Avantgo today

New Palm Centro, meaning reminiscing of old Palm softwares that are kept up to date, and one of them is Avantgo. As I logged on to my account (good thing I remembered my userID and password), I am now contemplating if I will install Avantgo into my phone or not. Hmmm?

To iPhone or not to iPhone

Lately, a lot of my friends have been asking about how good the
iPhone is, is it worth buying or not. My answer is, it depends.

The iPhone is surely a head-turner. The Omph factor is definitely
there. But after a while, it goes away. I mean, yeah I would like to
get one but perhaps, not the current generation.

Weeks ago, I was in a dilemma too, as to what my new phone should be,
and I ended up picking usefulness against, form. Same with the
iPhone, if you're wanting a phone (PHONE), then get the iPhone, it's
very classy and the wow-factor is very much there. But that's as far
as you can get. Use it as a phone, to dial and converse with people,
because if you go beyond calling, then the frustration sets in. Why
do I say this? You see, the input option for the iPhone is mainly (or
is ONLY) thru the touch screen, thru the "multi-touch" that Apple has
been bragging since day 1 of the iPhone. That means, no tactile
feedback, but, again, if you're after the interface, then the iPhone
is the way to go. The display and the UI is very amusing and
attracting at the same time. Again, it all ends there. Because when
the device tries to guess what letter you're trying to press and the
errors are up there. And that's even if the predictive text is off.

The point? Well, the iPhone is a very nice phone, nice feature-set
but for practicality, nah! If you're a person who uses his/her phone
mainly for text, DIFFICULT! At the moment, ebooks (e.g. novels,
medical books, etc) cannot be installed. Applications are still on
their way.

For me, I'm definitely getting one, but not yet! I will still go on
using my Palm Centro. Maybe when they have a much better feature-set
that will suit my needs, then and when the local telcos support it,
maybe then, but again, NOT YET!

Globe Visibility Time-based Pricing

This is Globe's new offering on their wireless broadband service, the time-based pricing of their Visibility service. Still comes with the Huawei E222 usb modem, works with Windows, Macs and Linux.
Tempting but I don't know if it's practical or not.

Phone Tools : myGlobe

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Palm OS SkinUI

I tried this and didn't like it. It made my Centro sluggish. But for
a freeware, it's something to be thankful for.

Palm Centro Files: the Email client

The Palm Centro is a very capable phone, without considering that the
operation system is aging, it gives you most functionalities and use it.

There are phones that offer users new functions, but very seldom will
users be able to use it. One of the reasons why I chose this phone
instead of the Sony Ericsson P1i, because with the Palm Centro, I can
use the features that come with it.

One of these features is the capability to send and receive emails.
Though I've done it with my Sony Ericsson M600i, I don't know if I
can replicate it again on the P1i.

But with the Centro, it's very easy. Just input the email address and
the wizard will help you with the settings. And it simply works.

iPhone in RP by Globe

According to Globe's website, they will be bringing in the iPhone to the Philippines. This is a fairly good news especially to Apple die-hards.

At the moment, there are plenty of iPhones in the Philippines mostly from the grey market or from relatives from the US, either way, all of these iPhones in the market does not enjoy any official support from Apple. With this development, many people who have been holding off in buying their own iPhone will surely dig deep in their pockets to enjoy the rich interface of the Apple cellphone.

Microsoft XP to continue only for budget notebooks

While Microsoft has seen it fit to keep XP around as its "relatively non-bloated OS" alternative to the Linux that has dominated this new category of "ultra low-cost PCs" (ULPCs), they're certainly not giving away the farm. Microsoft doesn't want this version of XP Home creeping into mainstream laptops and desktops, where it might compete with Vista sales and high-margin machines from PC manufacturers. To that end, Microsoft is setting the limits for ULPCs at 10.2-inch screens, 80GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, 1GHz processors (with some exceptions) and no touchscreens. The upshot is that licenses for XP will go for $26 in developing nations and $32 elsewhere.

Engadget

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Smart Broadband seeks NTC nod for expansion into Internet TV

Smart Broadband seeks NTC nod for expansion into Internet TV
By Mary Ann Ll. ReyesSunday, May 11, 2008

Smart Broadband Inc. (SBI) is seeking additional frequency bandwidth from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for the expansion and enhancement of its wireless broadband services, including a planned foray into Internet protocol television or IPTV.IPTV is a digital TV service which delivers television content to the viewer, not through traditional broadcast and cable formats, but through the technologies used for computer networks such as IP.For residential users, IPTV is often provided along with video on demand and may be bundled with Internet services such as Web access and VoIP (Voice over IP). The commercial bundling of IPTV, VoIP and Internet access is referred to as “Triple Play” service.

Philippine Star - Articles - -

Blogged with the Flock Browser

iCall - FREE calls to the US

When I was searching the net for cheap ways to call people from the internet, I stumbled upon, iCall, it's a VoIP type of calling that uses the broadband connection of the user. What set's it apart from the other VoIP services like Skype and Gizmo, is that, it offers free calls to any type of phone to the US and Canada. No fees required.

But I was disappointed when I used it tonight for the first time. The other end cannot hear me, or if we were lucky enough, the line was choppy. I could have ignored the delay, but a choppy line would be unacceptable. I will still try to call other numbers since I just called a New York number, hopefully I will be lucky with other numbers.

Hyundai i800

Looks familiar? It's because it the Hyandai Grad Starex. Introduced abroad as the i800. The i800 sports captain's chairs up front with two three-passenger benches out back. That makes a grand total of eight seat belts thanks to its totally accommodating third-row. Hyundai's big van is powered by a 2.5L four-cylinder CRDi diesel engine, so we expect acceleration is an afterthought in this cavernous cruiser. The i800 does, however, feature a coil-sprung rear suspension for a more minivan-like ride than some of its commercial transport competition.

Autoblog

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Price of the MSI Wind

I've been waiting for more details on the MSI Wind to come out, and I guess it's starting to trickle down, sketchy reports are saying that it will sell at $610 dollars, that's roughly P25T. I don't know if it's worth since I haven't personally seen it, but if they are going after the eeePC market, I don't think it's the way to go.

Recent specifications are a 10-inch screen, 1.6GHz processor (supposedly an Atom), 1GB of RAM, an 80GB disk and XP. I think they're going after the HP mini-note rather than the eeePC

Engadget

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Camera Phone

It's been a while since I used a "usable" camera phone. Now, I don't have to worry about filling up my phone's memory. a 2GB expansion card (microSD) is more than enough to store a days worth of fun pictures.

 It's a very good way to document things as they happen during the day. Here's a link to where the pictures are posted.

Check it out here.

Palm Centro Files: Battery Life and Charger

I don't know if it's because I didn't charge the battery for more than 8 hours in the first charging from the box, or it's really the battery but the battery life on my Centro does not reach the whole day. I mean, half way through the day, I'm already on my half power on the battery, makes sense?

Well, I have to bring the charger with me all the time to make sure that the batteries don't drain out on me mid of the day.

Oh and speaking of chargers, I don't like how it looks like. I like the charger for my Palm Zire 72 better. It looks like the charger of my cheapo portable DVD player hehehehe.

Palm Centro Files: Phone re-starts after Hotsync

I've upgraded my Palm Desktop to 6.5 and I've noticed that every time I hotsync, the phone part of the Centro turns off or the whole unit re-starts. Is this a bug or what?

Also I've noticed that the Hotsync log, always reports that there are errors during syncing but I can't seem to find the errors.

Palm Philippines - Products - Palm Centro Smartphone

With the launch of the newest Palm OS based smartphone, people are asking, what's wrong with Palm, and some are answering, it's because Palm is dying if not dead.

Hmmmm, it's been years that people have been saying how stupid Palm is for not listening to what people wants. Because Palm lacked the new features found in newer smartphones, I would like to agree with them, with one observation.

HEY Palm is still here!

Palm Philippines - Products - Palm Centro Smartphone

Blogged with the Flock Browser

eeePC 900

The eeePC 900 will be launched anytime this week, it's an upgrade of the very famous eeePC 701 just with a bigger screen, a bigger hard drive, bigger RAM, bigger trackpad, but still with the small, cramped keyboard. Oh and much more expensive.

I'm still not sold getting one. I have a 701, got it because of it's sweet price. But with the 900 coming out with a more than Php20T price tag, I don't think it will catch more fans. People would rather get a full-sized laptop than this one, except of course if they are after the size, most UMPC's available at the moment are very expensive and not so practical.

Engadget

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Microsoft Outlook

I am not a fan of Microsoft Outlook, but lately, I found myself using it more often. In fact for the past months, it has been my primary PIM application.

The frequency of using it increased when Google Calendar released a sync program that will let Outlook synchronize with Google Calendar. That was a great relief for me as it will shorten the process of putting my calendar entries into my mobile phone (Google Calendar is my primary calendar). And now that I have a new phone, a Palm Centro, instead of me synchronizing my PIM data on Palm Desktop, I am synchronizing with Microsoft Outlook. MS Outlook has become the center of my synchronization for my devices.

AVG 8.0 is out

Having a broadband connection opens up your computer to external attacks, including it's susceptibility to virus, trojans and worm attacks. Ever since I had broadband, I made sure my anti-virus software is always update and I make sure I scan my computer as frequent as possible. I've never had an infestation since then.

I have Spyware Doctor (the one from Google Pack), for my spyware protection, and I use AVG for my anti-virus software. AVG is as reliable as any other anti-virus software out there. Best of all, it's got a FREE version. Now, there's a new AVG in verison 8.0. Go get it from here.

The Centro files: Text input

It's a day after I got my new Centro, and it's a day of satisfaction and some surprises. I've never owned a Treo but I've had lots of experiences with a Palm OS device. There are differences of course on the thumb board layout from my previous M600i, but it's something to learn than to complain about. What surprised me was, I can't enter text using the touchscreen (or I think I can't, because I still haven't figured out how to), all text input (for the meantime) is through the thumb board.

Setting up the email was fairly easy (easier than the M600), so I think on this part, I've made a better decision on getting it than the P1i. But, I still have to get used to the smaller screen as compared to my Zire 72.

So far, I'm amazed at this phone, this is going to be a, exciting daily experience (hopefully not an expensive one).

My New Phone

Ok, so I've finally gave in to my cravings, and bought the Palm Centro. Forgetting about the higher camera resolution and wifi from the Sony Ericsson P1.
What turned me off the P1 was the difficulty in accessing the local wifi signal here at work, and how difficult it is to configure settings especially how Gmail would work.
I will be back to write on my experiences on this new toy of mine.