New Addition to FZ1: Radiator Fairing

My pal, Rudy, actually gotten this product from overseas and replicate it locally (yes, what I installed is a replication of the real thing). He wanted to get enough people so that he can replicate it at a good cost. Once he has gotten the replicated products, he passed me one more than a month back (yes you heard it right), asking me to install it on my bike.


Well, due to busy schedule and other commitments, I kept pushing it off until yesterday. Finally found some time to fix this fairing on my bike and see how it looked.

Well, installation is a breeze, all I need to do is to remove the original radiator side panels and the small cover (which I wonder the purpose of it) on the frame, using the custom made riser screw boss on the radiator and everything is completed in less than an hour.

Custom Riser Screw Boss

How It Looked after installation.

Nokia Rangers N8 Information and FAQ

Just received an updated N8 FAQ from Nokia last week, and after seeking clearance from the Rangers contact, I will post the FAQ for every N8 users' benefit.

4 THINGS YOU’LL LOVE ABOUT THE NOKIA N8

• Create amazing content

The Nokia N8 offers excellent imaging capabilities with a 12MP camera featuring Carl Zeiss Tessar optics, a Xenon flash and a sensor that rivals those found in many compact digital cameras. The Nokia N8 also introduces the ability to create HD-quality videos and edit them with an intuitive built-in editing suite.

• Connect your future

All your most popular social networks are brought onto one platform to ease conversations. Deep integration with social networks like Facebook and Twitter, allow you to easily update, share location, post comments, view live feeds and upload photos wherever you are in a single app directly on the home screen.

• Entertain

The Nokia N8 offers a true home theater experience with HD quality film and Dolby Digital Plus surround sound by simply plugging the device to your home theatre system with an HDMI cable. With the Web TV services you can also watch programs from both local and global channels like E! Entertainment, Paramount, CNN and National Geographic, Channel News Asia, Makansutra and more.

• Applications at a touch

Find any app for your every need, from managing your daily calendars to monitoring your heart rate at the gym. Gone are the days when your phone was just for plain messaging and making calls. With a smorgasbord of apps available on the Ovi Store, you can mix and match according to your own personal lifestyle needs! The N8 also features three completely customizable homescreens, which can feature those apps and updates that you want.

What are the key features of the Nokia N8?

• Camera

A 12MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, Xenon flash, and a large image sensor, High Definition 720p video capture with two microphones that enable great ambient sound. Comes bundled with video and image editing software as well as USB on-the-go to transfer files directly with USB mass memories such as memory sticks.

• Social Networking

Update your status and get live feeds from Facebook and Twitter, send messages or share location and photos all from the homescreen of the Nokia N8! Syncing events from your social networks calendars onto the Nokia N8 device calendar is easy and ensures your events and appointments are only a few touches away.

• Symbian ^3

The Nokia N8 is the world's first device with Symbian ^3 software, offering a fast, simple and intuitive UI.

• User Experience

The Nokia N8’s user experience is greatly enhanced with support for gestures such as single tap, simultaneous-touch, flick scrolling and “pinch-to-zoom”. Three customizable homescreens, faster and more responsive graphics accelerators and efficient memory management also allows for a complete multi-tasking experience

• Entertainment

The Nokia N8 is the first smartphone to offer a true home theater experience with HD quality film and Dolby Digital Plus surround sound by simply plugging the device to a home theatre system with an HDMI cable. The Nokia N8’s Web TV services deliver TV programs, news and entertainment from channels such as CNN, National Geographic, E! Entertainment, and Paramount. Local Web TV content is also available from the Ovi Store.
More info here: http://bit.ly/n8features

CAMERA & VIDEO

• What is the camera in the Nokia N8 like?

The 12 MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, Xenon flash and large image sensors results in great photos even in low-light conditions with image capture speed of less than 0.5 seconds.
The image sensor is larger than any other mobile phone camera ever introduced. Pixels are over 47% larger than broadly comparable handsets. Even when compared against dedicated compact digital cameras the Nokia N8 camera sensor is around 30% larger.
The Nokia N8 can also capture HD video at 720p 25fps.
See photos taken with Nokia N8: http://bit.ly/n8gallery

• What video formats are supported on the Nokia N8?

Playback:
- MPEG-4 advanced simple profile level 6 30fps 12Mbps. Audio: stereo 48kHz 128kbps
- H.264 Baseline, Main & High profiles 3.1 30fps 14Mbps
- VC-1 Main profile level 2 03fps 20Mbps
- Sorenson Spark VGA 15fps
- Real video 10 QVGA 30fps

Video streaming:
- H.264 Main profile 30fps 720p
- On2 VP6: VGA 30fps
- Sorenson Spark: CIF 30fps
- Flash Lite 4: Flash 10 compatibility for video

Video recording
- H.264 baseline profile 3.1 720p 25fps 6Mbps mp4, audio AAC-LC 128kbps 48kHz stereo.
- H.263 baseline 1.0 QCIF 15fps 60kbps, audio 3gpp 12.2kbps 8kHz 8

• What are the HD capabilities for the Nokia N8?

The Nokia N8 will be able to capture HD video at 720p 25fps and playback video at 720p (progressive 1280 x 720) 30 fps. HD videos shot with the Nokia N8 can be shown on supported TVs via an HDMI cable.

• How can users share the HD videos they have recorded? Can they be uploaded to sites like YouTube directly from the phone?
  

There will be an HDMI-out slot which can be connected to HDTVs via an HDMI cable. An HDMI Mini C connector in Nokia N8 is included in-box and will function as an adapter in which users can connect standard HDMI cables to.
HD video capture and playback means large file sizes. Understanding this, USB On-the-Go in Nokia N8 connects to USB memory sticks and hard drives with external power supply. At this stage the device will not be able to be uploaded directly to sites such as YouTube.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

• What are the Social Networking capabilities of the Nokia N8?

Social networking features are pre-installed on the home screen for the Nokia N8 and designed for easy, quick and efficient access. This allows you to update your status, send or read messages, share location and photos and view live feeds from multiple communities (ie: Facebook and Twitter) all from one place! In summary:
- Easy access to multiple social networks from the homescreen – no need to switch applications!
- “Live Homescreen” widget pushes latest updates from your social networks.
- Sync calendar events from social networks to the device calendar.
- Link social network profiles to device contacts for an integrated communication experience – be it sending an SMS, posting to their wall or catching up on their latest updates.

• Is there support for Nokia Chat on the N8?

This feature is not available on the Nokia N8 yet. Meanwhile, 3rd-party chat services like Nimbuzz and Fring support multi-service IM chat and are available on the Ovi Store for download.

OVI & APPS

• Does the Nokia N8 come with Ovi Maps?

Yes, the Nokia N8 comes with integrated Ovi Maps and free navigation.
More info here: http://bit.ly/n8apps

• What services come pre-loaded with the product?

The Nokia N8 comes pre-loaded with free global walk and drive navigation and location sharing with Ovi Maps, Ovi Store, and Web TV content. For Singapore and Malaysia, a free lifetime bundle of Nokia Messaging is also included.
More info here: http://bit.ly/n8apps

• How does one reinstall pre-installed apps which might have been accidentally deleted?

The only way to do this is to get Care to re-flash the device, or to do it via Nokia Software
Updater.

• Is there an app similar to Share Online where users can share their photos without having to upload to Twitter or Facebook?
  

Currently, Nokia’s main uploading service is Ovi Share. Application-wise, there is no Nokia
standalone client that supports uploading only.

SYMBIAN^3

• What’s new with Symbian^3?

- Usability enhancements including single tap, simultaneous-touch and support for gestures such as “pinch-to-zoom.”
- Multiple, customizable homescreens easily maneuvered through by a simple flick of the finger
- New 2D and 3D graphics architecture that takes full advantage of the hardware acceleration available to deliver a faster and more responsive user interface.
- More efficient memory management allows more applications to run in parallel for a faster, more complete and efficient multi-tasking experience

To be continued.......

Personal Review of Nokia N8-00

Ok, it's been more than a week since I was given a N8 for keeps by Nokia, and I had put aside my Android phone to use the new Nokia flagship for a proper user review.

I had configured the phone to be up for my daily use, including my office work. My use of this phone on normal days are mainly:

- Internet surfing (a lot)
- Social-Networking (regularly)
- SMS and making/receiving calls (duh)
- Checking emails (office and personal)
- Taking photos and videos
- Watching movies on the go
- Playing games on the go
- Listening to Music
- letting colleagues/friends play with the phone prior to its launch

So my review will be based on my usage and also will make some comparison with Android so that Nokia will understand what they are really lacking and improve on it (if they are reading this blog that is)

Hardware

Enough said, the specifications has been described to death by many blogs and techno-sites so I will just give a brief summary of the hardware

The body is made of anodised aluminum alloy at the centre with 2 plastic end covers. It feels very very good at the palm and does not feel heavy. In fact it gives you a very solid build feel, which it is. I came from Quality field so trust me on this, the exterior is very well done.

On the screen, it uses capacitive touchscreen technology on an AMOLED screen and placed the famous Gorilla glass (claimed to be very resistant to scratches and impacts) as the topmost layer of the screen. If you trust the glass enough, you can even use the phone without screen protector

For the rest of the hardware description, I will let the photos do the talking.

12 Mega Pixel Camera sensor (claimed by Nokia to be the biggest sensor used in mobile phones) with 28mm/2.8f Carl Zeiss lens. Oh it comes with Xenon flashlight, so you have strobe flash for photo capturing

The top of the phone comes with mini HDMI port (HDMI adaptor cable included) for connection to HDMI TV/projector. Besides it are the 3.5mm audio jack and power button (acts as forced shutdown when pressed for more than 10 seconds)

Left side is the MicroSD and SIM slots with microUSB port which functions as USB OTG (cable adaptor included) as well as for charging/datasync. The torx screw shown is for the bottom cover where the battery compartment is located. No easy way to replace battery unless you have a torx screwdriver

On the right side of the phone is the Camera button (which can activate the camera app with one press), the lock switch and the volume rocker. The buttons have very good tactile feel.

At the bottom, you have the mic right below the screen, the menu button (acts as task manager when press and hold for 1-2 seconds) and the mini charge port. You may wonder why 2 charging ports on N8. Simple. You can charge your phone while you are using USB keyboard/mouse thru the microUSB port (USB OTG feature). Not a frequent use case considering the massive mass memory (16GB) but useful nevertheless. Touch more on that.

Camera

The Good
- Very very good photo quality from the camera. Certainly a competent replacement for compact cameras
- Xenon flash is able to light up the subject adequately in low light condition.
- Allows geotagging
- Many scene modes to choose from, plus many manual adjustments like Exposure, White Balance, ISO, and face detection
- HD Video quality is really good with decent audio. No video/audio sync issue at all

The Bad
- Photo resolution uploaded via camera/share feature are pretty low as compared to upload it via email on the phone
- The bottom keys on the camera (Option/Exit) is not responsive to touch, esp when camera orientation is in portrait mode.


Here are some example shots:

Landscape Mode

Auto mode with Flash

Close up mode without Flash

Close up mode with flash

Phone/Screen

The Good
- Very good signal reception as compared to my Android phone in the same location = fewer dropped signals
- SMS messages now in threaded mode (finally) in the form of Conversations akin to N900 UI, as well as the old style S60 SMS folders
- SMS emoticons are supported in Conversations
- Voice call quality is superb. Loud and clear.
- Missed call/message/events widget is very useful on the home screen
- Liked the Favorite Contacts widgets, as i can add as many contacts as I can and just swipe to find the contact I want
- Screen is readable even in direct sunlight, as compared to my AMOLED Desire, which is barely readable.
- T9 Prediction on the keypad in portrait mode is good and functional
- Pictures on AMOLED is crisp and colours are adequately saturated. What you see on the N8 will be as brillant & vibrant as seen on LCD monitor. Not over-saturated like Desire, which gives user false sense of photo saturation.

The Bad
- Why the hell Nokia removed the "Slide to Pickup/Reject" feature seen in N97/5800XM? It is one of the best features in S60 5th edition and now it's gone. A step backwards.
- The search in Contacts book is not intuitive. Android/iOS phones, even N900 is able to search the contacts in real time just by typing the name. The search app is ok, but took many steps to achieve the same objective as compared to Android/iOS/Maemo counterpart.
- No choice of portrait qwerty keyboard
- Landscape keyboard is not very intuitive. I kept getting typo errors and the prediction don't help much. Have LOTS of room for improvement, Nokia may want to reference iPhone/Android keyboard for a clearer direction
- No notification icon(s) on Big Clock screensaver. Waste of good screen estate.
- I still experience lags in the UI transitions, even though I don't install much apps (<10).>- To have Cleartype-style anti-aliasing effects on the font display or better font. Current font display feels very pixelated

Multimedia

The Good
- Loudspeaker is really LOUD
- Audio quality from the 3.5mm jack is balanced. Tight bass and clear treble
- Music Player comes with equalizer, which is lacking in Android
- Video Player can play my H.264/263 encoded avi files without re-conversion. Video shown on screen is very sharp and no audio/video sync
- Photo editor is very comprehensive for a mobile phone and workable
- Music Synchronisation is a breeze with Windows Media Player or Ovi Music Player
- HDMI output from the phone is sharp and crisp. Managed to output one Chinese movie to a 40" TV for family viewing and they were impressed by it
- USB OTG is very convenient for transfer to your photos/music/movies to/from flashdrives easliy, although it is not a very common use case for me.

The Bad
- Need to have a ringtone trimmer software built in like Android Music Player
- No external subtitle support for video player
- No ID3 Tag editor built in like the 5th edition Music Player
- The cover flow effect is only for ALL songs category. How about Playlists, Artist, Albums, etc?
- It will be great if there is player control at the saver screen. Save the hassle of unlocking the phone just to change songs. Yes, there's the unlock, but consider those poor dudes (like me) who have remote PIN lock by Exchange mail server remote security features.


Internet/Social Networking
Seriously, this is my main gripe in N8. I see less good than in this area. Nokia has a lot (yes I mean a lot) to catch up

The Good
- Web browser able to play flash items natively
- Able to upload photos to Facebook/Twitter via Social

The Bad
- Still using Flashlite when competitors are already having Flash 10 running on their mobiles
- Web Browser hanged when I surfed heavy sites, must have thanks to the limited RAM yet again
- No popular Photo sites upload (Flickr, Photobucket, etc)
- Social app integration is pretty weak, slow startup, erratic display,
- Nokia messaging a bit dodgy. Multiple photo uploading will prompt for email account but will not prompt if uploading only one photo.
- Email Inbox overview font is very ugly and big (bold). Doesn't blend with the UI look at all. Nokia should consider changing to better font and smaller fonts


Conclusion

After one week of use, considering I'm someone who uses internet apps and surfs extensively on the phone, I went back to Desire as my main phone and N8 as my camera/music player due to the above comments.

You also noticed that I did not touch on Ovi Maps at all, as frankly I have not used it much but I am confident in this application since this app in its earlier versions has already brought me around Thailand using my N95 8GB

Seriously, N8 hardware is uber impressive in terms of build, connectivity and camera optics, but heavily maimed by a dated OS. I strongly believe this phone will shine should it runs on Meego instead of Symbian. I have used N900 (Maemo) before so I can see Meego's potential.

N8, in its current state, is good for people who are looking for solid camera performance that can replace their compact cameras and good multimedia capabilities plus good telephony functions.

However, if you are looking for very internet-centric phone, where you will surf a lot on the phone, then it's better to look at other options.

Of course, I am still hoping in the upcoming updates, the functions/features of the phone will improve cos I certainly will like to use N8 as a main phone when that happens.

But I seriously I will hope Nokia can give the N8 users an option to load Meego instead of Symbian to see if it can bring this phone to the next level (I must be dreaming keke)

Good Lid with a Good Price

It was supposed to be my buddy looking for stuff for his car......

Ended up, as I was strolling through the shop and something caught my eye: New HJC R-Pha 10 helmet.

At first I was pretty hesitant to get it, even though my OGK helmet is pretty old and smelly, but when I heard the price quoted with the kind of stuff that comes with the helmet, I made a very swift decision. Here's why:

3D Logo instead of the normal flat sticker

Scroll Wheel style vent cover switch

BIG centre windshield lock

Does the front design reminds you of Darth Vader mask? The side vents have uncanny AGV Ti-Tech design though

Yes, and it weighs only 1.2kg, that is light for the price I'm paying

Unique air outlet vent

Comfortable interior with a massively big breathguard. Don't think my windshield will get fogged easily

Yeah, it comes with a manual

Oh, it comes with a 5 year warranty as well! Got a nice warranty card somemore!

On top of that, It comes with a 2nd smoked windshield, Shield cleaning kit, Pinlock Antifog sheet and a helmet bag. All for a very good price. Really gives Shoei/Arai helmets a run for their money

Can't wait to wear it out this weekend.

Nokia Rangers Gathering Oct 2010

Ok,

Just received the event photos from the organisers, so here's some photos of the event:

The venue and the Event

Hanseah, Dimitri_can & me

The presentation starts

Marketing manager explained how we were selected and what we should do as Rangers

Everyone listens to what was presented, and that's where I was told each of us will be given a N8

Product Manager comes in to introduce the N8. Market manager made a comment that the Rangers had probably known more about the product than him LOL

Product manager showing the N8 UI on the big screen thru HDMI

Queries with the Marketing Manager

Unboxing the received N8

The happy Rangers showing off their new toy

Checking out the phone

Conversations with the Product Manager

Sharing with fellow rangers

Being a Nokia Ranger

Just came back from the Nokia Rangers Induction Event. A total of 15 phone enthusiasts attended this event.

Got myself comfortable and went thru the presentation on what is the programme about. Basically, we are just required to do what we have always been doing, giving advises to forum users who are asking questions on Nokia devices, giving reviews and tips.

While I was expecting that we will be given a loan set for our review to trial the device and to my surprise, the Nokia staff indicated that the phone will be given to us for our use... permanently! That is a very nice gesture from Nokia nevertheless.

So here's a little unboxing video for those who are interested to see what's in the N8 package when it is launched in Singapore on 5th Nov 2010.

Back again with HTC Desire User Review

It's been a while since i last posted an entry on this blog. Not realizing I have posted very few entries this year, I won't be surprised I'm seeing cobwebs all over the site lol. My new job has kept me pretty busy these days, hence not much time to really sit down and write something for the blog.

Now, with a yet again new look on the blog, thanks to Blogger, there will be more entries coming in based on gadgets I used, music I play and photography which I found my directions.

Most have known me as a Symbian advocate, but recently having used Maemo and Android, I can't help but feel that Symbian is somehow dated. While Symbian^3 has many improvements, it's still looks and feel boring. Until Symbian^4 showed some convincing changes, I will stick with Android for now.

In coming posts, I will post some reviews on the apps I use on my Android phone, since reviews for my phone has been done to death on many sites, so go google for them. Stay tuned.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.2

Zen Bound on N900

During my usual surfing of Maemo-related site, I read about this 3D puzzle game called Zen Bound. It's fully featured in 3D graphics and it utilised the accelometer to achieve the objective of the game, which is using the string to cover the area of the shaped blocks as much as possible.

Looks simple but not really that simple. The crisp graphics on N900 screen and the smooth 3D movement makes this an enjoyable game experience.