Comments (5)

By maskawaih, December 22, 2009 10:21 PM

Aifon Tri-gee-ass

Finally, I am getting this baby. Honestly speaking, it’s for my company of course. I ordered the phone like 2 weeks ago, sharp. Yeah, it was on my birthday which I ordered it. The guy said something like I might be getting it about two to four weeks. I got an SMS earlier in the afternoon about this thing and immediately rushed to Berjaya Times Square to pick it up. Oh, I made my order there because I was lurking around Lowyat Plaza at that time to find some Macbooks. So, yeah, around 3 PM I drove from Bangi to BTS with my friend, Amin. As we arrived at the Maxis Center there, I saw something funny which was the ‘System Offline’ notice on their desks. The grandeur service provider in Malaysia was having problem with their connection, for all over places, as the dude there said. We had to wait. While waiting, I went to Borders to look around at those mango (which eventually I bought some later). Initially, that guy said something like we might come back there around an hour later or so. But after wasting some 20 minutes at Borders, we went back to the that Maxis outlet. Still, System Offline da yo. But not long after that, that guy at the counter called me (if I am not mistaken, his name was Ahmad Hashir or something like that). He said, he can process my iPhone 3GS now. Well, it did took sometime and finally I have iPhone 3GS. At the same time, I guess that their system didn’t ‘offline’ but simply they have slow connection or some similar technical issues because I saw some of the guys could operate the stuffs albeit slow.

Continue reading 'iPhone 3GS and other stuffs'»

Comments (5)

By maskawaih, August 9, 2009 7:25 PM

I bought some cool shits yesterday. Apparently it’s because of that my previous keyboard and mouse failing me so much that I nearly rage out like maniacal newfag being trolled by several unsympathetic  bitches on forum. The old keyboard was being used for about 2 years. It’s failing hard and shit because my brother loves to smoke in front of my PC and the ashes would deter it more; not only appearance but also some keys were stuck. Well, cheapo Viewsonic keyboard which was like RM 35. The next thing is my old Deathadder mouse by Razer. Cool motherfucking shit that I got after purchasing C&C3 Kane’s Wrath Limited Edition. But sadly, this black and red striped crap failed me after more than a year of usage. It’s supposed to be an expensive bitch that shouldn’t be having flaws like ‘accidental double-click’. Well, I had my time with Razer. I used to have Diamondback previously (which I replaced with DA after getting it). Currently the mouse is being used by my sister. So, what are the new shits I bought to replace them?

Microsoft Sidewinder X6

Well yeah, Sidewinder X6. Detachable numpad that interchangeable to the left or to the right of the keyboard. More importantly, macro keys that programmable to combine several keys together in one single button hit.

Continue reading 'Press S1 to achieve victory'»

Comments (7)

By maskawaih, May 20, 2009 4:25 PM

I bet some of you might be thinking of how big my underwear is, aye? Or rather pantsu if you prefer that way. Anyway, it’s about my bad habits in getting something I like. Something costs me money. The recent purchases of Comp Ace tankoubon and Megami Deluxe show how cruel the papers flew out of my pocket. It didn’t end there yet. I ordered lens for my Panasonic Lumix LX3 camera from a bulk order in LowYat.NET which was delivered to my house on Tuesday through PosLaju. From a third party lens maker, Pandabase, the package contained an adapter along with telephoto lens.

Example picture of the adapter attached on an LX3 (image taken from ClubSnap.com)

Telephoto lens attached along with an adapter to LX3 (image taken from FotoBestBuy)

They cost me around RM 233 along with the delivery fees (well, it’s imported from Hong Kong). Since it’s only 52mm lens, it’s not really that far like those DSLR but it’s an addition to the original zoom of LX3 itself (inb4 DSLR fags come in and saying stuffs). Apart from the stuffs for my camera, I purchased some games for my PS3 as well.

Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet, Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and Burnout Paradise Ultimate Box

I bought MGS4 (RM 80), LBP (RM 80) and PES 2009 (RM 140) from my friends. Means, second-hands. Eventually I bought brand new package of Burnout Paradise for RM 140 in which I was also purchasing Silent Hill Homecoming (RM 90) for shah. Since all these games have already available on the market for sometime, I had to update all these games before started playing them. Meh, a lot of big updates and long downloading time. Looking back at these, Mein Gott. A lot of money were spent for such things. T^T

P/S: Shah, don’t forget to pay me back RM 90 of you SH:HC game and also that RM 30 of CF banner.

Comments (11)

By maskawaih, May 3, 2009 3:34 PM

So, there, I went to 1Utama on Friday along with linkinstreet and shah_ho_nam. DaiCon is currently there from 1st to 3rd of May for EMiNA roadshow. From the roadshow itself, the selling of Chihara Minori Live in Malaysia tickets begins. Since I am not sure how many people will be there so I opted for going there as early as possible. From my own calculation, there are not that many animu lovers who really know about or really bother to get such priced ticket for her (for some, it’s quite expensive). I can tell DaiCon has already doing their best to sell off those tickets but majority of these people I talked are either not interested with her or don’t have enough money. One thing about for those who are not interested is basically there are many seiyuu out there who have done better stuffs and also their own preferences. Minorin only did a number of voice casting yet somewhat mostly main characters while she started as a singer eventually. I bet if Hirano Aya or Mizuki Nana coming along, massive zerg rush of otaklu will be there.

People queuing up for buying tickets (photo taken by Aoshi)

I woke up early in the morning and around 7:30 a.m. I fetched linkin at KTM Commuter UKM station. Expecting shah to be late as usual, we straight away having our breakfast at one of the shops in Medan Selera (Feast Field if you bother to read in direct translation to English). Then we went to shah house in Putrajaya. I called him when we arrived there. Suprised to hear that he already down there because we’re expecting him sleeping in his room at 16th floor. Well, he was playing at cyber cafe at Old Klang Road last night with others until 6 a.m. and pretty tired. Other than that, he forgot to bring his keys for the house as he left them to his wife in Cheras. The heck man. He was actually sleeping in his car until we arrived around 8:30 a.m. After talking awhile, we proceed to 1U and parked there. It’s still early about 9:20 a.m. Nobody is there at the DaiCon booth except some girls were preparing to set up the places for EMiNA. About 9:30 a.m., Aoshi called me. He was surprised that I was there very early and suddenly shouting “MINORIN!” on the phone. He told me that he will be arrived there around 10 a.m. and all three of us just sitting on some nice sofa there where shah continue sleeping while waiting. Aoshi arrived with some friends. Few minutes after he arrived, the DaiCon members finally sighted. Kurogane, iyn, cholic and many others arrived with boxes of stuffs. 

Ohai there! (photo taken by Aoshi)

Kurogane told us that the ticket selling will only begin at 12 o’clock. There were also a few of people there with the intention of buying the tickets. So we went to have lunch first. Linkin and shah prefered KFC as usual. But there were too many people queuing there while only 2 counters were open. Soon it’s almost noon. I asked shah to take away for my order while I went back to the booth with Aoshi. Kurogane then announced that we may start queue. At first, there were only three people which I was the third. When the buying started, I actually getting the front row with seat number 6 as guys in front of me actually buying for more tickets. While queuing, chizzu arrived (first pic, the guy with hat and purple shirt). He was the fifth guy who was getting the 8th seat. Apparently, someone recognized my name and saying, “Oh, so you’re maskawaih eh?” Since it’s already late about 12:30 p.m., I had to go early. We went to Putrajaya instead to send shah back to his car as he needed to go back Cheras. Around 2:30 p.m., linkin and I went to Lowyat Plaza. Previously, linkin called Oyaji to come over as he is the one who knows better about cameras compared to me, linkin and shah (Aoshi’s still at the event area tho). 

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3

So heres my new camera. I chose a PnS camera rather than a DSLR. Why? It requires skills to use it. Of course I can learn on how to use a DSLR bit by bit. But a DSLR is not cheap. At least a hefty amount of RM 7k is required to buy such camera with it’s accessories. Looking at my LX3 price, I can buy an entry level of DSLR camera. Then again, LX3 is able to capture HD videos. Features are not that bad either. Being a total noobfag about camera stuffs, I am somewhat pretty happy with this new baby. One of the drawback I see with the camera is that the HD video capture is only about 10 minutes at one time (about 22 minutes for standard 4:3 VGA mode). That means if I want to capture an hour of HD video, I have to push the record button several times on intervals until the end.

Macro shot on my HTC TyTn II

Taking picture of my RC helicopter

I am not playing DotA by the way. I was looking at a screenshot

Mirror shot. Not really a quality picture

Macro shot on keys

LX3 has this 'Fodd scene' image capture function. But actually the food has already gone...

Playground shot during the night

Playing WWE vs RAW game on PS2 at shah's house

We then watched Gunslinger Girl animu

 Minori Chihara AWSM ticket (RM 250) + Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 (RM 1699) = Broke.

Comments (7)

By maskawaih, April 22, 2009 4:49 PM

Fire in the hole!

Apple’s New Weapon

To help soldiers make sense of data from drones, satellites and ground sensors, the U.S. military now issues the iPod Touch.

Tying the hands of a person who is speaking, the Arab proverb goes, is akin to “tying his tongue.” Western soldiers in Iraq know how important gestures can be when communicating with locals. To close, open and close a fist means “light,” but just opening a fist means “bomb.” One soldier recently home from Iraq once tried to order an Iraqi man to lie down. To get his point across, the soldier had to demonstrate by stretching out in the dirt. Translation software could help, but what’s the best way to make it available in the field?

The U.S. military in the past would give a soldier an electronic handheld device, made at great expense specially for the battlefield, with the latest software. But translation is only one of many software applications soldiers now need. The future of “networked warfare” requires each soldier to be linked electronically to other troops as well as to weapons systems and intelligence sources. Making sense of the reams of data from satellites, drones and ground sensors cries out for a handheld device that is both versatile and easy to use. With their intuitive interfaces, Apple devices—the iPod Touch and, to a lesser extent, the iPhone—are becoming the handhelds of choice.

Using a commercial product for such a crucial military role is a break from the past. Compared with devices built to military specifications, iPods are cheap. Apple, after all, has already done the research and manufacturing without taxpayer money. The iPod Touch retails for under $230, whereas a device made specifically for the military can cost far more. (The iPhone offers more functionality than the iPod Touch, but at $600 or $700 each, is much more expensive.) Typically sheathed in protective casing, iPods have proved rugged enough for military life. And according to an Army official in Baghdad, the devices have yet to be successfully hacked. (The Pentagon won’t say how many Apple devices are deployed, and Apple Computer declined to be interviewed for this article.)

The iPod also fulfills the U.S. military’s need to equip soldiers with a single device that can perform many different tasks. Apple’s online App Store offers more than 25,000 (and counting) applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch, which shares the iPhone’s touchscreen. As the elegantly simple iPods—often controlled with a single thumb—acquire more functionality, soldiers can shed other gadgets. An iPod “may be all that they need,” says Lt. Col. Jim Ross, director of the Army’s intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors operations in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.

The iPod isn’t the only multifunction handheld on the market, but among soldiers it’s the most popular. Since most recruits have used one—and many already own one—it’s that much easier to train them to prepare and upload new content. Users can add phrases to language software, annotate maps and link text or voice recordings to photos (“Have you seen this man?”). Apple devices make it easy to shoot, store and play video. Consider the impact of showing villagers a video message of a relaxed and respected local leader encouraging them to help root out insurgents.

Since sharing data is particularly important in counterinsurgency operations, the Pentagon is funding technology that makes it easier for the soldier on the ground to acquire information and quickly add it to databases. Next Wave Systems in Indiana, is expected to release iPhone software that would enable a soldier to snap a picture of a street sign and, in a few moments, receive intelligence uploaded by other soldiers (the information would be linked by the words on the street sign). This could include information about local water quality or the name and photograph of a local insurgent sympathizer. The U.S. Marine Corps is funding an application for Apple devices that would allow soldiers to upload photographs of detained suspects, along with written reports, into a biometric database. The software could match faces, making it easier to track suspects after they’re released.

Apple gadgets are proving to be surprisingly versatile. Software developers and the U.S. Department of Defense are developing military software for iPods that enables soldiers to display aerial video from drones and have teleconferences with intelligence agents halfway across the globe. Snipers in Iraq and Afghanistan now use a “ballistics calculator” called BulletFlight, made by the Florida firm Knight’s Armament for the iPod Touch and iPhone. Army researchers are developing applications to turn an iPod into a remote control for a bomb-disposal robot (tilting the iPod steers the robot). In Sudan, American military observers are using iPods to learn the appropriate etiquette for interacting with tribal leaders.

Translation is another important area. A new program, Vcommunicator, is now being issued to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. It produces spoken and written translations of Arabic, Kurdish and two Afghan languages. It also shows animated graphics of accompanying gestures and body language, and displays pictures of garments, weapons and other objects. Procurement officials are making a “tremendous push” to develop and field militarily useful Apple devices, says Ernie Bright, operations manager of Vcom3D, the Florida firm that developed the software. The iPod has already transformed the way we listen to music. Now it’s taking on war.

By Benjamin Sutherland @ Newsweek

Good source: http://www.newsweek.com/id/194623

Actually after reading some news over the net regarding soldiers with iPods in the field and with a good logical brain, you could certainly predicted something like this happened to Apple’s iPod. Adding phone’s capabilities over iPod (which turned to iPhone) already became a mania over these years. I bet you can have a picture of those futuristic military stuffs just like in Hollywood movies. *cue those songs*

*goes to create more apps for iPod/iPhone*

Comments (8)

By maskawaih, April 20, 2009 12:58 AM

I wasn’t sure why I chose the title above. Apparently I was drafting this post on Thursday after my presentation for MDeC preseed at Cyberjaya. But I was pretty lazy to finish it up. To sum up something related on the day, it was pretty hectic which gradually turned to mellow. My friend, Amin, had his presentation as well. Despite his best efforts to convince the judges, it seemed they couldn’t accept much of his idea. Basically speaking, the result would likely be a negative notion. Honestly speaking, I was quite a little bit slacking because of my crowded weeks earlier. Well, hearing unconvincing news from him made me doubting my luck. So there I went to the Innovation Center inside MMU with my other friend, Sapri.

Bloody hell

We arrived there at around 2:00 pm. There were some other people there as well. Pretty much my guess of them being some sort of participants were true as they’re also being called for presentations of their ideas soon after. My team’s presentation was supposed on 2:30 pm. When it was about the time, our group number hadn’t been called yet. I don’t really mind at that time because there were like many other groups there. But waiting until like 4:30 pm was really something. Well, according to the time table given, our group will be the last to present on that day and also for this batch as well. But only after some waiting of nearly 3 hours, even my confidence level was certainly reduced. Then again, why don’t we give the best of ours? After we were called to enter the room, the environment inside was quite pleasant. Not because there were some pretty chicks inside but the judges were calm and didn’t show any sign of fatigueness. Quite amazing as they were judging people’s ideas from the morning until that late afternoon. So we immediately started the presentation. After a brief presentation about our idea then the best part came, Q&A. They kinda like the idea of ours and started asking this and that. I believed I managed to give my best answers to them. Upon a question where I was asked by a judge of what may I proceed after finishing the project, I saw a brighter light. Though another judge quickly stated, “IF your idea approved” and they laughed gently. After that I went back to the office before going home.

BOOM! HEADSHOTS!

I did a few things at office on Friday. Well, I have to present my Masters’ progress report on the Wednesday, next week. Yeah, the semester kinda wrapping up before break (but no off days for working guys like me). But most importantly on that day was the yesterday’s results. My friends and I were waiting like until the end of the day before the results were sent to our emails inbox. I was kinda pessismist earlier though I do have high hope for my chances in getting good news. Amin’s proposal was rejected as he received an email from them. I only getting my email later on where my team is granted for approval cycle which means I will be having a second pitching with approval committees. Thank God.

Time for Siegheil

As I went back home, my copy of Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor just arrived. Oh, my PC was fixed, thanks to linkinstreet. But I lost a partition tho where my video collections of Minorin vanished. Yeah, pretty sad. Fishing sad ;_; Back to ToV, this is one of the game that I certainly buying it as I stated before. While there are some sort of additions, the 3 campaigns kinda short. Each campaign has 3 missions only. Within few hours, I finished all the campaigns and unlocked customizable units for multiplayer game. The AI pretty smart though. Previously when my friends and I were playing against Expert AIs, we could beat them easily but this new expansion brings better AI to fight with. Currently we were facing defeat by defeat as quitting the game halfway will be counted as a loss now.

Nutbladder 2: Return of Wideface

So, I went to Lowyat Plaza on the next day. Sora and I were planning to exchange PS3 games between us. I wanted to borrow his Disgaea 3 while he wants to play Valkyria Chronicles. It’s been a long time I haven’t had weekly /AS/ gath at Lemon Food Court. In the same time, Sora wanted to meet linkinstreet because he borrowed Rin Tohsaka and Haruhi Suzumiya figmas from linkinstreet long time ago and he wanted to return them back.  As usual I parked at Berjaya Times Square. Simply because it will be easier for me to go to KL-Seremban highway for going back home from there compared to Lowyat Plaza’s basement carpark. Since there’s Borders bookstore at BTS, I went there first. Finally, there’s Hidamari Sketch (Sunshine Sketch) volume 2 released. Immediately I bought the manga and grinned until my face became wideface. Then I proceed to the gath. Well, I gave to Sora my Valkyria’s game but Sora forgot to bring his Disgaea 3. Cibailancaufuck you Sora. After having lunch, talkcocks and whatever, we went around to find good deal for Sora’s memory stick. He wanted to buy a 4gb memory stick for his PSP. So there we strolled around from floor to floor. After strolling through several shops, we went to All IT Hypermarket at the 3rd floor there. While finding the thing the he wanted, I saw some LCD monitors. Range of brands and sizes. First, I was looking at Samsung. The 24″ LCD monitor was like just below RM 900 but no HDMI though. Well, not bad as it’s Samsung after all. Previously I had a thought of getting the Dell S2409W as it’s priced at RM 729. Of course I can only buy that LCD online which requires a credit card. After looking through Samsung monitors, I saw an Acer monitor there. Hmm, 23″ and priced at RM 669. So I looked at its specs; VGA/DVI/HDMI supports and Full HD 1080 resolution. Wait whut? I went to an ATM out there, forked out some money and then bought the LCD lol. Man, ever wonder how cool is that. Even the Samsung 24″ HDMI monitors are usually priced over RM 1000.

Acer H233H

My one year old Samsung 22" LCD monitor

Dual widescreens anyone?

I plan to sell my old monitor to linkinstreet. I was about to give the monitor to him on Sunday but it was raining heavily just now. Perhaps, next time.

Cool things about Acer H233H:

• It supports resolution up to 1920 x 1080. Widescreen. Full HD.
• It has VGA, DVI and HDMI slots.
• Audio output for sound from HDMI source.
• Sleek panel and the buttons are like touch-panel rather than actual buttons.
• Input button that cycle through inputs from sources. Which means I no longer need to connect/disconnect my cables to switch between PC and PS3.
• It comes with cables for all inputs. (I nearly buy an HDMI cable previously)
• It’s RM 669!

Meh things about it:

• The whole size of the monitor is not exactly that bigger than my Samsung.
• The screen is like a mirror. Too much reflections especially during the day compared to my old one.
• Bigger resolution means more burden to my Ati HD4850 graphic cards. So I have to reduce some details to make my game smoother.
• It’s kinda hard to find cool anime wallpapers at such resolution.

After all, it’s a good deal. Welcome to the Full HD World.

Comments (5)

By maskawaih, March 30, 2009 3:32 PM

Being a contract worker and a Masters student at the same time, I am barely alive here lol. I am not saying that they’re hard but it’s pretty tiring to have all days in a week used non-stop. Apparently, I might have my weekends a little bit free after this semester ends. Oh well….

I am planning of making double posts today. For this post, it will cover up things related with my Playstation 3. More than a week ago, my copies of Resident Evil 5 and Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. arrived. As usual, Sora kept urging me to play with him after he got to know that I got the game.

Arrived at my home 2 weeks ago on Friday. Barely more than a week ago....

Resident Evil 5 – Verdict

It’s full of actions despite the story is quite short. I finished the game less than 5 hours with Sora’s help. Yeah, I know that he has the unlimited ammo thing since he unlocked them already but with only 6 chapters, the game can be considered as very short. Despite similar control as Resident Evil 4, the introduction of co-operative play means you have to solve some of the riddles by using two people instead of one man show like previous series. Perhaps PS3’s online multiplayer capability made Capcom decided to make the game more fun by having multiplayer elements.

What’s so good about the game anyway? Well, I’ve been a fan of RE series since the first game though I only played the main series and neglecting the Survivor series plus others (oh, I didn’t play RE Zero because I don’t have GameCube). The game has far off left it’s horror theme as it’s push on towards third-person shooter game. As much as some people still insisting that the game as survival horror game, I believe the game isn’t as horror as before or other recent horror games like F.E.A.R. RE5 brings in Sheva Alomar, a new character that acts as Chris’ partner throughout the game (eventually you will be able to use her when you’ve finished the game). The AI is quite good. Helping you each time you got some troubles like being strangled by those mindless zombies or creatures. Like I said earlier, you will be needed to rely on your partner to solve things up. Items can be shared together with your partner. Despite that it’s short to finish the game, there are many achievements and unlockables that kept me playing it again and again. Especially when trying to beat the scores. Each chapters will have grades and once you’ve finished the game, there will be Mercenaries mode unlocked where you will be playing on some recognizable places like in the main story campaign. Beating each Mercenaries map with A grade will unlock you with additional characters with different outfits. Two other characters are Albert Wesker and Jill Valentine where you can play as them on Mercenaries mode.

One of the things that I dislike in the game is that you have to stop when you want to fire weapon. Plus, when in firing mode, it is slow as you couldn’t face back quickly if there’s an enemy at your back. Usually I have to do the quick 180 degrees turn before switching to firing mode. Other than that, connecting to a co-op game with friends is frustrating. Most of the time, my connection to Sora’s game lost. The communication error thing will pop out and have to restart the PS3 then try to connect to the game again. Apparently, this is not related with internet or in Malaysia, the Streamyx connection, which I can tell Malaysian internet enthusiast people will try to point that first but as I searched on the forums and some gaming sites, it’s due to the game itself.

Overall, it’s a superb game. Good actions and great graphics are really mesmerizing. There’s a scene that really resembles Indiana Jones movies. Giving the game with 9/10 wasn’t an exaggerate hype from an old fan.

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X.

Originally I wanted to get this game for PC like I stated before. But I couldn’t resist the tempt to get it for my PS3. This arcadish air combat game is one of my favourites. If some of you didn’t know, HAWX is related with Ghost Recon game in Tom Clancy series. There are missions where you will be needed to protect them from up above. Since the cancellation of Ace Combat 6 for PS3, I was really looking for an alternative for it. HAWX is full of action packed dogfighting and there are many planes that you can choose from the hangar (well, obviously after you unlocked them each time you completed a mission and also your levels). The planes are realistic. As much as I love to try MiG-29 after I unlocked it, I also enjoyed flying the F-15 jet fighter and taking out as many planes as possible (this is arcade, mm’kay? 140 missiles on a plane is just cool). You can choose your viewing preferences as there are 3 modes; Cockpit view, simplified first person view and also third-person view where you can see your beautiful plane while piloting it. I prefer cockpit or first person view tho.

Actually I felt a little bit boring after started to play some few early missions.  It feels a little bit easy and somewhat similar with Ace Combat dogfighting. But then, there’s Assistance OFF mode which was introduced after some missions completed. When flying without assistance, you can perform sharper turns to avoid missile locks, but you’re more susceptible to stalling if you brake too hard. In this mode, the camera angle switches to a wider view of the landscape, which affords you a better view of your current target and incoming missiles. Then again, it can be a bit disorienting and makes controlling the plane even more difficult for those who are not used with it. Graphically speaking, it’s awesome, only when you’re up in the sky. The grounds look just like those old Combat Flight Simulator games when you’re flying in close to the ground. Tho, cities were well built just like real life cities with buildings. While dogfighting can be immersive, the wingmen AI is quite useless. They can be ordered to attack your designated target and also defending you but most of the time, they’re not that helpful.While there are many aircraft to choose from and various attributes, the controlling is very similar on all planes. A difference that can be seen is the speed, for example.

To sum it up, it’s a great air combat game despite some minor flaws here and there. I give it 8/10 and honestly speaking, it’s a little bit biased because I love dogfighting anyway.

Huh?

Bought this baby because I wanted to find a microphone for my PS3. Since PS3 can use any Bluetooth device, I opted to find a headset where I can use it on my HTC as well. So I found this B-Speech Calypso SP. It’s not that cheap as it’s priced RM 230 but it fits perfectly on my ears. Sadly, PS3’s audio output only applicable on HDMI, Digital output and analog output. Oh well, at least it can be used with my HTC :3

Comments (7)

By maskawaih, March 25, 2009 5:12 PM

Apple iPhone was finally made available in Malaysia officially by Maxis. Truly, there are many people who are pretty happy when they heard about this official launch. Of course, there are also some people who are grieving about some stuffs that they feel unsatisfactory. Especially what Maxis have offered to them. Being an iPhone application developer, I was there under Maxis Developer Programme. In fact, all of us in the office went there as MDP provided us a booth for us to promote our products and applications. More importantly, we eventually met with other developers invited by Maxis where we could acquire more information about what and how are they actually developing. It’s nothing much but at least we could learn something from there.

Crowds at the Apple iPhone launch day

We were invited to Menara Maxis (Maxis Tower) at KLCC several days before the launching event. The General Managers of the event asked us to do some video shooting regarding our products. I am unsure who is who as the managers there kinda have multiple tasks and everything. At least I know their names like Colin and Kugan. The video shooting was done simple and fast. Nothing fancy about. However that was my first time inside the office area at Menara Maxis. Something to brag about despite others might have been there for several times already…

Eheh

Visitor tag

The corridor at Level 8

Some PC booths there were not available. This PC has it's anti-virus running which made it unusable during the scanning while there's a PC having BSOD

Randomly taken from inside the building

I can feel the rushing and somewhat mismanagement here and there among the event organizers. Tentatively, the launching on Friday will be on 6 PM until 1 AM and there will be two areas needed to be covered. The official launching at KL Convention Center was mainly for those who pre-ordered the iPhone from Maxis through online and other submissions where Datuk Joseph Salang will be. While in Cyberjaya, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will be there for somewhat live broadcast and video conference between Cyberjaya and KL Convention Center. Some of us will be in Cyberjaya and the rest in KL Convention Center including me. As the event officially launched, people started getting in and then the VIPs are having those conference thing as the place geting crowded. After some few hours inside the hall, it was not a really pleasant thing. From my own view, Maxis did a lot of damage over there. It’s not because the event totally failed but a lot of things missing such as unstable crowd control. Lemme re-check:

1. We, developers, were under Maxis Developer Programme. I can understand that we’re all required to wear black T-shirts and pants just to mimic how Steve Jobs has always wearing. But what makes me ponder was why do we get the same lanyards as those normal event crews? The manager who was in-charge of providing us the T-shirts and lanyards saying that there weren’t enough stuffs while some other people I saw were getting the special VIP tag.
2. Like what I said in the first point just now, visitors there have always thought that we developers at the developers booth as same as those normal event crews in which their purpose was to guide the visitors on how to do this and that on an iPhone. I’ve been approached by several people asking me about iPhone features and stuffs rather than what we were actually displaying.
3. Some visitors were informed by some unknown crews that the developers’ booths are for getting applications downloaded into their iPhones for free. That was a lie. I can tell that some crews were not getting enough understanding what we were doing there. There’s this Middle Eastern boy (maybe Spanish? I don’t know) asked me whether he can download stuffs for his iPhone. Again, I have to explain to this boy about what are we doing here which is about our products. Just like other people I’ve had to explain.
4. The booth was unsatisfactory. I can understand if Maxis doesn’t want us to put our own banners as they wanted to make it look exclusive for Maxis and iPhone. I don’t mind with that. But the booth was simply… not good enough, I think. A chair for us developers with two other chairs for visitors. Basically, each developer group has one chair on inner side of the each booth. The desk we were getting was so-so. But the most important thing was a big banner or something that shows our booths as developers section or something like that. Since the booths were quite near the entrance, people always thought that we were somewhat information kiosk.
5. When the crowds getting in, it would take sometime for those pre-orders to get their devices. There’s waiting list and all. Eventually there were many people sitting around the middle of the hall where there were some chairs there. But there were not enough. Instead, some of the people came to our booth and used the chairs. We were hoping people came to our booth asking about our development. Not some sort of by-passers using the chairs for them. Again, because there’s no obvious sign of what we were, they people don’t really know or care.
6. There’s food booth outside the hall. Sadly it was only for the visitors. Weren’t we the developers there? Because of the lanyards we were using, we didn’t have the privilege of getting the food. Though sometimes they were slacking but that’s blatantly negative rules. I believed it was due to our event crew lanyards. Being over there from around 4 PM to 11 PM, I was quite hungry as I was only have my food during the lunch. No free food for such event is bad, you know?
7. Since there’s a food booth, people will be taking some plates for the foods. When they finished eating, eventually some people put the empty plates at our booth. Superb. Now our booth became an empty plate collecting section. Sigh.

Perhaps there were other things I missed out but above are some points I listed from what I experienced in just one day. I didn’t attend the Saturday and Sunday parts because I have assignments needed to be done and submitted on Sunday for my Masters study. I saw Misbun Sidek and Lee Chong Wei on that night passing by our booth though. Perhaps they were getting the iPhone as well and they seemed rushing.

*facepalm*

Comments (4)

By maskawaih, March 15, 2009 9:27 PM

Yukkuri shiteitte ne!

Behold! Apple iPhone finally official in Malaysia.

Malaysia’s leading mobile operator Maxis Communications Berhad (“Maxis”) today announced that it will offer iPhone 3G 8GB for free on its iValue 4 plan from March 20. Maxis will offer a range of new tariff plans, starting at just RM100 per month, tailored specifically for iPhone customers.

iPhone 3G combines three products in one – a revolutionary phone, widescreen iPod and breakthrough internet device – to create an incredible mobile experience. With fast 3G networking, GPS mapping and support for enterprise features including Microsoft Exchange, iPhone 3G puts even more features at your fingertips. The groundbreaking App Store provides access to tens of thousands of applications from games to social networking to financial planning and health management, generating more than 500 million downloads to date. iPhone 3G is now available in over 70 countries around the world. 

“As the nation’s leading operator, Maxis has always stood for innovation and distinctive customer experiences,” said Sandip Das, Chief Executive Officer of Maxis. “We are very pleased to launch iPhone 3G in Malaysia as many of our mobile users have been eagerly anticipating this revolutionary phone. They will really enjoy the many embedded and downloadable applications from the first time they use iPhone 3G.” 
Maxis will offer the 8GB and 16GB iPhone 3G models with four new and specially designed postpaid plans called iValue, all of which are voice-data bundled price plans, starting from RM100 per month. For customers who sign up for a monthly commitment of RM375 over a 24-month period on the iValue 4 plan, the iPhone 3G 8GB will be free of charge. 

The bundled voice and data plans are the first of their kind in Malaysia, reflecting the substantial growth in mobile data usage among Maxis’ customers. Maxis’ subscribers form the largest base of mobile data users in Malaysia, with more than 4.4 million accessing mobile internet services and sites on a regular basis.

“Malaysians, including our Maxis customers, are among the highest internet and data users in the world; and iPhone 3G will further enliven their mobile experiences with Maxis,” added Mr Das. “We are making nearly RM1.6 billion of investments into our networks this year. Over the coming months we will continue a comprehensive upgrade and expansion programme that will further enhance coverage and performance, including our high speed 3G data network.”
The new price plans on 24-month contracts are:

Note: All customers are also eligible to add any existing SMS bundle to their iPhone plan at standard rates.

The Maxis iPhone 3G launch will be held at 7pm on March 20 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, where customers who have pre-booked iPhone 3G will be invited to the event to collect their phones. Walk-in customers who have not registered may also book iPhone 3G at the launch and collect their phones at a later date. 

Maxis announced the launch of the special website www.maxis.com.my/iPhone. Customers can visit the site to find out more about iPhone 3G and iValue plans. To be among the first in Malaysia to own an iPhone 3G, customers can either pre-book via the website or visit one of the 29 Maxis Centres nationwide, as well as selected Maxis Exclusive Partners and authorised Apple resellers. 

Maxis customers can also call 1800 821 123 for details on how to book their iPhone 3G devices and plans.

Blatantly copied from here. Come people this March 20-22nd at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre! I will be there.

Comments (3)

By maskawaih, November 23, 2008 9:07 PM

The ultimate mobile lifestyle event of the year. Well, that’s what the organizers promoting the event though. The main attraction for the crowds are the expo which pretty much similar like Pikom’s PC Fairs that have been around for years while this GoMobile is of course centered on mobile phones (handphones or cellphones, whichever you prefer). I was there for all events of GoMobile this year. Starting with the conference, 2nd Asia Pacific mLearning & Edutainment Global Summit, which then led to the night of Mobile World Star Awards & Gala Dinner. Finally, the expo itself. The events were held from 20th to 23rd of November at PWTC in Kuala Lumpur.

For the conference, it was MDeC who sponsored me for such expensive event. Yeah, a person has to pay RM 935 to attend just to listen the talks. If it wasn’t free, I believe I won’t pay such large sum of money just for talks. While the gala dinner, I was there under UTeM. Same applied for expo as UTeM had some booths for some exhibition with their projects and stuffs.

There’s nothing much to say about my experience with the conference and stuffs as it might be filled with boring lectural contents that may lead to boredomness. On contrary with that sentence, I actually bought something nice at nice price.

Not really a brand new mobile phone but I bought it for RM 2199 from HTC booth (market price usually at 2399). Touch screen with stylus plus QWERTY keypad. Isn’t that fun? It runs on Windows Mobile 6.1, easy to synchronize with any Windows PC and easy settings. At 400 Mhz, it’s quite slow compared to new phones. It does feel a little bit laggy on Internet Explorer, especially when browsing LowYat.NET’s forum as you might know there are many images there when opening a thread. Above all, it’s still a nice little gadget and I still feel awkward using stylus to write SMSes to friends. Not for long though, I hope. ^_^

That’s where I live for all 4 days (3 days for the events). The condominium is available for rent and also providing other stuffs. They allocated us with 4 rooms and the place is very nice. Not bad for RM 500 per night. There were 12 people of us. So, it’s quite reasonable. Btw, on the gala dinner night, there were also some artists performing, as in singing, like Reshmonu and others. One that attracted me the most was this young girl named Marsya. When her name was announced, I was thinking about that Marsha AF girl as the name pronounced similar. But this Marsya was from Indonesia. After she done singing, she went from table to table saying ‘Hi’ or something like that but she didn’t approach the table that my friends and I were eating. A bit sad. But, well, who really cares and I didn’t even know her much at that time.

On the day after at the expo, we set up our booth for UTeM and started promoting (more like being a PR rather than selling stuffs). On several intervals, I usually lurking around the expo to look for good deals (like my newly bought TyTN II). At one moment, I walked past a booth of a new brand for mobile phones in town which is MicXon. A promoter girl smiled and gave me a pamphlet. I kindly received the pamphlet and started looking at it. To my surprise, the pamphlet was about that Marsya girl who performed last night. To double the surprise effect, the girl who gave me the pamphlet just now was Marsya herself!

I was wondering who was she as I am not that familiar with Indonesian artists. Later I found out who she was after using Uncle Google. She was a finalist of Indonesian Idol 2007. Sixteen years old. While she didn’t win the competition, she’s one talented singer as she’s able to survive the elimination moments before finally being purged out. If people really care about her look, she might survived and win, right? But well, maybe there were more good looking finalists than her lol.

Well, that’s all. I might be going to Johor later. Until we meet again.

Edit: Not going to Johor btw.