Review: goFerry on iPhone

goFerry is a Free application created by a Hong Kong investment company, SINO Dynamic Solutions Limited, but own and operated by a Malaysian travel company called AsiaTravelMart. I will go into why this is important later in this review.

The vendor refers to its application as the first iPhone application to allow mobile purchases of ferry tickets between Hong Kong and Macau on one of the three companies: TurboJet, Cotai and New First, which it does.

The steps for purchasing tickets are quite straight forward. They are as follow:

  1. Choose whether you like to purchase a one-way or round trip ticket.
  2. Choose the date of your departure.
  3. Choose the terminal to depart from.
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Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes (2009)

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My Rating: 3Stars

This evening thanks to NeonPunch.com I saw the movie premier Sherlock Holmes at JP Theater, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

If you are a fan of Arthur Conan Doyle‘s Sherlock Holmes novels then you will have been looking forward to this version of the movie for some time. For this movie they casted Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Holmes sidekick, Dr. John Watson. The villain this time is Lord Blackwood played by Mark Strong, and the romantic distraction is Irene Adler played by My Name Is Tanino‘s Rachel McAdams.

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Movie Review: Avatar (3D)

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My Rating: 4Stars

This afternoon I saw the movie Avatar 3D at UA Cinema, Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

Before I went to see the movie I questioned my decision to pay the extra cost to watch the 3D version of the movie, but after watching just the opening credits I realized I had made the right decision. Above all the three times Oscar winning Canadian director, James Cameron wrote and filmed this movie with digital 3D cameras in mind. Therefore to experience the movie as Cameron originally intended, one will definitely have to watch the 3D version.

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Operation Chokehold on Friday 18, 2009, 15:00 US EST

Operation ChockholdLast weekend the Secret Diary of Steve Jobs proposed a way for disgruntle iPhone users on the AT&T network in the USA to protest against the behaviour of AT&T. This also sparked the creation of a Facebook Fan page.

Although I do not agree with Operation Chokehold. From what I know of the quality of service AT&T customers receive in the USA, I do agree that AT&T needs to improve their network infrastructure.

3G GSM networks requires a dense cell configuration and AT&T may not have enough cell towers to cover the vast areas that their network serves. On the other hand, playing the devil’s advocate, AT&T’s 3G network, like the ones in Australia, is still immature compared to other 3G networks around the world, so the US population needs to give the company time to build up the network to a more mature level.

All the user complaints about the iPhone in the US and Australia are not specific to the iPhone, but the iPhone just exposes these deficiencies in the respective networks due the ease of use of its data capable applications.

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Fashion Lifestyle Brands Going iPhone

dkny-logoWith the iPhone’s popularity growing every company out there are trying to think of ways to get in onto the platform and hype. Some of these companies deliver their online services to the iPhone and others used their custom developed iPhone application simply as an advertising tool. The latter are the ones that fail and turns out to be a waste of resources to create.gucci-logo

Now fashion brands are jumping onto the bandwagon with DKNY and Gucci each creating their own iPhone application to promote their respective clothing lines. The former actually trying to offer advice to its users on the Cozy wrap in its iPhone app. Now Kipling is trying to get in on the hype with its Kweather iPhone application. Kipling’s application displays the local temperature, which is not that accurate (not sure of its source), and a built in function to help locate the closest Kipling outlet.Kipling-logo

Although all these applications are free, I believe only the biggest fanboy of the respective brands will download these application as they really do not offer too much for the average iPhone user.

I think companies should take the necessary time to analyze the added value of their iPhone application and all associated Use Cases before spending the efforts and resources to create an iPhone application.

Movie Review: Storm Warriors, The (風雲 II)

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My Rating: 1Stars

This afternoon I saw the movie The Storm Warriors at UA Cinema, Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Not one of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

This is a sequel to the 1998, The Storm Riders (風雲), also staring Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng; two of Hong Kong’s big-time 90’s pop singers. Both movies are based on the Chinese comic book written by Wing-Shing Ma, and directed by the twin directors Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang.

The twin directors were not bad when they directed Bangkok Dangerous (2008), although with Bangkok they have the Oscar winning Nicolas Cage to carry the movie. This time with Storm Warriors they had over-the-hill HK pop singers who pretend to be actors. In this movie Cheng and Kwok had the same facial expressions that they always had in movies they appear in.

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Review: NASA on iPhone

MissionsNASA iPhone App LogoNASA is an iPhone application released by USA’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

It is loaded with all sorts of information about the past and present missions of NASA, and is ideal for space enthusiasts plus anyone who has a slight interest in space exploration and wants to find out more.

ImagesVideosThe organization of the information presented in the application is very intuitive. One can search the content based on a particular mission or scan through the image and video libraries. While scanning through either of these libraries, one can search using keywords or filter the images and videos by source of the videos.

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Movie Review: Law Abiding Citizen

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My Rating: 4Stars

This afternoon I saw the movie Law Abiding Citizen at AMC Theater, Admiralty, Hong Kong. Another one of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

Most surprising part of this movie is the role of Gerard Butler who is most known for Beowulf and 300. In this movie Butler began as a victim who had his family murdered in front of him and then getting even after the justice system failed to convict the ones responsible. So far this does not sound too unusual but the way Butler’s character got even and the character’s background made the movie interesting for me, giving it a feel of MacGyver.

If you like The Bourne Identity movie franchise you will like this movie.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it on iTunes
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere