Taking the Plunge

So, the iOS 8 had just been released to the masses this morning. The internet connection at Gombak House had been pretty sluggish, so I had to do the updating from the apartment. Luckily, this being a Thursday, I had some me time.

After I got my patients sorted out, had my breakfast, it was time to take the plunge. Off to the apartment.

The file size for the download was 1.1Gb for the iPhone and 1.3Gb for the iPad. On top of that, you would need around 6Gb of free space n the device for the upgrade. That meant that I had to delete some apps, as well as some unused files, podcasts and audiobooks. Easily done.

The download took less than 10 minutes, but the local parsing of the files on the device took around 20 minutes. Then the download was verified and you were asked if you wanted to update the device then. Of course the answer was yes. Another 15 minutes and I was greeted with the opening screen of the new OS.

Any noticeable difference? Not really. Everything looked very similar to the iOS7. I was bracing myself for some crashes, but hopefully new patches would be provided by the app developers to cope with the new upgrade ….

Up to 7.1

Apparently plenty of people had problem with iOS 7. Personally, I didn't notice as much. Most of the problem seemed to be from legacy apps, which were not updated for the new OS.

Today, Apple announced an update to 7.1. The updating process was painless, 268MB if I wasn't mistaken. No issues and the new OS seemed to be similar to the last one. Or at east I didn't notice the difference.

Maybe I should give it a couple more days to see of there were any upgrades in performance. As long as it didn't kill any of my usual apps, I wouldn't be complaining ...

Camera Awesome!

Recently there had been a major update on the Android version of the Camera Awesome app. The new version was definitely much better than the last one.

For the uninitiated, Camera Awesome is the camera replacement app produced by the team behind SmugMug, my main photograph storage in the cloud. One thing about them is they actually have an algorithm in their system which transforms the appearance of our snaps once uploaded to their server. The snaps would be optimised for the LCD screens and the web. The saturation and contrast would definitely be boosted up, giving an extra gloss to our photos.

This special formula is called the "awesomeness", and this app certainly offered plenty of those. Though I must say that they still lagged behind VSCO when it comes to customisation of the photos.

SmugMug had also recently updated their website for free - if you have a paid account with them of course - and this had become my main gallery and depository. With this app, my snaps would be uploaded instantly into my archive, so that I would never have to worry about getting my snaps misplaced as long as I have an internet connection.

And yes, the photo up top had reviewed some awesomeness which is just as well as it was captured in almost darkness. I still needed Camera+ for the borders though.

One Book Done

On average I've been managing to read one book per month. This month, of would likely be two if not three. Do I read them? Nope. I just don't have the time to. Instead I listen to them.

I have been an Audible member for the last 5 years. I listen to books when I drive to and back from work, in between listening to podcast. I also listen to them in twice the normal speed to save time.

Today, on the way to KB, I managed to finish one book which I have been listening to for the past week. Inferno by Dan Brown.

Not exactly of Da Vinci Code's cadence and quality. It was still following on the lead character, Professor Robert Langdon as he go about deciphering visual codes. But the story and plot was not as intriguing. There was a real twist in the penultimate chapters but it wasn't enough to hide the lightweight feeling of the whole book.

But I was sure it was good enough - with the usual Hollywood sensationalism and Tom Hanks' charm - to be made into another movie.

I have another book to listen to on my journey home on Wednesday. It would be another book from the recently departed Tom Clancy. A longer book this time, which would take the rest of the month to finish. But I have plenty of driving to do though .....

More links on the trip here.

I have Candy

After a couple of days with the new update - the iOS 7 - I must say that it was better than I expected. Much better actually. The new interface grew on me. And everything felt snappy with no compromise in the battery life.

The actual updating process was also straight forward. I did it during my morning clinic - guilty of using staff WiFi. The actual software download was around 800 MB in size, took me just under an hour. But that was not the main wait.

It took longer to update the ROM once the software was downloaded and the phone had to be connected to a charger since ny battery power was low. The ROM flashing lasted close to 45 minutes including the booting up.

Then I was up and running. Took me a couple of hours to get my bearings. I was especially smitten at the new calendar, the email interface and the SMS app. Everything appeared flat and intuitive.

First, download the updater software700+ MB later, then you press the install now buttonThen came the varificationThen came the long wait of the actual installation. This is the scary part when the ROM was being flashed.The shortcuts - by swiping you finger upwards from the bottom - was also a welcomed change. Yes, it was Android-esque, but that's no crime. Steve Jobs might take that as an insult, but it looked like Sir Jonny was all cricket with the idea.

The camera app was also a welcomed change but nowadays, I used my HTC One for picture taking most of the time. Maybe when I upgrade to the 5S later, I might be using that a bit more.

Even my iPad was also updatedSo, the long and short of it, the iOS 7 was more than just eye-candy. It looked like Apple did the changes from the ground up. To appreciate it more, you should try the update on a bigger device. It looked gorgeous on my retina third generation iPad.

Good luck updating .....