Category Archives: Byte

Technology as a way of life

2
Sep

Samsung Releases New Flash-based 1080i HD Camcorder

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Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. continues to improve its camcorder offerings with the addition of the HMX20C Progressive HD Flash-based camcorder.

Featuring full HD and a1080i mode with 30 frames-per-second recording capability, the HMX20C’s flash-based design makes this camcorder compact and easy-to-use. With an integrated docking station, users will find it simple to not only charge the HMX20C, but utilize the HDMI input and component connectivity to easily view home movies directly on an HDTV. Furthermore, users are able to connect the HMX20C to their laptop or PC via a USB connection and share their home movies with family and friends quickly and easily. For added value and convenience, this multifunctional HD camcorder also delivers among the best still camera functionality within a camcorder on the market – up to 8 megapixels size through pixel-rising technology.

“The HMX20C offers consumers the ability to record their precious memories in full 1920x1080i HD quality. Because this camcorder records onto flash memory, it offers quick start-up, great battery life and one of the smallest bodies in the industry,” said Sang Ryong Kim, senior vice president of Camcorder Business Team, Samsung Electronics. “The HMX20C is extremely versatile and can be used to shoot HD video footage in virtually any situation. Everyone from aspiring filmmakers to parents shooting their childrens’ first birthday can capture their memories in beautiful HD quality.”

The HMX20C’s outstanding performance is the result of a cutting-edge design coupled with innovative technologies in HD recording. The camcorder features a 6.4-megapixel CMOS with electronic image stabilization so that even action-packed scenes project come through with clarity. Featuring an HDMI-CEC (Anynet+) high-quality connection to HDTVs and other devices, consumers can easily control the camcorder through their Samsung HDTV remote while viewing movies – one more feature that strives to make life simpler.

With the unique feature of high speed capture and super slow motion playback, the HMX20C allows consumers to record fast motion at 300 frames per second for up to 10 seconds and then drastically slow down the playback of the recording. Perfect for sports fanatics looking to tape and analyze their golf-swing in slow motion, or anyone interested in getting the detail of fast-flying events that otherwise would be undetectable to the human eye, this special function opens up a new world to users.

Samsung also engineered its new HD camcorder to be significantly more powerful than previous models. The 8GB of built-in flash memory helps to ensure that nothing is lost for lack of space and users also have the option of recording onto high-capacity SDHC/MMC+ cards via the additional card slot.

In addition to ample memory and superb recording capabilities, the HMX20C also delivers among the best still pictures of any camcorder on the market. The HMX20C has a few unique features traditionally found on digital still cameras such as a pop-up strobe flash, an automatic built-in lens cap and advanced face detection to automatically bring facial features into crisp focus, delivering high-quality images.

At only 10.9 ounces, the HMX20C fits easily into the palm for quick-and-easy shooting. For further convenience, the HMX20C comes equipped with features that make it straightforward to use. Samsung’s proprietary swivel hand-grip makes it possible to record from multiple angles, including regular and low-angle shots, while the 2.7-inch wide-aspect touchscreen LCD makes editing on the fly easy. Additionally, the iCheck function lets the user know how much memory and battery life remains to ensure not a second is lost.

Finally, Samsung has designed the HMX20C to be both stylish and ergonomically correct. Its design utilizes trends seen in the fashion and car industries, resulting in a camcorder that’s as elegant as it is practical.

(Samsung press release)

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31
Aug

WordCamp Philippines 2008

Posted by | Categories Byte | Tagged , , ,

WordCamp is coming to the Philippines! Voila! The WordCamp Philippines 2008! The first in Southeast Asia!

Organized by the Mindanao Bloggers, the event hopes to gather not only WordPress power users, but also novice users and those who are interested about WordPress. Wordcamp Philippines in Manila will be held on 6 September 2008 at the Augusto-Rosario Gonzalez Theater, College of Saint Benilde in Manila. In Davao, it will be on 4 September 2008.

WordCamp Philippines is brought to you by:

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10
Aug

Brief hands-on with Samsung OMNIA

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I had an opportunity to test Samsung OMNIA (Samsung SGH-i900) last Thursday at The Peninsula Manila, during its press launch. Here are my impressions.

The Samsung people were careful enough not to position this device as their answer to Apple’s iPhone, but the comparison can’t be helped. In fairness to Samsung, OMNIA has several features that iPhone doesn’t, and that clearly differentiates it from the so-called gold standard.

First, the touchscreen. I fond of touchscreens, and the OMNIA’s touchscreen is good. It doesn’t come with a stylus (the Samsung people said it will come with a stylus, but the phone does not have a slot for one, so that’s doubtful; they did provide stylus during testing), so you have to use your fingers. The TouchWiz user interface is a Samsung custom UI for Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. The icons are large enough so that you can easily point to the right icon. What I like about the custom UI is that Opera Mobile is available as an alternative to IE Mobile. This is a great addition. More on this later. Of course, you can revert to the traditional WinMO UI.

Haptic feedback is available, but I had it turned off, as I find it annoying. Basically, the phone vibrates every time you press an icon. It is not a useless feature, but as I have said, I am annoyed by haptic feedback, and I felt it is a waste of battery.

There is a mouse pointer that is controlled by an optical touch pad below the screen. It is like having a touchpad on a phone. I find it odd, but it has its uses.

The on-screen keyboard remains a lot to be desired; people with large fingers will have to get used to it. The keys are too narrow for the thumbs. That is why I think the lack of stylus is a drawback.


It has an accelerometer on board, so that when you turn the phone, the UI changes its orientation. The orientation can be sluggish when, for example, Opera Mobile is running and showing Plurk in mobile mode, for example. But that is hardware limitation, which is understandable.

Probably one of the best features of the phone is its camera. It has a 5-megapixel camera, though the flash is just LED. It has camera functions that are not found in other camera-enabled phones. For example, you can take a panoramic shot with the phone, and you can stitch up to 8 images for a panoramic shot IN THE PHONE. There are other helpful features for taking shots, and I think some of them are quite useful.


One problem that I had found with OMNIA is that it runs out of memory that fast. For example, using Task Manager, the apps that were currently running were Main Menu and Task Manager, which consumed less than 1MB of memory combined. But when I tried launching Camera, I got the insufficient memory error message. Good luck running the Camera app while Opera Mobile is loaded.

I have not tested the multimedia capabilities of the phone – these features are not on top of my preferences for a phone, and there were no available video files for viewing.

The phone is nice when held, though it is shiny and fingerprint magnet. It does not feel flimsy, and you will not be embarrassed to be seen using it. Heck, I’d want this as a phone, though the lack of stylus and keypad would make me pause.

Here are the specs of this phone:

Network: HSDPA (7.2Mbps), EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900 bands
OS: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Display: 3.2″ WQVGA TFT LCD (240×400 pixel resolution)
Camera: 5 Megapixel CMOS with autofocus, image stabilizer, geo-tagging, auto sequence, panorama shot, wide dynamic range (WDR), face detection, smile detection, 14 scene modes
Video: DivX/XviD/H.263/H.264/WMV/MP4 formats; video recording; video editing: trim video, audio dubbing, live dubbing, add subtitle, image capture
Audio: MP3/AAC/AAC+/WMA/OGG/AMR formats, FM radio with RDS, Touch Player, A2DP
Other features: GPS/AGPS,TouchWiz UI, haptic feedback, MS Office Document Viewer, Advanced PIM apps, push email, accelerometer, etiquette pause, TV out, digital frame, optical touch pad, business card recognition
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, WiFi
Memory: 8GB/16GB flash + external memory slot: up to 16 GB microSDHC

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6
Jul

Brief hands-on with HTC Touch Diamond

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Last Thursday, HTC Southeast Asia (HTC SEA) unveiled HTC Touch Diamond to reporters and bloggers at the Renaissance Hotel in Makati. Some pundits dubbed this as HTC’s answer to Apple’s iPhone, and a reporter asked if this is HTC’s iPhone killer. Kevin Hou (pictured, right), Managing Director of HTC SEA answered this question by saying that they are not out to kill anyone or anything. HTC Touch Diamond is being differentiated from the iPhone through its impressive specifications contained within a small phone.

I had an opportunity to touch (bad pun, I know) this phone, and indeed it is small. With dimensions of 102 mm x 51 mm x 11.35 mm (LxWxT) and weight of 110 grams (with battery), it is definitely smaller, thinner, and lighter as compared to Sony Ericsson P1i (my current phone). As I had no camera that day, I wish I could have taken a picture of the two phones side by side. But trust me, it is lightweight, and it is easy to handle (another bad pun).

The back cover has geometric designs on it, shiny, and fingerprint magnet. The front is smooth, shiny, and fingerprint magnet too. The screen is bright in its glorious VGA resolution – an edge against other phones.

This phone incorporates the latest version of HTC’s Touch user interface (UI). Called TouchFLO 3D, I think it is a nice UI to supplement Windows Mobile’s UI. Some people might call the music interface of TouchFLO 3D as CoverFlow ripoff. I haven’t tried CoverFlow though I had seen it, but TouchFLO 3D is a bit different.

Speaking of the UI, it will take getting used to. I have been using touchscreen mobile phones since 2006, and no two touchscreen phones are alike. You will need some time to get used to TouchFLO 3D. It’s intuitiveness is not very apparent at first look, but once you get the hang of it, it works. There’s some lag time at certain places, like viewing a picture full screen. Also, when scrolling on the certain places (like Music or People – the phonebook), the UI seemed to be unresponsive. Maybe that’s just me, or maybe I should have used the stylus. BTW, I like the way the stylus is kept – there’s a magnetic mechanism wherein when you return the stylus, it snaps in.

Quick Specs:

Processor: Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 MHz
Operating System: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Memory: ROM: 256 MB, RAM: 192 MB, Internal storage: 4 GB, no external memory slot
Network: Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, dual band HSDPA/HSUPA/WCDMA
GPS: Internal GPS antenna
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, A2DP, AVRCP; WiFi 802.11 b/g; mini-USB port
Camera: Back: 3.2 megapixel with autofocus; Front: VGA
Battery: rechargeable Lithium-ion or Lithium-ion polymer
Talk time: up to 270 minutes for WCDMA, 330 minutes for GSM
Standby time: up to 396 hours for WCDMA, 285 hours for GSM

For such specifications, this phone is not cheap. The suggested price is Php 41,800. When asked about the price, Hou said they believe there is market for a phone like this. When someone suggested that HTC should use open source, Hou replied that they do have plans for that (HTC Dream, anyone?), but they also believe in the partnerships that they have forged through the years, and he reiterated their belief that Windows Mobile is a good operating system.

I think HTC Touch Diamond is a good phone, but it is not for your grandparents. However, I am a believer in touchscreen/QWERTY keyboard combo, so if I have the money, I’d rather wait for HTC Touch Pro. Or Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1.

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22
Jun

I survived the Microwarehouse midyear sale

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So last Friday I went to the Microwarehouse Midyear Sale 2008 at a familiar, former haunting grounds called Eastwood (where my former employer is based; worked there 2005-2006). The sale was scheduled to start at 12 noon Friday, and I spent the majority of the morning at a certain clinic in Makati for my medical examination. And since a complete blood count was part of the exam, I was on fasting mode Thursday night. So immediately after the exam, ate at Chowking at SM Makati. I had hoped that it would be enough to last me on that day.

Well, I was assuming that it would be fast. I was wrong.

I arrived there a few minutes after 12 noon. There was already a queue, and the tail end was at the door already. Registration was required, and it took more than 30 minutes from the time I got there. My number was 212, and to my chagrin, they were only allowing 20 persons to get in at a time; after I got my number, the number was 90.

While there was a price list posted online, some came in with no particular item in mind. Well I had a shopping list of sorts, and here they are:

* Linksys NAS200 Network Attached Storage – priced at Php 5500.00; at Villman, the price is Php 6498.00
* Linksys WRT54G Broadband Wireless-G Router – priced at Php 1500 (refurbished); they were also selling brand new units for Php 2200.
* Linksys WRT54GC Compact Broadband Wireless-G Router – priced at Php 2000 (refurbished); brand new at Villman is Php 2288.
* Linksys WUSB54GS Wireless G USB Network Adapter with SpeedBooster – refurbished was priced at Php 1000, brand new at Php 1500; at Villman, this cost Php 2688.

Failed at getting the network attached storage (there was only one item available for sale). I got the compact router (I hope it is working; haven’t set up the home network yet) and a brand new USB network adapter. I also managed to get a Belkin iPod Canvas Holster for Php 250, and an Exo Black Skin for Php 10 (yep, ten pesos).

And then there was another queue for paying. Yeah, another queue. Took more than 30 minutes. So I got in at around 12 noon, and checked out at 4:30pm.

Now on to get a broadband Internet provider. And that’s another story.

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5
May

On blogging, code of ethics, and credibility

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The problem with Dean Luis Teodoro’s assertion is that he is assuming that blogging is a form of a journalism. If he meant “subset” then I would have agreed. What he wanted to happen is to apply journalism ethics and principles on blogging. Why apply these principles when you are only talking about, for example, how you ended up being pathetic? You mean, I have to follow the inverted pyramid whatever and interview my mom, my dad, my friends, to get their sides when all I wanted to say is that I’m ugly?

Teodoro doesn’t seem to have a firm grasp of what blogging is. Well, in fairness to him, we can’t say that for certain; it is just conjecture based on his opinion, and on how the report was presented. The report cited Brian Gorrell and that Cebu rectal surgery scandal as two prime examples of what could go wrong online. Aside from sweeping statements made by Teodoro, he is assuming that blogs are newspaper-like Web sites.

I guess what he means is that bloggers who are presenting information should at least adhere to a certain standard; he should have qualified his argument instead of that sweeping statement that betrays his ignorance. What Teodoro did not know is that there were several efforts to have a code of ethics for bloggers, and all of them bogged down. The reason is simple: it is not enforceable. The technical issues alone are mind-boggling, to say it simply.

Maybe it is time for the UP College of Mass Communications to offer classes on blogging. (And no, I won’t even point out the irony in that report. If you are a journalist, you should see it.)

It all boils down to a blogger’s credibility. How can one be credible? While we cannot have a code of ethics for blogger, each blogger can adhere to his/her own code. A blogger can, for example, write a page stating what he/she would and would not do when blogging. A blogger can say that he/she would do everything to ensure that what would be presented is true and fair. And when that blogger adheres to that self-subscribed code, readers would know, and earns their trust and respect. And credibility.

(Will edit this soon.)

14
Apr

MSI Wind out in Q2

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MSI‘s answer to Asus eee pc, the Wind, is set to be released by the end of the 2nd quarter of this year, with price range of US$ 470 to 1099, depending on the specs. That includes 8.9- or 10-in screen (1024×768 resolution), hard disk or solid state drive, Intel Atom processor (conjecture; Intel will ship Atom by June) in 1- to 1.6GHz speeds, and probably 1 GB of memory.

It is a bit expensive comparing to 1st gen eee, but competitive in terms of the 2nd generation eee. I think I like it, but it pays to wait again he he.

(Image from Trusted Reviews, via Engadget.)

11
Apr

For a do-not-call law

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We really need a do-not-call law here in the Philippines.

This do-not-call law covers unsolicited commercial phone calls, text messages, and email messages on personal or work phones, mobile phones, or email addresses. There shall be a national database of phone numbers and email addresses, to be maintained by the Department of Trade, and accessible by businesses so that they will not call, text, or email the said numbers and addresses.

The telecommunications carriers shall be required to issue phones with caller ID capabilities (and if possible, recording capabilities as well). This is to make sure that call recipients can take note of calls, specially when the call is unsolicited and commercial in nature.

Unsolicited calls/text/email refer to calls made by an entity to a person to offer loans, credit cards, jobs, or other promotions that are not sought for by that person; asking for donations and other forms of charity are also included. Calls made for verification purposes (like for valid credit card and loan applications) are considered solicited and as such should not be covered by this proposed law.

—

Heaven knows how many man-minutes, electricity charges, and bandwidth are wasted by these unsolicited calls. They can also be annoying. Aside from that, these unsolicited calls are violations of privacy.

And oh, selling databases of contact details should be outlawed, too – violation of privacy.

I had a post about my annoyance with these unsolicited calls. Have you received unsolicited calls before? Do you think we should have a do-not-call law?

10
Apr

Sony Ericsson P5?

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Here’s another picture of the alleged successor to Sony Ericsson P1i:

Codenamed Paris, this is supposed to be the P5, which allegedly sports the latest version of Symbian UIQ, and a slider with the same rocker keypad (two letters at each end of the button) that P1 and m600i have. It seems that the button is half-white, half-black.

To be honest, with EXPERIA X1 in the horizon, I do not see the value of P5 being released within the same period (unless you are not a fan of Windows Mobile). Sony Ericsson should have released this months ago (P1i is already 6 months old).

I’m no fan of sliders, though I did own a Nokia 7110. And there is nothing compelling with Paris for me to want it. X1 remains my phone of choice (if I could afford it, of course), unless a 3G Apple iPhone that is not exclusively locked to a single carrier manages to grace these islands.

(Photo from Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog, via Just AMP.)

10
Apr

Nokia Tube

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Nokia was in the touchscreen phone business four years ago, with Nokia 7710 as the flagship of sorts running Symbian OS on Series 90 interface. I got this phone December 2005 till I got Sony Ericsson m600i. Nokia 7710 was a bulky phone, and being the only one in the series meant less software. It died a natural death.

There is also Nokia 6708 (said to be the first touchscreen phone for Nokia). While Nokia 7710 is dead, 6708 seems to live on. But to date, no Nokia touchscreen phone has been released.

The Apple iPhone is an eye-opener for Nokia, and is now trying to catch up. There was a demo of the s60 Touch UI months ago, and now there seems to be a device in existence.

Here is the Nokia Tube.

Too bad. Nokia had the vision right four years ago, but it fumbled and gave up. Now they play catch-up. Will it be the iPhone killer? Too early to tell, but if that’s their goal, well it is wrong. Nokia should just release a good phone with an intuitive interface, that’s all. Nokia 7710’s UI is good though the phone is slow and heavy.

(Photos from Symbian Freak and NokiaPort.de, via Just AMP)

UPDATE:

NokiaPort.de has listed the purported specs for this device:

Display:
– 3.2 inch touchscreen
– Tactile Feedback
– 640×360
– 16 million colors

Camera:
– 3.2 mega pixel
– autofocus

Networks:
– Quad Band GSM (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 Mhz)
– EDGE
– UMTS
– HSDPA

Connectivity:
– Bluetooth 2.0
– Wifi
– GPS
– 3.5 mm jack
– TV out

Other:
– 140 MB of internal memory
– measures 111x52x14.5 mm
– weighs 104 grams

(Update via Just AMP.)