June 2006 Archives

I've had my laptop for over a year and a half now, but I've never really given it a thorough cleaning. So you could imagine the kind of dust and dirt that it has accumulated by now. I decided that it was high time that I gave my overworked tool a decent tidying up. There are a number of high-end, expensive laptop cleaners out there, but nothing beats good old-fashioned (and very cheap) MC Multi-Purpose Cleaning Cream, available at your local groceries and hardware stores. It's non-reactive, which means that it's very safe on your equipment's surfaces, and it instantly lifts off all sorts of grime. Its carnauba wax component should also give a microscopic layer of protection for your device. What's more, it's so safe that you could even use it on your LCD screens. Also needed: a soft cleaning rag (available via your favorite street vendor... or much, much cheaper bought by the bolt at Divisoria), and possibly cotton buds.
Here's a step-by-step of the cleaning process: Step One: Remove all power sources. Unplug your laptop and remove its battery pack/s. This is because you're bound to hit your power button several times over during the course of cleaning, and you wouldn't want your laptop doing hiccups now. Step Two: General cleaning. Give your laptop a general rubdown. The nice thing about MC cleaning cream is that it's so cheap and safe that you could smother your device in it and not worry much. With the soft cloth, apply the MC cream throughout your laptop, even on the LCD screen, and use a dry part of your cloth to rub it clean. Dirt lifts off easily. Step Three: Clean the keyboard. This is perhaps the most challenging laptop component to tidy up. Unless you have one of those new MacBooks, your keyboard is bound to have deep recesses that do a good job of sucking in dirt and grime. Warning: this step will take a lot of time. The good news is that you could still use MC cream here, applying liberally on the keyboard itself and rubbing the keys clean. The cream would also go into the recesses, but don't worry. We'll take care of that next. Here's the tedious part. In order to clean the recesses of your keys without having to disassemble your keyboard, do this: (1) Press down on adjacent keys; (2) Slip the edge of your cloth underneath your target key; (3) Press down on your target key so that it will push your cloth against the keyboard's base; (4) Slide your rag out so that it cleans the base; and (4) repeat for all your keys. Agh! (If anybody has a faster way of doing this, let me know!)
Step Four: Touch up hard-to-reach areas. Use the edge of your cloth, or use cotton buds, to clean areas that are difficult to reach, including laptop edges and grooves. It took some time to clean it up, but my laptop feels fresh again. Phew! I hope I need not do this again for another year and a half...

Learn Good Living At the very least, using the Nokia 6708 teaches three good habits. (1) Learn not to text while driving; the only way to compose an SMS is by writing with a stylus on the unit’s touch-sensitive screen. (2) Improve your penmanship; only clearly legible writing will be recognized by the phone. (3) Be more careful with your possessions. The charger, with its proprietary design, incompatible with any Nokia phone on the market today, means finding a replacement is hard. "Look Ma! Both Hands!" It’s impossible to do anything with one hand, except dialing a number and calling up the programs manager. Unless you have a very dexterous thumb with a small tip, you’re forced to using the stylus (and thus both hands) to do even simple tasks such as viewing your contact list and navigating through menus. (Stay tuned for the full review in upcoming issue of Mobile Philippines!)

OMG! Philippine Idol is right around the corner. Since we live in the land of "star in every barangay," each candidate is sure to have a procession of text votes from their super extended family, friends, and barangay. So here's the big question now -- will Philippine Idol clog the mobile networks? Wait! Before you answer, read this article, that investigates how Cingular had partnered with American Idol - therefore creating a bias in geographic location when it comes to text votes. How hard will it be penetrating the Philippine Idol vote center with SUN? What about Globe? Err ... SMART?

The Sony Ericsson W900i had been the talk of the Internet for the past several weeks being the Walkman phone that can do 3G. Having been first spotted around February 2006 in the Philippines, the W900i is now commercially available for a whopping P35,000.00. Steep eh? Well there's the rub ladies and gentlemen. The design of the W900i hails from the old S700 "balisong design" that proved to be a unique getaway from regular clamshell and candybar portfolios. Because it bears the mark of the "W," it essentially packs itself with multimedia features. The Sony Ericsson W900i is essentially three things. First, it is the premier 3G phone of the SE group sporting dual cameras. Second, it is a 2MP autofocus digicam, marketed as an able camera because of the way it mirrors a Cybershot. Third, it is a Walkman music player with really good in-ear plugs. "This side up" For those of you who've owned an S700, you'd be familiar with the 180 degree swivel body that quite frankly, can be detrimental to the phone's hardware because of frequent flipping. Furthermore, this type of design presents a few hangups such as trying to reorient the phone's screen when changing from closed to open mode (thanks Adel for pointing this out). The real estate is composed of two main parts - the "top" of the phone houses the screen, directional pad and seven(!) buttons which include a deidicated Internet button, a 3G video call button and a shortcut menu button that displays calendar events and bookmarks as well. The second half of the phone holds the keypad, the power button, the Walkman and camera mode buttons, the memory stick duo slot, and the phone lock mechanism that doubles as the flash button when the camera is turned on. Stay tuned for thte full review in the upcoming issue of Mobile Philippines!

We had dinner in my cousins' house in Valle Verde 5. My parents just returned from a trip in Spain (they're ardent Ignatians and went on a pilgrimage, following the footsteps of St. Ignatius himself). They wanted to show my tito and tita what they saw, and luckily my cousin had a projector. It was a simple matter of connecting it to my dad's laptop and pointing it to an empty wall. What struck was how gadgetized everything seemed to be. While my dad was running the show, I went around, taking pictures with my cousin's digicam. Within minutes, I uploaded the pictures onto my laptop through the built-in card reader, wrote this entry, and posted everything, even before the "lecture" was over. I know everything done here is nothing new. But seeing everything work together like they did made me feel such a tech lifestyle guy. :-)

Whoever said that getting behind the camera adds 5 pounds to your weight should be eating his words. The R927 does more than just take pictures - it makes yesterday's dinner go away. Oh god. This is so perfect for MySpace and Friendster himala pictures. Check out the before and after shot to the left.

This 8.2 megapixel camera offers 3 levels of slimming, with the option to undo the effect should the result turn out awkward. Of course, the original picture is saved separately without question. Although this built-in image processing feature might make one look in her prime of youth, it will affect the background as well with the compression involved. Small price to pay for skin deep beauty? The R927 will retail for USD $400.

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Holy cow it's out! Wait, how come the name is different? Well technically it's not. Part of our efforts to make the magazine more recognizable is to expand the name of m|PH to its full name which is Mobile Philippines. When we came out three years ago, a bunch of folks thought we were a car magazine, for obvious reasons. Three years later, we're still that same mag on tech you can take with you - but this time more visible, wittier, and we've become the preferred read for the geek community. Thank you for three years of support and we sincerely hope that you'll accompany us on our geeky journey for several more. On the cover is the elegant Cheska Garcia holding a Blue A737G laptop. This issue is special for us editors. We take a look back at the 25 colorful covers of Mobile Philippines and also have full spread feature on the people behind the biggest tech magazine in the country - the past and present editors and editorial assistants. This issue is also packed with gadget lovin! We've included new long term test feature articles where we take very popular devices and put them through the test of time's wear and tear. This issue, we did the Nokia N-Gage QD and the Palm LifeDrive. We also have full length reviews of the new MacBook Pro, the eccentric Nokia 7380, the iPod Hi-Fi component, the swiveling Nokia 3250, the Dell Inspiron E1505, and many more! We've also beefed up our "How To" section with many new interesting things such as how to back up your phone contacts using Plaxo, how to make your own LAN cables, and how to maximize MS Outlook. We also have a special feature on popular geek goddess Kendra Castillo, a feature on the latest Mocha Blends BF Paranaque hotspot and a geek customs check: where we grab Howard Paw's bag and see what's inside on a regular day. Also in this issue - Mobile Man meets his new NEMESIS! (egad!)

A favorite place of mine to hang out is the Shell Magallanes station, because it has free Wi-Fi. I buy a drink or two at Select (so at least I can claim I'm patronizing the establishment), find a table, then proceed to surf for free. And one time, stopping by from an all-night poker game on the way home, I was able to download a 200MB file in 10 mins! :-) Unfortunately, there are some problems with the network. A few days ago, I was unable to connect to the network. So I resorted to manually assigning an IP and DNS addresses to my connection, and tried again. It worked! Happy ending right? Well just now, I tried connecting to the same network. Didn't want to connect again, so I assigned the addresses, and it still didn't work. I did the last resort workaround: restarted my computer. And after that, it worked. Huh?

As of today, we're ranked at 50. That makes us the 50th most popular *registered* blog in the Philippine blogosphere. Thank you for the support dear readers and keep on clicking! We have a lot in store for you next ish, as it may shock the bejezus out of some changes we are gradually implementing. Abangan! The Pinoy Top Blogs project was created by Abe Olandres, one of the pillars of the Philippine blogging community.

OMG just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, Friendster is now mobile!

Terence Pua, founder of local startup Pusit and Philippine affiliate of Friendster, has told INQ7.net that it will unveil a service called Friendster Mobs next month. This new service, which will be available only in the country, will allow Filipino subscribers to do online and mobile instant messaging using a homegrown solution. "The vision for Mobs is to make your buddy list in Friendster portable. There will be no downloading of any software client in your computer or mobile phone. Eventually we will allow people to do conference instant messaging," Pua added.

Wait, so instead of sending SMS or calling someone, I can just leave a personal message in Friendster if its really urgent? But with the way its so popular now, I'll believe anything. Friendster is the online viral community that's equitable in magnitude to the popularity of MySpace in the US. But you already know this. And no, Mobile Philippines is not on Friendster. [Read the full article here]

If you like the lithe form factor of the iPod nano, but feel that it's way overpriced, here's an option for you. The (embarrassingly named) Nanu-pod is a one gigabyte ultraslim MP3/MP4 player that's currently being sold under the Group Buy option of local goods aggregator E-2-Door. It looks like an iPod nano, though I can't vouch for its build quality. Nevertheless, from a distance it could be mistaken for the real thing. And if e-2-door can get at least nine people interested in it, then they can sell it for just P3,812.64 each. Forget the fact that it's a nano rip-off. The fact is, this is a one gigabyte flash drive/MP3 player that can be had for less than four thousand pesos (As of the moment, with nobody buying in just yet, the current price is still at P5,000.25. Which is still not too bad for a gigabyte MP3 player just the same). Aside: How can you tell a Nanu-pod from a nano? First, check the screen. The Nanu-pod's is more portrait than landscape. Next, look at the ClickWheel. A real nano doesn't have anything printed on its center button, while the Nanu-pod has the Play/Pause icons printed on it. The Nanu-pod has a 65K color OLED screen, built-in FM tuner and recorder, and plays MP4 video files... albeit in an obscure "MTV" file format. Not that I'm pitching this product. I have no intentions of getting one. But with enough people interested, it can be a really cheap gigabyte USB drive. If interested, just head on over to e-2-door and search for "Nanu-pod."

So what else can you do with SUN's unlimited-calls mobile service? How about turning your mobile phone into an extension of your home phone? Last Saturday, the guy who owns an electronics repair shop near our place nudged me aside and showed me a device that he had just invented. Norman had a long history of tweaking with phone hacks and has a significant background in electronics. In a cramped corner of his store, amidst the dusty, roof-high stacks of old and unclaimed VHS machines, DVD players, and stereo components, he showed me a black plastic case that was about the size of a jewel box. It had phone jacks and a COM port, on which was attached a classic black Nokia 6230 phone. "This device can turn your mobile phone into an extension of your landline," said Norman. Here's how it works. You will need two SUN cellular accounts, one of which goes to the mobile phone that you carry with you (of course), while the other goes to the 6230 (which stays at home). Plug the black box to your phone line, and you're set. If the device is running, anytime you get a call on your landline phone, it automatically forwards the call to your mobile phone as well (via the 6230). So now, both your landline and your mobile phones are ringing. You can choose to pick up the landline if you're home, or take the call through your mobile phone if you're on the road. And since you're riding on SUN's unlimited calls service, you won't be paying a cent for taking the call. What you now have is an extension phone that you can take with you anywhere! So far so good, and you probably are just a little bit impressed, but not exactly blown away. But now get this... Using your mobile phone, call the number of the Nokia 6230. The black box automatically patches you to your landline, so you will now hear your landline's dial tone on your mobile. Type a number, and you are now placing a call through your home phone. You can now call any local landline number... without having to pay anything! In short, using your SUN accounts, you can now place unlimited calls to landline phones from your mobile phone! "Here, try it out," said Norman. I listened to a landline call through the mobile phone. It was quite choppy, but I guess it was a signal problem more than anything else. The device worked in principle. He had thought of everything, down to using the 6230's address book to pre-screen incoming calls: if your number is not on the address book, then you won't be authorized to patch a call. Norman has already patented the device, and he has even managed to get NTC approval for it. In fact, the folks at NTC --and even at SUN Cellular-- loved it, according to him. But there's a catch. While the SUN officials were amazed with the device, they could not officially endorse it because it was bound to hit a nerve with the bigger telecom companies. Mainly because you can now place unlimited calls to landlines without having to pay anything extra. (Incidentally, the device can also be attached to a VoIP box, allowing you to place calls abroad at dirt-cheap rates... but that will definitely just add more fuel to the fire.) So Norman is selling his devices below the radar. You probably won't see them promoted aggressively anytime soon. But anybody who is interested in this device, just let me know. He's selling them for P7,500, inclusive of the classic Nokia 6230 that serves as its mobile interface. And of course you will also have to invest in not one but two SUN cellular unlimited-call accounts. Me? I'm seriously thinking about it...

I've always found the design of Macs to be beautiful, especially their notebooks (anybody remember the toilet seat iBook?). But I've never wanted to own one, because I've always found them pricey (although Art Ilano's new price report is giving me second thoughts), and they get really, really hot! A guy decided to find out how hot the new MacBook Pro can get, watch his findings here (courtesy of YouTube.Com). I'd place the video player within this blog itself, but it doesn't fit, and I don't think the admin will like it.

This just in. Dovetailing with the previous topic about gray market deals, Apple Asia-Pacific has realized that there really is a need to adjust their local prices in order to become more competitive with gray market buys. Just this morning, Apple has approved the following suggested retail prices for their latest line of dual-core MacBooks: MacBook 1.83GHz (white) P 70,790.00 MacBook 2.0GHz (white) P 83,990.00 MacBook 2.0GHz (black) P 96,290.00 MacBook Pro 2.0GHz (15") P126,690.00 MacBook Pro 2.16GHz (15") P157,990.00 MacBook Pro 2.16GHz (17") P 176,890.00 The old price for the 1.83GHz MacBook, for instance, was around P79,000. Prices abroad are still cheaper (entry level in the U.S. is just US$ 1,099), but that's because we have taxes and VAT to contend with. The new MacBooks come with some pretty interesting innovations, including magnetic rather than mechanical locks to snap the books shut, standard built-in iSight cameras, and the amazing MagSafe power connector -- so that if Adel's dog comes barging across the power cable, it won't drag his notebook down to the floor with it (as what happened to him before, breaking his Mac's LCD) and just detach harmlessly from the unit.