Apple Iphone 4, sir? No, thank you. I'm a Nokia fan

During the first day of the Iphone 4 being launched in the UK (24th June 2010), I did see customers of the Iphone 4 lining in front of the O2 and Vodafone store hours before it was opened. It goes the same for High Street Mobile shop Carphonewarehouse too.

In two hours, all Iphone 4 were being snapped up by customers. After that, reports were coming in to say that there are many problems encountered by customers, one of which is the appearence of a yellow spot on the bottom left screen. If that is not bad enough, Iphone 4 customers are experiencing drop calls and signal failure.

It is a good job that I am not looking forward for a piece of the Iphone 4. Do you know why? I think the good old Nokia E72 is just nice for me. It is unfortunate that Nokia has not released a replacement for the E72 globally. The E73 Mode is just specially for the USA's T-Mobile customers.

The one million pound question is whether there will be a generic E73 for other markets...

HTC HD2

HTC has come a long way since its inception to become one of the best PDA/smartphone manufacturers in the world. I would have to say that I've started noticing it when O2 launched their XDA Orbit and EXEC PDA/phone years ago. Back then, the most criticised feature of a PDA/phone will be the battery standby power and the OS. Usually, a PDA/phone will only have around 24 hours of juice if you keep on using it throughout the day. When it comes to the OS, it is no other than Microsft Windows Mobile 5.

Time has come to reveal a true champion - the HTC HD2. It is probably the only one to be able to exceed the expectation of a consumer for now. Look at the specifications of the HTC HD2. It comes with a 4.3" capacitive screen, loaded with 512MB RAM and 448MB ROM; bluetooth 2.1+EDR, wi-fi, a memory slot, Windows Mobile 6.5, mp3 player and it is capable of voice recording and video recording at 720p!!! That will be a first for HTC because there has never been a HTC phone that could superceed the Apple Iphone! The heart of the HTC HD2 is an ARM Snapdragon 1Ghz CPU! That is simply marvellous!!! It is almost twice as fast as the Iphone 3GS and certainly normal recording is much better than the Iphone 3GS! It comes with a 5MP digital camera with a flash.

I have to say that you guys need to go to your local Vodafone shop to experience the HTC HD2. I have played with it for a while and the menu speed is so much better than the 4.1" Toshiba TG01! The HTC HD2 is slimmer than the TG01 and lighter than both the TG01 and the Iphone 3GS! The best of all is that the HTC HD2 could be yours for free on Vodafone's £40 a month for 18 months or £35 a month for 24 months. It's your call guys.

I do believe that it will be much better for you to take out a contract online or give Vodafone customer service a call. This is because you will get an additional 300 minutes and free internet apart from the 900 minutes and unlimited text (on the £40 a month, 18 months contract). I don't think that you will get the same deal if you were to take out a contract in a shop.

More could be seen here. Enjoy!

Unlocking Iphone 3G/3GS

Rumours had it that O2 UK is going to offer an unlocking service to all its Iphone customers provided they have completed their contract. This is a far cry from two years ago when O2 UK won the bid to offer  the Iphone handsets to customers in the UK. To me, O2 UK is restricting an Iphone user's freedom to use SIM cards from other operators. This is a clear breach of a person's freedom to choose as laid down under the ECHR.

Two years have passed and O2 UK's exclusivity with Apple will be coming to an end next week. Apparently, Orange UK will start selling the Iphone 3G/3GS on November 10, 2009. Vodafone UK will follow Orange UK's footstep by introducing the Iphone 3G/3GS in February 2010. While many people are hoping for a price war when Orange UK and Vodafone UK start to sell Iphone across the board, Orange UK will not be doing so for the foreseeable future, not for now, at least. They are going to launch the Iphone with an "added value plan" instead of lowering the price of the phone.

However, not all are lost. I believe that given the time scale and patience, the price of the Iphone 3G/3GS will be lowered some how. This is true because consumers are most probably waiting for the cheapest deal before signing up for one for 18/24 months. A reduction of £5 a month will see a saving of £90 over 18 months. It is still too early to say whether consumers will benefit from the Orange deal of the Iphone but surely it is a good move by Orange as it encourages competition.

For those Iphone users who could not wait for the official unlocking code from O2 UK, they could unlock their Iphones by using one of the methods endorsed by the Dev-Team. Never upgrade the Iphone's firmware to 3.1.2 unless you do not want to unlock it. unlocking the Iphone will render the Iphone usable in different countries as you can insert sim cards other than O2 UK.

If your Iphone 3G/3GS have been accidentally upgraded to the latest 3.1.2 firmware, do not despair. GeoHat has successfully released his blackra1n software to the public. The software will allow Iphone users with firmware 3.1 and above to jaibreak the unit. However, Jailbreaking is not unlocking the Iphone. We have to wait for another 3 days before GeoHat releases the unlocking software. I will be waiting for it.

In the mean time, I feel that the Iphone 3GS is not worth buying it on contract. The best thing is not to use it. I don't feel particularly comfortable using the Iphone 3GS even though the cpu is twice the speed of the Iphone or the 3G version. Inflexible OS couple with the weight and the need to pay for tethering puts me off from getting an Iphone 3GS for myself.

Apple Iphone Price War? You bet!!!

After looking through this page, it seems that Orange UK is not going to wage an all out price war on O2 UK. I think it is natural that Orange UK has paid Apple a handsome amount of money for the ability to sell the Iphone 3GS. However, it is really hard for Orange UK to offer 'value' to customers. For starters, I don't like Orange UK anyway.

The reason why I don't really like using Orange UK is their price plan. Their price plan is really expensive as compared to other mobile networks in the UK except for 3 UK. I don't feel particularly 'easy' when it comes to Orange UK. However, it is not surprising that Orange UK will get their hands on the Iphone 3GS just in time for Christmas. We know that Orange UK has merged with t-Mobile UK. In time to come, there will be only four main mobile networks in the UK and I don't think that is helping competition.

I believed that consumers are looking for a price war especially on the Iphone 3GS since O2 UK no longer the sole distributor of the Iphone 3GS in two weeks' time. O2 UK is relying on the new Palm Pre as an alternative to the Iphone 3GS but believe me guys, it is not worth it. I have used the Palm Pre for a few days and I don't feel comfortable in using it. There is a significant menu lag, mainly due to the Palm OS which is not matured. I have nothing against Palm because I have used Palm before but this is not acceptable. Based on an ARM Cortex A8 cpu which is identical to the Iphone 3GS, there is no reason why the Palm Pre lags behind the Apple Iphone. I feel that someone should improve on their OS.

Until now, the Iphone 3GS is still THE one touchscreen mobile phone to own until now despite the shortcomings like paying for tethering and the Bluetooth which will only support certain headsets. On the whole, the Iphone 3GS is magnificient. I am actually waiting for the Nokia X6 to arrive on UK shores. I don't know when will it arrive but when it does, it will be an Iphone killer. Wait... Did I say it is an Iphone killer? Hum... Arguably yes but the cpu on the Nokia X6 will be based on the ARM 434mhz (not even the 600mhz, just like the Nokia E72). I am seriously in doubt whether the X6 will make a dent on Apple Iphone's device. As of now, I think the Apple Iphone is still an all round superior, thanks to the Mac OSX. However, I have to say that the camera on the Iphone 3GS is not that brilliant! You still can't get video call and it is only 3.15MP with auto focus without a flash! I think Apple is trying to save some juice by not having a flash on the Iphone.

We'll have to see in two weeks time when Orange UK starts to sell the Iphone 3GS. it will be good that O2 UK no longer be the sole distributor of the Iphone 3GS. I am looking at Orange UK providing a factory unlock to their customers. We'll see about it. If they are not prepared to do it, I think it's a waste of time. It's better to wait for Vodafone UK. If Vodafone UK will not unlock the Iphone 3GS, it will mean that it is best to buy the Iphone 3GS through the online retailer like Ecell on ebay. Be prepared to shell out £660 for an unlocked Apple Iphone 3GS 32GB in black.

Iphone 3G unlock!!!

Finally!!! I've managed to unlock my Iphone 3g through ultrasn0w!!! Excellent! I just could not believe it! I really hope that people will be able to do the same too.... Goodbye O2....welcome Vodafone!!!

Update on XDA Orbit

I have an announcement. The XDA Orbit is really good after the upgrade. What I did was to flash the ROM to Black and Blue version 2 which is based on Windows Mobile 6 (WWE). Check this out:

ROM version: Black & Blue v2 WWE

ROM date: 4/30/07

Radio version: 02.93.90

Protocol version: 4.1.13.42

ExtROM version: PDAVIET.NET

The ROM is pretty stable at the moment and boy! It is really fast! I will keep you posted.

Updates on O2 XDA Orbit

As you can see, I am giving some updates about the O2 XDA Orbit which I am using for a few months now. It is a fine piece of equipment and it has everything that I want, It has a build in GPS and with the installed CO-pilot Live 6 software, it rocks. So far no trouble in using the GPS software though. One thing good is that one would not need to purchase a separate GPS receiver which you can find on other Series 90 Nokia phones (excluding Nokia N95). Having a GPS receiver build in isa plus point.

On the other hand, RF is good too. I have not experience any dropped calls compared to my old faithful Nokia 6230i. Maybe it is time for me to change to the XDA Orbit. Apart from this, the machine is equipped with FM radio, bluetooth, touch screen, Wi-fi (802.11b/g) and WM5 with Direct Push. It is really handy when it comes to activesync. This is because if the PDA's data is lost, one would stil have the data stored onto the pc or laptop through activesync. Wonderful software, isn't it?

Lately, I have been able to overclock the XDA Orbit with a littl bit of help from my friend. In fact, I have managed to overclock the Orbit from 201mhz to 240mhz. Yesterday, I managed a stable 252mhz. I think that I would have to stop overclocking the Orbit to prevend any potential harm to the processor.

My project this week would be trying to update the ROM to WM6. Well, as you all know that Microsoft has come up with the latest ROM for mobile. It is just like an updated OS from WIndows XP to Windows Vista. I have seen the screen shots for WM6 and it looks promising. That is why I would have to try out this week. Wish me luck,ok?

Anyway, the Orbit is light and compact. I think that it is much better than HTC's Artemis. Well, they share the same platform but I would just prefer the Orbit as it is black in colour and the shape is more appealing to me. Oh yes, I think I am missing something. The Orbit is stuffed with a 2MP digital camera with video recording but it does not have autofocus. Never mind about that.

Hum...What am I missing here. Oh yes, the talktime and also the standby time of the Orbit. Generally, with light usage of the Orbit, one would tend to have around 3 days standby through experience. With me overclocking the Orbit and high usage (bluetooth, wi-fi and games), the machine would have to recharge everyday or so. Well, that is before the ROM is upgraded to WM6. I will have to see the changes in the talk time as many people have mentioned (better standby and longer talk time).

I would have to recommend the Orbit to other people as it is a fine piece of work. Well, not everyone will agree to me because for those people who are used to Blackberry with QWERTY keyboard, they would not like the Orbit as it does not come with it! Apart from that, I don't see any complains. It is a fine piece of equipment by HTC Taiwan. Good work!

A rserious contender to the Orbit will be the Asus P526. It is similar to the Orbit in every given way but it is one step ahead of Orbit as it is loaded with Windows Mobile 6 Professional ROM. Excellent!

O2 XDA Flame

Wow! Finally, a PDA/phone which sports a dedicated GPU graphic card (Nvidia 5500) with 520mhz Intel Processor and 2GB ROM! That sounds a lot to me! Furthermore the screen is 3.6"! That is really big! Excellent phone! The downside is that the OS is still WM5 which, technically, should have been WM6 since it is a new phone. The downside is that the weight of the phone is rated at 196g. Wow... That is heavy... Well, not as heavy as the XDA Exec though.

I think the XDA Flame will have a big follower. It is shame that it does not have GPS build in. Other than that, I think the phone is pretty good! You can play games with it and there will not be any sort of delay on the PDA itself particularly if you want to multi-task. Excellent!

O2 XDA Orbit

Well, I don't usually do reviews on mobile phones and computers. I just got a feel that it is about time that I do one for a start. Well then, let's start off with O2's XDA Orbit then. It is a chic phone, honestly. I have never thought that a PDA/phone will be so light as the O2 XDA Orbit. One can argue that the smartphone is actually a HTC by-product. It is not a HTC by-product.It is actually a HTC product in O2's name!

I have the opportunity to have a go at the machine for a week and guess what? Out of 10, I will give it a 9.5. Why is it so? It should be a perfect 10 but no attached keyboard, that is why. Other than that, it is marvellous!

To start of with it, it is a PDA phone which runs on Windows Mobile 5 OS. I do understand that there is WM6 at the moment but O2 have not updated their Orbit to support WM6 yet. I wonder why. Anyway, it is the review that matters, right?

It is a quad-band phone with EDGE and WLAN (802.11b/g). You can use the phone with any sim card in the UK provided your phone is sim free. The exception to it is '3' network because the phone does not support CDMA. It has a 2.0MP digital camera on the back of the PDA which produces reasonable pictures under normal exposure. Pictures taken under low light or over-exposed will suffer greatly. One more thing is that it does not have auto-focus like the cyber shot phones made by Sony Ericsson (e.g. K800,K810 and etc.).

Besides that, you can also store mp3 files or other microsoft office applications on it and sync it with your computer either using the provided cable or wireless. Please take note that one would have to use the cable to sync the PDA with their copmuter for the first time. Otherwise the sync will not work. One can also use the Orbit to store contacts and appointments (PIM). It works perfectly.

The main attraction about the Orbit is that it has a build in GPS receiver. That is very useful as one would not need to buy a bluetooth GPS receiver which is really troublesome. Just load up the GPS software (e.g. Tom Tom 6 or Copilot 6 Live) and the programme will run! Just to be safe is that one must stop before loading the GPS sofware. Otherwise, the GPS will take ages to load.

The Orbit's battery is not the heaviest but yet it lasted me for two days standby. Well, I do use quite a lot for text and bluetooth not mentioning WLAN. It is brillant! The X factor is that the XDA Orbit is light compared to many PDA phone. I do like the shape of the Orbit compared to the HTC counterpart. The HTC P3350 is more rectangular but the Orbit is just nice to hold on to. Excellent!