of Technology and anything new

The unfairness of the Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 01:38:00 +0000

I have managed my company's network for more than seven years and we always have excellent Internet connection until some guys from my own department discovered BitTorrent.
BitTorrent is a file sharing protocol used for distributing large amounts of files. Protocol may sound hitech but it just means rule or standard that enables communication between computers.
Using tools available from the Internet to monitor my network usage, I noticed that more than 70% of my network resources were used by BitTorrent causing my network to suddenly crawl.
Although each computer in the office is connected to the network with just one cable, a very active bittorrent user could easily get 10 to 100 times more bandwidth compared to an ordinary user. This is possible because a bittorrent software could open up 10 to 100 connections as compared to users who are connected with just one when downloading files. The usual download is made via single connection to a single machine; BitTorrent makes many requests over different connections to different machines, it allows users to get more network resources in the expense of the ordinary users. This is completely unfair that I decided to install a network management and monitoring tool to control the network usage. From then, majority of my users were satisfied with the network's speed. My office network is just a microcosm of the Philippine internet network. When my network slowed down, the users demanded an upgrade in bandwidth. No amount of explanation was enough for them because they believe that the only reason why our network is slow is the bandwidth that we have. It did not occur to them that they're suffering slow internet connection because of the two abusive users that congested the network with movies, music and porn 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. Users demanded that I throw in more bandwidth before I manage the network. Of course the bandwidth is a factor but with Bittorrent running in our network, the bandwidth is immediately consumed as soon as it is available. What's funny is that the first to raise violent reactions when I announced that a network management scheme would be implemented were the users that would not be affected by it. For them anything that seems to limit their Internet activity is a bad thing no ifs no buts. The Internet or what we call the information superhighway is like the real highway. Traffic jams would occur when it is not managed efficiently. BitTorrent users are like the abusive bus drivers who use two lanes to drop and pick passengers. They are also the car owners who do not respect their number coding days. If the people assigned to manage EDSA would allow all these to happen, everything would just stop and EDSA would become the biggest parking area in the country. Of course we could always expand EDSA to accommodate more vehicles but for how long? Thousands of vehicles are registered every month in the Philippines; as hundreds of users are connected to the Internet everyday. And by the way, Japan teaches us a lesson that no matter how much bandwith you add to solve the congestion problem, traffic jam would always be a problem and most of it would be from P2P traffic caused by the likes of BitTorrent. As Zdnet reported in 2008: "P2P applications have managed to turn Japan’s 100 Mbps per home fiber network in to a big traffic jam. The problem has gotten so severe in Japan that the nations ISPs in conjunction with their Government have agreed to ban P2P users who are trafficking copyrighted content." A traffic jam of gigantic proportion could paralyze the Philippine information superhighway if we woud not do anything NOW. The proposed broadband cap is just the first step for a quality Internet connection that would benefit the majority of users. Addendum: I am not in anyway connected with any Telco in the country and I am not an endorser of any of these telcos' products or services. Although these Telcos are clients of Manila Bulletin, I am maintaining my editorial independence from the advertising side of the paper. My stand on this issue is based on my personal experience and as the former Systems Administrator and IT Manager of the company, I fully understand the issue.

Bladeless Fan

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 01:44:00 +0000

Latest in the Technews Lab. The device uses Air Multiplier technology to draw in air and amplify it up to 18 times. With no blades or grill, they fan safe and easy to clean.

Our latest toy: The Kinect

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:47:00 +0000

Our new toy in the Manila Bulletin Technews Lab. The Kinect is a "controller-free gaming and entertainment experience" by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game platform, it enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller. 3rd photo shows Papi dancing and interacting with the console without a controller.

Why I am not using my Windows Phone 7 device

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:34:00 +0000

After the praises and accolades from people who did not even have or touch a Windows Phone 7 device, I decided to try it on my own, and oh boy I was really disappointed. I got the HTC Trophy from my source abroad and this is the first consumer unit of Windows Phone 7 device in the country. I read about the phone's inability to do cut and paste and multi-tasking but I am ready to forgive that because of the impressive user interface and very responsive touch screen. If you are an ordinary user, then you would love this phone. But power users or the tech savvy consumers would be disappointed with the device. For one, it does not support on-device encryption, meaning, you could not access work email if you connect through Exchange ActivSync that blocks connections if the device does not support device-level encryption. With security and privacy breaches happening everyday, almost all businesses require this kind of encryption. OK fine, I have a BlackBerry anyway that supports on-device encryption so I don't need two devices to connect to my work email. But, I saw another problem. Windows Phone 7 device only supports DHCP. DHCP or Dynamic Host Configuratio Protocol is a method that automates the assignment of IP addresses and other networking information to the device, the server assigns the IP address that would allow the device to connect to the Internet and join the network among others. This means I could not configure the IP address of the device manually and I would be violating the security policy of the office which I proposed for added level of security. I don't care if it has no cut/copy/paste support or no multi-tasking and even Flash support what made me decide not to use it is the lack of security and the absence of manual IP configuration. I need to fully control my device and not having those two features made me feel that the device is telling me what to do. Until these two issues are answered, my HTC Trophy would stay inside the box.

Xperia X10 finally updates OS

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:31:00 +0000

Launched in March 2010, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is the company's first flagship Android-powered smartphone. It features a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 32GB internal memory, 4.0-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen display, and an 8.1 megapixel camera. It supports quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/190MHz) and tri-band UMTS (900/1700/210MHz or 800/1900/2100MHz) with HSPA for high-speed data connections. But even with those impressive features, the device failed to match other Android devices available during the launch as it only comes with Android 1.6 a much slower version of the Android OS. Even the software application called UX or user experience platform that supposed to make the phone better did not do any good as consumers shy away from the device with relatively old OS. Just last week, while other phone manufacturers are rolling out Android 2.2 and talking about Android 2.3 in their devices, Sony Ericsson finally rolled out the availability of Android 2.1 for X10, making them two steps behind in the war of Smartphones versus other manufacturers like HTC and Samsung. Even with the not-so-updated update, I decided to give my X10 a chance, surprisingly the update process was very easy. It took me less than 30 minutes to finally install the outdated update to my X10. I don't know if it's my phone but I noticed that the performance of the X10 has become sluggish after the update. published in the November 22, 2010 issue of the Manila Bulletin

FACE-OFF: Nokia N900 vs Motorola Milestone

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:51:00 +0000

Every phone manufacturer out there have come up with its own version of a smartphone. It has now become very difficult to choose which handset to get because there is no way to know if the latest phone is really good or not unless you get to try it. The problem is ordinary consumers have no access to these brand new handsets and manufacturers' paid commercials and advertisements only add to the confusion because they only stress the phone's strengths and not its weakneses. As a public service to our readers, we would be regularly "facing off" the most talked about device now available in the market. This, we hope, would help you decide which of these latest gadgets is best for you. What follows is a no-holds-barred comparison between the Motorola Milestone and the Nokia N900. We have used these phones extensively for about two weeks now that we have become very familiar with all the features of the phones, meaning we can give you our honest-to-goodness opinion about these phones without any bias or favor. We would reiterate that Technews does not review phones and gadgets unless we have it here in the office. These phones are the first commercial units available, Technews got these phones from our source in Hongkong. DESIGN: Nokia N900: The phone looks clean, it only shows the product name "N900" and the Nokia logo on its face. It measures 110.9 x 59.8 x 18 mm and weighs 181 g. It fits comfortably in my hand. Motorola Milestone: The unit measures 115.8 x 60 x 13.7 mm and weighs 165 g, with this alone we can already see that it is sleeker and lighter. Conclusion: The two phones are almost identical in height but the Milestone has a protruding lips that makes it a little taller. There is no much difference in width but the difference in thickness and weight is very noticeable. DISPLAY: Nokia N900: TFT resistive touchscreen, 16M colors, Size 800 x 480 pixels, 3.5 inches. Features proximity sensor for auto turn-off, Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate and full QWERTY keyboard Motorola Milestone: TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, Size 480 x 854 pixels, 3.7 inches. Features Multi-touch input method, Accelerometer senso, Proximity sensor for auto turn-off and full QWERTY keyboard with 5-way navigation key. Conclusion: The Milestone, aside from having a capacitive touchscreen and multi-touch input has a bigger display making it a winner in this category. CPU: Nokia N900: ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz, PowerVR SGX graphics Motorola Milestone: ARM Cortex A8 550 MHz processor Conclusion: Although both phones use the same CPU type, the Milestone is underclocked from 600 MHZ to 550 MHZ presumably to maximize battery life. However, this affects the performance of the device as the N900 feels a lot faster and more responsive than the Milestone. STORAGE: Nokia N900: Internal 32 GB storage, 256 MB RAM, supports microSD up to 16 GB Motorola Milestone: Internal 133 MB storage, 256 MB RAM supports microSD, up to 32 GB Conclusion: The Nokia N900 has 32 GB, period! KEYBOARD: Nokia N900: Slide-out offset QWERTY keyboard Motorola Milestone: Slide-out flat QWERTY keyboard. Conclusion: The Milestone's keyboard is tighter compared to the N900 because of the 5-way navigation key at the right and being flat adds difficulty in typing. Based on my experience, the N900 has a better keyboard. CAMERA: Nokia N900: 5 MP, 2576x1936 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, Dual LED flash with video light and features Geo-tagging. WVGA video (848 x 480) at 25fps Motorola Milestone: 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED flash and features Geo-tagging. 720x480 video at 24fps Conclusion: You would buy these phones not because of the camera, both phones need improvement in this category. However, the Carl Zeiss optics and good video capability of the N900 makes it better than the Milestone. MULTIMEDIA: Nokia N900: It can handle MPEG4, Flash Video, AVI, 3GPP, H.264 and WMV formats. Multimedia player is clean and simple. With 48 preset Internet radio stations from around the world. Motorola Milestone: Limited multimedia capability compared to the N900. Does not support MPEG4 and AVI, and no syncing software to manage music transfer/ Conclusion: The N900 wins in this category. INTERNET EXPERIENCE: Nokia N900: "Real Internet" in a mobile platform. It uses Mozilla-based web browser with Adobe Flash 9.4 support making the websites look the way they would on any computer. Motorola Milestone: Mobile internet in a mobile platform. Conclusion: Among all the smartphones available in the Technews Lab, the browser of the N900 is the best. It supports not only Flash 9.4 and plugins but also Javascript, frames, CSS and most everything a desktop browser does. CONNECTIVITY: Nokia N900: Quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, Infrared and FM Radio transmitter. Motorola Milestone: Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth Conclusion: The Nokia N900 has more connectivity options. BATTERY LIFE: Nokia N900: Standard battery, Li-Ion 1320 mAh (BL-5J) Motorola Milestone: Standard battery, Li-Ion 1400 mAh (BP6X) Conclusion: In theory, there should not be a big difference with the battery life between the two phones even if the Milestone's battery is bigger in specs, however the Milestone's battery lived longer when I fired up everything in the two phones. Milestone wins here. OPERATING SYSTEM: Nokia N900: Maemo 5 Motorola Milestone: Android 2.0 Both Maemo and Android run on Linux kernels. Maemo however is a full Linux distribution while Android is a sole kernel with additional programs on top of it where applications run. Maemo is backed by Nokia alone, while Android is backed by Open Handset Alliance, whose members include 15 handset manufacturers. If the number of device being manufactured is the basis for the success of an OS then Android should prevail, however the Maemo is a tested OS for Mobile Internet Device and will succeed on tablets and touchscreen netbooks. No clear winner in this category. THE VERDICT: The Motorola Milestone is one of the most hyped handsets released recently, but falls short of our expectations. For those who are familiar with Android operating system, there is nothing much to be excited about in Version 2.0 inside the Motorola Milestone. The Milestone clearly lacks the overlay other manufacturers offered in the past. There is not much that differentiates the Milestone from any other Android powered handsets. The Nokia N900 on the other hand surprised us with its features and performance. Released almost at the same time with all the new smartphones without any hype, the N900 has introduced the Maemo OS to ordinary users. While the Maemo before was only reserved for the geeks and hard core techies, it has now become an operating system for ordinary users, the people who would love to have real internet, more connectivity options and additional multimedia capability in their mobile device.

N900: A new hope for Nokia

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:54:00 +0000

The coming of the N900 is Nokia's right move to maintain its lead in the mobile industry. It has all the ingredients for a mobile phone to be successful. Others say that the N900 is not for everybody, that it's only for the geeks and the early adaptors who really love technology; I say, why would you deprive yourself of a phone like this? Read on and decide.

The Nokia N900 has a multi-tasking capability that allows many applications to run simultaneously because of its 600-MHZ processor, up to 1GB application memory and OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics acceleration.

OpenGL stands for Open Graphics Library and is the industry standard for an application program interface for defining 2D and 3D objects. It is the same graphics acceleration technology used in the iPhone 3Gs.

The greatest achievement of the N900 is putting "real" Internet into a mobile platform. It features a high-resolution WVGA touch screen and fast internet connectivity with 10 Mbps HSDPA and 2 Mbps HSUPA support and WLAN. It uses Mozilla-based web browser with Adobe Flash 9.4 support making the websites look the way they would on any computer.

Among all the smartphones available in the Technews Lab, the browser of the N900 is the best I've ever seen. Yes, it is better than iPhone's Safari web browser as it supports not only Flash 9.4 and plugins but also Javascript, frames, CSS and most everything a desktop browser does. This means no more rotten strawberries in your farm in farmville.

Features:
Panorama desktop - Create a desktop for your friends, one for your music and videos, and another dedicated to the web. It’s really up to you. Then jump effortlessly between your desktops by moving your finger across the touch-screen display.

Dashboard - After opening an application or starting an IM chat, it then sits on your dashboard whenever you need it. Multi-task by switching seamlessly between your applications and chat windows in the time it takes to tap the screen. You can run everything smoothly because of it's powerful processor. The dashboard also notifies you as soon as you get a new SMS, email, or you have a missed call. This way you can easily keep track of everything that’s happening.

Maemo Browser - View webpages as you would on your home computer with clear full-screen browsing. Every detail stands out on the sharp 800 × 480 display – or tap twice to zoom in for an even closer look. Mozilla based browser with Flash 9.4 support.

Phone - Access your phone instantly, make a call by simply rotating your device from landscape to portrait mode. From the desktop or dashboard, all it takes is a twist of your wrist to instantly access the phone application. A call is just a tap away and you can search in seconds.

Final words
Nokia has been known for having "user friendly" phones but we got bored of just having easy to use phones. We demanded more features, faster speed and additional applications. When Nokia offered us music we chose to get the iPhone instead; when Nokia gave us email we decided to get the Blackberry. Now Nokia is showing off "real" internet in a mobile platform and we have no choice but to get it with the N900 because it's the best among all the available phones today.

The N900 would put Nokia back in the playing field where Smartphones play. It is undoubtedly a statement from Nokia that it's still a force to be reckoned with when it comes to smartphones.

(The N900 used in this article is a property of Manila Bulletin Technews from a 3rd party supplier, it's the first commercial unit of N900 in the Philippines and this page is not sponsored by Nokia.)

Another "iPhone killer" dies

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:07:00 +0000

More and more "iPhone killers" are coming each day but so far these phones are the ones dropping one by one. Samsung started the dream of making it big in the world of touch screen phones by releasing the Omnia in 2008. The Omnia was a well designed touch screen phone with a clunky implementation of Samsung's TouchWiz UI with equally clunky Windows MObile 6.1 OS. When the accelerometer did not respond as fast as we've expected at the launch, the Samsung staff blamed the OS but continued to compare it with the iPhone. She even called the Omnia "the iPhone killer", but as the market would attest, the only phone that it killed was itself because of the price and unresponsive touch screen that needs pushing to register a command. They may not admit it, but the Omnia was released with the purpose of riding along the iPhone's success and with its failure, Samsung is here again taking a shot at Apple's iPhone by releasing another touch screen phone -- The Samsung S8000 aka Jet. Physically, it is gorgeous and stunning and would definitely turn heads to its direction. It has a sleek and elegant design complemented by its glossy black, slim profile with dimension of 108.8 x 53.5 x 11.9 mm and weighing only 99 g. It has a 3.1” WVGA AMOLED touch screen display that has 480 x 800 pixels. At the bottom of the screen you will see the frequently used features which includes the keypad, phonebook, messages and menu that are permanently placed even if you switch through the 3 different home screens. Not part of the touch screen found at the bottom of the phone are the designated keys for the call, menu (a hexagon-shaped button but when viewed closely is actually a cube), power/end call button which are solid, distinct and soft to touch. It is worth mentioning that with the phone comes a custom-made case where the designated call buttons are exposed; specifically designed for a useful purpose. It is custom-made in such a way that you can actually take a call even when phone is inserted inside the case. You will no longer be in a state of panic or anxiety in missing a call just because you couldn’t get your phone out of its case. It is truly convenient. It is such a wonder how you get pleasure out of simple innovation. Like most phones, the 5-megapixel camera is located at the back along with its dual LED flash. It features Face and Blink Detection, Smile Shot, Geo-tagging, Photo Editor and it is “anti-shake”, so beneficial for those shaky, unsteady hands like mine. As mentioned previously, Jet boasts of its AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) touch screen. With AMOLED technology, images are brilliant and vivid no matter which angle you would want to view it requiring minimal power consumption. Some features worth mentioning: First, Jet is operated by the upgraded touch screen user interface the TouchWiz 2.0. With this comes the Media Gate 3D user interface. On screen, it is a cube that appears to be hanging in mid air where you can access the 6 multimedia programs such as the internet, games, FM radio, video player, music player and albums. You can flip and rotate the cube by simply running or swiping your finger through the screen. Click on the application of your choice and you can now browse through photos and tracks in a nice 3D interface. Another feature is the Motion Gesture UI made possible by the accelerometer. It allows you to mute an incoming call simply by just turning its face down. This is the “etiquette pause” specifically useful when you’re in a meeting, in a middle of an important conversation or discussion. Also, with the accelerometer feature comes the “speaker call” where you can automatically activate the speakerphone during a call. Just move the handset away from your ear and place it on a flat surface. Lift the phone back up to your ear and it automatically goes back to the regular mode. One other feature I am particularly fond of is the smart unlock which allows the user to program their own movement (by choosing any letter from the alphabet) to operate the handset. This involves operations such as unlock, speed dial and to launch applications. With Samsung Jet, Internet browsing can be a whole new experience. It has the Dolfin browser that adopts a Webkit 3.2 engine. It can open to 5 internet windows at the same time. Switching from one window to the other is done at an instant. What makes Samsung Jet different from other touch screen smartphone is their “one finger zoom”. Unlike other phones that require you to zoom with multiple hand functions, with the Samsung Jet, it only takes one and “only one finger” to zoom in and out of a photo, a file or an internet browser. The Samsung Jet has indeed packed itself with cutting edge functions and features that puts other phones at a disadvantage. It's cool phone on its own. Naming it an "iPhone Killer" however is a different story. The only phone that it would kill once compared to the iPhone is itself.

My Android-powered phones

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:13:00 +0000

My Android-powered phones. HTC Magic, HTC Hero and the new Samsung GT-17500H aka Galaxy. Samsung has nothing new to offer and the implementation of the Android OS in the phone is a little clunky.

The next stage in the Evolution of the HTC Android phones

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:04:00 +0000

The HTC Magic is dead. Featured in the Manila Bulletin Technews as the perfection of the HTC G1, we now consider the Magic dead, buried and forgotten as HTC released their latest Android powered phone, the HTC Hero.

The screen of the Hero features a special oleophobic coating similar to the iPhone 3Gs that makes finger smudges easier to remove. The body of the white version (the one that I have) is coated with teflon to keep it clean and spotless as Teflon resists dirt, stains and even fingerprints. The Hero is also the first Android powered smartphone to support multitouch, you can now pinch and zoom photos and websites iPhone style.

HTC has successfully integrated the latest and and most useful features of a smartphone into the Hero. It is the first Android phone to ship with support for Adobe Flash Platform technology, a technology that would help deliver a more complete web browing experience to the users. It now sports a 3.5mm audio jack which the G1 and the Magic did not have. The Hero is also the first HTC device that features the HTC Sense user interface. A very impressive and sleek widget-centric UI earlier known as "Rosie".

With HTC Hero, personalization has been greatly improved. Rather than burying important content under layers of menus, users can customize it with at glance view, with widgets that can be placed right on the home screen. The widgets can also be personalized with a variety of designs and sizes.

There is also a new feature called Scenes. It's a new profile feature that makes the Hero multiple phones in one. Users can create and switch between Scenes that reflect different moments or moods.

Staying in touch with other people means managing a variety of communication channels and applications ranging from phone calls and emails to Facebook updates. HTC has integrated Facebook and Flickr in the device and links the contacts to Facebook and Flickr feeds so that you can not only see their contact details but also their Facebook updates and recent Flickr photos. You can also see all your interactions like emails sent to your personal and work accounts.

Even basic functions like the dialer, email, album and search are now improved.

You can find a person by dialing their phone number or simply by dialing the first few letters of their name.

The inbox is not just a list of emails, but a catalog of conversations, a collection of notes flagged as important, and a document library of all emails with attachments.

The Album is not just the photos saved on the phone. It is also a gateway to online collections to Facebook or Flickr.

You can also search just about anything, anywhere on the HTC Hero. The dedicated Search button combs through tweets in Twitter, locates people in your contact list, finds emails in the inbox, searches through appointments in the calendar and finds anything in the phone with just a keyword. This feature is HTC's answer to iPhones spotlight search.

With the above features, the Hero makes the HTC Magic looks like a child's toy, a phone although powered by the same OS but lacks a broad range of useful applications compared to the Hero.

The Hero is the third Android powered smartphone of HTC. If the HTC G1 is the first stage of the evolution of HTCs Android phones, the HTC Magic is the homo erectus and the HTC Hero is the modern Homo sapiens.

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Published in the August 17, 2009 issue of the Manila Bulletin.

Jabra Halo BT650s: Less Wire, More Music

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:04:00 +0000

I’ve always been curious about Bluetooth headsets. While I get extra annoyed whenever I see people showing-off/talking loudly on these devices, truth is, I have always secretly wondered how it is to have one.

Just by looking at it, I could already tell that the Jabra Halo BT650s is not like the usual Bluetooth earpiece. Instead of looking like a hearing aid, this one greatly resembles a sports headband. Slim and elegant in its over-the-head design, this baby is actually a stereo headset. It is made of matte black plastic on the outside while the inside of the headband is covered with black felt for comfort. Weighing only 3 ounces, it folds neatly like a pair of sunglasses making it small enough to fit in your bag (but not in your pocket). It doesn’t feel like it will break easily but based on my experiences with slim devices, this baby needs extra handling with care. The battery and pairing indicators are hidden inside the headband while the answer/end/play/pause button is located outside the right earphone.

The Halo has no visible power switch. Unfolded, the Halo turns on and immediately goes into pairing mode. Folding it turns it off. On the box it says that it can connect to 2 devices at the same time. True enough, it easily connected with my Windows 7-equipped laptop and a Sony Ericsson W508 Walkman phone (reviewed separately) at the same time.

With such a slim device, I didn’t expect much regarding sound quality. Much to my surprise, it totally blew me away! Mid to high ranges were crisp and clear while the bass was uncharacteristically booming for its size. It was like a home theater in my ear and the sound never cracked even at maximum volume. In addition, music fades out when there is an incoming call. I couldn’t see any microphones on the device (the box says it has two) but I never had to talk loudly when I used it to make calls. With a listed talk time/music time of 8 hours and up to 13 days standby time, the Halo definitely makes an excellent multimedia accessory.

Using it is a bit tricky, though. The Halo’s answer/end/play/pause button is quite responsive and easy to handle but the volume/track control strip is a bit sluggish. Sliding the finger up the strip increases the volume while sliding it down decreases it. Double-tapping on the upper part of the strip plays the next track while doing the same on the lower part plays the previous track or restarts the current one. Easier said than done! The control’s sensitivity needs some getting used to. Sliding the finger too fast or too slow will result in too little or too much volume change. And since the strip is only marked by a line which I could not see while wearing the headset (ridges would have been better), I oftentimes had to tap on the earphone several times just to get the desired effect. Once, I wore it the wrong way and I ended up tapping on my ear like crazy. But I’m sure that once I get over the learning curve, I would finally enjoy controlling my phone or my media player just by tapping on my ear.

The Halo can also be used as a regular headset via an included 3.5mm jack if a device does not support Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) technology. Bluetooth features like receiving calls and touch control are disabled when using the Halo with a cable, though.

All in all, using the Jabra Halo BT650s is a great wireless audio experience. I could have never imagined that I would enjoy listening to music with all the conveniences of a wireless setup on such a slim device. I’m still on the fence if I should buy one, though. But for those who have the extra moolah, I’m sure they won’t regret it.

(Jojo Perlas, Manila Bulletin Technews)

Sony Walkman NWZ-W202

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:02:00 +0000

At first glance, you would think it is just a hip looking ear bud style headphones, but no, Sony went a step further by incorporating an MP3 player in the headphones. The new Sony Walkman NWZ-W202 indeed has a life of its own. It would seem like you are wearing a bluetooth device on each ear attached to each other by a flexible neckband. It is 1.3 oz in weight making it the lightest and smallest MP3 out in the market.

Because of its size and weight, comfort when worn won’t be an issue. It fits snuggly on each ear thanks to the silicone ear tips (ear buds come in different sizes for sure fit). You won’t worry if it’ll fall off when you walk, jog, jump or just feel like dancing with it. It fits securely and comfortably and best of all it is tangle free! That has always been a perennial issue with me when it comes to portable music players like these. The lengthy wire that jumps with me and goes around my arm and neck that most of the time strangles me. Well, with Sony W202 this problem had been totally eliminated! You won’t even waste your time untangling any wires when you store them in your bags or with your other gadgets.

I have actually used it while jogging and likewise brought it to the gym, it didn’t fail to cast a curious look on other people’s faces. First, it was eye catching because of its cool pink color (also available in black, purple, yellow and white) and secondly, I’m sure they were trying to figure out where it attaches to and if that was actually it. They were probably looking for an armband, a waistband or whatever “thingy” to which a player should be attached to. Nope…not with this one. With the Sony Walkman W-202, it is strictly between you and your music.

If its just between you and your music, so where does it come from? As previously mentioned, the headphone is indeed the MP3. It can store approximately 500 tracks in its 2GB memory. It supports not only MP3 audio formats but also AAC and WMA. Controls are all tucked on the right earpiece that holds the USB jack for transfer of music which is as easy as drag and drop between your PC’s Windows Media player and your Sony Walkman. It has the volume control, the shuffle switch and the jog dial where you can control the different music functions. Since it lacks a screen display to view the list of songs, Sony has created the “Zappin” mode activated with a long press of the jog dial. Once activated it helps you quickly browse through the music you want to listen to by playing a short snippet of the song and a quick press of the jog dial will resume play.

It has an excellent sound quality that is clear and crisp and is played at satisfactory volume just right whether you are working out in the gym or jogging outdoors. With a good battery life of up to 12 hours, the Sony Walkman W-202 is perfect for those you live an active lifestyle.

(Len Amadora, Manila Bulletin Technews)

Apple Sells Over One Million iPhone 3GS Models

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:53:00 +0000

Apple recently announced that it has sold over one million iPhone 3GS models through Sunday, June 21, the third day after its launch. In addition, six million customers have downloaded the new iPhone 3.0 software in the first five days since its release.

“Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With over 50,000 applications available from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever.”

The new iPhone 3GS is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, packed with incredible new features including improved speed and performance—up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G—with longer battery life, a high-quality 3 megapixel autofocus camera, easy to use video recording and hands free voice control. iPhone 3GS includes the new iPhone OS 3.0, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 100 new features such as Cut, Copy and Paste, MMS, Spotlight Search, landscape keyboard and more. iPhone 3GS customers get access to more than 50,000 applications from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world where customers have already downloaded over one billion apps.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

(From Malini of Apple)

The "killer" in Nokia N97

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:47:00 +0000

The Nokia N97, billed as Nokia's flagship mobile computer, arrived last weekend and straight into the the MB Techlab. Boxed in black, dressed in black -- it was like a ninja ready to strike with shuriken.

Watch out, Apple iPhone 3Gs! There's a new "killer" in town!

Okay, out of the box you sneaky little devil, let's see what you've got.

First thing we tried here is the slider mechanism, and whoa, what a thunk! Now that's what we call a "killer move" (okay, so not as silent as a ninja).

The slide action has that solid, "aaa-tennn-shun!" feel which finished strongly to a 35-degree angle. Hmn, nicely done.

The keyboard we find quite easy to use, and played the keys like we play 'em second-rate phones to text. Amply spaced keys, we think, is key (pun intended) to fully enjoying a QWERTY keyboard. The space bar, by the way, is over on the right under the thumb, and no problem.

Oh, yeah, before we forget, the Nokia N97 is a touchscreen wonder. The screen bounced nicely under the finger after a good contact on an icon. Which means, the touchscreen would only be responsive when you hit an icon correctly.

Honestly, we see the Nokia N97 a cross between a lot of different phones from the "marked for kill" iPhone (3G, 3Gs) to the Google G1 phone. But who's complaining? People, assasins are supposed to be chameleons, too, right?

The N97's 3.5-inch screen is first to catch your attention. There's a little button on the bottom left side corner which serves as the shortcut key to the N series multimedia applications while the call and end buttons are, well, understandably side by side. On the top is the 3.5mm headphone jack and the power button.

The Nokia N97 is a bit larger and thicker than the iPhone, and we love that. Come on now, who doesn't want their "thing" big?

The added width, height and depth, we think, make the N97 so good to hold, with the bottom of the rear face curved downwards providing a natural handhold while stabilizing the unit when on a desk being typed on (guys, please, aren't we also talking of a miniature tablet computer here?).

Lest we get carriend away with the physical aspects of the N97, here's the beauty of the unit -- within.
The Nokia N97 is Nokia's first device to feature a personalizable home screen, which can be customized with a range of widgets which bring live information directly to the device. These widgets include key social networking destinations like Facebook and Hi5, news services like the Associated Press, Bloomberg and Reuters, as well as shopping and weather information.

The Nokia N97 is the first device to ship with the Ovi Store, which offers easy access to applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services, and much more. Ovi Store has paid and free content from a range of global and local content providers and developers, including Paramount Pictures, Facebook and Qik, as well as a selection of Twitter applications.

The Nokia N97 also has direct access to the huge catalogue of music in the Nokia Music Store. With multiple high-speed connectivity options and 32GB of storage (and if that's still enough for you maniacs, you can still go up to 48GB using a microSD card) it is possible to directly download and store tens of thousands of songs on the handset.

High-quality images and video clips at 30 frames per second (fps) can be captured using the 5 megapixel camera with integrated Carl Zeiss optics. Images can also be geo-tagged to specific locations and shared instantly with friends or uploaded online via Ovi Share, Twitter or Flickr.

The new N97 will tie in closely with Nokia's Ovi platform of software and services, which include music downloads, photo-sharing services and mapping software. A new-look Nokia Maps program on the N97 will allow users to pre-plan a journey on their computer and then synchronise the route across to their mobile phone.

Nokia has also promised that it will follow the lead of Apple, Google and Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry, by making it easier for third-party developers to write additonal software and programs for Nokia handsets.

So, is the Nokia N97 the true "iPhone killer"?

Too early to tell, but the unit we got at the MB Techlab is killing us...and we're loving it!

(June 22, Technews Manila Bulletin, By Badong)

This one's no Betty La Fea

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:45:00 +0000

HTC Magic a.k.a Google Phone 2

HTC Magic, or the Google Phone 2, is the much awaited upgrade of HTC's G1, the first smartphone that runs on Android software.

I called the G1 -- popularly known as the Google Phone -- the Betty La Fea of the mobile industry because like the protagonist of the TV show, the G1 is full of substance but suffers much on its looks.

Now here comes HTC Magic, or the Google Phone 2. It's everything the G1 has but less the boxy design and boring looks. HTC has removed the flip-out keyboard in the Magic, which means no more clunking sound everytime you use the keyboard. And also because of the absence of the keyboard, Magic is now slimmer, more sleek and sexy compared to the G1.

Setting up the Magic is similar to the G1, all you need is a SIM card and a Google account. Since the Magic is not yet officially launched in the Philippines, you need to manually input the APN of your provider whichs is "internet.globe.com.ph" for Globe and "internet" for Smart. From there, all you need to do is follow the onscreen prompts.

As expected because the phone runs on Google's Android, integration with its core application is perfect. Gmail, Calendar, Maps and Talk runs smoothly using the Magic. There is also a dedicated YouTube button for quick searching and viewing of YouTube clips.

Heard from the grapevine that by year’s end, there will be at least 18 phones on the market worldwide based on the Android operating system.

At present, there are at least two Android-centric phones — T-Mobile’s G1 and the "Magic" made by HTC and available in Europe -- but which we have right now in the MB Techlab.

The ramp-up of Android phones intensifies a battle among some of the world’s biggest software companies to create the operating system for the world’s phones. Android goes up against a coming-soon new version of Microsoft’s mobile version of Windows, Apple’s proprietary iPhone system, the Blackberry platform, a new Palm OS for its Pre called WebOS, Symbian and a host of Linux-based systems.

(Published June 5, 2009 in the Technews Section of the Manila Bulletin)

New Goodies from Nokia

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:43:00 +0000

Nokia N86

The N86 is Nokia's first 8-megapixel camera phone. It features a wide-angle Carl Zeiss Tessar lens for panoramic pictures, shorter latencies and variable aperture for photos in challenging bright and low light conditions. It also features a fast mechanical shutter that ensures pictures with less motion blur and the dual LED camera flash photography and video capture. Nokia said that the aperture of the N86 8MP is comparable to that of a high-quality, stand-alone digital camera. It is the first mobile device with variable aperture.

The device also offers a bright OLED screen with scratch resistant hardened glass, easy photo management, full sync capability with a PC and TV-out support for slide shows.

NOkia 6710 Navigator

The navigation solution provided by the Nokia 6710 Navigator provides the functions of a dedicated GPS device with all the benefits of a mobile device. The solution includes the latest developments in the Maps software with real time 'drive and walk' navigation, full regional maps and hardware elements like the dedicated navigator key, touch area for easy zooming and a display optimized for outdoor viewing.

The recent integration of Maps with Ovi allows people to pre-plan their journey at home on their PC and synchronize with their mobile device. Additionally, Maps has been updated to include a number of new features such as high-resolution aerial images, 3D landmarks for over 200 cities, terrain maps, weather service, premium travel and events content and traffic and safety warnings. Included in the box is the Nokia CR-111 car holder, which cradles the Nokia 6710 Navigator.

Nokia 6720 Classic

The Nokia 6720 classic offers an improved design with a slightly curved shape, providing a pleasant feel with a soft touch surface. When holding the devices to take photos with the 5 megapixel camera, standard with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash, the new shape makes it easier to hold.

It has an active noise cancellation feature which would significantly improve the quality of voice by cutting down on external ambient sounds. It has up to 20 days of standby time, high speed uplink and downlink Internet access and a TV-out connection for sharing images and video.

Nokia E75 and E55

E75

The Nokia E75 and Nokia E55, are the first Nokia device with new email user interface. Both devices also come standard with Nokia Messaging that, when added to the company's corporate email clients, gives people the solution for accessing the world's consumer and corporate email on the go.

E55

With the E75 and E55 devices, people will no longer need to boot up a PC to get a full desktop email experience. The enhanced email UI includes folder and HTML email support, expandable views and sorting capability by date, sender and size, as well as the most commonly used email functions. On top of email, the devices also offer calendar capability, as well as contacts and task management.

Speakerphone HF-310

Nokia Speakerphone HF-310, is a hands free with echo cancellation and noise reduction speakerphone. It is easy to use in the car or office and can be installed easily with three different fixings.

A netbook that is NOT

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:50:00 +0000

The Vaio P would be available on February 18 in the local market. My source abroad is sending me one on Saturday :).

Sony Philippines announced yesterday the availability of the Sony Vaio P in the local market. First launched in Las Vegas during the CES this month, the Vaio P is the world's lightest notebook to date at 1.4 pounds for the SSD model and 1.5 pounds for the HDD model.

(note for the untechies: SSD or solid state drive has no moving parts unlike the HDD or hard disk drive that has spinning platters. SSD is based on flash memory smilar to a camera memory card or a USB thumbdrive. SSD is faster, consumes lesser power and weighs less compared to the HDD. One of the major advantages of SSD is that it won't crash even if you drop it. One letdown however is that it costs much much more than the traditional HDD)

The widescreen 8-inch 1600x768 display looks really nice and the tiny keyboard with isolated keys makes it one of the best looking mini-notebooks available.

I however disagree with Mr. Toshiya Kagita, Sony Philippines president and managing director when he said during our converstaion that it would be more convenient if it has a some sort of a touch pad instead of a pointing stick. He said that in place of a pointing stick a touch pad small enough like the touch pad of the Sony Ericsson X1 could be more useful, he then showed me his X1. I think he was giving me a hint of what the next version of the Sony Vaio P would be. I told him that I am more at ease with using the pointing stick because it gives me more control and precision. I was of course careful not to mention that I got used to using the pointing stick because I have a ThinkPad at home.

Mr. Kagita also stressed that the Vaio P is not a netbook but a full pledged notebook with features that could best even the bigger laptops. Mr. Kagita said that Netbook is a step lower than the laptop which the Vaio P is not.

My issues with the Vaio P

1) The P49,000.00 HDD model uses the Atom Z520 processor. A much smaller processor compared to the Atom N270 used by netbooks from other companies. Although the Z520 is 20% cooler compared to N270, it is also 20% slower. Did Sony sacrifice battery life for speed with this model?

2) The P69,000.00 SSD model is a bit pricey even for an 8-inch mini notebook with really beautiful finish. The HP Mini 1000 with a newer processor and the same speed costs only about P20,000.00. The SSD model uses the Intel Atom Z530 processor.

3) The Atom Intel Z series was not designed for notebooks. It was originally for Mobile Internet Device or MID. MIDs are positioned between a smartphone and a netbook. So why use a processor for the Vaio P which is one step above the netbook?

Israel-Hamas war now in cyberspace

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:25:00 +0000

Al-Aqsa a Hamas television station that became famous for showing "Farfour" an anti-semitic Mickey Mouse look-alike was hacked by Israel Defense Force (IDF) last week. Reports said that the station was broadcasting live air attacks on Gaza Strip when it was suddenly changed to an animated clip of Hamas' leadership being gunned down.

The day before the hack, a broadcast on Al-Aqsa was interrupted by a Hebrew-accented Arabic voice saying: "Hamas leaders are hiding and they are leaving you on the front line."

In another development, a Turkish hacker using the name Agd_Scorp hacked and defaced a US Army website www.mdw.army.mil and NATO site www.nato-pa.int in protest for the Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip. The defacer left a warning to Israel and the USA.

An Israeli website Globes[online] reported that there is "an Israeli Internet initiative recruiting surfers for cyberwarfare to crash hostile websites." The recruited members were asked download files that can overload the Hamas servers causing them to crash.

At the other side, pro-Palestinian hackers are attacking Israel websites, hackers so far successfully defaced the website of Israel Discount Bank and the English Edition newspaper www.ynetnews.com.

The attacks against Israel were done using SQL Injection, a technique that exploits a security vulnerability occuring in the database layer of an application. The attacker could gain access by exploiting this bug caused by processing invalid data.

Nokia's Mail on Ovi public beta goes 'live' around the world

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 02:04:00 +0000

With Mail on Ovi, Nokia mobile phone users who use Nokia Series 40 devices can now set up their own Ovi email account directly on their phones.

The Ovi email account according to Nokia has all the features and functionalities of a typical PC-based email account. During the Beta period, consumers will be able to choose from 12 languages based on the settings of their device, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Hindi, Bengali, Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia.

Mobile phone users from India, Malaysia and the Philippines have been able to use the Beta service since November, with extremely encouraging results, and the availablity is now being extended to the rest of the world.*

Devices that enable Mail on Ovi include:

Nokia 1680 classic, Nokia 168Oi
Nokia 2320, Nokia 2323, Nokia 2330, Nokia 2600, Nokia 2600 classic, Nokia 2630, Nokia 2680 slide, Nokia 2760
Nokia 3210, Nokia 3555, Nokia 3600 slide, Nokia 3610 fold
Nokia 5000, Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, Nokia 5220 XpressMusic, Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, Nokia 5610 XpressMusic
Nokia 6267, Nokia 6300i, Nokia 6301, Nokia 6260, Nokia 6500 classic, Nokia 6500 slide, Nokia 6555, Nokia 6600 fold, Nokia 6600 slide
Nokia 7100 Supernova, Nokia 7210 Supernova, Nokia 7310, Nokia 7500 Prism, Nokia 7610 Supernova, Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism
Nokia 8800 Arte, Nokia 8800 Sapphire

MY PERSONAL TAKE: Don't trust this beta service as it may have the same problem as the Share on Ovi service that they have. This new service that they are offering is not the core competency of Nokia, although it is trying to re-invent itself from a phone manufacturer to an Internet company.

Nokia's share on OVI "a big joke"

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 01:07:00 +0000

Looks like it's not only me who's frustrated with the way Nokia is handling Ovi. It's the fourth day now that I could not get my photos in their site and I am not the only one whose having this problem, and it seems that Nokia is doing some damage control by CLOSING the comments of the blog they have created. Go to the share on Ovi blog to see the comments, I guess Nokia would soon sanitized this so better hurry up.

One poster said:

Your Share on Ovi service is a joke. Shut it down and outsource it to Google or MSN, one of the big boys who really know how to run a web service. Stick to what you know, making phones. You're wasting your $ and destroying shareholder value by trying your hand at web services.

The problem is also being discussed now at All About Symbian, the only positive comment came from one poster who is obviously working at Ovi who said that "There have been some glitches of course - at least one reader emailed in with a story of woe - but things generally seem to be working." All posts after that comment are all stories of woe informing the readers that nothing is working with Ovi.

What would happen now to my photos? If they could not let me in to manage my account they should delete everything in it.

Nokia's OVI is DEAD (for 3 days, and counting)...

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 01:14:00 +0000

This is what I am afraid of. I regret the day when I decided to trust Share on Ovi to host my pictures. I have more than six thousand photos in that site and now I could not access the site when I badly needed them. It could be up in the next few minutes, hours or days but it FAILED me when it was not there in times when I needed it the most.

I don't care anymore if it would be more user friendly or more secure the time it would be online, I would be back using Picasa and Flickr.

Nokia should concentrate on manufacturing phones where they are good at.

Lanye N70: a phone with built-in projector

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 06:59:00 +0000

You wouldn't strain your eyes viewing your photos and videos with this phone as it has a built-in projector that could display your phone screen up to 65-inches (per our test in the Technews Lab). The phone is a touch screen device with user interface copied from the iPhone. This is a "Made in China" phone.

First Blackberry Storm in the Philippines

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 06:24:00 +0000

The Storm arrived last Sunday in the Techenws Lab.

Specs:
GSM/GPRS/EDGE: (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA: 2100MHZ
Size: 112.52 x 62.2 x 13.95 mm
Screen 3.25 " HVGA+ 480x360 Multi-touch, Gesture Touch
Battery: 1400mAh
Memory: 1GB flash for media/ 192 meg ram
Camera: 3.2 MP camera, vanity mirror, Auto-flash
Audio: 3.5mm jack, bluetooth stereo

There's something strange about this touch screen phone, in order for your touch to be recognized, you need to apply a pressure and push the screen all the way down until you hear a click, only then the phone would recognize your touch. It feels more like a regular phone, the only difference is that the whole screen has become one big button. Full review will be published in the Manila Bulletin on Monday.

Storm is coming in the Technews Lab

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:34:00 +0000

As I was writing the blog entry below, my source in Hongkong called me and said that the Blackberry Storm is now available. I will get mine on Monday :). I love this job.

Technological Metanoia

noreply@blogger.com (Art Samaniego) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:28:00 +0000

I was WRONG!

This is the first time that my first impression of a phone was totally changed after about a week of using it.

Just a few minutes after I received the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic from my source abroad, I immediately blogged about the major letdowns of the device. I compared it with the iPhone and the G1 and was planning to release another review bashing Nokia for releasing a touch screen phone that could not go toe-to-toe with the iPhone and the G1.

Then I started exploring it... and my frown became a smile.

1) Touching the clock of the device at the upper left part of the screen would open the clock application. Clock settings, alarm, world clock can be changed in fewer steps.

2) Touch the active profile just below the operator logo and you could open the Calendar or change your active profile.

3) There is a Media Bar button that could open the shortcuts to Music, Picture, Share Video and web

4) Contacts Bar could be placed in the home screen, the Bar lets you put four of your favorite contacts on the homescreen and displays information about them like activity logs and message feeds. It also serves as shortcuts to call and send new messages to these "fav four" from your contacts.

5) It has a proximity sensor that turns off the screen once you place the phone near your face when placing or receiving a call.

Where did I go wrong?

I compared the 5800 against the iPhone, a foolish move for an IT guy like me. The Nokia 5800 is not a high-end phone, it's a mid-range, touch enabled, music focused device and should be reviewed as such. It does not aim to kill the iPhone or even go against it, they are totally two different device that belong in two different segments.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is about music and entertainment it comes with 8GB of memory, 3.5mm stereo jack, graphic equalizer and supports all digital music formats it even comes with a plectrum, it's like a guitar pick that you could use if you don't want to use the traditional stylus.

Again, I would say this. My first impression of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic that it is not a great phone was totally wrong and I take it back. "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa."

= = = = = = =

Note:
* Metanoia is a biblical term which means conversion or a change of heart
* This is my own Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. I bought it for P24,000.00 in Hongkong.
* Nokia Philippines, its PR agency or any of its employees, supporters and/or friends did not pay me to write this blog entry and I don't expect anything from them. I write what is TRUE.

I HAVE A NEW BLOG TITLED "IT GIVEAWAYS"