PEDES3ANTECH

So it looks like my previous post was kind of prophetic- my flight from Vancouver was delayed causing me to miss my connecting flight from Hong Kong to Manila. I now have a 5 hr lay over and a massive headache due to the turbulence during my flight and lack of sleep. I am not a happy camper right now, but my mood has been lightened by the great accommodation provided by Cathay Pacific's Business Class Lounge. I took a shot of Jack Daniels to shake off the headache and ate a plate full of dumplings. I sort of regained consciousness after the shot and the decent food in my stomach, then I realized I still have 4 hrs to kill. Good thing I had my tech travel kit with me. I pulled out my iPad mini, checked my emails, sent emails to family that I am alive and ok and even shared my location thru foursquare :-) Now I am writing this post. I am still struggling to come up with a topic to write about. It has been a fairly quite news day for tech so far save for the bad news that HTC One ...

I am finally going on a vacation! I am running away from the cold weather here in Vancouver and will be heading to a warm and sunny place. I will be re-charging my battery after a very long and hectic couple of months at work but I also want to stay connected. Yes, I am like many people in the world today, I cannot stay unplugged for too long or else I will lose my mind. That is why, whenever I travel I always carry with my my Essential Tech Travel kit.  My tech travel kit is a combination of both hardware and software that I consider essential in managing my trip and staying in touch and connected. I consider them essential because they can make or break the success of the planning that I put into my trip and it ensure that I have a smooth and relaxing vacation. Here is the run down: Macbook Pro: - This is a must for me on every trip. It keeps me sane and connected during long layovers. It houses my media library and when I am stuck in the airport for 2-3 hours  i...

Panic Alert Newsfeed is just a random message board Attention everyone! Facebook is about to implement another major change- they plan to revamp News Feed! Judging from peoples reaction when News feed was implemented, world-wide chaos is almost certain. The world of social media will once again be shaken and people's status updates will once again be filled with stuff like: "FU Facebook! You screwed me over again", "Facebook please leave my news feed alone", "That's it! I am leaving Facebook ". My news feed will be flooded with these comments and there is nothing I can do about it but suffer the deluge of negativity. But I am hoping that one of the things Facebook changes with News Feed this Thursday is my ability to filter these types of comments out. Like many of the people I know on Facebook  I was not happy when "News Feed" was implemented. It was not that I hated the idea of news feed but it was more of a desig...

Battle of the screen size. Mobile devices seem to be getting bigger in every iteration. Manufacturers have been obsessed with making their phones bigger, faster and more battery efficient. The consumers also seem to be accepting this change with open arms and pockets. A lot of the major product announcements lately have showcased phones with displays between 4.5-5 inches. These sizes were considered ridiculous just 5 years ago when phones seemed to get smaller. The advancements in graphic interface, touch screen technology and our growing need to be connected, people have seen the benefits- albeit- need of having more screen real-estate. This combination of processing power and the need to be productive where ever and when ever has fuelled the growth of what we now fondly call "phablets". Gone were the days when our phones were only meant for calling and texting- now our devices can truly be called smart-phones and to me the demand we exert on the devices has lead to it...

This week, Barcelona Spain is the centre of the Mobile universe. The Mobile World Congress is in full swing and manufacturers, developers and the media are in for a beautiful showcase of this years biggest innovations in mobile technology.  Although the trend recently has been for manufacturers to launch major product iterations with their own media events (Apple, Samsung, Blackberry, Windows etc), the Mobile World Congress is still expected to showcase some major advancements in mobile. Samsung will still be making an appearance and has shown the new Galaxy Note 8.0 to compete directly with the iPad mini and Kindle Fire HD. Other than this announcement, nobody is expecting anything else major from Samsung. Apple will never launch anything outside it uber hyped media events. Microsoft has decided to bask in its perceived success with Surface Pro and Windows 8, and Blackberry has decided- wrongly- that it did enough with its Z10 announcement last month.  ...

At the beginning of the new year, I posted a blog about my 2013 to do/try list (see post here ). Today I am proud to say that I am able to check off one item in the list- Try an Android Smartphone.  I have been using the Samsung Galaxy Note II for the last couple of weeks now after giving up my iPhone 4S. I did not post a blog about it right away to make sure my assessment is not biased. I had to make sure I gave myself enough time to learn and understand the OS. I had used an iPhone for over 3 years before getting the Note 2 so I had to make sure I get rid of any expectations based on what I was used to getting with iOS. It was not easy but after around 3 weeks I am fairly confident I gave Android a fair chance so here is my assessment.  Hardware Design and Feel. The Galaxy Note II is huge but highly functional even for someone with small hands like myself. The feel of the material however still has a plasticky feel w/c to me diminishes its high-end value ...

It's that month again where everyone is talking about love. The malls are full of Valentines day promos and restaurants are offering up "romantic" and "unforgettable" dinner for two. Everyone is stressing out about what gift to give their significant other, what dress to wear on the date and even what to eat. Blogs are being written about Valentines gift ideas, how to act during a date, blah blah blah. ****If you want to impress your girlfriend or wife this Valentine check out this great Valentines gift suggestion that is sure to blow her away courtesy of Zales- link* *** On the other side of the spectrum, singles are starting their own boycot of this purely consumeristic man-made celebration of love on a random date of a random month. But since it seems like everyone is talking about love, I am compeled to write something about it, this however will talk more about how technology can help keep relationships alive in the modern world.  I will be talki...