The iPad mania is still going on in Kuwait and all over the world, and I have to say that Apple has a breakthrough product. There are a few drawbacks that would make this the best product period, but right now it doesn’t have any competition. I use my iPad daily, it has gotten me hooked with several applications. The only biggest flaw is that you can’t move data inside applications to and from your main PC, so your iPad gets filled up with data from inside applications, you can’t back-up or move, you can just delete. The battery lasts a decent time but it takes so damn long to charge, if you kill the battery completely it takes over 4 hours to charge fully which is insane. But I can’t stop using it, its so easy to take around and I can carry so much content with it.

Best Applications:

• AirVideo – Streaming Videos
• Marvel Comics – A selection of Marvel Comics
• NewsRack – RSSFeed
• Sorted – To Do list
• Dropbox – Extention of the online application
• GoodReader – Enables you to read all types of documents & spreadsheets
• AngryBirds HD – Addictive online game
• Scrabble – The old school board game
• Shazam – Gives you the name of any song by listening to a clip

iPad Usage:

• Reading Comics – 40%
• Surfing The Net – 22%
• Playing Games – 12%
• Watching Shows/Anime – 18%
• Other Applications – 8%

I have wanted to get a scale for a long time but all these places I pass by have these cheap scales which are huge and don’t fit easily into the bathroom. Or you have to have it in a spot to stand perfectly to get the right weight, I have seen which is really cool and mechanical in Italy but I haven’t seen in anywhere. Then I saw the Soehnle Niro in The Chedi Muscat, tried it a few times and it was very accurate and clear. It fits perfectly in a corner of my bathroom, there isn’t much space to work with so its really thin fitting perfectly in the corner. It gives a perfect reading of my weight, I check it every morning after I jump out of the shower and keeps me in check, there are days where I’m eating light and days that I mess around. So this is the best scale I have ever used and available through amazon, low profile, and simple to use.

Pros:

• Computer Scale, Very Accurate
• 1.8cm tall
• Relatively Waterproof
• A door can go over it

Link: Amazon
Rating:

Just recently got my hands on the new HTC Desire, the HTC version of the Nexus One. Extremely similar specs but they have updated the software a bit as well as changing the trackball to a infra-red sensor which feels your fingers presence.

What really makes this such a different phone is HTC’s touch to the software. They have updated a few of the bugs, overall 3G is much smoother on it. Then there is the interface, which is what they call “HTC Sense”. It overlaps the Android software (Eclair 2.1) with their modified and smoother interface.

Whats Great:

• HTC Sense – Just makes everything smoother
• Better & Smoother 3G performance
• Same cool line of software
• Great Google Application Integration
• As soon as I registered my Gmail Account it updated all my contacts over a wireless connection as well as the pictures that I have associated with each contact.
• A bit heavier then the Nexus One but it does feel very solid

I got these headphones a few months back now and have tried them a few times. I didn’t get the right sound except after switching out to the right tips. I tried out the Dr Dre Beats noise canceling headphones which were fantastic sound and bass, but its an over ear type headphones. Now these are the in-ear headphones and I have my Bose to compare them to. The Bose in my opinion fit better and have good base and sound and I like them a lot, the Bose were my baseline for trying out this headphone. Watch some TV shows, Movies, and Anime with these headphones and they are really good but lacking a little base.

Pros:

• High Quality Sound
• Very nice Design
• A nice selection of tips to choose from to best fit your needs
• Very high volume, higher then usual

Cons:

• A bit pricy at $150
• A bit lacking in Bass
• You have to play around with it when it fits your ear to get that perfect sound
• Sticks out a bit, doesn’t fit under inside my helmet

Link: Amazon
Rating:

Now this is an amazing product, there have a been alot of different companies providing alternate battery power sources for different products but none as thorough as the HyperMac for Apple Laptops & iPads. Giving you from 19-34 Hours for the MacBook Pros, and 30 to 92 Hours for the iPad. Thats a lot of hours, and pretty damn good in my opinion. Thats just a ridiculous amount of power that you can use while traveling or in the car, on a train, or stuck in a airport for a really long time. Prices range from $200 up to $500, which isn’t cheap but its a very solid product for a specific purpose.

Link: Gizmodo

I have had the Google Nexus One for about 4 months now and really abused the hell out of this phone. Overall I am really enjoying the phone and its capabilities, Google has done a good job with the phone and OS overall but there is a lot of room for improvement. After using this phone for this period I wanted to point out the parts that need to be worked on objectively, its still one of the best phones to surf the net on, and I love how much you can really customize this phone but there are areas where I think they should work on it to develop a better experience for the user with Android and Google Phones.

OS Versions and Confusion

There are so many versions of the OS that some phones can’t support, from Android 1.5 to 1.6, and 2.0 to 2.1, and now 2.2 on the way, and I don’t even know their names. All these different version have their faults and limitations, and a lot of them don’t have compatibility between the other operating systems. And you can’t just auto-upgrade some of the phones as they have physical limitations to them that we don’t even know about. Even if you can upgrade them they don’t work on them quickly enough. There has to be a smoother process for people to enjoy the features of the new OS on phones they have already purchased, instead of feeling left out which is the case right now. A lot of the phones are very good phones such as HTC, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and even the Nexus One but people don’t want to be left out of the new features of an upgraded OS.

Application Confusion

Google pushed so hard to have applications by the thousands available to people from day one. One very large flaw has come back to bite them in them in the ass, they let the applications get posted with almost very little review or check. Many of the applications crash constantly and don’t provide the service they promised. There is no genuine process to find the right application, there might be one out there but its like trying to find a grain of sand in the desert, its become huge and not clear. There are some popular ones and you can see reviews online but there is no mechanism for people to find the right application without some trial and error. Apple is stringent about their application publication procedure and Google went the complete opposite way of not even bothering, its easier to bring products to market and quicker but it turns the consumers and users into the test bed making it very annoying. They should have an external application so you can go through and take a look, a better ranking process, and thorough testing process. And one of the biggest problems at this point is application compatibility between different Operating Systems and Phones, might work on one and not the other and you would never know unless someone already complained about it in the comments. This is their biggest problem, people are only talking about the numbers, but I would want a lot less application if I can get better quality applications.

Nexus One 3G Issues

There is a genuine issue with the 3G connectivity of the Nexus One, its spotty and at times it just disappears and I can’t figure out why. When its connected its pretty damn fast, but Google took the route of dropping the issue which is very bad for them, leaving people regretting they go this phone. I’m doing fine without it but 3G connectivity for extra features on the phone is key. Google integration of all its services is great but whats the point if you can’t use it on the go. Other versions of Android phone seem to be functioning fine, but as the first phone directly from Google buying another phone isn’t a solution.

Multi-Touch or What

The legal battle for Multi-Touch has gotten out of hand and people are getting annoyed about it. Some phones have it and some phones don’t, some will get the upgrade and some won’t, some phones can’t even support it. The list is confusing OSes and different models and which can support it is insane.

Support

Google faltered in the beginning, for network support contact your operator, for hardware support contact HTC, for OS support contact Google but you really can’t. There was almost not support structure for the device or other machines in place. From what I have read online and my experience with HTC they are very good phones and very good support for their products, but somethings only Google can answer. If you want to deal with retail products and consumers then you have to have the support structure to deal with people, its not the same as just providing services, now they are providing products directly to people and they really do need to support it and work on it. Some people are saying too little too late, but I still think improving on services is critical for product success and people might say the Nexus One was a flop for Google but overall I think it taught them a lesson.

Overall

I do believe in the Android OS, for everyone who has Blackberry and iPhone they are excellent phones as well but Google is making up ground fast. Gone are the days of Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola, now the new three giants have risen above them. Google, RIM, and Apple are really taking over and providing services to customers and more areas of revenue, nobody has push telecommunication providers like these three have, knocking them around as they like. Google is pushing hard to flood the market and get more market share, even going to the point as bribing providers but they are loving and they have a good product. Now to see what will happen next with the new iPhone, and so many other machines coming to market.

There is no doubt what so ever that Apple have created an amazing product with the iPad, but there is one crucial point about this machine that makes it so successful, it is a content intensive product. There is something for everyone, games, utilities, productivity,media, movies, TV shows, and music and everything else you want on the go. You need to be connected most of the time to go through the media, in my case I downloaded a lot of comics and magazines, but for a lot of services and applications you need to be connected online. One part is that Wireless is very fast with a fast connection, and even at times it isn’t enough for the iPad, I have tried 3G and at best the performance is spotty at best and it depends on your location. Now all three providers (Wataniya, Viva, and Zain) will be releasing the micro-sim at the same time but will you really be able to use it normally. The other aspect is that you will have to pay a monthly fee for 3G connectivity, is it really worth it in this case, its not a phone but a tool to access the net. I for one love the iPad, sitting on my couch going through the RSS feed or playing a few games, or reading comics, its a dynamic tool but on the go I will just use the available Wireless in the area, 3G just doesn’t make much sense to me with the use of the iPad since you wouldn’t use it enough to justify the monthly costs.

I have had my iPad 64 GB Wifi for about four days now, and I LOVE IT! There are a few things of course which are annoying but overall I think Apple did an amazing job with the product. The iPad itself feels very good in your hands, I love the Aluminum bezel and they have the right amount of buttons to control the iPad. The screen is amazing, just the perfect amount of brightness and you can really enjoy it, I go through my RSS feeds so smoothly and easily, the one thing is that it attracts finger prints so you have to keep wiping constantly it to keep it clean. Reading comics and watching a few shows on it is pretty good, but after a while you do get tired of looking at the screen, but I got lost using the iPad and forgot the time around me which tells you how much this product pulls you in. But the iPad is only as good as the Applications that you can use with it, and luckily there are quiet a few different applciations from gaming to utilities. I like the buttons on the iPad works smoothly to control the volume and locking it up if need be, and you can lock the screen in a certain vertical or landscape mode which is very smart on their part. What surprised me the most was the battery, with normal use it lasted over a two day period before finishing the battery, watching some TV shows, surfing, reading a couple of comics, and playing video games. Some people complain about the speaker being of lower quality but I honestly think its decent for what the iPad is supposed to do, I was surprised it had one in the first place, if it isn’t what your looking for then plug in a pair of head phones and you are good to go. Another good edition is being able to add any App or even website for that matter to the App bar at the bottom, so you can really put your frequently used Apps and websites in one location.

My Applications:

• Jump – Remote Desktop to My Server and Computers (Must Have)
• Marvel – Marvel Comics loaded up on the amazing screen.
• IDW Transformers – Downloading every Transformer Comic there is, I can’t get enough, reading comics on the iPad is a fantastic experience and I really got into it forgetting myself
• GoodReader – Reads, PDF, Test Documents, Images and a few other files on the iPad and on other machiens and servers. (Must Have)
• NewsRack – Best RSS Reader which integrated with GoogleReader, smooth, loads up articles in a different window and if you click a link it takes you to it (Must Have)
• AirVideo – Watch any type of video file on your iPad from any PC or Server, works perfectly for all my anime and tv shows, don’t have to purchase the TV shows (Must Have)
• Accuweather – The best and smoothest weather app for the iPad, the other ones just didn’t work so well. Kind of annoyed with the WeatherBug and when I tried Accuweather I was very happy
• Shazam – It has a built-in Microphone and Speaker, so you can catch the song you want and you can listen to it, better then the iPod Touch in my situation since I don’t have an iPhone.
• GQ – This has turned into an interesting read, lots of time just to flip through the magazine, but all the Ads are very very very annoying. GQ has to rethink the way they have the magazine, it should be smart and intuitive, not just cut and paste from the magazines (Hold Off)
• PopularSciene – Making the magazine interactive is smart, but the content isn’t there yet and applications need to be refined a little (Hold Off)
• SkyGrid – All the upcoming news from multiple feeds brought to you and updated, its fantastic how it keeps updating, you can view the stories which are most popular then choose the articles within it that you want to read.
• SportsTap – Football, NFL, NBA, College Football, Tennis, and Golf all at your finger tips. I use it to follow the updates on the NFL mostly and its pretty damn good.
• BBC News – Different the iPhone/iPod its presented in video format as well as articles which makes it pretty interesting.

Games:

• TopGun – Its fun but annoying when you haven’t gotten the movements right
• FlightControl HD – Addictive game, you can place for hours, you have to direct planes to land around other planes, and no mistake is accetable
• Harbor Master – One of those fun time consuming games, but drives you nuts! You have to dock and undock ships in the right port without them crashing!
• Scrabble – Its a fun old game with new life, there are so many words that I don’t know any more
• Red Alert – Command and Conquer is fantastic, the only annoying thing is selecting a lot of troops but who can imagine that an iPad can play a full Real Time Strategy game such as this!
• N.O.V.A – Fun first person shooter, a different experience but not for everyone
• Implode – Blowing up buildings, who doesn’t enjoy that!

The Problems:

• Right now the Wifi works fine but sometimes it does have its issues, seems online some people are already complaining, and to get a lot of content it needs bandwidth and constant connectivity
• Without Flash somewebsites just don’t show their full content and its a very easy fix for Apple but that doesn’t seem to be happening
• Navigating the large amount of Apps for the iPad is a bit of task, you just can’t seem to find the right App for your need. I’m looking for a Networking App but can’t seem to find it
• iPod/iPhone Apps should not be installed on the iPad with the X2 Zoom functionality, it just looks wrong and tacky

Do I think every should get an iPad, yes I definately do, Am I addicted to it? Positively! Its not for everyone but everyone who I know has it is really enjoying it, I’m trying to fill mine with as much content as possible so as to use it when I’m traveling and have no wifi connectivity, which is the main purpose in my case, and the comics are doing that perfectly.

What’s new

• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It’s unclear if it’s the 960×640 display thrown around before—it certainly looks like it, with the “Connect to iTunes” screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic
What’s changed

• The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound
• An aluminum border going completely around the outside
• Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)
• Everything is more squared off
• 3 grams heavier
• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery

What a mistake by an Apple employee! They left the prototype iPhone in a Bar in Redwood City, I know where that is but I wonder where he left it. The phone had a case to look like the 3GS but with the Aluminum Bezel and new look, sort of resembles the iPad this is the new iPhone for sure. I bet lots of people are going to go nuts for this phone as soon as its out, lines will be longer then the ones for the iPad and the Apple store might crash. I’m not sure if its going to be locked to AT&T such as the first one when it first came out but it does look good. But one surprise is that it will be a micro-SIM. We know from previous posts that Zain, Wataniya, and Viva are all working on micro-SIMs and testing it out on their network, but will it be ready for this phone. I like the way this phone looks, it looks more rugged but still smooth design. Based on the details on Gizmodo this is the phone for sure and it will be released in June, make sure to check out the link for a lot more details and full breakdown after dissecting the phone and before sending it back to Apple. Now I’m looking forward to seeing this phone and I bet it is meant to destroy all the competition, Apple just doesn’t stop throwing punches.

Link: Gizmodo

When choosing a new lens I read up a lot about it, making sure that it fits my needs and use, and if I can get the most out of it. The body of the camera is only half the equation, the lens is the more important half in my opinion, getting the combination right can help with your photography not just your normal skills. So choosing the right lens is very important, I have made a few costly mistakes over the years but I have managed to sell those lenses to used lens store in the UK or on Ebay while in the states during visits so it wasn’t too bad of a hit. Overall my skill in choosing a lens has improved, but still nothing can beat trying out a lens before purchasing and this is what I’m posting about BorrowLenses. Its a service where you can reserve and rent lenses for short periods of time or long periods. The periods can last from 3 days up to 4 weeks with different intervals for renting of 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, and 4 weeks. There is a good amount of trust for you to use the item and return in it good condition. Cost range from 10 KD all the way to 200 KD depending on the lens but 200 KD for a 1200 KD lens to use for a month isn’t too bad since you get to experience and really know if you want it or not. Keeping in mind the extra cost of shipping which is probably around 20 – 30 KD, also that you lose from the rental days the amount it takes to get to you but overall I still think its a great deal to try out lenses and equipment you want to try before purchasing.

Lenses & Accessories for:

• Canon
• Nikon

Available Items:

• All Types of Lenses
• Lighting
• Water Housing
• Camera Bags
• Memory Cards
• A lot More

Link: BorrowLens