iPhone 4 - All in one communication device..........

My friend and I were talking for a few hours today over various things.  Among the items discussed were our iPhone 4's that we each have.  I suggested a few applications my friend might want and vice versa.  As we were talking away, I realized how the iPhone 4 is the all in one communication device for me (probably many others as well).

The iPhone 4 is first and foremost a phone.  However, you can also receive text messages.  The next thing is there are various applications of instant messaging.  Lastly, there's Skype for making voice calls over the Internet.

I told my friend that if they couldn't reach me at any of the methods above, I definitely was not available!  :)

SIDENOTE:  Despite picking up the iPhone 4, my old Blackberry Curve is still around.  While the Curve doesn't serve as a phone anymore, I still have many songs on the device.  In fact, once I get around to deleting the various applications that no longer work, I will have even more space.  I plan to keep the Curve around as a portable music device for some occasions.  Recycling technology!  

The Rise of Far East Movement (FM)

According to Wiki, Far East Movement's been around since 2003.  I'd heard inklings of them from various Asian-American sites but not being a fan of hip-hop music, I never paid them much attention.

It wasn't until I ran across the song "Girls On The Dance Floor" which drew my attention.  It combined rapping with dance beats and I was in love.  I'd always listened to dance, trance and other electronic music and this was perfect.  In fact, many other acts like the Black Eyed Peas and others were getting into the hip-hop / dance music act.

When Far East Movement released their album "Animal", I immediately purchased and loved it.  There were many great songs and I thought it was a shame that only a small market of people would likely purchase the album.  Anytime I was in the car, I made it a point to pump up the volume a bit when I had the "Animal" album playing.

"Girls On The Dance Floor" did well enough to garner some national attention and Far East Movement ended up signing a contract with Interscope / Cherry Tree Records.  Far East Movement has followed up Girls On The Dance Floor with several other songs:

"2 is Better"
"Go Ape!"
"Like a G6"

While Girls On The Dance Floor was a club hit,  "Like a G6" is looking more and more like the breakout hit they have been looking for.  The song has been playing in Bay Area powerhouse stations Wild 94.9 and Movin' 99.7  In addition, "Like a G6" debuted in Billboard Top 100 list at #92.

"Like a G6" by Far East Movement (Video)

The success is well deserved and I hope the guys keep it up.  Asian Americans have plenty of underground artists but not many have had mainstream success.  Far East Movement is looking to break that trend and be a role model for many Asian-Americans in the years to come.

If you ever wondered why I post the stuff on Facebook that I post.....

On Facebook, I tend to post a lot of links to things I like to my wall, which in turn goes out to my friends home pages.   There is one trend that I am sure most people have noticed.  A good number of those links are Asian or Asian-American themed.    They may be about Asian athletes (Jeremy Lin, Ed Wang, Yao Ming), Asian-American movies (usually independent stuff), or music videos by Asian-American performers (Far East Movement, etc).

Why do I do that?  Considering that Asian representation in the movies, TV, music and the professional sports arenas are fairly sparse, I want to take advantage of the Facebook platform to promote all things Asian.

That might seem odd to a degree.  However,  one should not underestimate the power of the media to influence people of all ages.  The people who see my postings may enjoy what they see and that is good.  But maybe some young kid who hadn't thought of pursuing interests in acting, music or athletics might be influenced by what he sees and give it a shot.

Asians families are a practical sort.  They encourage their kids to focus on careers that are solid, stable and earn money.  Acting, music and professional sports are not always guarantee of that.

However, I would hope that Asian families learn to encourage their children to follow their passions to wherever it takes them.  After all, the Jeremy Lin's, Ed Wang's, John Cho's and the Far East Movement's of the world have been able to do it.  Your child may be able to do it as well.  Even if he fails, it's not the end of the world.  That is one aspect of life that is so great.  Mistakes are usually not fatal and will teach you to do better in your next endeavor.  

First Impressions: Blackberry Torch = IPhone 4 LITE

My first ever smartphone was the Blackberry Curve 8310 from AT&T.  I've had the curve for about two years now and enjoy it greatly.  With the release of the IPhone 4, I have been quite tempted to join the Apple bandwagon.

I have to admit that I like the IPhone 4 especially for it's browser, camera and video camera.  The negatives (for me anyway) has always been the lack of a physical keyboard.   With supplies limited, I've been sitting on the fence about getting the IPhone 4.

However, when the Blackberry Torch was announced a week ago, I was intrigued.  A touch screen Blackberry, new operating system AND a physical keyboard?   Today was the first day the Torch was at AT&T stores and I went to check it out.

My initial impressions was I was a little disappointed.  The new browser in the Torch was nice but I could not get the screen shift when I tried to go to the widescreen view.   Also, the touch screen wasn't particularly responsive and I had trouble clicking on the proper links on websites.

In addition, there were times I didn't know how to navigate back to certain screens using the touch screen.  It turned out I had to use some of the physical buttons on the Torch to do so.  To be fair, it was my first time using the phone so perhaps I had a bit of a learning curve.

Unfortunately, since I was at the AT&T store, I couldn't get a feel of the sliding mechanism of the phone.  The phone was locked into place with the keyboard showing.   Using the keyboard was a different experience.  Each Blackberry seems to have it's own distinct layouts.  I find the Curve's keyboard the most comfortable.  I use a Blackberry Bold for work and the keys are a little big for me and it takes a little getting used to.

Using the Torch's keyboard, I thought the keys were a little smaller than the Curve.  In addition, due to sliding mechanism, the keyboard portion of the Torch feels flimsy.   Typing with thumbs as many do with Blackberries may be a little difficult than before.

Overall, I left with a relatively "BLAH" impression of the Torch.   I knew I wasn't going to be blown away.  However, I thought I might leave with the impression that Blackberry created a device that combined the best of the Iphone 4 and Blackberry worlds.  Alas, I think there's still some work to be done.

I don't think the Torch is an IPhone 4 killer.  At best, it may be an IPhone 4 LITE.  It does some things that IPhone does and keeps some of the Blackberry sensibilities.  I think there will be a market for it but RIM shouldn't expect the masses clamoring for the Torch like the IPhone 4.

What's Going On in China?

Reading some news online earlier, I saw that there were a couple of mass murders that occurred in China the past couple of days. One involved a guy who started running people over with a tractor.  The other involved a man who snuck into a school and then used a knife to attack teachers and children.

Besides these two events, there has been a spate of other mass murders that have occurred, causing outsiders to wonder what is happening.  Many people are speculating that the dramatic change China is going through (from a Communist country to a more Capitalist country) is taking a mental toll on poorer citizens.   The concern is that mental illness is growing and the government is not addressing the issue properly.

While I don't live in China, being an American Born Chinese person, I have some insight into why some of these problems may be happening.

Though my upbringing is a mix of Chinese and American,  I know that many Chinese people prefer keep their problems "in the house".  They don't not want outsiders to know their dirty laundry.   This causes many problems, especially for kids like me who were born Chinese-American.  I remember reading a few years ago about some young Chinese-American kids who committed suicide because they couldn't handle the pressure of school and other things.   This set off many Chinese-American mental health groups to reach out to the community to let people know that is was OK to share their problems.   I don't know about the success of the outreach but hopefully the Chinese-American community is better off.

Keeping what I said in mind, the citizens of China may not have the options that we have in the United States.   There are definitely support groups but as a whole Chinese culture is conservative and it's difficult to change the collective mindset.

I haven't been in China since 2007 so I don't know how things have changed.  However, I'm sure that China is moving to the future at a unprecedented pace.  Unfortunately, like many things, some people have an easier time than others.

While the recent issues have been disturbing, I hope that this causes China to look at the issues and address them appropriately so that these kind of things don't happen again.