From Selular Magazine January 2009 edition, I got some thing cool to use... a personal Barcode ID. It contains anything we want to fill in.. could be fave link, personal ID n all of those things that is NOT necessarily confidential if shared or published to anyone else in the galaxy.. Just read it, try it -caveat emptor- on this link here.. Altough the link came from Nokia, the barcode and the reader can be used for any certain cell phone, other than Nokia. ... So, enjoy!
btw, as a sample, my Barcode ID, as u can see, is already set in on the right column on this blog.
It's been such a long time since my last blog... January 2008 ?..pheew, it's definitely I'm not a true blogger yet.. :)
Btw, since my last review on Asus eeePC 701 or should I say, the 1st Generation, we saw and still seeing some other similar products from different vendors like :
- Taiwan 'not-familiarly-heard' products like: MSI-Wind and Quantel (in Bahasa Indonesia), - Taiwan 'more popular' products like: Asus eeePC 900 series (with 8.9" display) and Acer Netbook,
- Japanese products like : Fujitsu, Sony, Kohjinsha,
And not just getting smaller, but also getting thinner, after my review on Apple MacBook Air, there were also IBM X-300 and later come to my attention, is from HP, called Voodoo Envy 133.
note : appreciate for Gizmodo, umpchouse and 18line for making these pictures available here.
Question come to my mind is : where does these trends end up, let say 3 to 5 years from now ?
Are they getting as thin as our newspaper, and display with bendable plasma ? Or are they getting as smaller so small to be 'merged' with our watch or belt and to use it we will be given smallest-lightest DLP Projector to beam up the display to wall, or even as hologram ? (remember Tom Cruise's movie- Minority Report)
If the question spread to the processor technology, then the question can be : could the Big Server application can be installed and stored in high-tech notebook (with size of these days), so we don't actually need the room named 'Data Center' anymore, since all the connection are linking altogether 7x24x365 with Advanced Wimax broadband technology ? Ha, remember.. we haven't touched the wireless technology yet, nor for the next 3-5 years..
For a simple buyer and consumer like me, I'd like to have all of the above features, with the affordable price I can purchase within the next 3-5 years !.. ^-^
Recently in Apple MacWorld Expo 2008, Steve Jobs has introduced his new toy, the Apple MacBook Air. He claimed this new stuff as the thinnest notebook ever, as described on its Apple website.
Upto 5 hours of 45W MagSave Battery Power with Wireless productivity
And of course, the amazing physical dimension with some pictures as follows :
Height: 0.16-0.76 inch (0.4-1.94 cm)
Width: 12.8 inches (32.5 cm)
Depth: 8.94 inches (22.7 cm)
Weight: 3.0 pounds (1.36 kg)
Since I haven't seen the physical unit by myself, I just wanna make some sort personal opinion for this Apple MacBookAir (sometimes ppl on net call it as MBA). Okay, physically it's thinner or maybe thinnest one so far. Like shown on his ad, we can put it on the standard big brown envelope and no one will guess it as a hi tech gadget.
Feature is fine too. Wireless installation with RemoteDisc and even for other thing like migration, iTune shopping can be done wirelessly as well. MultiTouch is one breaktrough since it will reduce the use of mouse, meaning no additional connection. More of it's features are clearly shown on their ad as you can see now in youtube, sent by Michaelstockamore and GMRghost .
For all the benefits given away on this new Apple, I must say that Apple is start throwing away some major physical connection and replace 'em with the Wireless N, from installation upto backup-restore procedure. Unfortunately, that wireless config required ANOTHER one devices, either PC or MAC with Wireless connection as well, and make it such dependent-device. Perhaps this just a beginning or a milestone to release the next big thing such as -- the thinnest and portless Ultra Mobile MacBook !
From Latin words, Errata can be considered as condition of something not in proper way or not as planned, as we know now as 'error'. After we went through the 'proper way' or the existing, we're going take some time of it's Errata.
The Keyboard. Though at the beginning, I mentioned about the OLPC concept, this Asus eeePC was meant to be used by every level of ages, including adults. Unfortunately, the mini size of this UMPC, is built for 10-fingers of children under teenagers. Therefore, I found some difficulties on writing in comfort when I used -say- the Word processors. Typing this blog, for instance, I should need an external USB standard keyboard to avoiding heavy pain on my wrists.
The Heat produced. It seems this is a common issues in Asus notebooks including UMPC. The device is getting warmer quickly (some case turns hot) on wristpad in less than 1 hour standard usage. I think the heat produced (in) and released through vent (out) was not balanced and creating this issue.
Touchpad button is (sometimes) hard to press either left or right. The material (chrome?) looks cheap for me. It is the only design that IMHO not match with overall parts, once I open the lappie.
The AC Adaptor is way to big! The weight itself can be a significant proportion compare to the unit. In daily usage, one power jack sometimes used for other devices, so the slimmer one is more appreciated.
External Optical Media. Perhaps this one is not about the product itself, but more on marketing side. I still wonder why Asus did not provide the DVD or CD USB external packed inside so the user does not have to 'invest' another device that could raise some incompatibility issue (and cost for sure). Still I consider this as an Errata for the incompleteness of the overall unit pack.
There we have my quick Errata that hopefully can be considered to be some potential issues for improvement, which about to be completed more on Enhancement.
The Enhancements
The 3 Existings (with 7 quick benefits) and 5 Errata on my previous posts are just a milestone for us to see how this Asus eeePC actually has such enormous potential to be enhanced as a Must-have-gadget-of-the-year.
1. Yes, the SSD can get bigger and the display can get wider. As of November 14, 2007, Asus has confirmed to release the one with 8GB and 10" display, as reported in Engadget.
2. If today the product is capable for Windows XP, then tomorrow the same product can be installed with Leopard and make it as the cheapest MacOS UMPC ever, as reported in Uneasysilence.
3. What kind of device is called UMPC if it's not Touch-screen capable. Jkkmobile has shown us that this product can have touch-screen feature as well, as shown in his youtube.
4. Since the original resolution is poorly set on 800 x 480 pixels, scrolling more up and down, left and right can be painful for us. Pauldiy123 in his 2 (two) youtube instruction shows us that with installed Windows XP, the unit can have resolution as big as 1024x768 full display. Check these 2 video below, part 1 and part 2:
5. CES (Consumer Electronic Show) 2008 also presented the future of Asus eeePC as reported from engadget.com here. In short, Asus will provide WiMAX on next eeePC.
The Extra
Here they are all the Existing, Errata and Enhancements of Asus eeePC I can give and as a bonus to really closing my review of Asus eeePC 701, I put some latest update (as of January 2008) about the unit :
1. In October last year, the Asus eeePC has been sold worldwide 1 unit every 6 (six) seconds. Here is the report. No wonder, Asus has announced this unit as the most successful product ever.
2. Quite OOT. The OLPC CTO, Mary Lou Jepsen has resigned and decided to build the same business with more profit orientation. 3. The close competitors of Asus eeePC IMHO has been narrowed down to these devices :
Barcode as Personal ID
