Samsung Galaxy S3 3000mAh Extended Battery

If you own a Samsung Galaxy S3 (Irrespective of whether it is a LTE or non LTE version) and you find that the battery could do a better job, you might just be in luck. This is because Samsung has released a 3000mAh battery for the Samsung Galaxy S3 (SGS3). Samsung called it the "Extended Battery Kit" instead.

You could get a piece of it from Amazon or eBay and it will most probably cost you around £30. The whole package will include a back cover for the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the 3000mAh battery which has NFC embedded on the battery itself.

My first impression of the battery and the back cover is that the SGS3 has gained around 20g but I think it is acceptable. With the 3000mAh battery, the back cover is smooth and it does not show sign of an extended battery has been fitted so kudos to Samsung.

With the extra 900mAh, the battery could last me for another day which is really good. I feel that the extra 900mAh is worth the money and it makes the SGS3 more sturdy too so I'm quite happy with the performance of the extra capacity battery so far.

Update:

19 June 2013

Please let me know if anyone is interested in acquiring the extended battery as it has no use for me now since I have upgraded to SGS4. I am willing to sell it for £20 including postage to EU countries. Please leave a message for me if you are interested.

Sony Xperia J - A Simple Review

For those of you who are looking at a mid range mobile phone, you might want to check out a mobile phone from Sony which is called Sony Xperia J. From my personal point of view, the Xperia J is very similar to the predecessor, Xperia U but with a twist - lower SAR. Initially I was thinking of giving the Xperia U a try but decided against it later after finding out that the Xperia U had a SAR value of 1.62.

The Xperia J on the other hand is a beautiful mobile phone. The whole chasis is slightly curvy which is similar to the Xperia Arc. While the specifications of the device itself is not too spectacular, the mobile phone is quite value for money. First of all, the mobile device has a 4" capacitive screen which is coated with Corning's Gorilla Glass. Secondly, it is equipped with a 5MP autofocus digital camera at the back with a VGA camera at the front for video calling. The heart of the device is powered by a single core 1Ghz cpu from Qualcomm. It has GPS, bluetooth and many other 2012 mobile phone specification apart from the noticeable lack of NFC. I don't really expect Sony to include NFC for a mobile device to cost around £170 SIM Free which you can obtain from carphonewarehouse and phones4u.

If one were to have a look at the content of the box, he/she will definitely be disappointed. This is quite true as I was disappointed that Sony did not include a headset! The box only came with the mobile device, a battery, three back covers (black/white and pink) and a charger. It also came with some basic instructions but that is all.

Certainly one will notice that the phone is quite light even with the battery fitted. This will be quite handy for someone who does not want to hold on to a brick like the Nokia E90 (It is still one of my favourite phones) as it weights in at a mere 124g. Sony has done well over at the hardware department especially it comes with a big 1500mAh battery!

While I don't have any problems with the hardware department, the software department of the Xperia J is another matter. I have one major issue with the Xperia J which is the sheer sluggishness while trying to execute a command by pressing on the screen. I'm surprised at the performance of the Xperia J which the device came pre-installed with Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.4) which is pretty slow.

Apart from the sluggishness while operating the mobile device, there is a limitation on how many programmes can a user install on the Xperia J due to the 2GB limitation on the OS itself. It will useful if someone could overcome that limitation by rooting the Xperia J and then install a custom ROM to bypass the limitation. Unless the user is technologically savvy, it will be quite a challenge for him/her to do the above.

Overall, if you are looking for a simple smartphone, the Xperia J will be for you. However, if you are an avid smartphone user, you might be disappointed with the menu speed especially with the constant lag while trying to execute a command. On the other hand, you might want to try out the Nokia Lumia 800 instead for £150 SIM Free which I will conduct a simple review very soon.

Update:
02/02/2013 - Personally, I am still disappointed as there is no updates to the Android OS. I feel that Sony should be able to provide a better solution to its software development as the menu does not feel smooth as compared to a Samsung Galaxy Ace II. What a shame!

The Struggle of Nokia

I am quite upset with the recent news from Nokia which includes selling off Vertu and laying off tens of thousand employees across the globe. Apart from that, Nokia will be laying off more employees in the coming months.

Personally, I don't really understand Nokia anymore. Initially it started off by itself as the number one mobile phone manufacturer of the world only for more than 14 years until it was beaten by Samsung just recently. They have managed to release new and more advanced technological mobile phones at a competitive price. I would remember using a Symbian S40 or S60 mobile device from Nokia and I was really happy with it..until recently.

There were talks of Nokia is running low on its cash reserve and they need to think fast before they completely run out of money to survive. Personally, I don't know whether it is true or false but I do observe one thing throughout these two years - Nokia is losing its charm.

One could ask me why have I shifted my loyalty towards some other manufacturers and not stick with Nokia. Personally, I have not shifted my loyalty towards Android or iOS as I am using a Lumia 710 at this moment as my backup phone. Why would I not use a Nokia Lumia 900 or 800 instead? Well, I could answer that question by simply informing you that I believe that the Lumia 900 is below my expectation.

It has been a long struggle for me to use any recent Nokia devices which runs on the Windows Phone OS due to the lack of multitasking. Nevermind the small capacity battery on some of the Windows Phone powered Nokia devices but I was thinking about a better capacity and better cpu on Nokia devices. One thing for sure is that I could not understand why Nokia is still using a single core cpu for its Lumia 900!!! You could argue that there is no need for a dualcore cpu as it will most probably use more energy but if many manufacturers can overcome this problem, why not Nokia? I would love to see that future Windows Phone OS support multitasking. This is one problem which Microsoft has yet to resolve. Maybe the problem will be resolved with the upcoming "Apollo OS" by Microsoft. Even the latest Windows Phone 7.5 "Tango" does not support true multitaking akin to Symbian S60 series. It is like using Symbian S40 devices again which is so backwards. When will Microsoft realise that they need to release a true multitasking OS to draw in more customers? When will they finally realise that something needs to be done to encourage more people to use Windows Phone? I don't think it is wise for Microsoft to rely on the Nokia brand to market their products without true multitasking!

In conclusion, I would really hope that Nokia will survive. The question of whether Microsoft will buy Nokia might be still on the table but it might be rejected by shareholders taking into account the profitability of Nokia. Well, we'll see about it in the next 18 months whether Nokia will pull through. They need to release at least dualcore mobile phones with good graphics to draw the heat away from Android mobile devices e.g. the Samsung Galaxy SII and SIII.

Update:

29 June 2012
With UK carriers not going to release the upcoming Nokia Pure View 808, it might spell more trouble for Nokia in the UK. I have got in touch with Vodafone UK and Orange UK and they have no idea of when the handset will be arriving in the store, most probably not going to stock them; T-Mobile UK and O2 UK could not give me a straight answer while both Carphonewarehouse and Phones4u said that they will stock them earliest at the end of next month or early August 2012. This will mean that if consumers want to have a taste of the mighty 41MP camera mobile phone, they will have to go through a third party to sign on a contract for the phone. Well, alternatively, the phone could be purchased SIM free from £500 which is a little bit too much for a 4" single core mobile device.

04 July 2012
It is a sad day where Meego will be parting ways with Nokia. According to this website, Meego will be heading off to other companies e.g. Samsung! I sincerely wish them well! Well, Nokia, what's next? Can you see that you need to buck up and not just releasing budget s40 phones anymore? Where is your fighting spirit which you have shown previously before Apple and Samsung took over?

HSPA+ Multiflow

If you were to read this page, you will find out that Nokia Siemens is gearing towards a new technology where it will allow a mobile device to be connected to two cell tower simultaneously. In doing so, it will cut down the potential drop calls especially when a mobile device is located close to the edge of a cell tower.

Personally, I welcome this technology with open arms. I think it is not too late to introduce such technology because we need to be able to access to internet at broadband speed especially with the introduction of LTE in the near future.

At this moment in time, O2 UK has deployed 3G 900mhz and other mobile networks will have to follow them. With LTE, mobile network providers who run on the O2 UK network will benefit greatly as it has extended the coverage range of the cell network.

I will be waiting for such technology to be deployed by OEMs. At this moment, we have quadband GSM + Pentaband UTMS + LTE with A-GPS + GLONASS. I will be most delighted to see more technologies to be deployed soon.

Kudos to Nokia Siemens!

Windows Phone 7 OS - Any luck this time?

Windows Phone 7 has been the talk of the town recently. It is mentioned by Microsoft that the WP 7 offers better user interface and improved connectivity than previous generation of Windows Mobile. I beg to differ.

Ever sinced Microsoft released the WP7, it was dodged with bugs which took a good few months for Microsoft to release their 'No-Do' update on the WP7. Apart from this, the updated WP7 will not allow customers to transfer files via Wi-fi, so unlike the Samsung Kies Air or the Nokia PC Suite/ Ovi Suite. Is that an improvement over WM6.5?

Arguably WP7 is faster than the WM6.5 but we need an update badly. The so-called 'Mango' WP7.5 should be released quite soon. It will boost the existing user interface twice the experience of WP7. Well, it is not a good news after all, isn't it?

Microsoft (via Steve Ballmer) that WP7 mobile phones are not selling as many as they have expected. Well, there is a reason for it - User friendliness and functionality. Both of these can't match the superiority of the Android and iOS platform. While Nokia is moving over to use Microsoft products in the near future for their high end phones, perhaps it will help Microsoft to overcome their fear of being the last in line of OS used on a mobile device.

Well, don't hold your breath yet as Nokia is still developing on their existing Symbian OS. What does the future hold for WP7?

HP Pre 3 Review

I was one of the lucky ones to get hold of an HP Pre 3. As the name suggest, HP bought over Palm's ailing mobile phone infrastructure and released the long awaited Pre 3. The Pre 3 is a cool phone. One may criticise the small 3.58" capacitive screen with no external storage (it comes with 8GB memory) but it has some serious firepower under the hood. First of all, it comes with a dualcore 1.4Ghz cpu with Adreno 205 gpu. Secondly, it comes with a 5MP digital camera with autofocus and LED flash. Users will be able to shoot 720p videos with it so it is an advantage.

Apart from that, it has the usual bluetooth and surprisingly, a wi-fi chipset which supports both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz! That is so cool! It also comes with a slide out QWERTY keyboard and runs on the WebOS 2.2.2. One can accused HP of not developing the number of apps available in the WebOS market but if we are going to leave the apps behind, the Pre 3 is actually a serious competitor to the Apple Iphone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S2!

The WebOS 2.2.2 is stable and the menu is quick to refresh. Websites would only take a few seconds to load if you are running on either 3G or wi-fi. It is so much faster than my previously Anna OS - lead- Nokia N8. I am impressed with the performance of the WebOS and I feel that HP would have been successful if they further develop the WebOS.

I have no problems when using the Pre 3 but only comes with a few small criticisms. First of all, the digital camera should have at least an 8MP autofocus, with LED flash and supports 1080p recording. Secondly, it should have a bigger capacity battery ( 1500mAh at least). Thirdly, the app market should be growing but taking into account recent events would suggest that WebOS will not be developed further, the app market will not be increased tremendously. I am quite upset about this because there are a lot of potential for the Pre 3 but I think HP has made a bad choice by stop developing on a large scale when it comes to the WebOS. What a shame!

In a nutshell, the HP Pre 3 is the faster dualcore mobile phone at the moment but it is just sad to see that any development in the WebOS will be slowed down tremendously. It is, however, a good mobile phone to use. Who knows that one day, users will be able to port the WebOS to the Android platform.

HP Touchpad and Pre 3

Recently HP has mentioned that due to the lack of support for its WebOS, they are going to have a fierce sale on its webOS products which includes the HP Touchpad and also the Pre3. The reason why these two products are so sort after would be the fact that they are worth a significant sum. Let's start off with the HP Touchpad.

Under the hood, the HP Touchpad is identical to the Ipad2. Moreover, it has the same 9.7" IPS capacitive screen like the Ipad2 (but not necessarily manufactured by the same company). The specification on the Touchpad is so much better than the Ipad2 (e.g. decent front 2MP camera) but price wise, it is identical to the Ipad2. 

However, with the recent announcement, HP has decided to sell the product at a massive discount of £99 for the 16GB version and £119 for the 32GB version. No wonder they have been sold out within the hour it was being announced! At this very moment, you can still buy the Touchpad but at a higher price than that on ebay and also on Amazon. 

Do you know why people are flocking to buy the Touchpad? Well, it is cheap and secondly, those lucky users might be able to migrate the WebOS to Android or even Windows Phone 7! That is good news, isn't it? I am certain that there are many people who will try to make a fast buck over here. 

With regards to the Pre3, it housed a dualcore cpu with 2011 smartphone specification. The original price of the Pre 3 is going out for £300 but with the discount, it is just £55! However, the problem here is that many retailers have stopped selling them because HP is recalling the Pre3! That is pretty sad, isn't it?

2011 Will be an Interesting Year for the Mobile Industry

From my point of view, 2011 will be a year of quadcore firepower on high end mobile devices in the market. As we progress through dualcore cpu + gpu this year, next year will see that most of the high end mobile devices will be better spec.. In doing so, it will definitely speed up on the time of waiting and it will definitely add value to a consumer's experience.

What does it mean for companies? When we are talking big about quadcore cpu + gpu, it would mean that companies would have to release in big quantities of a multicore cpu + gpu to speed on up processing time. Besides that, I could imagine watching 1080p videoes will be easier.

At this very moment, the best dualcore mobile device that we could buy is the Samsung Galaxy S II. I am sure that there will be better mobiel devices out there but this is the best money can buy at the moment. I have read on the internet that the company is going to release the Galaxy S III next year. It might include quadcore cpu + gpu and NFC hardwired onto the mobile device!

While quadcore cpu + gpu is good progress, we must not forget about the software developers. There is no point of having a blazing good hardware but it does not have good software support! One good example will be the OS itself. Android OS is quite advanced in the sense that it is a multicore platform. We need more software developers to utilise the many cores of the mobile device. Otherwise it would be a waste of space!

Apart from that, it is important to have good battery power. What I am trying to point out is that it is important for manufactures to release a mobile device which could at least allow the battery to last for a single day under heavy usage. This would mean having thinner but better capacity battery. I do hope that Nokia will be able to install their famous 1500mAh battery onto each and every high end phones as it will definitely help in reducing the number charging cycles. I was really disappointed with their Nokia N8 as it was only equipped with a 1200mAh battery! It was suppost to last around 400 hours on standby (on 3G) but to me, it only last for around three days!!! Eventually I had to abandon the N8 after the PR 1.2 kept on crashing expecially after taking a few pictures and the need to recharge the phone twice a day under light usage.

I am using a Samsung Galaxy S II at the moment. I do have Skype running at the background all the time 24/7 on 3G and a single charge would last me for at least a day. I do not need to bring my charger along whever I go, so much better than the times where I had the Nokia N8. Without a shadow of a doubt, the N8's camera lens is still superior to many, including the Samsung Galaxy S II. I think Samsung needs to improve on the camera software.

In the end, good luck to them! As for consumers, we will have more choice next year! We will see watching closely with the launch of Windows 8 for tablets next year...

Perfect Mobile Device

It has been said that technology will always be on the move and there is nothing to stop it from improving. I have to agree with the statement. If you could recall ten years ago, nobody would have thought about using computers fitted with quad core cpu or even dual core gpu! Well, it has since moved on. Similarly, it goes the same to mobile device too. It all started off with Motorola's chunky mobile phone and then Nokia took over with their 'Matrix' style mobile phone. Not long after that, we had a fierce battle between Motorola and Nokia. Nokia seems to have won the race until Apple came along which changed the whole scenario.

These day, we are talking about dual core cpu on a mobile phone e.g. LG Optimus 2X, Samsung Galaxy S II and the Motorola Atrix. These dual core mobile phones are equipped with up-to-date gpu to speed up games and play demanding 1080p video files. The only question remain - which is the best?

Let's start off with Motorola. Ever since the mobile arm was separated from its parent company, they are moving towards the positive direction. They enjoy good mobile phone sales throughout the world and nothing is going to stop them from progressing. I believe that it is time for them to release better mobile phones to compete with other manufacturers like HTC and Apple. Recently they have released the Motorola Atrix which will allow customers to attach the mobile phone to a netbook. Users will be able to access their Atrix using the Motorola dock station. I like it! However, the attached software is nowhere flexible as you are chained by Google. Besides Atrix, one worthy mobile phone to mention is the Motorola Defy. It is a rugged mobile phone but lacked proper software to run the mobile phone so it is not so perfect then. I would give it a pass for Motorola unless you are well verse with Google.

Moving on to HTC. The company is making lots of profit lately as they have been releasing lots of new mobile device by the month! This is just fantastic! However, it is not all bed of roses as their mobile phones are marred by tiny speakers and bad battery life, not to mention the Android OS which is bound by Google. I'll give it a pass even though their first dual core cpu mobile phone will be release very soon.

What about Samsung then? Samsung is a good brand but their proprietary OS e.g Bada needs more fine tuning. To be fair, they have good hardware but short of good software to run it. In the end, you would have to give up apart from having the Samsung Galaxy S II! The beast is worth while using it as it is fast and furious and it does not break your hand (it is light). It has everything you need and it runs on the latest Android OS. Wonderful! Apart from Samsung Galaxy S II, I don't think there is a worthy mobile phone unless you are talking about the Samsung Wave II.

What about Vodafone then? Hum... I will give it a pass. ZTE? Well, I would try ZTE Blade or the Orange San Francisco as a back up mobile phone. It is cheap and cheerful at £99 on Pay as you go.

Nokia? Well, they have a fantastic PC Suite and free Ovi maps of the world; fantastic hardware especially on the Nokia N8 with 12MP digital camera but they have not release any mobile device with dual core cpu!!! What is going on with Nokia? Moreover, their Symbian ^3 OS should have an update to "Anna" a.k.a. PR 2.0 but it has yet to materialise via a Nokia updater. Shame on you Nokia!

Last but not least, we have Apple. It comes as no surprise as the Apple Iphone 4 is the benchmark of all mobile phones. This is because the iOS is stable and fast! It is only an disappointment on their restrictive file system and the not-so-good 5MP camera where it is nowhere near the quality of the Nokia N8. Kudos to the Apple team for releasing a good product every time!

Well, will there be a perfect mobile phone? I don't think so...

False Economy

Whenever Apple release a new product, it will definitely be a hit and it will be short of supply. As a consumer, you will be wondering the reason why. Well, after doing a research, it is not surprising to see the reason behind it.

Let's start by introducing the brand itself. Apple has maintained a good reputation with its products. They managed to release a product which is for the nitch and technology savvy. You would be able to witness yourself - From Ipods to Ipads - They are in short supply. Where are the goods? You would not understand 10 million Ipads flying off the shelves in a matter of days, don't you agree?

What if you can't get an Apple product in the store? Where are you going to get it then? Shop online is the key!

Most of the goods being purchased by individual companies or a group of companies would most probably end up selling online. This is true because as the Apple store is running out of stock, not all stocks have been purchased by consumers. There are many third parties who will be selling them for a quick buck online. If you notice, there are seller who are trying to sell a 16GB Ipad2 with wifi and 3G for £600!!! That is more than the £499 if you were to buy from Apple! That is pretty bad though.

I do agree that Apple is a reputable brand and the OS on their devices is stable. However, they and the rest of the consumers fall victim to some group of people who are trying to make a quick profit. If you are a consumer, be patient and buy it off from Apple or from Phones4u or via Carphonewarehouse but never from online who sells it at a mark up price.

Mili Powerspring for Iphone 4

I have made an order for a Mili Powerspring for an Iphone 4. This would have to happen due to the fact that the Iphone 4's battery could not last me for more than a day under moderate usage!

In the end, the Mili Powerspring 4 for the Iphone 4 has arrived. I've got it from play.com. They are quite good, actually and cheaper too. I've got it for £40 and it is the cheapest that I can find.

The Mili Powerspring 4 is actually an external battery which will "save" you from the need to get near a wall charger. After installing the device onto the Iphone 4, I do find that the Mili is quite large but it is quite alright for my palm size. I can take pictures even with it locked on to the Iphone 4 without any problems.

However, I do have one reservation though - It is just too heavy! I wish that it is a little bit lighter than that but I think it is just nice for me because I would not need to worry about charging all the time! I think Apple should have installed a higher capacity battery on the Iphone 4, most probably a 1500mAh battery and not a 1420mAh.

Update 1: With the Mili Powerspring 4 installed, it makes the Iphone 4 weights like a brick! It's heavy but worth it as I have no trouble in getting sufficient juice from it! At this moment, I am still using the juice pre-charged on the Mili Powerspring 4. I have not charged it since! Hurray!





Dual core Mobile Phone

According leading sources like Endgaget, Boy Genuis Report and also GSMarena.com, LG will be releasing their first dual core mobile phone, dubbed "Optimus 2X" very soon (manufacturers always like to say that) which is based on the Tegra 2 platform. It is powered by a dual core ARM A9 cpu. I have to say that until now, we are still living in a world where we are still stuck with a single core cpu. You name it and we have it (e.g. 1Ghz Hummingbird, Apple A4, ARM A8 1.3 Ghz and etc). The question is whether there is sufficient matarials to work with such a high powered chip?

Soon, we will have plenty of dual core cpu mobile phones being released. Nokia released a statement where they are going to release many dual core mobile phones next year. I will be very excited to see what CES 2011 will bring us. Let's face the fact, Nokia is struggling to maintain its lead. I am really sad to say that there's no Iphone 4 competitive mobile phones coming from Nokia. Nevertheless, I will never let go of the faith as I do want to make a purchase from Nokia!

I have meddle with the Nokia N8 but I'm not convinced that it will be able to do me any good as I've already had the Iphone 4. Perhaps it is justified that you will have the maginificient 12MP camera on the Nokia N8 but what else? It has a HDMI port and a memory slot! That is fabulous! What about the hardware then? It's a... Slightly below the performance of the Apple Iphone 4.

Perhaps Nokia should start building their apps market and release some good mobile phones to the public. Many of us are still Nokia diehards so please release some good mobile phones. Please don't ever release anymore high end mobile phones which comes with a fixed focus lens. That's so yesterday!!!

My only worry about any new mobile phones will be the battery life. Look at the current position. Nokia is stil releasing new mobile phones which still uses old technology batteries (e.g. on the Nokia N8). Why not Nokia release mobile phones which uses the mighty 1500mAh battery which could be found on the E90, E71, E72 and the E73 Mode instead? The N8 is a powerful gadget but it is fitted with a lower capacity battery. I'm not impressed though.

Nevertheless, I have a strong point to voice out...I'm still better off having a Nokia as I will have free GPS!!!

Auto Brightness

I don't really use auto brightness on any mobile device at all as I do think that the light sensor is inaccurate. Besides, it is best to stay away from auto brightness as it will consume more power. Stay away from auto brightness!

Dell Streak

I am so happy that the Dell Streak is now available in the UK exclusively through the O2 network. I think if I want to get the device, I would straight go to the Dell.co.uk to make a purchase but it is not yet available at the moment until next month.

I might want to have a look at it in an O2 store soon. It is cool though but with a 5" screen, it might be a little bit too big for your hand and also slightly too heavy at around 220g. The goodies will be the revolutionary 1Ghz Snapdragon cpu with onboard 2GB for system applications. You can upgrade the internal memory to 32Gb with a memory card. Aparently the 16GB version which O2 UK is selling comes with 16GB storage space. Well, you can get the Dell Streak 16GB free on a £25 a month contract or head over to Carphonewarehouse and get it without a contract for £429. For that kind of money, you might want to invest in other mobile devices then, don't you think so?

For the record, there is a 5MP auto focus digital camera with dual LED flash. It is cool as you can also use your existing SIM card on it as it supports quadband GSM and triband UTMS. It is powered by a 1530mAh battery. It should provide sufficient juice for a day. The good thing about the device is that it runs on the Android platform. Wonderful!

At the moment, it is locked to the O2 network. I am sure that there will be an unlocked version coming very soon in July 2010. However, I just can't wait for the Nokia N8 to start shipping soon... Wondering when are they going to start selling it...

Palm Pre Plus & Palm Pixie Plus

After playing with the original Palm Pre for a while, it makes me wonder whether the upgraded Palm Pre will do any good. Let's recap. The original Palm Pre has less memory (256MB) and less storage space (8GB). The Palm Pre Plus has 512MB of ROM and 16GB of insternal storage with the rest similar to the original Palm Pre. Question is whether it is worth while buying the new mobile device from Palm?

I always do believe in giving people chances to rectify the flaws. Similarily, with the Palm Pre Plus, it is very useful to have a look at the device before settling down with a conclusion. On paper, the specification of the Palm Pre Plus is good but I was not impressed with the fixed focus 3.15MP auto focused lens. Perhaps Palm could have done it much better.

On the other hand, without an option to increase the internal memory, it might restrict a user's ability to store more applications or songs. A very good example will be the Apple Iphone. I was really happy when Nokia released the N900. It has an internal memory of 32GB with the option of increasing it to 64GB with an additional 32GB microSD card. However, it is quite difficult for Apple to provide such option to consumers. That is why I am always give my full support for Nokia to expand their business. With the upcoming N8, I am hoping that the CPU will witstand the many tortures later once it is being launched.

With Palm Pre Plus, I see that not many people are gearing toward buying one for themselves. I guess many people are looking elsewhere- Nokia N97 mini, HTC Desire, Nokia N900, Motorola Milestone and so on... They are so many options to choose from!

As for the Palm Pixie Plus, I think just forget about it. It is just too expensive, just like the Iphone. The only difference is that the Iphone does not have a QWERTY keyboard like the Pixie Plus. Go for the N8 when it is launched!

Solving Microsoft Exchange Issue on N900

As I have mentioned before, I still can't get the N900 to sync with Microsoft Exchange. So happened, I've managed to come across this page which lead me to this page. After that, I went to this page which gave me instructions to proceed with installing the MfE folders which you could find more on here.

Unfortunately, despite of all the effort which I have made, I have not able to sync my e-mails with the N900 as it is a well known issue with the OS itself. I was told that there is a permanent solution to it which would be released in the coming updates of the firmware. I think the next update of the firmware would be most probably PR 1.2. The Maemo website and the Maemo wiki have helped me loads but the updated firmware should be released very soon. I will be waiting...

Well, let's hope that the Maemo team will come up with the solution fast as I'm not giving up so fast on the N900 yet! It has so much of potential to be one of the best mobile devices in town! Not even the Iphone 3GS and the Ipad could come close to it (Well, the Iphone 3GS uses a better graphics chip than the N900 and the Ipad uses a customised A4 SOC chip from ARM).

Waiting for the answer...

Steve Jobs - You're Envy of Google

I was quite surprised to see that Steve Jobs had a hit on Google for being the next in thing to take on the Apple's Iphone. I am not surprised at all taking into account the Google G1 was a surprise by the giant company, then came the very latest Google Nexus. At least the latest incarnation from Google supports flash and the OS is an open source so there is not much of a problem for software developers to create a new application for the Android market.


As for Apple, the case is rather tricky. They will only allow software developers to post their offerings through iTunes and it means money for Apple. Without going through the iTunes, it will be quite hard for software developers to market their products unless the Iphones have been jailbraked. It is one place where Apple is making tons of money from (application softwares for the Iphone, Ipod and Ipad).


It is to my personal opinion that Steve Jobs is aware of the potential threat and I am sure that he will be thinking of a way to counter act the problem. It is so unfortunate that his latest offering - the Ipad, does not come up to people's expectation. I am not sure whether someone will buy the Ipad for such a high price even though it is not a netbook at all! Steve Jobs was wrong to compare the Ipad to a netbook as it does not have the same capabilities of a netbook. A simple job - support for multitasking and bluetooth the device to a laptop or a pc is not available! How could Steve Jobs say that the Ipad could be compared to a netbook? That is just not right.


Steve Jobs should not take grudge against Adobe for not coming out with flash support for the Iphone, Ipad and Ipod range. This is because Apple should work together with Adobe. I'm sure that a big company like Apple is snubbing Adobe because Apple has to pay loyalties to Adobe or Apple does not agree to the terms of Adobe. What a shame. HTML5 is still far away! Flash is still the normal mode of communication. No doubt that one needs to constantly update their Flash on their device, nevertheless, it is very convenient. I'm just so frustrated with Apple without any support for flash on their devices. 


In a nutshell, Apple is hard headed and they will fall if they don't compromise. Google's Nexus One is a good step ahead. Way to go Google!!! There's some sort of competition between Google and Apple and that is the spirit! 


For more information, please proceed to this page.

Google Nexus One

I am really excited for the arrival of the Google Nexus One mobile phone from HTC. Even though it is Google branded, we know that Google is going to support the OS while HTC will be responsible for the hardware. The big question will be...What's in store for me?

Vodafone UK  has released a FAQ regarding the availability of the Google Nexus One but more importantly, we need to know the device's specifications which you could read it all here. I'm quite impressed with the fact that the phone is powered by the same Snapdragon cpu which you could find it on the HTC HD2. Let's do a comparison between the Google Nexus One and HTC's HD2, shall we?

Google Nexus One/ HTC HD2


(a) Size and weight: 119mm x 59.8mm x 11.5mm; 130g with battery / 120.5mm x 67mm x 11mm; 157g with battery;

(b) Display: 3.7" WVGA AMOLED touchscreen; 480x 800 1ms response / 4.3" WVGA capacitive touchscreen 480x800 with multitouch;

(c) OS: Android 2.1 (Eclair) / Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional;

(d) Battery capacity: 1400mAh / 1230mAh;

(e) RAM: 512MB (maximum 32GB via MicroSD card) / 448MB (maximum 32GB via MicroSD card);

(f) ROM: 512MB / 512MB;

(g) Supported Radio Frequencies: WCDMA 900/2100; GSM 850/900/1800/1900 / WCDMA 900/2100; GSM 850/900/1800/1900;

(h) Downlink browsing speed: HSDPA 7.2Mbps / HSDPA 7.2Mbps;

(i) Uplink browsing speed: HSUPA 2Mbps / HSUPA 2Mbps;

(j) Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR (with A2DP) / 2.1 + EDR (with A2DP);

(k) Camera specifications and capabilities: 5MP with autofocus, digital zoom with LED flash / 5MP with autofocus and dual LED flash;

(l) Video capabilities: 20fps / 30fps;

(m) Other features on both devices: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), A-GPS, Digital compass and accelerometer;

(n) Talk time: Up to 10hrs on 2G; Up to 7hrs on 3G / Up to 6.4hrs on 2G; Up to 5.4hrs on 2G;

(o) Standby time: Up to 290hrs on 2G; Up to 250hrs on 3G / Up to 490hrs on 2G; Up to 390hrs on 3G;

(p) Video playback time: Up to 7hrs / Up to 8hrs;

(q) Audio playback time: Up to 20hrs  / Up to 12hrs

If you noticed, both mobile devices have similar specifications apart from the obvious fact that the Google Nexus One has smaller screen than the HTC HD2. That would result in a slightly poor battery talk time and standby time for the HTC HD2 as compared to the Google Nexus One. It will be really interesting for me to grab one of Google's Nexus One for a look as I have seen the HTC HD2 and I was pretty impressed with the unit although the HD2 was a little bit too big for my pocket. One thing for sure, the HSDPA for both devices could not match Nokia's E72 - a good 10Mbps if supported...

Both mobile devices put the Apple Iphone's 3GS to shame...

Nokia E72-1, The Undefeated Hero of E71

I have seen many people lashing out on Nokia's brand new E72. Of all those complaints against the E72, I have analysed that most of their complaints are not true.

Speed

People have started comparing the E72 to the E71 (it's natural as the E72 is the successor to the E71). Even though the E72 had a speed bump from 369mhz to 600mhz, some people still do not think that it is justified to buy the E72. I don't agree on this point though. First of all, speed is not everything as you would have realised. Look at Intel. Remember those early Pentium 4 days? Intel ignored AMD by pushing the limit on their cpu. In the end, the early Pentium 4s (Socket 423 to early Socket 478) created a limiting factor on how Intel is going to pursue their dream of a faster cpu - heat. As the clock frequency of their early Pentium 4 cpus were getting faster, it generated more heat and up to a point where by it is not justified to buy a better Intel cpu at that time due to the heat that it emits. That was why Intel went back to the drawing board and took their Pentium III design and gave it some modification. That was where the Intel Core cpus were born. The moral of the story is that speed is not everything.

Look at the Iphone 3GS for instance... Do you think that the Toshiba TG01 (cpu speed at 1Ghz) is faster than the Iphone 3GS which is rated at 600mhz? Wrong! The speed on the Toshiba device may be faster than the Iphone 3GS but the superiority of the Mac OSX gave Toshiba TG01 a run for its money. In benchmark wise, the Iphone 3GS is a clear winner here!

Functionality

In comparison to the Nokia E71, the E72 is a tad thicker than the E71. Having said that, any E72 user will be able to benefit from the new Symbian OS 9.3 with FP2 instead of the FP1 on the E71. Visual enhancements are present on the E72 and you could feel that the E72 has the "aero" effect which you could not find it on the E71. I have no problems with the functions of the E72 except for the ability of any E72 user to get accessed to their Microsoft Exchange e-mails. There is a known bug which Microsoft is not taking it seriously. If your server runs on Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, there is a big chance that you will not be able to read the body of your e-mail but you could read the headings of each e-mail. It is a shame which Microsoft wants people to start using the latest software... Naughty Microsoft!!!

The E72 has everything which you could ask for. At least I can safely say that I don't get as much OS freezing on the E72 as compared to the E71 (touch wood)!!!In fact, I have encountered NO OS freezing on the E72 so far (after 2 days of using it) but I've already encountered numerous OS freezing on my E71 which I had three exchanges with Vodafone last year!!!

Price

The third problem which many people would complain will be the price of the Nokia E72. The Nokia E72 could be purchased on a brand new, SIM free price of £350 from Nokia. You could get a piece from reputable sellers on ebay such as e-cell and prepaymania where the device could be purchased at around £320 SIM free.

The E71, on the other hand, is still priced at around £250 which has no change in terms of its pricing since last year! Well, what are they complaining of? It's £100 difference between the old and the new model and I do think that it is justified to buy the E72 as you are getting more than just a speed bump. With the E72, there is no problem in opening and closing of the battery door and there is still metal surrounding the E72 but it is more sexy now. It resembles more like a "sup-up" Blackberry. I would go for the E72 than to get a Blackberry device myself. Symbian all the way!!!

"Apple Uses The Best Technology"

Can you imagine someone saying that Apple uses the best technology which money can buy? I don't think it is true though. Honestly, I have serious doubts about the whole sentence! How would a person especially the CEO of Nvidia voicing his choice of brand in the open market?

It is true that Apple have good dealings with Nvidia. Remember Apple's notebooks? Well, most of them are based on Nvidia's GPU anyway!!! What is the matter with him then? Don't you think he is a little bit too bias towards Apple?

Although it is a known fact that Apple is the most profitable phone company in the United States (surpassing Nokia), I have no love for Apple though. The one thing which I'm so annoyed with Apple is that it does not allow consumers to send or receive text messages or make/receive calls through bluetooth - on your laptop. Other phone manufacturers especially Nokia supports this technology. A consumer will have to pay for tethering when they are using their Iphones but not for other manufactueres. Is it not time for us to drive away from Apple?