How else do you explain all the features that are being excluded from Wp7S? First, it was multi-tasking, then copy and paste, and now removable memory. No microSD? No MiniSD? No cards at all.

Yes; we want to scream. But what’s that going to achieve?

Source. Incidentally, we notice that Afewgoodmen mentioned this in a recent comment he made on another article we published recently on Windowsphone 7 Series.

Email this post

Take the modding scene for the Samsung i8910 HD, for example: Samsung promised a device that offered 720p video recording at 24fps, but that came out delivering much less on both audio and video formats. Samsung later released a fix for the audio, but that only messed up the video some more, leaving users with a bitter taste in the mouth. In addition, a powerful multimedia device such as the i8910 should not come with the 18mb free space on drive :C, as it does (latest firmware).

Thanks to the modding scene, Samsung’s failings with that device have now been addressed.

• Faster operation, more free space on disk C: (around 80MB! The official latest Samsung firmware has only about 18MB free)
• Full 24fps 720p video recording with higher quality audio capture; using the same settings as Vivaz
• Pre-autofocus in video recorder; re-enabling what Samsung couldn’t make work in the prototype firmwares
• Full kinetic scrolling across whole interface
• Better theme transitions

Source

This scenario of a lone individual or a group of individuals so improving on a device that the results produce a much better device can be replicated across other mobile platforms. For example, a great deal of such work goes on at XDA Developers.

The subject of the necesitty of custom ROMs naturally raise a few issues, which we present below.

Manufacturers
Why is it so hard for manufacturers to deliver devices with optimised firmware and that deliver what was promised? For example, is it so hard for Samsung to produce the same results as obtains with the HX-V3-17 custom ROM? Or Nokia with its litany of crippled devices?

Why sell crippled devices in the first place? Are there no testing procedures or is it that commercial interests override these? What of consumer protection? Any channels for legal redress?

Where a manufacturer has pushed out a crippled device, they should push out firmwares to resolve any issues as fast as possible as a matter of integrity and best business practice. A situation in which firmware issues remain unresolved a year after a device’s release is simply unacceptable.

Lastly, we love the way that Android handles firmare updates – even the most technology-ignorant users can get their devices updated with the latest firmware. Its all done over-the-air and in the background, though the option to do it manually is available as well.

Asking users to go through complex procedures of updating firmware by installing PC suite and connecting phones by data cable, backing up user data et al is simply ice-age and so not user-friendly. We would love to see the day that all manufacturers implement background OTA updates.

Consumers
If you have had the bitter pill of buying a device that does not deliver on its promises forced down your throat and you really want to get the best of your device via custom ROMs, do note the following:

1. custom ROMs invalidates your warranty (but what good is the warranty offered by a manufacturer if they can’t even deliver on their promise?)
2. the risk of bricking your phone (rendering it unusable) is always there. If it happens, you are on your own
3. lastly, the search for improvements to a device can be time-consuming and addictive. Depending on how busy you are with real life, it may turn out to be a tremendous consumer of your precious time flashing and trying out one ROM after the other

Email this post

Price – N39, 000.00

If you live in Lagos and are interested in the offer, please call 07088424150.

Email this post

• 3rd party apps cannot run in the background; only apps from Microsoft can
• Sideloading: the only way for consumers to get apps on Wp7S is to get them through marketplace
• No copy-and-paste
• Silverlight not available in Internet Explorer mobile, though Silverlight is built into Wp7S itself

It is looking like Wp7S is launching as what the first generation iPhone was. How smart is that?

It is almost unbelievable that Microsoft would do something like this. Would it really hurt them to give us the fancy user interface plus multi-tasking plus side-loading plus copy-and-paste?

Was it really that hard to implement these features that they had implemented for years in their existing mobile OS? Sounds like a step forward and three steps backwards to us. But, what do we know?

This strategy may work for Microsoft in terms of overall sales (it worked for the iPhone), but then Windowsphone will lose the patronage of mobile “power users”.

Read the full news items:

1. Wp7S Apps: No Sideloading, (virtually) no background multitasking
2. No copy-and-paste for Windows Phone 7 Series

Email this post

Members of our team use both services extensively and here we present a few observations from our use of both of them.

MTN 3.5G delivers a significantly faster browsing experience than Glo 3.5G
With MTN, we observe speeds of over 250 Kb/s regularly, though it can slowdown to almost unusable speeds at certain hours of the day – especially between 9 and 11pm.

On Glo 3.5G, we get between 70 and 150 Kb/s, plus we also observe that there are times it gets unusable too. However, there does not seem to be a fixed period that these downtimes occur. As a result of the slower speeds on Glo, downloads and video streaming are not quite as pleasurable as obtains via MTN.

MTN 3.5G often has issues with secure browsing
By secure browsing, we mean accessing encrypted websites and webpages with the https prefix. Every now and then, such sites simply are inaccessible on MTN internet.

MTN’s error 3180 issues
A problem has cropped up recently while using MTN 3.5G. When attempting an action that requires either a login or a form submission on a WordPress installation, “:3180″ is inserted in the URL string and results in the page not loading.

We are certain that the above are not indicative of all that there is to the two 3.5G mobile services, so if you have experienced any other issues or noticed other merits of either services, do feel free to post them in the comments section below.

Email this post

Now, there is an Opera for everyone (almost):

1. Opera Mini 5 for all java-enabled and Blackberry phones

2. Opera Mobile 10 beta for Android

3. Opera Mobile 10 for Windows Mobile

4. Opera Mini 5 beta for Windows Mobile

Opera gives you Top 5 reasons why you cannot live without Opera on your phone:

1. Get the best Internet experience on your phone
Opera delivers the full Web experience on nearly any mobile phone, and it is easy and free to download.

2. No more slow surfing
Opera mobile browsers are designed to boost your browsing speed significantly. Opera brings the best and fastest browsing experience on any mobile phone.

3. Get your mobile phone bills under control
Opera Mini’s compression technology reduces the amount of data sent to your phone by up to 90 percent, resulting in lower costs on pay-per-MB data plans or when roaming.

4. Web made easy, even on your phone
Opera keeps it simple with a sleekly designed user interface, regardless of the phone you are using, and with the same great feature set, such as Speed Dial, tabs, and the password manager.

5. Never leave your personal information behind
Opera Link lets you synchronize your bookmarks, notes and Speed Dial between your computer and your mobile phone. Make your information available wherever you are – at work, at home or on the road.

Download
Download Opera Mini 5 or Opera Mobile 10 directly to your phone from m.opera.com/.

Source

Email this post

Silverlight support for Nokia S60 5th Edition devices includes the ability to view Silverlight applications in the mobile browser and the tools to build Silverlight applications that target devices.

More details: The Official Microsoft Silverlight Site.

You can download from the Silverlight website.

Via

Email this post

Following a substantial reduction in the interconnect rates early this year, there was a raised hope of an inevitable gsm calls tariff’s reduction. However, events of the last 3-months has clearly shown that all expectations about tariff reduction were misplaced. What then is the purpose of interconnect rate reduction if subscribers cannot have call rate reduction? Why has NCC been silent on this issue? Subscribers are groaning under the prevailing high call rates. Subscribers must be protected against the exploitative tendencies of the GSM operators.

So, guys, what happened to the hopes of lower call tariffs?

Email this post

In the beginning, we had email. Enter: Instant Messaging, RSS, followed by Facebook, Twitter, Afrigator and the like. Let’s not forget that for most people, there is still TV and radio alongside other traditional media pumping information our way.

Never mind too that lots of the information that we receive via all these channels are duplicated: you get it in your mailbox, get another version by RSS, run into several tweets repeating the same, etc, etc.

Now with the integration of these into mobile technology, it really becomes addictive. Your tweets and those of your friends follow you around. Same goes for email, Facebook, RSS feeds and all the others. All of them constantly begging for your attention – a beep here; a message notification there.

What got us thinking along these lines is that one of our team members did an audit of his life last year and felt that being so super-connected had become more of a hindrance than a help to him. So last year, he pulled the plug on many of these channels. He swears that he’s now much more productive and that he has put on some extra weight since then.

We see the results of his decision here at the office and agree about the effects it has had on him (notice the italics). We are happy for him. But can it be true that we all do not necesarilly need to be so dug deep in the super-connected life?

Do we really need to be this connected? Do we really need all that information or are we just suckers for the next technology buzz? Are we heading for an information overload? You tell us what you think.

Email this post

Email this post