Apple iPad

Apple has officially put it’s hat into the tablet wars (where no one has won yet). Think of it as a huge iPod Touch with an option for 3G data.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

It runs Apple’s A4 Processor (remember they bought PA Semi a chip company), WiFi and BT, 9.7in screen at 1024x768 resolution LED capacitive touch screen. Rated at 10 hrs battery life (we shall see if this holds true), It will be available with 16Gb, 32Gb, and 64Gb. A 3G modem (no voice calls) will aslo be available but will cost you a whopping 130USD more. It’s 1.5 ~ 1.6 pounds. It runs Apple iPhone OS 

http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

What I like:

1. LED display, I don’t think e-ink is there yet and they don’t have color.
2. Options for capacity and additional 3G modem
3. Thin  and light form factor

What I don’t like:

1. 3G modem will cost and additional 130USD (way too overpriced)
2. no camera
3. no SD card slot
4. no USB port
5. only 4:3 aspect ratio

So as you can see this definitely falls short for me. I cannot find a place for it in my computing life. My netbook is 10in, the apps I can get from my iPhone plus I get  a camera and phone functionality. So I guess the only thing that it has going for it is the form factor. That’s not enough for me to get a device that cost this much.

Mobile Phone Acronyms

Anyone who looks at specs will be confronted with so many acronyms here’s a quick guide of common things you will see on a website or the side of a box (in relation to radios and bands). HTH.

GSM – Global System for Mobile Communication

GPRS – General Packet Radio Service commonly confused with GPS (G)

GPS – Global Positioning System

EDGE – Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (commonly known as 2.5G)

HSDPA -  High Speed Downlink Packet Access (down only 3.5G)

HSPA – High Speed Packet Access (up and down 3.5G)

WCDMA – Wideband Code Division Multiple Access aka UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) commonly known as 3G

BT – Bluetooth

WiFi or WLAN – Wireless Fidelity or Wireless LAN

Band-a-rito Band-a-roon

No this post is not about musical bands here nor there… It is actually a guide to understanding single dual tri quad band monicker that devices get. Here’s what you need to know:

A mobile phone operates using a radio communicating with a cell tower (hence cellular or cell phone)

Most of Asia (including the Philippines) and Europe uses GSM and our frequencies are as follows

GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 900/1800

UMTS: 900/2100

**China, Japan and Korea uses both GSM and CDMA

The Americas uses GSM and CDMA their GSM frequencies are:

GSM: 850/1900

UMTS: 1700 (T-Mobile) 850/1900 (AT&T)

Chances are if you are buying a phone locally, from Hong Kong or from Europe you’ll be fine. However if you buy a device from the Americas you have to be extra cautious. Their CDMA devices essentially don’t have SIM card slots and will not work with Globe, SMART or Sun. Their GSM devices may work provided they include the same bands we have locally. However keep in mind usually manufacturers swap out the 3G chip to match the region where the devices are intended to be sold.

Now let us look at 2 same devices released for 2 different regions

Nokia E71

Quadband GSM = 900/1800 (Asia) +850/1900 (US)

Dualband UMTS = 900/2100 (Asia)

===vs===

Nokia E71x = US DEVICE

Quadband GSM = 900/1800 (Asia) +850/1900 (US)

Dualband UMTS = 850/1900 (US)

So an E71x will work on our local networks but will be limited to GPRS/EDGE speeds only.

Here is an example of a Quadband GSM / Triband UMTS

The palm Treo Pro is a Quadband GSM and Triband UMTS devices.

Quadband GSM = 900/1800 (Asia) +850/1900 (US)

Triband UMTS = 2100 (Asia) + 850 / 1900 (US)

The treo can be used essentially everywhere on both high and low speed networks.

So the next time you are purchasing a device because you want to use it all over the world be sure to check which bands or frequencies they operate on. It is not enough to hear how many bands you have to find what bands those are. HTH

Touchscreens 101: Resistive vs Capacitive

[HTC Hero has a capacitive // palm Treo Pro has a resistive]

Hello readers it’s me once again and since there has been an on going trend of touch screen devices I have taken it as my geeky duty to explain the differences between the 2 dominant kinds.

Resistive – These work on resistance (i.e. pressure) when you use a stylus or your finger two thin films on the screen connect and finish a circuit this charge is then interpreted as an input.

Capacitve – These work on capacitance (i.e. charge) each person has a small charge and with this technology the screen has a field which when interrupted registers as an input.

Here are examples of devices with resistive screens:

Most Windows Mobile Professional devices (to date only the HTC Touch HD2 has WM & capacitive screen)

On the capacitive side:

We have the iPhone and Android devices

The plus side for resistive is that you can use them even with gloves on as they are based on pressure on the screen. You cannot do this with capacitive screens as I learned when I was trying to use my 3GS & Hero with gloves. The plus side for capacitive is an input will not register unless it is charged so if you poke the screen with a pen or keys inside your pocket it will not register because that doesn’t have a charge. Again both technologies have it’s plus and minus.

Most people say capacitive is better for touch interfaces and resistive is better for hand writing recognition but to be honest I do not think the regular consumer can spot the difference any more. Resistive screens are so good now (don’t believe me? look at the Omnia II from Samsung and any modern HTC device). I think the way input is registered is secondary to how it is interpreted. In the case of Apple they are touting multi-touch, the rest of the mobile OS can also support this except it is under Apple’s patent. Here we see how patents screw up the experience for everyone else.

Tips & Tricks|Google Sync & You

If you have multiple devices or switch devices frequently take a look at Google Sync. I use this to keep my contacts, calendar, mail synchronized across 4 mobile devices (on 4 different platforms).

http://www.google.com/sync/index.html

A few things to keep in mind (in order of importance IMO)…

USE COMMON FIELDS – different devices and platforms have different fields for example an iPhone will have an iPhone label but Google contacts, Windows Mobile, Android and Nokia will not. This field therefore will be dropped! Suggested fields are: Mobile, Work, Home, Email

REQUIRES DATA CONNECTION – your PIM data will be stored online under Contacts of your Google Mail so you will need an internet connection at least for 1st run & when you make changes to your databases and you want to reflect these on other devices.

BACKUP – Nothing is 100% full (or fool) proof be sure you have good backups and do regular backups of your devices and your databases. What I do is I export the google.csv every 15th of the month keep a file locally (on my 2nd partition) and keep a file on the cloud (zumo drive) and keep 1 more copy on my USB stick which I leave at home.

===

This how it looks across my devices.

Windows Mobile Professional 6.1

Google Android

Apple iPhone

Google

A Twitter discussion re: radio vs podcast

Radio is obsolete and 75% commercials anyway. I prefer to get my news, music, and other entertainment from podcasts.

==============

(2sw):
(Re: podcasts) @bnycastro: "I don't even listen to radio anymore" @2sw: "What's radio?" @bnycastro: "We should check with the archeologists"

http://twitter.com/2sw/status/7908874720

(Sent via Seesmic http://www.seesmic.com)

via HTC Hero

SMART DISCRIMINATING AGAINST IT’S CUSTOMERS W/ INTERNATIONAL ROAMING DEPOSIT

Hello kiddies… I am back with an update re: MY LETTER TO SMART TELECOM’S PRESIDENT … so after close to seven (7) months all I got was 2 or 3 emails thanking me for my email and telling me they will tell the concerned group. So in 7 months they have done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about my complaint. I got my IRD waived and you should get yours waived too!

As a service to you my readers here is the issue in a nutshell:

If your plan is bellow 1500, SMART will charge you PhP 2,500.00 as INTERNATIONAL ROAMING DEPOSIT (IRD) this amount WILL NOT be credited to your ACCOUNT until you TERMINATE the roaming service.

Ex. If you are plan 500 and you turn on roaming forever. your 2500 is with them forever. If you are plan 1500 roaming is on. If you are on pre-paid you are not charge an IRD.

Here is why I think this should be abolished.

1. This is NOT NECESSARY. SMART already has a credit limit to protect their company. Why ask for an additional deposit?
2. This is DISCRIMINATORY against lower tiered plans. SMART implemented this not on everyone but on lower plans only!

Here are some more questions.

1. What about the interest earned per deposit per subscriber per day? Where does that money go?

What can we do?

1. Call *888 or +63(02) 888-1111
2. Email customercare@smart.com.ph
3. Go to a Wireless Center to complain in person
4. Complain on twitter. http://twitter.com/SMARTcares

I have sent another email last week and am waiting for my 4th “thank-you- for-your-email-and-we-will-elevate-this-matter” canned response (I try to send an email once a month but sometimes I am too busy). I also went to a SMART Wireless center to complain in person and got the same response. I fear that if we don’t do anything we will soon see this on other networks as well.

Tips:

be polite. tell them why you think IRD is wrong and why it should be abolished.

GPRS/3G and MMS Settings

Here is a collection of settings for various networks that I use locally or while travelling I hope you find this useful…

Globe: http://bit.ly/845oSm
Smart: http://bit.ly/8D2sTy
Sun: http://bit.ly/6xjrkZ
3 HK: http://bit.ly/4mL8rx
TW Mobile: http://bit.ly/6OXaca
China Mobile: http://bit.ly/5GqY1i
SingTel: http://bit.ly/7Cw62m

**settings subject to change without prior notice

3HK GPRS/3G and MMS Settings

 

TW Mobile GPRS/3G Settings

Sharing is Caring: Ringtones & Alerts

You can now get ALL my ringtones & alerts thru the following links:

MP3 Ringtones & WAV files: http://www.zumodrive.com/share/2Oh8ZDZlYW

M4R Ringtones (for iPhone): http://www.zumodrive.com/share/2OhPMzBjYm

***Files are subject to change without prior notice***