Finally I can check my company exchange email without encrypting my Android phone using touchdown. Why am I so thrilled about this?
Reasons:
1) Any encryption will affect performance. Apple and Rim devices are encrypted permanently so people do not have a comparison on their performance without encryption. For me, I found that after encryption my phone do "slow down", although the impact is not very significant but I do feel it.
2) Encryption is irreversible on Android. Once you encrypt your phone, you permanently have to leave with a 6 digit pin number unless you factory default your android device. It is troublesome if you decide to stop checking exchange email later on. You just cannot remove the 6 digit pin without a factory default.
3) Your phone might get stuck on the boot up password screen if your Android device reboot without you knowing. Android 4.2.1 is still having issue and it might reboot your Android device. With encryption, you need to input your 6 digit pin when booting up. If your Android device reboot, and you are not aware about it. People might not about to reach you as your phone is still waiting for your 6 digit pin.
I don't know why I did not found out about Touchdown earlier since the app is available since 2008. Touchdown is the most popular exchange email app for Android and it is not hard to know why. For many Android users, we are having problem using Android for work because of the lack of features to support corporate systems. I was unable to check my office email even after encrypting my Android phone for Android version 4.0.3 and earlier. As not all Android phone can receive OS updates, I am stuck with Android version 4.0.3 on my Ino One. Touchdown is a real life saver. I can now check exchange email. Touchdown is a bit pricey at SGD$25.54 but for me I feel that it is worth it.
5 December 2012
7 November 2012
3G service in Singapore
While Holidaying in Austraila, I came to realize that we in Singapore really have very bad 3G service. There have been people bashing local telcos on facebook and other online sites but I did not take those bashing seriously as I have not tried out other foreign telco before to do a comparison. In Austraila, I bought an Optus prepaid card to surf the internet for travel information and location service. The Optus sim card cost $2 and for $2 dollar a day, I get unlimited local call and data. The surfing speed was amazing. It was twice as fast than any Singapore telcos 3G service. I was stunned. Singapore is a small country and we cannot even roll out 3G service as well as Australia which is many times bigger than Singapore. I am using Optus 3G service which is owned by Singtel and it is ironic that how the parent company is providing inferior service than it's member company. I enjoying my mobile surfing in Australia and once I got back, I just hate my local telcos. In Short, they sucks!
24 October 2012
Default ICS keyboard or Swiftkey 3 ?
After using Ino One( Non-camera Android phone ) for about a month, I am more or less accustom to Android OS. If not for my job which does not allow me to carry non-camera phone, I do not think I would want to use an Android phone. Simple thing such as using the keyboard is giving me the headache. Although it is said that keyboard has improved alot since gingerbread, but it is still no match for IOS. I get a lot more wrong words using the default Android keyboard than any IOS version. Of course there are better 3rd party keyboard around in the Google Play store but there is a concern for security. There might be a possibility that these keyboard apps might be collecting key stroke data, thus compromising passwords. Putting security concerns aside, I installed Swift keyboard 3. This app is great. I get more words correct using it but I get less battery juice, as it is running in the background even when I am not using the keyboard. I could not live with the shorter battery life, so it is back to the default Android keyboard for me. I seriously hope Android will improve more on the basic features such as the keyboard instead of giving new features I don't use on a daily basis.
11 October 2012
Unable to check office exchange email
I was using Honeycomb on my Xoom 2 when I found that I was unable to check office exchange email. After updating my Xoom 2 to ICS, the problem is solved. I thought Honeycomb was the problem and that ICS has fixed all the bugs. When I got my Ino One phone running on ICS, I try to set up my office exchange email again. Unfortunately it failed. I came to realised that my Xoom 2 is running ICS version 4.0.4 and Ino One is running 4.0.3. I am not sure if version 4.0.3 giving the problem but I am getting the same error message as when I was using Honeycomb. The error message goes something like this.
" ... did not have the necessary security features to support my company's security policies."
I check on the web for differences between the 2 version and found out that "4.0.4 not only had a handful of improvements but “a few hundred changes over 4.0.3.” I seriously wonder if the email exchange is included in that few hundred changes. I have no way of telling unless I can get Android 4.0.4 for Ino One.
Source :
http://www.androidauthority.com/android-4-0-3-vs-4-0-4-vs-4-0-5-75651/
Enhancements were also made to the Calendar, such that apps could add colors to events to allow for easy tracking. New attendee types and states also became available. The Camera also received a few new capabilities, such as apps’ being able to check and manage video stabilization and could use QVGA resolution profiles when needed.
A number of accessibility refinements also came with the update, such as improved content access for screen readers and new status and error reporting for text-to-speech engines. Incremental improvements in graphics, database, spell-checking, Bluetooth, and more were also thrown in.
Gmail also got an update in the form of the Experiments heading in Gmail’s settings menu. Two new options were made available to the user. The first allowed Gmail to index entire messages to improve local search, and the other allowed users to drag and drop contact chips between the To, CC and BCC address fields.
Unfortunately, there were a number of complaints that came with this update too. Users didn’t like the animation and the time it took for them to access the multitasking feature.
Users on our favorite forum, XDA Developers, said that 4.0.4 really felt like a finished product. According to Android developer Jean-Baptiste Queru, 4.0.4 not only had a handful of improvements but “a few hundred changes over 4.0.3.”
For 4.0.4, Google not only improved the multitasking feature but also improved screen rotation. Screen rotation was more fluid and faster than ever before. Users will notice that when they change their phone’s orientation, there’s a slight lag before the screen rotates. It turns out not to be a glitch at all but is instead a built in “hesitation” so you can be sure that the screen is rotating like you intended.
With how sensitive phones are becoming nowadays, it isn’t uncommon for the screen to rotate when we really didn’t mean for it to. The Camera app has also gotten some improvements that allow it to work faster, smoother, and a little bit better.
One problem with the 4.0.4 update, however, was that some devices, such as the Galaxy Nexus, seemed to be having some problems. There are multiple reports that users experienced signal problems and even loss of signal since receiving the OTA update. Users of the Galaxy Nexus GSM report that signal loss happened after a few minutes or more of the device entering standby. Turn off the screen and you’ll lose the signal.
Though some users are speculating that this is an energy-saving feature (to reduce power consumption when you weren’t really doing anything with your phone), it annoyed most users. Imagine not being able to receive messages and calls when your phone was on standby.
" ... did not have the necessary security features to support my company's security policies."
I check on the web for differences between the 2 version and found out that "4.0.4 not only had a handful of improvements but “a few hundred changes over 4.0.3.” I seriously wonder if the email exchange is included in that few hundred changes. I have no way of telling unless I can get Android 4.0.4 for Ino One.
Source :
http://www.androidauthority.com/android-4-0-3-vs-4-0-4-vs-4-0-5-75651/
Android 4.0.3
Android 4.0.3 was first released in December, 2011. With an API level of 15, Android 4.0.3 packed a number of features. One of them was the Social Stream API in the Contacts provider. Applications that used social stream data, like status updates and check-ins, could now sync that data with each of the user’s contacts. It allowed users to know what their contacts were doing or saying.
A number of accessibility refinements also came with the update, such as improved content access for screen readers and new status and error reporting for text-to-speech engines. Incremental improvements in graphics, database, spell-checking, Bluetooth, and more were also thrown in.
Gmail also got an update in the form of the Experiments heading in Gmail’s settings menu. Two new options were made available to the user. The first allowed Gmail to index entire messages to improve local search, and the other allowed users to drag and drop contact chips between the To, CC and BCC address fields.
Unfortunately, there were a number of complaints that came with this update too. Users didn’t like the animation and the time it took for them to access the multitasking feature.
Android 4.0.4
Android 4.0.4, released in March, 2012, answered user complaints. Google certainly fixed that lag in getting to the multitasking feature and added a few more things. People were saying that the overall improvement of 4.0.4 was supposed to be how Ice Cream Sandwich should be experienced.Users on our favorite forum, XDA Developers, said that 4.0.4 really felt like a finished product. According to Android developer Jean-Baptiste Queru, 4.0.4 not only had a handful of improvements but “a few hundred changes over 4.0.3.”
For 4.0.4, Google not only improved the multitasking feature but also improved screen rotation. Screen rotation was more fluid and faster than ever before. Users will notice that when they change their phone’s orientation, there’s a slight lag before the screen rotates. It turns out not to be a glitch at all but is instead a built in “hesitation” so you can be sure that the screen is rotating like you intended.
With how sensitive phones are becoming nowadays, it isn’t uncommon for the screen to rotate when we really didn’t mean for it to. The Camera app has also gotten some improvements that allow it to work faster, smoother, and a little bit better.
One problem with the 4.0.4 update, however, was that some devices, such as the Galaxy Nexus, seemed to be having some problems. There are multiple reports that users experienced signal problems and even loss of signal since receiving the OTA update. Users of the Galaxy Nexus GSM report that signal loss happened after a few minutes or more of the device entering standby. Turn off the screen and you’ll lose the signal.
Though some users are speculating that this is an energy-saving feature (to reduce power consumption when you weren’t really doing anything with your phone), it annoyed most users. Imagine not being able to receive messages and calls when your phone was on standby.
Voice call forwarding on Android 4.0.3
1) Open phone dialer app.
2) Goto to Settings>Voice Call, Select 'Call forwarding' to forward your call.
2) Goto to Settings>Voice Call, Select 'Call forwarding' to forward your call.
10 October 2012
Turn off Facebook notifications
Facebook is great place to be connected to your friends. Unfortunately, sometime it gets a bit irritating to have alerts for all the activities in Facebook. You might want to turn it off. Turning it off can also save you some battery life.
Open Facebook app, Goto Account>AppSettings, uncheck Notifications to stop all the irritating alerts.
Now! You are at peace with yourself.
Open Facebook app, Goto Account>AppSettings, uncheck Notifications to stop all the irritating alerts.
Now! You are at peace with yourself.
8 October 2012
Improving battery life for ICS
Here are some tips for improving battery on your Android ICS device.
1) Set your screen display to automatic. Goto Setting>Display>Brightness, select 'Automatic brightness'
2) Download a Kill task app and kill all tasks when you are not using the device.
3) Off the push mail function if you do not need to check email real time. Open the Email app, goto Settings>your configured email account>Inbox check frequency, select 'Never'.
4) Unsync your Gmail email. Goto Settings>Account & sync > your Google email account, uncheck 'Sync Gmail'. Configure the Email app to check google email instead, as you can off the push mail function.
5) Unsync those applications that you do not need. Goto Settings>Account & sync, disable applications that you do not require to sync.
6) Set screen lock. Goto to Settings>Security> Screen lock, choose your prefer way to screen lock your device.
7) Use black or dark coloured wallpaper.
1) Set your screen display to automatic. Goto Setting>Display>Brightness, select 'Automatic brightness'
2) Download a Kill task app and kill all tasks when you are not using the device.
3) Off the push mail function if you do not need to check email real time. Open the Email app, goto Settings>your configured email account>Inbox check frequency, select 'Never'.
4) Unsync your Gmail email. Goto Settings>Account & sync > your Google email account, uncheck 'Sync Gmail'. Configure the Email app to check google email instead, as you can off the push mail function.
5) Unsync those applications that you do not need. Goto Settings>Account & sync, disable applications that you do not require to sync.
6) Set screen lock. Goto to Settings>Security> Screen lock, choose your prefer way to screen lock your device.
7) Use black or dark coloured wallpaper.
5 October 2012
Battery status in percentage
For people who like to see their battery life in percentage might be frustrated that this feature is not available to all device running on ICS. For me, my Ino One phone do not have this feature. However, I can download an app to do the same task. I downloaded an app called 'Battery' by Macropinch. Android should have this feature by default, my old iPhone 3GS has this feature since day 1.
Changing call ringtone and SMS ringtone
Changing ringtones is easy in Android, you just need to know where to copy the mp3 file to.
To change ringtone for calls:
1) Copy your mp3 file into Ringtones folder on your phone.
2) Goto to Settings> Audio profiles> General> Voice call ringtone to select your ringtone
To change ringtone for SMS:
1) Copy your mp3 file into media>audio>notications folder on your phone.
2) Goto to Messaging application
3) Goto to Settings>Select ringtone to select your ringtone.
To change ringtone for calls:
1) Copy your mp3 file into Ringtones folder on your phone.
2) Goto to Settings> Audio profiles> General> Voice call ringtone to select your ringtone
To change ringtone for SMS:
1) Copy your mp3 file into media>audio>notications folder on your phone.
2) Goto to Messaging application
3) Goto to Settings>Select ringtone to select your ringtone.
4 October 2012
Non-camera Android phone, Ino One
For people working in high security environment, camera phones are usually not allowed. In Singapore, citizens are denied of their camera phones when serving their National Service. Nowaday smartphones are indispensable gadget but all smartphones come with camera. To cater for people working/ serving in high security environment, Huawei and LG do have non-camera version of Android phone in Singapore. However, these smartphones are not true non-camera phone, as the camera is removed from the phone and manufacturer need to issue certificate of camera being removed when you purchase the phone. For some people, this is good enough but for others, camera removed phone is also not allowed. Luckily a local company, Inomobile, come out with a true non-camera Android phone. It is called 'Ino One'. Ino One specs are of mid-range smartphone specifications. The specs are decent enough to be used as the primary phone and it comes with dual-sim at the price of SGD $268 without contract. For people working in Mindef environment, this phone is the one to get. You do not require MSD stickers as as of 2 Oct 2012, the phone is cleared by Mindef. For people interested in the phone, they can visit www.inomobile.com.sg for more information. Inomobile is willing to ship the phone overseas if you are not residing in Singapore.
Source;
http://www.inomobile.com.sg/ino-one-non-camera-phone/
Source;
http://www.inomobile.com.sg/ino-one-non-camera-phone/
21 September 2012
Updating iPhone 3GS
I just updated my iPhone 3GS yesterday. Updating iPhone is a no-brainer task. Goto Settings>General>Software update to update iPhone. The process is pretty long. It took me 3 hours to update my iPhone 3GS, time included for downloading the new OS. The downloading part was especially long. It maybe due my my internet slow connection but I suspect it might also due to the fact that many idevices were also updating their OS.
Frankly speaking, I was quite surprise that Apple decided to make IOS 6 available for iPhone 3GS. The phone is over 3 years old and the fact that I am still getting update for the phone make me appreciate Apple's hardware. Ever since I started using smartphone I have never seen a manufacturer gives update to a 3 year old phone until now. Although many features are not available on iPhone 3GS but at least my phone is not totally forgotten by Apple and I get the update together with other idevices. Google, HTC, Motorola, Samsung and many others, please learn from Apple. Do not come up with phones and abandon them in a year time. I love my iPhone 3GS. It is the only phone that serve me for more than 2 1/2 years.
Frankly speaking, I was quite surprise that Apple decided to make IOS 6 available for iPhone 3GS. The phone is over 3 years old and the fact that I am still getting update for the phone make me appreciate Apple's hardware. Ever since I started using smartphone I have never seen a manufacturer gives update to a 3 year old phone until now. Although many features are not available on iPhone 3GS but at least my phone is not totally forgotten by Apple and I get the update together with other idevices. Google, HTC, Motorola, Samsung and many others, please learn from Apple. Do not come up with phones and abandon them in a year time. I love my iPhone 3GS. It is the only phone that serve me for more than 2 1/2 years.
17 September 2012
Phototokina fair is being held this week. As expected, many camera manufacturers release their new camera models before the fair start. I am excited about the new models and is considering whether to jump into the mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera(MILC) wagon. I used to own Canon DSLR but sold it off as I wanted a lighter camera for travelling. I am looking into high-end compact camera or MILC. For MILC, the more established setup are from Panasonic and Olympus. They are the companies using M4/3 standard. For other MILC manufacturers, they are all using their proprietary mounting just as their DSLR. The different mounting is irrelevant but the sensor sensor size is. The bigger the sensor size, the better picture quality you will get. Sony, Samsung, Fujifilm, Canon and Pentax, except for Nikon which uses 1"sensor, use APS-C sensor which is larger than the M4/3 but these companies are new into mirrorless market. Panasonic and Olympus are the pioneers in mirrorless market and they have a good collect of M4/3 lens. I would prefer a larger sensor but I do not want to limit my selection of lens and that make my choice very difficult. Maybe I should just get myself a proven LX series and wait out until Sony, Samsung, Fujifilm, Canon and Pentax come out with more mirrorless lens.
12 September 2012
Connect Xoom 2 to PC after ICS encryption
After I encrypt my Xoom 2, I can only see 2 folder under Internal Storage. The 2 folders are DCIM and Pictures. To see more folders, touch on the notification box for more USB options and toggle between PTP and MTP once. Select camera(PTP) eventually and now you will be able to see all the folders once again on your Xoom 2.
Encrypt tablet on ICS
Before encrypting your tablet there are some things you must ensure before proceeding:
- Set a lock screen PIN or password.
- Charge the battery.
- Plug in your tablet to a power source
- Schedule an hour and a half for the encryption process: you must not interrupt it or you will lose some or all of your data.
When you're ready to turn on encryption:
- From a Home or All Apps screen, touch the Settings icon
.
- Touch Personal > Security > Encryption > Encrypt tablet.
- Read the information about encryption carefully. The Encrypt tablet button is dimmed if your battery's not charged or your tablet's not plugged in. If youchange your mind about encrypting your tablet, touch the Back button.
- Touch Encrypt tablet.
- Enter your lock screen PIN or password and touch Continue.
- Touch Encrypt tablet again.
The encryption process starts and displays its progress. Encryption take an hour and a half, during which time your tablet may restart several times.
When encryption is complete, you’re prompted to enter your PIN or password twice to boot the home screen.
Subsequently, you must enter your PIN or password each time you power on your tablet, to decrypt it.
Somehow or rather, I feel that since iPad have encryption out of the box, encrypting my tablet makes me feel at least on par with it. I should not have any problem connecting to my corporate exchange email now since my tablet has fulfilled the basic security requirement (ENCRYPTION).
Encryption woes for checking corporate email
I had problem connecting to my corporate exchange email with Honeycomb. Honeycomb did not have the necessary security features to support my company's security policies. After upgrading to ICS, I found that I am able to setup my corporate exchange email but I have to enable encryption, which takes about 1 hour or more to setup on my tablet and this is irreversible. After encryption, I will have to key in pin to unlock and also to boot up my tablet. If in the future, I want to remove my corporate exchange email I still need to live with the encryption restriction unless I factory reset my tablet. This is a major turn off. I did not have this issue with iPad/iPhone. I can setup my corporate exchange email address on my iphone with ease and I don't have to live with the added security once I remove corporate exchange email.
After some research, I found that Apple's devices after the release of IOS 4 have hardware encryption out of the box. That is why iPhone and iPad are widely support by corporates. Android like IOS support encryption after version 4 but as Apple implement the encryption better than Android with hardware encryption. Maybe that is why my 3GS is rather laggy when I upgraded it to version 4. 3GS might not have the hardware encryption since it was release before IOS 4.
For me, I am rather hesitant to enable encryption. The reasons are;
- Performance issue. Since it is not a hardware encryption, it might affect the performance of my tablet. Motorola says Xoom 2 support data encryption but did not mention if there is hardware encryption on the tablet.
- Battery life. I have researched on the net. Most people say the encryption does not affect performance.
- It is irreversible. If I remove my corporate exchange email, I still have to live with keying in of pins to use my tablet.
- Encryption on Android devices seems to be in the infant stage. There might unforeseen issues with encryption. There are cases whereby the phone which was encrypted reboot in the middle of the night and the user could not receive call and alarm could not work, as the phone need a pin to boot up.
Source:
11 September 2012
Screen Capture for Xoom 2
After ICS update, you can do a screen capture just by pressing the power and volume(-) buttons at the same time for 1 sec. It is kind of tricky pressing the buttons together. Sometime you will accidentally power off your screen or you will lower the volume but at least you can do screen capture now. You can view the screen capture JPG files on your tablet by going to the Gallery. To copy the pictures out, connect your tablet to the PC and on your PC goto My Computer> Xoom 2> Internal Storage>Pictures> screenshots to copy them to your desktop.
Connect Xoom 2 to PC after ICS update.
After I update my Xoom 2 to ICS, once I connect Xoom 2 to PC there is a notification on the bottom right screen. It shows me connecting to the PC as a camera.
Touch on the notification box for more USB options. To view the tablet as a drive, select camera(PTP). Now you will be able to see your Xoom 2 icon in "My Computer". You can copy files in and out like a normal drive. If you have SD card installed, you will be able to do the same for your SD card too.
Xoom 2 ICS update
On 3rd Sept, Motorola Australia announced ICS update for Xoom 2. It took 8 days for Singapore to receive the update. Singapore and neighbouring countries should be checking Motorola SEA(South East Asia) for updates but for a while Motorola SEA facebook has not been updated with any news. I wonder if it is because of the shutting down of operations in Asia Pacific region (except Australia and Korea). Only service centers remain in Asia Pacific. For people in Asia, we can get updates about Motorola devices from Motorola Australia facebook.
Updating to ICS is simple. Goto Settings>About tablet>System updates. It will prompt you to download the ICS package. For me, the package took an hour plus to finish downloading. Once the download is finish, it will prompt you to install the package. Click "Install now" and the tablet will shutdown immediately and prepare for update. It will boot up again to show an Android icon with progress bar below. Once the progress completes, the tablet will reboot and it is down. The whole update took about 15min. Below is the screen capture from my Xoom 2. After ICS update, the look and feel is almost the same on the home screen, except for the addition icons on the bottom right of the screen. Now there are icons for availability of SIM card and WIFI.
Updating to ICS is simple. Goto Settings>About tablet>System updates. It will prompt you to download the ICS package. For me, the package took an hour plus to finish downloading. Once the download is finish, it will prompt you to install the package. Click "Install now" and the tablet will shutdown immediately and prepare for update. It will boot up again to show an Android icon with progress bar below. Once the progress completes, the tablet will reboot and it is down. The whole update took about 15min. Below is the screen capture from my Xoom 2. After ICS update, the look and feel is almost the same on the home screen, except for the addition icons on the bottom right of the screen. Now there are icons for availability of SIM card and WIFI.
7 September 2012
Amazon launch their new Kindle yesterday. Details specs can be found on their website. I do not want to do into details but generally for the Kindle Fire series they are having better display, better sound, better connectivity and a faster processor. Now they also have bigger tablets to choose from. At 8.9" the tablet is still smaller than the iPad but bigger screen is better for surfing net and PDF files than the 7" Kindle Fire. The price of the 8.9" tablet cost roughly about SGD $420 for the WIFI only model and SGD$700 for the WIFI +4G model. All the new Kindle Fire series will be running on ICS under the hood. I would definitely would like to get myself one if not for the restrictions of using a Kindle in Singapore. Until now we in Singapore are still unable to purchase ebooks from Amazon and Apple online store. Singapore needs to get rid of the red tapes which are preventing us from enjoying rich media experience of what our gadgets can offer us. If our blockage to online content is due to protectionism, perhaps our local companies should really wake up and play catch up rather than waiting for their slow death. There are still ways we can access online content from Amazon and Apple!
Source :
http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/06/amazon-confirms-kindle-fire-hd-models-use-android-4-0/
Source :
http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/06/amazon-confirms-kindle-fire-hd-models-use-android-4-0/
Typing Chinese on Android Honeycomb
I wanted to do a search using chinese characters and realized that I did not have a chinese input keyboard. I had trying searching in Settings> Language & input but there was nothing there that would allow me to add a chinese input keyboard. I did a search on the web and found that I need to install the Google Pinyin from Google Play, unlike Apple which supports many other language keyboards out of the box. I went to Google Play Store and downloaded the Google Pinyin and added the Google Pinyin in Settings> Language & input> Configure input methods. To use Google Pinyin, just tab on the small keyboard icon to select Google Pinyin when you need to input Chinese Character.
5 September 2012
Finally the wait is over! Just as I had hoped for, ICS update is available for Singapore soon after Motorola Australia release news of ICS for Xoom 2. Some SG users got their update last night and post the news on Hardwarezone. Funny I was trying to update last night before I sleep. but it was not available. Anyway, I could not be happier even if it was just 2 weeks wait after I got my Xoom 2. Hopefully this update will solve my battery and email problem. I will be sure to update my Xoom 2 after work today.
4 September 2012
Connecting Xoom 2 to PC
Connecting Xoom 2 is similiar to connecting iPad to PC. For iPad you need to download iTune from Apple website. For Xoom 2 the Motocast software is in the tablet. The steps are as follows,
1) Power on Xoom 2 and unlock the screen.
2) Connect your Xoom 2 to your PC. On your PC, you will able to see the tablet connect like a CD ROM drive.
3) Double click on the Motocast application to install it. The installation will take sometime.
After you install the application, you will be able to sync Music, Photos, Videos and Podcasts between your tablet and PC. As I do not have internet connection when I installed Motocast, I was unable to setup Motocast wireless. Below is my image of the installed Motocast.
1) Power on Xoom 2 and unlock the screen.
2) Connect your Xoom 2 to your PC. On your PC, you will able to see the tablet connect like a CD ROM drive.
3) Double click on the Motocast application to install it. The installation will take sometime.
After you install the application, you will be able to sync Music, Photos, Videos and Podcasts between your tablet and PC. As I do not have internet connection when I installed Motocast, I was unable to setup Motocast wireless. Below is my image of the installed Motocast.
After Motocast is installed, I am able to use my computer to browse files and directories on my Xoom 2. I can also copy files into my Xoom 2. I was able to copy videos file on to my SD card installed on Xoom 2 and use MX player to playback the videos. Below is the list of files and directories on my Xoom 2 as of now.
Xoom 2 is giving me surprises everyday. Just 8 days after I bought Xoom 2 running on Honeycomb, I am experiencing a lot of disappointments. My Xoom 2 battery now cannot charge beyond 90%. I did some research and found that many users had their battery replace when they have this problem. Some users uses a battery calibration app to solve their problem. According to the gurus, Android uses a file for the battery status updates. The file could be corrupted or not updated after reset. As I just did a reset a few days ago, that might the problem. Any way I am not going to reset it again. I would be waiting for the ICS update and see if the problem goes away. If it still does not work, I will have to make a trip to Motorola service center.
I found a Motorola Android logo on Motorola Australia facebook which I like to share with everyone.
I found a Motorola Android logo on Motorola Australia facebook which I like to share with everyone.
3 September 2012
Like I mentioned before, waiting for updates on android can be a pain. Apple did a good job as they have their own ecosystem of software and hardware. Google' Android is a pain to update. Updates are mainly dependent on hardware vendors. Even Motorola whom Google bought over does not provide promptly updates.
While many people would compare between Apple IOS and Google, Amazon's kindle is also a real competitor to Google. In fact, there is a report saying there Google main rival could be Amazon and not Apple. There is truth to it. Amazon has an arsenal of products on their website to search. If anyone would like to buy something, he/she could be searching on amazon first. The key word here is "buy". Amazon is not a search engine but for product searching, Amazon is the one of the popular website. With Amazon' ecosystem of ebooks, apps store and ereaders, Amazon is looking attractive for consumers to stay on their website. Amazon will be launching their 2nd gen of Kindle Fire soon. The focus is on the hardware and not really on the OS. I know Kindle uses a modified version of android. I am not sure if Amazon is going to "update" it to ICS. Frankly speaking, does it matters? Any new features or updates will more likely to be push down seamless just as Apple devices, as Amazon has control their own hardware. Although Kindle does not have the OS hype, I would personally want to get one for my daily web surfing, email and ebooks simply because, it serves my basic purpose well enough for it's price. For others functions like GPS and others, I can do it on my phone.
While many people would compare between Apple IOS and Google, Amazon's kindle is also a real competitor to Google. In fact, there is a report saying there Google main rival could be Amazon and not Apple. There is truth to it. Amazon has an arsenal of products on their website to search. If anyone would like to buy something, he/she could be searching on amazon first. The key word here is "buy". Amazon is not a search engine but for product searching, Amazon is the one of the popular website. With Amazon' ecosystem of ebooks, apps store and ereaders, Amazon is looking attractive for consumers to stay on their website. Amazon will be launching their 2nd gen of Kindle Fire soon. The focus is on the hardware and not really on the OS. I know Kindle uses a modified version of android. I am not sure if Amazon is going to "update" it to ICS. Frankly speaking, does it matters? Any new features or updates will more likely to be push down seamless just as Apple devices, as Amazon has control their own hardware. Although Kindle does not have the OS hype, I would personally want to get one for my daily web surfing, email and ebooks simply because, it serves my basic purpose well enough for it's price. For others functions like GPS and others, I can do it on my phone.
Over the weekend, I mada a search on the web for ICS update on Xoom 2. I am quite desperate for ICS update as the honeycomb just not up to mark. I found a website saying that Telstra will be launch ICS update for Xoom on 3 Sept. Although the news is for Australia but Australia is in Asia Pacific region. Hopefully, Singapore Xoom 2 users will get ICS update soon after them.
Source:
http://ausdroid.net/2012/08/24/telstra-approves-ics-update-for-xoom-2-hopes-to-roll-it-out-september-3rd/
Source:
http://ausdroid.net/2012/08/24/telstra-approves-ics-update-for-xoom-2-hopes-to-roll-it-out-september-3rd/
31 August 2012
This weekend is Suntec City is hosting another COMEX 2013 event. Every quarter there a computer fair. This quarter is hardly a good time to buy any tablets or PCs with new products set to release in Sept and Oct. For me I will pass for this COMEX show unless I want to get some accessories for my gadget. I did a quick check on hardwarezone, the prices of the tablets sold in the COMEX are nothing to shout about. Maybe the shops there will throw in freebies to attract buyers but from experience, the freebies are usually left laying around in the house to trip myself over.
Some possible new launches in the pipeline;
1) Kindle fire 2 on 5 Sept
2) IPhone 5 on 12 Sept
3) Windows 8 on 26 Oct
4) Windows 8 phone on 29 Oct
5) iPad mini in Oct
There could be more. It would not be a boring 4th quarter for gadget lovers.
Reset to factory default on honeycomb 3.2.2
1) Goto Setting>Privacy
2) Select Factory data reset
Follow the instructions on the screen to go a factory default on your tablet.
2) Select Factory data reset
Follow the instructions on the screen to go a factory default on your tablet.
Change google account on honeycomb 3.2.2
If you need to change google account on your tablet, it is relatively simple. First you must remove your google account. Before you do that please take note that existing app downloaded will be tied to existing account. Although you can still use existing apps on your tablet, you will not able to see them when you login into Play Store with your new account. You also cannot update them since you cannot see them on your Play Store.
Remove account 1) Goto Setting>Accounts & Sync
2) Select your google email address
3) Click on "Remove account" on the top right corner.
After you remove your google account, you can setup new one by going into Play Store app and follow the instructions given.
While I try to write up the instructions for changing google account, I just found out that screen capture feature is not available natively on honeycomb. You can still do screen capture but it will require more steps and a PC. Searching on the web, it seems that screen capture feature is available on ICS. Just need to press and hold the power button and volume down buttons.
Remove account 1) Goto Setting>Accounts & Sync
2) Select your google email address
3) Click on "Remove account" on the top right corner.
After you remove your google account, you can setup new one by going into Play Store app and follow the instructions given.
While I try to write up the instructions for changing google account, I just found out that screen capture feature is not available natively on honeycomb. You can still do screen capture but it will require more steps and a PC. Searching on the web, it seems that screen capture feature is available on ICS. Just need to press and hold the power button and volume down buttons.
30 August 2012
I had my Xoom 2 for 3 days and I am still trying to get the hand of it. The problem is the OS. Honeycomb is crappy to use and often shows weird behaviour. I had to reset a few time in just 3 days. Once the tablet was just not responding. I kept pressing on the power button desperately trying to get it to reset. The excitement of getting an Android tablet has turned into disappointment and soon frustration is now joining in.
Setting up the Android was easy. You boot up the tablet and click on the "APPS" word on the top right corner to launch all the apps icons. Look for setting icon and click on the wireless and network tap to setup up WIFI. After setting up the WIFI, you just need to click on the market icon to setup your google account on your tablet. If you do not have a google account, you can setup one just by following the instructions.
Once you can login to the Google Play store, you can start downloading apps to your delight. I downloaded facebook and some other news apps rather smoothly. I was rather disappointed that Chrome browser is not found in Google Play. I searched the web and found that Honeycomb does not support Chrome and maybe that is why I cannot find it in the store. The next app I cannot find is the blogger app. I search the web and found that the app is not compatible with Xoom and it is also not available for my country. I am disgusted with the whole Android experience. I seriously hope it is due to the honeycomb OS. Hopefully ICS can salvage some relief from all the lousy experience with honeycomb.
Now I wish I have my wife 's iPad. I am now writing this blogger with a lousy default honeycomb browser.
Setting up the Android was easy. You boot up the tablet and click on the "APPS" word on the top right corner to launch all the apps icons. Look for setting icon and click on the wireless and network tap to setup up WIFI. After setting up the WIFI, you just need to click on the market icon to setup your google account on your tablet. If you do not have a google account, you can setup one just by following the instructions.
Once you can login to the Google Play store, you can start downloading apps to your delight. I downloaded facebook and some other news apps rather smoothly. I was rather disappointed that Chrome browser is not found in Google Play. I searched the web and found that Honeycomb does not support Chrome and maybe that is why I cannot find it in the store. The next app I cannot find is the blogger app. I search the web and found that the app is not compatible with Xoom and it is also not available for my country. I am disgusted with the whole Android experience. I seriously hope it is due to the honeycomb OS. Hopefully ICS can salvage some relief from all the lousy experience with honeycomb.
Now I wish I have my wife 's iPad. I am now writing this blogger with a lousy default honeycomb browser.
Today I am appointed to find out that Motorola will be shutting down operation in Asia Pacific. I just got my Xoom 2 2 days ago. Now I wonder if the ICS update will take even longer to deliver. Google buying of Motorola did not make the updates to Motorola faster till now. Hopefully they would not forget us in Asia Pacific for any future updates for existing devices. The sweet deal 2 days ago seems to have turn sour today. Anyway Xoom 2 is still a great piece of hardware. Hopefully ICS will comes soon to make me feel better. Motorola if you are looking at this blog, please do not forget our updates.
Source :
1) http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_shuts_down_operations_in_asia_pacific-news-4712.php
Source :
1) http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_shuts_down_operations_in_asia_pacific-news-4712.php
I finally got a tablet for myself. I jump on the Android wagon again. This time round, I did it mainly because of the price factor. Initially, I wanted an iPad but my wife already had one and for a second tablet I wanted something different and cheap. The obvious choice was to get a Android tablet but which one?
There are China made Android tablets that are dirt cheap. Really cheap! Just over a hundred Sing dollar, you can have a 7" ICS ready tablet. 1 factor that rule out the China tablets for me is the quality. Yes, they are cheap but from the web there are many people grumbling about how unstable their China tablets are and most importantly having problems downloading apps from Google Play. If Google Play is a problem then, what can I use the tablet for with limited apps?
Searching around in the web on Monday I found a shop website selling popular Samsung Tab 2 10.1 for SGD $650 and Samsung Tab 2 7" for SGD $505. I was quite tempted as retail stores are selling them at $798 and $598 respectively. I decided to get Tab 2 10.1" screen as I find 7 " kind of small for web surfing. I contacted the shop to check for stock availability and they confirmed that they have a couple sets left. After work, I decided to check out Challenger store before I make a final decision. There I was surprise to find other good deals. Acer A200 and Motorola Xoom 2 are on sale. Acer A200 is selling for SGD $399 and Xoom 2 for SGD $499. I play around with the 2 tablets. Acer big minus point is that it is rather heavy(700g) but it is ICS ready. Xoom 2 is lighter at 599g and has 3G capability. However it is still running on honeycomb 3.2.2. Comparing Xoom 2 with Samsung Tab 2, their specs are similiar. The major difference for me is that Samsung Tab 2 is able to make phone call, SMS and MMS. These are not important to me as I will not be using these function. However, I would have to wait for ICS update for Xoom 2. Motorola has promised ICS for Xoom 2 which is due to roll out in Q3 2012. Now is already Augest so I guess the update should be ready in a month time the most. The deal was too sweet for me to pass. I got my Xoom 2 for SGD $538 including screen protector and a tablet cover.
There are China made Android tablets that are dirt cheap. Really cheap! Just over a hundred Sing dollar, you can have a 7" ICS ready tablet. 1 factor that rule out the China tablets for me is the quality. Yes, they are cheap but from the web there are many people grumbling about how unstable their China tablets are and most importantly having problems downloading apps from Google Play. If Google Play is a problem then, what can I use the tablet for with limited apps?
Searching around in the web on Monday I found a shop website selling popular Samsung Tab 2 10.1 for SGD $650 and Samsung Tab 2 7" for SGD $505. I was quite tempted as retail stores are selling them at $798 and $598 respectively. I decided to get Tab 2 10.1" screen as I find 7 " kind of small for web surfing. I contacted the shop to check for stock availability and they confirmed that they have a couple sets left. After work, I decided to check out Challenger store before I make a final decision. There I was surprise to find other good deals. Acer A200 and Motorola Xoom 2 are on sale. Acer A200 is selling for SGD $399 and Xoom 2 for SGD $499. I play around with the 2 tablets. Acer big minus point is that it is rather heavy(700g) but it is ICS ready. Xoom 2 is lighter at 599g and has 3G capability. However it is still running on honeycomb 3.2.2. Comparing Xoom 2 with Samsung Tab 2, their specs are similiar. The major difference for me is that Samsung Tab 2 is able to make phone call, SMS and MMS. These are not important to me as I will not be using these function. However, I would have to wait for ICS update for Xoom 2. Motorola has promised ICS for Xoom 2 which is due to roll out in Q3 2012. Now is already Augest so I guess the update should be ready in a month time the most. The deal was too sweet for me to pass. I got my Xoom 2 for SGD $538 including screen protector and a tablet cover.
It has been a while since I last posted. I did not wait for ICS update and give away my Samsung Galaxy S2 to my relative. Never bother to update the phone to ICS but my relative is happily using it till now. As she is only a basic phone user, she is not concern about the new feature ICS will bring to her. I also did not want to disrupt her use of the phone as she is contented with the apps she has downloaded. Sometime it can be a pain to update. You never know what you going to "lose". Like all other OS, there is a chance that a app can no longer work after you do a OS update. Then the waiting game for the developers to update their apps comes again. When the device is not yours then you can be more than certain that you do not want to take such risk. Now that Samsung S3 is out with ICS, the wait for Jelly bean on S3 starts again.
28 March 2012
Last Saturday, I bought a Samsung Galaxy SII thinking that an update for Android 4 should be available for Singapore since Samsung had already rolled out the update for UK. I was wrong not to check first before buying the phone. Upon reaching home with the new phone, the first thing I did was to download the Samsung KIES software and tried to do the update before I transferred my contacts. Sadly there was no update to android 4. I should have gotten Samsung Nexus and save myself the disappointment of not have a android 4 and other updates in the future. Phone vendors are most reluctant to update their old phones to the latest firmware. Naturally, they would want us to just buy their latest phones. If Android makers continue to do this they might suffer a black lash. People might just get frustrated with such poor support and move on to another platform. Another point to take note is that if they phone vendors do not provide update to their phones, the market will be flooded with different version of Android OS. This kind of fragmentation will cause headaches to developers. On many websites, there are mentions of developers frustrated with this kind of fragmentation and might consider developing for other platforms. This good news for Windows OS as some of the developers might jump back to Windows OS. This is my first Android phone and I am feeling disappointed already. Lucky I still have my iPhone.
21 March 2012
Just last week, DL talked about getting young I.T professionals to learn old programming language such as Cobol to support applications on mainframe. This week on on DL, Aaron Tan reports that HP aims to come up with product for companies ditching high-end servers(mainframe) for cheaper x86 systems. Seems like there will be an end to mainframe. HP's Project Odyssey will help companies to migrate from Unix to x86 systems to reduce I.T cost. Under this project, HP will also bring some of the high-end features, such as automatic repair of system errors and intelligent routing of data, to ensure IT systems are available at all times. If this project is successful, HP will strengthen the x86 market and make Linux and Windows more attractive even to banks and companies who are a big of Unix systems. I applaud HP for this project. Moving to cheaper hardware means that more can be spent on other area like IT training, software, security, etc. For me personally, I would hope more companies can adopt cloud computing. Companies can concentrate on their core business and leave the dirty IT works to cloud computing companies.
15 March 2012
Another 3 more months, I can recontract my mobile line. I am wondering if I should jump to android platform. I am very interested to find out what android 4 (ice cream) is like,as I never own an android phone before. I have tried out my friend's older android OS but did not like it. I wonder will that change with ice cream. There are some cool features as mentioned in DL like Data usage monitor, Resizable widgets, Improved voice commands and Facial recognition.
Looking around for an android phone is not easy. There are so many android phone around. Each maker interface is different unlike iPhone. 1 thing, I like most about iPhone is consistancy. I do not have keep learning new way doing the same task. Before reading up on Samsung Galaxy Nexus on DL, I thought I would just pick up any android phone running ice cream. The article on Nexus brought up an important consideration for me. Nexus which carry the Google brand name comes with a stock android OS. This is important in a way, as I can manually update the phone to the latest OS, instead of waiting for vendors and telcos to roll out the upgrades. For people who bought the Samsung Galaxy S II, they have to hold their breath to see if their handset is supported when ice cream came out. This is make me appreciate iPhone a little bit more. I have been upgrading my IOS without such worries. Apple's IOS is compatible with iPhone 2 gen before.
I also have another consideration jumping to android. I have bought a navigation apps on iPhone. Jumping to android means, I will not be able to use my navigation apps on android. That's something I can live without but it will be waste.
I guess there are some considerations before jumping from one OS to another. I might just stick to iPhone after all. I am probably not going to wait for iPhone 5. One thing I learn from people who bought the iPhone 4S early, apple can let you wait 6 months to fix iPhone's calling audio silent issue.
Looking around for an android phone is not easy. There are so many android phone around. Each maker interface is different unlike iPhone. 1 thing, I like most about iPhone is consistancy. I do not have keep learning new way doing the same task. Before reading up on Samsung Galaxy Nexus on DL, I thought I would just pick up any android phone running ice cream. The article on Nexus brought up an important consideration for me. Nexus which carry the Google brand name comes with a stock android OS. This is important in a way, as I can manually update the phone to the latest OS, instead of waiting for vendors and telcos to roll out the upgrades. For people who bought the Samsung Galaxy S II, they have to hold their breath to see if their handset is supported when ice cream came out. This is make me appreciate iPhone a little bit more. I have been upgrading my IOS without such worries. Apple's IOS is compatible with iPhone 2 gen before.
I also have another consideration jumping to android. I have bought a navigation apps on iPhone. Jumping to android means, I will not be able to use my navigation apps on android. That's something I can live without but it will be waste.
I guess there are some considerations before jumping from one OS to another. I might just stick to iPhone after all. I am probably not going to wait for iPhone 5. One thing I learn from people who bought the iPhone 4S early, apple can let you wait 6 months to fix iPhone's calling audio silent issue.
Looking at the last page of DL ( Digital Life section from Strait times), reminds me of my situation. Helen Tan reports that "Many corporations still use mainframe computers that use Cobol, an old programming language." In this fast moving I..T world, is there a place for legacy technologies? Given a chance would anyone wants to learn learn old stuff. Estimated salary of a Cobol engineer is about $15,000 to $20,000. I guess I would be tempted if someone offer me the job and train me to be a Cobol programmer. However, what is the career prospect after Cobol pragramming? You probably have to pick up another skill set. That's a bumper. Imagine you are age 55 and have to learn another skill set. That is like a career switch. That's the problem with I.T. Your skill set can never last long. Always chasing certifications and technologies, unlike other profession.
There are still some dinosaur equipment, I am supporting. The number is not many but these are the equipments that give me the most headaches. They are before the internet era and not much information can be retreived from the internet about them. Some time when problem arises, we are just trying our luck. I survived so far but I wonder sometime why are still supporting them when the vendors have even closed down. True, the maintenance contract might be more profitable than the newer ones but the sale person is not the one cracking they head in the middle of the night. I believe if there are still companies out there who continue to support these equipment, legacy equipment will remain. Technologies cannot progress until it cannot replace the old equipment easily. It is the people who stood where they are until they miss out the chance to upgrade or it comes too troublesome to do so.
There are still some dinosaur equipment, I am supporting. The number is not many but these are the equipments that give me the most headaches. They are before the internet era and not much information can be retreived from the internet about them. Some time when problem arises, we are just trying our luck. I survived so far but I wonder sometime why are still supporting them when the vendors have even closed down. True, the maintenance contract might be more profitable than the newer ones but the sale person is not the one cracking they head in the middle of the night. I believe if there are still companies out there who continue to support these equipment, legacy equipment will remain. Technologies cannot progress until it cannot replace the old equipment easily. It is the people who stood where they are until they miss out the chance to upgrade or it comes too troublesome to do so.
10 March 2012
Finally managed to update iPhone 4S via iTune. I tried to update via WIFI first but I kept getting download error. After a few attempt I turned to iTune. Although iTune failed to update my phone yesterday as well but I gave it a try anyway. Who knows, it worked. The whole update process took me about 20mins.
Once I am on IOS 5.1. I tried to make some calls. The upgrade solve my calling issue. I used to experience audio silent whenever make call to others for the first attempt. I usually get line only on the second attempt. Now the calling seems to be perfect. I also like the camera function being place at screen lock. I now have quick access to camera function. For the battery life , I will find out if it is fixed in a few days of usage.
Once I am on IOS 5.1. I tried to make some calls. The upgrade solve my calling issue. I used to experience audio silent whenever make call to others for the first attempt. I usually get line only on the second attempt. Now the calling seems to be perfect. I also like the camera function being place at screen lock. I now have quick access to camera function. For the battery life , I will find out if it is fixed in a few days of usage.
9 March 2012
Kindle work around
If you still prefer Kindle's ink display and like to use one in this island, there is work around.
Getting a Kindle is easy. You can use VPOST, Comgateway or Borderlinx to ship the kindle to you.
After you got your Kindle, here comes the tricky part.
To begin buying ebooks, you need to get ready the following ;
1) VPN service to US - You can use any VPN as long as the end point is in US. Free VPNs like OpenVPN and securityKISS work fine.
2) US address - You can use the US address from VPOST, Comgateway or Borderlinx.
3) 2 Amazon account - one account with local address registered and the other with US address registered.
After you have the above items ready, you are set to make your purchase.
1) Login into the Amazon account with local address registered. Buy the Amazon gift card for Kindle store and send the gift card via email to your Amazon account with US address registered. After you have send the gift card, logout of the Amazon account with local address registered.
2) Launch the VPN service. To confirm that you now have the US ip address, open IE and goto http://whatismyipaddress.com/ or http://www.ip2location.com. You should see that you now have a US ip address.
3) Login into the Amazon account with US address registered. You should be able to see Kindle's ebooks llisting. Continue to buy your ebook using the Amazon gift card. When you check out, Amazon will might ask you for your billing address. As you are using gift card, billing address is not critical. Select or key in the US address you registered earlier.
4) After you make your purchase. Download the ebook to your Kindle via USB. Do not use Amazon Whispernet to download.
5) After you have download the ebook to your Kindle logout of your Amazon account with US address registered and disconnect your VPN.
Always remember, DO NOT login to your Amazon account with US address registered outside US. Amazon might tracks that you are not in US to access the ebook content. To download ebooks into Kindle app on iPad or iPhone, you will also need to turn on VPN on your iPad/iPhone first.
Getting a Kindle is easy. You can use VPOST, Comgateway or Borderlinx to ship the kindle to you.
After you got your Kindle, here comes the tricky part.
To begin buying ebooks, you need to get ready the following ;
1) VPN service to US - You can use any VPN as long as the end point is in US. Free VPNs like OpenVPN and securityKISS work fine.
2) US address - You can use the US address from VPOST, Comgateway or Borderlinx.
3) 2 Amazon account - one account with local address registered and the other with US address registered.
After you have the above items ready, you are set to make your purchase.
1) Login into the Amazon account with local address registered. Buy the Amazon gift card for Kindle store and send the gift card via email to your Amazon account with US address registered. After you have send the gift card, logout of the Amazon account with local address registered.
2) Launch the VPN service. To confirm that you now have the US ip address, open IE and goto http://whatismyipaddress.com/ or http://www.ip2location.com. You should see that you now have a US ip address.
3) Login into the Amazon account with US address registered. You should be able to see Kindle's ebooks llisting. Continue to buy your ebook using the Amazon gift card. When you check out, Amazon will might ask you for your billing address. As you are using gift card, billing address is not critical. Select or key in the US address you registered earlier.
4) After you make your purchase. Download the ebook to your Kindle via USB. Do not use Amazon Whispernet to download.
5) After you have download the ebook to your Kindle logout of your Amazon account with US address registered and disconnect your VPN.
Always remember, DO NOT login to your Amazon account with US address registered outside US. Amazon might tracks that you are not in US to access the ebook content. To download ebooks into Kindle app on iPad or iPhone, you will also need to turn on VPN on your iPad/iPhone first.
Limitation on iTune and Amazon
Ebook is hot nowaday. Many bookstores are closing down due to high operating cost. Page One turned to it's final page in Feb. Harris in Great World City also closed down. Even my favourite bookstore in Funan for I.T books also closed down and is now operating online. I guess with the popularity of tablets, ebooks will eventually become main stream. For one, ebooks are convenient to get and are cheaper. In this island, sad to say there are some limitations. Here we have no access to itune store so getting ebooks from itune is out unless you have a US credit card or someone bought you a Apple gift card, but you have to change your location to US by registering a US address. Apple don't seems to care where you download the content from as long you fulfill the above mentioned criteria.
Amazon, that;s a different story. Amazon do track where you download the content from. You can also register yourself with a US address to access the kindle ebook store but again you cannot buy ebook without a US credit card. However you can use any credit card to buy Amazon gift card which can be used to buy ebooks. Seems like a loop hole? Remember what I mentioned. Amazon TRACKS where you download the content. If you use a US register address to buy ebooks and download the content in this island, sooner or later they will send you email to verified your US address. In some forums, people have mentioned that Amazon will eventually block your ebooks download. To fellow islanders who want to buy Kindle or read ebooks on iPad using kindle app, this is a nightmare. Just let you know, to download kindle app for Apple, you also need a US registered address Apple ID. You might be asking why. Apparently this is due to censorship and distribution rights issue here.
There are alternatives. You can get ebooks from Skoob (By Singtel) and read them on Apple IOS, Android and PCs. Kobo is also another alternative.
Yesterday I got an email from mocca.com. They will be shutting down the web site until further notice. Mocca.com web site is owned by Mediacorp. It is served as a classifieds web portal. I personally had used the site for selling my old stuff like wii, lava lamp,etc. The web site was good as it did not charge any fee for posting unless you wanted more features for you posting, like adding more photos of your product. Unlike Ebay or Gmarket, the website did not offer any form of transaction function. I guess it did not evolve enough to stay afloat in this ever changing internet environment. I wonder what will happen to mocca.com in the future.
2nd post for me today. I will be using the labels feature to organize the topics that I will be posting. Still on the subject of Apple today. I tried to update my iPhone 4S yesterday and it just failed. First I cannot seems to be able to update via WIFI. For iPhone 4S, the IOS 5.1 update package via WIFI is 185MB. Via Desktop iTune, it will be 804MB. I tried to update WIFI a couple of time and my iPhone just tell me I have problem downloading. I switch to desktop iTune. Once I opened up iTune, it prompt me to update. I updated my iTune to 10.6 and did a reboot. After that I plugged in my iPhone and clicked on the update button. I did not do a backup first as I had already done so a few day back. The iTune downloaded the IOS 5.1 package until 450MB and gave me a error message saying I had connect issue. I tried a couple of time and it still failed. Google the internet for help and found that the IOS 5.1 has not fix the battery issue and also the call audio drop issue. Some guys in the Apple forum did mention they are facing problem downloading also. Maybe everyone is overloading the server. Will try to update again when I have the time. Like I said before if this update don't fix my call audio problem, I will have the green guy changing a new phone for me.
8 March 2012
Beginning my blogger life in the internet after so long.Why I want to start this blog? Maybe it is because I need some space of my own. After living in this small little tropical island for so long, I started to feel a little cram. There used to have quiet places in Orchard road where I can sit down quietly, enjoying my drink after a stressful day. Although nowadays, there are a wider choice of cafe but the number of people had increased exponentially. They said our population is around 6 million. 6 million people already? I cannot image it going to 7 or even 8. Maybe in the future when you are not careful. You might just fall off the edge and into the sea.
Anyway, this blog is not going to be another "loser" site and I cannot afford to be sued. I am not going to grumble here. In here, it will be a space where I and perhaps my friends can pin down thoughts for nicer stuff.
How about iPad news? Coincidentally, today in the red dot we got about news about the "iPad 3". This morning I went to apple web site and realized that the new released iPad is not called "iPad 3". It is just call iPad. After looking through the specs, I did not feel that I need the upgrade. I can leave with my iPad 2 for a while. I was feeling a little sore when they release the new iPad as I had bought iPad 2 last Sept. Just after 6 months, Apple decided to release a new model. To me the new iPad just have better resolution, better graphic and it support 4G. I am not a gamer or a vivid TV drama person, so the iPad 2 screen is good enough for me. I also do not need the 4G. 4G is still new and there is only 1 operator with 4G coverage. The new iPad is also slightly thicker and heavier.
Although, I do not need an upgrade for my iPad, there 1 upgrade I need to do. Upgrade my wife's iPhone 4S to IOS to 5.1. My wife's iPhone is having problem making outgoing calls. Sometime the audio will just go silent and you cannot hear the other party voice.This is the problem since day 1. Try to get it repair but the Green guy keep telling us that our phone is not faulty and we cannot do an exchange. Instead the green guy gave us codes to turn off call barring. I hope this IOS upgrade and solve this once and for all. If not I will have to insist they give me another phone.
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