iPhone - Apocalypse Now

So, the word is out. iPhone.



3,5" 480x320 touchscreen, 4-8GB storage, music-video-photo, WiFi - Bluetooth - internet, 3G cellphone with 2MP camera, GPS

It's basically a PSP (black styling, large display, multimedia) - NDS/PDA (touchscreen) - cellphone - Wifi/Bluetooth hybrid, and is actually not that revolutionary at all. However, the fact that this got Steve Jobs' magic touch and the wide iPod demographic (geeks, girls, normal people) will utterly devastate cellphone and handheld companies, like Nokia, who have been pushing multimedia phones with only marginal success amongst cellphone aficionados and business customers.

Another asset will be that iPhone will have access to a properly equipped content management system (iTunes), so that all that multimedia potential actually will be known and used (as opposed to 3G phones and PSP).

The only thing I can think of this thing lacks, is gaming and homebrew access. However, both of which will be resolved soon after the launch by hordes of iPod hackers and fanboys, I think.

Prices are announced to be between $ 500 and $600. Satisfying your brand-snob-and- geek-instinct comes as a huge, free extra.

No sleep, first exam and first encounter!

Okay, so I didn't sleep *at all* today. I had an exam Urology, and kept going at it until 0700 am. Then I ate breakfast, drove to uni (actually, my mom drove me), and slept for 45 minutes in the car.

I had a bad feeling about this exam, most likely because I was completely devoid of nervousness. Was it the sleep deprivation, the New Year anime-figurine overdose, or some strange force of the universe? I still don't know, but I went to the venue with a fearlessness only displayed by the most stoic of Jedi heroes (or the most stupid of courageous fools).

Luckily, the exam went pretty well. There were some glitches, but considering the circumstances, I very glad.

But that's not what I'm most happy about. For some time this semester, I've seen this Asian dude having lunch with the PhD students of the professor of Urology. My JDorama experience has allowed me firmly distinguish Japanese from Chinese, Koreans, and so forth. But, the chicken**it I am, I never had the guts to ask him something at the cantina.

After the exam however, I bluntly asked the professor "That Asian guy..is he Japanese?". The Force must've been strong in me. And lo-and-behold, he said he was. Moreso, he said I should stop by his desk and say hello!

And so I did..and I had a first conversation with a REAL Japanese person! OMG! You may think it's trivial, but this is HUGE. Gone are the barriers of artificiality of anime and the internet, this was a real, living, breathing Japanese bloke. He was pretty much how I imagined him to be, with the little gestures typical of Japanese: the constant nodding, faulty English (although his English was really very good, by any standards), the slight shyness. I could utter "Hajimemashite", but that's as far as my anime-driven Japanese could bring me. We had a nice initial conversation though, talking about his time in Belgium and from what city he came and from university he was, etc. I even managed to exchange emails with him.

So, pretty much one of the coolest days of the year. And 2007 is only 9 days old! Bitchin'.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!