Last week I had an opportunity to meet with a bunch of guys (and girls) from 3 Mobile on their New Year Meet Up.  I went to a similar meet-up before in the past, but the difference this time was that we got to meet different people who responsible in different part of the business.  Some from PR, some from Product Development, others from Network.  The result was quite interesting, deep and insightful conversations, of which I would like to share with you.

First one was about Network, I’m talking about the mobile network.  If you read my previous post about the Wireless Mobile Broadband – MiFi, you would know that the worst thing that could render this device useless is indeed the lack of network coverage.  No signal, no 3G reception, no Internet, no WiFi, nothing!

The good news is, 3 recognized its failing and started a plan in motion to rectify it.  I was talking to one of the guy from Network department and he was telling me that from last year they’ve started to replace their Tower with Nokia’s branded device, which apparently better than what they had before. This replacement plan should be finish, he claimed, by the end of this year.

Moreover, and this is the interesting stuff, he revealed that they are going to ’share’ their mobile bandwidth with T-Mobile :)  This definitely will help the problem with network coverage as I presume when this is done, 3 customers would be able to use 3G network owned by T-Mobile and vice versa.  Although with the news of Orange and T-Mobile possible merger looming on the horizon, it could disrupt this expansion plan.

Ok, enough with ‘techie’ things, let’s jump to the meaty stuff :)  I had a chance to have a chat with somebody from Product Development, and my first question was. of course, which mobile handsets that 3 have in the pipeline. What can we expect to see in a couple of months.  At which point he reached into his pocket and showed me a ‘couple’ of his ‘toys’.

The first one was the Samsung i5700 AKA Galaxy Portal.  It’s a touch-screen Android phone.  Unfortunately I wasn’t fast enough to get a shot of it, but you can read about it here.

The second phone I saw was the Sony Ericsson XPeria X10 ! X10 is the first Sony’s Android handset.  This time I had a chance to take a snapshot :)

I didn’t manage to play with it too much, but first impression was good.  Here is a bit of video clip from Sony website on X10.

The last handset I saw was making me ready to throw away my Nokia N97 :)  It was again from Sony Ericsson, and like N97, it’s got the same Symbian OS, and No it’s the crap Satio! It’s the Sony Ericsson Vivaz!

It was really nice on my hand, slimmer than N97.  Like the X10, it has also 8.1 Mp camera and smile Detection, but unlike its sibling, the 16:9 nHD Touchscreen is capable of producing 16 million colour :)  It seems to be a perfect mobile handset for an ‘avid’ video producer as you can upload your video straight to YouTube.  Check out in more details here.

As for me, I’m ready to exchange my N97 right now!

So, 2 Android Phones and one Symbian.  I think we could see a bit of hope (more choices, of good variety ones) in the UK handset market that has for me been dominated by iPhone for the last 2 years.

Thanks for 3 and 3mobilebuzz for the opportunity.

When I’ve heard the first time that our friends in the US got to play with a new Wireless Mobile Broadband device, I thought that it was a great advancement in mobile broadband arena.  Because not only that we can connect to the Internet anywhere, but also we don’t really need our laptop anymore.  Suddenly all our Internet ready gadgets (but which lack of USB connection) would magically gain access to the cyberspace, this includes most Smartphones, iPod Touch, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS, and many more.  The only thing was that, like many other new tech, it only available in the US … bummer!
So, imagine my surprise when a few months later I saw a similar device, called the MiFi, advertised on the window of my local 3 Mobile’s Store.  But the best thing was when I got contacted by 3 asking if I could review this MiFi :)

Now, I had helped 3 to review some of their handsets before, but this time they had different approach in trying to get a better feedback from reviewers.  Previously they would just send the unit to the reviewer, whom would keep the unit for a couple of weeks, and send it back when the trial finishes.
This time, we were being sent personally to our local highstreet stores, to try to get one while pretending to be a genuine customer (AKA mistery buyer).  Each of us designated to complete a list of tasks that we needed to do during the buying process, e.g. they would like to know how we had been treated in the store and how knowledgable the staff were.  Also, instead of being able to keep the unit for a couple of weeks, this time we could keep it for a couple of months.  Which means we had more time to experience the device in a more thourough way.  Lastly , the feedback session which used to be done only once toward the end of the trial, was done in several stages.  This potentially gave more details picture in how each reviewer ‘live’ through the experience of the device.
I must say it has been a very interesting experience being involved in this project, not just for the reviewer, but more importantly for 3 themselves in term of being able to get a more complete picture of how a product works in a real-life situation.  I’d like to thank 3 and 3MobileBuzz for the opportunity.

Now, of course, just like every other things, every person (reviewer) had experienced different things, and this was also true with MiFi which, you might’ve realised, is so dependent on the environment where you are using it.
So, here are my own experience, the good, the bad and the ugly ones :)

What is MiFi?

Before that though, let’s talk about what MiFi really is about:

If you were a Mobile Broadband veteran, you would’ve remembered the days before the 3G USB Stick became the default form-factor. It’s when all Mobile Broadband devices look like the following picture below.

I believe they were all produced by the same company, HUAWEI.

What about the MiFi? Well, surprise .. surprise, it also built by the same company.  As a matter of fact, it’s the Huawei E5830 Wireless Modem, according to 3’s website.

To operate the MiFi so that you can use it to connect your other wireless devices to the internet, you need go through stages of button kungfu :)

Working from the bottom up, we need to press the first button to turn the MiFi on, this will light the battery indicators showing how much power you have left, and another light that shows how much 3G network coverage you have.  Then pressing the second button will actually connect you to the 3G network. When the ‘connected’ light goes Green (yet another indicator), you can press the third button to activate the Wireless functionality. When the MiFi is ready to accept wireless connection, still another indicator should go Blue.
All these steps are all explained in the manual by the way :D

Connecting your wireless devices to MiFi is just as easy as finding the MiFi’s SSID, connect to it and type the Wifi password (which is written on a small sticker paper on the manual).

You can see more or less how it feels like. Now, let’s see how it went with me.

The Good

Well the good news is, it worked exactly like what it said on the tin :)  It connected to the mobile 3G network, and immediately after that it was able to start receiving connection from other Wireless Devices.  I’ve tried it with 2 laptops and 2 mobiles, and it worked fine.
The unit has quite a small form factor that I could just put it in my pocket, forget that it’s there, and carry on surfing on my other gadget.

The Bad

Unfortunately, in my opinion, there are a few things that can be improved.

- Baterry Life sucks
You would’ve thought that for a specialised device like this, which only has one function, you would get a good battery life out of it.  At least, if I compare it to my mobile phone, it should be the same.
But for some reason, I could never squeezed in more than 4 hours out of it, even when I was not doing anything with it.
It’s either it doesn’t have a good battery, or it’s just doesn’t have a good power management.
Talking to 3, they said that this will be fixed on the next firmware update.

- Too many button, too many indicator lights
There are 3 buttons and 5 different lights on this device which essentially has one and one purpose only … to provide wireless internet access.  Why do we need these many buttons and lights?
While I can appreciate the designer’s good intention to make the device to be feedback-friendly, sometimes (and this is that time) the simplest one is the better.
In my opinion, all of these can be simplified into one on-off button, and maximum 2 indicator lights, one for battery indicator, the other to tell the avaibility of Internet Connection.
On the last feedback session with 3, all of the reviewers more or less had similar feeling on this matter.
3 themselves had actually acknowledged this problem and revealed that they had been working on a better solution for the next iteration (so there ‘will’ be a new version).

- The companion software was far from user-friendly, it looked very ‘raw’ as if it were made only for techie person.  Even I found it quite confusing as there is no clear description on what is which.
Unfortunately, this is the only way to ‘change’ the Wifi Password that came with the device.
Again, 3 said that they were working on a better version.

- No companion software for Mac!

Why I was not surprised :) So, basically if you have a Mac, you are stuck with whatever password that the device came.
Mind you, I dealt with Huawei dongle before and I had to a long way to be able to use it with my Mac.  Again, I wasn’t too surprised.
The good thing is, 3’s new version of the software is supposed to be a web-based, so technically it should work with any platform.

- The buttons were in the wrong side.

This was my personal grudge, and many people might not have agreed or even cared to notice.  My problem was that the buttons were positioned on the right hand of side of the device. So, imagine if you are holding it with your right hand, you would need to curve your thumb pretty low (or down?) to reach the first button from the bottom.  It was just too annoying for me that I gave up and either used my left-hand (using my other fingers to push the buttons) or just hold it with my two hands.  Better that than RSI :)
This is why I said above that 3 buttons were just too many, if it had been just one, I might have been willing to tolerate it.

The Ugly

If you think the above problems were bad, try this one, what’s the worst thing that can happen for a device like this?
The worst thing is when the device doesn’t work!  No, it’s not because the hardware was faulty, nor the software was buggy.  It’s simply because we didn’t get any Network Coverage!  Which basically rendered the MiFi as useful as a car with no petrol (or gas if you like).
I could live with the lack of juice or the myriad of buttons and lights, or the lack of Mac Software, but if the thing doesn’t connect to the Internet, it just became a nice paperweight with lights for me.

The good news is, this problem is exactly what 3 is working on at the moment as priority, according to what the CEO told us on their press release.
So, gradually we should see improvement on the Network coverage.

Final Thoughts
It’s been great to use the MiFi for this couple of months, though I had my ups and downs with it.
My recommendation is, if you can wait for the next hardware version, I suggest you do.
If you really need mobile broadband now, there are other options, such as the standard USB dongle, or if you are sure you will always get coverage, there is nothing to stop you to get it.

Yes, I’m a Geek, and the Matrix is there in my list of Top Geek Movies of all time (I haven’t actually made the list yet, but it’s a good idea).

This one, is there along with Starwars and Batman Lego.  Simply Genius!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock on some remote pacific island with polar bear in it, you might’ve ‘heard‘ about this Game of Year – the Game the Rules them All.  Yes I am talking about Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2, damn it!

I’ve played it, finished the Campaign Mode (short, frantic, intense, controversial), tried the Special-Op (it’s ok), and been trying to catch-up with the Multiplayer (the best of all).

So what’s my problem?

I tell you what my problem is, I don’t have an XBOX or a PS3, and no I don’t have any intention to get either of them anytime soon, I’m a PC Gamer. My problem is that I feel that Infinity Ward in trying to please the console crowd has neglected the PC Community.  The very community that had made Call of Duty, the franchise that everybody love now.

I mean, for a start, just have a look at what type of game packages that are sold on the market (source from Play.com and Game.co.uk):

For XBOX 360, as well as the Standard Edition we also have the Hardened Edition.  In addition, we also have what they called Exclusive Veteran Package (Hardened Edition + 12 Inches Statue of ‘Soap’ MacTavish).

The same thing exist for Playstation 3.

What do you think the PC gets? Just the Standard Edition :(

.

If I were being cynical, I could’ve sworn that there are some favoritism involve here.

Ok, maybe it’s not entirely IW fault, because I believe these special packages are made by the retailer, and probably has got nothing with IW, still.

But then you got the news that for MW2 for PC will not support Dedicated Server!  Console players wouldn’t understand why we are so passionately raving about this issue.  It’s because, since the dawn of Doom (remember that?), Multiplayer FPS in PC always supports Dedicated Server.  This is where the ‘real‘ fun trully begins.  The ability of hosting your own session, picking your own maps, choosing your own rules, is just … fun :)

What are IW’s excuses?  They said it’s to level the game-play, to enhance the players experience, and last but not least to clamp down the cheaters and hackers.

Fair enough. I am not saying that I reject these changes, I actually like the auto-matching feature; but taking away the fun of having Dedicated Server, seems to me as a Sledge-Hammer solution to the problem.  Why can’t both features live side-by-side? Offer the auto-matching for the casual players, but why not offering the options for the more advance (read: Hardcore) gamers?

And then there is this 18 players cap per session!  What’s up with that? With Dedicated Server, you can play even upto 52 players at the same time! Imagine how EPIC that could be!

In anyway, what did IW expect? That the PC community would suck up to it and do nothing?  I’m glad they don’t , I’m glad somebody tried to do something about it (kudos to AgentGOD), and if the video below speaks the truth, that means there is still a ray of hope for PC Gamers to enjoy what we had before.  After you finish watching this video, I’m sure you would agree with us how cool it is to be able to do all of those :)

You can find information on how to open the Dedicated Server on this link.

Got this from somewhere on the Net.

I really want to ask the girls, which ones of these that REALLY REALLY you can’t do without?  Which ones are the most important, really?

What more can you ask !!!

It’s all about Bad Food + No Exercise + Too Much TV, Yes?

In anyway, it’s always nice to see it in a nice graphical way, like this infographic from OnlineEducation:

As I wrote last Friday, Google released it’s Chrome OS to the Open Source Community.  The idea is that from that day, developers are invited to ‘chip-in’ with their innovative ideas, to build and to create what it will become the Chromium OS which will be release to the public at the same time next year.

If you are happened to be a talented developer with lots of idea, you can join Chromium.org and start developing.

But if you are just want to see it running, fret not, because apparently some nice and brave people had managed to build a working version, so that we could also enjoy it.

Most of the solutions out there are requiring us to download a ready-made package of the OS, and install it through a Virtual Machine, which is available for all platforms, including Windows, Mac and Linux.  There is also another way that enables you to install and run the OS in a USB Disk (which I must admit very geeky and cool).

Here are the resources where you can the step-by-step written instructions, or if you are a visual person, you can watch also the How-To Video. Enjoy!

• VMWare Image for GDGT: GDGT was the first major website that has a working version of Chrome OS that I know of.  Indeed these downloads are used as a base for other projects below.
• Techcrunch has a Step-By-Step Guide to install Chrome OS useing Virtual Box.
• RedmondPie.com has a guide to install Chrome OS in Windows 7.
• Engadget has a Video tutorial on How to Run Chrome OS.
• SkatterTech.com has also a video on how to install Chrome OS via VirtualBox.
• MakeUseOf.com has a guide on how to run Chrome OS from a USB Drive.
• Liliputing reported that Dell has put together Chrome OS distro for its Dell Mini 10V machine.

Updated: If you want to run Chrome OS ‘right now’, check out my follow-up post here.

Many people were shocked when back in July this year, Google announced that they were working on an alternative Operating System (the piece of software which gives our computer hardware a soul), dubbed the Chrome OS!  What! Somebody is making Operating System, and it’s not Microsoft or Apple?! That was what’s on many people’s mind.
In one sense though, this shouldn’t be a big surprise for us, because if there is one entity who can challenge Microsoft or Apple domination in Operating System arena, it would be Google.

The most interesting thing about this Chrome OS is that it is based on an Internet Browser (in this case Google’s own Chrome Browser), and that the code will be an Open Source Project.  This means that, like Linux, and unlike Windows or Mac OS, people like you and me would be able to contribute to the development of this Operating System (provided that you understand programming of course).

So, what is Chrome OS? The following video will give you a basic understanding of what it’s all about.

Yesterday, the 19th of November, Google finally announced that they are releasing the Chrome OS to the public!
Here is the video from the Release Event:

And here is the demo of the Chrome OS running:

Google’s goal is to release Chrome OS to the mass by this time next year. In the mean time, you can sign-up here to get notified when it’s coming.  Or if you want to get involved in the development yourself, check out Chromium.org.

Or, if you want to see it running and play around with it now, the team at GDGT.com has managed to get it running, and you can download it for free. The only thing is you need to have VMWare Player (Fusion for Mac) or VirtualBox to run it.

Here is more video on some UI concept for the Chrome OS:

If you are, like me, leaving the Windows world and just starting to learn how to use Mac using the MacBook (Pro), you would quickly arrive to a realization that some of the keys on the keyboard are not where they used to be.

One of these keys is, as a matter of fact, missing from the main configuration.  This key is the Hash Symbol (#) or the Pound Sign (for some of our American friends).  As I am a Programmer who uses the Hash Symbol extensively, the thought of not having this key readily available was enough to send me into a panic attack (so to speak)!

After I calmed myself down, I was thinking that this symbol must be there somewhere, hidden beneath one of these keys, the only think I need to do is to find out which one :)  This thought led me to scour the net to find an equivalent of Windows’ Keymap in Mac, and I found it :)

It’s called the Keyboard Viewer, and you can access it from the drop-down menu off the Language Selector on the Mac Bar.

If you select the ‘Show Keyboard Viewer‘ menu item, it will open the Keyboard Viewer window.

On this Keyboard Viewer you can see the Mapping of the keys on the keyboard to the characters and symbols. Also if you hold one of the modifier keys, e.g. Command, Alt, Ctrl, Shift, etc, they Viewer will show alternate keys to which the keyboard maps to when the modifier key is use. After trying out the modifier key one by one, finally I found the Hash Symbol that I was looking for, which produced by holding the Alt (Option) Key and the Number 3 key :) It’s not perfect (normally it requires only one key), but at least it’s there. I’m back to normal :)

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