Somtow’s iPhone app for his Fans
The iSomtow Fan App is the easiest way to follow Somtow. Now you have access to Somtow's music at anytime, anywhere.
Who exactly is S.P. Somtow? It would seem that he is different things to different people. I first came across him as the author of some popular books as well as stories in the popular magazine "Asimov's Science Fiction". Lately he has provoked controversy online in his blogs and twitter account with his outspoken views on Thaksin and the red shirt protests. However, what he is really well-known for is being a Thai-American composer. He is presently the director of the Bangkok Opera. I have never actually had a chance to go to one of his musical performances, but after downloading this iPhone app called iSomtow, I might actually make a bigger effort.
The iPhone app not only gives you access to the latest blogs written by the world-renowned Somtow, but it also gives a list of his upcoming events. Click on the name of an event and you will get further information such as venue, dates, artists and also some programme notes. If you want to attend there is a handy button you can click to get tickets. In addition, you will be able to listen to and watch Somtow at work. At the moment I am listening to Mahler's Symphony no. 9 in D major and it hasn't stopped to buffer once. When you first install this app you are asked to sign up at InstantEncore to become a fan of Somtow. This is done within the app. You also don't need to confirm your email address. You will then receive occasional emails about the artist. However, if you later log into your account on the InstantEncore.com website you can unsubscribe to these emails.
There are a few things that I find a little annoying. The "buy tickets" button takes you to the front page of thaiticketmajor.com and you then have to navigate your own way to the correct page. Obviously not easy on an iPhone. If you click on the "map" icon you are then taken out of the app to Google maps. For the Thailand Cultural Center there is no problem but for smaller places, Google maps couldn't guess where it was and gave at least half a dozen different marker pins! The final little quibble, is that although it is great listening to the music by Somtow, it doesn't take advantage of OS04 which should allow you to multi task. If you leave the app the music then promptly stops! So I cannot browse the web while listening to some of this great music. Having said all of that, I am certainly glad that I found this app and I will be making good use of it in the future. The iSomtow iPhone app is free to download from iTunes.
Top 10 iPhone Apps by @qandrew
This is a weekly look at popular apps for the iPhone as suggested by people living and working in Thailand. This week we hear from @qandrew who is a founding partner of Bangkok advertising agency Creative Inhouse Limited and owner of Q Bar Bangkok
1. Twitter – I’m a little anti-social by nature but joined the Twitter ranks due to the nature of my business. I juggle several accounts and do all my tweeting from my phone, so I find Twitter to be the best app for my needs.
2. CNN – CNN on television is my primary mainstream news media, so it’s nice to be able to follow on my phone as well. I enjoy the ‘Push Notifications’ they send out once or twice a day when there’s newsworthy breaking news.
3. Acrossair – Surprisingly few people are aware of this Augmented Reality (AR) app. It’s awesome! Particularly in unfamiliar locations. Find banks, hotels, hospitals, museums, parking, etc nearby simply by holding your phone camera up to your surrounding area. Also can find where you parked your car and nearby Twitter & FourSquare users.
4. NeoReader – One of the better universal Barcode and Smartcode readers. You may have noticed these codes popping up more frequently in/on display, print and broadcast media, even T-shirts. With this app, you can scan codes easily (negative & positive formats) as well as product barcodes. Instant info about the product, event or company pops up on your phone.
5. TiltShiftGen – A fun photo-filter app that allows you to take (or create from album photos) “miniature like” images commonly known as “Tilt-Shift” photography. [also a free version]
6. Flickup – Since my iPhone 4 is my only camera now, this app allows me to upload my favourite pics to my Flickr site via WiFi or 3G without having to download to any computer first.
7. Measures (2.1.3) – The most comprehensive unit converter I’ve found. Great for cooking, particularly converting American recipes & oven temperatures to metric. Has all the odd Asian area units including Thai wah2, ngan, and rai and up-to-the-minute currency exchange rates.
8. Schweppes (by Awdio.com) – If you like music and nightlife, this is the app for you! Allows you to listen to live music from the best clubs, concerts, and festivals around the world 24/7
9. Pocket Cocktails – Huge resource on not just cocktail recipes but also on wines, beers and non-alcoholic cocktails. Enter what you’re having for dinner and it will recommend the best wine to accompany your meal.
10. Gravity Hook – Had to throw a game in. This is kind of a new game concept based on gravity. Not to hard to get into it but challenging at the higher levels.
Where to Eat and Drink in Bangkok
Sometimes, the best way to discover a city is through eating and drinking. EAT DRINK BKK is ideal for those looking for great food & drinks in Bangkok. Drop the guidebook and get locally-approved reviews of the best eats and drinks in Bangkok on-the-go with this application.
Eat and Drink in BKK seems to be the first iPhone app developed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The link for support on iTunes certainly goes to their www.tourismthailand.org. However, it is strange that the developer's name is listed as "Thai Cookbook by TAT". This could possibly be a play on words or maybe it is the name of their next iPhone app and they entered the information in the wrong field! Although the app is developed by the TAT, the content, certainly the pictures, come from the popular Thai language website www.bkkmenu.com. So, this app could be an English translation of that website.
You will find about 50 restaurants listed on Eat and Drink in BKK. These are sorted by neighbourhood and there is also a general list. However, the list on the "All" tab isn't sorted alphabetically which is a bit strange. If you find yourself in the Sukhumwit area you can click on the button for this and you will be taken to a new screen listing 12 restaurants. You get a small thumbnail picture of each restaurant and the first dozen or so words. There is no indication of where each one is so click on one at random. Here I clicked on CooCurry (see above picture). You then get the address, contact details, a brief paragraph about the restaurant and a list of recommended dishes. There is also two small pictures which you can click on to enlarge.
For a free app this is certainly worth downloading. However it isn't very interactive and you might as well carry around a restaurant guidebook. The main problem I see with it is that there are no maps. At the very least they should have a map of Bangkok with marker pins which you can click on to find out more information for each restaurant. In addition, as these iPhones have GPS, it should really tell you where you are on the map which will help you navigate. I have also seen apps that will show you in the listings how far you are away in kilometers from that place. Even the phone numbers are not interactive. We should be able to click on them and it should then start dialling that restaurant. Hopefully in future updates to this app they will make it more user friendly.
Easy Thai Recipes
"Thai Easy Cuisines" offers Thai recipes including appetizers, main dishes, desserts, and drinks on your iPhone making it easier to find the ingredients when you are at the supermarket.
There are quite a few books and videos out to help people cook Thai food. But, they are not always practical to use in the kitchen. Plus, with so many recipes it is sometimes difficult to choose what to eat. That is where Thai Easy Cuisines for the iPhone becomes your best friend in the kitchen. The home screen gives you a picture menu of 64 dishes which includes desserts and drinks. Each dish has a tag so you can make it easier by just listing soups, desserts, vegetarian, curries etc. Click on the picture and you will get the list of ingredients and instructions. If you still cannot decide then you can click on the "today" tab and the app will then choose for you a starter, main meal, dessert and a drink.
I really like the way it is all laid out. Very colourful and simple to use. A couple of extra bonuses is the help you get with the ingredients. For any of the recipes that you want to cook, you can add the ingredients to the shopping list. If you have anything on the list already then click the box. This is really great as I found myself at the supermarket many times not remembering every thing I needed to cook something. It is also nice to have the pictures of the ingredients in the shopping list. Click on the icons and you will then get a bigger picture. I had some fun playing around with this app and look forward to using it on my next shopping trip.
COMPETITION: I liked this iPhone app so much that I asked the developers for FOUR copies to give away in a competition. They kindly agreed. The app is presently being sold for $2.99 but you could get it for free if you post a comment below. On Sunday night we will enter all the names into a randomizer and the four names at the top of the list will win!
iPhone Gets Gmail Push Notifications
Ever missed an appointment or important email because you were away from your desk? Now Google Mobile App can help with push notifications from your Google account to your iPhone -- an icon badge shows you’ve got new mail in Gmail, and Google Calendar event reminders appear right on your home screen.
You can get the update from the App Store by clicking on the link above or by searching for ‘Google Mobile App’.
Top 10 iPhone Apps by @LadyKarla45
This is a weekly look at popular apps for the iPhone as suggested by people living and working in Thailand. This week we hear from @LadyKarla45 who tells us about her favourite apps for the iPhone. Karla is the Bangkok City Editor for CNNgo.
1. Echofon I'm a bit of a Twitter addict, so this is the obvious app I use when I'm out of the house to keep up on my feed. [has free version too]
2. iTraffic This app lets me know what the traffic situation is before I head out of the house. Sometimes it's nice if I can choose an alternate route but admittedly it can also be a form of self-torture if I have no choice but to go that particular way.
3. True's Thai Dict This app is obviously made for Thais as it doesn't have the Romanized versions of the Thai words that come up when you type in the English but it's useful even if you can't read Thai during those times when you're out and trying to communicate something to somebody and don't know which word to use. Which, for me, happens a lot.
4. Hipstamatic I love the unique photos you can take with this app. Great for capturing interesting shots of the city when you're out and don't have your regular camera.
5. Camera Bag Unlike Hipstamatic, this app lets you use regular photos and apply different styles of filters to them. Again, nice for when you're out without your camera.
6. NYTimes Probably my favorite news app. You can get everything from hard news to arts and travel articles on this one.
7. Bangkok Restaurant Finder This restaurant app gives me ideas on where to eat in Bangkok when I can't think of something myself or am in the mood to try something new. Also lists contact details and has a promotions section, which are useful too.
8. Fotopia Thousands of photos of World Heritage sites. Just nice to look at when you're sitting around waiting in a line, on the skytrain or, again, stuck in traffic.
9. IWriteLetters This is my favorite kid app out of the dozens on my iPhone for my three-year-old son. Some might not agree with one letting a toddler use an iPhone, but he actually learns a lot from the apps I've downloaded as most compliment everything that he's learning at school. Best of all, it keeps him quiet during those moments when he needs to sit still. Ie on an airplane or when you're stuck in Bangkok traffic.
10. Epicurious I'm no gourmet cook, but I love getting new recipe ideas from this app. What's cool is that you can enter in a single ingredient and it will pull up all the recipes that use that in its site. Very useful when you're at Villa or Tops and not sure what to make for dinner.
A Thai Musical Instrument
Ránaát Lêk (ระนาดเล็ก) is a small, eight note version of a very famous Thai Ránaát that creates beautiful traditional music and can create a large variety of moods for TV and movie soundtracks.
This iPhone app, called Ránaát Lêk, is simple in concept but beautiful in design. It is a traditional Thai instrument that works a bit like a xylophone. You use your fingers to play the notes. You can pick out each note individually or run your fingers up and down the notes. As you hit each one it reacts. Nicely done and I guess would be popular with a musician. At the time of writing, the app costs 99 cents in the iTunes store. I have one copy to give away for free. I will give it away to the first person who asks for it in the comments!
When will iPhone 4 Come to Thailand?
For over a month now I have been eagerly scanning the newswires and Internet blogs for any reports about the release date for the iPhone 4 in Thailand. Back in June 2010 we predicted that the iPhone 4 would be released in Thailand in September 2010. We were pretty confident with that date even though others, wrongly as it turned out, predicted a date of mid-August. Now we are starting to be concerned that an earlier reported worldwide shortage of iPhone 4 units might delay our release date.
The iPhone 4 actually arrived in Thailand in the last week in June shortly after its American debut. The first "illegally" imported units at MBK, a popular downtown shopping mall in Bangkok, were reportedly sold for as much as 70,000 baht (US$2,258) in the grey market. However, this soon settled to an average price of 54,000 baht (US$1,741) per unit. As more shops started to sell the iPhone 4, and as we came nearer to an expected September release date, the price quickly dropped. The latest news is that the 16GB iPhone 4 unit is now selling for about 27,000 baht (US$870). This is much closer to the predicted official selling price.
The True Move website started advertising the iPhone 4 as "coming soon" since June 2010, about two months ago. Then in mid-July, the Apple's Thailand store started to heavily feature the iPhone 4. Not only did they have some information in Thai, but they also listed it in their shop. However, their link to "Find a Store" went to a "page not found". That is still the case now. Around the same time, TrueMove asked their customers to register their interest in buying an iPhone 4. Since that time, they have been sending out weekly emails. But nothing about release dates or prices.
The closer we get to September, the more likely it looks like our release date will be delayed. After all, they won't suddenly start selling it "the next day" after an announcement. Surely True and DTAC will take a leaf out of Apple's book and build up anticipation by having a countdown. If it was indeed going to come out in September, then we should be seeing them taking pre-orders about now. After all, that is what is happening this week in South Korea where they are expected to release the iPhone 4 in September 2010. They had over 100,000 pre-orders on the first day alone.
When can we expect to see the iPhone 4 officially released in Thailand? Will it come out before the end of September 2010? I don't know for certain, but I do know two things that make me think that it might be soon. First, in the Apple Thailand store they have changed the words "coming soon" to "iPhone 4 is available". Though, of course, it isn't yet. Secondly, the Thai language manual for the iPhone 4 has now been released. You can download it here. Hopefully we will be getting some good news soon. Like many other people here in Thailand, I am planning on upgrading to an iPhone 4 as soon as it is released. And, like them, I will be rushing to sell my iPhone 3GS unit. At the moment, you will only get something like 13,000 baht for a secondhand 3GS at MBK. I dread to think how little we will get when we all flood the market with unwanted iPhones.
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Atomic Web Browser is the most advanced and customizable fullscreen web browser to date. Experience desktop features including Adblock, Tabs, MultiTouch Gestures, User Agent Switcher, Passcode Lock, Facebook/Twitter integration, Save Page, and much more.
As some of you probably know, I use Twitter a lot and it is important for me to be able tweet to my followers interesting articles or websites that I have found while surfing the Internet. On the desktop that is no problem as google toolbar has a built in button for doing this. However, Safari on the iPhone doesn't have this feature. I know there is a workaround to do this but it will only post a link into your twitter client. So, I was happy when I found this free web browser called Atomic Web Browser Lite that did the job for me.
I have been playing around with it for a couple of weeks and tend to use it more than Safari these days. In addition with the "share it" buttons, there is also fullscreen mode, tabs, various search engines and a lot more. You can buy the full version for 99 Cents which I am thinking of doing for the extra features. If anyone knows of another way of posting links to Twitter/Facebook via a browser then post in the comments.
I Know My Thai Alphabet
Do you want to learn the Thai alphabet? Try this fun iPhone app which has flashcards of all of the 44 characters of the Thai alphabet.
This app, called I Know: My กขค, is a clean looking set of flashcards aimed at Thai kids learning their alphabet. However, it can equally be used by foreigners who want to learn the Thai alphabet. Each card has the letter and the picture representing that letter. For example, Gor Gai is represented by a chicken. You can click on the letter to hear the word being pronounced. Swipe the card to go to the next one. That is basically it. No games or tests. Maybe they will add that in future updates. For now it is free so go and download it now!
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การใช้ไอโฟนในประเทศไทย
On this blog I will be sharing with you tips and methods of using an iPhone and iPad in Thailand. I am not pretending to be an expert, but I hope that from my personal experience of using an iPhone for my work and pleasure you might gain some knowledge. As well as reviewing apps that I use, I will also post about accessories and also the latest news from around the world.
- Richard Barrow
Twitter: @RichardBarrow
Archives: @TwitterArchives
Contact: @Paknamweb.com
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