iPhone - iMustHave

Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Its finally here!

After almost two years of speculation, rumours and hoax images, Apple's iPhone has been announced! Isn't she a beaut?

When I heard that it was launched about half an hour ago, I rushed to my desk and typed in Apple's URL and when it loaded completely, my colleagues found me transfixed with my mouth open. One had the nerve to ask "Porn site?"

This is a phone + iPod hybrid. There's hardly any buttons because it is touch-screen - just like the phones / communication devices found on the Starship Enterprise. It boasts of bluetooth, wi-fi (great for our recent islandwide free wireless internet access) and other goodies. This thing even plays videos. Short of waking up before you to cook breakfast and iron your clothes, it pretty much does everything!

So, I guess Zune's not being marketed in our parts was a blessing in disguise. And to think I was thinking of importing a Zune or even springing for an iPod a couple of days ago. Thank God!

So, here's my declaration :

"I, The Premster, owner of this blog hereby declare that I will hold off as many gadget purchases as possible till June 2007 when the iPhone becomes available. I will love, honour and cherish the iPhone for as long as it shall live - or till a better gadget is launched. I declare to have and to hold, till obseletion do us part."

I'll kiss the iPhone when it arrives.

Deepavali Cheer

Its Deepavali today. This is the day that Hindus celebrate the triumph of good over evil. For me, I observe it as a renewal process... a renewal of my faith as well as my commitment to my family and loved ones. My wife, our son and I aren't celebrating this year because of my father's demise - as part of the year long mourning process.

The day didn't start out as well as I hoped because I woke up with a terrible headache. Long story short, the headache was eradicated three super strong asprins later and I am feeling much better now - well enough for an entry to my blog.

I have not been feeling too good since last Monday, hence my gloomy post earlier. But I managed to sort it out in my head, shared my thoughts and feelings with my wife and I was feeling much better by Thursday night. To add to my revived cheer, I got word that my new smartphone was arriving on Friday! Did I mention that I had an obsession with gadgets? What? About a thousand times??

Anyhow, I woke up bright and early (after only 4 hours of sleep) to head down to the distributors to collect my brand new Treo 750v. Needless to say, I spent all day with it - like a new found love. We got to know each other and I eventually "told her" all my secrets. In tech speak, that means 'transferred all my data from my old Treo 650 to the 750v'.

My new Treo 750v accompanied us for our 3 hour family outing today and performed well - by not adding to my already throbbing head. But I still miss my old Treo 650 - my constant companion for about 2 years through thick and thin. It had failed on me a few times but still, I depended on it heavily.

So, as part of my Deepavali renewal process this year, my constant companion has been renewed. I hope for many good years with my new Treo 750v... or at least till the next hot new gadget hits the market. ;)

The Old And The New

Reminder : Don't forget this, ya?

Damn Them Scams

This is an urgent public service announcement. Sounds important? Well, it is.

There is a scam that appears to be targetting mobile phone users whereby a premium international calls service provider in China is calling mobile phones randomly and hanging up immediately. This will show up as a missed call and may prompt some mobile phone users to hit the "call back" button. When they do, they're routed to a voice recording, in Chinese, telling them that they've won a prize. Meanwhile, this premium service provider charges premium rates for the call to the mobile phone subscriber's service provider. Scumbags! I have a few other choice words but they're unfortunately not suitable for the Internet.

When I heard of this last week, I thought it might not be all that rampant... until I received a call myself yesterday. They didn't get me cos I was hip to the scam. Too bad for them. With knowledge comes power. Let all your friends and family know about this scam and do not return calls to numbers starting with +861 unless you're absolutely sure who the caller is.

I am not sure if they are targetting mobile phone users in other regions but its better to be safe than sorry.

PS. The number that appeared on my phone was +6813592795490.