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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?