MyBerjaya : ACTeLabs

The reality or the Independent mobility platform

2010-07-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

In just 10 years, the wireless smartphone market has gone from virtually nonexistent to becoming a household term worldwide. At the start of the millennium, Research in Motion (RIM) was pretty much the only significant vendor selling what were then called "wireless PDAs." Today, there are no less than six major operating systems for smartphones. Currently, they account for 14 percent of overall mobile device sales, but it is expected that by 2012 they will make up about 37 percent of global handset sales.

Today, scores of smartphones are offered on the market, offering consumers and businesses a wide variety of options for both personal and enterprise needs. However, they have also presented a challenge for organizations looking to deploy enterprise-wide mobile solutions. Given all the device choices, as a business or IT executive, what are you to do?

If you have already embraced mobility for your workforce, great! However, there are a number of new smartphones coming to market at a breakneck pace that enterprises are trying to seamlessly integrate into their strategy. Conversely, many organizations have yet to implement a mobility strategy of any kind because of the daunting number and constantly evolving amount of choices on the market. How can you ensure that your investment is not obsolete by the time you deploy?

Platform is the answer

What's the answer to both scenarios just mentioned? In a word: platform. When planning a mobility strategy, the natural inclination may be to start with one device type and lock into it for simplicity and manageability. But today's hot device could be tomorrow's paperweight. A platform approach to mobility can minimize the dependency on the device by ensuring that new devices and technologies are easily integrated into the mobile solution.

Using a mobility platform, IT does not have to use multiple software tools to manage users and applications across multiple device types. They are freed up to design and deploy the best possible applications without being constrained by device limitations or management and control concerns—today and in the future. Also, because IT can easily manage multiple types of smartphones, business users can choose the appropriate device type for their work profile without overburdening IT resources.

With the ability to adopt anything from a rugged Windows Mobile device for technicians to a BlackBerry for salespeople or an iPhone for management, business units can use whatever devices best suit the job at hand and the unique wants and needs of the users. This freedom of choice will help to drive adoption and increase the usability and effectiveness of the applications on workers' devices.

When an enterprise adopts a mobility platform that supports multiple mobile devices, it provides its employees with unprecedented tools for productivity and efficiency. It also empowers IT to discover and create new applications to maximize mobility from end-to-end.

Talk on HTML5

2010-05-20T04:07:00.000-07:00

As we all know, the battle between Flash and HTML5 for the future of online video is raging. But what about that other plugin some sites use for video? You know, the one made by Microsoft — Silverlight? A new posting tonight may call that platform’s future in video into question as well. Because arguably their most important client is looking to jump on the HTML5 video bandwagon: Netflix.

Netflix’s Director of Web Engineering, Adrian Cockcroft, indicates the company’s intention to embrace HTML5 going forward. The move is apparently spurred on by Netflix’s move to Amazon’s cloud, which will require a re-architecting of the codebase, Cockcroft notes. So what better time to start supporting the latest technologies? “One of these is HTML5, which is raising the bar for cross browser support for advanced user interface features, and is now supported by a large and rapidly growing percentage of the visitors to netflix.com. In addition many TV based devices now embed webkit, which is the HTML5 compatible technology that underpins the Safari and Chrome browsers,” Cockcroft writes.
It’s interesting that Cockcroft never actually mentions the video capabilities of HTML5, instead he talks about the “advanced user interface features.” Still, I think we all know what he means.
He also points out that Netflix is looking to hire to make this transition happen. The one posting he highlights is for a Senior User Interface Engineer — HTML5. The position description reads as follows:

Are you passionate about building great website experiences used by millions of visitors each day? Come to Netflix where we are using HTML5 based web technologies to move ecommerce directly onto to televisions in our customers’ living rooms. As part of our Customer Acquisition team, you will lead the way to our internationalized television user interface designed to help new customers find Netflix and start streaming movies in seconds. This new experience will be deployed to HTML5 capable embedded browsers and served from our cutting edge cloud based backend service.

This move shouldn’t be all that surprising considering that Netflix was one of the first apps to embrace the iPad, bringing its videos (h264 encoded) to the device through a native app. Still, this is a huge potential win for HTML5, presuming it happens.

What happened in 2009?

2010-01-05T00:17:00.000-08:00

We do hoping that the new year 2010 will give more extra miles to our technological and economical milestone. Nonetheless, a lot of things have happened in the year 2009 including in technology matter. We give the ten most happening event in technology news 2009.

Intel Cancels Retail Larrabee
Intel has been talking about its reentry into the discrete GPU market for the last couple of years. Massive improvements in visual quality and performance were promised, but ultimately even the world's largest semiconductor company was unable to keep up with ATI's GPU development team. The first generation is cancelled, but Intel has promised that its second generation Larrabee card will be better when it hits the market in 2011. Time will tell...

The Transition to 64-bit Software

The hardware has been there for years, but 2009 was the tipping point. Most sales and installations of Microsoft's operating systems are now 64-bit, and software companies have been quick to adapt. Antiviral and firewall software were quickest to change, but the absence of a 64-bit version of Adobe's Flash software is holding back 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox.

NAND Flash Memory/34nm Node

Margins on NAND flash memory had been razor thin, so NAND manufacturers had shut down their inefficient 200mm wafer fabs early in anticipation of cost-efficient volume from 34nm fabs. The demand for NAND flash memory grew faster than was anticipated this year, and the result was a doubling in prices. Nevertheless, the transition to 34nm by the industry is now in full swing, and mass production in volume has been ongoing for some time. An additional upside is that DDR3 and GDDR5 DRAM is starting to move to the 40nm node as capacity frees up.

Netbooks
The market for small, affordable computers with abundant battery life exploded this year. It would've been even larger if we weren't in a recession, but almost 40 million units sold and a doubling in sales over 2008 is still pretty darn good in a bleak PC market. Next generation Pine Trail systems look even more promising, with longer battery life and lower prices for consumers.

Microsoft Bans Over 1 Million Xbox 360 Consoles
Microsoft cracked down hard on modified Xbox 360 consoles this year due to piracy concerns. While public opinion is divided, over a million consoles are now limited in their functionality. Offline games can still be played, but hard drive game installations and access to Xbox Live were cut off. Microsoft suggested customers with a banned Xbox 360 buy a new one. Some angry customers drove up sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 console instead.

Intel's Antitrust Troubles

Intel is no stranger to antitrust troubles, but this year was spectacular. The company was hit hard by a $1.45 billion fine from the European Commission, and sued earlier this month by the US Federal Trade Commission. This is all supposed to end up helping consumers, but Intel will still wield monopolistic power for the short-term.

ATI's GPU Domination/DirectX 11

The graphics division of AMD released five new DirectX 11 graphics cards this year, including the most powerful graphics card in the world. It also launched an overclocked Radeon HD 4890 and the 40nm Radeon HD 4700 series. Demand has been very high, and the company has been grappling with orders even as it has increased production from TSMC. The situation improved in December, and cards are available, but don't expect any price cuts for a couple of months.
Solid State Drives
The fast access speeds of SSDs intrigued most enthusiasts this year, as it became the most cost-effective method of increasing the performance of a computer. Capacities and speeds hit new highs, and OEMs responded to consumer demand by making them available as options in netbooks, notebooks, and desktop computers.

Intel introduced the first 34nm SSD with its second generation X25-M, and prices have been kept in check as 34nm capacity from IMFT, Samsung, and Toshiba has come online. 30GB SSDs with decent flash controllers hit the $100 mark (with a mail-in rebate) during the holiday shopping season, heralding a move to the mainstream.

Windows 7

Microsoft's new operating system replaced Windows Vista, the OS that everyone loves to hate. Features like support for DirectX 11 and faster performance drove Vista users to upgrade, and even motivated die-hard Windows XP fans to make the leap to a 64-bit version with greater memory support.

The corporate move to Windows 7 will take longer, as most companies will take the opportunity to transition to 64-bit software at the same time.

Intel Pays Off AMD
Intel went from threatening to shut down AMD's CPU production to paying their chief competitor $1.25 billion to settle all antitrust disputes. A new five-year patent cross-licensing agreement was signed, and GlobalFoundries was able to continue production without any hiccups.

Things haven't turned out the way Intel has hoped though, as it continues to appeal the EC's antitrust decision and has to face a new lawsuit from the FTC. Meanwhile, AMD's stock has gone from $2 earlier this year to $10.

The payoff will hopefully result in an accelerated CPU roadmap from AMD, but for the short-term Intel will hold the technology lead as it prepares for the introduction of its first 32nm CPUs.

The most sophisticated computer

2009-12-09T23:32:00.000-08:00

Its look like pentagon is trying to sell their product (not enough money to built Noah`s ship fro 2012, I guest). However, iBuyPower has managed to swoop in and remedy quandary number two
. As of today, it's the exclusive provider of pre-built systems using this case, with base configurations boasting Intel's Core i7-920, a 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285, 6GB of DDR3 RAM, a 128GB SSD boot drive, 1TB of storage space and a Blu-ray drive. Feel free to spec this one out 'til your heart's content, but be mindful of that already-lofty $2,499 starting tag.

As you can see, the production Level 10 is nearly identical to the concept shots we’ve seen earlier. Each compartment on the Level 10 has its own ventilation. The large panels on the lower left cover the motherboard mount, PCI-E cards, GPUs, and so forth. The six slots on the right are hot-swap SATA bays, connected to a large vertical heatsink. The bays have mounts for 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch drives. The top right box holds three optical drives, and the upper left box holds the power supply

So, what is the sophistication all about? It design bro, really like Halo3, or Counter Strike weapon bag.

Boxee Box at your home

2009-12-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

The color it self could the greatness of the stuff. Boxee, the white-hot startup that has risen from nothing to everywherethanks to its internet TV software portal, has just announced that a deal has been inked between it and an undisclosed "hardware partner."
If you'll recall, we actually heard that the outfit was mulling the production of its own set-top-box back in January, and now it looks like Roku, Apple TV and a host of other mini PCs will have yet another formidable rival vying for space underneath the tele. The firm isn't spilling any details whatsoever on the so-called "Boxee Box,".

Boxee is the best way to enjoy entertainment from the Internet or a computer on a TV. Their free, open source, downloadable software for Mac, Linux and Windows brings all your entertainment into one place - whether it's from the Internet or from your hard drive or home network. Plus, they overlay everything with a heaping helping of social by letting you share what you're playing with friends on Boxee, Twitter, and Facebook.

The Boxee Box by D-Link takes the same popular software and offers it up as a great device -- the perfect companion to a high definition TV. The Boxee Box by D-Link provides access to more than just traditional TV content. It includes a huge library that spans the Internet, such as university courses, panel discussions, academic lectures, presentations, web-only videos and more from TED, Stanford, FORA.tv, Kid Mango, Next New Networks and more. Boxee also makes it easy for users to add their own favorite entertainment sources with simple RSS or XML feeds available for most online video.

In addition to video content, Boxee users can access great music from sites like Pandora, last.fm, shoutcast, and We are Hunted as well as fun photos from sites like flickr, Picasa and the Facebook.

How to boost you firefox performance

2009-11-05T02:22:00.000-08:00

I do believe that most of ours having firefox browser in our machine, though it is very much fair to compare with Chrome and Opera. But do you know that you still boost up firefox browser perfromance by just doing little bit tweaking. How the thing works is simple.

1. Open up the firefox browser

2. type about:config in the address bar and enter. There are entries (one per line) that handle various types of configurations. Each entry has a searchable keyword.

A: Auto export bookmarks

In Firefox 3, bookmarks are automatically saved and exported for you. The only problem is that by default, they’re saved as places.sqlite instead of the more convenient bookmarks.html. To change this setting so that they can be easily re-imported, search for autoExportHTML and you should see:
browser.bookmarks.autoExportHTML: Change this to true.

B: Disable extension install delay

One of the few gripes I have with Firefox is the silly countdown you must endure every time you want to install an extension. Fortunately, this can be disabled. Search for enable_delay and you should see:
security.dialog_enable_delay: Change this to 0.

C: View source code in an external editor

When you need to view the source of a page, it opens up in browser popup. Most developers would probably like to have that opened in their favorite editor instead of having to cut and paset. To do this, there are two entries to modify. Search for view_source.editor and you will see:
view_source.editor.external: Change this to true.
view_source.editor.path: Change this to the explicit path to your editor of choice.

D: Get more add-on search results

When you do a search in the Add-on window, you’ll see just five results. You might find it more efficient to increase this number. Search for getAddons and you should see:
extension.getAddons.maxResults: Change this to 10 (or higher, if you want to see even more).

E: Redefine the Backspace button

Did you know you can configure Firefox to use the backspace button to either go back a page or go up a page? This keeps power users from having to go back and forth from the keyboard to the mouse. Search for backspace and you will see:
browser.backspace_action: Change this to 0 for previous page and 1 for page up.

Continue....

Motorola Droid, not competitior for Iphone

2009-10-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

Motorola Droid, it could be the most impressive Android device to date. Droid won’t kill the iPhone, but it might give the Pre, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone a decent run for their money.
Early impressions suggest that Droid is the best Android device yet and the closest thing to an iPhone killer, although it won’t eat the iPhone’s lunch.

Droid Specs:

Resolution: 854 X 480
screen dimension : 3.7"
Screen technology : TFT capacitive touch display
Processor : 550MHz Texas Instruments OMAP3430 processor, a separate PowerVR GPU
Memory : 256 MB
Camera : 5-megapixel camera that records video and stabilizes images, 4x zoom, a dual LED flash, and auto focus
OS : Android 2.0

PoE : What does it mean to IT Xpert?

2009-10-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

Power over Ethernet or PoE technology describes a system to safely transfer electrical power, along with data, to remote devices over standard category 5 cable in an Ethernet network. It does not require modification of existing Ethernet cabling infrastructure.

The IEEE 802.3af PoE standard provides up to 15.4 W of DC power (minimum 44 VDC and 350 mA) to each device. Only 12.95 W is assured to be available at the powered device as some power is dissipated in the cable.

Is it dangerous to transmit so much power over Ethernet?

I looked around and found a recent article in which TMC.net interviewed Amit Gattani, Director of Marketing for Akros Silicon. According to Akros Silicon’s Web site, the company was actively involved with drafting the new 802.3at standard.

Gattani noted that 13W solutions will require only Cat 5 cable while 30W solutions will need Cat 5e and above. The reason, he says, is that “Cat 5e and above have lower resistance drops so the heating issue is less.” Pertaining to concerns about the dangers of overheating, Gattani told TMC.net, “The 30W power limitation is actually put in place for a high degree of safety margin from the cable bundle heating up.”

So while the probability of PoE-powered Ethernet cables heating up is there, it should not pose a problem in most instances.

Impact on cooling and energy consumption

Will the use of PoE change the dynamics of the data center or server room in terms of energy consumption? I had the opportunity to interview the top executives of Chloride Powers on their stopover in Singapore last week and posed this question to them.

Etienne Gurou, Vice President of Chloride South East Asia, took the question. He pointed out that ultimately, the energy consumption remains similar — less some power loss on the wire of course — regardless of how it gets there. As such, what needs to be attended to would be issues pertaining to the ventilation and cooling of the slightly warmer cables or the powered hardware rather than any actual re-architecture of the datacenter.

Conclusion

When all is said and done, the ratification of the more advanced IEEE802.3at standard is hardly earth shattering. However, the increased maximum power can only mean a wider range of applications that will eventually be possible and, ultimately, the increased deployment of PoE on the whole.

Nokia says no to Android

2009-10-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

With such a huge market share in the mobile phone world, Nokia has a lot of power and influence. There's one thing though they're sure of – Nokia will never release an Android handset. With rumors flying around about the number one phone maker in the world possibly developing an Android handset, there was bound to be some words spoken. One of Nokia's reps has gone on to state that there is “Absolutely no truth to this whatsover” and that “Everyone knows that Symbian is our preferred platform for advanced mobile devices.”
So pretty much it puts down instantly any speculation on the matter. With the mobile platform market being more competitive than ever, Nokia is making some strides in that arena with Maemo. Sure the Symbian operating system still has its roots deep within Nokia, but they need to either perform an overhaul if they intend on still being a big player. Android has made some great strides over the course of the year – especially now more than ever with a plethora of handsets being released and introduced.
S60 v5 (Symbian) is only a transitional OS, for nokia to stay in the game while they get ready for the offensive, its basically the old Symbian patched for touch, although the n97 will get better with the v20 update this month. I think with the stuff i see happening (check nokia beta labs), the "new" Symbian is maturing quite nicely. By Symbian (1 year from now) i'm expecting excellent things, especially with both Mameo and Symbian using Qt, it will be very streamlined and good for them.

Lenovo IdeaPad S12 hits the rocky

2009-10-06T02:28:00.000-07:00

The small Lenovo IdeaPad S12 just earned the title of most powerful 12″ Netbook. Thanks to its NVIDIA ION chipset, the IdeaPad S12 can play 1080p HD content at full speed on its 12″ display or an HDTV (via HDMI).
That erases one of the main critic regularly thrown at Netbooks: they can’t play video right. Most importantly, it can run recent games like Call of Duty 4 or the Sims 3 (and DX10 titles) at interactive speeds while these games don’t work at all on traditional Netbook graphics like Intel’s 945G.

Lenovo used NVIDIA ION’s revolutionary design to create a thin, lightweight, low-power laptop with a 12-inch screen and improved application compatibility. The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 has the graphics horsepower to support high definition media and many PC games which will not run on most low-cost small PCs. NVIDIA ION enables these capabilities with the industry’s best graphics performance for low-power CPUs.

“NVIDIA ION is one of the latest technologies available for the PC industry for small, low cost laptop PCs, and we’re excited to be among the first to use it,” said Stephen DiFranco, vice president and general manager of consumer and commercial channels, Americas Group, Lenovo. “With its 12-inch display, full-size keyboard and rich multimedia options powered by ION, the IdeaPad S12 balances an improved computing experience along with the size and affordability many consumers are looking for today.”

Nvidia ION-based processors turn up the visuals on compact, low-power PCs with performance up to 10X faster than similar systems. When combined with a low-power CPU like Intel Atom, ION graphics processors transform traditional under-performing PC designs into a premium experience. Discover new ION-based PCs that are small in size but big in performance.
NVIDIA ION graphics support:

All versions of Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7
Outstanding HD video including 1080p and Blu-ray movies
Stunning HD video through an external monitor via HDMI
Popular games including Spore and Battlefield Heroes
DirectX 10 graphics with advanced digital display connectivity
Accelerated video enhancement and conversion using NVIDIA® CUDA™ technology.

HTC puts new hope on new Shift

2009-10-05T02:20:00.000-07:00

THERE is no doubt that computers are getting smaller with each passing day.
The underlying trend in today’s mobile computing market is not on massive desktop replacement notebooks but rather on smaller ultralight portable notebooks.

And HTC also seems having a big step with their new paradigm, HTC Shift, the first Ultra-mobile for HTC. On the outside, the Shift sports a very interesting design which, to put it simply, is small for a notebook but huge for a PDA. Small and roughly slightly larger than your average paperback novel, the Shift is a very portable machine.

The Shift can be used in one of two ways. You can hold the Shift in one hand and use the stylus with the other as you would a regular Tablet PC. One neat thing about the touchscreen is that you can still navigate reasonably well with your fingers without the stylus.Alternatively, you can place the Shift on a flat surface and slide out the main screen to reveal a hidden Qwerty keyboard.
The default display resolution is 800 x 480 pixels, which doesn’t offer a lot of room to work with, but you can bump the resolution up to 1,024 x 600pixels.The viewing angles for the screen is also good, with almost no colour shifting as you view it from different angles.

Performance
It may not sound like much but running on an Intel A110 (800MHz) processor with 1GB of RAM, the Shift is a reliable workhorse for office productivity tools. However the Shift isn’t geared for high-performance so photo manipulation and video editing are out of the question. Still, Vista runs remarkably well on the Shift with applications launching fast and running smoothly without any noticeable slow downs. Navigating around Vista Business was made difficult by the rather small trackpad. After having used it, I have to say that I’d rather use the stylus to quickly click and navigate around. Web surfing on the Shift is made easy by the fact that there are so many options such as WiFi, HSDPA or 3G to go online with.

Sony Ericsson still have their journey on W995

2009-10-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

While other competitors running each other to compete the best OS and processor. Sony Ericsson seems to be very cool with their roadmap. Sony Ericsson is still happy with their shout on Walkman + Camera function. And this is not an exceptional for the new relase of W995 mobile phone.

Armed with an 8.1-megapixel camera, the Sony Ericsson W995 is the second phone from Sony Ericsson that bridges the gap between its Walkman and Cyber-shot portfolios.Sony Ericsson is finally melding its Walkman and Cyber-shot lines into feature-packed phones.
The first was the W902 and the W995 is its second effort. The W995 manages to fulfil nearly all the requirements of a high-end user as we will find out.
Build quality
The W995 is a compact slider phone. The sliding mechanism is smooth, solid and feels durable.
The face of the phone is mostly dominated by a 2.6in inch screen and a few handy buttons. These buttons allow you to navigate most of the functions of the phone without having to use the keypad.
Sliding open the phone reveals the keypad which is quite comfortable to use as it has good tactile feedback. You will use it mostly for dialling numbers and composing messages.
The face and battery cover are made with brushed metal while the other parts are made of high quality plastic to give the W995 a strong but lightweight feel and slim shape.
The 2.6in screen is considered large for a phone of this size. It is extremely clear and stays that way even when outdoors. It does lose a bit of contrast under direct sunlight on a cloudless day though.
Aesthetically, the phone has a macho, sophisticated, high tech look. It also looks beautiful when the phone lights up in the dark.
User experience
This phone is really easy to use as it has a lot of shortcuts for applications. Plus, you can even configure your own shortcuts so you do not have to enter the main menu to drill down to your applications.
Dialling contacts through the address book or keying in numbers is easy. And when you dial a number, the phone will look up names in your address book that have the corresponding number. You can then select a name instead of dialling the whole number.
The W995 supports SMS, MMS and e-mail messaging. You can view SMS and MMS messages as a list or conversations.
The phone can handle e-mail attachments but there isn’t a document viewer on the phone, so you can’t view Word, Excel or PDF files.
Sounds good
The media centre menu is much like a mini XMB (CrossMediaBar) interface found on the PlayStation3.
You can use it to access your music, photos, videos, RSS feeds, podcasts and even games. We found it intuitive and easy to use.
You can activate the Walkman 4.0 player by just pressing a button. The volume control is on the right of the phone but the buttons were a bit hard to press as they were too tiny.
There are also rewind, play/pause and forward buttons beside the volume control. Holding down the Walkman button and shaking the phone activates the ShakeControl for adjusting the volume and changing tracks.
The SensMe feature works with MP3s that are tagged and analysed by the Media Go application on a computer and then loaded back into the phone.
The tagged MP3s fall into four quadrants of moods — sad, happy, fast and slow — so you can select songs based on mood rather than thumbing through a playlist.
Being a Walkman phone, the W995 delivers superior sound quality. It has stereo speakers at the top and bottom of the phone, a 3.5mm jack for your headphones and is bundled with premium in-ear earphones.
Other features include a graphic equaliser with presets or you can even configure your own setting.
This phone is definitely strong on bass so I had to turn it down a bit with the help of the equaliser.
Those who like heavy bass however will enjoy the sound. No distortions whatsoever were heard during testing.
Camera
The quality of the photos are as good as those of a camera though there is a bit more noise in low-light conditions.
This is understandable given the fact that the 8-megapixel sensor is made much smaller to fit into the phone.
An LED flash provides adequate lighting. The Cyber-shot shooting modes and settings also allow you to take photos in diverse conditions.
The built-in image stabiliser works well in properly lighted conditions but your hands have to be more steady to get the best shots. Also, the colours of the photos turned out wonderful.
Videos are captured in WQVGA resolution at 30fps in MP4 format. The videos turned out clear, and the audio was crisp and loud.
As the phone has a kickstand and stereo speakers positioned on the top and bottom of the phone, you can comfortably watch videos with stereo sound.
Supported video formats are MPEG4 and 3GP. However for a phone with all the necessary hardware that is touted as a great video playback phone, there is no support for more advanced codecs such as DivX which is a bit of a letdown.
Also, the W995 comes with 118MB of internal memory and an 8GB M2 card so there should be ample space to store all your media.
Productivity
The W995 comes with the usual assortment of notes, alarm, calendar and reminder functions to keep track of your appointments and meetings.
But that’s as far as productivity applications go for the W995. It would’ve been cool to have document viewers or editors installed to do some work on it.
There are several games on the phone ranging from puzzles to racing and action games. There is even a game that asks you questions based on the songs on your phone.
Fitness fans would be happy to know there is a WalkMate step counter application. It can be set as your wallpaper so you can check how many steps you’ve done for the day.
The Light application which uses the LED flash as a torchlight is quite useful.
The most interesting thing about it is that it can be set to blink out an SOS signal. Great for those “I’m stuck on a desert island with a coconut tree” situations.
The W995 has a aGPS that works with Google Maps and other navigation applications that can give you voice directions as well as location services.
The aGPS also allows you to geotag the photos that you snap.
In terms of battery life, if you use the phone for calls and SMS, watching videos, listening to music, snapping pictures and moderate surfing, it will last about three days on a full charge.
You can charge it using the supplied charger or through a USB port but the phone uses a proprietary connector.
Conclusion
I loved the Sony Ericsson W995 — it looks stylish, is easy to use, the screen is lovely and it has good speakers.
Plus, the camera could even replace a basic point-and-shoot camera.
All in all, the W995 performed well and I felt a little pang when I had to part with it. That’s when you know it’s a good product.
Pros: Easy to use; large, bright screen; excellent camera; good sound quality; 3.5mm audio jack; stylish phone.
Cons: No DivX codec support.
W995
(Sony Ericsson)
3G phone
Camera: 8.1 megapixels with autofocus and LED flash
Display: 2.6in screen (240 x 320 pixels), 256,000 colours
Messaging: SMS, MMS, e-mail
Connectivity: GSM 850/ 900/1800/1900, HSDPA 900 / 2100, Bluetooth, USB, WiFi
Expansion slot: M2 (up to 8 GB)
Phone memory: 118MB internal memory, bundled with 8GB M2 card
Battery Type: 930mAh lithium polymer
Standby/talk time: 360 hours/4 hours
Other features: aGPS, kickstand
Weight: 113g
Dimensions (W x D x H): 49 x 15 x 97mm
Price: RM1,800

Nokia release N900 to make great milestone

2009-08-31T20:19:00.000-07:00

Nokia recently launched a new class of smartphone as its flagship. The promised N900 is a crossover between smartphones and Nokia’s Internet tablets, and makes its biggest break in its change of operating system: although still a phone, the handset runs Nokia’s latest Linux variant platform, not Symbian. Symbian OS seems like incapable to support a heavy duty computer likes application on phone.
Maemo 5 renders it one of the first smartphones to have true PC-like multitasking and not only lets it run “dozens” of app windows at once but gives it a simple, large dashboard for switching and closing apps.

The Maemo update also brings an overall more touch-friendly interface and a customizable home screen that can mix app icons with shortcuts and widgets. Nokia also claims full support for Flash, albeit for the older 9.4, and has a new touch-friendly media player as well as similar apps.

In hardware, Nokia makes clear the N900’s role as an effective replacement for the N97 and the company’s answer to the iPhone 3GS. The QWERTY slider design has the same 600MHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor as the Apple smartphone and a faster graphics core that, again like Apple, supports OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics features. GPS and Wi-Fi are similarly onboard. However, the N900 brings much more app memory at up to 1GB (256MB actual RAM), full HSPA-based 3G at up to 10Mbps down and 2Mbps up, and a much sharper 800×480, 3.5-inch touchscreen. The 5-megapixel camera and 32GB of storage are also carried over from the N97, but a microSDHC slot lets users add at least another 16GB with today’s cards.

Believe the unbelievable

2009-08-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

A great work if you want to be a very successful person. I am taking a very good example, Dato` Tony Fernandez, CEO of Air Asia, a normal guy from a normal family but being able to create a great impact towards airline industry. He believe what other people believe it is impossibe. All experience he got while he was working with Virgin Company and Warner Music has led him to make to what Air Asia is right now. Starting from RM 1 million sharing within three partners, Kamarudin meranun, Aziz Bakar and Tony, they took over a dying small airlines company owned by DRB Hicom, who was having a debt over USD 11 million at that time. Just within one year Air Asia get back their return with debt settlement.

A good example of a person who are able to make people believe what is unbelievable. Well, what makes him think like that? He said the most basic elements are thinking positive, be a dreamer, do not say 'no', and do not listen to the people, listen to yourself, whether you believe it or not. For me, he is a cheerful, dedicated, determined and visionist. He does not like to try but he will do it.

Michael Jackson funeral as a muslim

2009-07-05T03:05:00.000-07:00

After so many speculation and debut, body of the great singer, Michael Jackson, will be buried as a muslim and not as a jehovah`s witness.the latest new yesterday was told that the will was coming from Michael some time before he died.

For the refresh, It is a matter of historical record that Michael Jackson was born to parents who were devout Jehovah’s Witnesses, and he was raised strictly in accordance with the tenets of that faith: always canvassing and never Christmas. But this was too puritanical for his showbiz spirit, and he quite obviously outgrew its confines, both theological and sociological. It is rumoured that he converted to Islam last year and changed his name to Mikaeel – the name of one of Allah’s angels.

Big Star dead : Michael to join Alvis

2009-06-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead today after paramedics found him in a coma at his Bel-Air mansion, city and law enforcement sources told The Times.

Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda told The Times that paramedics responded to a 911 call from the home. When they arrived, Jackson was not breathing.

The paramedics performed CPR and took Jackson to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda said. Hundreds of reporters gathered at the hospital awaiting word on his condition. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said family members rushed to Jackson’s bedside, where he was in a deep coma.

The circumstances of Jackson’s death remain unclear. Law enforcement sources said that Los Angeles Police Department robbery-homicide detectives have opened an investigation into the death, though they stressed that there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

The detectives plan to interview relatives, friends and Jackson’s doctors to try to figure out what happened. The L.A. County coroner’s office will determine a cause of death. A Los Angeles Fire Department source told The Times that Jackson was in full cardiac arrest when rescue units arrived.

A doctor was in the house performing CPR on Jackson, said the source who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Paramedics were called to a home in the 100 block of Carolwood Drive off Sunset Boulevard.

Jackson rented the Bel-Air home — described as a French chateau built in 2002 with seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, 12 fireplaces and a theater — for $100,000 a month. The home is about a six-minute drive from UCLA Medical Center. Jackson has three children — sons Prince Michael 7, and Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., 12, and daughter Paris Michael Katherine, 11.

Jackson, 50, died as he was attempting a comeback after years of tabloid headlines, most notably his trial and acquittal on child molestation charges.

In May, The Times reported that Jackson had rented the Bel-Air residence and was rehearsing for a series of 50 sold-out shows in London's O2 Arena. Jackson had won the backing of two billionaires to get the so-called "King of Pop" back on stage.

His backers envisioned the shows at AEG's O2 as an audition for a career rebirth that could have ultimately encompassed a three-year world tour, a new album, movies, a Graceland-like museum, musical revues in Las Vegas and Macau, and even a "Thriller" casino. Such a rebound could have wiped out Jackson's massive debt.

How to fix YM problem with pidgin

2009-06-22T19:31:00.000-07:00

since last 4 days, pidgin users have problem login to their YM. Some people might think thaht it is about the pidign problem but the real situation is that Yahoo! Inc. did something to its messenger server, something that practically block all the Linux IM clients, such as Pidgin, Kopete, Emphaty or Gyachi.

Infact Yahoo has changed their login method. This is catually not the first time Yahoo change their setting without informing all the Linux-based YM client, but like alwys we do, we try to solve ther problem.

Solution:

Just go to Pidgin>manage account and select account to Modify

Click on the Advanced button and change the Pager Server to:

cn.scs.msg.yahoo.com

GM goes down, AS come to fear fighter

2009-06-01T23:44:00.000-07:00

The US giant automotive symbol, General Motors (GM) has been annouced bankruptcy for their biggest failure along the road. US government will take over the company management, which was claimed to become the biggest company in the world.

The bankcruptcy announcement has become a deep impact toward US economic healing process. It is not just a company but is a "great wall' of United State. US state government officer hope that the management transition will take from 60 days to 90 days only and after that period, GM will be free from bankcruptcy and become a more manageable and structured company.

The US government will inject aboout US$ 30.1 billion fund or up to 60 % share to the GM financial support , while Canada will invest around 9.7 % share on this automotive company.

Ape Kabo Datok Zambery selepas hari ini?

2009-05-11T01:30:00.000-07:00

Hari ini maka tercatatlah keputusan Menteri Besar yang sah adalah milik DS Nizar Jamaluddin dan bukan Datok Zambery Abd Kadir. Selepas jawatan DS Nizar di rampas , beliau secara bersungguh2 mempertahankan amanah yang diberikan sehingga tiada manusia yang menaruh harapan terhadap usaha keras beliau.

Namun hari ini telah termaktub bahawa jawatan Menteri besar Perak adalah milik DS Nizar. Bagaimana pula dgn Datuk Zambery selepas ini? Adakah beliau akan berusaha untuk mempertahankan haknya seperti mana yang dilakukan oleh DS Nizar?

Bagaimana pula nasib SUK Abdullah Antong? Adakah beliau masih diberi belas kasih oelh DS Nizar setelah ape yang beliau perbuat terhadap DS Nizar dan anggota PR yang lain? Mampukan DS Nizar memetik pisang yang munking boleh berbuah dua kali?

Namun kemungkinan besar DS Nizar akan membubarkan sidang DUN untuk pilihanraya Perak atau pengumumkan pilihanraya bagi DUN "the three stooges" . Itulah yang terbaik..

Wallahu A`lam...

DS Nizar still hold as a legitimate Menteri Besar

2009-05-11T01:06:00.000-07:00

The Kuala Lumpur High court today has decide that DS Nizar is still a legitimate Menteri Besar of Perak, and not Datok Zambery Abd Kadir.

it has been confirm by berita harian.

source: malaysiakini.com

Sidang DUN Di Perak

2009-05-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

Ape la halnya sidng dun di perak hari nih...? harap harap tak jadi macam kat bvawah nih...

From MacWorld to ModWorld

2009-05-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

FOR the first time in 11 years, the Macworld circus came without its biggest act – Steve Jobs.

The iconic Apple chief executive officer, whose keynote speech had been the highlight of the annual San Francisco event for more than a decade, was not on hand to deliver his “one more thing” product announcement this year due to illness. Jobs has gone on a leave of absence to recuperate from a hormone imbalance problem.

His place was taken over by Apple’s senior vice president, worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller, who unveiled what Apple claims to be the world’s thinnest and lightest 17-inch laptop.

The new 17-inch MacBook Pro itself is an engineering marvel. Measuring just 2.5 centimetres in thickness and weighing less than three kilograms, it now features a design similar to Apple’s two other laptops – the 13-inch MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro – with the body carved out of a single block of aluminium for extra durability.

Its battery, however, is non-removable. Apple says this is done to create a battery that delivers up to eight hours of use on a single charge and up to 1,000 recharges without adding thickness, weight or cost to the MacBook Pro’s design.

This translates into more than three times the lifespan of conventional laptop batteries.

“The longer battery life equals fewer depleted batteries and less waste, which is better for the environment,” said Schiller.

Advanced chemistry, intelligent monitoring of the battery and computer system, and Adaptive Charging technology help bolster the battery performance.

The display, which uses LED-backlit technology, comes in a choice of glossy or matte, the latter identifiable by the presence of a metal bezel.

Apple says the energy-efficient display is mercury-free and is made using arsenic-free glass. Together with its highly recyclable aluminium body, it has been afforded an EPEAT Gold status for environment-friendliness.

The new MacBook Pro is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processors with clock speeds of up to 2.93 gigahertz (GHz). It sells for RM10,099.

Also announced were updates to the Apple iLife digital lifestyle suite. IPhoto, one of the five digital lifestyle software in the suite, now has new features such as Places and Faces.

Places automatically imports photo location data from a GPS-enabled camera or an iPhone. With Faces, iPhoto automatically scans photos to detect people’s faces and when names are assigned to those faces, iPhoto will find more pictures of that person.

Taking things a step further, a button in iPhoto enables quick photo sharing with Web sites such as Facebook and Flickr as well as to detect more faces on the Internet. Calling them “really powerful”, Schiller demonstrated how these features help organise thousands of photos.

IMovie 09 is now a more complete product, with holes from the last version (video effects, slow/fast motion, direct export to iDVD) plugged. A new Precision Editor lets users skim and click on a magnified filmstrip and perform advanced editing functions.

On top of that, iMovie 09 adds a new killer function: software stabilisation, which is expected to do wonders for millions of amateur moviemakers.

The updated GarageBand 09 allows budding musicians to learn playing the piano and guitar at their own pace. Basic Lessons allows newbies to learn the fundamentals while Artist Lessons has original artistes, including John Fogerty, Colbie Caillat, Norah Jones and Sting, showing how to play their hit songs.

“ILife has become one of the reasons people buy a Mac today. There’s nothing like it on any other computing platform,” said Schiller.

ILife 09 retails at RM299 for single user.

Also announced at Macworld were updates to the company’s iWork office productivity suite called iWork 09. The three software that make up the suite – Keynote, Pages and Numbers – have received new themes, sophisticated transition effects and a quick way to group and summarise data. IWork 09 is available immediately for RM299.

From MacBook to ModBook

Another product highlight at Macworld is the new ModBook, a MacBook converted into a tablet Mac.

The Modbook Pro from Axiotron uses the components of Apple’s 15-inch 2.8GHz MacBook Pro in an Axiotron-designed case.

Weighing about 3kg, the ModBook Pro has all the ports and drives found in the MacBook Pro as well as a GPS device and an assistive technology dual switch port for connecting input devices for people with disabilities.

Under the hood are Intel GMA X3100 integrated graphics, 24X DVD/CD-R combo drive or 8X SuperDrive, and support for up to four gigabytes of RAM.

The ModBook retains 802.11n wireless networking capability, Bluetooth 2.0 support, the Apple Remote and all of the MacBook’s original ports.

Axiotron has also migrated the MacBook’s iSight Webcam and repositioned it to make it more suitable to the pen.

Camera enthusiasts would certainly go ga-ga over a new range of funky tripods under the brand name Gorillapod. Available in a spectrum of colours – orange, red, blue, green, yellow, pink and grey – the Gorillapod from Joby Inc features over two dozen flexible leg joints that bend and rotate to firmly secure compact digital cameras to virtually any surface.

The Gorillapods can support camera gear weighing up to 5kg.

Farewell to Macworld

Apple also announced that this would be its final participation in Macworld, an independent trade show run by IDG World Expo, citing diminishing return on investment from the expo and increasing popularity of the Apple Retail Stores as reasons.

“About 3.4 million customers visit our stores each week,” said Schiller during his keynote. “That’s equivalent to 100 Macworlds.”

A performance by singing legend Tony Bennett at the end of Schiller’s keynote suggested that Apple could be saving its bigger product announcements for a later date – there have been rumours that Apple is preparing to launch a redesigned iMac computer and a smaller version of the iPhone.

Obama asked GM`s CEO to step down

2009-03-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

President adn CEo of General Motors Corp. (GM), Rick Wagoner will resign after receiving direct order from white house. US president, Barrack Obama will come out with further explaination and clarification on the Rick`s resignation.

A Group of new Directors will take into set on the largest US automobile driver soon as one of the objective for its major re-construction as to manage the issued bail-out from US government.

The sit will be taken over by Fritz Henderson

Anwar-Pak Lah at Hulu Langat : First step or just to speculate Najib

2009-03-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

Around 3 hours before TPM, Najib came out with his mini budget, something was happen unexpectedly. Pak Lah and Anwar sit down together and celebrate Maulidur Rasul S.A.W and having lunch with Syeikh Mahmud Al-Majzub, founder of Madrasah Nurul Iman, Hulu Langat.

Anwar was expected to come for the session but Pak Lah suddenly appeared from no where and joint the celebration, happily together. They have quite mutual discussing among six eyes for around 60 minutes on the undisclosed issues. While as per requested by Syeikh Mahmud both of them agreed to have short closed discussion on the also undisclosed issue.

They prayed together for Zohr, as Led by Syeikh Mahmud, Pak Lah at the right side and Anwar at the left side. Pak Lah gave a short talk afterwards and mentioning " ALLAH will listen to our doa" and nothing form Anwar. They shaked hand with peace smile before leave to go to Parlimen to listen to celoteh conducted by DS Najib.

Noted: This is the history. The moment when two opposite leader sit together at an isolated places from political heat. Sit together, think about how small they are , compare with the great power of ALLAH, though they have political power in this world. They listen to ulama, they talk peacefully without any sentiment.

Ibn Faldan

PPSMI : never ending story

2009-03-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

I found an article which is very interesting to share....

" tujuan kerajaan memperkenalkan pengajaran dan pembelajaran sains dan matematik dalam bahasa inggeris (PPSMI) adalah untuk rakyat malaysia khususnya melayu supaya dapat menguasai bahasa inggeris dengan begitu baik..

namun begitu, pada saya sebagai seorang anak melayu bekas pelajar aliran bahasa melayu tidaklah bersetuju..

biar saya kemukakan hujah2 saya..

1) istilah matematik - istilah matematik dalam bahasa inggeris memang terlalu banyak dan sebenarnya tidak membantu pun dalam meningkatkan bahasa inggeris pelajar kita..

mengapa saya berkata demikian?? contohnya istilah seperti 'SQUARE ROOT' , 'TO THE TEN POWER OF' tidaklah membawa apa2 maksud dan makna dalam bahasa inggeris itu sendiri..ia cumalah istilah matematik yang mana di dalam bahasa melayu kita pun sudah ada iaitu 'PUNCA KUASA DUA' , 'SEPULUH KUASA '

adakah dalam percakapan seharian pelajar2 ini perlu menggunakan istilah2 'alien' ini dalam kehidupan mereka?sudah tentu tidak! JADI DI MANA PERLUNYA SEMUA INI?

2 ) MENYUKARKAN - ini masalah paling utama dan lebih merbahaya.. cuba anda bayangkan, bagaimana pelajar itu hendak menguasai matematik yang asas sedangkan bahasa yang digunakan tidak difahami? kita bukan menyelesaikan masalah malah kita menambah masalah yang sedia ada menjadi semakin rumit iaitu pelajar2 tadi tidak faham bahasa inggeris dan juga tidak faham matematik seterusnya menyumbang pula kepada gejala lebih teruk iaitu kepada ponteng sekolah kerana merasa bosan kerana apa yang diajar di sekolah tidak difahami dan sering mendapat keputusan yang teruk..

ibubapa di rumah pula tidak dapat membantu..kalau ibu bapa yang berada dan tinggal di bndar bndar besar mungkin boleh membantu dengan menghantar anak2 ke pusat tuisyen yang bagus dan bermutu atau mengajar sendiri anak2 mereka tapi bagaiman pula dengan ibu bapa yang di kampung??

kalau bahasa melayu sekurang2nya dapat lagi ibubapa tersebut tolong sikit2, namun kalau bahasa inggeris alamatnya terus tercicir la pelajar tersebut..

3 ) BEBAN PADA GURU - guru sepatutnya berusaha mengajar matematik atau sains namun kini mendapat lagi beban apabila terpaksa mengajar dalam bahasa inggeris di mana guru2 tersebut mengalami kesukaran untuk menerangkan istilah dan konsep matematik dan sains ditambah pula denagn istilah bahasa inggeris yang pelik2 .. maka guru pub terbeban, pelajar pula lagi la teruk..

4) TIDAK PERLU - perlukah kita malaysia hendak semua pelajar kita bertutur dalam bahasa inggeris?? perlukah kita malaysia even tukang sapu sampah pun nak pandai bertutur dalam bahsa inggeris? mmg betul bagus jikalau dapat bertutur dalam bahasa inggeris namun iu cumalah sebagai bonus.. tidak lah perlu beriya - iya sampai kan kita anak melayu hendak disuruh bercakap bahasa inggeris sampai bunyinya mengalahkan mat saleh siap dengan slang2 UK pula..

dan umum mengetahui jikalau anak malaysia tanpa mengira melayu, cina atau india, jika dia tahu berbahasa ingggeris, maka bahasa inggeris lah yang akan digunakannya dan tidak akan lagi kedengaran beliau berbahasa melayu sebgai bahasa kebangsaan, umum mengetahui yang malaysian memang ada ego dan perasan bangga bila boleh bercakap bahasa inggeris macam dia sorang je yang pandai!!!

pada pendapat saya cara untuk menyelesaikan masalah ini cukup mudah, kerajaan kembali kepada asal..

macam kami bekas pelajar aliran sains tulen menggunakan bahasa pengantar bahasa melayu , yang mana mendapat keputusan cemerlang dalam SPM akan ditaja oleh MARA atau JPA dan dari situ kami telah dihntar belajar dalam program A LEVEL atau IB yang mana subjek2 seperti fizik, kimia, biologi, matematik , semuanya diajar dalam bahasa inggeris..

mula2 pada masa 6 bulan pertama memanglah tunggang langgang dan teruk sangat kerana apa yang diajar daahulu semasa di sekolah semuanya bahasa melayu dan bila datang ke situ dalam bahasa inggeris..

namun alhamdulillah, semua nya leh cope up dengan situasi di mana kami pelajar ini telah mempunyai asas matematik, fizik, kimia, biologi, yang kukuh dan kuat cuma perlu belajar bahasa inggeris untuk terjemahkan istilah2 dari bahsa melayu ke dalam bahasa inggeris dan akhirnya kami berjaya melanjutkan pelaajran di luar negara..

ini lebih baik daripada kita biarkan pelajar2 yang baru darjah 1 belajar dalam bahasa inggeris dan kemudiannya terkontang kanting dan kita telah 'menggelapkan' dan 'menggadai' masa depan mereka..

hanya yang benar2 layak dan mampu sahaja dengan asas yang kuat sahaja yang dipilih kemudian barulah diserap ke dalam program bahasa inggeris seperti yang belajar di luar negara..

apakah negara2 maju seperti german, sepanyol, perancis, china, jepun, korea menggunakan bahasa inggeris??

jangan lah kita terlalu cepat melatah sedangkan kemajuan bukan diukur pada bahasa inggeris tapi diukur pada daya usaha bangsa itu sendiri..

source: http://www.pemikirgenerasix.blogspot.com

note : For me, as a malay, being a student who don`t have strong English background, will have difficulties to deal with technical terms in English. It is English language syllabus who suppose to be re-shuffled. Because the way school teach us, is not very efficent since we only study to know english , not to speak english. This what happen in Malaysia

Ibn Faldan