2016 is supposed to be a year for me to upgrade my iPhone and MacBook, but sadly this is not happening. I am still keeping my 2 years old iPhone 6 and my 3 years old MacBook. Dear Apple, what happen this year? I am a Apple fan no doubt but Apple is truly uninspiring this year.

First the iPhone 7…

I am a very satisfied user of the iOS. Having both an iPhone 6 and an Android Xperia Z5 premium, I have constantly rate my iPhone as a better performer in many aspects; LTE connectivity, Wifi connectivity, emails, calendar, camera, music and many more.

Sure iPhone 6s is suppose to be a minor upgrade. Faster Touch ID, 3D Touch, better camera. None of these appeals to me when iPhone 6s comes out. And by the way, 3D Touch, it is rather hard to use unless you have a great sense of how much force to apply. I’m a person who just gently tap on the screen. Applying force on the screen just seems unnaturally for me. Not to forget it can be a bit tiring too. So no updates for me when iPhone 6s came out and I gingerly waited another year for iPhone 7 which based on Apple’s release cycle should have a major upgrade over iPhone 6.

Then it happened. iPhone 7 looks almost identical to iPhone 6! The plus version has a dual lens telescopic camera. Cool but what else. Beside faster this and better that, there is absolutely nothing I find enticing enough for me to buy an iPhone 7! I just couldn’t part with the money just to get a better camera. New Jet Black colour? It’s just the color. I could just get a jet black casing and slap it onto my iPhone 6 Plus. And no 3.5mm port? I’m sure to lose that tiny lightning to 3.5mm adapter.

Initially I was tempted to buy the new iPhone 7 Plus. I was so close to parting that $1000 plus after watching the iPhone event. Life will be better with the new iPhone, I thought. Alas, it is constantly out of stock and I just couldn’t get it even after waiting a month for it. During this time, I realized how good my iPhone 6 is and came to my senses. Maybe iPhone 8 will be better. So I’m shelving the plan for a new iPhone. After all, the new MacBook Pro is going to be announced soon, I can spend my money on that instead to get a better machine.

Then came the announcement of the new MacBook Pro…

First thing in the morning when I woke up to the news of the new MacBook Pro, I was all hyped up to find out when I could buy it. Yes finally I can get a new gadget for myself this year!

But no. Apple has again made it hard for me to part my money.

Where are my ports?

New MacBook Pro (15 inch model) comes with 4 ultra fast thunderbolt/USB-C port. And surprise! I have zero USB-C devices! I connect my current MacBook to a USB 3 portable HDD for Time Machine and an external display using HDMI. My previous MacBook has no HDMI port and I bought a thunderbolt to HDMI connect. Also, I have invested in a thunderbolt to Ethernet connector. After all, my MacBook is full of thunderbolt port. It will be a worthwhile investment.

The new MacBook Pro will have no HDMI or even the old Thunderbolt port. This means I have to first buy a USB-C to HDMI (I have already bought a Thunderbolt to HDMI) and then buy another USB-C to traditional USB hub. My Thunderbolt to Ethernet and Thunderbolt to HDMI are next to useless for this new MacBook.

The new butterfly keyboard is also what that irks me. Having tried out the keyboard before, I was always so glad that my MacBook Pro keyboard feels so good to type on. This new MacBook Pro comes with second generation of this butterfly keyboard. I don’t think it is just not going to work as well as the keyboard of the current Macbook Pro.

Wait did I mention no Magsafe? The one thing about Macbook that I boast to my friend and the connector that save my Macbook multiple times when someone trips over the power cable. In the new Macbook, it is gone. Is USB-C that important for Apple to remove Magsafe? Is that why Apple Care cost more for the new Macbook?

The price…

The giant touchpad is definitely a plus. And the Touch Bar actually looks sexy and useful. So maybe I can just buy more adapters for this new machine, it may not be so bad after all. So, I went to the online Apple Store and tried to find a comparable machine to my current one.

Close to SGD4000! If I remember correctly, I bought my current laptop of comparable spec at least 200-300 less. With Apple Care and a processor upgrade it costs SGD4700 plus! For my previous MacBook, even with Apple Care I paid at least 500 less. Back in 2013 when I bought it, it was the highest available spec and comes with SSD of 512GB. This set also comes with 512 GB SSD. I was expecting at least 1TB.

The increase in price is a big big turn off. Couple with the fact that I need to buy so many adapters, it just doesn’t make sense any more. My current MacBook will do just fine. In fact it may now worth more given the ports that are available on it. Did I mention it still have a SD card slot?

New MacBook is for early adopter

I have come to the conclusion that this new MacBook is for early adopter who really have the extra money to splurge. After going through the ‘Thunderbolt is the future’ And bought all the thunderbolt adapters, I’m not going to place my bet on ‘USB-C is the future’. I will let others have a go first.

Apple please up surprise me next year…

[This article first appear on http://www.jaxxie.me/2016/10/apple-i-wanted-you-to-take-my-money/]

Just watch this video! The future of multi-screen technology seems so fascinating!

Check out the video below which explains some of the technology used in above video!

If you still want more, check out this first video by Corning. Amazing how this advertisement is so captivating.

How I wish iPhone 5 looks just like the translucent mobile that is seen in this video!

By the way, those who are interested in the Electrochromic glass (the glass that can turn opaque and transparent at will), there is actually such a product by Samsung! Featured in the latest CES 2012, this Smart Window allows you to check twitter, recipes, flights, weather etc. Real cool stuff!

The multitouch panel featured in the video is also somewhat similar to Microsoft Surface.

Ok, the technology is still a bit far off from what is envisioned in the video. Nonetheless such surface may eventually be found in household in the future.

The seamless transfer of data between surfaces will be one of the main challenge. While Apple is actively trying to get you to buy into their entire ecosystem of Mac, iPad, TV, iPhone, Google is also doing the same with its Android, Google+ and suite of Cloud services. Microsoft is too trying to do this armed with its dominant market share of OS for PC, its Xbox game console and Window Phone 7.

Eventually at some point, a common protocol will have to be established to ensure that devices/screens are agnostic to the OS. That is an Apple iPhone should be able to communicate seamlessly with say an Android Phone. Until such standard has been established, it may be hard for us to reach the day where all their devices can converge and interact with each others.

Sony Ericsson’s announcement of the Xperia Play (aka the PSP Phone) does not come as a surprise as the online community has already been actively discussing about it long before the official announcement. The Xperia Play runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and user can play PSP game titles. But before you start rejoicing and sell away your PSP on GameTrader.SG, do note that Xperia Play does not come with a UMD drive.This means owner of current UMD PSP games cannot port their game over to Xperia Play.

Apart from this, do not expect Xperia Play to have a whole suite of the PSP game library. Games for Xperia Play must be converted for its Android OS and thus the PSP games from the current PS Store will not work for Xperia Play. Instead of going to PS Store, user will have to go to a separate Sony Ericsson Online App Store.

Comparing Sony’s attempt to Nokia’s N-Gage, I feel that Xperia Play may be able to garner more buyers than its N-Gage counterpart. N-Gage’s failure is caused mainly by the lack of support from game developer resulting in a poor library of titles. The greatest rival to date for Play is ironically the recently announced NGP (Next-Generation PSP). With all the attention now mainly on NGP, developers may unlikely produce titles for this new device. While we are not sure whether the conversion process of PSP titles to Android-friendly ones will require much work from the game developer, if that is true, Xperia Play may have trouble tapping on the current PSP library of games. Developers may simply feel that such investment is not needed.

To me, the price tag will now be an important factor. If Xperia Play which is running Android (my current favorite OS) comes at a competitive price compared to say Samsung’s Android phone or iPhone, I may consider getting one when my mobile plan expires. However, if the price is $150-$250 more than a usual decent android smartphone, I will rather get a NGP when it comes out.

For more information on Xperia Play, check out Engadget.com.

Cheers! I’ve recently bought a Wii set, and it is a really great system. PS2 graphics aside, it really gives you a different kind of fun from the PS3. And it is really enjoyable to play a game with the whole family, even adding a few relatives would be fine. A good choice to buy it so far, well so far that is.

The thing is, I have been wondering if my choice over Kinect had been a right one. Recently I saw a Kinect demonstration at IMM. People were playing table tennis (GO WII SPORTS RESORT!) with their bare hands. The funny thing was, their hands were shaped like a bats. This may look normal to everybody, but if you change your vantage point you would see something different. This controllerless technology isn’t really that controllerless after all. An irony hidden well between the lines.

Of course, this is very natural. Since time immemorial, people have had been using tools to do various things, from cooking to writing to even personal pleasure. It has been wired in our systems to use tools for majority of the tasks that we do. So essentially what the Kinect does is it detects the “controller” that our hands are trying to imitate. That is where the limitation of Kinect lies, at least that is what I believe.

Just think about it. While it would be easy to detect equipment like tennis rackets and baseball bats, the challenge would be at objects that have more detail. Take rifles and pistols for example. I am not a technical expert, but I believe that the minute action of one pulling an imaginary trigger would be pretty difficult for the Kinect to detect. This means that shooting games might be out for Kinect. According to Gamespot, shooting games account for 38% of the Last 12 Months Top 50 PC games. It also accounts for 40% and 52% for All Time Top 50 games for PS3 and Xbox 360 respectively. That is one hell of a market that Kinect might be missing out on.

Onto the next lucrative market – Role Playing Games. Blizzard’s World of Warcraft series have been great hits, among other free to play MMORPG games like Maplestory and Dragonica. Even single player RPGs like Dragon Age: Origins and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion are now all time classics. But imagining RPG games on the Kinect seems to be a little tough. While melee weapons like swords and staffs might be possible, the tricky part lies with ranged weapons. Bows and guns have the same problem highlighted earlier, and it is puzzling as to how one will control a mage. Perhaps a wave of the hand will cast frost bolt.

With so many barriers of entry for the Kinect into the top 2 markets, it really seems to have a tough time ahead. Right now my eyes are on PS3 move.

Recently, I have been wanting to purchase a new console.  I already have a PS3, so what I am comparing is basically the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox. Before I knew that Kinect was coming out, I was actually bent on Wii. I even have the picture of a Wii on my dreamchart. My estimated buying period would be around Feb 2011 and now the problem arises – Wii or Kinect?

Review of Kinect bby TechFast

I believe most people would choose Kinect on instinct. It has more potential, games could be more fun and seems to overwhelm Wii in almost every way. However, Kinect has just came out in the market. So the games for it could be quite limited, and it would seem that way for quite some time. The majority of the games resemble Wii in many ways, like MotionSports, Your Shape Fitness Evolved and Brunswick Pro Bowling. Basically it is the Nintendo Wii being released all over again, just that now it seems cooler and is cooler.

Personally I am quite a hardcore platform gamer, and the games that are released for Kinect currently does not attract me at all. If I were indeed looking for a platform for me to play games with my family, I would choose Wii over Kinect. Wii allows up to four players, while Kinect looks like it only has the capability of supporting two right now. Furthermore Wii is much cheaper than a Kinect set now, assuming that you do not have a Kinect Ready Xbox 360 at home. If you are a casual gamer wanting to spend more time with your family through a console, you would probably not want to spend SGD$400 more on a console that you would not make full use of.

Even as a serious gamer, Wii catches my attention despite its similarity to Kinect. Games like Call of Duty and GoldenEye 007 really have a different feel when you play it with motion sensor controllers, while Monster Hunter Tri is really enjoyable if you had played the Playstation Portable versions. Resident Evil 4 and Metroid Prime 3 come to mind too, along with Tatsunoko vs Capcom. On top of all these there exist the family-friendly Wii games, making the Nintendo Wii a console that satisfy almost everyone.

However, assuming that you do not already have a Kinect Ready Xbox 360 at home, spending the extra SGD$400 might be worth it. That is because you not only have a Kinect, you have a Xbox 360 too. You get to play games that PS3 doesnt have, like the Halo series as well as the Gears of War series. Furthermore I have a PS3 Slim edition, meaning that I cannot play PS2 games. For older games that are PS2 only, they tend to be on Xbox 360 too. So getting the Kinect Ready Xbox 360 is equivalent to getting a newly-born Wii, PS2 and Xbox 360 together.

With all these said, I certainly am not trying to undermine the ability of Kinect to grow. Honestly speaking, its potential is frightening. Imagine Marvel vs Capcom and Tekken on Kinect. Or the next Call of Duty series. A new Mirror Edge, anybody? One wonders how far the Kinect would bring us, but all these takes time, and it would be an estimate of 1-2 years at least. Till then, I think I would decide on Wii for now.

EDITOR’S NOTE

To placate all you PS fans out there, PS Move is defintely a strong contender against Wii. The higher accuracy of PS Move over Wii had won some developer over. For example, Harmonix, creator of the new Dance Central for Kinect, is considering porting the game over to PS Move but not Wii due to the lack of tracking data provided by Wii’s system. Finally, the motion controller battle has begin with now all three major gaming company having their own version of motion controller in the market. Who can move the gamers?

For those who think that Kinect is a new and innovative product, think again after watching the video below:

And why isn’t Sony pushing for controller-less system? This video below explains it.

Hear the truth about Kinect and Playstation Move by a guru in the video below: