Xperia Pro keyboard

I finally managed to find a retail shop to try out the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro.

First impressions are not encouraging. The key edges are straight instead of being domed, which enable one's thumbs to move around the keyboard.

Also, the keys are slightly softly sprung. They don't provide the positive clicky feeling I have with my Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro.

The sales assistant was hovering around constantly, asking questions, so I didn't have a lot of time to really test the keyboard and camera.

Guess I'll have to find another shop to try it again. Now tempted to reconsider the HTC ChaCha even with its inherent problems of insufficient memory, short battery life, and slow processor. The keyboard on the ChaCha is that good.

Xperia Pro finally lands in Singapore

After what seems to be an eternity, the Xperia Pro has finally landed in Singapore. Currently selling at $598 (without contract), it belongs to a rare breed of QWERTY Android handphones.

I need to try out the keyboard before I can decide on whether this handphone is a suitable replacement for my aging X10 Mini Pro.

This is further complicated by a desire for a QWERTY candybar form factor (aka HTC ChaCha), and a super camera phone (Nokia N8).

I already have 2 mobile devices (X10 Mini Pro & Galaxy Tab), so adding another device just sounds extravagant and wasteful.

Has it arrived too late to the game?

Trying out the Xperia pro — Sony Ericsson Product Blog
After almost one year of delays, we finally see the Xperia Pro becoming available.

With an ample screen, QWERTY keyboard, and a potentially good camera, perhaps the only stumbling block is the form factor.

A horizontal slider means plenty of switching between portrait and landscape formats. Also, the fact that I had to replace the connector between the 2 sliding pieces on my X10 Mini Pro means question marks regarding reliability.
I suppose I'm still tempted by the HTC ChaCha, even it has quite a few bugs.

QuickWeb on the HP DM1

By accident, I stumbled onto the QuickWeb feature on my HP DM1, while it was crammed into a bag. A quick google search later, I found that pressing F5 (which also corresponds to the shortcut to opening a browser) would boot the notebook into the QuickWeb environment, which is a Linux OS which allows quick access (about 20-25sec) to the Web upon booting.

Tested several websites with the browser, and found most functions working (e.g. Flash, Java, etc). The browser was generally snappy, and easy to use.

As most of my work is done online, this is an interesting option that I may use quite regularly in the future.

A portable Windows device with QWERTY keyboard

Panasonic Toughbook U1 gets new sunlight-viewable screen, still solid to its Atom core -- Engadget
The price is expensive (US$2,799), but it has the right combination of features
- Windows (full desktop experience)
- hardware QWERTY keyboard (needed for extended text entry)
- touchscreen (important feature on a portable device)
- reasonable battery life

Xperia Mini Pro lands in Singapore; Xperia Pro still delayed

The successor to my current phone (X10 Mini Pro), has arrived in Singapore.

Features include

1. a bigger screen (from 2.5-inch to 3-inch)
2. faster processor (from 600MHz to 1Ghz); this also means Adobe Flash is supported
   
3. OS upgrade (from Android 2.1 to 2.3)
4. front-facing camera (Skype just announced expanded video-calling capability for its Android app)
5. hardware QWERTY keyboard has more keys, including 4-way arrow keys and shortcut keys
   

Looks tempting, but I don't think I will get this phone, as it does not have the backlit CMOS sensor (a.k.a. Exmor-R) in its camera. The long delayed Xperia Pro has that feature, but is also bulkier.

Backpack for DSLR and notebook

Went to Funan yesterday to look for a bag to carry my Pentax K100D DSLR plus other lens, and my HP DM1 notebook.

Why a backpack and not a messenger bag, like the one that I'm currently using?

1. Weight - a DSLR + notebook adds up to a considerable weight, which would be heavy to carry on 1 shoulder
2. Strap interference - on the same day, I purchased a Blackrapid strap which is worn across the body. Using a messenger bag would interfere with the usage of the strap

I tried out a few bags at Challenger and SLR Revolution.

1. Kata 3N1-22
2. Vanguard Up-rise 46
3. Lowepro Compuday 250

The Kata's notebook slot was a bit too narrow for the DM1. So it was instantly out. Nice design though, but expensive. The bigger version, the 3N1-33 looks a little too boxy.

The Vanguard was nice, but I didn't really like it's fancy-looking V-shaped clips. It looked a little large and heavy also. Maybe I was a little biased, but I thought a China brand would be cheaper.

The Lowepro was light, but it's straps look a little too lightly padded, and the side-access slot for the DSLR did not come with additional dividers for additional lens. Cheapest of the 3 though at $95. Ugly though...

While I was at Challenger, I also tried the Vanguard Sydney 27 messenger bag. Nice design (not black), with a removable DSLR insert. Pity that it was a little small.

Back home, I spotted new versions of the Kata 3N1 bag online. The 3N1-25 looks good, and sized between the 22 & 33 models. Likely to be expensive though.

Most likely I will get the Lowepro Compuday 250. A pity that I missed the previous promotion where it was selling at $77...

13 ways to shoot candids

Yanidel Street Photography
Great tips on how to shoot street photos discreetly.

HP DM1 - 1 week on...

After almost 1 week of usage, I still feel that the laptop is not fully optimised.

Removed several HP software, but had to reinstall them, as I found that they were needed for certain functions, e.g. on-screen display, wireless assistant.

The notebookreview DM1 forum thread is useful, but with 300 pages of posts, I'm struggling to find the gems quickly. Still at page 73 currently.

I brought the DM1 out once, and the battery life was good. Screen reflection was not too serious (I was in a cafe).

One more small glitch. After changing the power button setting to shutdown the laptop, the button continues to put the laptop to sleep only...

Blank Screen on Twitter

Twitter Help Center | Blank Screen on #NewTwitter

Have been facing the above issue on Chrome and other browsers.

Following the help options, I managed to see Twitter using the https version...