Ice Cream Sandwich Beta for Xperia Arc S is here!

Sony has released the beta version of ICS for 2011 Xperia phones: Arc S,  Neo V, and Ray. Yey! My phone is included in the list! This build is a big leap from alpha version of the rom released last December because many features are now working. However, note that is is not yet an official release; it's still in beta so expect to see problems. As reported, Wifi and Bluetooth don't work, but there is a workaround. Google Apps like GMail, Maps, etc are not included, but there's also a workaround for this.

Watch the demo in Youtube.

Instructions are found here and I can't wait to try it on my phone. Sony recommends it only to experienced developers with extensive knowledge on flashing roms so try it at your own risk.  I'm new to flashing roms, and I'm a bit afraid I'll brick my phone. If I do muster the courage to update my Arc S, I'll post the detailed steps here in my blog.

More information at XDA Forum:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1513090

Me and My Own World

As an obsessed software developer, it's easy to get lost in the virtual world especially when you enjoy finding out how things work and get pleasure from creating things out of thin air. Programming is an art; you imagine stuff and then translate it into tangible forms.

I love playing god in my own little universe, it's highly addicting, like those farming or zombie-killing games. It's satisfying to have loyal minions, ready to do your bidding as long as you speak their language.

I remember the movie, Matrix, the part where Neo saw the world as a series of green zeroes and ones. It's sad, really, to see the world in this simplistic manner. To see oneself as a brain contained within a human body, instead of a human being with a rational mind. To expect that for every request there's a response. Maybe this is my defense mechanism; thank God he keeps me sane, almost.

My mind always wanders. When I look at you with a blank stare, or when I suddenly space-out, or when I just smile pretending to have a clue of what's going on around me, please don't be offended. It's just me thinking of my next plan to tell them darn machines what to do. Hopefully I won't timeout on you :)

Android 4.33 peso Apps for 10 Days to celebrate 10B Downloads

In celebration of surpassing the 10 Billion downloads in Android Market, Google is offering handpicked premium apps for 10 cents a piece! Yes, that's 4.33 pesos! Not sure though how much will my credit card charge for the transaction fee (I hope it's free).

This is my first time to buy Android apps, and the process is dead-simple. If you've already used your Google account to buy something, like in my case I bought this domain name mvergel.com using Google Apps, you don't have to enter your credit card details again. This is a very convenient / a bit scary thing if you ask me.

I bought 2 premium apps yesterday for 4.33 Pesos each: Autodesk SketchBook (an excellent drawing app) and Paper Camera (for fun). Today they're offering a new set of apps; a bit less interesting than yesterday's list but still I purchased one: Christmas HD live wallpaper, and it's good.

Wish I could've downloaded the Swiftkey Keyboard app yesteday, darn. If only I knew that they'll be replacing the offered apps everyday.

To see the excitingl list, just open the Market app and click tile where it says 90% Off. :Enjoy! :-)

[update] Added the list of apps for each day


Dec 7, 2011

1. Asphalt 6 HD
2. Color & Draw for Kids
3. Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro
4. Fieldrunners HD
5. Great Little War Game
6. Minecraft
7. Paper Camera
8. Sketchbook Mobile
9. Soundhound Infinity
10. SwiftKey X

Dec 8, 2011

1. Fruit Ninja
2. BB Bedtime Battle
3. AirSync
4. Flick Golf!
5. Start Chart
6. Reckless Racing
7. Reckless Racing (XPeria Play Optimized)
8. Christmas HD (Live wallpaper)
9. Beautiful Widgets
10. Read It Later Pro

Evolution of mah phone

I love weird phones!

Nokia 3210 

First phone; I was in 2nd year high school when I got this one, rumored to cause explosions in gas stations and cause sterility due to strong signal but that didn't stop me from using it everyday.

Nokia 3650 

No one can use this phone except me. Everyone who tried using it to send text messages when they're out of credits didn't make it and just gave up due to out-of-this-world keyboard design, which is good for me.

Nokia e70

My first "business" phone. It's weird how you flip this phone to use its QWERTY keyboard; sometimes I feel like it's transforming into another being. Made my text life easier and geekier. :)) 

Sony Ericsson (SE) P1i (Actual Pic) 

My first SE phone, I didn't quite like the interface (UIQ) but loved the way you can type using your finger/nail. Enjoyed drawing using the stylus that comes with it. But this phone has serious usability problems: You won't know immediately if your message was sent successfully, and your reminders are hidden from sight which baffles me to this day.  

OT: From this point on, you can also see the evolution of my hand :))

Nokia E71 (Actual Pic)  

Has a premium build which oozes with class when it first came out. Loved the QWERTY keyboard, felt nice in my hands. Can't do much with it but what it can do it does pretty well.

SE XPeria Arc S (Actual Pic) 
My current phone as of writing. First phone without a tactile keypad. So far so good, but I can't use the keyboard while driving; good thing there's voice recognition. It's incredibly fast to send and receive text messages (lol at this observation; shocked the first time to inquire my remaining balance). Watching movies on the go is a pleasure.
So why not iPhone 4S? So many reasons: price, weirdness level, customization, no dedicated camera button to name a few. I really want the iPhone for Instagram, hopefully creators will show some love for Android.

Deciding Among SE XPeria Arc S, iPhone 4S and XPeria Ray

Looking for a phone with a good camera to capture those kodak moments when my SLR is not around. Hopefully, it will come with a dedicated camera button because my laziness is unbeatable when it comes to using my phone camera.

iPhone 4S is expensive: 32k PHP if bought from Singapore. Camera is better compared to Arc S but I don;t know if it can justify the 17K difference in price. Choice of apps is still better than Android and I can use this for development purpose... but but but, it's still way too expensive. 

Xperia Arc S, which sells for 18k PHP, has a dedicated camera button which is a huge plus. But with the huge screen, the battery life is mediocre (up to 2 days with moderate usage). Also, this unit doesn't have a front-facing camera. I tried it at Megamall and was surprised with the thinness of the phone; even with the big screen size, it's still pocketable.

I love the form factor for XPeria Ray, but it doesn't have a dedicated camera button. It can be bought for 13K PHP. Not bad for a phone with the same specs as XPeria Arc (not Arc S) and has a good battery life. 

A Successful Day

Successfully updated my Windows to SP1. No hiccups this time :)

Cleaned my camera's sensor (Nikon D60). It was a scary task! 

Before (It was like a spider's nest):

After (Bright as a sunny day!):

Here's my messy desk while tinkering my laptop and camera:

All is well; now off to Jed Madela, Gary V, Martin Nievera Concert!

Windows 7 SP1 Update Bricked my OS

I always see Windows 7 SP1 in my list of important Windows updates but I was hesitant to install it upon reading that many people suffered from the problems caused by updating their operating system.  Last night, I mustered the courage to add it to my list of updates.

A bit of excitement came when Windows Update finished downloading the update; it was small, around 87MB. It needed a restart, I even said to Iche (a friend of mine) that I needed a restart for my SP1 update. I was planning to play World of Warcraft for a few minutes just to test the new update and my internet connection.

The update installed and configured itself before restarting the computer. Usual stuff, so I thought what else could go wrong? And something did. It just stopped at 15% "Configuring... blah blah.. please don't turn off your computer", and I didn't want to shut it down!

I was left with no choice, I did a hard reboot and my computer won't start normally anymore. At least I could  access the filesystem using the command prompt, and was able to make a backup of my important files. Good thing Asus has a master backup of its factory settings, and restoring it was a breeze without the need for the DVD. Just press F9 during boot time and I was able to choose to restore my original installation when I bought my laptop. Whew, what a massive undertaking!

Now, the question is: will my itch to install the dreaded SP1 update go away? I think not. I'm now installing the update again. Good luck to me! :))