Review : Florence , Interactive Comic by Mountains

It is not a proper review, I just want to mention about an interactive comic that I found last night in my App Store : Florence because it was so nice. Unfortunately, it is only available for iOS users guyyys ♥ 

I bought the comic for RM 12.90, reminiscing the time when I did my own interactive comic for my final year project (don't ask to see it because it was REALLY bad). 9 years ago, there weren't as many samples available in the market so it was hard to explain to lecturers about my FYproject. I was the only one that chose to make an interactive comic, so even the lecturers didn't have any references to compare me to other projects (which was a bonus point for me). 

So I was excited to see this app and I chose to buy it right-away ( I was too curious to read/feel/try - even though I wanted to buy other mobile app too at the same time : Old Man's Journey (let's wait until I have an iPad).

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This is a story about 25-year old Florence and her first love, it was launched during Valentine last month. So it is still pretty fresh in the oven. It was made by the lead designer of Monument Valley (so no wonder it was beautiful), developed by Mountains x Annapurna.

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There are several chapters in different phases of Florence's life. User's will have to play around with the items in the screen to read/watch the story. They are only simple stuffs like clicking, swiping, moving certain items, but users still need to do something to continue with the story.

Even though it is not for children, I'm curious to see how children reacts to this app (as an experiment, I will let Af's little cousin to try it later). Oh, and there are hardly any words - just visuals and sounds. Sounds interesting ?

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I think because of the storyline and theme, it relates to female audience than male audience (most games in the market focus on themes like strategy, wars, cars, sports, domination, battle) - which for me, I feel a bit blergh - boring. I needed themes that are more relatable to me, and I'm not interested in the overly imaginative world. Even though people do play games to leave the real world. Hm.  

So, I feel like something as simple as this is exciting. The app is already featured on the "Editor's Choice" - I hope the market will grow and developers will realize that there are a huge market in this theme. (After all, women's population outgrow men - imagine if we can attract women to be more tech-savvy and play more games / read more digital comics ). Ha.

The downside is I think it is too short. 

I needed more :F To be fair, for them it is just a $3 digital comic, for us - it is RM 13. Ha. But I appreciate the effort, so I don't mind spending money on a good stuff. 

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I hope there will be more comics like this in the future - I'm up for digital books and comics (I already started to sell and donate my unused books, to minimize my collection. I keep on thinking about the dying polar bear).

And I didn't know Ken Wong could draw this good ! :F 

So have you tried this app ?

Run : Fitness, Health & Technology

There used to be a time when technology isn't as big as it is now. I remember doing outdoor activities without clicking on 'start' button to track my distance, I remember the time when I read Reader's Digest magazine every month to know about some useful tips and tricks, I remember the time when learning about things means you need to collect pamphlets, go to library or ask an expert.

Now, it is much easier.
Everything is on the tips of your finger.
I really enjoy technology, I found it very useful.

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Here is how I used technology in helping me managing my health & fitness :

Mobile applications :
I've been using smartphone since 2012 and one of the thing that I really like to do is trying out new mobile applications. Throughout the years, I've tried many apps, downloaded and deleted some when I felt like the program didn't worked for me. There are a lot of applications available in the market, so it depends on the user's preferences to know what really work for them.

These are some mobile applications that I'm using :

1. Runkeeper - I keep track all my fitness activities using Runkeeper i.e : running, walking and yoga. I've been using the app. since 2012, so I'm comfortable with the whole system. Usually early each year, I'll set a total distance that I want to achieve for that year. Last year I aimed for 150km and this year is 200km. I can also see the reports on how much I improved, or how much calories I burned and that keeps me motivated. I guess competing with my Runkeeper's friend list also one of the reason for me to stay motivated.

2. Yogify - I downloaded the whole package in 2013 that includes 3 big programs : strength, balance and flexibility. I learned and followed the program level-by-level. It is very easy to use because I don't really need internet connection to load videos from youtube every time or pay for yoga classes. I can just click on 'Start' and do it myself on my own pace.  

3. Headspace - This mobile application is quite new for me, so I'm still trying out the free app. It teaches us how to meditate and tell us the importance and benefits of meditation in a nice convincing voice walkthrough and animated video. If you love science, read this.

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Blog :
Other than keeping track of my activities using mobile applications, I like to write on health, fitness and foods every now and then. I keep track of my running events, my running tips & tricks and other useful knowledge that I found or experimented on my 'staying-healthy' regime.

The blog is a personal place for me to remind myself on things that I found useful, because I am aware of how vast the internet can be and I can't keep track of everything if I don't write it down. Perhaps it might help readers find useful things as well :)

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Pinterest and website/blogs :
I also found Pinterest very interestingly reliable in finding out about almost everything for example : healthy food recipes, how to do smoothie and juices, running tracks, yoga poses, tips and tricks and fitness hacks. I pinned everything and keep in in a folder for my personal read.

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What I want to try in the future :
I am very much interested in fitness trackers that can monitor daily steps, sleeping patterns, and calories. It is not as widely used in Asian countries as much as in the US yet, so it's quite pricy and it's hard to find one suitable for me in local market. Although I don't feel comfortable tracking everything, I'm interested in finding out about those invisible data in my body to learn about the technology behind it.

But then again, this is also interestingly yummeh : 

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Last week, I found out about Oscar Insurance while I was researching on concept and interfaces for insurance based website and mobile application. I found their approach friendly and eye-catching, so I saved for my future reference.

Since their company is tech-based and uses fitness trackers in their incentive program for their members. Each Oscar member receives their own Misfit tracker and can even earn back $1 a day when they hit their personalized goals. It inspired to share few things about how has the technology helped or changed the way I manage health and tools that I'm using to keep track or improve it. If you are interested in learning more about them, check out their sites for health insurance in New Jersey and New York. They don't have it local yet, but they are expanding fast.

I am not in any way affiliated or received any compensation for this post, I just found their company interesting and I am free to share these knowledge with people :).

App : Useful Mobile Application for Local Use

Useful mobile applications in Malaysia : 

1. Public transportation : 

Moovit : You can check schedule for RapidKL bus and trains, you can plan ahead, check real-time location, find best & fastest way and even live reports/updates. Apparently like Waze, the company was founded and based in Israel.

Myteksi : Find nearest, cheapest taxis around you. 

KL Train : All train stations in KL city

2. Ticketing : 

Movie - GSC, TGV

Airplane : AirAsia, MHmobile : I found this really-really useful. Last year before I went to Istanbul, I downloaded the app. I was supposed to go separately from Ma's group because I personally bought my own ticket instead of grouping with the National Art Museum group. So I downloaded my e-ticket and kept track of the countdown flight-time using the app. From my e-ticket, it was stated 12 hours earlier than what the person-in-charge told us. I insisted that our flight was the exact same flight as Ma's but several people refused to believe me =.=' So I just tagged along, brought my bag and check-in despite being teased for being super early. Later found out that I was right, the count-down was right. So in 1 hour, they had to go home, pack their bag and rushed to the airport. Hah.

3. Communications and bills : 

Well, it's monthly commitment, almost everyone pay for these stuffs, might as well they do an application so we as users can keep track of our bills, add/reduce packages, be notified and such.

Line, internet & phone : MyDigi, MyMaxis 

4. Report :

Crime : Malaysia Crime - not the best, got so much space to improve. They should consider crowd-sourcing crime report based on location. 

Traffic : Most people are using Waze. *I don't like the icon and characters tho..

Location-based report : Myhero

5. Groceries :

HappyFresh : Never tried this yet, but I think this might be the future for lazy/busy people to do grocery shopping. 

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Other ideas they should consider :

Travel promotion platform : For example, Matta Fair, they should really consider creating a traveling promotion application - because the market is super huge. It is like a platform for traveling agencies and people who wants to find a good traveling promotion. All year long. Call it Matta, we like it just fine. 

Social event platform : This means combing all outdoor/artsy/hipstery/music/writers events in one go. Anything from Pipit, Caffa, Art for Grabs, One FC, to Urbanscapes. Users can find out about the events, buy tickets, vendors can rent a booth, share promotions, etc.

Local shopping platform : This means combining all local online shopping websites. So users can type in what they are searching for, and all available items from Zalora, Luzola, Lazada, Mudah, Lelong, etc list their available product based on the user. And we can compare listings, choose and buy. Like using Kayak or Skyscanner but for shopping and product/item comparison. 

National report : Flood, drought, dengue cases, accidents, diseases etc.
Bills : Housing bills like electric, water, broadband, Indah Water and all those things we need to pay every month in one mobile app. So users can keep track of all the house bills, pay right away, and plan ahead what to pay based on the priority.
Insurance : As a user, I want to keep track of my payment, read about my policies, what I entitled to, how much is my saving, possible additional mini policy, and perhaps digital insurance card.

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Mobile applications that I don't find useful in Malaysia :

1. Any apps based on specific events. Events are temporary, it is much easier to track any updates on social media : Facebook or Twitter status. Imagine if I'm going to MAHA and downloaded the app, and the next time they will update it is the next 2 years - because MAHA is only once every 2 years.

2. Halal foods : We are in fact in Malaysia, we are surrounded by so many halal foods around us. It is useful when we travel to other countries tho.

3. Another image/video editing applications, there are too many of those applications in market.

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App : Water Daily

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The facts stated :

60% of our body is water ,
70% of our brain is water,
and the lungs are nearly 90% water.

So as everyone knows, water plays a huge role in our body.
Do you drink water as much as needed?

Here is an app I used with a nice minimalist interface design to keep track of my daily water intake : Water Daily by particlemade.

1. Select your water amount : 2500ml (recommended for man) and 2000ml (recommended for woman) ,
2. Set your waking & sleeping time : to keep track of your time,
3. Allow notification : for people who don't drink as a habit - I don't need any reminder. Ha.
4. Check your daily drinking habits.
5. Shake your iPhone every time you drink 250ml water and it will automatically record it :

Nice one, huh?

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App : Runkeeper

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Hello !

A mobile application that I love to use during my exercise : Runkeeper.
There is also a web-based edition for Runkeeper.
Click here for iPhone version and here for Android version.

Features that I love :

1. Easy to use and straight forward

When I go out jogging, I will click open the application, choose an activity : running or walking, and click on the "Start Activity" button right away. It will then automatically track my location, how far, time, map, and such. 

Why it helps? It is a very convenient application to use. Click "Start" and off you go !

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2. Achieving your Goal
I am aiming for 50 km running and 30 km of walking in 3 months.
Runkeeper gives you a platform to keep track your goals.
Why it helps ? Tracking how far you've achieved and how much farther you need will keep you on your track. Well, at least it helps me. 3 km more to go before aiming for 100 km run ! :D

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3. Save your Activities 

How far, when, map, time taken to complete it, how much calories burned and such.

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4. Share and tweet.

Why it helps? Everything is about social network nowadays! Share it with your friends, compete, drag them along. 

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The web based can 

- list down events that you can join near you

- find street team

- save your routes & share

- make training plans

- give you visual statistic like this :

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I work as a conceptual designer for mobile application and during my free time, I explore the beautiful wonder of arts in current digital medium mainly in tablets and smart phones. I'll share my finding here from time to time. Enjoy the geeky side of me ! :D - azreenchan

App : Fieldrunners 2

I love the game sequal to the award winning game, Fieldrunners! 

Before I went back home to my kampung, I keep on reconsidering to buy the game. I know I loved the previous Fieldrunners and I did bought the game last year, finished playing and even stopped playing it completely. *I have a habit of over-excessively play a game until the ending and I'll leave it completely afterwards.

Several months ago I came across the shiny new app on iTunes : Fieldrunners 2. I was excited but a little skeptical. What if the game is just another twin version of the previous one with small extra features? Am I ready to spend $2.99 for a game? Maybe I should. I would be lying if I say I am not curious about it. 

So I bought it, after reading few convincing reviews.

And I am loving it! 

• The graphics are beautiful, and guess what? They are all digitally hand-painted! For an art appreciator, I do see this little things. I love the way thing are both traditional and modern at the same time, it is the best way of merging them. 

• I love how there is a beautiful interactive maps to choose levels from, the previous one was a bit too simple. There are also many fun bonus levels in between. 

• I love how they put on the details. Like how those soldiers fall when they were shot and how those helicopters burned. For your information, it is as small as real life ants on the screen. So knowing they put efforts on making it that detailed, is pure joy to me. 

I bought it, and I am enjoying the game.

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PS : I don't do jailbreaks, I appreciate people's work and I don't steal when I want something.

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I work as a conceptual designer for mobile application and during my free time, I explore the beautiful wonder of arts in current digital medium mainly in tablets and smart phones. I'll share my finding here from time to time. Enjoy the geeky side of me ! :D - azreenchan

Apps : Young Kids & Mobile Apps

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Although I don't quite agree with kids under 12 to be engaged with game consoles and other devices, I am very much interested in how kids interact with those devices.

I got curious over how their brain processes it, how they familiarize certain patterns and steps, how they explore it. The fact that they can interact with those games even though they can't read, always fascinates me. 

Good mobile applications for kids don't even need instructions to explain the flow, because most kids don't read at a very young age and it is hard for them to focus on reading when they are too excited to play the game right away. *I remember skipping the conversation parts between players when I played Pokemon Red - teenage years. I bet that goes to everyone else too, except for curious-avid reader I suppose. 

I don't have a chance to be around young kids that much, so I suppose my finding's accuracy will be highly downgraded. At the lab, I usually watch Fayyadh explores my iPhone. I watch him trying games after games to meet his interest. Most of game apps are strategy or puzzle based so they are not quite suitable for a 5 year old. 

This writing is based on one of the good application I found interesting enough for young kids : Toca Doctor by TocaBoca & my humble observation. What I have in mind is a simple set of mini games to be completed that kids can relate to. I bought the app just because I was curious on how the full version will be, and how different each mini games will be - there is a lite version you can try, just type in "Toca Doctor Lite".

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Mobile Applications for Young Kids :

1. Interface.

Kids are attracted to simple, colourful interface.  I love the simplicity of it. It kind of reminds me of activity books I used to have when I was very young, back when there is no such thing as mobile application of course. 

2. Mini games

Kids are easily distracted, so a set of mini games might help them focus on each small task. In Toca Doctor, a player is required to examine a patient and solve simple fun puzzle. I played the whole set, it was super easy for me, but quite engaging. There are 21mini games to be completed.

eg : Broken bones need to be connected and bandaged or brush your teeth to kill the germs, clean up  wound and put a plaster and those simple stuffs. 

3. No instructions

The game is straight forward and simple. They point to each point that need to be inspected, and kids can solve it right away. I didn't even need to explain anything to him. 

4. Relate to real life

In this game, they ask you to be a doctor. In another game by tocaboca, called Toca House that let the player help 5 friends do chores at home : cleaning up, doing dishes, ironing, mowing the lawn in 19 mini games. It's easier for them to understand simple tasks when they can relate to it and much easier for us to explain.

eg : Why we need to clean the wound?
Because we need to avoid infection. 

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Ps :
Parents need to be aware of the type of games they let children play. Children are a bit like white canvas, parents are the artist with paints and brushes in their hand.

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It's amazing how technology is taking over the world.

I work as a conceptual designer for mobile application and during my free time, I explore the beautiful wonder of arts in current digital medium mainly in tablets and smart phones. One of my favorite topic is children's application. I'll share my finding here from time to time. Enjoy the geeky side of me ! :D - azreenchan

Work Related : Petronas Pitstop Mobile App

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At last, after almost a year of development, the mobile application is ready! I was super excited at the launching held by Petronas at The Apartment, KLCC last Monday *even though I can guarantee you I looked super bored - due to my failure in mixing around with the crowds. 

Our team, managed to pull it out along with Petronas Coffee Break campaign as well! Congratulation all! :D This is my first time in the full development of a project and it was such a good experience. 

*Now I can brag to people - like my uninterested sisters and mom. Hmph >.<

For iPhone user, you can download it here, for free. I don't see much use for iPod user like me, because we iPod users depend on constant WiFi connection :p But you can install it just fine, I use it to check on latest promotions and contests by Petronas.

I should really have a huge painting of a city when I have my own house in the future.

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The Crowds!

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Ahh!

I love the fact that I'm involved.

Silently excited. or did I sounded like I am bragging? Sorry. *whisper.