Divergent Cloud

2009-10-01T09:29:00.001+08:00

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Send Huge Files Over the Net, Hassle-Free

2009-08-20T13:41:00.005+08:00

There hasn't really been an elegant solution when you want to send large files over the internet. Email doesn't work for files bigger than 25 MB at most, and takes forever anyway. Sending files by IM isn't exactly a fast or reliable method. And uploading files to file storage and sharing services has the inconvenience of having to wait for the file to finish uploading before you can ask the other person to download it.

Streamfile changes all that, by literally allowing files to be streamed. This means that as soon as you begin uploading a file, the other person can start downloading it (via an email link) at the same time. With 256-bit encryption, requiring nothing more than a browser (no plug-ins needed), not even needing registration, and automatically expiring links, its an elegant solution.

Allowing huge file sizes up to 150 MB to be streamed for unregistered users, 300 MB for free accounts, and unlimited file size for USD 4.95 per month, its an awesome way of sharing files over the internet.

Note: Users who sign-up may like to disable Streamfile from sharing your email with 3rd parties and sending you marketing messages. This can be done by unchecking the options in the account settings.

RightZoom: The Mac "+" Button

2009-08-08T12:45:00.005+08:00

On Windows and Linux, the "maximize" button makes the window resize to fill the entire screen. However, the "maximize" button on the Mac increases the size of the window such that it is just large enough to display all of its contents, but does not make the window fill the entire screen.

Whether or not it is a good feature is a matter of personal preference. For those who prefer the standard "maximize" like on Windows or Linux, RightZoom can be used to modify the action of the "+" button.

Download | RightZoom

Its extremely lightweight and runs in the background, and the user guide is included in the download. The application comes with a large variety of customization options and a simple installation process detailed in the guide.

A great way to start would be to set it such that the standard Windows/Linux "maximize" action occurs only when the "option" key is held down when pressing "+".

Breaking News: The Google Operating System

2009-07-08T19:21:00.009+08:00

Google has just announced its own desktop operating system, named Chrome OS, sparking a massive PR coup that has industry watchers on the edge of their seats. This release on the official Google blog puts an end to months of speculation following the release of Google's Andriod, its own handset operating system.

The picture above (click on it for full size) is a screenshot of the Chrome OS desktop, confirmed by multiple developer sources. The icon sets and visual design are clearly modeled upon Apple's critically acclaimed Aqua user interface, whilst its naming, shared with Google's Chrome web-browser, seems to suggest that Chrome OS will be an extension or have very tight integration with Google's existing suite of web applications, known as Google Apps.

Chrome OS will be open-source, and so light-weight that it can run on systems ranging from notebooks to desktop computers. It currently runs on x86 processors (32 bit), and there is no news yet for 64 bits. According to developer sources, Chrome OS is built on top of Ubuntu, a popular linux distribution.

Google says they are on track for a 2010 Q3 release. Read the press release...

Latest on the iPhone 3GS

2009-07-03T19:18:00.013+08:00

Aafter a rather short wait fom WWDC, the phone that seems the same, has changed. And it's going to hit Singtel Retail Stores on the 11th of July. No mention of home orders have been issued by Singtel, but we do know that the DivergentCloud will do our best to get our hands on the gleaming device that has been the spark of much debate in the iWorld.

Singtel's price plans are known to exceed AT&T in terms of the upfront payment for the handset. This ranged from $308 to $508 for the iPhone 3G. A new plan dubbed "iFlexi" was initiated by the telco, which included talktime, messaging, and data plans (limited to 1Gb-3Gb depending on plan chosen.) However, the plans are by far, cheaper than AT&T's asking price of $69 per month, and AT&T's cancellation of it's prepaid feature have forced customers to either sign this plan, or switch to the Blackberry.

In Singapore, Singtel holds a monopoly in telecommunications. As such, we would not expect nothing less of a 7.2 MBPS connection, where 3G is at full signal. The network's ability however, does not seem to penetrate into major housing estates, even dropping to the slower GSM network, or losing the network intermittently.

iPhone Emoji Outside Japan. For Free.

2009-07-01T18:46:00.000+08:00

Have you ever heard of Emoji? Those little emoticons on Japanese phones? Some people frown upon them as childish and silly. On the other hand, there are people who just adore these cute little canvases of self-expression, like us here at Divergent Cloud!

When the iPhone started shipping to Japan after OS 2.2, Apple had to add the Emoji feature to appeal to the younger Japanese population, and to put the iPhone messaging-wise on par with other Japanese handsets. And boy did they bundle a huge collection!

These Emoji's reside in the dark recesses of every iPhone OS 2.2 and later. Just disabled by Apple for iPhones outside Japan. This Shortcut Tutorial shows you how to enable them. Click on the photo above to get started!

Wearable Walkman: Innovation or Disaster

2009-06-29T00:48:00.003+08:00

Sony recently unveiled their latest W-Series Wearable Walkman Player NWZ-W202. This latest Walkman design features a warp-around headset that combines both the player, and the speakers into one neat package - eliminating the need for cords and wires. The Wearable Walkman arrives in the following specifications:

2 GB Flash Memory

Support for MP3, AAC and WMA

13.5 mm EX Earphones

Here's what we think.

This week in the App Store

2009-06-27T09:24:00.029+08:00

This week the Divergent Cloud team has com across a group of paid applications that are just screaming to be reviewed. The graphics that these paid application bring to the table are incomparable to those of their free counterparts. We'll start off the following weeks with reviews of the "most-wanted" apps of 2009.

Find More, in Finder

2009-06-25T19:29:00.029+08:00

See the best ways to customize Mac OS X Leopard's built in file browser. Add features. Streamline it. Use the shortcut. Make your workflow work for you. With the right plug-ins and tweaks, Finder can work wonders, make you more efficient, and help you get things done faster. Ever wondered where you can find a collection of the best tweaks?

Find them here. Read more...

Image by nono34

Showing File Paths, And How To Use Them

The Path Bar. The Path Bar displays the location that you are currently viewing in a "breadcrumb" mode. This shows all the preceding parent folders of the current location. One of its most useful features is the ability to jump to any one of these parent folders by simply clicking on it.

To enable the path bar, go to the Finder menu bar at the top of the screen, then select View > Show Path Bar.

Path Button in Finder Toolbar. The Path Button in Finder's toolbar displays the path of your current location in a drop-down view, much like a simplified path tree. Similar to the Path Bar, clicking on any parent folder brings you straight there.

Step 1 | To enable the Path Button, first right-click the toolbar area, which is anywhere in the grey top part of the finder window, and select customize toolbar.

Step 2 | A drop down box should appear containing various buttons. Drag the button called path to the toolbar. At this point, you might like to add other customizations also.

Seeing More With Quicklook

Quicklooking Inside Folders. When you Quicklook a folder, instead of having a big folder icon appear, how about being able to view the contents of the folder as a list? Using a Quicklook plugin, this can easily be enabled.

Step 1 | Download the Folder Quicklook plugin

Step 2 | Place the contents of the downloaded folder into /Library/Quicklook/ (create a folder called "Quicklook" in the Library if there isn't one)

Step 3 | Hold down Option-key and right-click the Finder icon in the Dock. Select Relaunch.

Step 4 | Activate Quicklook on any folder. On certain systems, you may need to restart for the plug-in to work.

Quicklooking Inside ZIP Files. Similarly, there is also a plugin for Quicklooking inside ZIP files. The installation is exactly the same as the previous plugin, except that you need to download the ZIP Quicklook Plugin

Download | ZIP Quicklook Plugin

Show Item Info

One last thing that's extremely useful is Finder's Show Item Info feature. This displays the file size of files, the dimensions for images, and the number of items for folders below each in the thumbnail view. If you have the Macintosh HD icon on your desktop, it also tells you the amount of free space left out of the total.

To switch this feature on, right-click anywhere on the desktop and select Show View Options. The check the box which says Show Item Info.

Of course there are many more modifications that you can do to Finder, and this is just a glimpse of what is possible. Any killer hacks you know of? Feel free to leave a comment!

iPhone OS 3.0

2009-06-21T18:52:00.044+08:00

With the release of 3.0 came for many users, the dream iPhone. Introducing more than a 100 new features, the iPhone OS 3.0 built upon many of the already present technologies, and brought in a few little more.

Cut, Copy, Paste

Of course, topping the list this summer was Cut, Copy and Paste. Hailed as the new "killer-app-that-should-have-been-present-since-day-one", Apple's take on the traditional Clipboard features have made the iPhone a lot more functional.

With the inclusion of a "Shake to Undo/Redo" feature, the iPhone's text editing toolset is truly complete. I can now choose to send an SMS, and then, if it turns out to be too long a reply, cut the text out of the SMS app, paste in right into the Mail app, and send it straight off to the recipient. If I make a mistake, I just shake to bring up the undo controls.

See what it's all about. Read More...

Landscape

Another improvement that came with OS 3.0 was landscape mode across all key applications on the iPhone. This included the Messages, Notes, and Mail apps. The new landscape orientation allows for a more comfortable grip of the iPhone.

It allows for a larger keyboard that would make typing a lot more easier for folks with stubbier digits. However, the inclusion of this new mode also brings with it some disadvantages. The auto-orientation of the device results in the iPhone becoming nearly unusable when a person is lying down on their side. This problem could however be easily remedied if the iPhone Settings had a page to disable the accelerometer. This would not only enable the feature for the folks who really need it, but also conserve on battery life, since the iPhone would no longer need to power the sensor.

Data Tethering

A largely anticipated feature, especially in the US of A, was the ability to tether the iPhone's 3G or GPRS data connection to a computer via USB or Bluetooth. Unfortunately, our friends in the states have been restricted by AT&T. I believe the reason for this lies in AT&T's possible plan of charging the customers for the use of tethering.

Anyway, DivergentCloud did our own testing of the iPhone's tethering ability using SingTel's unrivaled 3G network here in our island. The 3.6 Mb/s connection that the iPhone utilized was enough to rapidly load pages when accessed one at a time. However, I would be lying if I did not mention that some degree of lag was observed with the loading of multiple tabs at one go. Furthermore, Flash content to a significantly longer time to load on 3G as opposed to WiFi. Surfing on a GPRS connection was the most painful experience I have had with regards to surfing the net. It kind of reminded me of the days when I used to surf the net on a 56 Kb/s Dial-up connection. Painfully slow is the only way to describe GPRS on a full scale browser like Safari 4.

Setting up USB tethering was very easy. All I had to do was to enable tethering on the iPhone, and I was good to go. Plugging in the iPhone to my MacBook resulted in my Mac asking permission to allow a USB Ethernet connection to occur. After allowing the connection, I was surfing the net with no problems. Setting up tethering over Bluetooth was a lot more trickier than I thought. Firstly, I had to pair my comp with the phone. This step took a few tries, but I finally got it to work. After that, it was just a matter of connecting to my phone and establishing a Bluetooth Personal Area Network. Users should note that Data is continuously sent up and down the stream when connected via Bluetooth even if there is not active connections to the net at any given point in time.

This is what you see when you have tethering on, on the iPhone:

A funny thing that I noted with tethering was that if the iPhone was connected to a WLAN network, it chose that over Cellular data to share over Bluetooth PAN (Personal Area Network) and USB.

MMS, SMS Improvements

MMS was never a feature that I missed whilst using the iPhone. It had never been practical for me to send MMS messages before when I did not have a data plan with my mobile subscription. However, this new feature may prove to be more than useful now that we have it. Just like tethering, SingTel had its MMS server all set up on the SIM after my upgrade to 3.0. Having to only supply my phone number, I was all set to MMS till the cows came home. MMS feels just like text messaging. Besides, the integration of both Text and Multimedia messages in the same app and interface was a good call on Apple's part.

The improvements to the Messages app on the whole is a worth mention as well. Now, with the ability to delete and forward individual messages, I no longer have to keep long conversation history, or fumble to copy info from one message to another. I can just forward the message, or copy the info and send off to another person. Plus, with the support for MMS, I can now just send a contact without all the fuss and hassle.

However, on a real-life scale, I have yet to use MMS as much as I would like to. The fact still remains that some of the MMS features that Apple have included in the update only work with iPhones. As such, it would be impossible for me to share location information with a friend that uses another handset.

System-wide Search

Before I go into the details, I would first like to mention Spotlight, and the plethora of functionality it brings to iPhone. Spotlight on the iPhone works pretty much the same way as it does on the Mac. However, the iPhone Spotlight is only limited to looking for apps, contacts, and mentions of the keyword in calendar events, notes, emails and media metadata. It would be a lot more functional if Spotlight could search the history of the Safari browser as well. That would make the feature so unique that it would further blow other mobile operating systems out of the water. The most "Killer" feature that I think Apple should add to Spotlight, would be the ability to search the web right off the application. Typing in a keyword should bring up a "Search on the Web" option as the first result. This would allow for less waiting for apps to open and load up. As it is right now, Safari does take a while longer to load as it has advanced through the many dot-release iterations.

All of the major applications in the iPhone OS have also received Search capabilities of their own. It's just like spotlight, except within the app. The most notable of the lot is with the iPod Application. I can now search for songs using either the title, artiste name, or album name, and immediately tap on it to listen. The search also adds greater functionality to the iPod app. Now, I can make simple "on-the-go" playlists with so much less hassle. Assuming I am in the sudden mood to listen songs sung by Akon, as well as featuring him. Usually, I could look up Artists and select Akon off the list. But that did not allow me to listen to songs that had Akon featuring in them. With the new search ability, I can do a simple search for "Akon" and bring up all the results that have the "Akon" appearing in them. This includes song titles and album names.

The Small Things

Other little things that the OS update brought to us were primarily cosmetic updates to the user interface of the device. The lockscreen of the iPhone now displays artiste and album information whenever a song is playing. The notes application also seems to have a slightly different variation of the Marker Felt font. The new font seems a little more compressed height-wise compared to previous versions of the font.

Within the Phone App, the call log boasts a new feature that shows which phone has made the call. If a contact has more than one phone number attached to their name, the iPhone now displays the name of the phone that made that call. This makes it much easier to return a missed call, since you can ensure that you will get the contact on the right device.

The iPhone OS 3.0 also brought with it the support for A2DP Bluetooth Profile. The addition of the feature is rather late in my opinion. Seeing as to how the iPhone was brithed from the iPod, media compatibility should have been a major concern with regards to both hardware and software. However, even though the feature arrived late, it has proved itself to be very useful. Bluetooth Stereo headphones can now be used with the iPhone, freeing many of us from the tangle and mess of cables.

Safari 4, Why Apple Put the Original Tabs Back

2009-06-10T18:11:00.031+08:00

Not too long ago, Apple shocked the world with the release of the first beta of Safari 4. A refinement to an already very refined web browser. It brought interesting feature's such as the 3D top sites view (pictured below) and cover-flow history to the browser of choice on the Mac OS X platform.

Yet with this surprise release, came puzzlement and confusion by users as they became aware of several illogical aspects and rough edges of the Safari 4 user interface. A rarity from a company which prides itself on the ease of use and intuitiveness of its products. Most notable of these conceptual errors, is the new upward facing tabs (pictured below), which have drawn sharp criticism for detracting from the elegance and intuitiveness of the user interface.

The Team

2009-06-10T17:03:00.004+08:00

K KAPILAN

RAVENIZER

After becoming an Apple fanboy, I was able to open my eyes to a whole new world of gadgetry and the the vicious world that was Silicon Valley. Inspired by the millions of innovations and ideas that modern day gadgets brought to the world, I decided to t dedicate a part of my life writing this blog with my fellow writers. Being a little too IT Savvy for my own good, I found out that a blog would be the most useful way for me to share my knowledge with other users. I contribute articles that cover various scopes, from tech reviews, to my opinions on new gadgets. One thing that would be very obvious in my writing would be the profound love for all things Apple, and a certain dislike towards the (in)famous makers of Vista.

ALLISTER LOW

SPIKY

Please write your stuff here.

SRIDHAR GOPALAN

SRIDHAR

Please write your stuff here.

A Storm is Brewing

2009-06-10T14:00:00.001+08:00

Welcome.

To the place where things happen.

Its a different kind of tech blog. It where you see things from unusual angles. The tech news of the world, in a totally new light. Its where you see the news, at a level so much deeper. Understanding is a funny thing. There's really no limit to how far you can go.

Shortcuts that revolutionize the way you work, live, play. To give you more time to focus on the stuff that's really important to you. Creative tutorials that ignite the imagination. That inspire you to do great things. That show you what's really possible. In-depth analysis of the latest and most exciting news. Thought provoking. It opens your mind to a new way of seeing things.

Its about making your computer do so much more.

Its the place where you'll find never thought before applications and uses for your tech. Things which you never thought possible. The place where you discover so much more. Its where conventions don't exist. The place where imagination runs wild. Creativity too.

Its where thinking diverges.

Tip Us on News

2009-06-10T13:59:00.004+08:00

Contact Us

2009-06-10T13:59:00.003+08:00