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Brief Thoughts on Apple’s WWDC 2011 Keynote

Not much to say, but…

  • Lion looks awesome and it’s downloadable for the same price of Snow Leopard… downside is, no physical media.
  • iOS 5 lives on the iPhone 3GS with better notification system than before. Finally, tabs on Safari on iPad! It seemed that iPhone has for the most part caught up with Android with the addition of OTA updates and wireless sync.
  • iCloud is free…

Otherwise, I am looking forward for Lion in July. Anyway, need to get excited with Nintendo’s E3 conference next, which is tomorrow!

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Converting MKV Fansubs to iPhone or iPad using Handbrake


Getting fansubs on a iPhone or iPad can be a difficult process that requires a person to unmux and then reencode to a compatible format so it can be used on mobile devices. Since iOS do not have mplayer and the VLC app on iOS is unsuitable for fansubs, it could be frustrating. However, there is a program called Handbrake, which can hardcode the subs while maintaining the chapters the MKV has. Since the program can be used on any platform, everyone can use it.

Requirements:

  • A nightly build of Handbrake, which can be obtained here
  • Fansub to convert

To convert…

  1. Open Handbrake and choose your fansub.
  2. Select the preset for your device.
  3. Go to the Subtitles page and then select the “English – (Text) (SSA)”
  4. Uncheck “Forced Only” and check “Burned In”
  5. Click Start and it should start encoding. After it’s done, transfer to your device and enjoy.

Caveats

  • While the custom typeface works, the SSA effects don’t. This includes shadows and text effects.
  • Encoding can take a while, unless you have a fast CPU
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You are holding the iPhone the wrong way!

No, I’m not since the iPhone 3GS still load the webpage when I am covering the lower left hand corner. Even with the case off, the signal drop off is not as bad as the 4 as it still loads the page, but slowly.

Thank god I didn’t get the iPhone 4… yet… Don’t blame the user, fix the problem for once!

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Android 2.2 on iPhone 3G

Not quite functional yet since I can’t even browse the web, but the accelerometer works… It’s a bit more snappier than Android 1.6 Doughnut…

Update: Got the interwebs working by manually entering the IP and DNS settings. Works like a charm. :p

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WPTouch 2.0 Pro Plugin First Impressions

I took the bait and bought WPTouch 2.0 Pro, which is a rewrite of the popular WPTouch plugin. I decided on this because there was a good number of users who read Chikorita157′s Anime Blog on the iPhone/iPod Touch and it will benefit the site overall… I’m pretty impressed on how well Brave New Code made this plugin. I bought a single license of it which cost me about $29/30 in the end for a single license. If you use it without activating, it won’t be supported and you cannot auto update the plugin (meaning, you have to update it manually).

A neat feature is that you can view a blog with WPTouch Pro as a Web App that is completely independent on the iPhone/iPod Touch as shown below (It uses AJAX, so no reloading pages):


Unlike WPTouch 1.9.x, the new version finally supports threaded comments. This is one of the features that was missing on the old version, which makes commenting hectic since my blog now uses threaded comments. In 2.0, it’s done pretty cleanly, better than the one on WordPress.com.

Other features that WPTouch 2.0 Pro has includes improved menus, ability to register within WPTouch, Custom Themes, Custom Site Icons, WP 3.0 compatibility and other stuff I haven’t checked out. If you have $30 dollars to spare and you are a heavy iPhone/iPod Touch/Android user who browse the blog often, it’s definitely worth it and your users will thank you. If you can’t afford it, it’s not a big deal, except the lack of threaded comments can make a big mess if you use threaded comments on your blog.

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Thoughts on iPhone 4

After looking at the liveblogging of the WWDC 2010 Keynote, the new phone looks nice, but I don’t need it. It has the same exact 3G support, but with a better screen, faster processor, a bit better battery, front facing camera and a gyroscope… nothing I really need since I only use my 32GB iPhone 3GS for listening to music, browsing the web, update Twitter/Melative, watch Youtube Video and illegally tether my iPhone via Wifi to my Macbook Pro and iPad ($20 tether charge is a ripoff and its not unlimited). Until my phone breaks, I will keep using my current phone… and if it breaks, I probably get an unlocked Android device so I won’t lose my Unlimited data plan… If I switch services, which I doubt, I will probably get an Android device too unless they have the iPhone…

Can’t wait for iOS 4… and the jailbreak for it. :p

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iPhone 3G and Android

After one hour on Kubuntu trying to get the thing running, I got this:

Yep, that is Android on a iPhone 3G 8GB I hardly ever use since I have a iPhone 3GS 32GB, but… it’s rendered useless. Why? See below:

That is fucking bullshit. I can’t even go online when I am connected to my wireless router. Even the IPs are right, so yeah… Android on the iPhone fails until they get the internet to work.

iPhone OS 4 Thoughts

iPhone OS 4 was previewed and yes, the newer iPhone models including the recently released iPad. Now, iPhone now has multitasking capibilities like Google’s Android, Palm’s WebOS and RIM’s Blackberry. One drawback is that the older iPhone models like the 3g and iPod Touch 2G does not support it due to the RAM and slower processor. Also, the new OS will provide Bluetooth Keyboard support, Home Screen backgrounds, Folders, iBooks, Game Center and other stuff, which shoots iPhone OS 4 slightly ahead of Android.

Multitasking is very helpful when I want to IRC chat on the phone while doing other things like browse the Internet. Previously, I used a jailbreak is Backgrounder that allowed me to multitask on my 3GS and it ran pretty smoothly since it had a faster CPU and more memory. Hopefully, it will run just as smoothly when it cones out, but I will still jailbreak so I have more freedom to custmIze my device and use non-appstore apps. The addition of multitasking on the iPad will make the device more desirable and more desirable as a replacement for a netbook on the go.

However, the inclusion of multitasking in iPhone OS 4 can put Windows Phone 7 in jeopardy of being left behind in the competition. Microsoft decided it does not need multitasking and copy and paste, which are present on the competitors mobile platform. By the excluding these features in addition of being a closed garden like the iPhone will limit the success of Microsoft’s platform and eventually Windows Phone 7 becoming a failed platform since they left out those features. They need to step up the game quickly before they are left in the dust pernamently like they did with Windows Mobile 6, the most clunkiest mobile OS ever.

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