I have been addicted to Apple’s Push Notification Service ever since I bought Prowl. There are endless possibilities on what you can do with Push Notifications.
The Apple Push Notification Service is a mobile service created by Apple Inc. that was released with iPhone OS 3.0 on the 17th June 2009. It uses push technology through a constantly-open IP connection to forward notifications from the servers of third party applications to the iPhone or iPod Touch; such notifications may include badges, sounds or custom text alerts.
I was there last year at the Singtel iPhone 3G Launch queuing up for the iPhone 3G as a normal consumer. This year I was also there, but with a media pass. I was there pretty early at about 1.30pm because I have to go to Funan to run some errands. The media event started at about 3.30pm. We are brought around the Comcenter by Yuen Kuan Moon, the EVP of Consumer from Singtel. He explains to us the various part of the queue structure and how the customers will move about when queuing. Apart from that, Singtel announced a new service called Mio TV on Mobile. Customers can get to stream live tv stream from Channel 8, Channel News Asia, Bloomberg and a few others. It is not an iPhone App, but rather the streaming is done in Safari itself. It is pretty impressive as the quality is watchable and it doesn’t lag.
According to Kuan Moon, this year the response was much better than last year. He did not give an exact figure but he says in thousands. Last year the launch of iPhone 3G is basically register of interest and user still have to queue up. But this year, Singtel did a pre-order and require the customers to make a deposit of S$50 before queuing. There is also a separate queue for walk-in customers which closes at about 9pm due to the overwhelming response on the pre-order queue.
Apple refreshes its iPod Shuffle, now available in 4GB only for S$128. Instead of an array of colors available, now there are only 2 colors, silver and black. The design has also been changed, it now looks vertical instead of square. Despite the lack of a screen, Apple introduces a feature called “Voice Over”. Also in the new design, there are no more controls on the player itself. The controls are now located on the right earbud cord.
Easy access controls
The controls of the new iPod shuffle are located on the right earbud cord. With command central now strategically placed in this more convenient location, you can navigate your music – and activate the VoiceOver feature – without taking your eyes off your run, your ride, or whatever youâre doing.
Mac Mini
Mac Mini now comes with Intel Core 2 processor and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card.
iMac
iMac now comes in 4 flavors, one 20 incher and three 24 incher powered by Intel Core 2 processor and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M or NVIDIA GeForce GT 120/130 graphics.
Apple Announces Safari 4. Safari 4 is built on the worldâs most advanced browser technologies including the new Nitro JavaScript engine that executes JavaScript up to 30 times faster than IE 7 and more than three times faster than Firefox 3. Safari quickly loads HTML web pages three times faster than IE 7 and almost three times faster than Firefox 3.
Apple is leading the industry in defining and implementing innovative web standards such as HTML 5 and CSS 3 for an entirely new class of web applications that feature rich media, graphics and fonts. Safari 4 includes HTML 5 support for offline technologies so web-based applications can store information locally without an Internet connection, and is the first browser to support advanced CSS Effects that enable highly polished web graphics using reflections, gradients and precision masks. Safari 4 is the first browser to pass the Web Standards Projectâs Acid3 test, which examines how well a browser adheres to CSS, JavaScript, XML and SVG web standards that are specifically designed for dynamic web applications.
As many of you all know that my MacBook Pro that was shipped to me on the 21st October 2008 contains a dead pixel which is located right in the middle of the screen. It is VERY irritating as well as distracting. I expect it to be of a better quality since it is from Apple, but guess I was wrong. Everything in these days are made in China due to the low labour cost and hence things are getting from bad to worst.
Between 22nd And 24th October 2008
I called the Apple Singapore Technical Hotline, 6835-1812 three bloody times and keep emphasising that my dead pixel is in the centre of the screen and it is irritating as well as distracting. But three times they refused to exchange for me because they say it is Apple policy that you need to have at least 3 dead pixel before you can exchange. They also advised me to bring my MacBook Pro down to those authorized retailers to check for dead pixels as I may have more than 1 and hence I may get to change it. WTF? I called up iShop which is located in Orchard Cineleisure to ask will there be a fee if I bring my MacBook Pro down which is purchase from Apple Online Store to check for dead pixel. They guy over the phone said maybe there will be a fee and they only will send it to Apple on your behalf if you have more than 5 dead pixels. WTFx2?
Received my Apple MacBook Pro 2.53GHz yesterday from TNT after ordering it from Apple Store on the 16th October 2008. Apparently TNT only has 2 time slot for me to choose for the delivery which is during office hours (9am till 6pm) or night delivery (7pm to 10pm).
