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.

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/

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. 

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. 

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

I finally decided to encrypt my tablet. One of my main purpose of buying this tablet is to check my corporate exchange email. Anyway it is not a phone so the impact of anything wrong happening on my tablet should be minimum, as I am using the tablet as a secondary device beside my laptop. Worst case scenario if anything bad would to  happen, I can reset my tablet to factory default.

Before encrypting your tablet there are some things  you must ensure before proceeding:

1. Set a lock screen PIN or password.
2. Charge the battery.
3. Plug in your tablet to a power source
4. 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:

1. From a Home or All Apps screen, touch the Settings icon .
2. Touch Personal > Security > Encryption > Encrypt tablet.
3. 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 you 
   change your mind about encrypting your tablet, touch the Back button.
4. Touch Encrypt tablet. 
5. Enter your lock screen PIN or password and touch Continue. 
6. 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).