"Geeksphone" - android phone by the Spanish

http://geeksphone.com
Hey, look, this site's slogan says "the phone revolution begins", but we have difficulties reading Spanish. Would some readers figure out how this Samsung i900 Omnia with an Android O/S can cause a revolution? Without careful thoughts one might easily mistook this "GeeksPhone" as a poorly made mimic from unnamed hidden factories in mainland China. . .

http://blog.geeksphone.com/

Get your iPod Touch upgraded to 3.0 without paying the $9.95

Feel like being discriminated for iPhone users can upgrade for free while you have to spend an extra $10? We have two Touches in our workshop, and we have heard about the following method, which seemed legitimate (as we manage to get the file in apple.com), and we decided to try it.

We have tried the following methods on two iPod Touch 2nd Generation machines and found them working. We cannot guarantee that this trick works in every single machine though. We have not heard any failed attempts thus far.

Here is how this was supposed to work:
(Make sure your iPod isnt modified in some strange way.)
1) Get the "iPod1,1_3.0_7A341_Restore.ipsw" (for iPod Touch first generation) or "iPod2,1_3.0_7A341_Restore.ipsw" (for iPod Touch second generation) from the Internet. This file is basically available everywhere, including the Apple site.
2) Go to iTunes and click your device, and wait until it finishes synchonizing.
3) Hold down "Shift" key (on your keyboard) while clicking the "Recover" button.
4) Select the ipsw file you've just downloaded and saved.
5) The restore should work, all information in your iPod should vanish. Don't panic,
6) as iTunes will prompt you to restore the backup you just sync'ed.

A few points on Nokia N97

- Be extra super careful when inserting the micro-SD card. It will get stuck easily if inserted without enoguh attention.
- Master reset password is "12345"
- Not sure if other places are the same, but the white version in Hong Kong has a second charger and a bluetooth headset
(Some reports that the white one is with 8G micro-SD while the black one is with 16G, Nokia-branded card)
- System might halt when switching to data mode from USB storage mode
- Some freeware programs from OVI actually require payment (watch out)

First Solar Energy Phone Samsung Guru E1107

As the world's very first solar-powered mobile phone, Samsung E 1107 is already launched in India as a budget phone.

This budget phone is currently selling at MSRP of 2799 Indian rupees or US$59. E1107 offers basic functions like MP3 and Radio with a relatively small screen of 1.5" 128x128 pixels.

Although this phone claims to be solar-powered, it, sadly, cannot be regarded as the primary electrcity supply - according to various sites, exposure in direct sunlight for one hour can only support up to 10 minutes of talk time.

Looks like it will take another 10 years to have major breakthrough in solar energy utilization.

E1107 will be available in Europe and Asia by the end of June 2009.

Bandwidth-eater portal sites (and alternatives)

If you just bought a phone with GPRS or a netbook with built-in 3G/3.5G service, having data connection might sounds fun, but don't let bandwidth-eater sites ruins your day.  Some tariff plans only covers like 5MB or so per month, if you read a couple of the sites each day, you're destined to be doomed.

Note to US/Canada/UK users: The content ends here.  Thanks.  Please remember not all operators in the world have unlimited data usage plans.

Eater 1: Facebook
The front page is simple and elegant, yes.  Just don't login.  Ever.  An average user Home page after login would be around 0.5MB.  To save your precious data usage, try the mobile version at http://m.facebook.com

Eater 2: Yahoo! Front Page
The US version is around 200KB, but the Hong Kong one is like 500KB.  Will be a lot more if a bad Flash advertisement popup rotates to your visit.  Our advice is, for searching, use Google.  For news, use Google.  For email, use Gmail (Google Mail), they also help migrating your old mails from Y! Mail to Gmail.

Eater 3: Engadget
600KB.  Just watch the site at home or office.  There won't be any NSFW content any way.  Or simply switch off image browsing of your browser.

Eater 4: Google Maps
Data flow varies.  It sounds fun when the satellite map of your GPS-enabled handheld machines synchonized with how your car/bus/train moving.  And all the fun are gone when you see the bill.  If this stripped all fun from your life, adjust the detail of map will definitely help.

Eater X: Youtube
Some operator are kind enough to cover Youtube usage.  Some are not.  Mobile version is at http://m.youtube.com

Why buy a normal edition Sims 3

We seldom talk about games, but local stores are loaded with the Sims 3 from EA.

Unless you *really* like the Sims series, consider refrain from buying the "Collector's Edition" of the Sims 3: -
1) The "Sims Plumbob" 2GB USB flash will break into three when it's dropped on ground.  They were merely assembled with glue.
2) There is no the USB "this side up" logo on the flash.
3) Worse, there are reports that many computers fail to even load the flash.  If your computer can, good, you're in luck.
4) The package is not luxurious, and it doesn't seems to be environmental friendly either.

The price difference between the Collector's Edition and the normal one is around $10 here.  But the peasant edition comes with a coffee mug, which is more practical than a unusable USB flash, in our opinion.  Of course, you make the call.