The Four-eyed Journal

Yes, I already own a full-sized laptop that has replaced my old desktop but I’m still, and seriously, considering on getting a Lenovo IdeaPad S9 once it becomes available locally and once I have the money.

Why so?

Vanity is no where in my list of reasons but here are the few that immediately pops in my mind:

• I need a netbook for purely writing drafts for all my writing needs from blog posts to school work to freelance writing work. The IdeaPad S9 is perfect for this but it’s compact size and it’s light weight won’t kill my back.
• Mobility is the key factor and since my work and lifestyle has now become more mobile yet more data-intensive (lugging around a clip book, pen and notebook and a regular laptop is really killing me), the IdeaPad S9 is once more a perfect solution.
• Besides, I could always bring along my Compaq c765TU whenever the need arises, like doing presentations, graphics and video editing, but more regular days that I just need something to write on without a pen and paper, a netbook would be sweet.

And why the Lenovo IdeaPad S9?

It really appeals to me and since it’s from Lenovo, it’s really something worth the buck. No offense to Eee users and Asus itself, by my eyes and ears are just bleeding because of all the stuff already written and said about it. It’s time for something new.

Last I read, the IdeaPad S9 will be released this October and the IdeaPad S9 will come with 80GB HD and Linux for its OS and will sell for roughly Php22,000.00. For a preview of the IdeaPad S9 here’s a video from notebook.com

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For months now, I’ve been seriously thinking, even formulating a budget that will enable me to buy my very first flat-screen TV. But after being alerted by a friend to this news story on The Guardian, I’m having to start second-thoughts:

Environment: Climate risk from flat-screen TVs

The rising demand for flat-screen televisions could have a greater impact on global warming than the world’s largest coal-fired power stations, a leading environmental scientist warned yesterday.

Manufacturers use a greenhouse gas called nitrogen trifluoride to make the televisions, and as the sets have become more popular, annual production of the gas has risen to about 4,000 tonnes.

As a driver of global warming, nitrogen trifluoride is 17,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide, yet no one knows how much of it is being released into the atmosphere by the industry, said Michael Prather, director of the environment institute at the University of California, Irvine.

Ah the self-conflicts of having eco-friendly principles and living in a consumerist, hi-tech world. I’m going to look into this a little further, like when I go out window-shopping again for a flat-screen TV, I’m going to ask the dealers if they have any information about the TVs’ environmental ratings or any relevant information. Of course, I’ll go prowling the web for more information and see which manufacturer is concerned and has done something about this issue.

I’m a techno-geek, but I’m also a green geek, and since nitrogen triflouride is known to remain in the atmosphere for 550 years, I don’t want to dump that stuff up there and help destroy our planet. I just hope Samsung, because I got my eyes on their flat-screen TVs, is concerned and have done something about this issue, positively, instead of downplaying this scientific revelation.

It seems that a dSLR will be my newest gadget this year as getting a flat-screen TV has been pushed down my “to-buy” list of gadgets and stuff.

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Despite the negative feedback, qualms and criticisms on the iPhone 3G from its price and cut-throat contract to its technical specs, I’ve read that some experts say that it will perform well and rake in more money for Apple. Why so? It’s from Apple, it’s an iPhone. Somehow, Apple has managed to imbued it with a tiny parcel of Steve Jobs’ reality distortion field that it makes consumers shell out huge wads of money and surrender their souls to the devil, as some would say.

Love it or hate it, the iPhone is here to stay and make its huge mark in our times. It already has.

Fortunately, there are lots of other alternatives to the iPhone, from the well-known mobile giants like Nokia, Sony Ericsson and others. Each has their own loyal fan base and so far, the principles of the free market economy are keeping things from being a complete anarchy.

But here’s one particular iPhone alternative that would appeal to a special fan base. The Linux zealots.

Enter OpenMoko’s open-source smartphone: Neo FreeRunner

The FreeRunner is based on a GNU/Linux, and it will initially ship with basic software to make calls, send and receive SMS, and manage contacts. But the company is encouraging users to write and install their own applications. (InformationWeek)

It’s technical specs are:

Size and Weight

• 4.75 x 2.44 x 0.73 inches
• 6.5 ounces (185 grams)

Display

• Touch Screen
• 2.8″ VGA (480×640) VGA Screen

Speed

• ARM9 @ 400 MHz
• 2D/3D Graphics Acceleration

GSM

• Tri band 850/1800/1900 MHz
• Tri band 900/1800/1900 MHz

Power

• Removable 1200 mAh battery

Memory

• 128MB SDRAM
• 256MB NAND Flash
• microSD Slot

Input and Output

• Input and Output
• 2.5 mm audio jack
• GPS external connector

Hardware Highlights

• Wi-Fi (802.1 1b/g)
• AGPS
• GPRS (2.5G not EDGE)
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 3axis Motion Sensors (2)

Software Highlights

• Openmoko GNU/Linux-based
• 100% FOSS on CPU
• GNU/Linux development tools

For now, it’s only available, or will work in US networks and is selling at $399 unlocked. It’s basically a smartphone platform for Linux fans and the open-source community to play around on or seriously develop applications that would further create tons of potential for the mobile platform and even the Linux desktop as well.

I wonder though, if and when would this be available here in the Philippines? I’m sure local Linux fanboys would love to tinker with this new phone.

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Too good to be true? Well it’s not yet a real gadget but I just read from Game News that an executive from Sony Computer Entertainment has strongly hinted that SCE will team with Sony Ericsson to create a PlayStation Phone.

Speaking to the Economic Times, Sony Computer Entertainment co-chief operating officer Jim Ryan hinted that a PlayStation Phone could be on the way.

“The PlayStation is a proven success and so is Sony Ericsson. Convergence with the two arms working together is definitely plausible,” he said. “What has been done is finding a match between a camera and a mobile phone, and that has been done wherein the mobile phone features are not reasonably inhibited and the camera is also a reasonably competitive product. It is hugely intellectually seductive to have a console-oriented phone.”

Unlike camera phones, however, where the camera is sort of an add-on onto the phone – something that doesn’t provide great picture quality – the idea for a PlayStation Phone may be more rooted in the console side than in the phone. According to the report, the phone would be “superimposed on the console.” Could this be the new PSP in a few years?

Would this be the real ‘iPhone killer’ or something totally new and awesome in its own right? Or has SCE and Sony Ericsson has finally learned enough from the tragedy of Nokia’s N-gage that they feel and think they could prove that this concept can be a real success story.

They succeeded in combining the Walkman and Cyber-shot brands with phones so it’s much closer to reality than if other companies would take a shot at it.

What would it looke like? Would you get one?

And I wonder what’s next, camera phones + photo printers? (WTF?!)

All in all, it would be something definitely to watch out for.

Update:

CVG has been told that Sony is not working on a PlayStation Phone. (bummer!) And again I quote:

“Jim Ryan was in fact misquoted by the Economic Times of India about this issue,” a Sony UK spokesperson told us moments ago, adding, “We do have talks with other arms of the Sony family about various topics but I can confirm we are not currently working together on the creation of a PlayStation Phone.”

The power of the rumors being spread over the internet.

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The iPhone craze has since toned down as Apple’s newest gadget has become a wordlwide phenomenon. Local techies and Apple afficionados have been itching to have one, be it shipped from some Pinoys overseas or not and hacked to work with the local mobile networks. It seems that almost everyone wants to have an iPhone. Do you?

However, behind the glitz and snazz, oohs and aahhs that has surrounded the iPhone a little known or atleast totally ignored piece of writing about Apple’s newest cash cow. It is this little known article about how ‘green’ or eco- and health-friendly the Apple iPhone is and yes your guess is right, it’s from Greenpeace International.

The article is entitled, Missed call: the iPhone’s hazardous chemicals (When will promises of a greener Apple bear fruit?)

And so let me quote:

Scientific tests, arranged by Greenpeace, reveal that Apple’s iPhone contains hazardous chemicals. The tests uncovered two types of hazardous substances, some of which have already been eliminated by other mobile phone makers.

In May, due to our successful Green my Apple campaign Steve Jobs, the boss of Apple, claimed: “Apple is ahead of, or will soon be ahead of, most of its competitors” on environmental issues.

We watched closely when the iPhone was launched in June for any mention of the green features of the phone from Apple. There was none.

OMG! The iPhone has hazardous chemicals in its components? Greenpeace’s scientists says so. They bought an iPhone, sent it to their lab in the United Kingdom, took it apart, piece by piece and subjected each component to tests that will determine what kind of toxic or hazardous chemicals and what amounts are in there to see whether Apple has lived up to its 2008 commitment of cleaner, safer and more eco-friendly Apple products, aptly named “Greener Apple“.

Greenpeace has released a document that details their scrutiny and analysis of how green the iPhone is, the gist of it can be viewed in this video:

Had enough? Convinced that your iPhone is not eco-friendly and could even be dangerous to your health? Hold on, I suggest giving that document a download and a few minutes of your time to read it. If you can’t find the time nor the will power to read 12 pages of scientific yet profound information, skim it quick but give ample time to read the executive summary which is in the first part and the summary which is of course at near the end of the paper.

Why bother to read that paper when it details how potentially unhealthy and nasty to the environment your iPhone could be? You’d be glad to know, surprised even that in the end, Greenpeace’s stand on the iPhone’s eco-friendliness is not that hard.

For in the conclusion part, they said:

Of the 18 different internal and external components and materials tested from an Apple iPhone purchased in the USA in June 2007, all would appear to be compliant with the requirements of the EU’s Directive on use of certain hazardous substances in electronics and electrical goods (the RoHS Directive). In particular:

• no cadmium or mercury were detected;
• lead and chromium were detected in a small proportion of samples and at relatively low concentrations;
• there was no evidence for the presence of the toxic and regulated form of chromium, chromium (VI), in a range of other metal-plated components tested (primarily screw heads).

Ya see? They tested how “green” the iPhone is in the context of Europe’s laws on the use of hazardous substances in electronics and electronic goods. Since they found out that the iPhone is, at the most, in compliance you could have some good sleep tonight.

However, Greenpeace does bring up an important point in reminding us, Steve Jobs and Apple that it’s not enough that we have the latest cutting-edge gadget, ergonomics, usability and fashion sense, we must also, and always think of our health and the environment. What good would an iPhone be if it affects our reproduction and poisons the environment right?

Apple, in particular iPhone fanboys may already be fuming at me, and true that I’ve never ever had an Apple product like an iPod, Mac, or even an iPhone, save for this Safari for Windows I’m currently using; I’m still glad that Sony Ericsson ranks higher in the eco-friendly mobile companies and my K800i is “greener’ than the iPhone.

But hey, I’m just being concerned for all of you.

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Yesterday, I finally had enough money to do my K800i a favor by buying a 2GB Memory Stick Micro M2. Yes, that’s a whopping 2GB of storage space all packed within that tiny black chip which is almost the size of my thumb’s fingernail.

Aside from the awesome storage capacity, another mind-blowing attribute of this tiny storage media is its price tag. Most dealers I visited are selling the 2GB M2 at almost Php4,000!!

Even my friends and a fellow professor who also use Sony Ericsson phones where kept at bay and frustrated by the price tag. It finally made me realize that there’s really something unique to owning a Sony Ericsson phone, aside from the good quality of its Cyber-shot and Walkman phones, the price tags on its accessories do set SE users in a different class. A class that must really dig deep into their pockets if we want to ‘pimp’ our phones or extend and enhance its already cool features.(Curse Sony’s adherence to proprietary technologies and gadgets :P)

So after months of saving up on my earnings, I finally braved to scour the malls for a good bargain on the M2. My obsessive-compulsiveness didn’t help me much as I was hell-bent on getting the 2GB version of the M2 so that “it would be the last M2 I’d ever buy.”

3 Phone shops in SM City Dasmariñas offered the M2 on the same price range, which was the near dreaded Php4-k level. I was nearly heart-broken and was about to resign my self to getting the 1GB M2 which was offered at Php1,900 at CD-R King. Luckily, I had a last-minute change of mind and sudden renewal of hope. I went out again in search of store that had the 2GB M2 on price I could afford.

It seems the fates were on my side as I found my way into City Telecom and there it was, a 2GB M2 on sale!! From it’s original price of Php3,000 it was brought down to Php2,100 which was well within my budget. I wasted no more time as I told the saleslady that I was going to buy that M2.

I left that store with a big smile on my face and a 2GB M2 in my pocket. I couldn’t wait to get home, plug it in my K800i and put all the photos, music, games and apps I’ve been saving up ever since I decided to upgrade my phone’s memory.

At the moment I have over 500MB worth of compressed music, 10MB worth of games and apps and almost 5MB of photos. Speaking of which, it is the desire to increase the number of photos I could take and store in my phone before it needs to be transferred or the bad ones deleted in order to make space for more photos that I was determined to get the 2GB M2. Just point-and-shoot the K800i now, delete the not-so-good shots later.

What’s the use of a 3.2 megapixel Cyber-shot phone if the number of photos one could take is quite limited right? Now that my phone’s memory has been greatly expanded, storage space or the lack thereof would no longer be an inhibition to my budding interest in digital-photography. (even though I only have 3.2 megapixel camera-phone to take photos with)

Aside from more photos, more music, more apps and games I could fit in my K800i, I’m beginning to like the idea of using the phone as my primary portable storage device, instead of my aging Creative MuVo thumb drive/mp3 player.

Oh my, I see techie experiments brewing in the horizon. I just hope my phone would not end up broken or screwed up.

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