Typhoon Ondoy Hotlines as of 1900H/26SEP09

Repost

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: A A X S (光启学校校友会) <aaxs@aaxs.com>
Date: September 26, 2009 7:16:06 PM GMT+08:00
To: aaxs@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [aaxs: Grand PriX - Dec 5] Typhoon Ondoy Hotlines as of 1900H/26SEP09

Hotlines for Typhoon Ondoy

* Office of Sen. Villar to send dump trucks to flooded areas to rescue
stranded people. CALL/SMS 0917-4226800, 0917-2414864, 0927-6751981.

* National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) Emergency Numbers:
912-5668, 911-1406, 912-2665, 911-5061.

* Help hotlines: 734-2118, 734-2120.

* AIR FORCE 0908.112.6976, 853.5023

* COAST GUARD 527.6136

* MMDA 136

* MAKATI RESCUE 168

* TAGUIG EMERGENCY 1623

* MERALCO 0920.929.2824

* NDCC Hotline at 911-1873, or RESCUE 407-123015

* Private citizens who would like to lend their motor boats for rescue
please call emergency #s: 912-5668, 911-1406, 912-2665, 911-5061.

__,_._,___

What I Want To See On The Next iPhone Update…

1. I’d like to see tethering fixed 3.1 broke tethering for my 3GS.
2. I’d like to see user customizable SMS alerts (it’s nearly 2010 for Job’s sake!)
3. I’d like to see AVRCP support for Bluetooth. At the moment I am only able to do A2DP (tried with 2 stereo headsets)
4. I’d like better power management as well. It seems the 3GS is very very very juice hungry.
5. I’d also like some multi-tasking 2 to 3 programs that we the user can run in the background.
6. I’d also like to see syncing over WiFi or Bluetooth (better if both)

Tips & Tricks|WMDC / Toshiba BT Stack Workaround

I decided to install the Toshiba Bluetooth Stack on my MSI Wind U123H and surprise surprise it broke Windows Mobile Device Center Bluetooth Syncing. I decided to try a 2 year old fix I did on my then UMPC (SONY VAIO UX280P) running Vista HP and it works on Windows 7.

On the PC.

1. Open WMDC > Mobile Device Settings > Connection Settings
2. Make sure Bluetooth is selected under Allow connections to one of the following
3. Close them windows
4. Hit Start (Orb) + R (Run command) type in regedit then hit enter
5. Navigate to the ff: key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows CE Services
6. look for SerialPort and modify it to COM7
7. Exit the Registry Editor and Reboot your PC
8. Connect as you would :D

HTH

SingTel HiCard GPRS settings

First Impressions|SAMSUNG Omnia II i8000

The much awaited successor to the very successful Omnia.

This bad boy had one of nicest screens I’ve seen, better than the fruitphone even. The 3.7in AMOLED WVGA display was just gorgeous…  The slab type device has good heft the screen had haptic feedback (just like the 1st Omnia). Of course it has all the bells & whistles any top tier device should have. The 5MP auto focus shooter w/ photo LED (yes HTC camera's do need flash), the 3.5mm jack, a choice of 16 or 32Gb internal storage, plus microSDHC expansion (hey Apple how about a card slot for the iPhone) make this ideal for multimedia creation or playback. Samsung is touting 480p video recording & playback… yes kiddies that’s DVD quality. I was not able to try out the camera because I kept on playing with the screen. Like most touch based devices Samsung releases this one comes with their TouchWiz system of widgets. The heavily skinned touch optimized UI is nice to look at but I feel it makes the device sluggish (just like early version of TouchFlo from HTC). Again Samsung promises a FREE upgrade to WM6.5

Specifications

http://ph.samsungmobile.com/mobile/Samsungi8000

The Omnia II is a worthy adversary to any modern device hardware wise. I would recommend this to people who require massive amounts of storage and don’t want to get tied down with Globe or the iPhone. In terms of software I think Windows Mobile Professional needs to adapt or it will die out. Don’t get me wrong I still use Windows Mobile daily the raw power is amazing it just requires a re-design (ground up please) for the UI, I feel like: XP is to 6.1 whilst Vista is to 6.5, hopefully WM7 is to Win7.

 

First Impressions|SAMSUNG OMNIA PRO B7320

 

 

After signing in we got to play with the devices. I got the Omnia Pro B7320 (a mouthful, I know). The device is a QWERTY bar Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard device (no touch screen). The specs on this are nothing to write home about. I’d rank it as an entry level device by today’s standards. I think it would do good in a corporate environment since the lack of a touch screen or moving parts and hinges makes the device leaps and bounds more robust over the Professional devices or sliders.

Construction was solid and the device was not too heavy even with the 1480mAH battery. It was good to see that Samsung opted to use microUSB and not their proprietary connecter (get a clue Apple). The device was very responsive and snappy (keep in mind these were fresh ones with just the default Samsung stuff loaded) WM6.5 Standard would be a free upgrade once it was available. I do hope they get their act together in terms of the upgrade. The upgrade from 6.0 to 6.1 for the SGH-i780 was fraked royally. The deal breakers, they went ahead and released a device that didn’t have a 3.5mm audio jack (microUSB sync port doubles as the audio jack… boo!) and the camera though sporting a 3.2 MP resolution was fixed focus (another boo!). The device though having a crisp display was still 320x240… hey it’s 2009 already. WM needs higher resolution for Standard devices!!! This might not be entirely Samsung’s fault (I blame you MS I do!!! hahaha).

Specifications:

http://ph.samsungmobile.com/mobile/SamsungB7320/spec

Omnia Pro B7320 may suite you if you can look past the lack of the 3.5mm jack, fixed focus camera, and the  dated qVGA resolution.

Free upgrade to WM6.5 is very much welcome and the device looks and feels very well made. If priced properly they will slay with this device!

 

Samsung Omnia II & Omnia Pro B7320 Preview Event… Good Effort Samsung.

16-Sep-09

Was fortunate enough to get invited to the Samsung Omnia II & Omnia Pro B7320 Preview at Hanjin Center @ Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City.

It was good to see folks from http://pinoywindowsmobile.net and meet em in person. Was seated beside XB and his wife.

A couple of things… the preview was held at a training room at Samsung’s offices. The event started late and there was no WiFi available. The nice lady from Samsung was apologetic about the WiFi (something about security). They also didn’t have SIM cards so we had to slap in our own and use our own dime to get tweets, pics or youtube vids out on the interwebs… The devices we got were not fully charged but they lasted well past the duration of the presentation (note: most of them we put on flight mode since we didn’t have a lot of SIM cards) They served food & drink (no alcohol, which I don’t mind cause I don’t drink hehe). Would’ve been nice to have a smoking area but discrimination against smokers has been very bad these past years (back on topic…).

Seems to me the Samsung folks needed a bit more forward thinking and prep time. Inviting enthusiasts may assure you of the proper demographic but then again I think we are more critical and vocal of a lot of things… Good effort though :)

I will now split off this blog post into the two devices that we got to fondle…

SMART PLEASE RESPOND!!! #BNYvsSMART

Still no word from SMART re: the status of my request to remove IDD ROAMING DEPOSIT for ALL SUBSCRIBERS.

I emailed SMART on 31-Aug and again today, I will send them an email every 2 weeks or until they respond.

Hey SMART get a clue: you see roaming activation is FREE on Sun Cellular

Read more: #BNYvsSMART

Waiting for Some SUNshine…

As an update to my current issue with SUN. I received an email & a call from a SUN representative. He was worried that no one was handling my case yet. I informed him that the Manager from GHSC Business Center was already on the case.

So right now my request is under review from SUN’s higher ups. Hoping for some sunshine on this gloomy situation…

Things I appreciate:

SUN Business Center Manager was very calm, understanding, and honest with what can and cannot be done with my situation.

Things I would appreciate:

Approve my request for a CALL & SURF contract without the ZTE handset.

Improve your network a bit more (outside metro manila) so I can get rid of SMART

Sun Cellular, up sold me to a non-existent mobile data plan. *OUCH!*

I always make fun of people getting up sold in HKG or SG by those rascals that sell electronics. Well Karma is probably ROFL’ing about this…

Here is the timeline:

9/3/09 – Arrive in MNL from PVG, Sun line disconnected, exceeded credit limit because of roaming

9/4/09 – Visited Sun Shop Greenhills Shopping Center

paid 3,283.99 = re-connection fee

Signed up for unlimited DATA on phone & received a Sunbroadband SIM

paid 799 x 2 = 1598.00 = 2 months advanced deposit to waive lockout and get unlimited data on both my phone / broadband SIM (or so I thought). I even asked when unlimited would go live on my phone because I knew I would be using the phone more vs the data SIM.

9/5/09 – Broadband SIM goes live I start using both but more the phone vs the broadband SIM in my netbook.

9/9/09 - received system message that my line was nearing credit limit again. called SUN CS was informed everything was ok I was on unlimited DATA & CTU.

9/10/09 – phone get’s disconnected, exceeded credit limit due to high data usage. Called SUN to complain and went to SUN shop Marikina where I was informed that I signed up for a non-existent plan! Had to pay 1651.63 to have my line re-connected again.

9/11/09 – Called SUN CS and complained about the misinformation. I have 3 service request numbers and I am giving them a week or two to investigate and deliberate about my case & request.

--

DEAR SUN PLEASE GIVE ME A BREAK!!! YOU GOT 3249.31 FROM ME. THAT I FEEL I SHOULDN’T HAVE PAID!!!

--

Right now the ball is in SUN’s court I have been very patient with all this but I do hope they do something about this. Still IMO among the 3 carriers we have they are the smallest and the least evil. All the reps I have talked to on the phone or face to face have been very polite and apologetic it is their fault after all.

Not to be boastful but I think I am a good customer. I pay on time and always pay in full. I only complain when something is wrong. In this case something is VERY VERY VERY WRONG. Again I would like to stress that it is unclear if the up sell was done intentionally or was done in ignorance but the up sell did occur.

I feel cheated because I was up sold to an non-existent plan, I double checked to ask if I would get unlimited data on my phone and they said YES, thereby misleading me to incur data charges (exceeding my credit limit in 5 days!!!) getting disconnected again, then being told my plan did not exist and was not technically possible only to find out they have a plan specifically with what I want except for a few things (handset/lockout). I have a request to waive the handset and shorten the lockout on a SIM only plan which right now isn’t offered. Honestly with all the CRAP they have put me through (intentional or otherwise) I think I deserved a little break and  some concessions from them. I’d be happy with Call & Surf Unlimited, No handset, 6 months (max 12 months) lockout, for 999 a month.

http://suncellular.com.ph/broadband_postpaid.php

I hope more people request for the SIM only plan. SERIOUSLY who has heard of the ZTE F188 before visiting this site?

There is NO UNLIMITED DATA for your PHONE

Last 04-Sep I was lead to believe that adding 799PhP to my 350 CTU (Call and Text Unlimited) would give me unlimited data on both my phone & the broadband SIM. Well apparently I was mistaken. So in 5 days (my phone got re-connected on the 5th) I have already gone over my monthly credit limit which is 1500PhP (default for CTU 350). I thought I was on unlimited but was actually being charged the normal rate which is 10PHP per 30mins. Fraking hell. Right now my Sun is blocked for out going SMS & calls, waiting to get re-connected again and have requested an increase in credit limit. I would really piss me off that I was upsold to an non existent plan. I am not sure if the service rep at the business center I visited upsold me or misunderstood me. Or if I misunderstood him and was too eager to sign up when hearing unlimited and bundle in the same sentence. What’s clear is this I now have 2 SIM cards 1 with unlimited broadband but no SMS or calls; the other is my line which can do SMS/calls & has CTU. I would prefer a single SIM with unlimited data and CTU.

SUN CELLULAR PLEASE ALLOW US TO BUNDLE UNLIMITED DATA TO OUR PHONES!!!

So my boycott of SMART is on hold until my Sun line goes live again. The only bit of good news is once again PLDT DSL is not working with our router and I am actually using the broadband SIM with my U123H to type and send out this blog post. There you go I am actually using the product that I thought was upsold to me. Honestly I was livid but thinking back I hate PLDT & SMART more so Sun get’s a free pass for now…

Tips & Tricks|Create Partitions on an External HDD

WARNING THIS WILL DELETE ALL FILES ON THE DRIVE. PLEASE BACK UP YOUR FILES BEFORE PROCEEDING.

There are a lot of benefits to making partitions on an installed drive but if you wish to extend this to your external drive here is how.

Press WINDOWS FLAG + R (RUN)

Type diskmgmt.msc press ENTER

You will be presented with the Disk Management Interface, be sure you select your External HDD (here it is My Passport)

Right click and delete the existing partition you should see that your whole drive has become un allocated space (black bar)

Right click again and choose New Partition… and follow the Wizard.

For storage we will be using Primary partition, hit Next

Select how much storage you will allocate for the 1st partition for this example I will create a 100Gb partition, type in the size and hit Next

I choose not to assign drive letter, hit Next

You may choose to Format the new partition here or later under Windows Explorer. For this tutorial we will format it as NTFS and name it MyBackup hit Next

You will be presented with a summary hit Finish to proceed or back to make more changes,

Now we can see a new partition and the space left as Unallocated (still black).

Repeat the steps to create more partitions.

Here I have created 2 partitions 1 named MyBackup the other named MyStorage.

HTH :D

How to install a SIM to the MSI Wind U123H

China Mobile Pre-paid GPRS/MMS settings

For those travelling in China and getting a CMCC sim here are the GPRS
& MMS settings.

10086 is their hotline with support for English language.

Changing of the guard...

Setting up & transferring files to my new netbook last night and this
morning I have decided to go with Windows 7 on the U123H as well. The
only that I haven't been able to work is the N wireless. I can connect
to b/g networks fine but can't seem to see our N network.