Macworld 2008 Keynote

Check out Steve Jobs' keynote at Macworld 2008 here. I'm personally not blown away by any of the things he announced. However, I'm sure a number of people are or will be psyched about a certain practically-paper-thin laptop.

Anyway, I think it's better to watch any keynote without any knowledge about the content whatsoever. It makes everything sound better I guess. So I'll stop blabbing now.

Paint Your iPhone Black

Mark Hoekstra disliked the bling factor of his iPhone. Yup, it was definitely a conversation starter, but not with the people he wants to talk to. So what's a guy to do? His solution is to paint his iPhone black. You might want to do the same, even for a different reason.

Of course you just can't cover the screen in masking tape and paint the thing black or you might just end up with a black brick. Painting your iPhone requires the talent of an artist and the skills of an electronics enthusiast. If you're missing both, Mark's got an in-depth walkthrough at his site which shows you everything you need to know.

The final product looks sweet. He even covered the button at the front with a retro Apple logo. I don't have an iPhone but if I had one and if it were up to me, I'd keep the retro logo but instead of black, I'd paint mine hot pink.

New iPod Line Bogged Down With Flaws

Well well well, looks like quality control over at Apple is down lately. Have you gotten your new iPods? If so I hope you're not one of the unlucky ones who have recieved flawed items. They're not exactly defective, they're just less than perfect. And I know a lot of people expect perfection from Apple.

For instance, several iPod Nanos have been reported to have tilted screens. Of course these are just physical defects, but a lot of people can be nitpicky about their gadgets. My cousin got her Nano and I noticed it was slightly tilted. The bottom right side was about a millimeter higher than the bottom left side. I told her about it and she basically said she didn't care.

Good for her! I would have gone totally crazy and demanded a replacement from the Apple store. Unfortunately for Apple, there are a lot more people like me... check out this thread from the Apple support forums and this thread from MacRumors. Fortunately however, Apple is taking responsibility and replacing the units with tilted screens. The problem is, it seems like there are more units with tilted screens than ones with straight screens.

To add to that, the iPod Touch isn't even supposed to be out yet but people are already complaining about the poor lcd screen quality. I'm talking about the "negative black effect." To non geeks, it simply means that videos with dark scenes (like Buffy the Vampire Slayer perhaps... hey, I loved that show) will look like crap on your iPod Touch. And considering the fact that this iPod model was designed to play videos, it should have a damned great lcd screen.

And in a shocking twist, a few new iPhone owners are now complaining that their new iPhones are dispalying the same problem as the iPod Touch's screens. Go figure. Maybe they were cutting corners at the Apple factory? One thing's for sure though, if Apple keeps this up, it looks like they're going to be making more enemies than friends.

Stop the iPhone Price-drop Drama

Obviously I'm not the only one tired of all the complaints iPhone owners have been voicing out these past few days since iPhone's price-cut. I can see a pattern with the arguments. There's the early adopters group that's so pissed off they're seeing red, the non-owners who are laughing in the face of the early adopters, and the people who are totally on Apple's side.

Everyone's taking it so personally that it's becoming such a bitter drama in my opinion. This article by Steven Pearlstein from WashingtonPost.com is brilliant. I love it so much that I'm quoting the article almost completely...

A bit of advice for all those who rushed out to be the first on their block with a new iPhone and are now bellyaching because Apple reduced the price:

Get a life.

What rock have you folks been living under? Have you bought an airline ticket recently? Or have you ever haggled with a rug salesman? Or bought a case of wine on sale at the local liquor store that sold for 20 percent more the week before?

As the generation that has grown up on eBay, Priceline and day-trading on Nasdaq, ou should have developed at least a rudimentary understanding of markets -- willing uyers and willing sellers and all that.

And fairness -- what's that have to do with anything? If Apple suddenly discovered that it was losing money on the new iPhones and suddenly raised the price, would you have volunteered to send a check?

I've got some news for you: Steve Jobs is not your friend. The reason he's a billionaire and you're not is that he's brilliant at selling you gadgets that make you feel so cool you're willing to pay way more than it costs to make them. His only mistake last week was letting you in on his little secret.

Credits: Steven Pearlstein

Very well said! Thanks Mr. Pearlstein for giving it to us (and the iPhone whiners) straight. You are very blunt but I couldn't agree with you more.

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Make Your iPhone Contacts Smooshed

Most phones, including the iPhone, allows you to take a picture of a person and assign it to a contact in your phonebook. It's not a new thing, this feature has probably been around for a couple of years now.

Stillframe thought of a fun twist to the usual contact photo you might take of your friend. It's easy too. Just stick your friend behind a pane of glass (maybe a glass door or glass window) and make them smoosh their face against it and click away to capture a "trapped in an iPhone" kinda look. This also makes great background pics for other phones.

Now I just have to persuade my friends to smoosh themselves against my glass door...

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Guy Creates iPhone Replica

This guy just created his own iPhone from wood and metal. It's like taking shop class to a whole new level. It looks damn realistic too. Unfortunately, the whole site's in Japanese and I don't understand Japanese. However, the photos tend to explain every step. I want one!

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Color Your iPhone

If you'd like an iPhone but hate that it only comes in one color, you can now get yours in almost any color combination you might like from ColorWare. I said almost because technically, they only come in 29 colors which you can combine whichever way you want. But hey, that's a whole lot to choose from already. You could go crazy with your color combinations. They've got a nifty design studio that lets you try out different combinations before picking your favorite.

Ok, so it sounds great right? There's a catch of course. It's so damn expensive. This custom combination I did would cost the price of the iPhone plus an additional $219. Whew. I think I'll stick to the black and silver.

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iPhone Bashing

Even though Apple would like to make it out another way, not everyone is crazy about the iPhone. In fact, some people even loathe it. So much so, that they would create this... an iPhone hate page. I'm not an iPhone hater, quite the opposite actually. But I love what they did to the page... it's hilarious... pardon the profanity.

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iPhone Nano Rumors

I am going crazy with all these Apple rumors. One of the more persistent ones is the iPhone Nano rumor. I'd just like to comment on the points made in the Gizmodo article about this rumored gadget...

• it'll be out before Christmas (ed. Almost every rumored gadget was predicted to be "out before Christmas"... Unfortunately, some of them do not even see the light of day.)
  
• it will combine iPod functionality with "rudimentary cellular capabilities" (ed. Say what? Can't they just say that it'll be an iPod and a basic cellphone in one? No need to confuse the vocab-challenged. Anyway, it doesn't sound that appealing to me.)
  
• "more resource-heavy internet browsing and email capabilities are not expected of the device" (ed. This thing is sounding less and less appealing.)
  
• it'll be cheaper than the iPhone (ed. duh) but more expensive than the Nano (ed. another duh)
  
• it might involve this "clickwheel dialpad patent" (ed. Looks nasty... and complicated... which is never a good combination.)

Let us be wary of which rumors we believe... this one sounds totally crazy. Then again, it could turn out to be true after all. I'd like to see how the public will react to a phone like this. It honestly sounds unappealing to me.

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Unlocked iPhone from Expansys UK?

Apparently, Expansis UK is offering an "network-unlocked" iPhone for preorder. At least that what it says in the product description of the iPhone their website. Here's a screenshot of the aforementioned page...

Thomas Ricker of Engadget wonders if Expansis actually knows something we don't or if it's just wishful thinking. I can't help but think however, that all the speculation regarding this is all for nothing. It simply seems like a mistake, something the guys at Expansis UK might have overlooked. Oh well.

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Hide-a-pod... An iPod/iPhone in Disguise

The Hide-a-pod is a product (albeit fictional) that claims to keep your iPods or iPhones away from theft by encasing it in a (brown) Zune. Am I the only one who thinks that this is totally mean? Although, I can't help but laugh too.

This is from their FAQ...

Can I choose my Zune color?

Sorry, no. We only use brown Zunes for the maximum anti-theft protection.

Haha. I'm really sorry but although I love the Zune and am planning on getting one if the iPod does not release a 6th generation soon, I agree that the brown one looks terrible. The red one looks great though.

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iPhone Reviews on YouTube

YouTube is crawling with people wanting to show off their iPhones. Of course, while some videos are total rubbish, some are pretty good reviews of the phone. If you still haven't bought the iPhone but are thinking of getting it at some point in time, you'd definitely want to watch the more constructive reviews to help you with your decision. I've gone through most of the videos for you so you won't have to put up with the crap that's out there. Here are the best ones so far...

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This review shows you most of the iPhone's great features like using the camera, texting, playing YouTube videos and websurfing through edge and wifi. It also shows how easy it is to navigate the interface using the multi-touch screen. However, if you want a pros and cons type review you won't get it here as the reviewer manages to concentrate on all the best parts of the phone without showing the negative.

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This is a great review of the iPhone from David Pogue of the New York Times. It shows you both the positive and negative along with loads of humor. It's short and simple. You'll be convinced (or not) in no time.

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No gadget review is complete without a stress test. In this video, the iPhone's ruggedness is put to the test. If you want to know if the iPhone will still work after being dropped on the pavement (several times), check this video out.

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