Quick Summary of Macworld 2009 Keynote

Apple logoBefore heading to bed, I thought I give everyone a quick summary of the keynote at Macworld 2009.

Apple announced three new things: iLife ’09, iWork ’09 and a new MacBook Pro 17″ plus two iTunes Store updates. The latter being the immediate availability of 8 million DRM-free tracks on iTunes Store worldwide and OTA (Over-the-air) iTunes Store purchase on the iPhone.

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Video of iPhone 3G Unlock

Member of the iPhoneDev Team, MuscleNerd, posted a video of him unlocking the iPhone 3G from his Mac.

The layman version is expected to be release on New Year’s Eve 2008.

Fortunately, people who lives in Hong Kong, Belgium and Taiwan do not need this unlocking method, as those iPhone 3G sold are already officially carrier (SIM) unlocked straight from Apple.

UBS Flash Drive Size RFID Reader

A mainland Chinese manufacture of RFID products, Daily RFID Co. Ltd., released an ultra small RFID reader. Its form factor is perfect for the ad hoc RFID scanning purpose. It has a range of 30mm to 70mm and it compatible with13.56MHz frequency chips.

Wouldn’t it be great for a teacher to plug into his notebook this RFID reader, and the students in the classroom will automatically register in his attendance application.

Creative Commons Arrives in Hong Kong

Great news for Hong Kong professional and non-professional content contributors. The University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC) will host the Creative Commons Hong Kong (CCHK).

Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC), brings the Creative Commons licences to Hong Kong by porting them into compliance with Hong Kong’s Copyright Ordinance. These licences represent a new legal alternative for the Hong Kong people, alongside other existing copyright options.

Hopefully this will encourage a wave of sharing for professional content creators. While at the same time non-professionals like amateur photographers, bloggers will be protected accordingly.

Although, it took a while this is a move in the right direction and thank you for the hard work of the CCHK legal team

Apple’s 2008.10.14 Event

This morning at 10:00 (PDT) in Cupertino, CA, USA, Apple held an event to announce the new MacBook Pro, MacBook and speed bumped the MacBook Air.

The entire line of MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are now using the same construction method, where the case is created from a single block of Aluminum. Making the case much more rigid.

Apple has also removed the button from the TrackPad, and introduced a new multi-touch TrackPad with a 4th gesture; 4-fingers gesture.

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Apple Event on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 10:00 PDT

It is confirmed that there will indeed be an Apple event at Apple’s Cupertino HQ, 1 Infinite Loop, titled “The Spotlight Turns to Notebooks“.

I hope they will announce and make available a new MacBook that meets my needs. Most of all will be available this year.

I love to buy a MacBook that is:

  • Has a Core 2 Duo or faster processor
  • Has a maximum RAM capacity of greater than 4GB
  • Built-in Ethernet port
  • ExpressCard 34 or 54 slot
  • Removable battery
  • Has a real-life battery capacity of more than 4 hours.

The rest are not that important. The screen size can be anywhere between 13″ – 15″.

What is the ideal MacBook you hope Apple announce next week? Please do share here in the comments.

iPhone 3G Officially Available Unlocked in Hong Kong… Good News?

Apple HK made the iPhone 3G available to everyone with a HK shipping address via Apple Hong Kong’s online store.

This made Hong Kong the hub (and “source”) of iPhone 3G that are free from the shackle of the money hungry, backward thinking mobile carriers. As of the writing of this post Apple Hong Kong’s online store shows a 24 hours delivery time and free shipping. I am certain when news spread of this availability, the inventory will go quickly.

I was always against the idea of having to commit to Three HK for a 2-year contract just to gain the privilege of purchasing an Apple iPhone 3G. Now I have less of a barrier to bring this great device to the mobile carrier of my choice (“Smartone-Vodafone”).

Ah… my first generation iPhone worth even less now. Them are the breaks, especially with technology devices.

Is this move by Apple a sign of things to come for other (47) iPhone selling countries? Is this Apple’s way of changing their strategy to put as many iPhones in the hands of consumers as possible? This has always been one of the pain points of critics.

Continue reading “iPhone 3G Officially Available Unlocked in Hong Kong… Good News?”

Bringing Mobile Broadcast TV to the iPhone

PV’s (PacketVideo) Telly pocket device brings broadcast TV services into the hands of new subscribers and current users with WiFi-enabled devices that does not support the service provider’s Mobile Broadcast TV.

This device is suppose to support the world’s Mobile TV Broadcast standards: DVB-H and MediaFLO. Both of which I believe are used by Hong Kong mobile phone carriers.

Since PV is not selling this device to consumers but only to OEMs and ODMs. I wish my chosen mobile carrier, Smartone-Vodafone, will hear this call and adopts PV’s device instead of forcing their customers to purchase a specific mobile phone. At the moment the list of supported mobile phone are short and 2nd generation.

Although the problem may be with the DRM that the carriers wants to impose on the content rather than choosing the correct device for the consumer.

read more | digg story

Bringing Mobile Broadcast TV to the iPhone


PV’s (PacketVideo) Telly pocket device brings broadcast TV services into the hands of new subscribers and current users with WiFi-enabled devices that does not support the service provider’s Mobile Broadcast TV.

This device is suppose to support the world’s Mobile TV Broadcast standards: DVB-H and MediaFLO. Both of which I believe are used by Hong Kong mobile phone carriers.

Since PV is not selling this device to consumers but only to OEMs and ODMs. I wish my chosen mobile carrier, Smartone-Vodafone, will hear this call and adopts PV’s device instead of forcing their customers to purchase a specific mobile phone. At the moment the list of supported mobile phone are short and 2nd generation.

Although the problem may be with the DRM that the carriers wants to impose on the content rather than choosing the correct device for the consumer.

read more | digg story