Zen Garden - @ 20six.co.uk

TouchMe Notes

I haven't been posting for quite some time, since there has been changes in my life lately. Nothing drastic, but worth mentioning.

Yes, I've bit the bullet and switched over to the iPod touch. And consequently, I've started a new blog called TouchMe Notes. The new blog will record my journey on the sweet and bitterness of the transition.

Aside from the new blog, I've been busy with work and my family. Hence, I would no longer be able to regularly post on this blog.

On that note, I would like to thank you all for your support over these years.

Signing out.

W

29.6.08 15:58
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Animatorsoft's Mini-Keyboard

Last night, I was amazed after trying Animatorsoft's Mini-Keyboard for the frist time (using my Palm TX). Here's what I was typing using the app:

This is so great! Wow! It feels so great that it gets me typing away in seconds. Its quite awesome! Even in landscape mode, it feels comfy and it has a virtual tactile feel to it. Its really not that bad.

The trial version of the app can be downloaded here.

1.9.07 04:51
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REVIEW: Tradewinds 2

Life is a game. One of my fondest moments with computer games is playing addictive trading games like Dope Wars (pun intended). ThIs type of games improve your business and logic skills. Not so long ago, Astraware introduced a similar game with a twist called Tradewinds.
Tradewinds is based on the popular PC game by Sandlot Games. It has been developed and optimized for Palm OS® and Windows Mobile® touchscreen PDAs and Smartphones by Astraware under license from Sandlot. In Tradewinds, you are tasked to do trading, battle your foes and emerge victorious as you build your way to power.
Tradewinds 2 is the sequel to Tradewinds - a best-selling game of swashbuckling adventure and trading in the Far East. This time its an entirely new adventure featuring 5 new characters, and 20 all new ports. As with Tradewinds, players can battle pirates and trade in goods, but Tradewinds 2 has all new booty to trade in and in Story Mode there are over 100 different tasks to be completed.
In Story Mode start by selecting one of the 4 unlocked characters and you'll begin the story in your home port. The game will offer you an onscreen introduction. Complete the game as one of these characters to enable LaRoche to play with and the character generator.
When you see the map screen you'll have a handful of ports available to you. As you play more additional ports can be revealed - for instance you might be rewarded with a map. You'll also unlock new goods to trade in and new Governors who'll give you tasks.
Explore all the buildings in each port. Talk to the characters you find there and they'll offer you useful information to aid you in your quest.
In Free Trade Mode you can buy and sell goods to build your fortune as well as battle pirates.
Make sure to visit the shipyards to repair your ship after battle or to upgrade your ship and weapons. Tradewinds 2 differs from Tradewinds as you only have 1 ship which is upgradeable, rather than a fleet of smaller ships. Start with a simple Sloop and work your way towards a Man-O-War!
The game can be controlled with the stylus or with 5-way controls. If you're using the 5-way access the buildings using the menu button onscreen. Set Sail using the main game menu.
Overall, the game has evolved from a simple trading-battle turn based game into a great game with epic proportion. It feels like playing on your PC for hours and days. I dare say the gameplay evolved by folds (that you need more than just dead hours at the airport to finish this game). The entertainment factor of mobile gaming have never been this fun!
Trial limitation: 36 weeks of sailing across both game modes (1 trip from port to port equals 1 week).
Price: Tradewinds 2 is priced at $19.95. Trial copy of the game can be downloaded here.

26.8.07 05:44
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REVIEW: Astraware Sudoku 1.40

The last time I've reviewed this outstanding game (same time last year) from Astraware these were the highlights:
"It has a clean and intuitive interface... makes Astraware Sudoku so addictive that I've been playing it non-stop for several months now. Its clearly a winner!"
Recently, they've just released a revision to a game that I've considered perfect in my books. I can't help but ask, what's left to add to a game that can already stand by itself?
The Changes
Hold and Highlight – players can tap and hold a specific number or pencil mark number to highlight all instances of that number on the board. Devices with a QWERTY keyboard can use the shortcut P and then number to display pencilmarks, and O and then number to display numbers.
Full Hi-Res+ Support - This is a welcome addition for people who have upgraded to a Palm handheld with a 320 x 480 screen (Palm TX, Tungsten T5, T3, etc.). Not only the game feels solid in both portrait and landscape mode, it also has some widget-like components in it (clock and battery indicator).
Puzzle Manager - allowing players to select a specific puzzle to play, or to delete puzzles which they’ve already completed.
What's best about this revision? It's a free upgrade for those who already have the previous version of the game. This is indeed a wonderful update to the game that swept the puzzle gaming genre.
You can download a free trial over at Astraware's website.

20.8.07 02:10
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Astraware Releases Bejeweled Valentine Edition

Everyone seems to be busy planning dinner dates and other romantic activities for this Valentines Day. Usual suspect of gifts include the usual flowers and chocolates. Are there better things to give than the regular stuff?
This year its going to be different. Astraware® and PopCap Games® has just released the Bejewelled Valentines Edition. Aside from the familiar Bejewelled game play (enjoyed by geeks and non-geeks across the globe), they've added some romantic touch for lovers to enjoy.
Bejeweled Valentine's Day Edition features all the gem-swapping fun of the original, but with some loved-up extra features. The game board is enhanced with sparkly red heart-shaped jewels and the game includes a 'Valentines' Special' option to help shy romantics get the message across to their Bejeweled-addicted sweetheart. Its not only limited to the heart gem used in addition to the regular gems, but there some extra romantic features into the game as well. Yes, Bejewelled can even help you pop the magic question. The 'Valentines' Special' has two preset questions, or the user can create a personal message in their own unique way.
This year the game has been updated to add compatibility for some new devices, so Windows Mobile® users with 240x240 square screen devices can display their inner-romantic. We're also excited to announce the first ever release of Bejeweled Valentine's Day Edition for Windows Mobile® for Smartphone devices, including those with landscape screens. You can't go wrong giving this as a Valentines gift for Palm or Windows Mobile users.
Bejeweled Valentine's Day Edition is available for only a couple of weeks, so don't miss it! Owners of a registered copy of Bejeweled (original version) can download the Valentine's Day Edition for free, and registration codes for the Valentine's Day Edition will also work for the classic version of Bejeweled®. For more information on Bejeweled Valentine's Day Edition for Palm OS® and Windows Mobile® visit http://www.astraware.com/bejeweledve.

2.2.07 05:41
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iPhone: Apple's Third Act

I'm as facinated and excited about Apple's iPhone (as much as everyone else) when it was introduced last Tuesday. I've burned midnight candles to do some readings and was ready to drop my Palm TC (and my current Moto phone) right away. Everyone was talking about it with such enthusiasm and awe. Its indeed a wonderful piece of concept, but the reality distortion field (RDF) begins to wear off quickly. Back to reality, I've asked myself if I would be getting one, I could have probably if it was made available right away. If you ask me now, I'll tell you that I'll be holding off until the release of the iPhone version 2 or 3 (if there are such in the making). Why? Let me count the ways...
1. The iPhone is high technology, highly priced but with a crippled feature and its locked. It wasn't designed like the iPod. The iPod started out only to play music and it does what it does with an affordable price. For the iPhone, you have the potential technology that is crippled to the application and features that Apple dictates (with a high price).
2. Steve says you don't need a fixed physical thumboard on the device. This seems to be a viable reason if the phone doesn't do SMS and email, but it does. And it needs a tactile feedback inorder for the concept to be compelling. This is the same reason why Apple's Mighty Mouse created much frustration.
3. No unlocked version available. The choice of network is out of the question. I personally don't like to be tied up if the phone is not even given away for free. The second or third iteration would probably have the unlocked version (not to mention a much lower price).
There are more reasons in the sea on why its an overrated phone, but those three are the main reason for me not to jump on it right away. The iPhone won't kill the ones that Steve shown during his keynote. In fact, I'm even in doubt if the iPhone could make its expected 1% marketshare target by next year. Remember that not all iPod owners could afford an iPhone and not all iPod users would buy an iPhone. Buying a shuffle or a nano for a second iPod is more likely to happen than buying an iPhone as a third or fourth iPod. If history repeats itself, I see the iPhone being another G4 Cube in the making.
W

14.1.07 05:52
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REVIEW: Gaining Productivity with TMP

Happy New Year to everyone! Its that time again when we change our daily planners and organize our event schedules / appointments for the rest of the year. For people who owns a PDA, there's no need to buy one. But are you happy with what you currently have? Does it help you be more productive? What do people get from paper-based planners that you won't get on a regular Palm Calendar / Datebook application? The cleaner look and feel and the ease of using any writing instrument to pen down a schedule or task. We all know that we won't see the latter happening anytime soon, but there's a replacement app that will answer what the default Calendar cannot. Its called TMP (short for Time Manager Pad).
For years that I've owned a Palm, all of the datebook replacement app that I've used didn't bring something new in terms of look and feel. They all look thesame! You name it, every replacement tries to mimic the look and feel of the built-in Calendar. I'm not saying that the layout are no good - its just not easy to the eyes. For the rest of us who thinks differently, we prefer the clean look that the Apple iCal gives to the Mac. And TMP is by far the iCal for the Palm platform. TMP gives you the clean look and feel of a paper planner and integrates itself nicely with the built-in Calendar and Tasks. It enables you to modify existing color schemes and add icons to a schedule or task according to your preference. At a glance, you'll never have to worry on missing out a single appointment or task.
Though TMP doesn't have the bells and whistles when compared to the rest of the competitons, however it has everything what you would expect on a digital planner. TMP is what the built-in Calendar should be in the first place.
W
You can download the trial version here.

2.1.07 20:23
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