iOS 6 Review (On an iPhone 3GS)

Updating. And you can have both Apple and Samsung products together...

As expected with every new iPhone Apple will release new iOS to improve their product. Well for me and most owners of the aging ancient iPhone 3GS, we are delighted with the iOS 6.0 update as it let us experience some goodies that come along the new iPhone 5.

For starters it took roughly 3 hours to download (what a whooping update!). Then the updating takes roughly another 20-30 minutes. But after doing so you'll be treated with some improvements as shown below:

Typical update menu.

Do Not Disturb - Finally I can simply turn on this mode to still get selected updates without relying to total communication shutdown in airplane mode. Apparently you can set which contact are able to contact you while silencing the rest. Apart from that you can set "Quiet Hours" to make your iPhone leave you in peace even when there are calls and SMS coming in. It'll just sit there quietly waiting for your command. 

New Music Player Interface - Black and orange themed player, looks good. But changes are just visual.

New VIP in E-Mail - So we can get quick access mail from important people. Okay, a new category then.

Passbook - An all in one app where you can digitally get your scan-and-go boarding pass, tickets etc. But knowing Sibu, this neat function is quite impractical for now. Oh you still need to go to App Store to get those passes.

New Keypad - Okay, we have a new white and brighter keypads for us to tap in numbers. This is cool. Again changes are just visual.

New Camera & Photo Interface - Well, not new per se but the interface is now black in colour instead of white like earlier iOS versions. Changes are visual and no new improvements. In Photos, your images can be easily shared with the new icons form the 'More' options.

Apple Maps - Apple replaces Google Maps  with their own app and well... the satellite/hybrid map is horrible (for Sibu anyways)! It's like the comedic Restoration of Jesus! I could see my house in the previous app but now all I see is Pixel Land. At least the streets and roads are adequately named this time.

New Call Response Options - Besides the standard Decline or Answer key, you can now slide the menu up to reveal "Reply with Message" or "Remind Me Later" to your caller. For "Reply with Message" you can instantly reply with present messages to explain to the caller why you can't talk e.g. "I'll call you later" or "I'm on my way".  As for "Remind Me Later" your iPhone will remind you later to call the person. Cool. 

Voice Control - ...still cannot catch Manglish. I was asking "What time is it?"

Overall the iOS 6 didn't come with much features for iPhone 3GS but it's understandable as it was focused on iPhone 5. Some features are gone like YouTube and the good old high-resolution Google Maps. However the introduction of Do Not Disturb mode is very much welcomed. The iPhone do feel to run a bit faster too. I hope we can get the ability to blacklist some numbers too in the next update. And perhaps a map of Sibu with better resolution? Anyways I'll summed up the review:

iOS 6 for iPhone 3GS
by Apple Inc.
★★★☆☆

Some good upgrades like the Do Not Disturb mode (although some already used in other smartphones e.g. Android's Reply with Message), we appreciate the new updates. We just got a beef with the map quality and there are rooms for improvement. (Ability to blacklist please)

iPhone App Review: Dead Trigger

Dead Trigger
by MADFINGER Games

★★★★★

FINALLY! Some high-quality NVIDIA-graphics-powered zombie blasting game for the iPhone! And it works on older generation like my 3GS smoothly (most of the times).

I haven't gone on an undead killing spree since Left 4 Dead 2 two years ago with my mates. Now seeing everyone's busy with work and lack time to get together to LAN or Steam, we went our own separate ways and our tradition of defending humanity from imaginary murderous zombies died down.

Until my girlfriend kept telling me to download this:

 Hey remember us?! We're the zombies from the mall that you didn't kill in L4D2!

Weeeeee I'm a plane~!

Yup she kills zombies too. And my urge to blast the undead was rekindled. You play as a dude trying to survive the zombie apocalypse along with the remnants of humanity who defend themselves from the undead horde. In this game, it's you against the zombie horde.

It's the standard move, aim, shoot, reload and repeat. The money earned from missions are used for weapons and other goodies. The controls are quite easy but cumbersome at times. You progress in a story-based missions which include blasting zombies, go from point A to B, retrieve something and blasting more zombies. There are also side mini games which are represented as icons in the game map.

The highlight here is the mind-blowing graphics and ragdoll physics. I mean, this is the second game with proper physics after Angry Birds (if suicidal birds on slingshot were physically feasible to start with). Zombies will be pushed back with each shot, climb obstacles, stumble when you shot them in the legs and crawl towards you afterwards because you forgot the rule to double-tap and give them headshots. 

The only cons are the control which may somewhat be difficult when the zombie horde is upon you and you start to panic and start to tap the small iPhone screen in horror (should be good on iPad, not sure). 

Apart from that, this game is gold and a must have in your device!

If only Apple Map on iOS6 look like this... please Apple hear our pleas!

"Whoa!" says the stunned zombie at the stunning graphics

The storyline is pretty easy to follow and the characters will tell you to do things which you know will end up with you killing more zombies.

Alright, let's go kill some zombies baby!

Hailstorm in Kuching

Well it is unusual considering Malaysia or Sarawak specifically stands in the equator where it's hot and humid. So does this mean the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" is feasible? Are we at the equator are going to experience a cold winter snap in a strange climate change as foreseen by ancient alien scientists? Too bad no videos or pictures within my reach though.

Anyways below is the news that piqued my interest:

KUCHING: Shopkeepers and members of the public at Central Park commercial centre here were astonished when a small hailstorm hit the area soon after the start of a heavy afternoon downpour yesterday.

Hundreds of pea-sized translucent globes of ice rained down with a loud clatter as they bounced off the metallic surfaces of motor vehicles and rooftops and onto the roads and  footways.

Some pieces of hail appeared to have had air bubbles frozen in their centre.

Many curious onlookers emerged to marvel at the unusual weather phenomenon that began around 4.30pm.

Two occupants of a sports utility vehicle that pulled up by the road shoulder when the storm started were spotted picking up the pellets of frozen rain and putting them in a plastic bag amid the tropical downpour.

However, the hailstorm lasted only a few minutes and the hail quickly melted away in the continuous rain.

The thunderstorm continued for half an hour before stopping altogether.

Source: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/09/16/unusual-hailstorm-hits-part-of-kuching/