Elecom Scope Node Wireless Mouse

Bought this mouse for about 2 months now. The Japanese company that designed it claims that the optical sensor is positioned so that you can get the precision of holding a pen. It was a bit uncomfortable and strange to hold the mouse at first, but once you get used to it, it does feel quite precise. I like how it got this nifty little place inside the battery compartment for the wireless transmitter. The only thing that I wish they have is a back button for browsing the web. Otherwise, it's a great mouse to show to friends and use. Works great for 3D CAD and gaming. Battery life: about 2 weeks per AAA rechargeable battery.

Hong Kong Designer Association Boat Trip

Time to catch up with my blog. I've went to this boat trip with the Hong Kong Designers Association last month. Had an awesome time there. Went water skiing for the first time. Felt a bit like snowboarding once you get yourself up on the water.

HKDI Grad Show

I've managed to squeeze in a visit to HKDI's Grad Show this weekend amidst my busy work schedule. This year, they are hosting the show at their new campus at Tiu Keng Leng. The building's main floors are suspended high in the air with a long escalator that brings you up from the ground floor (sort of like going on a space ship). The show was quite large with plenty of works to see. I was amazed to see that students have already gotten into developing animations for 3D displays. However, the 3D effects looked layered, roughly done, and the background was blurry.

Fixing My Mouse

I've been using Microsoft's Explorer Mini Mouse for just under a year and the middle mouse button started to become unresponsive to the point of being unusable. So I took it apart to see if it's a dust problem. After blowing a bit of the dust out of the mouse, it started working again albeit still a bit unresponsive. I've got to say, the inner workings of the mouse is quite impressive and interesting. Below are some pics.

HKBU Digital Graphic Communication Grad Exhibition

It seems like every year, the animation folks at HKBU got better and better. This year, they have what I thought was an attractive and useful website to promote their event and their students. The website is easy to navigate (especially for parents), and the graphics is fun and well executed. Their venue might not be as convenient or as large as Poly U's Design Show, but the quality of the work is there.

R.I.P. K750i

I've been using this phone for the past 4 years. It's been acting funny in the recent months with dropped calls and joystick getting unresponsive. The main problem have been the joystick - it's unresponsive to the point of being unusable. I tried to get it fixed at a Sony Ericsson Service Centre, but they don't think that they have the parts for it in supply anymore. So I decided that I will just have to use my brother's old T637 whose joystick is still working fine.

Before I made the switch, I did tried to see if getting the dust out of the phone can help. Below are some pictures of the phone disassembled.

iPhone 3G CAD Model and Rendering

I had to mock up an iPhone for something that I was working on for a client. I think that I've figured out how to make the back surface to be 99% of how Apple made them. The back surface is divided into six sections. The corner section is a bit hard to figure out but nonetheless I figured it out without adding additional surfaces around to construct it. I used Rhino to create the surface and then import them into Solidworks to finish the job.

Poly U Design Grad Show: Opening Day

Suzi Wong (Ah So) was there at Poly U's Design Grad Show to give an inspiration speech to the crowd on Thursday. At the end of her speech, they presented a ceremonial roast pig so that everyone can have some "food for thought" while walking around the show.

Huawei Smakit S7

When you mention Huawei to people in the industry, most people would often see them as a supplier of Chinese telecommunications equipment than a supplier of consumer electronics. Sure, they make a cellphone here and a modem there, but they haven't gotten into making smartphones and even corporate desktop phones yet - a category that you would expect them to be strong at.

Recently, I've just stumbled across an iPad-like device that they are working on called the Smakit S7. It runs on Android and aside from doing what the iPad can do, it also can function as a phone. From looking at the videos and comments, it seems like they are starting something big there. The below video shows some product interaction between the TV and the Smakit S7.

Inside the gadget markets of China, Part 2

Here's part 2 of "Inside the gadget markets of China".

R8 Model Finished!

Just finished modeling and rendering the R8. I've got to thank Dan for creating the tutorial. Now I can get an instant dose of satisfaction every time I look at these images. I think I need to get some nice frames.

2010 Hong Kong Houseware Fair

I went to take a quick walk around the Houseware Fair this week. The quality of the goods just keeps getting better every year, unfortunately the volcanic eruptions made a huge impact to the attendance. I was at one of the seminars on Wednesday and when the speaker asked how may Europeans are in the room, no one raised their hands. Guess there'll be a bit more business happening up at the Canton Fair this year.

Inside the Gadget Markets of China

A short little video highlighting some of Hong Kong's gadget districts from Engadget.

Microsoft Kin

Microsoft have just announced a pair of social networking-centric cellphone called the Kin. It comes with two models: Kin 1 follows a Palm Pre-like form factor with a shorter proportions. Kin 2 follows an iPhone-like form factor with a horizontal slide-out keyboard.

A feature called Kin Loop allows you to see what your favorite friends are up to and easily share with them. Another feature called Kin Spot is like an attachment button in which you can drag and drop items into and share them with friends.

Aside from the cool UI and social networking features, it doesn't seem to have what it takes to take on heavyweights such as the iPhone or the Nexus One. It should however appeal to the younger generation of users though.

Spring 2010 Hong Kong Electronics Fair

Just came back from the trade fair today. I've went through almost all 2000 exhibitors to look for certain items. Overall, I can say that there's definitely more people and exhibitors when compared to the previous year. The standard is a bit higher but I'm still having difficulty finding high end and insanely great products. Speaking of insanely great products, several exhibitors have already jumped onto the iPad bandwagon.

2010 China Electronics Fair (Shenzhen)

It's this time of the year again where many tradeshows take place in the region. Just this past Friday, I took a quick walk around the China Electronics Fair to learn a bit from the factories and suppliers. I like how you can really dive down to get the answers, see actual samples, do some comparisons, in just one quick walk. Saves a lot of time when you're trying to find the right people to work with.

Next up...Hong Kong Electronics Fair.

Designers' Desks

Just found this post with an extensive collection of images of designers' desks.

http://www.designerhk.com/forum/post/2277

Here's mine from a couple of years ago.

Playstation Move

People know it's coming for years, but just how Sony does it without getting into patent infringement interests me. Instead of tracking infrared light like on the wiimote, it's tracking a light globe at the tip of the controller. I guess this does the job of staying away from patent infringements, but it makes the controller look a bit like a baby toy. People seem to be saying that the Move controller would be more precise than even the Wiimote with Motion Plus.

Although I like the concept of Microsoft's Xbox Project Natal, they seriously need to come up with a hand-held input device for better gaming experience.