Pokki - review of another Android Emulator

Installation guide of Pokki is here:
Installation guide of Pokki

By right click on the Pokki icon on taskbar will give you some options. To launch Pokki, simply click on the icon.


Setting of Pokki:



Pokki Launch pad, can also do search on your computer, type your keyword on the box on the top of the launch pad.


Pokki comes without any apps, except the Pokki apps store. We will need to launch Pokki apps store to add additional apps.


The Pokki Apps Store. About hundreds apps only, very little compare to Google Play or Apple apps store. The apps store has the same feel like Google Play when I access it from web browser.


A few famous games, such as Plant vs Zombie, Cut the Rope.


Installing Cut the Rope now.


Cut the Rope is installed. New icon added to taskbar, luckily these icons will be gone after you completely exit Pokki.


Trying out Cut the Rope on Pokki.


Start playing Cut the Rope. It will pause automatically if Pokki is not in the focus.


Searching function on Pokki Apps store:


Pokki's memory usage. This is when playing Cut the Rope.




Pros:
1. Pokki consume less memory compare to BlueStacks.

Cons:
2. Compare to BlueStacks, we cannot install apk into Pokki at the moment, apps are limited. However it is just matter of time that member of XDA will come out with some tutorial or guide. :-)



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source: I wrote this!

The Best Cloud Storage

This is not based on review reports that compiled from internet. This is my actual experience and I have all these accounts. I hilited winner for each item.

Clearly, I don't care about the paid services. There are so many free cloud service, why do we need to pay for it? Unless you really like a cloud service so much that you willing to pay for it. ADrive is the winner in this case, once you sign up, you get 50GB, no hassle, no need to like Facebook fanpage, no need to refer to your friends. Skydrive supposedly get the silver medal, but it reduced to 7GB after Google Drive debut, stingy Microsoft, boo! Congrats to those manage to get 25GB before it expired.

For second item, the total storage have I have on these cloud services, ADrive and Box.com are the winners. Box.com will offer free upgrade from time to time. iOS users was offered on 2011, and Android users was offered on beginning of 2012. What you need to do is install the mobile apps and sign up or login using the apps and you will get 50GB. There is no offer at the moment, except for certain brand of smartphone. Sugarsync can be a winner here as well, if you can refer Sugarsync to many people, and every free account being sign up, you will get additional 500MB. There is a famous blogger in Taiwan has over 100GB of storage on Sugarsync.

For upload file size limit, Pogoplug and Sugarsync are the winner, if the users are not limited by the browser and memory/RAM on the system users that using. This might be a catch here, if you are using lower end system, the upload limit might be less than 1G. I don't have the answer here, because I am using sandybridge with 4GB RAM. 115.com and ADrive clearly have stated 2GB is the file size limit, so they can be the winner as well.


Of all these cloud services, only ADrive does not have desktop client for free account. All the rest can sync using the desktop apps. 115.com and DBank only offer desktop client for Windows only, while mostly provide desktop client for both Windows and Mac. The winner in this category is Pogoplug because it also provide desktop client for Linux.

The winner on mobile apps category is Sugarsync, which includes Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Symbian and amazingly Windows Mobile (WinMo). WinMo is already an obsolete OS, but you still can upload files to Sugarsync from WinMo. Most of the cloud services have at least Android and iOS mobiles apps. Only ADrive does not have any mobile apps.

All cloud service allow syncing using desktop client or mobile apps, except ADrive.

All could service allow sharing. I remember there is one of them allow users to share within a limited time, however I can't remember which, I will update this when I find it.

Here is a table for the comparison, either you find one that is suitable for your usage, or like me just register with all of them. :P I have total of 170GB of cloud storage

Which Cloud	SkyDrive	Google Drive	Box.com	CX.com	115.com	ADrive	Pogoplug	SugarSync	DBank
Storage, free acc	7GB (25GB if signed up before Apr 22, 2012)	5GB	5GB	10GB	15GB	50GB	5GB	5GB	5GB
Storage that I own	25GB	5GB	50GB (snatched during Android offers)	10GB	15GB	50GB	5GB	5GB	5GB
Upload file size limit	300MB	1GB	100MB	200MB	2GB	2GB	No limit (limit by browser/local PC)	No limit (limited by browser/local PC)	200MB
Desktop client?	Win + Mac	Win + Mac	Win + Mac	Win + Mac	Win	No (Only for paid service)	Win + Mac + Linux	Win + Mac	Win
Mobile apps?	WP + iOS [no official for Android]	Android + iOS	Android + iOS + BlackBerry	Android + iOS	Android + iOS + WP	No	Android + iOS	Android + iOS + BlackBerry + Symbian + Windows Mobile!	Android + iOS
Syncing?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sharing?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Note	-	-	-	-	In Chinese Only	-	-	1. Referral bonus [500MB/free, 10GB/paid] 2. Upload via email	In Chinese Only

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source: I wrote this!

Sony Xperia U - Should I get it?

I am looking for a new smartphone, Penang Uncle finally have enough money to change phone! Yeah!

Anyway, I went to Gurney Plaza the other night to look around. I was actually asking for the pricing of Samsung Galaxy S Advance. It was announced by Samsung Malaysia that the retail price is RM1299 (~US$420). And almost all the shops in Gurney Plaza is selling at this same price. There is only one shop can offer maybe RM50 (~US$16) of discount with no accessory such as casing, and screen protector that others are offering.

The salesman at the same shop that can offer discount introduced me to the Sony Xperia U. And the retail price is RM899 (~US$288), come with car charger in original package (from Sony) plus other normal stuffs you get when you buy smartphone. This is a very tempting offer! Why?

1. The cheapest dual core Android phone. Samsung Galaxy W is selling at RM999 (~US$320) and it is single core only. I can notice the lagging when using CPU intensive apps only my wife's Samsung Galaxy W.
2. Sony promised to upgrade to ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich, a.k.a Android 4.0) by Q2 this year. And ICS is known that cannot be run on Android phone with single core CPU. 
3. The exterior is much more good looking compare to these Samsung Android phone:
1. Samsung Galaxy S Advance (RM1299, ~US$420)
2. Samsung Galaxy W (RM999, ~US$320)
3. Samsung Galaxy Ace (~RM600 to RM750, ~US$192 to US$240)
4. Samsung Galaxy Gio (~RM400 to RM550, ~US$128 to US$176)

The biggest attraction of Sony Xperia U to be is the dual core and Sony promised to have official ICS upgrade for it.

After I came back from Gurney Plaza, I did the normal routine, which is google it!
Here are some info that I found:

1. From GSMArena (http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_u-4437.php)
2. Compare with Samsung Galaxy W (http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=4437&idPhone2=4114)
3. Some review video of Sony Xperia U that I found, which after the comparison.

Comparison between Sony Xperia U and Samsung Galaxy W:

• Sony Xperia U over Samsung Galaxy W
• LED-backlit [screen looks nicer la]
• Sony Mobile BRAVIA Enginer [again, screen looks nicer la]
• 480 x 854 pixels which translate to ~280 ppi pixel density [SGW is 480 x 800 pixels only with ~252 ppi pixel density]
  
• DLNA [able to share music, video and photos to other DLNA device, such as LED/LCD TV, no need to be same brand]
• 4GB storage [compare to 1.7GB storage only on Samsung Galaxy W]
• Able to shoot 3D sweep panorama [not default on SGW, but should be able to find such apps?]
• Dual-core CPU
• Upgradable to Android 4.0 (ICS), officially announced by Sony
• Flashy LED strip [great for show off]
  
• Samsung Galaxy W over Sony Xperia
• 3.7 inches screen [compare to 3.5 inches on Sony Xperia U]
• support microSD card [no card slot on Sony Xperia U !!!]
• Come with SWYPE

 Some review video of Sony Xperia U:





Should I wait for the Sony Xperia U with ICS official upgrade or just go buy now?


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source: info from GSMArena, video from respective owners

Dell Latitude ST Tablet review coming soon......

Dell Latitude ST Tablet review is coming soon. I am tied up with works and commitments and stuffs (sigh). Hopefully I can get it out next week or the week after. Stay tune......


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source: sigh

Samsung Galaxy Note - a crossover of smartphone and tablet

I saw this "thing" at Kuala Lumpur last month at some Samsung roadshow. It was a bit sluggish when I tried it. The sales person forgot or don't know how to kill background apps to give the best out of Android. Anyway, I know that it should be powerful enough to meet some expectation.

If you call it a smartphone, it is too huge.
If you call it a tablet, it is too small.
So I would call it crossover of smartphone and tablet. This concept is very popular these few years in automotive industry (crossover of sedan and SVU/offroad).

To see the hardware spec, I always go to the old and fateful gsmarena.com.

When comparing with Samsung Galaxy S 2, there only a few things that different between these 2 phones, everything else are pretty much the same. It is like Ford Focus hatchback and Ford Focus sedan. :-)
What are the different?
1. The screen, which is very obvious; 5.3 inches vs 4.3 inches; 800x1280 vs 480x800
2. Processor a bit faster; 1.4GHz vs 1.2GHz.
3. Stylus [stylus was very popular during Windows Mobile time, because everything on touch screen back then was super tiny!]

What are the best ones among the good ones on both phone?
Gorilla Glass! , Dual core processors and support external microSD cards.

Link to comparison on gsmarena:
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=4135&idPhone2=3621

Smartphone review without video is a NO NO. So after some "research", here are some review video from pocketnow.com.

Samsung Galaxy Note Unboxing

Jump to 2:05 to skip the stuffs that come with the box.
Jump to 2:30 to see the stylus in action.
Jump to 3:13 to see how tiny other smartphones compare to Samsung Galaxy Note.

Samsung Galaxy Note Hardware Review

Jump to 3:40 to see the speed benchmark.

Samsung Galaxy Note Software Review (15 mins of video!)

Jump to 4:48 to see note can be taken at any apps.
Jump to 5:58 to see DLNA in action.
Jump to 7:00 to see more stylus action.


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video source: pocketnow.com

p/s: yes, this post is way too late since SGN being announced, this is OutdatedPenangUncle.blogspot.com!

Samsung Galaxy Nexus - everything you need to know

Usually I will post the phone review before the teardown, but for this Samsung Galaxy Nexus, I do it the other way this time. I have posted the teardown few days ago. Actually I don't really do the review. What I did was grep some video from youtube and website. That's is called research, my teacher told me. I would hope that I have the chance to do some review on my own. Telco or smartphone.tablet maker's marketing guys (and ladies), do contact me for smartphone/tablet review. :)

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Unboxing, which was not done by Mr Miniman, so it was a bit lame. You can skip it. :P


Samsung Galaxy Nexus Hardware Tour, which was not done by Mr Miniman as well. But this one is less lame compare with unboxing video above. You should spend bit of time to watch it.


Samsung Galaxy Nexus First Boot and some GUI intro, not done by Mr Miniman as well. sigh.

Jump to 3.:30 if you don't want to see the login to google.
Jump to 5:00 if you want to look at the widgets directly.

Side by side comparison of Samsung Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4S. iPhone 4S looks very small!

Mr Miniman do this video personally, yeah!
Jump to 6:49 if you want to see the browser comparison.
Jump to 10:00 if you want to see how iPhone 4S looks terrible on playing youtube video. ;-)
Jump to 12:30 if you want to see how iPhone 4S's screen looks terrible again on showing pictures. ;-)
Jump to 14:00 if you want to see Galaxy Nexus slower loading a racing game apps, but start the game a it faster.

More browser speed test. This time include Samsung Galaxy S 2.

Time 0 to 4:30 is just demo of browser on Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Some special features of the browser.
Jump to 4:41 to see side by side browser comparison of iPhone 4S vs Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs Samsung Galaxy S 2.
Jump to 6:02, I like the auto text wrap on Samsung Galaxy S 2.
Jump to 7:25 for youtube playback performance.
Jump to 8:20 to see youtube playback error on iPhone 4S! ;-)

Here is an ads from Google that selling the new features available on Android 4.0.


In summary, there will be some pros and cons on each smartphone. At end of day, it is the one that satisfy your need and also meeting the budget. Happy shopping!

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source: videos by pocketnow.com

RockMelt: that not quite there yet

I have blogged about RockMelt few days ago. And on that very same day I have already got it installed. So here is some snapshot, and some rant on this beta.

After clicking the link in the invitation email, went to RockMelt website again, but now the button on the left of the page changed to Download.

Yes, they have to hope us will love it, it is BETA, did I told you?

The setup file less than 1M, so I figure it need to download again and yes, after double click it, it start to download other setup files from internet. Make sure you are on a fast connection, else you will hate it. :P

You have to login to RockMelt using facebook account, I am sure Zuck is behind this.

And for first time login, it will ask for your permission to allow RockMelt to use all your information (every piece of them!) from Facebook.

After login, here is the very first page of RockMelt. Hey, where is the buttons (they called it apps) on the left and right of the windows? I went to search online for RockMelt review, all of them have the apps on the left and right of the windows, but all of them are using Mac, not windows. Bugs for Windows version? Search the help, search online RockMelt help, didn't help, no one complain about that? My Windows 7 problem?
The interface looks like Google Chrome btw.

Also a task manager to show how much memory each of the RockMelt processes used. Remind me again on Google Chrome.

RockMelt, you want to Rock, but Melt on the way. :P
RockMelt, not quite there yet.


See more update on RockMelt:
More on RockMelt


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