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18 items tagged "mobile and phones"

Related tags: phone, Tech

• February 01, 2010
• 21:45

  Shot & Burned

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  Dear Internet Diary,

  I’ve bought an iPhone today.  A used 2G with a broken screen.

  It was (really) cheap, a spontaneous deal and I bought it because I want to enjoy some apps like this one – which will most probably never be available for Symbian S60 3rd. Heck, it was even cheaper than a used iPod Touch (which are also still very expensive). Imagine a 2y+ old 2G iPhone still sells for the same amount (on eBay Germany) you could also cough up for a brand-new Nokia business phone.

  So why this video? Because it’s cool and it represents to some extent what I’ve thought about the iPhone(s) & other “smartphones” in the past.

  The apps, however, the missing apps…. the missing apps really did it for me.

  My Nokia E72 is a great phone and I will continue using it as a phone, but – and that’s the important part – it will not be the device that I’ll pull out for some entertainment. Mind you, though, the same could be said about my N95, which obviously comes from the eNtertainment range of phones. However, I wouldn’t want to compare the iPhones with any Nokia phone, but the way apps are made available to consumers.

  Sure, there are now free Ovi Maps with free navigation and a few other apps I’ve mentioned earlier, but that’s maybe 5-10 good apps for my E72 vs. a plethora of apps on Apple’s Appstore. And it’s not that there are no other Symbian apps – there are quite a few interesting ones out there – but you most probably won’t find them on Ovi, Nokia’s all-in-one website (“the door”) which also includes Ovi Store.

  Now, Nokia’s “Appstore” Ovi Store is nothing but a lame joke.  And this in February 2010. They could do SO much better and start selling all their R&D beta apps, market them accordingly and show what’s really inside their devices (think of all the sensors). Ovi Store is also available online, via a browser – which I think is a very good approach (does that also exist for Apple’s Appstore, or will you have to visit their store using iTunes?). The Ovi Store application for Nokia phones though is a failure. Imagine what could be done if e.g. the developer of (the Twitter client) Gravity was to redesign this app…

  You’d think that Nokia is where German car manufacturers used to be some time ago – at least from a customer’s point of view: a company run by engineers who are trying to deliver a perfectly engineered product, but then getting stuck in bureaucracy and end up selling less than they could.

  Nokia. Great R&D, but such lame implementers. Great hardware, lame software. Why?

  I don’t know. What I know is that I’ve just invested money into my first Apple product ever. Because Nokia couldn’t deliver.

  
  

  
• June 24, 2009
• 13:03

  BL-5C

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  Batteries for cell phones are a commodity and thus often quite cheap. The interesting part is that fake batteries will often cost the same as original ones and some dealers will swear by the fake Chinese NokLa phone in their hands that they are of course only selling “Original Nokia” products.

  Original. Yeah, right.

  

  What you see here:

  A) original battery that came shipped with my Nokia 6230i

  B) fake “original” battery from eBay @ 6,39 EUR

  C) most-likely “original” battery from eBay @ 4,99 EUR

  Battery B really pissed us off as it was drained within a few hours (!). The hologram is just very simple yet it looks like an original battery (except for the hologram and the deeper golden contacts). There are no hints on Nokia’s website other than the hologram (they used to have a form to double-check that number on the holo but imho even those numbers were faked).

  

  Battery B was bulk-ware, meaning that it came shipped in a plastic bag while battery C was in an original Nokia packaging with a proper invoice. A bit irritating that there are two different mAh readings – a sticker that says 850 mAh on the front and a printed 970 mAh on the back. On Nokia’s website it says 900 mAh for the BL-5C, but hey – Nokia’s website has never been that accurate on phone details. Nokia also published a product advisory on the BL-5C type some time ago – a successful battery type has been produced over 300 million times and is built by five different manufacturers.

  There are many, many dealers on eBay that sell BL-5C batteries for Nokia phones and I’d say that most of them are just fake ones. On the other hand, candidate number C was the cheapest, came in an original packaging and seems to perform like candidate A. Simbaya!

  eBay as an online marketplace of course isn’t the best platform to purchase such electronics, but it is the one with the most competitive, or let’s say: comparable prices. Any other online-shop or even physical store will be more expensive (due to shipping rates & other general expenses). And it ain’t about the costs alone – I’d be willing to cough up more on a battery (but not too much!) if the dealer can assure that it is indeed original. I know this is a huge issue with product piracy and so on but – other than with cars where a non-original spare part may just as well be performing as required – most fake batteries also don’t last as long.  There may be exeptions to this general rule, but from my experience with this and other phones, most copies aren’t good enough, not even close. Probably also because they are commodities and their Chinese manufacturers just don’t give a damn…

  
  

  
• February 21, 2009
• 18:56

  Jifurahisha 1208!

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  Bought a Nokia 1208 mobile phone for someone else today because a local dealer had a 25% discount on EVERYTHING.

  25% are quite a lot, so you can imagine that by the time I had arrived, almost everything was already sold out. Damn. 25% on an Asus eeePC 1000HE or 1000HA? Me likes! Well, maybe next time.

  

  Back to the phone. As recently mentioned, the 1208 comes with an internal flashlight and is one of the cheapest - new - phones you can get for as “little” as 30,- EUR. How much would you pay for such a phone in Kenya? 1800/= Kshs? Sijui, but its obviously much cheaper than in Germany.

  

  
  LED on the 1208 pcb

  What I like about this no-thrills phone is that it just works. It isn’t the flashlight, it isn’t the enhanced battery life due to the small screen and relatively huge battery, it isn’t it’s compact size - no, it’s the dead simple Series30 operating system that never stalls and just delivers.

  
  Nokia 1208, 6230, 6230i (with 6230 keypad), N95

  It took Nokia two years to deliver stable firmware for the 6230, 6230i and the N95. The more features a phone has, the worse it is.

  I am actually longing to go back to a monoblock phone once the N95 retires (no slider phone, hence no E75 or N97) and thought about going for the upcoming Nokia 6700. It only needs to have WLAN connectivity but it doesn’t seem to have that feature…or does it?

  The 1208 is one sweet phone and I would love to keep it as a backup - but then, there’s the 25% discount I still need to cash in :-)

  

  
• December 07, 2008
• 11:30

  request for WiFi-based VoIP phone

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  I am currently looking/searching for a simple cordless VoIP phone that may be used at home and ONLY connects to the local Wi-Fi/WLAN (802.11). Are there any such models on the market? A few, it seems, but still too expensive or with too many extra options.

  What I want is to set up different Sipgate.de telephone numbers / VoIP profiles to such a device because the Fritz!Box 7141 DSL modem/router down in the basement only provides output to two analoge phones. And while you can set this advanced and very popular Fritz!Box system to accept more than just one internet VoIP number, one can only connect two physical phones via cable to the box (at least something, right?). These two lines are already blocked by the landlord’s phone + his AIO printer/fax machine. And his internal phone system is also analog and dates back to 1993. I could of course also try to hack the Fritz!Box (which is in fact a full computer and based on a “Linux”-system) and add an AsteriX PBX that takes care of the routing process, but I actually don’t want to change the existing system. And adding another Fritz!Box would provide at least two more “lines” to which I could connect normal wireless phones and define these VoIP profiles right on the Fritz!Box (both boxes connected via WDS). This doesn’t make much sense though, as I’d already bought a simple WLAN AP the other day which acts as a repeater to cover the area under the roof of the house (where I live).

  The alternative would be to use a mobile phone like my Nokia N95 which already comes with WLAN/Wi-Fi connectivity and allows for different VoIP profiles to be set up. However, I think that most of these Wi-Fi enabled mobile (GSM) phones only have a very weak antenna and rx/tx ratio, resulting in frequent signal losses unless of course you’re standing next to the access point. Plus, the N95 is a mobile and is with me all the time - while a much simpler Wi-Fi-only cordless phone like the above pictured Siemens SL75 WLAN could remain at home and provide telephony to the home office.

  What I really like about VoIP is that you can take your number with you - and as long as customers in Germany often still pay much more to call a mobile line than a fixed line, it’s way smarter to also offer a fixed line number (like the one I was provided by sipgate.de for free some years ago) to your customers.

  Again, any advice/comment on this issue is highly appreciated. Thx!

  Auf Deutsch: ich suche ein reines Schnurlostelefon, das sich über WLAN mit einem Access Point verbindet und verschiedene VoIP Profile akzeptiert. Irgendwie hat es seit 2006 keine wirkliche Entwicklung auf dem Markt gegeben, aber vielleicht irre ich mich da auch. Eine reine USB-Lösung setzt leider immer einen aktiven Rechner voraus - und da kann man dann genausogut via Headset telefonieren und sich zB den (ebenfalls vorhandenen!) USB Hörer von Sipgate sparen.
  Über WLAN deswegen, weil die beiden FON 1&2 Leitungen an der Fritz!Box schon belegt sind und eine Erweiterung der Anlage damit nur noch über Funk & VoIP möglich erscheint.

  Die Kombination aus WLAN Telefon und 2. access point (der das Signal der Fritz!Box ausm Keller bis unters Dach verstärkt) funktioniert schon mal - nur eben nicht so super, da die Antenne / Funkverbindung im Nokia N95 bauartbedingt schwächer ist als es ein reines WLAN Telefon wie das oben abgebildete Siemens bieten könnte.

  

  
• December 02, 2008
• 4:40

  N97

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  With all the iPhone hype back then, pls allow me to celebrate my Nokia fanboy moment for 2 minutes.

  Honestly, I wasn’t counting on any innovation by Nokia these days and really hope that they improved the S60 browser on this upcoming device. I think the success of a phone these days depends to at least 40% on the mobile browser. The one on the iPhone is good. If Nokia understood this message and improves the S60 browser until the N97 is released in ~ 05/2009, it could become a  good phone for bloggers. Else it will just be another SE X1, HTC touch and so on.

  The swapable QWERTY keyboard (horizontally, not vertically - very important) is the only reason I would accept moving from a slider phone to another slider phone. Else I am all monoblock. Same reason why I switched from a Nokia 7110 to a 6210 in 2000.

  Oh, and did I mention it has microUSB charging? To me, real innovations start with these not so obvious details which are more important to me than awesome multimedia options.

  If this new phone is as easy to use as the iPhone, I will want to have it asap!

  

  
• October 23, 2008
• 16:01

  Foniclious

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  Due to a more or less funny reason, we ended up being bila a working internet connection this morning - 1&1 killed the line within minutes after realizing that a bill of about 50,- EUR (for the 16k DSL line here) hadn’t been paid for by the landlord.

  As money transfers usually take some time, I quickly realized I’d have to do something about this state of being without a working internet connection because I currently really need this access for research & work.

  

  Some weeks ago, the German mobile phone provider Fonic (that resells capacity on the o2 network) introduced a daily flatrate, meaning: you aren’t charged 0,24 EUR /MB, but instead pay 2,50 EUR per day and can surf for as long as you want! The only limitation is that they’ll reduce the speed from HSDPA (!) to GPRS once you’ve downloaded more than a GB of data / day.

  Now, paying 2,50 EUR/d for a whole month is too much (30x 2,50 = 75,- EUR), but you’re only charged for the days you’re actually surfing the net. So, obviously, this offer really makes sense for those who want/need to have a location-independent internet connection for a few days only, e.g. if you’re travelling around or if you’re DSL line is offline.

  To introduce this offer, they started selling a Huawei E160 UMTS/ 3.5G USB stick, containing a fresh SIM card and with a microSD slot for the proud sum of 99,95 €.

  

  Too much for me, but I do have a 3.5G-capable Nokia N95 which never really lived up this speed until now, as my other SIM card operates on the E+ network which does not provide HSDPA coverage.

  Following my aged posts on how-to-use-gprs via Suffericom two years ago, I thought about covering my experience with Fonic as well. Also, I thought it would be interesting to see this direct comparison between Safaricom in Kenya and o2 in Germany - both networks that expanded their own capacity at a similar time. But while operators like Safaricom, Celtel and Zain do not have so much fixed-line competition, DSL via your old-fashioned telephone line is the de-facto standard in most German households. As a result of that, data connections in Germany are not as badly overcrowded as in Kenya.

  Getting online via Fonic is quite simple:

  1. bought a Fonic SIM card for 9,95 EUR at a local supermarket
  2. You have to charge it with a minimum amount of 10,- EUR after purchase
  3. called their hotline, activated the SIM and kindly asked them to activate the daily flatrate for me (took less than 2h).
  4. back home on my computer, I just installed the Nokia Bluetooth drivers, set up a Dial-Up BT connection to the phone, entered *99# as the telephone number and went online. Simple as that!

  I mean, for the first time ever this really just worked out (= out of the box!) the way I had wished for, so now I am happily browsing the net again and currently searching for a portable UMTS modem that I can use on my computer to substitute the phone (which I urgently need for the other line).

  Fonic currently also has a special deal where you enter the telephone number of an existing customer and both - in my case: me & fellow blogger Mzeecedric - are rewarded with a 5,- EUR bonus.

  I know that Fonic recently provided free (Huawei E160 surf stick) sets to some bloggers here in Germany. I may have missed that - but all I want is that it works - and right now it does that without any hassle. Let’s hope it stays that way over the weekend! :-)

  Oh - did I mention that the Huawei E160 has an extra socket for an external antenna? These sticks are still too expensive here, but something like that is what I actually need. Or maybe a PCMCIA card (albeit being real battery drainers…).

  

  
• September 16, 2008
• 14:33

  THERE YOU GO….

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  …WONDERING!!!!!!!!! where the **** it has been:

  

  The parcel.

  The parcel containing a Nokia E71 and BH-903 the kind folks from WOM World/Nokia have given me for a short testing period….

  ..only to realize after 2 weeks of onychophagy uncertainty that the landlord (who lives downstaires in the basement) already received and opened the parcel a week ago - assuming it’s the phone he ordered some time ago.

  Dude!

  Oh, and did I mention it’s not the first time he did that? Yes….go figure… (that is, I don’t have any probs with ppl opening my mail - as long as everything stays intact & I am informed).

  AOB: TwitterKeys are so ☠ …

  

  
• March 18, 2008
• 13:02

  the uprade

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  

  Life’s little pleasures….an upgrade from a 2GB microSD card to an 8GB micro SDHC - Secure Digital High Capacity memory card.

  Please note the tiny card reader (about 1″ long) which will be attached to my keychain. This way, exchange of data will be much easier and faster and I can still use the “old” 2GB card as a portable memory stick. New 2GB cards currently sell for around 8,- EUR, so it doesnt really make sense to sell it again on eBay & Co.

  The upgrade is just very sweet. It enables me to carry around LOTS of music (right in my phone = mp3 player) and to still keep enough free space for videos, images or even navi maps.

  

  And since these card are hot-swapable, you can just flip them out and put in another one if you need more memory space.

  

• February 12, 2008
• 23:25

  new phones

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  If these pictures are anything to go by - then I want one those new Google phones based on Android.

  Now! :-)

  @D: what about the E61i? (someone pls combine a 5mpx cam with a qwerty(z) keyboard & I’ll go for it…)

  YouTube directvideo link

  
  Nokia’s new N96

  Seriously, what I miss about the new range of Nokia & SE phones is a decent keyboard. Sure, you may also go for a touchscreen interface + keyboard as on the iPhone, but I am not yet convinced of these technologies (~ what about dust? tactile feedback? + the downsides of the iPhone e.g. non-removable battery, iTunes, etc.).
  Nokia’s & SE’s new phones are said to be made for the internet and/or provide multimedia comfort (DVB-H receiver, short range FM-transmitter, audio & video playback, video recording), but when it comes to actually using them you’re really punished with an old fashioned T9 keypad. Entering longer text is a pain and makes only sense while using a foldable keyboard (video) (like Nokia’s SU-8W).

  Don’t get me wrong: for consuming multimedia/inet content, these phones are just great. But interacting with others from phone to phone (except for direct bluetoothing or sms/mms) still requires another approach, I’d say. Best example: Fring! Fring is an awesome messenger service that now also offers direct file transfer. Now imagine you’re chatting with someone over Skype or ICQ and have to enter text by using a T9 keyboard only…

  Well, I keep coming back to my N95 albeit its horrible design (slider, case, keypad layout) because it has a decent camera and enables me to record anything while on the go + even editing it on the phone. Now that’s something really sweet considered it’s just a phone.

• February 07, 2008
• 15:04

  who fills the gap?

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  Just a short longer note on something I would actually like to expand into a post for Afrigadget: mobile phone repairs.

  Back in 1998 when I first started fixing my mobile phone, things were a bit simpler. Fast forward in 2008, mobile phones have become a commodity and there are at least two or three guys in most rural towns (in Kenya and elsewhere) that will know how to fix such a phone.

  So why blog on it? - Because it’s the way ppl are looking for alternative solutions on how to fix an advanced mobile phone based on SMD technology that makes the story interesting.

  
  mobile phone repair booth in downtown Nairobi, picture taken in May 2006

  In a world that has become more and more modular, where spare parts are exchangable or product life cycles reduced to a lifetime of about 2-3 years (best example: printers), not all is waste or wasted, and many things may often be repaired with simple and sometimes even very rough methods. Ask any mobile phone repair shop @ Moi Avenue Nairobi and they will tell you how they managed to save this or that phone. This, to me, is especially interesting, as they are using similar tools like other jua kali fundis in Europe - in a different environment. Whereas phones in Europe are often owned and used by one person only, phones in dev. countries are often shared between family members or friends. No wonder Nokia came up with two new phone models for emerging markets the other day, offering more than one phonebook / user profile on a single phone. Hence the need for a different approach to service repairs…or not?

  What you see above in the pic - and I desp. tried to get a decent pic of such a booth back in May 2006 when I last tried to cover this subject - are normal flasher cables. Serial & parallel cables, like datacables, ppl use to connect a phone to a computer to unlock a handset, flash the firmware or run some tests. Your handset is blocked by the network? Don’t worry, just reprogramme it (illegally) with a new serial number (~ IMEI). These are things done everywhere in the world - in the Middle East, in Asia, in Europe, Africa, etc. - only: they are all based on reverse engineering.

  Modern phones come with some more sophisticated algorithms and require a slightly different equipment - but that’s just a question of money and consequently there are, again, a few guys who will own a Twister Flasher or a BB5 unlock box in town (I really dig this microscope, sigh :-)

  Coming back to the initial question - why is it so interesting? Well, because manufacturers like Nokia or SonyEricsson create service manuals for their phones (which are then circulated over the internet), giving the schematics and parameters of each and every part. But they usually don’t train those jua kali fundis. And a licenced Nokia Service Center? Apparently, they often do apply the same techniques and may or may not be equipped with special and better service gadgets. And they are expensive.

  In other words: it’s cheaper and much more interesting for manufacturers to produce new phones than to train service staff on how to fix a mobile phone. Simple, new or refurbished phones are sold for something like 20,- EUR. And yet there’s this huge demand for quick & cheap repairs all over the world. This also applies to other electronics, cars or even lighters.

  Anyone out there remembers how we used to refill one-way lighters with Butane gas (using a chopped nail and balancing the firestone on the forefinger while reassembling everything)? Back then lighters were sold for something like 25/= Kshs. and a refill was available for 10/= Kshs…

  Now, while reverse engineered / alternative / jua kali (phone) repairs are interesting and will most def. make a good story on Afrigadget, I am constantly asking myself how manufacturers like Nokia will profit from this niche and use such knowledge for further engineering? Yeah, well, maybe Jan Chipchase’s research may be part of that, but then: who will fill this gap between new products and broken gadgets (leave this market to jua kali fundis and private individuals only?) and will a break-even point be the only criterion to define this approach on when it makes sense to invest in new equipment? What about environmental damage (during production) and how is this accounted for?

  The fast growing mobile phone sector is an interesting example to see how the world has changed, and I am currious to see when the majority of customers in places like Nairobi will prefer buying another phone instead of having the old one repaired.

• January 19, 2008
• 17:00

  qik

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  Qik. Streaming video right from your phone.

  Saw some live coverage from the MacWorld earlier this week where ppl used this service to directly stream video from their phone to qik.com. Something like YouTube, but with the difference that everything is streamed live from the phone (Nokia N95) onto their servers. Meaning: you’ll need a decent broadband network connectivity for this to work fine.

  
  (browser screenshot via browsershots.org)

  Signed up for this service (which is still alpha) on tuesday evening and just received an invitation. Don’t know about 3G speed outside, but here @home with DSL 2048 kbit/s down & 192 kbit/s up maximum speed it’s just very charming. Haaiaa. Will need to test it again outside tomorrow in daylight and see how it is performing.

  And yes, I am bit shy on camera. That’s why I haven’t really made use of seesmic so far (the “video twitter”). You may have seen it in action earlier last month when Robert Scoble blogged about it.

  Why is it interesting? After all, I wouldnt want to put myself online. It’s interesting because a) it enables true LIVE coverage and b) memory space is limited on some phones, so with a service like this, ppl can just report until the battery is drained. As for the “live” part: I pressed the F5 key to refresh the user page right after I had stopped recording and there it was, my video. Dead simple.

  Which phones are supported?
  The latest Nokia range, imho those who are based on the S60v3 platform.

  Citizen Media, here we come… muahahahaha!

  (video isnt included at this time as i just can’t stand the way the “embed object” code is implemented in WP + my video plugin doesnt support qik so far..)

  EDIT: Loic just twittered that Seesmic is now compatible with mobile phones via Shozu.com. Shozu! Has anyone tried it so far? Had it running on my mobile some month ago but it quickly drained the battery, also due to some autostart scripts that load when the phone boots (!) up. - I guess all these tools only make sense when your phone is within a 3G or better network and when everything is interconnected, i.e. feeds that pull content from your various multimedia resources online and aggregate them on your blog. Should be an interesting task for a WP plugin (hint, hint :-)….something that pulls content from your video & microblogging platforms and creates a blog post out of it. In short: what I would like to have is a smooth way to blog-on-the-go and have it appear on my own blog (and not somewhere on flickr, vox, seesmic, qik, YouTube, etc.). Possible? Maybe one day (soon).

  EDIT 2: QIK works fine even via a normal (= slow) GPRS connection! Awesome. I will use it more often now.

• September 06, 2007
• 14:42

  early adopters

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  So you have spend US$ 599 on an iPhone and now you are pissed that HRM Steve Jobs reduced the price to US$ 399?

  Well, dear Apple fans, rest assured: Nokia did the same with us last week by introducing another N95 with 8GB fixed memory (instead of a microSD slot), a bigger display, a much better battery and a slightly improved keypad on the front (which I personally think is the best improvement on this machine). Now what’s worse: a price drop, or knowing that your machine isn’t just *that* great and that it has been improved?
  As for the iPhone: seems like the 599$ price tag is reserved for the upcoming 3G version. Eh?

  I wonder what kind of effect this new version will have on the firmware of the previous N95. NOKIA! Aah…could you please remove the useless multimedia menu and reasign the button to something else? Thx..

• July 27, 2007
• 16:53

  from iGoogle to GoogleReaderMobile

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  …so I changed my feed reader today: from iGoogle - Google’s personalized homepage - to (the mobile version of) Google Reader.

  BECAUSE:

  iGoogle looks like this on my laptop screen:

  

  and like this on my Nokia N95:

  

  ==> opening items takes some time and is a bit old-fashioned. While it’s good to obtain an overview on what’s new on each feed, it actually only lists items in a static order and you’d have to continue loading another page in order to see all feeds. Hence the need to switch from iGoogle (which I’ll continue using on my laptop) to Google Reader…

  …which looks like this on my laptop:

  

  and like this on my N95 (==> [www.google.com] !):

  

  Obviously, accessing my feeds using the dedicated Google Reader - also because of it’s better navigation - makes sense. Hey guys, this thing is fast and it works!

  All it requires is this awesome little export to opml utility that generates an *.xml file which may then be imported onto your GoogleReader settings page. In case you’re having different tabs installed on iGoogle, just merge all xml files into a big one. Kudos to Mihai, author of the OPML utility.

  It’s fast, it’s simple, it works, it wins!

  AOB: Soapstone Simpsons. Kenya believe it? :-)

• July 22, 2007
• 18:49

  magical stuff

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  

  My dear friend Nicky managed to secure this MagicalKenya package from the Kenya booth on the International Tourism Fair in Berlin (ITB Berlin) earlier this year.

  After resurrecting her iPod Mini with a new battery, she rewarded me with these goodies: some posters, a tourist map, a cd with a promo video on tourism and why Kenya is THE perfect holiday destination and something like a scarf that reminds us of a Kikoi, or maybe also of that drapery one often finds underneath the TV & VCR setup at a typical middle-class home. Neat!

  Another Kenyanesque moment that brought a smile to my face was when I discovered the pre-configured video podcasts inside my new Nokia N95:

  

  As mentioned earlier, the ability to instruct this phone to go online over a wireless broadband connection such as UMTS (3G), HSDPA (3.5G) or even my local Wi-Fi (at home & at work) and downloading all this content by itself - without any other computer in between - is just very very sweet.
  These days, I hardly ever get to watch TV, so being able to pull the desired content from the net “on the go” is just a great help.

• July 15, 2007
• 12:32

  m.uhuru.de & co

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  Earlier this year in March, I discovered that the WP-ShorStat plugin I had been using for a long time actually congested my database, so I cleaned up the database by simply deleting all WP-SS values on my db.

  I had to do the same today, as - just in a time span of 4 months - WP-ShortStat again bloated my db to an extent I just didn’t like. Mzeecedric already suggested the other day to use external statistic tools only - which is a very smart idea to keep your WP-database clean.

  While visiting Christian at his desk on friday afternoon, we talked about using Google Analytics, and I really have to admit that I am a bit slow when it comes to implementing new stuff on my site. ‘Nways, I consequently switched all my statistics to Google Analytics and currently looking for a plugin that implements some important stats (= whatever you like to appear on your GoogleAnalytics dashboard) to the WP dashboard - just what WP-ShortStat did, but much better.

  Oh, and in case you’re using WP on your site + are tired of implementing the code into you site, pls try this awesome GoogleAnalytics plugin that does a bit more than simply adding the GA code.

  Also, I took this opportunity to activate the WordPress Mobile Plugin by Andy Moore, who is an active member of the dotMobi group.
  Considering that mobile phones are rapidly becoming the IT platform / interface for those who don’t use a desktop pc / notebook, it does make sense to prepare websites so that they run on the tiny screens of most mobile phones. Oh, and Andy also blogged on the upcoming Mobile Web 2.0 conference… :-)

  You know these ppl want you to register another domain ending on the top level .mobi - which I think is a bit absurd, as subdomains actually do the job:

  m.uhuru.de ==> blog.uhuru.de, optimized* for mobile phones

  Using the “m” subdomain makes much more sense to me (and others), unless of course you’re Mzeecedric who is already using the m. subdomain to extend his zung.us domain into m.zung.us :-)

  *[at the moment, m.uhuru.de is just a redirector to my blog, which has the above mentioned WP Mobile Plugin installed - so the optimized content is only visible through mobile phones or emulators…]

• July 09, 2007
• 19:10

  w00t!

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  Dear Colleagues,

  in case I happen to be out of office during the next few weeks - here’s why:

  

  Seriously, after 1hour of playing with this awesome gadget, figuring out all important shortcuts & testing various applications like surfing & phoning via WLAN (VoIP…sweet!) or the internal GPS, I realized that this new phone really is a kick-ass gadgetimoja. In fact, it is the best Nokia I’ve ever used.
  Especially since I am migrating from a Nokia 6230i which runs on the S40/2nd edition operating system, whereas the Nokia N95 comes with a cool S60/3rd edition OS.

  For my non-techie readers:

  • S40/2nd = driving to Mombasa in a Toyota Corolla
  • S60/3rd = being driven to Mombasa in a luxurious Mercedes Viano mini bus, with nice music, a great video system, a playstation on board as well as a broadband internet connection all the way from downtown Nbo to Likoni ferry.
  • (this phone with an external wireless keyboard, available as an optional extension = flying to Mombasa)

  N.B.:
  1. The Ministry of Finance has not been informed on this purchase.
  2. Financing for this device has been secured through external fundings, with lots of donors support and a fair interest rate.
  3. WTx is an iPhone? :-)

• July 02, 2007
• 7:57

  Wie komme ich an ein Nokia N95?

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  Motiviert durch meinen Vertragswechsel letztens von Vodafone zu Blau.de, und sicherlich auch durch den momentan berechtigten Hype ums iPhone habe ich gestern abend kurz bei eBay reingeschaut: auf der Suche nach einer guten Finanzierungsalternative fürs gewünschte Nokia N95.

  Die Vorgeschichte
  Bisher bin ich natürlich ein Handyvertragsmensch gewesen, d.h., alle zwei Jahre ergab sich die Möglichkeit, ein Handy zu Vertragsverlängerung finanziert zu bekommen. So entschied ich mich letztes Jahr für das eher schon ältere Nokia 6230i, welches im Gegensatz zum erst kurz getesteten 6233 über eine entscheidende Unterfunktion im Kurzmitteilungsmenü verfügte: die Auswahl einer Kurzmitteilungszentrale (SMC) direkt vorm Versenden einer SMS - was für die Fortführung meines alten Vertrages mit DM-Preisen bzw den Versand vergünstigter netzinterner SMS von elementarer Bedeutung war. Nach dem Anbieterwechsel fiel dieses Kriterium jedoch komplett vom Tisch, so dass ich endlich ganz unabhängig vom Vertrag & anderen Einschränkungen in Zukunft jedes beliebige Handy verwenden kann.

  Was will ich?
  Gewohnt durch den Komfort des Abrufens meiner e-mails via GPRS bzw. direkt vom Handy aus in Kenia (!), zahle ich bei Blau jetzt fast genauso wenig wie bei Safaricom für das Megabyte an Daten via GPRS. Durch die Möglichkeit, jetzt auch noch UMTS als prepaid Kunde nutzen zu können, erscheint diese Technologie bei den relativ geringen Kosten natürlich in einem viel besseren Licht.
  GPRS, EDGE und UMTS, sowie - natürlich - WLAN und Bluetooth möchte ich auf jeden Fall in einem neuen Gerät haben. WLAN alleine schon deswegen weil ich dadurch eine Menge Kohle sparen und zB zu Hause via FritzBox telefonieren kann.
  Dazu eine vernünftige Kamera mit Autofokus und mind 3,2 MPx, einem Blitz/guter LED zur Beleuchtung bei Dunkelheit und einen vernünftigen MP3 Player. Mit vernünftig bezeichne ich jene Player, die nicht bei jedem Neustart des Handys die MP3 Sammlung komplett einlesen und daraus einen Index erstellen wollen und dann auch noch irgendwann im Betrieb abstürzen - so wie es leider bei meinem 6230i in Verbindung mit der 2GB Speicherkarte der Fall ist.
  Einzig die fehlende QWERTY/Z Tastatur macht mich ein bißchen stutzig, denn einer der Gründe wieso ich unbedingt so ein besonderes Telefon haben möchte wenn man doch meist eigentlich nur telefoniert und Kurzmitteilungen verschickt, ist natürlich die Möglichkeit, unterwegs Texte ausformulieren zu können. Das mache ich nämlich am liebsten unterwegs - texten :-)
  Das Nokia E61, so nen BlackberryClone mit Tastatur, wäre so ne Alternative zum Nokia N95, allerdings ohne Blitz/LED, dafür für ca. die Hälfte des Preises zu bekommen. Hmm.

  Was zahle ich?
  Bestandskunden werden in Dland irgendwie schlechter behandelt als Neukunden - insofern erscheinen die meisten Neuverträge günstiger zu sein, als wenn man jetzt seinen Vertrag verlängert. Da ich ja jetzt eh prepaid Kunde bin, muss ich mir das Handy vollkommen selber beschaffen. Nur wie?

  Wie finanzieren diese Typen es, ständig ein neues Handy mit sich rumzuschleppen? Neukauf, 2monatige Benutzung und dann wieder verkaufen? Bisher fallen mir nur folgende Optionen ein:

  A) Im Versandhandel neu bestellen, lt. Preisvergleichsdienst schon für ca. 590,- EUR zu bekommen. => zu teuer!

  B) Gebraucht kaufen, zB bei Ebay. Kostet aber im Grunde meist fast genauso viel wie wenn man es neu kauft. => zu teuer!

  C) Einen Neuvertrag abschließen bei einem der vier Anbieter und mindestens ca. 250,- EUR dazu zahlen, sowie mindestens 9,95 EUR monatlich. => zu teuer!

  D) Zwei Neuverträge abschließen und monatlich ca. 20,- EUR an Grundgebühr bzw. Mindestumsatz bezahlen. Für Studenten sogar schon ab 7,96 EUR/Monat/Vertrag.
  Hmm. Macht das Sinn? 24 Monate x 20,- EUR = 480,- EUR. Wäre immerhin günstiger als Lösung a) & b).

  E) …. ?

  Fazit
  Momentan erscheint mir nur der Abschluss von zwei Verträgen à je 9,95 als kostengünstige Lösung attraktiv. Hmm…

  AOB:

  > Hallo liebes Blau Team,
  >
  > wieviele Rufnummern kann ich auf den neuen UMTSfähigen SIM Karten
  > speichern? Handelt es sich dabei auch wieder nur um 16k Karten, auf
  > denen man nur 100 Rufnummern speichern kann?
  >
  > Vielen Dank!

  …

  Auf der SIM Karte können Sie bis zu 10 Rufnummern speichern.
  Weitere Daten können auf dem Handy gespeichert werden.

  Viel Spaß beim Sparen

  Wer spart hier?

• May 02, 2007
• 17:20

  6230i @ 99,- EUR

   » ‎ Kikuyumoja's realm

  Tags:  mobile phones  

  It almost broke my heart today when I saw a relatively modern Nokia 6230i (series40) phone selling for EUR 99,- EUR in a bundle together with a prepaid sim card in Germany.

  Buy that phone, take it to Kenya and remove the simlock.

  EUR 99,- is how many Kshs.? ~ 9100 Kshs? And afaik those refurbished ones for sale in Nbo sell for at least 12.500 Kshs or even more.

  Why can’t they have Nokia phones with Series60 OS on such deals? Damn…

  (The Nokia 6230i has become a very popular phone on the european market since it’s release two years ago and currently retails at around EUR 159,-, without branding or any other software restrictions.)

  On the other hand, though, since I already dropped my Vodafone contract (= no subsidized phone every 24 month), I shall get my next phone @ Moi Avenue in beloved Nairobi.