Droided iPhone? Come again?

Bad news, guys (or good news depending on whether your cup is half-empty or half-filled). Samsung just bought over Apple and I got myself this new Samsung iPhone, HuZzAH!!

But of course, you know I was just pulling your leg there. This is the works of iLauncher which transforms your Droid into one with an iOS interface, right down to the icons jiggle dance in edit mode.

Android functionalities are still there of course, giving you the chance to experience how iOS should have been designed right off the bat. For a humorous touch, this launcher simulates some of the limitations of iOS (no widgets, for example). But despite this, suffice it to say that things still function even better than a jailbroken iPhone. Tsk. For example, core Android functionalities like the ability to rename icons and download anything are still intact.

No worries, flicking some switches here & there allows you to change back to your selected Droid interface & vice-versa instantaneously.

Think I'm gonna play with that Windoze 7 phone launcher next.


-De Lion Speaks

Keeping Things Organised The Android Way

Home screens can make or break you. Beats me as to why some peeps allow everything to go all over the darned place like spilled guts and bogging themselves down, taking forever just to hunt down that app or file they happen to need. So you go dictator on your device and contain and categorise everything. It's called 'Folders' and 'Widgets', Hitler.

I'm only using 2 active home screen pages - a main one (pic on the left above) just for show while the other contains every shebang living in my phone. That's it. Less is more here. The 2nd page still looks kinda messy but I'm still hunting for that wallpaper that won't make things look so cluttered.

All thanks to the broad customisable functionalities of Android and the handy Widget apps. They save lives and deserve the Nobel Peace award.

Your home screen sure as heck is a reflection of the state of your room at home, eh? Correct me if I'm wrong.

- De Lion Speaks

Pandora's Final Photos

I give names to all my favourite gadgets, devices and guitars. I know it's weird but somehow, it accentuates their quirks and personalities to me. They are very much alive to me in a technological kinda way and of course, I know that doesn't make much sense. It's hard to put into words but 'Side-Kicks that help me run my life with their own functional liveliness' is the closest I can describe this. Think pets.

After jailbreaking my iPhone 4 and experiencing life with it with its newfound abilities, I decided to name it 'Pandora', since it allows me to open forbidden 'boxes' Apple doesn't want you to.

Pandora has accompanied me for coming to 2 years and all the improved productivity in my life and all the fun I've had because of it will always stick with me as fond memories. I've also brought her to lots of places - Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Jeju Island, all over the main places in South Korea and all over Taipei. Pandora has climbed volcanoes with me and endured the biting winds, snow and cold of winter.

And Pandora is my very first and proper Smartphone. She has served me well. Too well.

And the time has come to let her go. I need to expand my ability to be able to do more with a smartphone and I've gotten for myself a Galaxy S3 now that I'm able to recontract with my Telco. Yup, I've hopped over to the Android platform and that is a must for me based on my needs and requirements. But still, I'm going to miss Pandora.

So here I am, sitting at one of my sanctuaries where I like to blog at and I've just taken this photo of Pandora to remember her by:

I've named my S3 'Pebble' and using Pebble to snap the last few photos of Pandora is like giving an honorary acknowledgment and send-off to Pandora's honorable discharge from her distinguished service.

Pandora will be making her way over to Malaysia soon 'cos that is where I'll be selling her to.

Blogging is one area where Pandora has served me tremendously well with BlogPress, a nifty blogging app which unfortunately, doesn't have an Android version. I was actually contemplating if I should keep Pandora mainly for this app, besides some other less important but still handy apps and games but I decided against it.

Because of that, I took the following photo of the BlogPress app in action on Pandora, since I know too well that I'm going to miss it:

Well, Pandora will be out of my life tomorrow or the day after, when I'll have to pass her over to Malaysia and receive $350 in return. I'll have to unjailbreak and restore her to factory settings before that to ensure that no traces of my data are left on her. That's gonna hurt, since it's gonna be like stripping away all her capabilities. Default sucks.

I know I started this blog entry referring to Pandora as 'it' but ended up referring to it as a 'her'. She's always been female to me but I had to start using 'it' on her first so as to give you a politically correct comfortable start before slowly guiding you down the path of eccentricity without you realizing it, dear reader. Or maybe you've been perceptive enough to have caught this yourself. Didn't wanna scare you off right at the start point, you see. I appreciate the fact that you've stuck with me thus far to reach this point.

Thank you and Goodbye, Pandora. From the bottom of my geeky heart, I really really hope that your new owner will treat you well, just like I did.


- De Lion Speaks