Friday, December 31, 2004

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

May we all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR! May the coming year be BOUNTIFUL to all of us!

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Virus for Symbian OS NOKIA Series 60 (AGAIN?!)

If you own a Nokia 6600, 36xx, 7650, N-Gage then you're at risk of getting this new virus for the cellphone. It's a variant of the dreaded Cabir worm, now on it's "G" species, it install (as usual) thru Bluetooth (you will definitely get it if you're the type who leaves his BT always ON). It disguises itself as a Metal Gear file (so gamers beware), or Sexxy.sis file (just beware). A note to you Symbian users, DON'T ACCEPT FILES FROM ANYONE YOU DON'T KNOW!

The PORSCHE Cayenne

I have seen this SUV a lot of times here already, but I haven't seen it in "action". The other day was in a different situation, I was on the South Louzon Expressway, and from my rear view mirror I say this car coming, just by the front panel I was able to recognize it. But even with a favorable condition, I did not see it in "action". Maybe it was the driver, since the road was not that congested, and I was able to cruise at 120kph on my REVO, I think the Cayenne was doing the same, OMG! I pity the PORSCHE, it must have been crying to the driver ... "cmon, hit it!"

Sunday, December 26, 2004

eBay Philippines

I was surfing the internet looking for something interesting to read, then I suddenly thought of going to the eBay Philippines website, just for a curious look. I am never fond of Internet purchases, still haven't convinced myself to dive into the frenzy, and also, I have been very curious, with all the articles coming out, regarding how the some things being sold on eBay are down right WEIRD. But then, with this local eBay site, it just proves how people could be so "entrepreneurial". There was one thing that caught my attention, it was a Gmail invite being sold thru eBay. OMG!

Friday, December 24, 2004

SEASON'S GREETINGS

May you ENJOY the CHRISTMAS Holiday! Spend it with all your love ones as this is what the BABY JESUS wants us to do...MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Saturday, December 18, 2004

iSilo (Med Apps)

This is one application you should have in your PDA (especially if you're in the Medical/Paramedical Profession). It's a document reader that is supported by lots of "free" e-books designed especially for the Medical/Para-medical professionals. If you are not too fond of the expensive Skyscape version of your books, then iSilo is the application to have. Besides ebooks for this application is extensive.

Friday, December 10, 2004

Bejeweled 2.0



Astraware released the latest version of their world-famous gam-puzzle game, Bejeweled 2.0. I tried the Palm OS version and was amazed at the new graphics and the new backgroud not previously seen in the old version. Although the game is basically the same, it now has 4 game options to choose from. The interesting part of this is the PUZZLE game, wherein one has to complete the 4 puzzles before going on to the next level. With the new generation Palm OS handhelds now capable of redering high resolution graphics with the new fast processors, games like Bejeweled has gone a long way from the simple yet addicting game from Astraware before.

Thursday, December 09, 2004

Motorola RAZR

This afternoon was the first time I got my hands on a Motorola RAZR. I would agree that it's pretty slim, and the Chrome and Alloy effect is awesome. Although one thing I seem not to like about it's physical attributes is the size, it's a bit on the big side (since I'm used to the Sony Ericsson K700i, which is a small phone). Also, it's on the expensive side, at P38T++. Although the package includes the USB cable, the softwares, the chargers, the handsfree headset and it also comes with a Bluetooth Headset. An impressive pack but still expensive.



Sunday, November 28, 2004

MaPalad (Philippine Palm Users Group) Anniversary & Christmas Bash

The MaPalad 5th Anniversary & Christmas Bash was a success. It was held last night November 27, 2004 at the roofdeck of Gilligan's in Glorietta Makati City. The food and place was excellent and was complimented by the 20 minute fireworks courtesy of Ayala Malls. Lots of prices were given away and member attendance was outstanding. Sponsors were at all times acoomodating and gave away lots of goodies. Overall the party was at usual one of the best for a user's group. Kepp it up!

Friday, November 26, 2004

palmOne has ears!

Due to concerns regarding the new file system implemented in Tungsten T5 and Treo 650, the NVFS, palmOne did not take long to issue a statement on the matter and committed to resolve the problem in the soonest possible time.  The statement comes swiftly in direct response to the recent controversy regarding memory space and how the NVFS RAM system takes up more room than standard memory. Although it hasn't been long (not even a month since palmOne has released the Tungsten T5 and the Treo 650), some early birds have discovered a problem with the new file system. Click on the link for more details.
 
 

Thursday, November 25, 2004

Plant Tycoon

ADDICTING! This is how I would describe this game from LDW Software. It's a PalmOS Game that is about raising plants and mixing their species to get the 4 magic/rare plants. Of course the catch is, you have to balance your scientific mind with it's entrepreneurial side. Who says money is nothing?! Enjoy!

Get Firefox!

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

MedCalc

I am recommending this application to all Physicians and would-be Physicians out there using a PalmOS-base PDA. It's the most extensive Medical Calculator I have ever seen for a PDA (be it a Palm handheld or a PocketPC). Almost all of the calculations used in Medical Practice can be found in one application, one does not have to toggle between applications to compute for the likes of EDC (Estimated Date of Confinement), the AOG, the corrected Creatinine Clearance etc.

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

GSL Xplore M28 is OUT!



The much anticipated Group Sense Limited Xplore M28 is already out in Asia, specifically in Malasia and pretty soon in other parts of the region. Now running Palm OS Garnet, it's a big jump from it's 2 predecessors the Zircon Z3 and the Xplore G88 which both uses Palm OS 4. Still exhibiting the "tiny" form-factor, and used the same sliding-keypad of the G88 but with it's tiny screen abeit it's high-color resolution capacity. Also, it now has it's built-in expansion slot for SD/MMC cards.

Billionton Bluetooth on SP2...FINALLY!

Thanks to the technical support of Billionton, my USB Bluetooth dongle now FINALLY works with Windows XP Service Pack 2. Now, Windows XP can recognize my device hardware and will not use it's own Bluetooth drivers, which SUCKS! I wonder why a GIANT software company does such a lame job with a driver of a widely used connectivity option. But since it's Microsoft, I'm not surprised at all.

Sunday, November 21, 2004

Gmail is now POP!

Gmail can now be accessed using any email client that supports POP. Now, with the current technologies, people with Gmail accounts can now Send & Recieve emails thru a variety of gadgets such as Desktop PC's, Notebooks, PDA's & mobile phones. This is a big step against Yahoo! who shifted to web-based only FREE email & gave POP access only to Premium customers. Now, Gmail users can read their emails offline & send all the replies & new emails all at the same time.

Saturday, November 20, 2004

Globe's GPRS Connection

Maybe it's just frustration, but when it's time to use Globe's GPRS connection, it's not working properly! Maybe it's just Murphy's Law at work, but for a big telco like Globe it's more of disappointment for me, a subscriber.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Off with the Blue Paint! The Zire 72s



Looks like palmOne realized that the chipping blue paint was better off out of the Zire 72's body. So now, with the same price and same specs, they've rolled out a "new" model, just without the blue paint. Talk about special editions. This one has been thought about by Zire 72 users a long time ago, only thing is they don't have the palmOne logo anymore. Hey palmOne how about releasing a scratch-on palmOne logo for the previous Zire72 owners!

Friday, November 12, 2004

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

ePocrates

Today, I begin to combine medical and technology with my Blogsite. To
begin this new venture I will talk about ePocrates.
ePocrates is a Physician's guide to the universe of Medications thru
the PalmOS (and lately the PPC). To us Filipinos, it's the
digital-mobile version of PIMS. It's got all the FDA-approved drugs and
is updated weekly on a regular basis (this is done using Hotsync and
while connected to the internet). It has all the same literature that
you'll find in the inserts of medicines. It gives you both adult and
pediatric dosing, adverse reactions, mechanism of actions etc. with
ePocrates Rx PRO, as with others, you get more, like ePocrates ID, a
database of infectious agents; ePocrates Lab; database of different laboratory procedures. And all these are interconnected so diagnosis is just a few taps away.

Windows XP SP2 & Billionton Bluetooth -- NOT COMPATIBLE!

As with any other Windows XP user (or any Windows version for that
matter), I was very eager to get SP2, just to get disappointed. As a
techie, I rely most of my synchronization for my peripheral devices
(i.e. mobile phone & pda) to Bluetooth connection. Gone are the days of
having webs of cables coming from the back of my PC, each with it's own
purpose as a tether to another device.

But after installing SP2, my BT dongle now is just a "generic" BT
device (as recognized by XP). Now the services that was offered by
Billionton were gone and was replaced by the limited services of SP2 BT
support.So I guess I will just rely on 'ol SP1 and my Anti-virus
software to protect my PC from malicious attacks.

Thursday, November 04, 2004

MOBLOGS

It's getting on my nerves! I've tried G-blogs and now Cubeblog but I can't post on both servers either thru text or thru MMS! This is getting very frustrating!I thought Cubeblog would do better than G-blogs with it's JAVA client, but it doesn't seen to connect properly with it's servers. Oh well!

Got my MSND Kit today




Got it today from Microsoft Philippines. A lot was inside the Welcome Kit, I tried to browse thru the different CDs & DVDs that came with the kit and found it interesting. Although the ID was not included and they said they will just notify me whenever it's already available. Posted by Hello

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

why is it not posting?

Why are my blogs using emails are not getting published?

Monday, November 01, 2004

So many! What Blog site to use?

Although I'm satisfied with Blogger, I'm still looking for a blog site that will host pictures that I've taken with my phone. Right now, I can post pictures in Blogger using Hello, but with it, I still have to get home and use Hello. I also have an account with myGlobe's G-Blogs, but uploading pictures on the fly and posting blogs has been unreliable lately. I have an account with www.20six.com, but I find it hard to use. Now I'm contemplating of using cubeBlog, I have already downloaded the JAVA application that will help me upload pictures on the blog site, but I haven't created an account with them yet.

Saturday, October 30, 2004

The iPod Photo



I don't know why Apple has to call their new iPod the iPod Photo. They could have released it as the 5th Gen iPod (although it's just weeks since they released the 4th Gen). Yeah you can store and view pictures in it with it's new color-crisp screen, but hey, it's basically the same iPod with just a different screen. Heck they even released an HP and a special U2 iPod, so I guess, iPod Photo is a long shot when it comes to the name if you'll ask me.

The Treo 650



palmOne has officially introduced the new Treo 650 smartphone, the latest member of the Treo smartphone family. The Treo 650 combines a compact, full-featured mobile phone with a thumb keyboard with email, a Palm OS organizer, messaging and web access. It adds many requested features such as a high resolution screen, Bluetooth wireless and an improved camera.

The Treo 650 will be available as either a digital dual-band CDMA/1xRTT or a GSM/GPRS/EDGE quad-band world phone. General carrier availability is expected to begin later this year in the United States, with worldwide rollout to follow in 2005.

The Treo 650 improves upon the successful design of the Treo 600. The screen is a sharper 320x320 pixel high resolution 65,000 color TFT touch-screen display that offers improved visibility in sunlight. It also adds an improved camera, integrated Bluetooth wireless, a removable battery and non-volatile memory.

The keyboard features larger and flatter buttons arranged in a smile pattern. The keys also have an improved backlight for use in dark situations. The launcher and menu keys have been moved around the 5-way to create a central navigation region. More phone like green and red "send/end" buttons have also been added.

The VGA camera has been improved to take better pictures, especially in low light situations. It now features video capture and playback, 2x digital zoom and a small fixed mirror for self-portraits.

The Treo 650 runs Palm OS Garnet v5.4 on a 312 MHz Intel PXA270 processor. It includes 32MB of non-volatile Flash RAM (of which ~23 MB is user accessible), that will stay preserved even when not charged or the battery is removed.

The built in expansion slot can accommodate MMC, SD and SDIO cards. However, it will not support the palmOne WiFi SD card at launch. palmOne claims to be evaluating the situation, so there is only a slight potential the card will eventually be supported.

It comes with a 1900 mAH Li-ion rechargeable battery that can be removed. Battery life for GSM models is rated at 6 hours talk and 300 hours standby. The 650 includes the new Multi-Connector for recharging and hotsyncing the Treo via a cable.

The Treo 650 now comes with much of the same software as the Tungsten line. This includes palmOne enhanced PIM suite, the Blazer web browser v3.0, VersaMail v3.0, the Real Player for mp3 audio, and Dataviz Documents to Go v7 for Word, Excel and PowerPoint Microsoft office files and email attachments.

With VersaMail's support for POP and IMAP email servers, users can download mail wirelessly or by synchronizing with their desktops. For Enterprise users whose organizations run Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, the Treo 650 has built in Exchange Server ActiveSync that will directly import and enable corporate email and calendar synchronization.

The Treo 650 lets users send and receive sms/mms text messages, photos or video clips right away from one application with a single inbox. And with text messages threaded in a IM chat-style view, users can see the entire conversation.

With Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Memos and more, the Treo 650 lets users organize and simplify their business and personal lives all in one place. Users can dial contacts by name from their contacts list or enter a name or number on the QWERTY keyboard or on-screen dial pad. Speakerphone, speed dial, conference calling, call history, and caller ID are there for managing calls.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

The DOCK on a WINBOX

INVADERS! Looks like more and more people are trying to make Windows look more like a Mac. See, if there is a Windows emulator for the Mac -- the Virtual PC, then there are tweaks for windows that will make it look more like a Mac (although it may not function as one).

If you're a die-hard Windows user and there's nothing in you that can compel yourself to get yourself a Mac, but you obviously drool over the BEAUTIFUL Icons and transitions that the Mac has then salivate no more. A company named Stardock has created some programs for Windows that make it look more like a Mac. One of these programs is the OBJECT DOCK. If you're a Mac Fanatic then you'll know by now that what I'm talking about is the DOCK from OS X, if you're a Windows user and knows nothing about the Mac, then read on.

The DOCK is like the Task Bar in Windows. There you can find and place your Frequently Used Icons/Shortcuts for your (of Course) Frequently Used programs. The difference? THE WOW EFFECT that the Animation of the DOCK shows. With Windows Task Bar, yeah it's there. But that's it. With the DOCK, well it's there, you can see it's presence, but try running your mouse over the icons and....you should try to install it and be the judge.

OBJECT DOCK is just one of the wonderful and fun programs you can download from Stardock and is just one of the programs that will give you the feel of a Mac on Windows. Now who says that only Mac users can enjoy THE DOCK. The best thing about it is it's free!

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Clie VZ90 for US Importation

Looks like Clie Enthusiasts won't take it sitting down. A company called Dynamism is now accepting orders for the Japan-only clie VZ90. The company will import the PDA's and if you're going to ask..."how about the Jap OS?". Well the company is still thinking about how to translate the OS to English. The price? US$1099.

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Wireless Village Anyone?


If you own anyone of these phones: Nokia 3220, Nokia 6220, Nokia 6820, Nokia 6230, Nokia 5140, Nokia 6810, Nokia 7200, Nokia 7610, Motorola V500, Motorola V600, Motorola E398, Sony Ericsson T637, Sony Ericsson T630, SonyEricsson F500i, SonyEricsson K500i, SonyEricsson K700i, SonyEricsson S700, SonyEricsson Z1010, SonyEricsson T206, chances are you have a Wireless Village client in your mobile phone. For Sony Ericsson they call it My Friends. And now you can USE IT!

Wireless Village started out with the Wireless Village initiative that is composed of
different companies wanting to integrate Instant Messaging into mobile phones. But instead of creating another IM standard, they used the existing ones and provided a client for all famous IMs (i.e. Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, ICQ & AOL). This is pretty much the same as with the Agile Messenger in PocketPC's and VeriChat for the PalmOS devices but this is in the cellular phone itself. The wireless village is a part of the Mobile IMPS (instant messaging and presence services) initiative formed by Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia in 2001.

There are four key features of wireless village: presence, IM (instant messaging), groups or chat, and shared content. Presence is an extension to IMs. It will include your status (online/offline/on a call/in a meeting), device capabilities (GPRS, text, voice, multimedia), device availability (is the phone or mobile device on/off), and your mood and hobby information. IM will be essentially the same as today, with interoperability between desktops and mobile devices.It will allow you to create and manage chat groups. These groups can be taken a step ahead by having an online storage for this content. It will also include access control features to enable or disable the above-mentioned services.

Ok, so you have the WV-enabled phone, what now? How do you set it up? It has been thought that it's the telcos that will be putting up the structure based on the specifications from Wireless Village. Up 'til now, no telco has put up that structure, thus we are left waiting, and the client in the phone is just another useles application.

Lo and behold, a website is offering to help us with our problem. www.yamigo.com is now offering FREE service for us to use the Wireless Village application in our phone. Unfortunately though, we will be forced to get/invent another username to add to the thousands we are using already. But after that, it's chatting on-the-go!

I've tried it on my K700 and I was able to log-in 5 minutes after I set-up my FREE account in yamigo.com. Though there are still some quirks like, Buddies from your IM is NOT added automatically, meaning you have to add your contacts/buddy one-by-one. And for Motorola and Sony Ericsson users, they are still figuring out how to do this since there seems to be some conflict with the firmwares of the said phones. One consolation though (for SE and Motorola owners) you can still add any registered Yamigo user.

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

The NEW Clie VZ90



Sony released a new PalmOS PDA using the Clie brand...only in Japan. As announced by Sony a few months back they will not be releasing any Clie other than the Japan market. This is a pity since the new handheld sports a lot of improvements from the previous models with this one focusing on the new sliding design. Sony praises in the press-release the OLED display of the CLIE VZ90. Besides a Memorystick slot the new Clie also has a CF-Card slot. Possible a first for Sony.The VZ90 has software bundled to play Movies, display photos and of course play Music.30fps is possible for MP4 movie playback on the new sony gadget.The VZ90 runs Palm OS 5.2.1 on the Sony Handheld Engine CPU with 123MHz.

Group Sense is now Making Sense!

The makers of the cute and powerful smartphone Zircon z3 has now announced their new upcoming handheld, the Xplore M28. This time, GSL has updated their hardware to comply with PalmOS 5 (they are using Palm OS 5.2 to be exact). Still with the camera and the sliding form factor (which was introduced on the Zircon G88), but this time no protruding antenna. It will now have the capability to play MP3's and the memory won't be limited to the phone but will now have expansion property with the use of SD/MMC cards. Still using the dual band configuration, meaning it can't be used in the US.It still has that stunning screen. One thing's for sure, the Treo will surely have a competition with this device!



FEATURE SET:
Main Features for Xplore M28
Display
- Size: 2.2" TFT
- Max Color: 260K colors
- Extra light backlight
- Turn on and off animations
- Show clock, phone status (e.g.
battery capacity, signal strength, profile,...etc) and caller ID info
- Show GSM status in LED in sleep mode
- Wallpaper
Built-in camera:
- VGA 300K pixels CMOS digital camera
- Digital zoom
- Multi-shot function
- Brightness, white balance adjustment
- Mode selection
- Resolution selection
- Self-portrait with timer
- Photo effects and photo sticker frames, preview and editing function
- Photo capture for MMS, Wallpaper, Caller ID

Multi Media entertainment:
- MP3 player
- Video player: MPEG4, 3GPP
- Unlimited Video recording (depends on the capacity of memory card)
- Download Video and audio clip
- Digital voice recording (AMR) and can be sent and receive by MMS
- Palm games

Ringtone:
- 40 polyphonic ringtones
- MIDI, MP3, True tone
- Group/Caller profile via ringtone & graphics
- Ringtone download thru OTA

WAP and Data:
- xHTML browser over WAP 2.0
- GPRS, Class 10
- OTA for GPRS settings
- WAP push function
- Data transmission thru IrDA

Message:
- SMS, MMS
- Support file format: 3gp, mpeg4, jpeg, gif, png, midi, amr
- Email support (POP3, SMTP)

Others features:
- Dual-band GSM 900/1800
- Dictionary
- Notes (Memo)
- Calculator
- Calendar with notes view and calendar alarm (Datebook)
- To do list
- Alarm Clock
- Changeable color schemes

Storage:
- Total user accessible memory: 32MB (16MB flash RAM, 16MB SDRAM)
- External SD/MMC card slot

Batteries:
- Talk time up to: at least 3-4 hrs
- Stand by time: 150-200 hrs

Synchronization:
- Synchronize your data to your PC. Or use it to download applications, create ringing tones and edit images. Then upload them onto your phone
- USB data cable for synchronization

Accessories:
- Extended battery
- Traveler charger
- Handfree headset
- USB cable

Dimension:
- 106mm x 50.8mm x 23.5mm
- 130.5mm x 50.8mm x 23.5mm (Slide up)
Weight:
- 132g (including battery and stylus)

Saturday, September 11, 2004

Globelines Broadband's Modems

I salute Globe for giving subscribers the flexibility in choices available for them. A good example is how customers can connect to the internet. There are two ways, one is the built-in the line NetExpress Dial-up where users are charged by the minute and is billed within the existing billing of the phone. And there is the Broadband services. Within the Broadband area, customers have the choice of getting the P995 package offering 30 Hrs/month of DSL use with almost 10x the speed of dial-up and 2x the speed of PLDT's entry level myDSL. Then there's the P1995/month with unlimited use for residential subscribers. Of course there's choices for the Business subcribers as well.

Unfortunately though, for the subscribers, the modem that comes with the DSL subscription is a USB modem, a SpeedTouch 330 to be exact. I have nothing against the modem really, only for the fact that, you can't connect it to a Wireless network. Meaning, if you plan to intall a wireless network in your home, so as to take advantage of the increased internet speed, then you're out of luck if you subscribe of the Globelines plans that uses SpeedTouch 330 as the modem. It's because, majority of the Wireless Access Points on the market has no USB input port in it. Most uses the RJ45 (Ethernet) jack as input from the DSL modem. So, at the moment, there is no way to create a wireless network in your home with the current modem set-up, but to pass through a PC where the Broadband connection will be routed to. Although getting another modem, this time with an Ethernet (RJ45) jack is an option. An option that would prove expensive one you realize it's not compatible with your operator's specs. Besides, it's every hard to find a DSL modem in the Philippine market.

Sunday, September 05, 2004

Panasonic X300

This looks like it'll be a great phone. The flip screen is one nice idea, but from the reviews I've read, looks like, it's just the looks. The features are low-end. It doesn't have Bluetooth, no memory expansion capabilities (there goes the video thing). I'll be posting more about this phone when I get more specific details, but so far, it has been launched already in the Philippines.

Saturday, August 28, 2004

SAMSUNG's New Palm OS Phone

RUMOR has it that SAMSUNG will be releasing a new Palm-Powered phone, the SGH-i530. It's supposed to be the upgraded version to their SGH-i500. Details from an Italian website says that it will run Palm OS Garnet 5.2. Its processor isn't known at this time, but the i500 uses a 300 MHz Intel processor. The i530 will have 32 MB of RAM and an SD/MMC slot for extra storage.

The i530 will supposedly have a 324-by-352-pixel, 16-bit, TFT, touchscreen as its primary display. It will also include a smaller 96-by-128-pixel, full-color, OLED display on its exterior to display time- and phone-related information.

This will be a tri-band GSM/GPRS (900/1800/1900) device. It won't support EDGE but its current data capabilities will allow users to send and receive emails and SMS and MMS messages. It will also allow web surfing and WAP.

Reportedly, the i530 won't have built-in Bluetooth short-range wireless networking.

The smart phone will, of course, run most Palm OS applications and it will support playback of MPEG-4 and MP3 files.

The resolution of its built-in camera is not yet known, but it is expected to be better than that offered by the i500.

The Samsung SGH-i530 will be available in late spring or early summer. The company plans to give one of these to over 22,000 VIPs, athletes, and officials at the Olympic games in Athens, Greece this summer.

If you will examine the pictures, the Olympic logo can be seen

New SAMSUNG phone SGH-V500

SAMSUNG has released a new phone. This time, it has a swivel screen but on a horizontal axis. Unfortunately it uses the CDMA technology so RP peeps will have to wait for the GSM version.

Friday, August 27, 2004

Skyscape Palm Applications



I recently installed applications from Skyscape in my Palm, and I found out that they may be eye candy than the other Medical applications for the Palm, but may not have the functionality of the others in it. Just for example the Archimedes Medical calculator. Compared to MedCalc (probably the most comprehensive Medical Calculator I've seen sofar), it lacks some of the important Formulas needed in my daily rounds/clinics (e.g. Pregnancy Calculator). With regards to books, i.e. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, I would say I liked the Skyscape version than the iSilo format.

Treo 650 pictures out!



Pictures of the much-awaited successor to the Treo 600 is out. The Treo 650 or Treo Ace sports a lot of enhancements from the previous model. Looks like the XDA will have an equal competition on this one. It is supposed to have said to have built-in Bluetooth, a faster 312MHz processor, 32MB of RAM, a higher-resolution 320x320 LCD screen, dedicated answer and disconnect buttons, and a one megapixel digital camera. More details are sure to come. A removable battery, a mirror next to the camera lens for taking self-portraits, a definite Bluetooth icon on one of the screens, a bigger speaker, and a more recessed SD memory card slot. Possibly also push-to-talk.

NOKIA Offers Re-Flashing of Infected Phones



NOKIA has offered to re-flash phones that have been infected by the CABIR/CARIBE Bluetooth Virus.

Nokia is alert to the existence of a laboratory-recognized concept worm, which attempts to replicate itself over Bluetooth. The worm sends a copy of itself to “visible” Bluetooth devices. However, the worm will not affect the device unless the user takes the active step of accepting it. Additionally, the worm cannot find devices in which Bluetooth is switched to “hidden” mode, or those in which Bluetooth is switched off. The worm is not spread over mobile networks.

The worm is coded to run under Symbian OS. According to Nokia’s tests, the on-market devices that could be affected include those Nokia models that run the Series 60 smart phone platform.

Since Bluetooth is essentially a means of sharing data, the best precaution is to exercise caution when accepting files from unknown or untrusted sources. If the worm is accepted to a device, it can be deleted without causing any harm to the device.

Nokia is monitoring the situation and will take active measures to address the issue of mobile malware including the Cabir worm. When potential issues come to our attention, we analyze them and take appropriate measures. Based on the analyses to date, Nokia believes the current security threat is relatively small and unlikely to mirror the risk profile of the fixed Internet.



K700i Firmware Upgrade



It's been four days now after I had my phone's firmware upgraded to R2L. So far the changes that I noticed are: bigger hour glass, new deleted icon, connection prompt now has an animated icon, slower refresh rate in the Pictures folder, bigger Operator fonts. SESS claims that the upgrade solves the battery problems, but I've yet to find out.

Sunday, August 22, 2004

UIQ Phone from Benq



Taiwan based Benq will soon release their own Symbian OS UIQ phone the P30. Based on initial pictures and specs on the web, this phone has great potential. The most distinct difference from its cousins from SonyEricsson and Motorola is its size. This one is way thinner than the two. According to reports, the keypads are similar to the P900 in tactile feedback, which is good! Although, initial impression on the user interface says that it's not much as like that of the P900. It offers almost the same features as the other UIQ devices such as VGA camera, and high-resolution color touch-screen, this one offers SDIO capable SD/MMC card slot. Let's wait and see if Benq will be thru to it's promise.

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

palmOne Launches Wi-Fi Card



At last, the much awaited Wi-Fi card from palmOne has been launched. Out in stores by September 3, 2004 at $125.00. Unfortunately, it can only be used on Tungsten T3 and Zire 72. PalmOne's explanation why only two of their handhelds can use the card sounds as if, there are hardware incompatabilities with the other handhelds. SanDisk was first to release a WiFi SD Card, which is compatible with PPC and Zire 71, the only palmOne handheld that can use the said product. The palmOne WiFi card comes with a whopping 4MB installer which should be installed into the Palm and will extract itself but fortunately will leave only 1MB of footprint and is hardware specific.



Now I wonder if SanDisk will comeout with their own version/revision of the product since the palOne virtually released the driver for the other handhelds.

GLOBELINES NET EXPRESS



I find it odd, that after Globelines announced a more aggressive marketing for their Globelines DSL, my Globelines NX (Net Express) Dial-up internet started to FUCK up! At first I ignored it, but after sometime of blaming the rains and the "increasing" dial-up users, I finally came into the conclusion that DSL is already available in our area and by disrupting the dial-up process, one will be FORCED to apply for Globelines DSL.

Multi-Tasking?

Whew, it's been a long time since I've updated and posted. That's because I was in Tanay, Rizal. Yup, just across Joseph Estrada's Tanay Villa. The view there was breath taking, it's Baguio Jr. but nearer the city. To get there you have to pass thru Antipolo, Teresa/Binangonan, Angono then Tanay. But we didn't stop there, we were at the top of Tanay Rizal.

Enough of that, my query is that, I'm wondering why palmOne is bragging about "multi-tasking" in it's upcoming Palm OS 6, which they say boasts of Multimedia capabilities and is already capable of Multitasking. I find this very confusing. Why, would a very big and famous company, respected in the electronics and software communities for it's innovations, be so fussy with Multitasking? I know previous, up to the present Palm OS versions are not capable of multi-tasking, but I beg to disagree and I will elaborate later.

vs

I'm confused because, for a PDA/handheld computer, this should be a standard (one big plus for PocketPC). Now, what's multi-tasking? As the word says, it should be able to process two (2) or more things at the same time. this is evident on one's Desktop PC (Apple or Windows). You can do word processing on MS Word while printing a picture and birning a CD all at the same time. Again, what's bothering me? Well, I have this new phone, it's a Sony Ericsson K700i.

Now this phone, again it's a phone. It can play MP3's, MIDI's and WAV's and FM radio signals, while I am texting or using WAP and looking at photos. Isn't that "multi-tasking"? I wonder?

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

IMX Mobile

On my way home today, I passed through Shangri-la Plaza Mall, and in there I passed by Wireless Connections, a mobile phone outlet. There I saw ads for IMX Mobile, the local version of NEXTEL of the USA and got me asking, why is NEXTEL so popular in Corporate America.

I realized that Americans are used to voice calls, they don't like anything much on their things, expecially if it will complicate it. So, it's obvious that they're just catching up on the "texting craze". They're too much into voice calls that even in the middle of nowhere, there's a telephone booth.

Back to IMX Mobile. I've been reading about this company for some time now, and, it's been since their launching that they're promoting there product. Perhaps they're asking, why are we not catching up with the other TelCos? Perhaps they should look at their coverage! With the leaflet that I got from Wireless Connections, IMX is only limited to Luzon and upto Batangas at the farthest! I don't think they could be proud of that, while with SMART ..."there's no mountain high enough", and with Globe, there's Ate Shaui calling Kiko in God know's where that over-looking house is, with her own cell site at that!

I don't know then what PTT (push-to-talk) technology, which Nokia will be lauching with their 5220, will do with IMX, since it's their field. Let's wait and see.

Monday, July 26, 2004

The Zircon G88

Here's another one from this Singaporean PDA/Phone Manufacturer. The Zircon G88. It's feature packed with one downside. It runs on PalmOS 4.1, not that I'm undermining the capabilities of OS 4.1 but with today's trend, hey we're already waiting for the release for PalmOS 6.0 for goodness sake, they should have at least used PalmOS5.0.



Anyways, this is another option for the PDA/Phone market, it's got what most phones has, with some extras like 260K colors, 48MB memory, video playback (but this one, Palm PDA's has been doing this since Palm OS 3.0). Unfortunately, one has to get the Card Reader Accessory to have the expansion capabilities. One upgrade from the Zircon Z3 was the sliding Nokia 7650-like keypad and the USB capabilities which the Z3 lacked. Still, it's a good-looking phone with tons of features. Another drawback though is the price, more or less this will come out (if it ever does) in the Philippine market at around 33T++ since it's listed at SGD $893.00

The N-Gage QD

Yup, I found the 3rd Nokia that I liked, first it was the 6120, then the 6600, now this. Why do I like the phone? Well, it's the look, I like the color combination then there's the price, IT'S CHEAP! Considering it looks better than the N36xx series. Others that know me would ask, GAN! You're buying that phone for what reasons again?! Well, I'm looking for a phone that I'll be buying next, not that I'm ditching my SE K700i, it's just that, I like to get another one. The price is tempting, that and the fact that I could play games on it (though still expensive)!



It's dual band only. It only has 4068 colors. It doesn't have an MP3 player of radio (so what is Real Player doing?), games are expensive, it can only use MMC cards (so?!), no camera, no USB port (so what?! It's got Bluetooth). But it still looks good! It's still cheap compared to phones in it's class (who said it can only be used as a gaming platform?), it's got Bluetooth (although the connection is yet to be determined), it's got iR (who uses iR these days? Oh, the Nokia people hehehehe) and did I say it's CHEAP!

Now it's either that of the K500, we'll see.

Saturday, July 17, 2004


Sony Ericsson Released the P910

So what's new? Nothing much, except for the updated screen colors and thumboard. It still looks the same, the camera resolution is still the same, well some softwares were added. But a friend of mine was wondering in his column (blog.m-ph.com) why SE would release a "new" product when the product it was suppose to replace is still selling like hotcakes. Well, SE is know for this, overlapping products, and instead of launching them all at the same time, they would do a piecemeal launch.

I first noticed this attitude of SE with the T610. After the official launch, they came out with the T616, so what's the difference? Nothing! It's just that the T616 uses the 850mHz frequency while the T610 uses 900mHz. Still Tri-band but works out totally different. I realized this when I got a T616 from the US, after travelling around Manila or the country, it keeps on giving me the No Access alert on the screen. What baffled me was that my friend's T610 got full bars of Network signal on his, considering we're using the same Operator. Then there's the T100 with the T105, the T630 with the T637, the F500 with the K500.

So, I wouldn't be surprised with this move from SE. Besides, just take a look at the separate launch of the S700 from the S710. Basically the same, in fact identical in features, only the location of release is different. Posted by Hello

Buttons on the Sony Ericsson K700i

Looks like the K700 is running behind the T610 when it comes to the design of the buttons. It uses the clear transparent plastic buttons on the number keypads and an opaque rubbery material on the softkeys, made only elegant by the white backlight. As compared to the T610, although using plastic as the base material, the looks is elegant, made more aesthetically pretty by the white backlight.

W@P on the Sony Ericsson K700i

Wap on the K700 is a treat to use. It's refresh and loading rate is fast (as compared to the T610). Launching the W@P borowser though is still the same, just press the Online button at the upper right hand side of the phone and one will immediately be on the home page of his network (or whatever is the preset homepage setting is).

Monday, July 12, 2004

GOODBYE My T610

Today I finally said goodbye to my T610. I'm not that person who sells something to get a new one (there goes the saying...UPGRADE). But this time, for practicality and financial reasons, I really have to go to a trusted phone. What makes it hard to let go is that, I really took care of that phone, being carefull everytime just to make sure that it will not get scratched from every surface that I will bump into. Besides, even though my new phone (SE K700i) gets all praises from me (except for the tone output), the T610 has the looks one will always respect. It's got that "high-up-there" look, where just by merely looking at it, one would say..."now that's a phone I would love to have!" But then again, everybody has to move one, and for my T610, it's to another owner and for me...Hello K700i!

ENJOYING MY K700i

I must admit, I'm enjoying my new phone. Although I can't say that I did not enjoy my T610, but this time, the multimedia capabilities of the K700i exceeds that of the T610 except for one thing, the Polytones. In this area, I have yet to see a phone that will beat the T610's abilities to output a sound and all it's details can be heard. But other than that, I'm NOT at all disappointed that I got the K700i as an upgrade phone. The pictures are now clearer, which gives me the confort of not worrying that I was not able to bring my Digital Camera with me when something worthwhile comes out. Since I never leave home without my phone (who does?) I can always pop it out of my pocket and there goes that "Kodak" moment. True, before, I told myself that a camera on a phone is not that important, it's just an add-on. Now I see and appreciate it't importance.

Friday, July 09, 2004

Topee's Wedding

Tomorrow, 10 July 2004 Saturday, Topee Carlos will be married at Paco Catholic Church at 4pm

My New Phone

I got my new phone today, it's a Sony Ericsson K700i. So excited I was that I couldn't wait 'til the end of the day to buy it. It's more than I expected it to be. But I'm having some trouble with some of it's Bluetooth properties, hopefully I'll be able to make it work.

Here's my new phone. totally Brand New, I got it at the Hub in Glorietta Posted by Hello

Aillee's New Baby Boy

Aillee Montenegro-Manalang gave birth to a bouncing baby boy last 24 June 2004. Joaquin Josh Alexis M. Manalang

Sunday, July 04, 2004


I took this photo this morning on my way home. It's in a bus, although you won't be able to decipher where it is (even Gil Grisam of CSI) won't be able to know where this is. Posted by Hello

Thursday, July 01, 2004

Excited Posting Photos

I don't know if you have noticed but I was so excited to post my photos here, that I almost freaked out when my phoneline acted up. Whew good thing it's working fine now (I hope!). But I must say, Hello from Picasa is great.

Here's the 1st group pic at the top of Mt. Samat Cross Posted by Hello

Will you look at that, another one, ano ba ito mga model o mga duktor? Posted by Hello

Pang GQ pose at the top of the Mt. Samat Cross Posted by Hello

Now that's us at the bottom of the Cross in Mt. Samat Posted by Hello

This is where we are going (May 2, 2004) Posted by Hello

My Phoneline

I've been having trouble with my phoneline for a few days now. I have Globelines, I really don't have a problem with the service since it was installed. I think the problem is with my internal wirings, I still don't know. But I think the network has a problem as well, because everytime I would dial-up for the NetExpress (Globelines' own dial-up internet service), in the recent days would disconnect or I would have a hard time connecting OR getting a good speed.

Saturday, June 26, 2004

My first Paint Chip

I saw the first paint chip on my Zire 72! As expected it's at the Silo of the Stylus, I better get a Combo stylus right away. That means spending money again!

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

My 1st impressions on my Zire 72

What an upgrade, now I have wireless capabilities on my pda. I can HOTSYNC wirelessly, send and receive text messeges from my T610 on my Zire, surf the web and send & receive emails while away from my PC even without going to a Wi-Fi hotpsot. Now I'm really "connected" wirelessly.

The screen is impressive, although I have a Hi-Res device before (SONY Clie NR70V), this one is very different, the icons of Palm OS 5 are very nice to stare at. It doesn't have the screen of the Tungsten T where when you lay it down on its side, you will not be able to see what's on the screen. I noticed a big difference from my old Clie, was the refresh speed of the screen, it's too fast that it seemed that the screen or the pda itself was too sensitive to the taps. I liked the new Calendar (Datebook) feature where JPEGS from the Media application can be used as a background. What I like most is the Bluetooth function, now I use it to send SMS and MMS to my friends without bring out my phone from my pocket. I also used it to surf the web using the lates Web Pro from Palm. Then there's Versamail to send and receive emails wirelessly on multiple accounts, also I installed Verichat as my all in one IM center. It could handle AIM,YM, MSN and ICQ all at the same time. But what I observed from the BT is that, it drains the power too much when it's left on, and when the battery level is beyond the 1/2 mark, the range of the BT is decreased and can lead to a total darin thus memory wipe out (Hard REset) resulting to lost data. Now I don't worry about wires since I can Hotsync thru BT. And I don't have to buy a sync-charger since it doesn't come with a cradle, but instead, it came with a USB cable (again I won't bother using it since I use BT for Hotsyncing). So I can bring the charger/adaptor anywhere, thus no problem with drained batteries. The case that came with it is already enough protection, as I see it for my new Zire, I don't think I'll be getting one of those Hard Cases, since I think it defies the logic of the pda being small and handy. What I hate about it is the supplied stylus, the one with the Clie, I thought before looked cheap, but with this one, I'll say otherwise. Overall, I'm very much contented with this one, now I'm on the look out for a memory card SD/MMC not less than 128MB of course. See you around!

My New Zire 72

It took me weeks before I decided to get myself a new Palm. What's bothering me was the idea of buying a new one, when I still have a fully functional SONY Clie NR70V. The problem was how to convince myself why I should buy a new PDA (and of course the thought of shelling out that much money). After convincing myself to get a new handheld computer, then came the decision of what PDA to get. As I have said, my NR70V was still very much alive and useful, so what to get. I told myself, if ever I would upgrade, it should be much more than what I have on my NR70V, so I scouted around and thought of upgrading to one which has either Bluetooth or Wi-Fi or both. Then it's either a Palm OS based or a PocketPC. Told myself, why not get a PocketPC since I already have a Palm PDA. But then again, something in my head keeps on telling me that if I buy a PocketPC, only the embedded Pocket Word, some of the Pocket Excel and the Pocket Internet Explorer would be useful since there's not much applications available for my field for the PPC. So, it's a Palm OS then. But again, which one, there's the SONY Clie TJ37 with Wi-Fi or the Palm Zire 72 with Bluetooth and a 1.2 Megapixel camera or the ultimate pda yet the SONY Clie UX50. Very few choices, but very hard to make the choice. I excluded the UX50 because of the price, very expensive, I could get other toys for the extra money that I would save if I will not get it. So it's down to the TJ37 and the Zire72. Which one again? Most of the deciding factors are on the Clie's side, since I've invested so much on Clie accessories (i.e. Memory Sticks), but thought to myself, how useful would Wi-Fi be for me. It may be convenient and cheap to surf the net and download emails using Wi-Fi but what limits it is the availability of HOTSPOTS. That means, to use the Wi-Fi feature, I should frequent Hotspots. So I decided to get myself a Zire72, which as of today, I still sleep with it on my side.

Sunday, May 16, 2004

My very first BLOG!

My very first BLOG!

After soooo many years of having created an account with Blooger.com, this will be the very first time I will be posting a Blog. All the while I thought I have a Blog site, but just now, I realized that I don't. I created a website, but didn't know what to put in it, and ended up with a website that contained my thoughts. As it is, it should have been a Blogsite instead. Now, since, publishing a Blog is easier (for me of course), than updating a website, I prefer using the Blog.

It's from CNN.com that I found out that Blogger.com has been acquired by Google and was recently reformatted. I got interested (again) in Bloggin and here I am now. Next I'll try to find out how to publish a Blog thru my cellular phone or thru SMS, since I just found out (again) that I can publish a Blog thru email which I can also do thru my cellular phone since it has it's own email client (but I still have to try it out since I'm talking here thru assumption, because the web site claims it to be).

Oh and by the way, because of the excitement, I did not follow the instructions on getting started, I ended up again with failure. I decided to create another Blog account at Blogdrive, but eventually was able to make my account here at Blogger.com work