I use this: Apple TV

When I bought my new full HD TV, I knew that I'd need something else to be able to enjoy the high-definition experience. And since most of my media files were on my computer, I also needed something that would let me watch those shows on my TV.

Enter the Apple TV. It's a media device that connects to both my TV (via HDMI cable) and Mac (via wireless network) that lets me enjoy the best of both worlds. Setup and syncing were a breeze, allowing me to enjoy my shows without much pain.

(The only downside appears to be some HDMI handshake issue between my Samsung TV and the Apple TV. My current workaround is to unplug the HDMI cable, then replug it back.)

Read my review at Mocca's "Techie Monster" tribe, "I use this: Apple TV", and find out what else I've come to enjoy from this sleek, simple device.

--

The Lab: Apple Safari 4 beta

Apple released a beta version for a new release of its web browser, Safari, last week. Among its new features are:

• Top Sites - a gallery of most viewed pages a la Apple TV's interface
• Cover Flow - a scrollable view of bookmarks and history, like what you find in iTunes and OS X 10.5's Finder
• Tabs on top - relocating tabs to the title bar, rather than below the back/forward buttons
• Dramatically improved JavaScript performance

Alas, after using it exclusively for the few days since its launch, I feel like it's two steps forward, one step backward. The new features seem to be little more than eye candy, while the rest just can't compare with what's been available in Mozilla Firefox 3.

Read my review at Mocca's "Techie Monster" tribe, "The Lab: Apple Safari 4 beta", and see if you agree with my findings.

--

Test drive: Samsung SGH-D980

Over Chinese New Year, I had the opportunity to try out Samsung's SGH-D980. It's a dual SIM (i.e. it can accommodate two SIM cards without the need to swap between them), touchscreen handphone with a five-megapixel camera and handwriting recognition.

Unfortunately, after two weeks of using it, I felt underwhelmed by it. This was in spite of the "high-tech" touchscreen. Sure, touchscreen smartphones have been around for a long time, like the early Sony Ericsson P-series. But it was the Apple iPhone that made people really sit up and take note of the technology. And its user interface has become the "de facto" standard.

It seems that people are more inclined to swipe a finger (or stylus, if really necessary) across the screen to scroll, rather than rely on a dedicated scrollbar -- especially one that is as mediocre as the one found in the SGH-D980! It was just impossible to scroll even with the stylus, and its implementation across applications, e.g. SMS and web browser, was inconsistent.

Read my review at Mocca's "Techie Monster" tribe, "The Lab: Samsung SGH-D980 - dual SIM + handwriting".

--

SOLUTION: misconfigured "TemporaryItems" folder makes Office:Mac 2004 inoperable

This soluion has to do with a bad Mac OS X "TemporaryItems" folder that causes Microsoft Office:Mac 2004, including Word 2004 and Excel 2004, to consistently give error messages and refuse to work normally. I'm writing this down because it's a solution that I was unable to locate through a Google search or haven't seen documented anywhere by anyone. (If it's the latter, I'd be really surprised!)

(Note: the error messages listed are mostly correct in wording/phrasing as what the programs reported. Unfortunately, I didn't screenshot or write them down.)

My computer set-up: PowerPC-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.4.11.

Problem:
A. Microsoft Excel:Mac 2004
A few days ago, when I started Excel:Mac 2004 by double-clicking an XLS file, it gave this error:

'filename.xls' could not be found.

Check the spelling of the file name and verify that the file location is correct.

If you are trying to open the file from your list of most recently used files on the File menu, make sure that the file has not been renamed, moved or deleted.

This was particularly distressing because it's a file that I use everyday and Excel had never had an hang-ups about opening it.

When I tried to open the file manually in Excel (i.e. through File->Open), I got the same error upon pressing the "Open" button.

I decided to try and create a new file. This time, I got a new error message:

Microsoft Excel cannot open or save any more documents because there is not enough available memory or disk space.

To make more memory available, close workbooks of programs you may no longer need.

To free disk space, delete files you no longer need from the disk you are saving to.

This was even stranger because I had gigabytes of space in my hard disk. Something else was wrong here.

B. Microsoft Word:Mac 2004
To double-check, I tried using Word:Mac 2004. Starting it up was fine, but when I tried to open a file, I encountered this error message:

'filename.doc' is being used by 'another user'. Do you want to make a copy?

This was impossible since I was using the one-and-only OS X user account and the file I was opening had never been opened by anyone else or been closed improperly. Like before, I tried creating a new file, and now Word complained:

Do you want to replace the existing "Normal"?

I hit "Cancel" to skip the error, which leaves me in Word. So I closed Word again and now it said:

Changes have been made that affect the global template "Normal". Do you want to save those changes?

Of course, I pressed "Don't save".

Based on the above experience, I surmised that my problem couldn't be restricted to Excel or Word (or PowerPoint, for that matter). It was something more global.

Solution: ensure that there is a working "Home/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems" folder
When working with its DOC/XLS/PPT/whatever files, Office:Mac 2004 needs a place to save the working copies for its own use. These working copies, or temporary files, reside in the location, "Home/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems". If this folder is misconfigured or corrupt, none of the Office:Mac 2004 programs (Word:Mac 2004, Excel:Mac 2004, PowerPoint:Mac 2004, etc) will work.

To recreate a working copy of "Home/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems",

1. Delete "TemporaryItems" folder in "Home/Library/Caches", if it's there.
2. Delete "Home/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Entourage Temp"
3. Start any Office:Mac 2004 program (Word:Mac 2004, Excel:Mac 2004, PowerPoint:Mac 2004. etc.)

You should now have a working "Home/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems" folder and Office:Mac 2004's programs (Word:Mac 2004, Excel:Mac 2004, PowerPoint:Mac 2004, etc.) should not give any error messages.

You can stop reading here, if you want to. What follows is my (long!) list of attempted solutions.

Attempted Solution #1: delete preference files
In Mac OS, deleting the preference files is usually the first and easiest step to solve any problem. So I deleted the Office-related files in "Home/Library/Preferences" and "Home/Documents". No luck there.

Attempted Solution #2: check for corrupt fonts
When I had encountered weird Office:Mac 2004 errors previously, the culprit was usually some corrupt font. So I used Mac OS X's Font Book to deactivate all fonts, then restarted Word or Excel. Nope, the problem was still there.

Attempted Solution #3: repair system permissions and repair disk
Another cure-all in the Mac OS X world: use Disk Utility to repair permissions and the disk itself. Though it's never been proven, repairing sometimes solves problems. Unfortunately, though Disk Utility found a problem with my disk's volume header, Word and Excel still refused to run.

Attempted Solution #4: re-install Office:Mac 2004
Based on some searches, a problem in a required Office installation file could be a problem-maker. The easiest way to solve it was to re-install the whole software. So I did. Luckily, it didn't take more than half an hour. Alas, the problem persisted with this clean installation, even after adding the updates.

Attempted Solution #5: re-install Mac OS X 10.4
This was the last resort and it took me about three hours to get my Mac OS X environment restored to the way it was originally. (Reinstalling the operating system, including the updates, took about an hour. Copying files and reinstalling other software took about another hour.)

And success! It worked! No more error messages in Word:Mac or Excel:Mac. My trusty ol' DOC and XLS files opened as usual with no problems. And no other weird messages on quitting.

I was content to leave this as it was... until it happened again. Aaargh!

Now I had to remember what I'd done since it stopped working properly. Had I installed any new software in the last few days?

Attempted Solution #6: downgrade QuickTime from 7.6 to 7.5.5
QuickTime 7.6 was one new software. I had read of some software conflicts with it, but nothing related to Office:Mac 2004. Still, there was no harm in downgrading and trying it. Alas, it did not eliminate the problem.

Attempted Solution #7: create a new OS X user
Another "last resort" solution. I created a new user, logged into it, then started Excel and Word. Both worked flawlessly! This narrowed the problem down to some files within my "Home/Library" folder, since each user has its own Library.

Comparing files/folders between the two, I couldn't find anything that was different. My original "Library" folder had the same essential contents as the new user's. So I copied files/folders out of my original "Library" folder. No luck, I still had the Excel and Word errors.

Attempted Solution #8: delete contents of "Home/Library/Caches"
And then I stumbled upon this quite by accident: while copying files back into my original "Library" folder, I decided to not copy the "Home/Library/Caches" folder. Which meant that the "Caches" folder in my original "Library" folder was now empty.

And Word and Excel started with nary a complaint!

I then used a couple of other programs, then tried to start Excel. The problem returned! I went through the programs I'd used and two stuck out: Safari and Firefox.

Attempted Solution #9: remove Safari's caches
Safari had recently been upgraded to version 3.2.1, another new piece of software. Unfortunately, removing its stuff in the "Caches" folder did not eliminate the problem.

Attempted Solution #10: disable Firefox's add-ons/plug-ins
Starting Firefox 3.0.5, I disabled all of its add-ons. In its "virgin" state, I knew from past experience that it couldn't be messing up the "Caches" folder. Unfortunately, this didn't work... until I decided to just see what was inside the "Caches" folder itself.

Attempted Solution #11: delete misconfigured "TemporaryItems"
I found one strange item: "TemporaryItems". It was a folder, but was not "working" as a folder, i.e. I couldn't list its contents. So I deleted it, then restarted Excel. No go. However, I found through trial-and-error that I could recreate a "proper" "TemporaryItems" folder by deleting "Home/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Entourage Temp". I don't know how/why it works, but it does.

While leaving the "TemporaryItems" folder open, I started Excel by double-clicking an XLS file. Excel worked perfectly well again! And now I noticed that it had creating a temporary file in the "TemporaryItems" folder.

Breakthrough:
Of course! Word and Excel had complained of low memory or all of the other crap errors because it couldn't save its temporary working files!

True Solution: remove software that misconfigure "TemporaryItems"
I later found out that it was an erroneous Firefox add-on, Weave 0.2.7, which had caused all of these problems. Apparently, it was either deleting incompletely the "TemporaryItems" folder or was creating it improperly. Whatever the reason, it was messing up my system badly. Needless to say, I'm keeping it disabled.

I hope the above is useful for anyone who encounters the same problems as me. Hopefully, I've stuffed enough keywords to make it easily searchable.

--

Camera comparison: Sony Ericsson C905 versus Sony Ericsson K800i

Oh joy! I finally managed to lay my hands on a Sony Ericsson C905. I had been drooling over this phone ever since it was first announced. Its specifications matched exactly what I've been looking for. Eight-megapixel camera. WiFi and 3G. Familiar Sony Ericsson interface.

Of course, nothing's perfect. Like video recording that doesn't take advantage of the available pixels. Or a heavier, bulkier design. Or the price tag (S$900 and dropping).

On the other hand, after seeing the C905's picture quality, its drool factor just jumped tenfold. Here's the picture I took with my Sony Ericsson K800i:


And here's the same scene taken with the Sony Ericsson C905:


Oh my goodness! Eight megapixels do make a ton of difference! I can actually see the spotted pattern on the grey chair! *gasp* I've never seen such clarity before. Hmm, this is something that I should test with the Xperia X1, if I get the chance to.

Overall, the C905 seems to give very good quality images, which ranks it right up there with the Xperia X1 and ahead of Samsung's Innov8 and Pixon. As for Nokia's N79, N85 and N96, it's no fight at all (well, maybe the N85, but by a long shot).


Related entries:

• Camera comparison: Samsung Omnia, Innov8 and Pixon versus Sony Ericsson K800i
• Camera comparison: Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 versus K800i
• Camera comparison: Nokia's new N96, N85 and N79 versus Sony Ericsson K800i

--

Camera comparison: Samsung Omnia, Innov8 and Pixon versus Sony Ericsson K800i

While at the Samsung Store today, I had a chance to try out the camera capabilities of the company's flagship camera phones. While the Omnia had been touted as a iPhone alternative, the Innov8 and Pixon were promoted through their eight-megapixel cameras.

So it was time to put the hype to the test. As usual, I measured against my benchmark Sony Ericsson K800i.

(Note: no matter what the images show, the phones being tested are not necessarily the ones mentioned in the pictures.)

First up, Sony Ericsson K800i vs Samsung Omnia.

Sony Ericsson K800i:


Samsung Omnia:


Hmm, either I had unsteady hands, or the Omnia's camera quality is as depicted. One thing that puzzled me when using the store's phone was that it was stuck at 320x240 pixels. It wasn't until repeated pressing of the buttons (it didn't help that the security lock was in the way of the touchscreen) that I managed to get its full 2560x1920 resolution.

So, the Omnia didn't impress me. Would eight megapixels make a difference?

Sony Ericsson K800i:


Samsung Innov8:


The Innov8 seemed to provide a level of exposure that was more true to what I saw with my own eyes.

Sony Ericsson K800i:


Samsung Pixon:


Unfortunately, another customer was in my way when I was taking the picture with my camera, so the angle was way off. But the Pixon did seem to give richer colours.

So, based on my non-scientific tests, I'd rate the tested phones in this order: Pixon, Innov8, K800i, Omnia. Compared with the other phones that I've tested recently, I'd say that the Pixon and Innov8 give the Sony Ericsson Xpera X1 a run for the latter's money, in terms of true colours and sharpness.

One thing I didn't like about the Samsung phones was their initial learning curve. In particular, I couldn't figure out how to return to the main menu except by accident. I suppose Samsung sells phones that require a read-through of their manuals before use.

Related entries:

• Camera comparison: Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 versus K800i
• Camera comparison: Nokia's new N96, N85 and N79 versus Sony Ericsson K800i

--

Camera comparison: Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 versus K800i

If there's one thing I look for in a mobile phone, aside from the ability to make phone calls and send/receive SMS messages, is a good camera. I don't own a regular camera since I'm not in the habit of taking photos. But when I do take that occasional photo, I want to make sure the picture turns out well.

So far, my trusty Sony Ericsson K800i has not failed me in the photo-taking department. In my search for a new phone, I've hardly been able to find one that is better or at least on par with the K800i.

Until I tried out the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1.

My first experience was, admittedly, a disappointing one. I had chanced upon a Sony Ericsson road show booth, so I played with their demo set of the X1. The laggy interface coupled with lack of response from my touching the screen made me think that this phone was a dud.

Then I tried the one that a colleague had. Whoa! It was soooo much better! Yes, there was still a noticeable lag when switching between programs, but it was acceptable for a Windows Mobile-based smartphone. Tapping and typing were breezy and responsive. I even liked that, in spite of the small icons and menu items, it knew which item I had selected with my big finger.

Which only left the "acid test": how well were the photos taken with its 3-megapixel camera? First up, here's what I'd taken with my K800i:


And here's the X1's photo:


Check out the sharpness of the X1's picture! I can almost see the individual strands of hair on my colleague. And notice how the X1 captured the close-to-true orange-y light at the top of the picture.

By comparison, the K800i's photo looks over-exposed. And its blurriness suggests a longer exposure period. Now I know what I've been missing out!

Nokia's new line of Nseries phones don't stand a chance against the X1. In my book, the X1 has moved up several notches, not just in terms of its camera quality, but also in its features and user interface.

Alas, it's priced way out of my range (unless a telco gives me a couple of discount vouchers). Perhaps I could score an evaluation version? Hello, Sony Ericsson?

--