My Soapbox

This is the first of a much bigger advertising campaign (click the picture for the original/high-resolution version).  What did you think of it? It was intended to intrigue people, get folks feeling peculiarly interested in understanding what it's all about...

Wow, this a beauty! My very brief summary: a melding of slick Diamond design, a non-touch-screen UI (which is the easier-to-use version of Windows Mobile) with elements of TouchFlo 3D, stuffed into a HTC Vox-like hardware - although much slimmer, like it should have always been. And I thought I was settled on buying the HTC Touch Diamond Pro - now I'm second-guessing myself. What do you think?

In June I had the chance to spend a few days in Tokyo. The guys at Akihabara News invited me over to chat about Windows Mobile. As always, Alex and I had a fun time bantering about on all things mobile. Click on the picture below and have a listen - apparently he's going to do a three-part series with our conversation: I can't for the life of me remember what we talked about for that long; but then again, once I start talking with friends about gadgets the hours just fly by :)

Yeah, it's been a long time. My excuse: I've been traveling non-stop since the middle of June when I left Singapore for Beijing, then Tokyo, Seattle, Colorado, back to Seattle, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Seattle, San Diego and then back to Singapore. It didn't seem so bad when I planned it all: a mix of work and vacation. But I'm exhausted. I've now had a week to catch-up in the office in Singapore and tomorrow I'm off to Seattle again. I keep telling myself that things will settle down in a few months - but I've been using that line for 10 years now :)

But to be honest, I'm having fun - and I'd be bored if I wasn't running full-speed and globetrotting. Here's my summer (thus far!) in pictures.

Colorado Monument	Sea World, San Diego
Easy Riders, Canada	Zune & Diamond on board
Lego Land	Singapore!

I had been here once before, but was escorted by a few wannabe-geeks who got bored after an hour walking the streets of Electronics Paradise: that is Akihabara Electric Town in Tokyo.

This time I went alone, spent eight hours walking through shop after shop, quickly becoming desensitized to the schoolgirl-costumed girls handing out coupons, the crowds shamelessly shoving, and the rain that poured. I was in Akihabara - the candy store district for grown-ups.

I sadly finished the day having bought very little. I eyed many compact HD video cameras, phones of every shape in bright colors (check out the new Sharp Willcom units here that run Windows Mobile) that played high-quality wireless TV, games for my XBOX 360 and PSP, and a million and one computer accessories. In the end, format and voltage worries kept me at bay. But, I still had a thoroughly satisfying day of drooling over gadgets. If you're ever in Tokyo, Akihabara is a must visit for any fellow geeks!