fiddled with iMovie ’08 a bit, but couldn’t figure it out. So I did some research and came across this article from Apple.

According to the article, Event files are what’s taking up space. You want to avoid moving the Event files manually as you would break the connection to existing projects. The article contains a section called Moving Events, which has step-by-step instructions to move Events in iMovie '08.

The hunt for external storage begins
Since I decided to keep movie files and other bigger files on an external drive, I’ll need a new backup solution that can backup my MacBook and the external drive. In particular, I want to avoid clutter on my table as well as additional power cables. Right now, my top candidates are the G-Raid Mini and G-Raid. They're both compact and can be powered by USB / Firewire. The only bad part – it’s not white! Oh well, I’ll shop around, and maybe I’ll come across something that’s good and shiny white.

Links

• Byte Breakdown @ MacWorld
  
• GrandPerspective
  
• iMovie ’08: Moving iMovie footage to another drive
  
• G-Raid
  
• G-Raid Mini
  

Trying to make iPod touch 2G into an iPhone using CradlePoint’s PHS300

In a previous post (iPod touch 2G vs. iPhone 3G), I mentioned the key differences between the iPod touch 2G vs. iPhone 3G.

1. Phone / SMS + Contacts integration
   
2. GPS
   
3. Internet connectivity everywhere
   
4. A camera + an easy way to manage photos
   
5. Less items to carry
   

In the latest issue of the Japanese magazine, Mac Fan, I came across CradlePoint’s PHS300.

PHS300 lets you become a walking WiFi hotspot
The PHS300 (with the PHS standing for personal hotspot) is a portable WiFi router (powerd by a battery) that can be connected to broadband-enabled cellular phones and modems. According to bloggers that used the device, one charge for the PHS300 can last about 1.5 hours with an USB modem. It costs $179.99 and you can purchase it on CradlePoint's homepage.  

The iPod touch + PHS300 combo
So the idea here is – we can use the PHS300 as a mobile wifi hotspot and hook the iPod touch to it.

With the PHS300, we can eliminate another difference between the Touch and iPhone – Internet connectivity everywhere. That’s right, using the PHS300 with an iPod touch you can surf the web with Safari, watch YouTube videos, buy music from the iTunes store, and use apps that require a net connection at any location with coverage. That also means that Maps app can find the approximate location of where you are, which makes the iPod touch become a pseudo-GPS device.

Pricing
Let’s take a look at what we have to pay for:

• iPod touch 16GB + PHS300:
  iPod touch 16GB ($299) + PHS300 (179.99) + Mobile Broadband Internet connection fees + modem
  
  
• iPhone 3G
  iPhone 3G 16GB (around $750 w/o contract) + Voice and Data Plan

The difference:
In terms of hardware, iPod touch and PHS300 together cost $480 while the iPhone alone is $750. The difference is about $270. You also have to factor in the modem or handset that will be providing the Internet connection. So at the end of the day, the price difference in terms of hardware is not a whole lot, and the iPhone 3G might actually be the better deal. It is especially the case if you get an iPhone with a contract, which makes the iPhone itself a lot cheaper.  

Advantages of the iPod touch + PHS300 combo
The iPod touch + PHS300 combo does have one plus that the iPhone 3G does not have – ability to share an Internet connection. That means other devices and computers can also share the connection.

Disadvantages of the iPod touch + PHS300 combo
Compared to the iPhone, you don’t get the camera, the phone, and a real GPS. More importantly, you have to bring a lot of gadgets to achieve what the iPhone can do. Here’s exactly what you need to bring:

1. A cell phone
   
2. A camera if your cell phone doesn’t have one
   
3. An iPod touch
   
4. PHS300
   
5. A modem if your cell phone is mobile broadband enabled
   

In the worst case, you need to bring 5 gadgets to do what one iPhone can do!!! In the best case scenario, you’ll need at least 3 gadgets.

iPhone also provides an extra layer of convenience. With the iPod touch + PHS300 combo, when you need to get online, you have to turn on the switch. If you’re using a cellular phone with the PHS300, you have to connect it. When you’re done, you have to turn it off assuming you want to preserve battery life.

And of course, the iPhone also lets you streamline you data management like photos and contacts because they are all integrated.

Who should consider the iPod touch + PHS300 combo?
If you already have a mobile broadband cell phone or modem with an unlimited data plan and you’re locked into a contract, by purchasing the PHS300 and an iPod touch, it could be next closest thing to an iPhone without having to change or sign up for new services.

I, myself, have a mobile broadband device, an unlimited data plan, and a first gen iPod touch. PHS300 itself is an attractive device, but I don’t think it can replace the iPhone experience. The convenience of streamlined data management and carrying less devices is winning me over. Even if I do get the iPhone, I will probably still end up buying the PHS300 because it compliments my mobile broadband connection very well. Who wouldn’t want to be a walking hotspot?

Lastly, more info on PHS300
I’ve read a few blog posts regarding the PHS300, and they were in general very positive. So positive it’s making me want to get one.

Here are two posts that I found informative and helped me with this post:

• Review: CradlePoint PHS300 allows wifi almost anywhere
  
• Is that hotspot in your pocket?
  

Awesome User Experiences: MacBook and Headphones

Awesome User Experiences is a new series of posts on really cool user experiences. If you have any awesome user experiences with gadgets or anything, please share it!

I’d like to start off the series with MacBook and headphones. I think it works with any Mac that has OS X, but since I haven’t really confirm it on any other Macs, I’ll stay with the MacBook. Let's begin!

Lousy User Experience:
Remember those times when you plug in your headphones, and when you attempt to play something, your ear is blown out by the loud volume.

Awesome User Experience:
When you plug in your headphones in a MacBook, the volume level is automatically lowered so that you won’t blow out your ears.

It appears that whenever you plug in your headphones, the volume level is changed to an optimal level for your headphones. So even if your volume level is originally muted, after your plug in your headphones, the volume level will be adjusted. This makes sense since it is assumed that if you plug in your headphones, you want to listen.

It is also nice to know that if you unplug your headphones, the volume will return to what ever it was before. If it was muted, it will return to the muted state. If it’s on full blast, it’ll return to full blast.

Neat, heh.

Impressions and pics: iPod Nano 4G

So I was at an electronic store in Tokyo and had a chance to play with the iPod Nano 4G today.

Pictures are at the end of the post (apologizes for the blurry pics, they were taken with my cell phone). And here are my impressions:

• Cover Flow can be activated by tilting the Nano horizontally. The feature worked smoothly and felt like the iPod touch / iPhone experience. In fact, it felt so much like it, my first intuition was trying to flick through the covers with my finger, and I realized, oh, I got to use the click wheel. Maybe they will eventually have a touch screen for Nano in the future. 
  
  
• They probably didn’t think of the tilting feature when they first designed the click wheel. The click wheel provides an intuitive and consistent user experience when the Nano is in both the portrait and landscape mode. Very neat, I thought.
  
  
• After used to watching video on my iPod touch, the Nano screen is simply too small for videos. I can’t imagine watching it for long period of times. 
  
  
• It small and thin, and easy to hold in your hand. The design seems to make the previous Nano look outdated. 
  

And I just realized I forgot to try out the shake and shuffle feature. Oh well, next time.

The Nano 4G seems like a good buy if music listening is the primary activity. The 16GB model should hold quite a collection of music, and in such a small device! If watching videos is something you want to do a lot, the limited memory space and screen space might be something to think about. In that case, the iPod classic gives you lots of space, and the iPod touch gives you a bigger screen. For now, you just can’t get both yet, at least with Apple.

iPod touch 2G vs. iPhone 3G: Which one to buy?

UPDATE: A new post comparing the iPod touch 2g and iPhone 3GS is here.

The iPod touch 2G with its host of new features is even more resembling of iPhone 3G. While many people say the Touch is like an iPhone without a phone, let’s take a closer look at what exactly are missing from the iPod touch 2G:

• Phone / SMS + Contacts integration
  iPod touch owners aren’t just missing out on making phone calls and texting, we’re missing out on contacts integration with our phones. iPhone provides a seamless way of syncing and managing contacts between the phone and the computer.
  
  
• GPS
  This is a very valuable feature in a city like Tokyo where there aren’t a lot of street signs.
  
  
• Internet connectivity everywhere
  iPod touch owners cannot use their FaceBook app or watch YouTube videos in places without an Internet connection.
  
  
• A camera + an easy way to manage photos
  I use my Nokia phone to take a lot of pictures. I have to sync them with iPhoto, and then sync them to my iPod touch. With an iPhone, it’ll save the need to sync twice and you can see the pictures you took without needing to sync.
  
  
• Less items to carry
  iPod touch owners have to carry their iPod and a cellphone. iPhone owners only carry one device.

How much extra to pay for the above?
For simplicity sake, in Japan today you can buy a 16GB iPhone 3G with a 2-year contract for around $320. With an unlimited data plan, you’ll be looking at monthly fees of around $68, which for two years would be $1,632. (I’m in Japan currently so I’m using Japanese pricing as a reference point. I think pricing in other countries should be similar.)

An iPod touch 16GB costs $300 ($299 to be exact), which means that for an extra $20 and two year service fee of about $1,630, you’ll get the above benefits.

It’s a really hard comparison because we are trying to take into consideration of the monthly charges. If we take the monthly charges out of the picture, and buy a 16GB iPhone 3G without a binding contract, it would cost around $750 (80,640 yen). Strictly looking at hardware, the difference is $450.

The bottom line: iPod touch 2G or iPhone 3G?
This is a really tough question. For now, here are the lists of criteria that would help you decide whether you should buy an iPhone vs. the iPod Touch. If you answer yes to most of them, perhaps the iPhone is the better choice.

• Do you manage your contacts with your computer and cellphone?
  
  
• Do you see yourself using GPS and Google Maps a lot?
  
  
• Do you take a lot of casual photos with your cell phone?
  
  
• Do you plan to use a lot of apps that require a net connection?
  
  
• Do you “really” mind carrying two devices instead of one?
  
  
• Do you have MobileMe?
  
  
• Are you a Mac user? And do you use iCal, Address Book, and iPhoto extensively on your Mac?
  

By the way, I answered yes to all the questions above, and I realized, I REALLY want a white shiny iPhone 3G… arghh!

Source:

• Softbank Japan
  
• Apple
  

What's on my Kindle so far?

In addition to a bunch of samples, here are the Kindle books I purchased so far:

• Presentation Zen
  
• The Back of the Napkin
  
• Inside Steve's Brain
  
• Wikinomics: Expanded Edition
  
• Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes
  
• Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good
  

And I haven't finished any of the books yet...

iPod touch 1G vs. iPod touch 2G: To upgrade or not?

Yesterday Apple announced a new version of the iPod touch. When compared to the 1st generation iPod touches, putting the battery life and pricing aside, what’s new?

• New design
  A modified design, but no white version
  
  
• Built-in speakers
  This is a big one for me. There are several occasions at my friend’s house where I found a YouTube video on my Touch, and I can only show it, but with no audio. Those were the times I wished I had an iPhone. 
  
  
• Volume controls
  Volume buttons are on the left side so you can adjust the volume with the iPod touch physically. This goes hand-in-hand with the built-in speakers
  
  
• Support for new earphones, which have a remote for volume and play controls and a mic
  A much needed feature for music playback. With the previous version, every time you wanted to change the volume or song, you had to take the iPod touch out of your pocket. Mic support is neat. Now you won’t miss out on apps that take advantage of a mic like apps that record voice memos and Midomi (singing app). Now if there was a voice chatting app like Skype or iChat, the mic would become extremely useful. If such app does come out in the App Store, it'd be for both iPhone and iPod touch. Cell phone companies probably wouldn’t be too happy with iPhone users talking via wi-fi, so chances are slim for a voice chatting app, I think.
  
  The new earphones are not included, and will set you back $29.99 or $79.99 depending on which model (regular or in-ear) you buy. 
  
  
• Built-in Nike+
  I’m not a big fan of this one. A PDA-sized music player is kind of big to carry for jogging, don't you think?

For owners of iPod Touch 1G (that includes me), should you quickly sell it and buy the new version?
If you can bare with taking out the iPod touch from you pockets every time you want to change a song or adjust volume, then you might want to sit out on this one. As for the speakers, there’s a workaround of attaching external speakers like:

• Digital Age DAP008A PocketSpeakers for iPod Nano
  
• macally IP-A111
  
• Building Block iPod Speaker
  

If a voice chatting / VoIP app does ever come out, then it might worth considering since you can use the iPod touch as a voice communication tool.

You should consider upgrading if:

• you record a lot of voice memos
  
• you like to run and don’t mind the size of the iPod touch
  
• there are apps that use the mic that you absolutely use frequently
  

Now, if you don’t have an iPod touch, should you buy the new version?
Compared to when the 1G came out, the iPod touch has come a long way. It now has all the iPhone apps like Google Maps, and some of the usability flaws are fixed with external volume control, built-in speakers, and the new earphones.

Although it’s positioned as an entertainment device, it’s a very capable PDA. So the answer would be an easy yes - that is a yes, in a world without iPhones.

Potential iPod touch buyers should definitely take a closer look at iPhone before they make their decision.  I'll leave that for the next post.  Stay tuned.

UPDATE: The post where I compare iPod touch 2G with iPhone 3G is here.

Source:

• Apple
  
• MacRumors: Forums
  

Thoughts about the "Let's Rock" Apple Special Event

Just finished watching the Apple Special Event, where lots of new iPods and accessories are introduced. TUAW and Engadget have great coverage, and you can watch the Keynote Address at Apple’s site.

Here are the announcements I  liked:

• NBC is coming back to iTunes! It means I can get my fix of the new season of Heroes and Eureka. 
  
  
• Genius feature in iTunes – Steve Jobs explains it as a feature that can “automatically make play lists from songs in your library that go great together – with just one click” I played around with this feature a bit already, and it worked pretty good. I could see myself using this feature quite a lot. 
  
  
• The Genius side bar – It recommends music to complement your library and playlists. Seems like a great way to discover new music.
   
  

Thoughts about some of the announcements:

• Genius playlist creation in iPod Touch 
  It seems like a great feature, but the thing is I keep videos on the iPod Touch, which takes up space. Naturally, I don’t have much space for my music collection anymore. So without a big music collection on my Touch, I’m not sure if the value of Genius playlist creation will be maximized here. 
  
  
• New earphones, but...
  One of the thing with the Touch was you had to use the iPod Touch itself for play and volume controls. They finally come out with a pair earphone that has a remote and mic EXCEPT it doesn’t work with the previous iPod Touch. Bummer.
  
  
• Nike+ in iPod Touch
  This seemed like a feature that should be for the Nano. Personally, I don't think the Touch is really suitable for a sport accessory due to its size. 
  
  
• No white models!!!
  Oh yeah, and no white models of iPods. 

Source:

• TUAW
  
• Engadget
  
• Apple Special Event Keynote
  

500XL: Super big iPod earbuds - must-have speakers for iPod earbuds fans!

I came across this gadget in a Japanese magazine at the newsstand this weekend. It’s the latest issue of either Mac Fan or Mac People. Anyway, I did a quick search and dug this gadget up.

This shiny white gadget is called the 500XL. It’s basically a pair of speakers that looks like a blown up version of the iPod earbuds. According to its website, it’s supposedly 500 times the size of the original earbuds.

The 500 XL can be powered by batteries, USB, or a generic AC adapter (not included).

ThinkGeek sells it for $49.99, and you can also find more pictures on their site.

I’m not sure if Apple approved this.   If not, maybe get it while it’s still available?

Source:

• Fred & Friends – Product website
  
• ThinkGeek
  

Best of Shiny White Gadgets for June to September

The top posts for the past three months are… drum roll please…

1. SH906i: Sharp’s Answer to iPhone?
   
   
2. Mac Tip: Using Bluetooth Headphones with Mac OS X Leopard
   
   
3. SH906i: User Reviews from Japan
   
   
4. iPod Touch Tip: How to take screenshots
   
   
5. Shiny White iPhone 3G

Whew! It’s already been three months. Thanks for reading!

Since I’m back in Japan now, stay tuned from more white gadget goodness from Japan.

How to buy Kindle books when you’re overseas

If you’re overseas, you’ll have no wireless coverage for your Kindle, which means you can't purchase books straight from the Kindle. Fortunately, Kindle does offer the ability to download the books from your computer. (If they didn’t, I probably wouldn’t have bought it. One big reason I got the Kindle is so that I don’t have to purchase marked up English books here in Japan. The other big reason is that I don’t have to carry books when I go back to the States.)

Here’s how:

1. First buy the Kindle Edition of the book. If you’re in the States (more specifically, an area that has Kindle wireless coverage), the book would normally be sent to you wirelessly, but in this case, we have to download it to a computer and transfer it with the USB cable. 
   
   
2. After you purchased the book, go to “Your Account”. Under the “Where’s My Stuff?” section, you’ll find a link – “View Your Media Library”. Click on that.
   
   
3. You’ll be brought to your Media Library. You should now see the book you purchased. Click on it. 
   
   
4. You’ll now see a page for the book. On the right, you should find a “Download to Computer” link. Click on it, and you can download the book to your computer. 
   
   
   
   
5. Next, connect your powered-on Kindle to your computer via the USB cable. 
   
   
6. Kindle will pop up like a hard drive. Inside you’ll see a documents folder. Copy the book you downloaded  to that folder.
   
   
   
   
7. Remember to eject or disconnect the Kindle properly, and you’re done! Now it's time to head for Starbucks and enjoy the book!
   

You can’t download and transfer samples
In case you’re wondering, it seems like you can’t download samples. Samples do not show up in your media library, so I don’t think there’s a way to download them. If anyone knows how, please let me know =)

Mac: Running Windows XP with VMware Fusion on a MacBook

I finally got VMware Fusion after my friend nagged me for a few weeks. I already run Windows XP with Boot Camp, and I wasn’t really sure how VMware would make things better.

After trying it for a few days, I regret not having installed VMware earlier. I realized that having to reboot to switch to Windows was such a hassle. Being able to run both OS X and Windows simultaneously is really nice. For example, I can now access my iCal while working with stuff on Windows.

Here are the things I like about VMware so far:

• It automatically recognized my Boot Camp Partition, and pretty much set everything up by itself. 
  
  
• I can easily drag and drop files between Windows and Mac. 
  
  
• I also really like the Unity feature, which allows me to run Windows applications as an application in Mac. This means you can minimize Windows apps to the dock and switch between windows using Exposé. 
  
  
  
• Copy and paste between Windows and Mac.

My MacBook is 2.16 Ghz with 2 GB of RAM, and Windows XP has been running smoothly. There have been some glitches. For example, the Unity feature has some problems with dual screens. VMware wouldn’t allow me to drag a Windows application window to my second screen. It’s minor, and overall, I have to say, I’m quite impressed with VMware so far.

Related links:
VMware Fusion Website

5 reasons why Japanese consumers aren't buying iPhones

Just got back to Japan this week. So let’s start with some iPhone news in Japan.

Fuji Sankei Business reported yesterday that Apple’s iPhone sales is losing momentum in Japan. It was predicted that the iPhone would sell 1 million units in Japan, but a Japanese analyst from UBS is predicting that sales will stop at around 200 thousand units.

The article also states reasons why the iPhone is not taking off in Japan. Here they are:

1. No emoticons!
   iPhone does not support emoticons, which is part of mobile texting culture in Japan.
2. Can’t pay for stuff!
   iPhone does not have e-wallet functions, which are common among other recent Japanese handsets. 
3. Can’t watch TV! 
   iPhone also does not have 1seg, which is a service that lets Japnese consumers watch mobile terrestrial digital TV. 
4. Email address has to be changed. 
   Softbank requires iPhone users to change their mobile email addresses. 
5. Short battery life. 
   

The analyst also mentions that Japanese users are accustomed to music players and browsing the mobile web with cell phones already.  Therefore, the iPhone does not bring anything "really" new to the table for Japanese consumers.  

I’d personally add one more reason – the weak content lineup of iTunes in Japan. While it has a solid lineup of music contents, the lack of video contents is quite critical.


Source: FujiSnakei Business (Japanese)