Why Apple would want to reject the Google Voice app

I got my Google Voice invitation awhile ago, but I couldn't use it because I was in Japan. I was back in LA two weeks ago, and had a chance to try Google Voice out. And I can understand why Apple would want to reject the Google Voice app and still let apps like Skype on the iPhone.

How Google Voice works when you want to call a person

Instead of calling people directly, with Google Voice (GV), you tell GV to connect you to the person. So GV is like an operator. So here's what happens:

1. Go to GV via the web, find the contact you want to call, and initiate the call.
2. GV will call you first.
3. After you pick up, you will hear a ringtone connecting you to the person you want to call.

In the case you don't have web access, you can call the GV, and then dial the number you want to call. GV will then connect you.

You might be wondering why wouldn't you just call directly from your phone. The reason is by calling directly, your phone number instead of your GV number will be exposed to the receiver. Only by having GV connect you can you expose the receiver to your GV number.

Fully utilizing GV = say bye bye to Contacts

To fully utilize GV, you will route all your calls through GV, which means that you will be abandoning the Contacts app and functionality of the iPhone. And I don't think Apple is to happy for that.

For the users, this means that you might end up with two set of contacts to manage - one on Google and one on your phone. And that could disrupt the user experience. If your contacts aren't synced properly, there might be cases when you want to email someone from your phone and find their email isn't there or outdated.

Impressions of GV

Personally, I think it's a wonderful, but "geeky" service right now. What I like the most is the ability for me to attach and remove numbers from the GV account. That means I can just hand out one universal number, and when I'm in town with a different mobile number, I can simply assign that.

GV also offers call screening, which is a nice feature, but annoying to your friends. You do have the option to turn of call screening for selected individuals / groups, but that just mean more configuring work for you to do.

The other thing I like about GV is that is emails you when you get a SMS or Voicemail. It's also nice that they are consolidating communications from the phone. Once they integrate this with GMail, you can have all the communications consolidated. And that would be cool, and kind of scary...

And finally, there's also a neat feature of "Do Not Disturb". When this is turned on, every call placed to your GV number will be sent right to the voice mail. So it's very useful if you don't want to take any calls or you're outside the country.

Ways of using GV when you're out of the country

GV currently only works in US. Though once you activate the service, you'll be able to access the page from other countries. So you could still check voice mails.

Now back in Japan, I was thinking how I can still use it. And although it's not free, with the help of Skype, you can still receive calls via GV when you're abroad. I have yet to try it out, but here's how I imagine it would work:

1. Get a Skype online number that's based in US.
2. Make sure you have credits or an unlimited Skype calling plan to the country you're in.
3. Forward all Skype calls to your international number.
4. Hook up the Skype number to GV.
5. So every time someone calls your GV number, it will connect to the Skype number.
6. Skype will then forward the call to your international number. This is also the part that will incur fees, meaning the NOT FREE part.

Hopefully, I'll try this out one of these days. That is unless Google rolls the service out internationally before I do =)

Review: Keynote Remote iPhone App Revisited

About 4 months ago, I gave my quick review of the Keynote Remote app for iPhone. I do a lot of presentations during meetings with clients. Once I enter that meeting room, I want to be able to get everything set up in the shortest amount of time possible. So for those situations, I prefer to stick with the Front Row remote rather than the Keynote Remote app for iPhone, which requires me to pair it up.

Recently though, I had a chance to use it at an internal meeting where I had time before hand to pair the computer with the iPhone app.

Surprised reaction to using iPhone to control presentations
So the meeting started, and I navigated to the next slide with a swipe on my iPhone, and my boss asked, "You can do that?" So, apparently, it seems that using your iPhone or touch to control presentations is a pretty neat and cool thing.

Portrait mode in Kyenote Remote iPhone app rocks!
Since the slide shows up on the iPhone, there's no need to look at the presentation screen. That's great, but even better is to have your notes available to you when the app is in portrait mode.

Tip on using notes on Keynote Remote
Although you can put a bunch of notes and memo for each slide, but I don't recommend that. Besides, the screen real estate on your iPhone isn't very big and navigating through lots of text isn't very practical during a presentation. Instead, I recommend putting down the key message of the slide. Every slide has a purpose and a message to deliver.

So every time when I move to a new slide, I get reminded exactly what I need to convey with the slide by the app. Very very nice.


So, if you do presentations where you have ample time to set up the equipment beforehand, this app is a gem for doing presentations.

iPod touch vs iPhone - 9 differences

I started off as an iPod touch user, and when the iPhone was finally released in Japan, I made the switch. And after having some time playing with an iPhone 3GS, I present you an updated post comparing the iPod touch 2g with the iPhone 3GS.

I hope this blog post will provide some helpful insight if you're deciding between the iPhone and iPod touch. Let's get started!

1. Internet everywhere or not?

When I switched from an iPod touch to an iPhone, the biggest difference was having Internet access everywhere. I can't ever go back to the touch unless I can get wifi everywhere. Having Internet access everywhere means having the freedom to look up maps and search for prices on Amazon when I'm outside at a store. Convenient.

Of course, if you don't use public transit and have access to wifi everywhere, or at least, in areas where you're at the most, this wouldn't be a critical factor and difference.

2. Phone and Contacts

Having all your contacts on your iPod is kind of cool, and useful. It would be awesome if we were still in the age of Palm Pilots. Being able to look up a contact, and immediately call them, that's even cooler - only possible with the iPhone.

It's definitely possible to try to use the Skype app to make the touch into a phone since Skype is integrated with your contacts on the iPhone. The only problem is the iPod touch doesn't have a built-in mic, which means you're stuck with using add-ons or the mic headsets. I'd imagine it would be find if you're trying to make a call, but imagine getting a call. If you're using mic headsets, you have to scramble to get the headset on to take the call. And, unfortunately, doesn't seem like the new touches support BlueTooth headsets. I'm guessing that is Apple's way of differentiating the touch and the iPhone - the touch just is not meant for a phone.

If BlueTooth headsets work as mics, then the touch could really be usable as a phone with Skype.

If you manage your contacts, this may be a critical feature to lean toward the iPhone. I used to manage my contacts, and I had to sync them to my Nokia cellphone. And it wasn't a pleasant experience. The groups didn't sync, and it just wasn't a seamless experience. With the iPhone it's seamless. Groups are retained. And if you pair the iPhone with MobileMe service, contacts are always updated. If someone calls me, I can add them into the contacts. And when I go home, it's there in my computer. Beautiful.

3. Having 1 device or 2 devices (iPod touch + phone)

Having to carry one less device has been wonderful. Now if they can only get the iPhone to work as a TV remote, wallet, a key, and a train pass, then there's only one thing I need to bring. Anyways, not to stray from the topic, the iPhone means you carry one less device.

4. GPS and compass

If you live in a city where you're on foot and rely and public transportation a lot, navigation within the city becomes critical. Personally, I've been using this in Tokyo, and boy has this made my life easier when going to new areas in the city. And with the new compass built in, you'll be able to instantly find your direction, and get on your way right away.

5. A word about icons for your music and videos

This was actually one thing that I found some time getting to use to when I switched from a touch to the iPhone. If an icon on the touch / iPhone is an app, on the touch you have two apps - one for video and one for music. I really liked this.

However, on the iPhone, you get the iPod app. So if I wanted to watch a video, I have to go to the iPod app, and then select the video tab. One extra step.

Music and Videos icons for iPod touch

iPod icon instead for the iPhone

7. Camera

In Japan, where phones have 8 mega-pixel camera, the iPhone camera stinks pretty bad. The 3GS has an improved camera, and thankfully, a macro mode so that you can actually take snapshots of memos and magazine articles.

Even tough the camera isn't all that good, I still love it. It's a major reason that I would pick the touch over the iPhone. The ability to take casual pictures and videos on-the-go without having to carry another device, that's great. And now the iPhone 3GS has a better camera, it's great for business use as well. Imagine you have a meeting and there are notes and diagrams on the white board, just bust our your phone. If your colleagues need it, email them right away from the phone. Just like that, boom!

Hopefully rumors are true that the touch will soon come with a camera. For now, it doesn't have one, and if taking photos isn't your thing, it's one less reason for the iPhone.

8. The position of the earphone jack

I don't read this very often on other reviews, but I did notice this when I made the switch from the touch to the iPhone. On the iPod touch, the earphone jack is on the bottom. For the iPhone, it's on the top.

What does this mean? The touch is optimized for pant pockets, and iPhone is optimized for shirt pockets. Look at the photos below and try to imagine.

With the iPhone, when you hold the phone upright, you can't slide that into your pant pockets without changing the orientation of the phone. However, if you drop it into your shirt pocket, it will work very well. It the opposite for the touch.

iPhone in the shirt pocket

iPod touch in pant pocket. With the jack on the bottom, it's a natural movement for your hand to put the touch in the pant pocket.

Though it's a minor thing, but if you never wear shirts with pockets, every time you want to put your iPhone in your pant pockets when listening to music with wired headset or earphones, one extra movement will be needed. Might be something to think about.

9. Size and Thinness

The iPod touch is slim and also has a smaller footprint. Personally, I think the touch is slicker in form factor. When you hold it a touch in your hands, the iPhone feels bulky.

iPod touch 2g (left) vs. iPhone 3GS (right) in thinness

and the size. touch on the left, and iPhone on the right.

So, the iPhone or the touch?

For me, it's definitely the iPhone. If all you need is playing music, video, and games, the iPod touch is perfect. And you get a bunch of additional features. Unfortunately, most of them will be relying on an Internet connection - i.e., email, browser, YouTube, Weather. But if you value those additional features and want to truly take advantage of them, the iPhone is a good candidate. And if you want it to do more phone stuff, PDA stuff, and business stuff, then you might also want to consider the iPhone.

If you answer mostly yes to the following questions, the iPhone might just be a good choice.

1. Do you need to have Internet access everywhere assuming you don't have access to wifi hotspots most of the time?
2. Do you manage contacts on your phone and computer?
3. Is having less devices to carry with you a big deal for you?
4. Do you live in a big city where maps and navigation? (especially on foot)
5. Do you take (or plan to take) a lot of videos and photos on-the-go?

Good luck, and thanks for reading!

Quick Review: MacBook Air

I had the chance of using a MacBook Air (the latest and fastest model - 2.13 ghz and 128 GB SSD) for the past two weeks, and generally, I love it! I've been running Windows 7 as well as mainly office applications, and the speed was good - didn't feel slow and sluggish at all. Here is my quick review:

It's super light!

Spending most of my time in Tokyo for the past few years, I commute and bring my MacBook (the white one) to meetings. And especially in the summer where it's humid and hot, it's even more difficult to bare. And after carrying an Air, for the past two years when I had my MacBook, I wished I had one of these. If you live in a city where you travel by foot, buses, and trains, I think the Air will delight you.

The full size keyboard is great!

The Air is thin, but its sports nearly the same size as a MacBook, which means you get a full size keyboard. It stills take up quite the same amount of space on your desk as a MacBook would. It also means that the computing experience is not compromised; it feels just like working on my MacBook.

The Air cannot be compared to netbooks for I think their purposes are different. Netbooks have a compromise - small size and less computing power. The Air does not have these compromises. I'd like to think of it as a MacBook that's very light for traveling. The important thing is - the Air is mobile, but not PORTABLE. Netbooks are portable, and if it's a portable machine you want, you should look into netbooks. But if you want to edit your PowerPoint slides or type a long blog entry, and be able to carry it in your backpack without a burden on your shoulders, the Air might be for you.

Other things I like:

• screen is bright compared to my white MacBook
• big trackpad is good
• able to use 4 finger gestures to show desktop and expose is very convenient (In fact, when I'm working on my MacBook I find myself using those gestures. Of course, it doesn't work, and I have to resort to my hot corners work around for showing the desktop and expose)

The bad news: only one USB port

Having only one USB port hurts.

My exact experience:

1. Used wired mouse to do some stuff
2. Had to use the ethernet adapter to connect to Internet (didn't have wi-fi at that time). Meant I had to disconnect my mouse.
3. Oh yeah, the other time, to sync my iPhone, I have to unplug my mouse again...

I can easily imagine other scenarios. For example, needing to use a USB thumb drive and a mouse at the same time. The only solution is to get a USB port. In a sense, this machine is ahead of its time. The wireless working environments have yet to truly catch up. (At least, the place where I worked).

Final words

I don't think the Air can suffice as a primary machine, which makes the price of it is not very justifiable. However, if you live in a city like Tokyo and your job demands you to travel a lot, the Air could be your best friend, and the price may just be justifiable.

Times - a pretty RSS reader for the Mac

I am still looking for a nice RSS reader solution.  Right now, Netvibes is what I use to view my RSS feeds.  A few weeks ago, I bought the MacHeist Bundle, which included Times, an RSS reader application for Mac.  

I read good things about Times, and I was quite excited.  I also took the time to look at and decide which feeds are must reads.  I realized I have quite a lot of feeds to go though, and it's taking too much time (although it's interesting and great when you don't really want to do any work...)  So I narrowed down the feeds and settled down with the following:

• Engadget
  
• TUAW 
  
• VentureBeat
  
• TechCrunch
  
• LA Times
  
• CNN
  
• Yahoo! News: Entertainment
  
• NYT: Movies
  

Using Times

So I thought I set up these feeds in Times, and read it in Times every morning.  I'll save Netvibes for coffee breaks =)  So I set up the feeds and put them in two pages (tabs) - Tech and News.  

Good parts:

• It looks great (check out the screen shot above).  The presentation is great.
  
• Right click on an article and you could post to Twitter, Delicious, Digg, and share on FaceBook
  
• There's also a "mail article" feature where it'll open up Mail, compose a message with the article.  
  

Places for improvement:

• When you start up Times, it takes sometimes for it to update all the feeds.  Meanwhile, it stills shows you the feeds from before.  Sometimes I forget it needs to load, and I would think that there seem to be no new entries, and I'd close it.  In Netvibes, it first displays loading for every feeds, and when it's done I know I'm looking at the latest.  But it's minor and I could live with this.  
  
• From time to time, switching tabs seems to be a bit sluggish considering I only have two tabs.
  

Wishlist

iPhone app that can sync with the desktop version

Lastly...

Times is $30 to purchase.  Personally, I feel it's a bit pricy for that price.  However, it definitely makes reading feeds a much more pleasant experience.  Definitely give it a test drive and see if this is your thing.   (I think you can try it out before your purchase.)  

Quick review: Apple Wireless Keyboard

I have used the most recent version of Apple's wireless keyboard for almost a year now.  And this is one of my favorite gadgets.  Here's a quick review.  

What's good:

• The design: it's compact, it's thin, and it's elegant.  
  
  
• Comfortability:  Although it's not complete flat, but the flat keys and the small angle of the keyboard provides a very nice typing experience.  I took out my old Apple wireless keyboard and I realized how much stress it had on my wrist.   I think once you get used to typing on this keyboard, you really can't go back to the traditional keyboards.  
  

What's no so good:

• Lacking the number pad:  I was used to using the number pad for entering numbers especially, so that's one thing I really miss.  It's really a pity that there is not wireless version with a number pad.  If you're absolutely need number pad, I suggest going with the wired version.  
  
  
• The function key row shares with the one-touch access keys to Mac features such as brightness and volume.  Although it would increase the size and it would not be consistent with the notebook keyboard layouts, but since it's primarily used at home, I wished they separate the function key rows and create a new row for the one-touch access keys.  The one touch access keys to control things like volume, iTunes, and brightness is really convenient, but I also use the function keys quite often.  I have one touch access on as default, so I have to hold down the fn key on the lower left to use the function keys.  
  

On my wish list:

Since the wireless keyboard is quite portable, I wish one day I could pair it up via Bluetooth with my iPhone.  That would be awesome!  

Conclusion

If you don't have much space on your desk and you don't mind not having a number pad, I fully recommend this keyboard.  (Of course, you'll need a Mac.)  If you haven't used a recent Mac notebook that features this kind of keyboard, be sure to try it out at an Apple store to see if you like the touch and feel of the keys.  Personally, I think it's let stress on the wrist, and that's a good thing =)

Thanks for reading!

Why you shouldn't buy the new iPod shuffle

I always though the iPod shuffle was neat because of its tiny size.  However, I never really found the need for it in my life.  I could imagine if it would be great for running or cycling.  As for me, I'm a swimmer, and I'm still waiting on the solution for listening to music while swimming.  

The latest version got even smaller and comes with some gadgety features.  Here are some of my thoughts.

Tiny size - By moving the controls to the earphones, they managed to make the shuffle even smaller.  However, the major problem is that you cannot use a earphone of your choice, and you're stuck with Apple's earphones.  If you want to use a earphone of your choice, you might have to spend more money on a separate adapter.  

It talks to you - The new shuffle announces the name of the song you're listening, and announces the playlists so that you can navigate your playlists.  Frankly, I think this kind of navigation is a step backward.  Isn't that why Apple invented the visual voicemail so you don't have to listen to each item one by one?  

I'd assume it works if you have a few playlists, but it would probably not be very usable with a lot of playlists.  

However, navigation by voice would come very handy in situations where you can't divert your eyes to a visual interface like running.  Which brings me up to the next point -

The lack of sports features - Considering shuffle is the best line for athletes and sports, any kind of sporty features isn't there.  You see Nike+ features for iPod touches and Nanos, but the shuffle is really the product that needs it because it's so suitable for sports.  

At $79, the shuffle is a tempting buy.  Although it now supports playlists, I question the usability of using voice feature as navigation.  For someone that wants to buy it for sports like running, I'd hold off a bit because, first, you can't use other sports-oriented earphones, and second, there are no running features like Nike+.  I'm sure Apple knows the shuffle is perfect for sports, and knowing that other iPods have the Nike+ treatment, I think we'll see a shuffle more suitable for sports in the future.  

Review: Keynote Remote App

Up till last month, the official way to control Keynote was to use the Apple Remote.  At MacWorld last month, Apple released the Keynote Remote app for iPod touch / iPhone.  The app costs $0.99 and with it you can control your presentations with your touch or iPhone.  

So why would you use the Keynote Remote app on your iPhone over the regular Apple Remote:

• one less thing to carry
  
• you can see your notes (in portrait mode)
  
• you can see your next slide (in landscape mode) 
  
• it's connected via wifi so you don't have to worry about pointing anything to your computer and make sure it receives the signal
  

And reasons for sticking with the classic Apple Remote

• extra step of setting up and make sure your iPhone is linked with your computer via wifi
  
• if your presentation is filled with videos, the Apple Remote may be preferred.  As the Keynote Remote app does not have any video or playback controls for the videos.  This means you can't pause or rewind during when a video is playing.  
  
• if you usually stand rather close to your computer for presentations
  

My verdict

I do most of my presentations as clients' office, so I do everything I can do to speed up my set up time.  On top of that, my presentations are filled with videos, and playback controls are critical.  For now, I'll be sticking with the Apple Remote as my presentation remote.

There are some stuff I wish they implement in the future like display the time and elapsed time of the presentation as an option instead of notes, for example.  And, hopefully one day I could load presentation files and play them back in a slideshow without connecting to a computer so I can rehearse during the commute to my clients' offices.

Personally I think this app should be free as the only users are people who actually bought iWork and use Keynote.   But at $0.99 and if you're a heavy Keynote user, you might want to check it out.  

Impressions: iLife '09 - iWeb

iPhoto, GarageBand, and iMovie kind of stole the spotlight of iLife '09, but I'm looking forward  to iWeb as well.  Let's see what I can come up with.  

New Themes - a few too little, no?

There are only two new themes - Leaf Print and Fine Line.  Two?! Only?

As a blog tool - not so good

I hoped that they would improve the blogging functionality, but not much changes here.  The problem with using iWeb as a blog tool compared with Blogger is that iWeb creates each separate entry as a page.  Although you can change the layouts of the entries using a tepmplate feature, there seems to be no way to edit the individual components.  

So for each entry, I have to re-enter the title of my blog unless I want it to always show the default text like "My Blog."  

Luckily, they included an RSS widget, which means you can stream your blog to your iWeb site using RSS.  

YouTube Widgets

These are pretty easy to use.  Drag the widget to your page, and enter an YouTube URL.  Nice!  But I think they were here since last version.

Where are the iTunes widgets?

So it seems the My iTunes Widgets aren't in iWeb.  You have to get them through iTunes. 

FaceBook updates

This is a nifty feature.  It'll update my FaceBook profile when I publish or update the site.  I'm looking forward to integration like this for other services like Twitter.

The results and the verdict

So after playing around with an hour, here is what I have.  

It seems like iWeb has only gotten a minor update.  The RSS feed widget is a nice edition and the FaceBook update are what I like about it.  It still cannot really be used as a blogging software though it sure does have the potential to become one.  

impressions: iLife '09 - iPhoto

So I got iLife '09 all installed.  It's time to take a look!

Faces

I'm quite excited about the face detection and recognition as well as the places feature, so I'm going to start here.  It prompted me to upgrade my library, and after that, iPhoto loaded.  Under Faces, it's scanning photos for faces, and it says it's going to take 70 minutes or so!  

Places

Places is working, so let's look there.  The only phone I have that has geotagging would be my iPhone, but let's see.  You are presented with a map and there are red pins, which indicate where photos are taken.  Double clicking lets you zoom in.  Ctrl + double clicking zooms you out.  

I went to Disney Sea in Tokyo last year, and the photos I took with my iPhone is mapped out.  I thought they would be lumped together, but they are mapped down to a more granular level that I imagine it'd be.  I could actually see where in the park did I took all the pictures.  That is neat!  

Disney Sea Resort in Tokyo

Now this makes me want to take more photos with my iPhone.  Or maybe, get another camera that has geo-tagging... urgh!!!

Ok, Faces still requires 44 more minutes.  Let's check out the other stuff.

Slideshows

Come to think of it, I never really used the slideshow feature, but now I could export it, it seems to become more useful.

Once you selected the photos you want to use as a slideshow, you just press the Slideshow button.  And then you can configure the slideshow.  There are six themes:

1. classic
   
2. kens burn
   
3. scrapbook
   
4. shatter
   
5. sliding panels
   
6. snapshots
   

Each theme also has a different background music.  There doesn't seem to be a way to save the slideshow by using the Slideshow button.  

To create a save-able slide show, it appears I have to create one using the "+" button on the lower left.  That let's me create and save a slideshow that I could come back later.   After I create one, it appears on the left column under SLIDESHOWS.  All I have to is to drop the photos I want inside.  

Exporting Slideshows to iPhones, iPods, and more

After you finish configuring the slideshow, the Export button will let you export to iPod, iPhone, AppleTV, computer, and MobileMe.  Very slick, but since it's technically a movie, having the ability to go straight to YouTube like iMovie could be nice too.  

Once it finishes processing, the slideshows show up under movies.  And you can plug in your iPhone and sync the slideshows.  

After fiddling around, there doesn't seem to be a way to export a slideshow directly to MobileMe.  In order to share on MobileMe, you'd have to upload or drop it in a MobileMe website.  

In short, the slideshows look great and it's easy to get them on iPhones and iPods, but other than that, it's not so easy.  

Ok, back to Faces

Since there is no one registered,  Faces instructs me to find a photo with people and name someone.  Found a photo with myself, and named myself.  And under Faces, I see myself.  It gives me a couple of photos that I'm in.  I have to confirm them, and after that, it brings up more photos to confirm.  There are a few pictures that weren't correct.  Is iPhoto suggesting this people look like me?  Anyways, after the confirming exercise, iPhoto will bring up a bunch of photos that have me inside.  The final results are pretty accurate.

I'll save MobileMe, Facebook, and Flickr integration for later.  But this version of iPhoto is impressive.  Having the ability to sort through photos by people, time (events), and places makes a lot of sense, and definitely sets a new standard to what photo manage should be today.

Review and Photos: Air Jacket White for iPhone 3G

After reading about the Air Jacket (white) for iPhone 3G from Power Support on a Japanese blog, I decided to get one for myself too.  

You can find more information about it here at its US website.  Unfortunately, it seems that in US there is only the clear and black mode.  

Here are my impressions:

How does it fit?

It fits nicely and protects the back.  It also comes with two protective film layers - a anti-glare one and a non-anti-glare one.  The film is your protection on the front.

How well does it protect the iPhone?

It protects the backside of your iPhone and exposes the bottom, the volume controls area, and the top part.  The front is protected by film.  So this is definitely not an all protective case if that's what you're looking for.  

How does it look?

As you can see in the photo, you will notice that it resembles the previous version of Apple's wireless mouse.   For the white version, you could still slightly see the Apple logo and the other text on the back.  In the end, not sure if it's intentional, but you get a slight subtle gray Apple logo.  It looks kind of cool.  

Impressions

All the cases I've tried for iPhone and iPod touches so far have the entire case enclosing everything except the screen.   This is the first time I'm using a case that exposes the front side of the iPhone.  And I found that I actually prefer that because I realized the case that surrounds the screen usually gets in the way when typing.  

Though not as protective, I think with the front surface exposed, it increases the usability.  Typing and moving icons around are a lot easier to do.  

My only gripe would be that the volume controls are hard to push as they are surrounded by the casing.  See the picture below.  

But overall, it  looks nice, and it makes my iPhone shiny and white, and it does not add a lot of thickness, so I'm quite satisfied so far. More images below, and thanks for reading!

The top of the iPhone

The front.  Pardon the dust =)

And finally, the bottom.

Impressions of SF Macworld Keynote Announcements - iLife and iWork '09, iTunes, and etc.

So I woke up here in the land of the rising sun on Wednesday.  With the time difference, the Macworld Keynote was already over.  So, excited, I opened TUAW's liveblog, and skimmed quickly through the announcements.  To sum up the major announcements:

1. iLife '09
   
2. iWork '09
   
3. a 17 inch MacBook Pro
   
4. multi-tier pricing and DRM-free songs on iTunes
   
5. purchase songs on iTunes via iPhone through 3G network
   

I wasn't impressed or excited too much initially.  And since the video  is available (which you can download here on iTunes), I took a look.  The video definitely generates more excitement as it contains some stuff where the coolness can't really be captured by words.  It's not a mind-blowing keynote, but overall, I thought it was nice, and there are some exciting features.  So here's my quick review of the keynote.

iLife '09

• Faces and places features of iPhoto looks cool.  The only geo-tagging camera I have would be my iPhone, but I'm still interested to try it out.  
  
  The feature that you can buy lessons via Garageband was a cool feature too.  And the ability to buy lessons from professional artists to teach you how to play their music is clever.  It's just a great way to get people involved and start learning music.  
  
  Like many, I'm not a big fan of the revamped iMovie.  The new changes are welcomed, but I still prefer the simplicity of the old iMovie.  It was just more intuitive.
  
  
• The bad:  Why isn't it shipping today?
  

iWork '09

I already downloaded the trial version and testing it out.  Here are some impressions:

Pages:  

• The outline feature is nice, but compared to other outline software, it doesn't seem as powerful.  You can't collapse and expand.  
• The full screen mode is cool.  Let's you focus on writing.  And I don't know why really, but I find the concept very cool.  The simplicity, something Apple-esque about it.

Numbers

• Haven't given it a shot yet.  I do some basic stuff in Numbers, but most of the time I resort to Excel since it's much easier to do for formula, complex tables.  And it's easier to share.  We'll have to see.  
  

Keynote

• I'm a heavy Keynote user,  the new transitions and animations are awesome.  
  
  They also released a Keynote Remote for the iPhone and iPod touch.  It allows you to control your Keynote slide presentations by swiping with your iPhone or iPod touch.  You also get to see the slides as well as notes on your iPhone.  Very very neat!  But it would be nice if we can use the remote with a Bluetooth connection in addition to Wi-Fi.
  
  I also tried out iWork.com.  And this is a great feature for me.  Sending big presentation files to share was troublesome.  Add to the fact, that sometimes I have to convert them to PPT format.  Other users can view and add comments via their browser.  Very nice!  If they charge this feature in the future, I hope they bundle it with MobileMe.  I sure don't want to pay for another online service.

17 inch MacBook Pro

To be blunt, I don't think I can afford or justify a purchase for a 17 inch MacBook Pro, but I sure would like to have one.  

The good:  Option for anti-glare screens.  Because I just can't work with glossy screens.  I hope they make this available for all models of MacBooks.  The new batteries seem good.

The bad:  Batteries are integrated and cannot be swapped out...

iTunes

• songs are going to become DRM free - definitely good.  But it seems like to convert all old songs I bought, I have to pay a conversion free.  Bummer.  Then again, since I play everything on my iPods and iTunes, there really isn't a need for me to convert my old songs.
  
• different pricing ($1.29, $0.99, $0.69) possible for songs on iTunes - I'm not too fond of this one.  I think the fact that $0.99 for all songs is user-friendly.  Users don't have to think about how much to pay for a price because it was always $0.99 or free.  Not users have to check out and make sure how much each song is.  In my opinion, a very un-Apple-like move.  But it's probably the music labels...
  
• ability to buy songs on 3G network with iPhone - This is great, and this would work so great with Shazam  app on iPhone.  When you hear a song on radio, you can identify it with Shazam, and then buy it instantly via iTunes all on the iPhone.  That is neat!

Those are my impressions.  Too bad there won't be any more of these keynotes... What did you think of the Keynote?

Apple Mighty Mouse

One of my favorite shiny white gadget is Apple’s wireless Mighty Mouse. The mouse is wirelss and connects via Bluetooth.

So what’s cool and about it?

• It can be powered from one or two AA batteries. That means this mouse does not require two batteries to operate. Just pop in one AA battery and it’ll work. Plus, it’ll make your mouse lighter, which is great for traveling. 
  
  
• 360-degree scroll ball – Yes, you can not just scroll horizontal and vertically, but 360-degrees!
  
  
• It looks like it has only one button, but it actually works as a two-button mouse. Although it feels like you’re clicking on one button, the touch-sensitive technology distinguishes your right and lift clicks. 
  

What’s could be improved?
The mouse has side buttons so that when you squeeze the mouse, you can launch a shortcut like Dashboard. However, I feel like I literally have to squeeze it very hard to get it to work.

The wireless Mighty Mouse is available on Apple for $69.00.

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.