Further impressions with the Pebble Watch in Singapore

After a few weeks of using my Pebble watch, I'm loving it. My phone is usually kept in my bag or in the back pocket of my jeans, and in silent vibration mode. Therefore, I tend to miss my calls. However, the watch allows me to know when I have calls or smses cos it vibrates on my wrist! Plus, it's so cool. My friends were literally going gaga over the watch. 

Some updates to my previous post:

My initial problems of feeling numbness on my wrist have gone away. No problems whatsoever with wearing it for extended hours now.

The battery life has also improved to about 4-5 days with bluetooth on. I guess the battery just needs some wearing in. 

One thing to note - after the watch's been recharged having gone completely flat i.e. blank screen, the time gets reset to 00:00 hours. Need to sync to the phone eg. via bluetooth in order for the time and date settings to be restored. 

I got my sms alerts as well as my phone alerts working. I lost my email alerts though... 

The photo below shows the recent update I carried out for the watch... 

Hello!

This was the new watch face that came with it. Reminds me of a retro Casio watch face lol.

Retro Casio-ish watchface

I customized my Pebble with watchfaces downloaded from the  My Pebble Faces website. Here's one of them which I really liked!

The Micky Mouse watch face (animated)

Looking forward to more applications! 

Apparently, Pebble Corp is still busy fulfilling orders from their very successful Kickstarter campaign i.e. new orders may only be processed much much later. If you can't wait and must get it now, you can get the Kickstarter editions from Amazon

Pebble E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android


Other posts which may interest you:

• Pebble watch in Singapore - Initial Impressions
• Using my Kindle as a newsreader
• Initial impressions with Tinke
• For the Lego Fan

Pebble Watch in Singapore - Initial Impressions

After months of waiting, my Pebble watch is finally here!

This was my first Kickstarter project. I opted for the US$115 option, which comes with a Jet Black Pebble watch and US$15 shipping fee for delivery to Singapore.

Here's some photographs...

The environmentally-friendly packaging which the Pebble came in...

How the Pebble watch is packaged...

Kickstarter edition! Also indicates its waterproof capabilities of 5 atm.

Fits snugly on my wrist. Background shows the magnetic two point charger that is proprietary with Pebble, to allow for its waterproofing.

Updated 24 March 2013: Simple watchface showing the date and time

Updated 24 March 2013: This watchface is pretty cool. Can you figure out how to tell the time? ;)

Functions
As of now, the Pebble has only preliminary functions, such as watch, alarm, controlling of music from the watch, and phone notifications showing the number calling. For controlling of music, it allows skipping of tracks, starting and stopping of songs and does not allow volume control. As for phone notifications, it allows you to decide whether or not to pick up the call. You will have to use your phone or bluetooth headset, should you wish to talk to the caller. 

Needs upgrading to iOS6 for notifications
After upgrading my iOS on my iPhone 4 to iOS6, it allowed me to configure my notifications such that email notifications showed up also on my Pebble screen. From my limited tests carried out so far, I have not managed to get the other alerts such as calendar, sms, Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter etc. I am not sure if the Android version is better since it appears that some open source programs have already been written and are available for Android users.  

Concerns
My battery was flat within 2 days of wearing it after an initial charge of about 2 hours. After researching on the internet, it seems like some users are also facing issues with shorter battery life of 1-2 days (as opposed to 7+ days in the specs). I am monitoring this and will update again when I have had more time with the Pebble.

Also, I am not sure if it is my imagination, but I felt some tingling sensation/numbness on my left upper arm after just half an hour of wearing it and with the bluetooth on. Am I hypersensitive to bluetooth waves or what? In any case, I will have to test that again.

Initial impressions
Smart looking watch + cool factor with untapped potential.
Need to iron out the teething problems such as notifications, more applications such as Runkeeper, and longer battery life to make this worthwhile. 

Posts which you may be interested too

• My further impressions with the Pebble Watch... 
• Initial impressions with Tinke in Singapore - keeping my health and fitness in check
• For the Lego Fan

Kickstarter editions are available now from Amazon resellers

Pebble E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android

Updated 5 May 2013: Community developed pebble watchfaces on mypebblefaces.com !
Updated 8 May 2013: I can now use Runkeeper on my Pebble!

Signing up for ITunes US Account (from Singapore) without having to use a credit card

I found this really useful tip online, to sign up for a US ITunes account without having to provide your credit card information.

You will need your Mac/Macbook in order to do this.

1. On your Mac, under System Preferences, click on "iCloud". 

2. There is a Manage button in the right bottom corner. Click on it.

3. Click "View account", and enter your Apple ID and password (or if you do not have one, sign up for it first).

4. Apple ID Summary will appear and you may edit your Payment information there,

5. There is the option to choose "None" under payment in this page.

Viola! You are now set to download free apps/content from ITunes US!

PS: after fiddling around the store for a day or so, I find that ITunes US has loads more interesting and better apps!! 

Do-Not-Call registry to start by end of next year in Singapore - Hooray!

I read with interest the news, which says that the Do-Not-Call registry will be in operation in Singapore soon. This is really good news for me. I receive, on some days, 4-8 calls from unknown numbers. Initially, I tried to be nice and pick up the calls. However, as the callers can be very persistent in trying to get me to hear their sales pitch (the latest credit card, loan programme, fund transfer, insurance), I no longer pick up these calls.

Until the Do-Not-Call registry gets set up, I have found a good way to handle these calls, by making the calls unobtrusive using the following steps (please note that I am using an Iphone and hence, the steps are for Iphone users):-

1. Create a new contact called "Nuisance Caller" (or whatever name you want to give it).
2. Store numbers which you know belong to this category of callers under this contact.
3. Customize the type of alert that you would like to get. For me, I set the alert to "no alert", i.e. no ring tone, no vibration. So basically, I will not be disturbed when a "Nuisance Caller" calls my number.

That's all to it!

Running Windows 7 on Mac using Parallels 8 - It works!

I am a happy person today. I managed to set up my Macbook Pro to run Windows 7 via Parallels 8!

Here's the configuration:

1. Mackbook Pro (13 inch, mid 2010. 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB Memory. Lion OSX 10.7.5. About 70 GB free storage).

2. Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac
(you can get it from most computer shops that sells Mac stuff and from Amazon (link opens to Amazon website) Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac
3. Windows 7 Home SP-1 64 bit, OEM version
(you can get the retail version from some computer shops (slowly being phased out as Windows 8 is not available) Amazon (link opens to Amazon website) Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Steps:

1. I first did a bootable backup of my hard disk using Carbon Copy Cloner (the old version 3.4.7 which was free. The new version now costs US$40 *gasp*) on my 1 TB Toshiba Canvio 3.0 Plus external hard disk (got it for S$105 at Sim Lim Square).

The backup is made just for peace of mind, in case anything goes wrong during installation. I partitioned 300 GB of the 1 TB hard disk using Disk Utility that comes with the Macbook Pro. For it to be bootable, remember to choose GUID partition type (if you have a Intel based Mac like mine). The other 700 GB is for storage. The cloning process took a few hours, for my 250 GB storage hard disk.

To check whether or not your newly cloned external hard disk is bootable, reboot your Mac while holding down the Option key. This allows you to choose the boot up disk (i.e. my newly cloned external hard disk in my case).

Boot up check - SUCCESS

2. Once the backup and boot up check is done, I checked my Mac storage to ensure that there is at least 20 GB of free storage for the installation. Of course, I would think the more freed-up resources you have, the more fuss free and speedy the installation.

3. I inserted the Parallels installation disc and installation was a breeze. Merely followed the instructions, and let the program run. It came to a screen which requested me to put in the Windows installation disc.

Parallels Installation - SUCCESS

4. At this point, I inserted the Windows 7 installation disc and Parallels took over the installation from there. I bought my Windows 7 Home OEM disc from Sim Lim Square for S$115. Having read on the internet that some people had problems using Windows 7 OEM discs to install Windows 7 on their Mac with Parallels, I was filled with trepidation. However, Windows 7 installed without a glitsch. YAY! The process of installing Parallels and Windows 7 took about 1 hour.

Windows 7 OEM Installation - SUCCESS

5. I was able to use Windows 7 without having to restart my Mac. However, just to be on the safe side, I restarted my Mac. No problems faced. Windows 7 is present as a desktop icon. To start using it, I just have to click on the icon and Parallels + Windows 7 starts.

6. The main purpose for my installing Windows is to allow me to use MS Office. I have a Office XP installation disc from my old scrapped PC, which I now use to install in Windows 7 (on my Mac!). Running Windows 7, I inserted my Office XP installation disc and the system took over from there. An installation window popped up, just like how it would be like in a normal PC, and Office XP installation proceeded as usual.

MS Office Installation - SUCCESS

I am now able to use MS Word on my Mac while enjoying the OS X interface at the same time. Mac gestures work in MS Word as well :) Only thing that I have to get used to is the different keyboard shortcuts.. eg, for super scrip (crtl shift =) and sub script (ctrl =) and paste special (option e s).

COOL!

Other posts which you may be interested in:

• Using my Kindle as a news reader

Better Refills for Lamy Ballpoint Pens - Monteverde in Singapore

I own a Lamy Vista, which is rather cool given its transparent casing. (You can get one from Amazon here:

 

 I have found THE refill for Lamy ballpoint pens, after much search on the internet and visits to bookshops... and the refills may be found in Singapore (without having to go online and pay for expensive shipping)...

*drum roll*

I heart the Monteverde refill, which is available at Cityluxe in Raffles City Shopping Mall :)

Sells for S$12 for a pack of two refills. It's in fact cheaper than the Lamy's own refills, which I bought from Takashimaya at S$7 each!

You may also get it online from Amazon here:

 

Though it would be 50 cents more expensive than the Lamy refills sold at Mustafa (S$5.50 each).

The writing quality is much much better. No more skipping of the ink for me! Now I get the pleasures of using my Lamy Vista PLUS a good quality refill. The ink color (I got blue black) is much darker than the Lamy's too!! I must stock up on these before they run out :)

PS: they have refills for other brands like Parker too!

Other posts which you may be interested in:-

• Initial impressions with Tinke in Singapore - keeping my health and fitness in check
• Using my Kindle as a News reader
• Pebble watch in Singapore - Initial impressions

Using my Kindle as a News reader

I have a Kindle 4 (US $79 version), which I received as a Christmas present last year. It's selling now at US$69 from Amazon (Kindle, 6" E Ink Display, Wi-Fi - Includes Special Offers (Black) ) Besides reading books and web-articles, I have set it up such that I can read news articles on it too. Best of all, the news articles are delivered to me every morning, much like a newspaper delivery.

Here's what you need:

• A Google Reader account (it comes free with your gmail account)


• Setting up Klip.me (http://www.klip.me/googlereader/)

Instructions as follow:

1. Setting up Google Reader - subscribe to rss feeds from news providers.

a) Singapore context - some examples:

• Straits Times Latest News: http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIFILES/rss/latest.xml


• Straits Times Singapore: http://straitstimes.com.feedsportal.com/c/32792/f/524617/index.rss

(More here: http://www.straitstimes.com/STI+On+The+Go/RSS+News+Feed/RSS+News+Feed.html

Note that the rss feeds for print edition require a subscription. Those for the Breaking News are free.)

• Today online: http://www.todayonline.com/RSS/Todayonline


• Today hot news: http://www.todayonline.com/RSS/Hotnews

(More here: http://www.todayonline.com/RSS)

• Channel NewsAsia Latest: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/rss/latest_cna_frontpage_rss.xml


• Channel NewsAsia Business: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/rss/latest_cna_biz_rss.xml

(More here: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/rss/)

b) International context - some examples

• CNN top stories: http://rss.cnn.com/rss/edition.rss


• CNN world: http://rss.cnn.com/rss/edition_world.rss

(More here: http://edition.cnn.com/services/rss/)

• New York Times Global: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/GlobalHome.xml

(More here: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/index.html)



2. Setting up Klip.me (http://www.klip.me/googlereader/)

a) Open the settings page http://www.klip.me/googlereader/

b) Input your kindle email address: username@free.kindle.com.

Unsure of your email address? You can check it using your Kindle. It's under Settings>Send-to-Kindle Email. It shows the email address as username@kindle.com, but I use the username@free.kindle.com address just to make sure that there are no charges.

c) Add "kindle@klip.me" to your Kindle approved email list.

• Login to your Amazon account (www.amazon.com)


• Go to Your Account>Manage your Kindle


• Click on "Personal Documents Setting" (left hand side menu bar)


• Click on "Add a new approved e-mail address" (bottom of page)

d) Click on the "Authorize" button to link up klip.me with your Google Reader account.

e) Set a schedule at which you would like your "newspaper" to be delivered. I set mine at 8 am every morning.

f) Click on "Update Settings" and the Klip.me settings will be saved.

Congratulations, you are done!

Here's what my Kindle "newspaper" looks like:

Have Fun!

Other posts you may be interested in:

• Running Windows 7 on Mac using Parallels

How to Earn/Save Money Online in Singapore Series - #3 Doing reviews

This post is somewhat related to my earlier post on buying and selling books for my reading habits.

I find that a good way to remember the content of what I have read, as well as capture my thoughts on the book at the point in time, is to write a review. I started off writing my reviews using the Virtual Bookshelf application on Facebook. Unfortunately, the application was stopped some time earlier this year as the developers had decided to focus their attention on other initiatives.

Not willing to stop what I think is a good practice, after googling online, I came across the site GoodReads.  Basically, once you have signed up for an account (membership is free), you can write a review for the book, give it a rating, read other people's reviews, find similar books, and see what others are reading.

It is during one of my searches for a book that I came across the following website Fishpond. It is more than a website for books, as it sells music, toys, lifestyle items etc as well. What attracted me to this website was, besides offering books at a discounted price and having free shipping worldwide, it offers a cash reward in the form of credits which you can use to offset your purchases from the website.

One of the qualifying activity for the reward is to write a review for any product that is posted there. For example, you can write a review of a Lego toy that you have, or a boardgame that you have played before. To earn a reward ($0.20 per review), your review must be over 50 words. The review must be done on products which do not currently have a review, and must be your own creation.

Since I already have a habit of writing book reviews, I found it easy to continue this practice on the Fishpond website. Since I started a few weeks ago, I have written more than 10 reviews, and earned myself some credits which I can use for buying my next book. At $0.20 per review, it is not lucrative. However, I consider it an easy task, something I can complete in less than 5 minutes. Furthermore, as doing book reviews is something that I am already doing, to be able to get paid for it, I think it's not bad at all.

How to Earn/Save Money Online in Singapore Series - #2 Selling/Buying Books Online

Are you an avid reader? Do you like to buy books? If your answer is yes to both questions, then this post is for you.

Like you, I read whenever I can in my free time, on the MRT, or while waiting. I usually read my books once - there are simply too many good books out there with too little time. Sometimes, I re-read them years later if I had forgotten about the story. Yet, there were also times when I could not finish a book as the plot did not struck a chord.


My bookshelves at home are lined with books that I have accumulated over the years. Even though I have a National Library Board (NLB) membership, which allows me to borrow six books for three weeks (free renewal to 6 weeks), some of the books, especially the newest and popular bestsellers, may not be available. Therefore, the only way for me to get the books that I want to read is to buy the books through bookshops or online purchase via Amazon. 

Some months ago, I came across an article which wrote about the topic "Things you should buy second hand". The author listed books as one of the items we should buy second hand, for reasons such as people tend to read them only once, they take up storage space in the house etc. More importantly, books are hardy stuff. You can throw them around, sit on them or even spill water on them. They would not complain and would still be good to read.


Besides the brick and mortar shops such as Sans Bookshop and the occasional finds in flea markets, there appears to be an increasingly vibrant online second hand books store presence in Singapore. By that, I do not mean Ebay, as I personally find that it is difficult to sell books using that portal. Firstly, unless the books are priced really attractively, the time for auction (7 days) typically runs out before anyone bids on the item. Secondly, Ebay is HUGE. The variety of goods on offer is mind boggling, not to mention that it is on a global scale. Therefore, one could list the items there for weeks with nary a reply, and it's quite a hassel to keep relisting the item.


I found the following websites useful both for selling books and for buying second hand books.


1. Secondhandbooks.com.sg (http://www.secondhandbooks.com.sg/)
This portal is the best in terms of the sites I have tried so far.


From the seller's point of view, it allows you to open your own "bookshop". You can set the rules, like how you want to price the items... whether meet up is preferred or orders by post only... bank transfer, paypal or cash on delivery... Secondly, there's an avenue for the buyer to rate the seller, and for the seller to rate the buyer. Both ratings are available for public view. So, in that sense, there is greater transparency and I can trade my books with a greater ease of mind. Thirdly, the books you post are listed there indefintely. This means that you can post your books once, and it will be there on display until someone buys it.


From the buyer's point of view, the books on offer cost much less than what I would have to pay for a new book. For example, Sophie Kinesella's books can go for $3 - $5, when a new book usually costs $12 - $15. Furthermore, most sellers provide a picture of the book on the site. You can post them questions or negotiate for a better price too. That way, you are able to gauge the condition of the book or get a better deal before buying. Once you have finished reading the book, you can re-sell the book, which essentially means that there is little or no cost involved. There is also an option to keep track of the newly posted books by keyword (author or title keyword). Once a book having the keyword is listed for sale, the website auto sends you an email to let you know that an item fulfilling the criteria has been posted.


Did I mention signing up as a member is free?


Yes, I have an account there. In fact I am one of the top 100 sellers on the website. So far, the people I have made deals with are pleasant. The website is only about books, thereby making it a more dedicated portal with a more cozy community.


2. Bookfishing (http://bookfishing.com.sg/)
This is another local website you can use to buy/trade books. It appears to be more of a textbook place at the moment. I have bought a book from a seller through the website. The condition of the book I bought was excellent - like new. The seller was willing to let go of it at less than half the retail price, as he has two copies of the book.

Registration as a member on this site is free!


3. Usedbooks (http://www.usedbook.sg/) 
This is one other local website which I came across recently. I have not had the chance to buy any books using the website yet. Registration as a member on this site is free too!

Have fun reading!

How to Earn/Save Money Online in Singapore Series - #1 Doing Surveys

Most of us spend a lot of time on the internet everyday, be it surfing the web, doing online shopping, reading the news, finding out the latest gossips, watching online media, and the list goes on......

How nice would it be if we can use our time productively, and not waste them on frivolous stuff? Have it crossed your mind that you may be able to spend time online and generate income at the same time? I found out about SingPost's My MailMoment initiative two years ago through their booth at the Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention (STGCC). The person who was manning the booth approached me and said 

"What do you think of the idea of doing some simple online surveys, that probably just take you 5 - 10 minutes each, and in return, you accumulate points which allows you to exchange for vouchers from NTUC, Golden Village, and Coffee Bean etc?" 

I thought the idea sounded interesting and being cautious, i asked them if there are any upfront costs or membership fees involved. I was happy to hear that the service is free, and all I had to do was to sign up on the spot or online at their website:

http://www.mymailmoment.com/content.aspx?page=HomePage

Two years have passed since I signed up and I have completed quite a number of surveys... my guess is about 30 of them, in exchange for a few $5 NTUC vouchers and $1 Macdonalds vouchers, which are mailed to my house courtesy of SingPost. Most of the surveys take about 5 minutes to complete, and topics relate to general, everyday issues such as my ideal holiday, what I look for in a dream car, how I manage my financials etc. They are presented in multiple choice format, such as 

"On a scale of 1 to 7, 1 being strongly disagree and 7 being strongly agree, please indicate how well you agree to the following statements."


"Please rank the following in order of how important it is to you."

You have a choice of the surveys that you want to participate in. In other words, you can choose to only do those surveys that you want to do.

For each survey that you complete, you get points that you can accumulate to exchange for vouchers once a certain target is reached. The number of points you get is dependent on the difficulty of the survey - the harder it is (more questions thereby needing more time to complete the survey), the more points are awarded. Oh, and each survey you complete entitles you to a chance at a lucky draw that takes place every quarter.

For those of you who are interested to have more chances for the lucky draw, my MailMoment has a Refer-a-Friend scheme which allows you to invite your friends to participate. For each successful referral (i.e. your friend has signed up and completed at least 3 surveys), both your friend and you will receive a lucky draw chance.

Before I sign off, please note that you should fulfill the following criteria to sign up as a member:

a) You should have a valid Singapore residential address, and you are currently living in Singapore.

b) You should be at least 17 years old.

Membership is limited to only one per person.

Easy isn't it? Sign up now!