say@syedmuhammad

iPad launched in Malaysia

syedmuhammad — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:37:59 +0000

Went to Pavillion today to grab lunch, and since an Apple authorized distributor is in Pavillion (EPIcenter), so why not take a look on the new iPad.

I was actually hoping there would be more people there, but it seems that the queue was like, non existent. I don’t remember the queue was like this when iPad 2 was launched a year ago.

Went in to take a look, and man that was a mistake. The resolution, and the personal hotspot feature, intrigue me.

Bittersweet victory.

A non-productive year for syedmuhammad.com

syedmuhammad — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:36:28 +0000

With the current state of post here, it seems to show that I have no time and less interest to communicate even to my inner self. Working at my current workplace is fun, but nonetheless challenging. Managing my own time for work and leisure is getting somewhat more confusing by the day. Luckily, I have a wife who understands my line of work, and I couldn’t ask for more.

I am planning to create a Symfony2 project, for my socially challenged self. Twitter will be the best medium for its data. Stay tuned (or not) for this imaginary HTML5 Powered site

Chaos Rings and Chaos Rings Ω Update

syedmuhammad — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 01:23:26 +0000

One of the best rpg from Square Enix on iOS just gotten an update: VOICE albeit its japanese, I dont mind if the subtitle is English. Saw the trailer and it does give some emotional depth to the character.

But a massive update 700 – 800+ MB. Good thing its not the 2000.

Downloading as we speak. Can’t wait to play it again.

iOS 4.3 Released!

syedmuhammad — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:45:52 +0000

Open up in iTunes, and realized there’s a new iOS Update! Nice, can’t wait to try the hotspot feature.

Infinity Blade

syedmuhammad — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 14:08:35 +0000

Just bought this game on sale (2.99 USD) for for my iPhone 4. All I can say it is graphically impressive. It’s like a console game in my hand. The controls and gameplay, as usual, has been dumbed down for this device.

It is repetitive as hell, but hey, they designed it that way. With all the repetitive gameplay, all I can say I am addicted to it already.

This is one of the technically impressive game, besides Dead Space.

Cmon AAA publishers and developers, make more games!

Amazon Cloud blocked in Malaysia?

syedmuhammad — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:21:35 +0000

My company solution hosted our system in the Amazon Cloud. For some strange reason, as of writing, could not access the Cloud, but could access it from anywhere else in the world. Either some TM employee just put the word amazon as one of its porn filter, or some problem with routing for Amazon. Either way, we’re screwed in Malaysia for the time being.

Blog using an iPhone 4

syedmuhammad — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 11:56:19 +0000

Well here I am, in the living room blogging through my iPhone 4. To tell you the truth, I am satisfied with the functionality of this smart phone. As much as debate between smart phone camps (iOS, BlackBerry OS, Android, WP7) my opinion will be iOS is one polished smart phone OS. It just works! Windows Mobile 6 left a sour taste (thanks HTC) in my soul forever, Android variations is a bless and a curse, leaving you at the hands of the phone manufacturer, Blackberry is just…BlackBerry.

Imagine iOS did just right like few years ago. I can tell you that I’ve used it before on a jailbroken (no choice!) iPhone 1st Generation.

Game playing on iPhone 4 is like having PSP in your pocket, but can do so more. Dead Space on the iPhone is one hell of a game.

All I can say, I’m a fan of the device and hope that Apple will continue improve iOS.

iPhone 4

syedmuhammad — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 05:19:10 +0000

It’s been a really, really long time since I updated this blog. Basically, I have too much work, and less interested updating this blog.

My HTC HD2 died a couple weeks ago (grrr), not only it is on a dying operating system, the phone itself is dying. So I say what the hell, you died on me just after the phone warranty, so you won’t be getting my money HTC.

So, I decided to go for iPhone 4. The last iOS I used is iPhone OS 3.0.1, so when looking at iOS 4.2.1, it seems familiar, but with more improvement.

I would say that Apple has done a very good job at their user experience. What I like about the device itself is the high resolution display (or one would say, the retina display). Even if the text itself small, it is still readable.

Currently my iPhone 4 is used for multi purpose, my multiple Exchange accounts (Office Microsoft Exchange as well as Google Sync), my music player (although I hardly use it for that purpose) and my portable gaming device (yay!). I mean if the game is correctly developed, such as Dead Space, it’ll be a killer gaming device.

Okay, until then. I hope.

Next Phone: iPhone 4 or HTC Desire HD?

syedmuhammad — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:30:52 +0000

The more I looked at the iDiGi plan, the more I am interested/poisoned towards iPhone 4. But make no mistake, Desire HD is also… desirable. I had…er…having a taste of the Android 2.2 OS when replace/hacked my HTC HD2 to not run the dying operating system, instead booting to the HTC Desire Froyo 2.2.

And I must say, I am totally impressed with what HTC did (Sense) on Android, albeit it runs a little bit unstable as it was not designed for HD2.

My experience with HTC (bad with the HD2) is they took forever to fix any bugs. Literally, as of right now, a lot of bugs exists on the HD2, and I just gave up on it.
Apple, well, they designed the OS to work perfectly, but neglect to update the early adopters(iPhone & iPhone 3G). What happen when we have iOS 5? 6? will iPhone 4 suffers the same fate?

The Desire HD will introduce a new service called HTCSense.com, which will be used by the Desire HD to mimic MobileMe, BlackBerry, MyPhone on Android. I can see the value in the service, but they have to make sure it will be the perfect user experience. No bugs please.
Apple, with its App Store, contains a lot of apps. I for one don’t really care about these gazillion apps. But I am impressed with ts ability to run Epic’s Unreal 3 Engine as well id Tech 5 Engine. That is some gaming power! (HTC, please use the latest graphics driver for the mobile phone, sheesh)

Apple antenna debacle, well I just simulate it using HTC HD2 running on Android. It seems Android is more honest giving the signal strength.

I wont be deciding in the next month or three, as I dont want to repeat the same mistake I did (I was the early adopter of the HD2).

Till again.

Windows Mobile 6.5 or Android?

syedmuhammad — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 13:49:15 +0000

Android. I wish I knew the answer like 7 months before I bought my first expensive handphone, the HTC HD2. With “unofficial” promise of Windows Phone 7 Upgrade, its been killed because the debate of 4 buttons against 3 buttons. Well, there’s more to it for a Windows Phone 7 “requirement specification”, such as the graphic scaler, but I just gave up on it.

With the instability of HTC Sense UI for Windows Mobile, I felt that I am being ripped off. Well the problem most probably with the microSDHC card that was bundled with the phone that is giving instability or the programming of HTC Sense is total bollocks. Either way, they should not rely on the SD Card anyway programming wise as with any Mobile Device, specific functionality of the phone should not rely on external card because it can be removed. Sucks.

So, the answer is obvious. I would NOT have picked the HTC HD2 if I knew what I knew today. Stability is one thing, but relying on a dying mobile OS is not making anything better.

My next phone would be an Android device. But before I make a jump, there’s one thing that is needed for me to make a switch:
Microsoft My Phone. With this service, we can sync the phone to the cloud, synching my SMS with it. Thats it. This feature saved me a few times, as the instability of the HTC HD2 sometimes forces me to hard reboot.

Android is also developer friendly. As I am a software developer in real life, this gave me the opportunity to be an Android App Developer, with its free SDK and minimal fee to put app in Android Marketplace.

The sheer size of HTC HD2, which enabled me to use RSS Reader to read RSS, is useful when I was waiting for the train to arrive. So my next device would be the HTC Desire HD, which is the international version of the HTC EVO 4G. Or the Milestone 2, which have the keyboard.

Seen most of my friends switching to BlackBerry, but hey, maybe I buy both for me wife and myself. Haha.