demonick.tv™

Last Thursday, a bunch of Tweeple (people from Twitter), got together for a meet up at Bangsar Village to take a look at Poken. So what the hell is a Poken? It’s a RF-based device which transmits and receives data. It looks kinda like the Tamagotchi a few years back. Poken stores contact information of yourself, and links the social media networks you’re on (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc) together in a contact card.

So imagine this: You’re out on a social event and assuming everyone has a Poken, you simply touch 2 Poken devices together, and your contact card is transmitted to the other Poken device and vice versa. Sort of like exchanging business cards, except that you don’t have to carry a stack of cards, and that it can hold more information.

Once you get back home, simply logon to the website, and upload the contacts that you have gotten. Sounds fun right? Actually there are a lot of other applications that you can use Poken for. The video below illustrates some of other applications that can be used with the Poken device which can cater to manage events and also links to Google Maps! How cool is that?

Now you must be thinking…since all my information is in there…isn’t it dangerous if I lose it? Well, yes and no. You can actually set how much information you want to send out from the website settings which will configure your Poken device. Setting the “discrete” option will only send limited details and in “normal” mode, it will send everything in your Poken profile.

My Poken…cute no?

Thanks to Eric (@kenloo) who brought the Pokens all the way from Japan. It costs about USD25 per device and will work with any machine that has a USB port. I got mine from Eric at RM60, which I thought was a really good deal. We’re probably the first batch of people who are using these Poken devices, and hopefully..with more awareness and promotions from us, Poken will be the next “big” thing in KL. So don’t be surprise next time when someone comes up to you and asks: “Do you Poken?”

In case you haven’t heard, I’m helping a friend to sell her Nintendo Wii. The console is in excellent condition and is only about a month old and hardly used. The unit is a cracked Korean unit but with a Japan chipset (with Softchip Loader R55 + Gamma Loader) and works fine with most (or all) games. The unit is going for RM1,100. It also includes 1 extra controller, 1 extra numchuck controller + 14 games. Below are some photos of the unit. Click on picture for larger view..

the unit is still in a box and plastic wrap

extra controller (total 2) and extra numchuck (total 2)

the 14 games that are included

So if you know of anyone who is interested, do let me know. Please spread the word around… :)

A new sexy babe is coming soon. The Palm Pre. I predict iPhone users/owners will be so envious, they might even cry when they see what this baby can do. Running on the new Palm WebOS, basically…it can do everything an iPhone can…but more, LOADS more! Now I won’t do like a full review, because I haven’t seen or tested the actual device yet as it’s suppose to be released only during the first half of 2009. Meaning, for it to reach our shores…it would probably be 3rd or 4th quarter of the year. But let me tell you about some of the KILLER features that will put iPhone to shame..

“Cards” to represent Applications
See the picture above? There are 3 “Cards” that represent 3 individual applications running at the same time. You can scroll through the “cards” and stop when you want to access an application. And if you want to close an application, simply “flick” the “card” upwards and it will close that particular application. How cool is that? The idea is somewhat similar to holding playing cards in your hand.

Full QWERTY keypad
As you can see, there is a full QWERTY keypad that slides right out for typing. This saves "real estate" space on your screen unlike the iPhone that requires an on screen keyboard for text inputs.

3 Megapixel Camera with Flash
While the iPhone’s camera is only 2.0MP, this one comes with a 3.0MP camera with flash that also utilises an installed software that allows you to tweak contrast, color balance and many more.

Synchronization with Facebook & Google Mail
This phone allows you to save a person’s details like Facebook, GMail addresses and more into one contact setting. So say one of your contact changes his/her phone number or even picture on Facebook, it will automatically update your address book with the new contact number the next time a connection is made. Not only that, with the integration of GMail, it also allows you to chat via Google Talk if the person is online. So you won’t have to worry about people changing numbers and not informing you already.

Wireless charging
This is probably the coolest feature. You charge the phone wirelessly using their Touchstone charging dock. Magnets in the dock align your phone in the correct position for charging, whether in portrait or landscape mode. No wires involved! Pretty nifty don’t you think?

This video is a full demo of all the Pre’s features and capabilities. If you’re a true geek (like myself) or are into gadgets, take time to view it…it’s about 26 mins long but trust me…it’s worth watching. You’ll be left drooling and probably throw your iPhone away if you already own one.

How much do think it would cost once it’s available here? I’m thinking around the RM2xxx range. So…3 guesses what’s next on my wish list? Hehe

This is really something to think about…

Some people believe we are living in the digital dark ages because most of what we are currently preserving will be unreadable by future generations. I know of some people who still have a stack of floppy discs from the early 90s that cannot be access due to the fact that they don’t manufacture the drives that allows you to read those things anymore. It’s also entirely possible that the photos of your children won’t be readable or printable in 20 years’ time due to ‘digital evaporation’ and the rapid changing media. You think I’m kidding? NASA can’t read some of the records of its 1976 Viking Mars space landing…doesn’t that tell you something?

When will all this happen? It’s already happening! Some old VCDs (and DVDs) are already unusable! Therefore it is best to keep your pictures online so that you can retrieve it in future.

Source: FHM Magazine issue #122

16-03 Update: