The New Typecover

The new Surface Pro 4 certainly looked appetising to say the least. Better processor and higher resolution screen. But to be honest, I couldn't really justify an upgrade to my knee year old Surface Pro 3. The old unit was still going strong and the processor was still fast enough, certainly for what ever I was using the computer for.

It was mainly for letters in clinic, the odd email and of course scheduling into my Google Calendar.

But the new types cover which was launched with the new Surface was a big jump from the old one. And the good news was, it was compatible with the old notebook. Great!

It took a while before I could find a store that had it available far sales. So far, they only bundle it with the new Surface. And even harder to find one in black. I guessed I was lucky today and managed to pick one up. Not cheap, but it was certainly worth the investment.

It felt like I now own a new Surface!

HK Apple Store

The last Apple Store I went was in London, and it was quite an experience. So, when I arrived in Hong Kong, I was really glad to learn that the local store was only a ten minutes walk away. Two right turns and I was there.

However, the experience was not as grand. Maybe because Apple had become ubiquitous and the local dealers in Malaysia did well in replicating some of the experience. The streamlined catalogue and lack of diversity also helped matters.

The main reason why I was there was to get new straps for the Apple Watch, something which were yet to be available back home. Yup! There were choices alright, from the basic to the ridiculously expensive. I got what I wanted quite easily. Paying for the goods was also quite an experience. You just handed your credit card to your personal "Genius" and he would swipe it on his iPhone-sized device, you sign on the screen and that was it. Even the receipts were emailed to your inbox.

The knock-off merchants come early in these partsApart from that, there was nothing else fancy. The new Apple TV had yet to be released. No iPad Pro of course. Not really anything much else to look at. Nothing that I wouldn't be able to get hold of back home. The price? At least 10% more expensive there than back home. Hence no reason to actually by anything ...

However, the irony there was there were people in small tents right outside the store selling iPhones. I was sure that those were knock-offs but to be honest I wouldn't be able to tell. They were doing it cheap, but not that much cheaper ...

More write-up on the trip here.

Extra Coverage

We have been strugling with broadband coverage in the house lately since our main router is almost 4 years old. And then our wifi extender gave up on us last week. I tried dragging my old P1 router from Gombak but the signal inside the apartment was too weak. No joy!

Time for an upgrade.

I went for a new router first - a Linksys WRT1900AC - and should things worked out OK with the upgrade, I would decide on an extender later. So far, the signal in our bedroom from my study appeared to be steady but it could be more stable.

The new router also allowed for a 5GHz transmission, extending the signal further. But despite the upgrade, the signal at the dining room was still too weak. With the 5 GHz setup, I noticed that the upload speed was cut down.

Maybe I needed to do a bit of tweaking to get things really moving. Suffice to say, setting up a network was not my strong suit.

Nifty Little Keyboard

I have been eyeing a Bluetooth keyboard for a while. I have one attached to my iPad and it had revolutionised the way I used it. It was a Logitech variety and for the past year, it had been working a treat.

While walking around earlier, I spotted this one, the k810 also from Logitech which allowed me to connect to 3 devices. So, got it hooked up for the Android tablet, the iPhone and maybe the S6 since I have a spare slot.

The keyboard itself was very well constructed, with very tactile keys and can be charged using a micro-USB interphase. No issues there. It is also illuminated, so I can type in the dark with no issues, something I couldn't do with my iPad folio keyboard.

Definitely would recommend it although it was a bit on the pricy side. It could also do well wth a dedicated case so that I could carry it around better. But as it is, it stays in my office and maybe I would get a stand for my tablet with a built in charger. That would be a great combination.

At the edge

I had been impressed with the review on the S6 since the announcement was made. It was a toss up between this new Samsung flagship or the HTC M9.

Having owned the M7 and Galaxy Nexus and S2 previously, I was familiar with the strength of both lines, but clearly the Galaxy S series had moved along quite far, compared to the HTC.

So, I did a free order and picked up my phone last weekend. I went for the S6 Edge. Although honestly, apart from the slicker form factor and bigger battery capacity, there were not much deterrence between the standard S6 and the Edge. The specs were identical.

After a couple of days of use, I was struck by how comfortable the phone felt on my phone compared to my staple, the iPhone 6 Plus.

The Edge was just blazing fast and the Lollipop OS just sang! There was no lag which I could detect although I hardly put any skin on the system to compliment the standard Samsung interface.

I use the standard Google app - Mail, Calendar and the rest. Of course the first thing I did was download Facebook, Twitter, Feedly, 2Do, Instagram, Flickr and VSCO cam among others. Then I went about putting the phone through its pace.

A couple of things was plain obvious from the start. Yes, the screen was gorgeous and reception on LTE was fast. But unexpectedly the camera and battery life were the features which impressed me the most.

The home button, cum the fingerprint recognising buttonLet's start with the camera. 16MP with optical stabilisation. Sound basic, but that's double the amount of pixel on the iPhone camera. And the results were just fantastic. Hands down, out of the camera they were better jpgs compared to the iPhone. Almost at the level of the Lumia 930, but with better post processing apps to chose from.

The app of choice so far for image post-processing was Snapseed. The newly updated 2.0 version was just amazing. I can't stop admiring the camera output and I have yet to explore its full potential.

The second thing which impressed me was the battery life. I had been reading reviews that due to high resolution screen and small form factor, battery life was limited. I have yet to experience such a drain so far. At least compared to the Nexus 4 and M7. Or even the Oppo Find 7 which carried the same.screen resolution - although on a physically larger-dimensioned screen.

I have a wireless charger placed at my clinic and I just put it on the tray while seeing patients. No issues. And setting up emails were a doodle, but I was still using the basic apps for them. None of those fancy app or Samsung's proprietary programs. They were just too fiddly.

One major criticism I had out of the box was the keyboard. They were just lame. Fleksy soon fixed those up. If only they could make some similar to my Z10 - which I still use for emails at home - then the S6 Edge would be perfect!

These were still my early impression but I think this phone would be a hit, especially for the power user. I have set up my Feedly account to connect to my bitly service, so expect many updates on Facebook coming soon!‎