Another cool smart phone — HTC Touch Diamond
Another really slick looking smart phone arrived this week, the HTC Touch Diamond which looks like it’s another direct iPhone competitor. Now if I could only find a nice data plan here in Canada and if some of these phones would actually be released here that would be nice too.
You can check out the specs on the official site. I don’t think the HTC Touch Diamond is a multi-touch like the iPhone. When I get the chance I’ll be doing some research into many of these new phones before I choose one for myself and posting my findings.
Apple developing a Wiimote game controler?
An interesting read over a AppleInsider about the possibility of “Apple developing 3D gaming controller for Apple TV“. I am still surprised no one has jumped on this band wagon. The web browser on the Wii is not HD, so it’s pretty fuzzy and not really an option for serious browsing (at least for me), but the Wii Remote makes browsing so intuitive, relaxing and fun. I’ve been waiting for someone to bring this kind of functionatlity to the masses, maybe Apple will. I would buy a blue tooth Wii Remote type device in a second.
iPhone coming to Canada… Finally!
So it was finally officially announced today that the iPhone will be coming to Canada later this year. Rogers will be providing it as rumoured ever since it was released.
“We’re thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. We can’t tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned.”
Let’s hope Apple was able to convince them to have some reasonable pricing. Now the question is do I get a Blackberry, iPhone or XPERIA X1.
I talked about Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 a few months back, and the iPhone last year.
Dahon fold up bike
So I finally got sick of the mass transit in Toronto which recently was threatening to go on strike. The TTC, our transit system is pretty annoying lately. My ride to work ranges from 40 minutes on a good day to the extreme of 2+ hours. With horrible service, zero reliability and constant fee hikes, I’d had enough.
I live outside the downtown core right on Lake Ontario, so I am lucky in that I have a beautiful paved bike path all the way downtown for about 95% of my ride. So I headed to the Urbane Cyclist a bike co-op downtown and after two days of talking to the most helpful staff I think I’ve ever have the pleasure of dealing with and testing bikes out I decided to go with a Dahon 7 speed folding bike. Before I entered the shop a fold up bike had not entered my mind.
Why did I decide on the fold up bike? Well a few reasons, the first one being I live in a condo and they want everyone to leave their bikes in the garage downstairs in bike cages. Unfortunately they had no bike cages available for me and bike theft is extremely high in Toronto. You aren’t allowed to bring bikes through the front entrance, but what if you are carrying it in one hand? Well, so far no complaints.
Another reason was I often work late, so if I do I can go downstairs and fold the thing up and put it under my desk at work. Bike theft usually happens at night. I can also keep it in my front hall and stick it in a closet, it is that small. Check out the pictures below.
The bike also comes with mudguards. These things are a must on a commuter bike. I have already road to work on a rainy day and gone through puddles and mud. The wheels are splattered, but I am totally clean on arrival. It also has a great rack on the back with three bungee cords. I have fastened my lock down, a fleece, and my dinner picked up on the way home. I plan to get a bag eventually for it too.
So far I am extremely happy with this bike and my biking experience; it’s been years since I owned a bike. It takes me no more than 30 seconds to fold it up, and the workmanship is fantastic. Everything feels and looks solid. All the hinges work perfect, and I think it looks pretty damn cool. My ride into work right now is about 35 minutes and I’m pretty out of shape, so I’m hoping I can get it down to 30 or even 25 minutes on a good day. This also saves me on the costs of a month transit pass and saves my sanity.
This bike is a great little gadget. You’ll also notice people looking at you when you fold it up because it’s pretty cool. I can’t recommend a fold up like this enough, and the bike only cost me $475 Canadian. If you live in Toronto and do plan on getting yourself a bike, any bike, do yourself a favour and go to Urban Cyclist, these guys are phenomenally helpful.
Neato site of the month – The Steampunk Workshop
I’m going to start posting a neato geeky site every now and then and the site I’m posting now definitely fits the bill. It’s The Steampunk Workshop. The sites description is…
“Wherein the craftsman demonstrates the construction of artefacts from an age of steam and brass.”
The site contains a lot of modern gadgets that are redesigned in a steam and steel era design. When the site was brought to my attention it was a link to a keyboard mod. It contains photos and a step by step guide of a computer keyboard that is meticulously transformed into an old fashioned type writer.
The site is full of videos and step by step walkthroughs of how the steampunk gadgets were created. A quick search on the term steampunk brings up an interesting Wikipedia entry on the origins of the term. It usually refers to modern technology appearing at an earlier time when the world was run on steam power. It also goes on to say that steampunk is often associated with cyberpunk, but with an obvious time period difference.
This site is definitely surf time well spent, as is the wiki entry and who knows, it might inspire you to create something yourself, I know it got me thinking.
Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1
Today I did my usual series of iPhone searches in Canada, and like usual, found no information on a Canadian release date. I have never owned a cell phone before, and even though I am a gadget nut, I’ve never really found them all that compelling. Lately though the tides have been turning and more and more I find myself wanting one, but I want a really cool one with lots of features on it. Up until today the iPhone has had my complete attention.
While Googling today I came across the Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 phone. It was announced in early February, but I missed out on this news. This phone looks great and is probably a serious contender for the iPhone, but like all great things I want it’s not out yet, and who knows when it will be available in Canada. At least now I have two phones to wait for, and if this phone is all it’s cracked up to be, the deciding factor might be whichever one is available in Canada first.
The XPERIA X1 has a touch screen, but it’s also got a physical key pad which slides out from under the phone. I’ve used the iTouch many times, and I’m not totally sold on the touch screen key pad. Another thing I find is that the iTouch looks so gunky after you play around with it. With finger print smears all over, it looks a lot less compelling, especially in the Apple Store, I feel like I should wear a pair of gloves before I touch it. That’s one thing I really love about my DS Lite, I think a stylus is such a great idea, the screen always stays nice and clean and the precision can’t be matched in my opinion by a finger touch screen. That said, scratches can be an issue. I know that touch screens are the future now and the stylus is probably dead in the water for now.
So basically I’m waiting for an iPhone, or an XPERIA X1 so far, both phones look really slick. The XPERIA isn’t even out yet, but at least it is going to be released in Canada. You can read more about the details on Kris Abel’s blog. You can find more information on Gizmodo’s site, and the official XPERIA X1 site.
Nintendo DS Lite
Hope everyone had a great time over the holidays. As for me, I got a new toy over Christmas, a DS Lite. I have played with the idea of getting a PSP for awhile, but after looking at the DS Lite and the games, I dropped a hint that I wanted one. The DS Lite is a great little gadget, and the clam shell design is a big plus. It seems that today’s portable devices are designed from the start to either require a peripheral case, or get really scratched up. That said I will probably still get a case in the future if I can find one that doesn’t have cartoon characters all over it. Note to Nintendo and surrounding companies, some adults do actually use a DS Lite.
The first game I picked up was The Legend of Zelda – Phantom Hourglass. This game uses the stylus for everything and just like the Wii, this method of playing games is both innovative and extremely fun. The second game I’ve been playing a lot is Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon.
Zelda is 3D while Rune Factory is completely sprite based. Right now both games have got me really addicted, but I’m stuck in Zelda at the moment and putting a little more time into Rune Factory. Over all I am really impressed with the DS. The graphics won’t blow you away by any stretch, but the games are really solid and fun. Using the Stylus feels natural from the start in many of the games I’ve tried, and the form factor and size of the DS work really nicely. I have already popped the thing out of my pocket to play for several minutes only to have to snap it shut and board a bus or train. Once you get back on you snap it back open and away you go. The only real down side to owning a DS is if you are a reader like me, it may cut into that time, since most of my reading is done on transit. I’ll cover the DS in more depth in the future.
iPhone in Canada, When!
There’s a tonne of articles discussing the lack of an iPhone in Canada. Out of all the gadgets I want and follow, Apple’s new iPhone has become my mission; I want one. I know I can buy a hacked one, but that costs a lot, and at the end of the day I would rather just have it work without me having to do anything to it.
This is one of my most anticipated gadgets. I don’t have a cell phone of any kind and never had, so the iPhone will be my first cell phone. Hopefully when we do finally get it, it will be the newer model and reality will have set in with the major telco’s in Canada that our wireless broadband is too expensive. If the broadband costs too much, I won’t be getting one, because the ability to surf the web anywhere is a major selling point for me. I think handheld web surfing is about to explode. I feel that in about five years from now we will all wonder how we ever lived in a world without wireless Internet anywhere.
I won’t post the rumors, there are enough sites for that already, but I’ll keep posting on any facts I find, and if and when I get one, I’ll post all the info here. Read up on the rumors at iPhone Info and the MacRumors iPhone section. There are also a lot of Canadian specific rumors about Rogers, Apple and the iPhone trademark issues.
Havoc Heli
I bought a Havoc Heli last week. Basically this is a very small toy helicopter that you can fly around via IR remote control in your home. It’s a whole lot of fun and now it has has really wet my appetite for a more advanced hobby grade helicopter. If you do decide to try this out it just might be your gateway helicopter into something more advanced. Find out more about the Havoc Heli on the Air Hogs site. Check out these forum posts and video clips to see it in action.
