Hyundai Equus

According to Autoblog.com, the new 2011 Hyundai Equus will come with a free iPad (16g, WiFi) with the owner’s manual pre-loaded. Apparently, the manual is an app (not just an iBook) and will allow the owner to schedule maintenance on the car and make contact with your dealer.

There will also be video in this app to show the owner how to use the car. Maybe there will be a video showing what will happen to your car if you use the iPad while driving.

Hyundai will update the owners manual app via iTunes so that owners can keep up-to-date on anything new with their car (like recalls). That’s assuming Apple accepts this app to be in the App Catalog.

Manuals are becoming scarce, especially for gadgets, and are going more to online versions. If Hyundai is the future of what’s to come, Apple will have to have a special app section just for interactive manuals. This is good for trees and people who are running out of space for all their manuals. I think I still have my manual for my Atari 2600 somewhere.

The day is coming when printers and the Postal Service are gone.

After watching the mayhem from the last iteration of iPhone mania, I already knew it would not be easy to reserve the new iPhone 4 online. But something like that has not stopped me in the past and won’t deter me now. I knew standing in line at the Apple store, going to AT&T, Best Buy or Radio Shack would be out of the question. From my past experience, I know that most of the clerks won’t even know what I’m talking about and/or just help me go to the Apple or AT&T website.

Starting at midnight, I started refreshing the Apple website on the iPhone page once every 10-15 minutes and got nothing very interesting. After many attempts, I finally got this screen.

Ready for pre-order?

When I tried to start the pre-order process, I kept getting this message below:

Apple server confused or busy

Inactivity!? I’m typing my address in as fast as I can. After a while, I figured out that the website was not really ready to take my pre-order so I waited. When I tried again later, I kept getting this message below:

Apple website probably being updated

When I got the “Oops!” message, there was no way to return back to the normal part of the Apple website except just to re-start from scratch. On one of my tries, I got this crazy screen:

Whoa! WTF!?

I have no idea what this error means but I’m sure my pre-order didn’t go through. Then around 3am, I finally got this message.

Apple website getting ready for pre-orders

This is what happened last time when they were pre-order selling the iPad so I already knew that I would have to wait until about 5-5:30am until the website was back up. While doing other work on my computer, I kept periodically refreshing the browser.

At about 5:30-ish, I was able to get back on but still kept getting errors. I was not able to get the online store to ship to me, maybe because I’m not a current AT&T customer, or because the AT&T servers were overtaxed, so I decided to try picking it up at the Apple store.

By the way, the white iPhone is not available for pre-order. If that’s what you want, you’ll just have to wait. Personally, I like the black one better. It looks more Vader-ish.

But I digress.

After several attempts at trying to do the pickup at the Apple store, I finally got to this:

Booyah!! Jackpot!

According to their email, I have to the end of business day on June 24 to pick up my iPhone at the Apple store. Nice.

In hindsight, I probably should have just waited a few hours and let everybody use the servers, then did my pre-ordering. But what would be the fun in that?

At last year’s E3, Sony showed a demo of their motion control device, to compete with the Wii and Microsoft’s rumored motion control device (also shown at E3 last year).

Well, a whole year has gone by and at this year’s E3, both Sony and Microsoft are now showing off their motion control devices and the games that will use them.

Sony decided to go one step further and demo the devices at the local Best Buy. They will be showing it today at both Culver City Best Buys and the Burbank Best Buy.

It’s so funny that both Sony and Microsoft are playing catch-up to Nintendo after calling the Nintendo motion controller a “fad.”

Yes, it’s just a fad. A fad that allowed a “kids” game console that doesn’t even have HD to kick your respective asses.

As everyone that knows me already is aware that the main reason for me not getting the iPhone was the lack of a physical keyboard. And this is why I decided to get the Palm Pre last year.

Since the Palm Pre has many features that the iPhone didn’t have, like cut/paste, multi-tasking, sending pictures via MMS, combined multiple email accounts, flash, no-plug recharge, I felt justified in my decision. Not to mention that they are on AT&T, which nobody seems to like.

Over the last year, the iPhone has been steadily upping the ante and correcting and adding many of the missing features.

On June 24th, the new iPhone 4 will be coming out. It adds multi-tasking, a 5MP camera with flash, HD video recording (with LED light) and editing, front facing camera for video chatting, 326 PPI LED backlit screen, and a few other goodies. They already have voice control, visual voice mail, and of course 200,000 apps online.

Virtually every techie friend that I have has an iPhone already. But I’m not one to break down to peer pressure.  However, it’s getting harder and harder to justify NOT getting an iPhone. Now with the new iPhone 4 with it’s new features, I think I’m going to have to break down and drink the Koolaid.

At this point, the only thing even remotely slowing my decision is AT&T. If the iPhone was on Verizon or even Sprint (since that’s who I’m with now), the iPhone 4 decision would be trivial.

When I’m going out on a fun outing, I have to bring my Palm Pre, my Sony digital camera and my JVC camcorder. It’s ridiculous. With this new iPhone, that’s all I would have to bring.

The straw that broke the screen in half was the fact that Bank of America finally came out with their app for the Palm WebOS today. That’s great news, except WebOS still doesn’t have one for eBay, Paypal, Chase, or any of the other big ones that I would actually be using. How much longer do I have to wait? The HP buyout of Palm was also good news, but who cares if I can multi-task and browse websites on my printer?

That’s it. I’m getting it on day one.

Now the only question is… can I actually get one?

Roy’s Restaurant started in Hawaii and apparently has spread all over the place according to their website.  They claim to have Asian Fusion food with a Hawaiian touch so I decided it was time that I check one out.

There’s one located very close to LA Live on Figueroa in downtown LA, but there’s no parking so you have to valet or park at the lot across the street for about $5.

The decor is much nicer than the downtown Katsuya at LA Live, with non-plastic comfortable chairs and real booths where you can sit and relax.

Since this was the first visit, I decided to go very safe and ordered from their “Spring Fusion Prix Fixe” menu where you get to choose one item from 3 courses. I chose the potstickers, Rustic Charred Salmon, and melting hot chocolate souffle for desert. This set is $35.

Rustic Charred Salmon - $35

The potstickers was fine but nothing to write home about. The salmon shown above was prepared perfectly and very delish, and the desert was very good but it’s hard to screw up a chocolate souffle. In case you’re in a hurry, remember that the souffle takes about 20 minutes to prepare.

My friend ordered the “Shellfish Sampler,” which comes with butter poached half lobster tail, seared scallops, and stuffed shrimp, on pesto risotto for $33.95.

Shellfish Sampler - $33.95

Having tasted a tiny portion of the sampler, I can recommend it as something you might want to try yourself.

The waitress was very personable and attentive. Everything was to my liking here.

All in all, this first trip was a “sampler,” and I am determined to return to try the other dishes there. Don’t come here for bargains, or authentic Japanese cuisine. Instead, come here for upscale Asian fusion.

Roy’s Restaurant – Downtown Los Angeles
(213) 488-4994
800 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
roysrestaurant.com

Since I’m going to have to update this website from the WSOP, I needed to upgrade my traveling laptop. After looking at all the current tiny Netbooks, I decided I needed one with a lot more power. The only laptop that’s very small with the power I was looking for was, of course from Alienware.

Alienware AM11X-2719CSB

I won’t bore you with the details but once again, Best Buy failed when it came down to their consistent problem of inventory mix-ups. The first one supposedly had 3 in stock but none were to be found. To make matters worse, they really didn’t give damn about it and was happy to see my leave their store. While there, I used their computer to look to see which other stores had it in stock and arrived at the second store in about 20 minutes.

The in-store inventory at the second store indicated there were none left but I forced the clerk to hunt down the online reserved ones in the back. After a few minutes, he came out with a completely black box. Success. It’s a wonder how Best Buy stays in business with their consistent incompetence.

Top of Box

Buy I digress.

I basically ran out of the store with my new laptop, just happy to get out of the hell hole.

Inside the all black box is another all black box shown above. Alienware is known for cool looking boxes but the inside box was over the top with the Alien-font writing.

Box inside box with Alien writing

Under this box is the actual laptop covered in a cloth protective cover. Nice touch.

Laptop inside protection

While at Best Buy, I tested the Netbook keyboards on the Toshiba, HP, Dell, and Acer and the Toshiba’s keyboard was unusable. Dell was the best. The HP keyboard was OK but the touchpad click is part of the touchpad and cause the cursor to move around. This is the worse design in the world.

So after seeing these marginal keyboards and touchpads, it was great to see how well designed the Alienware keyboard and touchpad was. I tested it extensively at the store, typing in several paragraphs. Also, this baby is backlit and you can even change the color of the backlighting. More on that later.

Backlit keyboard

The spec on the AM11X are as follows:

• 1.3GHz Intel® Core™2 Duo mobile processor SU7300, 800MHz system bus, 3MB cache
• 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB
• 11.6″ LCD widescreen LED backlit display (1366 x 768 max)
• 250GB Serial ATA hard drive (7200 rpm)
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 335M graphics, 1GB GDDR3 memory
• Two built-in front speakers with high-definition 5.1 Surround Sound
• Built-in 1.3MP webcam
• Wireless LAN card (802.11b/g/n)
• Built-in 10/100 Ethernet LAN
• Weighs 3.8 lbs. and 1.3″ thick
• Long battery life (up to 5 hours and 35 minutes)
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit operating system
• $899.99 at Best Buy with above options. Alienware has a basic version for $799.

As you can see from the Windows Experience Index below, the graphics causes the index to be lower but the other numbers are more than decent for a small laptop.

Windows Experience Index

The photo below shows the left side of the laptop with the connectors, including the HDMI port to display on a large screen and the DisplayPort for projectors. The Firewire connector is the tiny version so you may need an adapter to connect.

Left - VGA, USB, Network, HDMI, DisplayPort, 3-in-1 Media, Firewire

On the right side, there are less connectors, including 2 USB ports, 2 headphone connectors and a microphone connector. Compared to the left side, this side looks empty. On the larger units, I assume they have the DVD drive on this side.

Right - 2 headphone, microphone, 2 USB

To change the LED colors for the different areas of the laptop (including the backlit keyboard), run the “Alienware Command Center” app and you will see the display below. From there, you can independently change the colors of the lighting. Most people will think this is over-kill but this is what makes me drool. I love toys inside of toys that do nothing but makes things look cool. Kudos to Alienware for knowing their audience.

Command center for LED color changing

The laptop comes with a pre-installed face recognition software to login to Windows 7. It seems to work when there’s good lighting but does not work properly in dark lighting. As with the fingerprint login on my Toshiba, it’s more for the coolness factor than something that you’re actually going to use.

Summary:
Compared to other Netbooks, this laptop is thicker and heavier. However, compared to other laptops, this is light and tiny and just as fast. The screen is slightly larger than the Netbooks but small compared to almost any laptop. There is no built-in CD/DVD reader/writer so you’ll need an external one. Even with the smaller keyboard, it’s very easy to use and the backlight makes it easy to see in the dark.

All in all, if you need the speed and power of a regular laptop, but don’t want to carry around a regular sized laptop, this is the model for you. I wouldn’t recommend it for a game machine because of the screen size and small speakers. I think it’s perfect for power users on trips or on the go and so far I’m happy with it.

It’s almost time for the 2010 World Series of Poker. That means it’s time to update my tournament outfits. There was an ad in Bluff Magazine from Scotte Vest for a hoodie with a lot of pockets.

Scotte Vest Ultimate Hoodie Microfleece - $56 with Promo

It’s normally $70 but with the promo code “BLUFF2010″, it’s $56. It may seem a little high for a microfleece hoodie, but take a look at the pockets it comes with.

The most unusual one is a see-through pocket where you can put your iPhone, or Palm Pre in my case. You can sort of see the screen and more importantly, you can touch the screen to operate your phone. There are routes for your headphones to go through to your head so you can go to the next song without even taking your phone out of your pocket. Nice feature.

Palm Pre in clear touchable inside pocket

On the other side, there are 2 pockets that are vertical so that you can put water bottles or your drink of choice so you’re always ready to some refreshments.

Inside pocket for drinks

There are other pockets (like on your upper arm) but the one that I like are the ones on the side which you’re most likely to use. They are equipped with magnets so that they automatically close shut. It’s nicer than velcro because it’s very easy to open but you don’t have to worry about your wallet falling out after you take your hand out of your pockets.

Side pocket with magnets

After testing out my new hoodie at a few tournaments, I’m really liking this mega-pocket outfit. You may see me at the WSOP this year wearing it.

After getting my new Samsung Syncmaster, but using my old analog cable, I decided to “upgrade” to a DVI cable. When I looked online at Best Buy, this is what I found on Best Buy.

$60 sure sounded high, so I took a quick look on Amazon.com and found this.

There was actually a cheaper one on Amazon but I didn’t like one of the review comments that said it was DOA and decided to pay $6 more for what I’m hoping is better quality. With shipping, the total came out to only $20, which is still $40 cheaper than Best Buy. However, I had to wait 6 days to get it in the mail.

The cable is 10′ long, which is plenty long enough from my computer to my new monitor. There’s no noticeable difference between the analog image and the DVI digital image but I feel better about going digital.

The last time I complained about Best Buy, their website inventory system told me they had the item for pickup, then it turned out they didn’t, then they did. So when I needed a new large screen LCD HDTV, this bad experience made me scared to order it online.  First, I looked online and saw that my local Best Buy did have them for pickup. But resisting just buying it online, I visited the retail store.

Lo and behold, the retail salesman tells me they only have one in stock and that it’s the floor model, which cannot be sold. WTF!? If I was a normal shopper, this would have been the end of it. Best Buy loses a sale and I don’t get my HDTV.

I didn’t even try arguing about it with him. I left and went home to my computer, and bought it online. I got a confirmation email in 15 minutes that it was indeed available at the same store I just visited.

Upon returning to the store within 30 minutes, the LCD HDTV was waiting for me to pickup. I just don’t know what to do now. Buying online the first time turned into a nightmare. This time, it would have been the quicker method.

So what the moral of this story? Best Buy’s inventory system is clearly F-ed up and needs to be fixed. If they don’t remedy this sooner than later, mark my words, they will be the next Circuit City.

When my old Samsung SyncMaster monitor died after many years of use, I decided to look around for a new one. My old monitor was a regular 4:3, 21 inch so I wanted something a little bigger.

One trend that I’ve noticed is that many of the computer “monitors” are now really just LCD TVs that can also be used as computer monitors. In terms of pricing, that’s good. But in terms of some typical monitor features, not so good.

Since I needed a replacement monitor the same day, ordering online was not an option. So off to Fry’s Electronics.

When it comes to electronics, Fry’s is the place. I hate their long lines for customer service, and some of the sales people are clueless, but nobody else has the selection and inventory in a retail environment. But I digress.

After examining all the available monitors for sale, I came across the Samsung SyncMaster P2570HD, which is a computer monitor slash 24.6′ wide screen (16:9) HDTV. One thing that I was concerned about was the lack of vertical height adjustment available in the stand.

My old SyncMaster was able to be adjusted vertically, tilt, and even switch to portrait mode. Although Samsung does have a line of “business” monitors with these features, the consumer monitors available at Fry’s did not have these feateures. Unfortunately, when compared to other factors, like screen size, price, and features, I had to compromise on height adjustment.

The MSRP is $548, but Fry’s had this Samsung for $349.99. It’s been about 9 months since this came out to the market so the price has come down. You can get it for $319 on Amazon and maybe cheaper at other online places.

There’s a little assembling required for the stand but everything comes together very easily. It turned out that the height was just right with the stand. The base does allow the unit to swivel around but not tilt.

On the back of the unit, there’s just about every possible input available: DVI, PC, component, HDMI, and cable/antenna input (digital tuner included). Sorry for the glare in the picture but the non-flash version was too blurry to use.

Since I’m using this unit as a computer monitor, I cannot comment on the picture quality as a TV. As a monitor, I am very satisfied with it. I have it running at maximum resolution at 1920 x 1080 and it’s great to have the wide space on screen. The 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio really makes things look sharp and bright.

For those planning on using this as a TV, it comes with a remote control. You can use this to change the options and settings, as well as the regular TV related functions. Also, the speakers seem to output the sound towards the bottom, so this might not be the best “sound” if you’re using this as your primary TV or game monitor. I’m using an external speaker system so this does not affect my situation.

Although the box comes with batteries for the remote and an HDMI cable (nice touch), it does not come with a DVI cable. So if you are planning on using it for a monitor, you might have to pick one up. Since my old monitor was using analog input, I have to get a DVI cable to connect the monitor. I’ll have a post on that later.

All in all, I’m very happy with the quality and size of this monitor.