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I was given the privilege by my client to actually use this phone as I was planning an upcoming campaign for them. I needed some inspiration and by that, I needed to know how this phone works and also experience using the phone…but actually…those are just excuses…hehe.

Anyway, I’m not going to write an in depth phone review, but instead just tell you how is it like using the phone after a full week.

First Impression:
At first glance, the phone looks like the white Blackberry. Take a closer look and it’s more like a cross between a Blackberry Torch and a Blackberry Bold where the screen is actually a touch screen (without a slider) that comes with a QWERTY keypad. It’s slightly curved and very slim, and if you put it into your jeans pocket, you hardly can tell it’s there.

HTC ChaCha

Back and side views

At first, I thought the phone seemed like another chic phone, you know…like the type of phone Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf would be using. But after using it for a week, I must say, it’s a pretty darn good device. It’s the sort of device you want to have if you absolutely have to stay connected at all times (like me!).

The main feature of the phone is the Facebook button found on the bottom of the phone. This button allows you to share anything from photos, music and links as well as update your Facebook wall all with a single push. You only have to configure your Facebook account once, and you’re set to go. You don’t need to download an application, open and re-login to Facebook to update and share. So far, I have not come across a phone which does the same in the market, and I must say, it’s a pretty darn good feature to have on any phone.

Just the other day, as I was browsing the web using the phone, I came across an interesting article which I wanted to share on Facebook. All I did was just pressed the Facebook button and ..presto..the link of that website is copied straight to my wall ready to be posted.

The magic Facebook button

Functionality:
As I highlighted, this is the sort of phone you would want if you want to stay connected at all times. By that, I mean they have a whole bunch of pre-installed apps like Twitter, Facebook, Plurk and Google just to name a few. It runs on Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread), meaning you can download a whole bunch of apps via the Android Market.

Twitter and Facebook on the HTC ChaCha

Another good thing on the phone is that it comes with a 5 megapixel rear camera with LED flash accompanied by VGA front-facing camera. Meaning you can make video calls with the front-facing camera. Oh…there is an application call “Mirror” on the phone…it basically makes your screen become….well..a mirror by using the front-facing camera. Let me be the first to tell you that although it’s only 5MP, the pictures that the camera produces are very crisp and clear.

Using the camera

These 2 pictures below were taken using the HTC ChaCha. Notice the sharpness and clarity..

Dislikes:
Well, like with everything else, there are also stuff that I don’t like about the phone. Mainly is the size of the touch screen. Having larger fingers as compared to a lady, I sometimes have the tendency to accidentally click on links or icons which are not intended.

Another thing that is bad is the ringer volume. Even at maximum level, the notifications for messages and even ringtones to some extend seems too soft to be heard even in normal room conditions where the television is on.

Another warning is do make sure that you’re on a data plan with your service provider as this phone is constantly downloading data from the likes of Twitter and Facebook. I’m not currently on a data plan, so I normally switch off data services when not in use.

Overall:
Apart from the “dislikes” above, I think the phone is absolutely great. Remember, it’s not the sort of phone you want to get if you’re a serious business user who needs serious stuff like word processing and spreadsheet kind of applications. This is a phone for fun, for the light-hearted and those who are socially active on the internet space. Would I get it?…well honestly? I’m seriously considering one.

More information and specifications:
Product Overview
Specifications

My car audio player which had served me for more than a decade is officially DEAD! It happened last week when it could not be turned on, so I thought it would be an easy fix since this is not the first time this has happened (It “died” twice in the last 10 years). Although when I brought it over to the audio shop, I did brace myself for the worse, knowing that this is a very old model (did I say it’s more than 10 years old?), parts might not be easily available.

Like a patient telling the doctor to do what he can and tell me the cost, I left my player there for them to repair. Early this morning, the shop called to tell me they cannot find the parts to fix it..however, they can “modify” it to make it work, but it’s not a guarantee that it will be fully functional like before. What’s the point of paying for something for it to only work with no guarantee? It’s like going for an operation, but saying the chances are slim.

So, with a heavy heart, I told the shop owner to forget about the repair, and to just return it me and I will get a new one. Sigh, it’s a pity that this had to happen. For many sentimental reasons, this player meant a lot to me as I bought it using my very first pay cheque when I first started working. Back then, this model cost a whopping RM1,800 as it was one of the top range models. Ever since then, it followed me even when I switched cars as parting with it wasn’t an option.

What I liked most about this player is that it flips entirely 180 degrees, making the player hidden when switched off. Even till now, whenever someone who sits in my car for the first time will say that the player is so cool, but when I told them it’s 10 years old, they hardly believe that it is. The design still withstood the test of time, although it only plays CDs (not even MP3s) and have the normal tuner functions, it was sufficient enough for me.

Oh well, I guess like they say, “nothing lasts forever” is certainly true indeed. Moving along, I’m planning to get another Kenwood player. Something “top line” that is worth investing on and that will last for another decade. Yes, I am a Kenwood fan. I’m planning to get the Kenwood KDC-U7046BT. It’s not the latest model (2010 make I think), but the specs looks pretty decent and sufficient to replace my old unit.

It comes with Bluetooth enabled functions, iPod/iPhone jack, USB jack, more power output and plus it’s simply just look ultra sexy! Certainly and upgrade from the previous unit. Hopefully, this player would last me another 10 years or so. Nice no?

OMG! It seems I’ve been neglecting this blog for a very long while. This time for real, it’s not because I was too lazy to update, but I seriously hadn’t the time. It’s been a long 3 weeks or so with so many things happening at the office. It was a really crucial week last week, as there were some multi-million ringgit sign-offs which we required from the client, so a lot of preparation and convincing was needed to get the client’s signature. It can be really dramatic I tell you. But alas, it was done. Then again, that’s only the tip of the iceberg as there are more stuff in the pipeline in the coming months. With the World Cup fast approaching in June and July, a lot of my projects need to start soon. Everyone wants to cash in on the World Cup, and with my client saying things like “We want to do BIG THINGS” and “We want to DOMINATE” would give you an idea as to why I said it’s only the beginning. So if you don’t hear from me cum May to July, chances are you can find me pitching up a tent in my office.

Ok, since I’ve been out of touch with you guys for awhile, I’ll just summarized a few things of what happened

A New Love
In case you didn’t know, I finally bought a new Nokia N97 Mini and retired my 4 year old dinosaur N80. Yea, 4 years is the longest I ever hold on to a phone. I remember I used to always switch to the latest model every time something new came out. I once only owned a phone for 6 months before selling it off to get an upgraded version. I was that gung-ho back then.

baby I love you…

Anyway, this phone is a real gem. It does everything I want it too and can do everything any other phone can too. Why not a Blackberry or an iPhone you ask? Well, I was contemplating this phone and the Blackberry Bold 9700. I guess I made my choice under the assumption that everyone will get the Blackberry and I wanted to be different. iPhone? It was never in my list to begin with…don’t let me start about how I’m on the anti Apple camp. :)

A Goodbye
Goodbyes are always hard. Especially if it’s someone so close and dear who you have known for ages. My dear friend Sylvia is finally moving to the States with her husband Jason. I’ve known Sylvia since we were both in secondary school, together with her twin sister Sheila. We go to the same church, gone for camps together and we’ve kept in touch even after all these years. 

Sylvia, Jason and I @ WIP, Bangsar

Can you believe it’s been 16 years? Even when she is working in Penang, she never fails to call me and go out every time she comes back here for a visit. You can say she is one of my BFFs. Sylvia, I will definitely miss you loads…heck I already miss you now!! All the best to ya! *hugs*

A Goal
YES! I’ve finally paid for my flight tickets and accommodation to Sabah in July to conquer Mount Kinabalu. There is NO TURNING BACK already! Die die also must climb and get that cert. I’ve been wanting to do this for sometime now, but didn’t really take the initiative until my ex-colleague Mike decided to gather a few people to go. It will be my first ever visit to East Malaysia.

Mount Kinabalu, Sabah

Some people who have climbed up told me that you require to train for endurance in order for you to make it to the top. Then again, there are some who said you don’t really have to train and that even old aunties can climb. I would like to believe it’s the latter. It’s all in the mind I tell you. But anyway, my “training regime” has already begun. But let’s see what happens on a closer date.

Coming up next..

There are a few things coming up, later half of the year. Since I know I might be pretty busy in the coming months (and might not update this blog), maybe I’ll just let you guys know some of my travel plans and in case any of you want to tag along.

May
Weekend over Singapore (tentative) - I always go down Singapore for annual visits every year…so we’ll see

July
Mount Kinabalu (confirmed)

August
Bali, Indonesia (Dates confirmed. Yet to book flights and accommodation) - The whole purpose for this trip is because we’re celebrating a few birthdays together since they are a week apart from each other. So rather than having a birthday party every week, we decided to go big and have one massive birthday party. Brilliant isn’t it?

October
Melbourne, Australia (Dates confirmed. Yet to book flights and accommodation)- My pet sis Zara is having a garden wedding by the Yarra River on 10-10-10 (that’s 10th October 2010) after 10 years with her boyfriend. Now to have the wedding ceremony at 10:10AM with 10 bridesmaid. How can I not go for this??

Nov-Dec
A short shopping trip to Hong Kong or Dubai since my cousin keeps insisting I come visit. Let’s see if I still have left over funding for the year to pull off this trip.

Ok, there you go…some updates on the things that has been going on. I really hope I don’t have to keep doing these mass update posts and find more time to update this blog to keep you entertained…haha…until then..

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… :)