A little problem with Android Ice Cream Sandwich handset

 

The fourth Google handset Samsung Galaxy Nexus (after HTC Dream, Nexus One, Nexus S) had been officially on sale here in Hong Kong from 15 December 2011, yet we do not recommend jumping to the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) system now.  Here is why:

In ICS, the four physical buttons (Home, Menu, Back, Search) are not mandatory now.  As a matter of fact, Galaxy Nexus only have power and volume buttons.  This brings some major problems to some everyday-use apps.  We try to explain in simple wordings.

 

In the system development kit before ICS, there had been a function which let the programmers to program some response to react to the pressing of the menu button, such as popping up special options.  However, in ICS, Google killed the function.  This brings compatibility issues on quite a number of apps on the market.

We recommend users to wait until Google does something on 4.1, or the app developers to update their code.  Either way, we won’t be using an ICS handset until maybe Feburary 2012.

A late review of Google Nexus S

We have bought a new Google Nexus S a couple of weeks ago (Yes, slooooooow).  Nexus S is manifactured by Samsung.  As an fan of the Android system, we compare a lot of different Android handsets.

ROM issues
Google phones feature the latest updates of the Android operating system.  Take our Nexus S as example, the phone was version 2.3.3 when unboxing, and with wi-fi turned on, we receive the 2.3.4 update thru remote update in no time.

With the new 2.3.4 fireware, the most notable change is the capability of voice chat and video chat of the stock Google Talk app.  With a stable connection (preferably wi-fi), we managed to set up a video chat seamlessly.

As a centralised ROM, we however are forced to have some unusable apps which are impossible to remove without rooting.  For example, we can't really use Google Voice without a US number; and Navigation simply won't work with our local destination.  Besides, Google Voice Search only supports searching – those speech-to-email, speech-to-SMS, speech-to-navigate functions simply don’t work.

Oh, and the stock camera is too basic to use.  We needed to use other apps from Market to take pictures.

Basic ROM
As a phone by Google, Nexus S does not have any customization on the ROM, so you won’t be getting fancy layout widgets popping up News, Weather or Stock prices or the like the time you turn on your phone.  This is ideal for advanced user and developers to make their own ideal layout of design.

Users dreaming of making a lot of customization on their own will find this handset fascinating, but users who want to turn on and use the phone right away might find Nexus S not so attractive. 

Thickness
As this is a 4th quarter model from 2010, the design is rather thick in this today’s standard.  Holding a Nexus S is more or less like holding a Galaxy S – you will feel the difference if you hold the 2011 machines – HTC Sensation is less thick than it, let alone those ultra slim ones like LG Optimus Black or Samsung Galaxy S II.

Basic Specs
With a Hummingbird CPU at 1GHz, 512MB RAM, 4-inch 800x480 display, Nexus S is subpar at today’s standard.  The phone has no expandability on Micro-SD card, it just have 16G internal storage space.  A NFC chip is also featured but it is of no use in our city yet.

Screen Protector issue
You may notice that the monitor is a bit curved, making it a nightmare to apply a screen protector.  What we did for a perfect screen protector costs us $0.  Here’s how:
1) using your own finger nails to peel off the text on their original film with the Nexus S logo on it
2) cut of the small handle on top and bottom of the film

On pricing
We bought this Nexus S at around US$360 (early July 2011), and we find this handset appropriated priced.  For slighty more budget, you may consider alternatives like LG Optimus Black, which is significantly slimmer and less heavy.

Tips and Tricks for Samsung Galaxy Tab

We’ve been testing Samsung Galaxy Tab for a few months, here are some practical tricks that are not covered in the very limited printed documentations inside the box.  Geektechpost.com

Hotkey: Screen Capture
To make a screen capture of the device, press and hold the back button, and press the Power button once.  If successful, you will hear a camera shutter sound, and the toast message of “Screen Captured. Saved as image file.”

You can find the screen capture file at the folder called ScreenCapture under the root directory, with the file name “SCYYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.png”.  For example, “SC20110203-040506.png” means it is captured at 4:05:06 am, on 3 February 2011.

Note: This might not work on certain apps which have designated special function on the Back button.

Geektechpost.com

Hotkey: Task Explorer

By pressing and holding the Home button, you will see the eight recently used apps, as long as a Task Manager function.  This is especially good to close unwanted apps on the fly.

 

Hotkey: Force power off
If something get unresponsive (for example you use Browser, Music player, several IMs simultaneously), and you can’t just end it by any normal mean, just press and hold the Power button for 7.5 seconds.  The power will be off and you can reboot afterwards.

Geektechpost.com

Save energy, save the Earth
Like every other device, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can consume a significant portion of battery even when idle.  Turn them off when not in use. 

 

How to change input method
A new user in Android handset might wonder how to change the input method (on-screen keyboard) during input. 

While most users might opt to use the default Swype keyboard or Samsung keyboard, users in East Asian countries usually need to switch input method several times a day.

Tap and hold the blank field and until you see the popup menu enabling you to choose input method.

MobFox vs AdMob

Early last month the CEO of MobFox (Julian Zehetmayr) sent to selected Android Developers an email inviting us to join their network, and we decided to give it a try in some of our Android Apps, and we are still using it.

 

 

If a click can only generate $0.03 per click, we tend to evade them – it’s better to display house ads than low-paid ads – at least they might download your free app and your potentially profit will be way more than 3 cents.  By default, their eCPM control function is off, and you will risk your program display low quality apps.

Turning the eCPM control is easy – just send them a notice by click a few simple buttons.  We are currently setting the minimum display threshold to $0.036.

As MobFox also supports backfill of advertisements, you don’t need to worry that no ads to display.  Simply put the AdMob or InMobi Site ID and you will get money generated from both side.  You don’t get to set the display rate though.  Out of my calculation, they are refreshing the ads at a 60-second rate.

Indeed we do enjoy a higher eCPM in MobFox than AdMob, but not as high as they claimed on their front page (it’s nowhere near triple eCPM – 200% at most).  Contrary to the widespread belief of a way higher CPC in ad revenue, in some territorial apps I only enjoy limited success (especially those in China.)   So it is really a territorial thing – it works well in Europe and perhaps America.  Just don’t use it in your Apps targeting Asia!

If you have something to ask, please do ask us.

We are planning to develop iOS apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.  We will definitely implement MobFox on apps that targets European users.

We also enrolled their affiliate program, if you like our content, please feel free to go to this URL to sign up: http://www.mobfox.com/. Thank you!

Google Checkout... so we can finally sell paid apps, now what?

OK, so we can sell paid apps in Android Market now.  Our apps are now selling live now.  But, alas, here's a problem - we cannot withdraw the fund accumulated in Google Checkout yet.

Hopefully they can resolve the problem before the payout date.  After all, it does not feel good to accumulate a sum of money in Google Checkout - unfortunately most online payments are prefer Paypal.

In the pic they say "Please revisit this page in the future to provide bank account information".  In the future? There's no concrete date!  If Google sees this please do something

Samsung Galaxy Tab price

Our favorite online shopping site for digital gadgets, computeruniverse.net, is taking pre-orders for the iPad rival, Samsung Galaxy Tab (don’t forget the €5 discount coupon HERE)

This 16GB tablet is running with Android 2.2 Froyo and is expected to be upgraded to Android 3.0 Gingerbread later.  This 380g lightweight machine is equipped with a real phone function, that means you can insert a SIM card without being unreachable like the problem iPad created.

Unfortunately the price is a bit steep - €671.43 is not attractive to us when we can buy iPad with 3G here at €488.7.  Perhaps we’ll wait until a price drop.

Another late Review - Samsung i5700 Galaxy Spica

A couple of weeks ago, we had gotten a hold of a Samsung i5700 Galaxy Spica and tested it with a 2.1 ROM.  Same as always, we lack a proper tool to take the pictures (or host it, for that matter)

In this review, we use HTC Hero as the control phone for come comparison.  Galaxy Spica is slightly heavier than a Hero, but is slightly thinner.

Speedwise, with its 800MHz processor, we wouldn't call this a lightning speed, but its Android 2.1 ROM is indeed way more smooth and is noticeably faster than any given custom 2.1 Hero ROM up to date.  We proceeded to re-flash the HTC Hero back to Android 1.5 nearly immediately.

There is a lot of buttons for this innocent i5700.  Just by bottom of phone we have dial, hook/power, return, menu, search, home, four-way cursors, and an OK button.  On the right side, there are also a camera key on the right side which is disabled in the 2.1 ROM, and a Lock-screen button.  On the left side there's volume control.  To make things worse, the arrangement of the buttons are not quite easily adaptable, especially the Return button.

On battery life, we have no special complaint since it beats Hero quite comfortably, as we didn't need to charge it in the middle of the day, while we can't probably make the Hero pass 4PM even with a brand new official battery (Model TWIN160).  Look, we had to recharge the Hero!

The 3 megapixel camera is quite impressive and is comparable with (if not better than) the quality of a 5 megapixel camera of an HTC phone.

With most Android handsets over US$400, Samsung Galaxy Spica's price is virtually unbeatable - we can get it for below US$250 here, less than half of price of the Google Nexus One.  It's definitely a nice budget choice for new users of Android.

A very late Review for Samsung Pixon12 (M8910)

I’m going to sell the Samsung Pixon12 M8910 that I’ve been using for like two months so as to get one with Wi-Fi tethering support. Before I sell the phone, I’m going to write a very belated review of this powerful handset.

Startup Time
Startup time is quite fast. After pressing the power button for 2 seconds, the phone starts up, and in 24 seconds, it’s in a fully standby mode. A couple of control experiment results: It takes 30 seconds for a LG Viewty KU990 to get ready from booting up, and 95 seconds for an HTC Hero with a “VillainROM 5.3” to be ready (more info about VillainROM here (external site)).

Voice quality
Voice quality is nice. No big complaints were received from the other side of phone for a daily usage for two months.

Photo quality
Singlehandedly wins against all other phones in the market even after six years of its release. 12MP pictures with very fast refresh time, equipped with powerful LED and Xenon Flash. Very fast reaction to the dedicated camera/video button; comprehensive configuration menu; and auto-focus tracing function just by touching the object in the screen. Photos are of extremely high quality and the quality bests the competitor, SonyEricsson’s Satio, quite easily. Its default mode is intelligent enough and one needs little configuration to take a photo with a camera level quality. One minor caution: Some phone cases available in the market are ill-designed and can cause awkward interaction to the flashlight. It is recommended to remove the phone case before taking a photo with flashlight.

Video quality
720 x 480 limitless 30 frames per second video both make Pixon12 the best phone ever. Also it plays video files smoothly.

Ringtone volume
Ringtone is loudly, and music is played properly. Nice.

Screen
3.1 inch AMOLED screen, still displays pretty well under sunlight.

Gesture Feature
Gesture shortcut is more or less the same as Samsung JET S8000. Basically you can set up different gestures to directly run any function/program in the lock screen. It can be convenient, but it is definitely not for the ones who never keylocks their phone.

Alarm
Pixon12’s alarm system is so good that it deserves a paragraph here. Multiple clocks with individual triggering days of week can be set up. It also has the general option to enable or disable the alarm when the machine is off (the function is referred as “Auto Power” in the Alarm menu). Auto Power gives incredible flexibility - you can disable when you turn your phone off during exams, while enable it in other occasions, for obvious example, at night. Snooze and stop can be achieved easily – they are arc-shaped gestures in opposite directions, ensuring your snooze will not be fatal.

Response Time
There is no delay in most actions, and for the most basic function – i.e. talk, you can immediately pick up a call upon passing the call button. This sounds silly, but you know it’s something iPhone can offer but Windows Mobile handset cannot.

Battery Life
This phone can last for around two days with normal usage (take and upload 5 pictures + 15 minutes talk), a little bit distance from our expectation.

Misc
Generally user-friendly, with a few glitches to blame:

• Touchscreen Sensitivity
  Resistance touchscreen is the issue here. While it allows better hand-writing recognition, if you somehow forget to lock your phone and put into your pocket with other things in it, chances are Pixon12 will keep moving desktop widgets, or even dial random calls. Be sure to keylock the phone.
• Keypad Issue
  Dialing those automated number is a nightmare. You will have to keep unlocking the phone in order to press the dialpad. You will get fed up with this really soon.
• Connection type
  It’s annoying to set Internet connection between 3G and Wi-fi. It seems kind of silly to toggle every time you switch the connection method. This is particularly bad for uses without unlimited 3G tariff plan.

Additional features
150MB storage (with expansion of Micro-SD card up to 16G); Bluetooth 2.0 EDP; FM Radio; GPS positioning; “Communities” service – one touch upload of pictures or videos to Facebook/Flickr/Photobucket/YouTube/Picasa/MySpace; Dynamic Canvas; Find Music


Overall
The best choice if you need its unparalleled multimedia functions. With its current price of about US$420 (See the link below) as of April 2010, we consider it as a better than buying a mid-priced digital camera. We would recommend it to readers who do not need to Twitter a lot and goes to Internet every hour, and those who love to take photos but do not wish to always bring along a digital camera.

SonyEricsson Xperia X10 Android Handset Best thing is the 8.1 megapixels camera with LED flashlight. The quality of camera is what HTC phones just cannot beat. (Photos of most Android phones were a disaster) The second best thing is the 4-inch screen

SonyEricsson Xperia X10 Android Handset

Best thing is the 8.1 megapixels camera with LED flashlight. The quality of camera is what HTC phones just cannot beat. (Photos of most Android phones were a disaster)

The second best thing is the 4-inch screen. The biggest screen until HTC Desire official launches.

Timescape, X10's feature of social timeline, is just another HTC Sense. But it's better than those without (yes, Samsung Galaxy, we are talkign about you)

The worst thing is that Xperia X10 still uses Android 1.6. Hopefully the XDA-Developers can root the phone and mod some Android 2.1 ROM to the phone. 

Buy Links:

Amazon (USA)- Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Android Unlocked Cell Phone, White ComputerUniverse (Europe) - Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, Black

Some specs for SE Xperia X10:
- GSM 850/900/1800/1900?WCDMA 900/1700/2100
- HSPDA 7.2Mbps / EDGE / GPRS
- Android 1.6 (Donut)
- 1 GHz Qualcomm snapdragon QSD8250 CPU
- 4 inches 854 x 480 pixels Anti-scratch touch screen
- 8.10 megapixel auto-focus camera
- image stabilizer
- LED light for camera and video
- 3.5mm earphone jack, A2DP stereo bluetooth
- SonyEricsson Home, SonyEricsson Timescape, Mediascape, Sync
- GPS with geotagging
- micro USB 2.0 port)
- 1 GB memory
- microSD slot (bundled 8GB, support 16GB)

Battery stay at low level even after charging overnight?

There are some phones with higher current need, for example iPhone 3G and 3Gs, HTC Hero and Magic, Google Nexus One, HTC HD2, Samsung Omnia i8910, and Motorola Milestone. GeekTechPost.com

Sometimes you are might just be able to charge to around 50% – 60% of full battery, chances are you are using a USB hub or a bad AC adpator.  If so, you might need to use the original AC adaptor.  The rational behind this is that it cannot charge fully if the input ampere is lower than the requirement of the phone.  This way the electricity cannot be flowed to the phone and thus the phone cannot be charged. GeekTechPost.com

Next time when you buy an AC adaptor with USB out, remember to check the output of the phone – a 500mA adaptor is unlikely to fully charge a phone which requires 1A input(1A=1000mA). GeekTechPost.com

Setting for Yahoo! Mail on Android handsets

Yahoo Mail can be automatically configured by Windows Mobile and iPhone handsets, but reportedly many Android-based handsets have problem during the set-up process. Copyright 2010 by http://GeekTechPost.com
When you set up a mail account in Android, you cannot choose "automatic" configuration, since the automatic default will setup the POP3 server connection to Yahoo, which usually deny your access. This is due to Yahoo's POP3 connection is a feature of Yahoo Mail Plus, which is apparently not free of charge.  Copyright 2010 by http://GeekTechPost.com
To get around the pesky restriction, instead of POP3 connection, you can set-up an IMAP account with Yahoo using the following parameters:
IMAP Server:

imap.mail.yahoo.com

SMTP Server:

smtp.mobile.yahoo.com

You should be able to connect to the server by now.
Tested working on HTC Hero, HTC Magic, Motorola Milestone, Samsung Galaxy and Google Nexus One.  Copyright 2010 by http://GeekTechPost.com

Samsung S8000 Jet (S8000H) Silent Camera Hack

- In dialpad, enter *#0002*28346# (No backspace/delete), to the engineer mode
- When you see a menu with TMCommand:811, press the return button on the lower right corner.
- Press (5) Audio, then (2), then (3)
- Press (6) for Camera volume
- Press (6) again, (SPK) (Camera vol.) read will become (SPK) (Camera vol.) White
- Change RX:75dB to RX:-46dB

Note: We have moved to http://geektechpost.com

Disclaimer: A silent camera might be illegal in some countries, please ensure you can do this legally.

Nexus One Order and shipment / APN address Hong Kong

Google Nexus One order and shipping arrangement
http://geektechpost.com/google-nexus-one-order-shipping-arrangement

APN addresses for Hong Kong operators
http://geektechpost.com/apn-addresses-for-hong-kong-operators

Screen Capture method for Android, WinMo and iPhone

While it's easy to take a screenshot in Apple iPhone, it seems very difficult to screenshot in an Android handset.

iPhone and iPod Touch

In iPhone and iPod touch, to screen capture:

1) Press Home

2) then press Power
3) the screen flashes white to indicate a successful shot, then you can release both button

This should work for iPhone, 3G, 3GS, Touch 1st Gen and Touch 2nd Gen alike.

Android

In Android, there are two options, both option require some advanced knowledge to achieve.

Option 1) Use the Android System Development Kit, there's a screen capture function, but this will require downloading and unzipping plus a lot of instructions to follow.

Option 2) Just use the App from Market named "ShootMe".  This application requires rooting (superuser request, or SU request).  If you have a custom ROM, chances are you already have it rooted.  This little app not only can take screenshots by shaking the phone or shouting and save it into PNG files in your SD card, it is also capable to record your series of actions as a "clip"! (it will take a series of pictures continously, so you will have to stop the recording once finished)
Download ShootMe in Market with this QR-code:

Windows Mobile

WinMo handsets and WM powered PDAs can try Ilium Softwares's "Screen Capture" (direct link here).  The software is pretty straightforward, just download and install it, run the program and follow the short instruction.  When you press the defined key, a screenshot is made.

Please visit our new site at http://GeekTechPost.com

Disk benchmark of SanDisk Cruzer Slice and SL Swing Duo

SL "Swing Duo" 2x8G USB Flash "Ultra High Speed"
In the disk benchmark test of this dual-sided USB flash drive, it's around 6650KB write and 29000KB read (results of both sides are close). Reading Speed is high, but Writing Speed is just mediocre. We were getting a couple of non-separateable flash memory in one stick for less than 18 euros. Indeed, it's nothing new (look at the decolored package in the picture), as this product was actually a winner of Computex Taipei design & innovation Award back in 2008 Mobile Magazine reported it at June 2008.





























SanDisk Cruzer Slice USB Flash (8G)
Next time we will add a couple of euros to buy an microSD card with a card reader of the same brand. They should get better results than this. Write at around 5200KB and read at 17500KB. Good thing is that there's no forced preinstalled U3 system in the flash.

Sanyo Energy Booster USB Output Charger

This is nothing new, since it's at least one year old, but we decide to write an simple introduction for this cute item.

The Package
The sealed package comes with a charger, 2 eneloop AA-sized rechargeable batteries, and a dual-use USB battery cable.

The Magical USB Cable
The USB cable has two simple uses - charging and discharging. When you plug in the USB side into the charger, you can charge most phone mobiles with the standard mini USB and USB-ext. Otherwise, you will need the original charging cable.
Conversely, you can plug in the USB side into the computer, and the mini USB side into the "DC IN 5V" slot of the charger, this way the charger will blink in blue, indicating the AA batteries are recharging.
Note: The USB cable is not capable to transfer any data, and is solely for charging/discharging purpose. The cable can, however, be substituted by another USB cable - in fact you must change the cable if you want to charge any device other than those with mini-USB jack.










Feature over other AA battery mobile chargers
There are many other choices around which enables to convert AA-sized battery into mobile device energy, sometimes as cheap as €3, so why did we pick this Energy Booster?
- the mobile devices with higher energy requirement (like iPod, but not iPhone^) can be charged. Read: Sanyo KBC-E1 can't charge iPhone. With two batteries instead of one, the Mobile Booster is capable to add up the mAh of two batteries, so charging a piece of 1500mAh battery is no challenge. Two fully-charged batteries can charge an iPod Touch to around 55%.
- the charger can also be used as a AA-sized Ni-MH battery charger, albeit the speed is very slow. A full recharge of battery requires an overnight charging.

^ iPhone can't be charged by this charger, but can be charged by the internal lithium battery version. You might be interested in Kensington's Power Booster instead.

Stain issue
The white color might look elegant or beautiful, but its shell is very newspaper unfriendly. A slightest touch of newpaper will dye the machine to a disgusting yellowish color. To make thing worse, if you attempt to wipe the stain with a plastic rubber, the charger's surface might scratch.

Infos
Official Site for Sanyo Eneloop

Call and SMS Firewall (Android/WM/iPhone)

Ever get random phone calls during a meeting or an exam, just to realize they are telemarketing cold calls, persuade you to buy something you absolutely don't need whatsoever? We all do, and their bombardment seems to be unending. Besides yelling the four-letter words to the malicious talk-time killers, we can take a more proactive approach – call firewall.


Firewall for different phone operating systems
All software/apps below have the ability to block specific numbers, block specific prefixs, and block SMS.


Android
aFirewall – This Android app has a special “scene mode”, where different call block policies and be applied throughout specific times of day and days of week. Can be downloaded in Market, the free version should be enough for normal use.


Tested on Google G1, HTC Hero, HTC Magic, Motorola Milestone

Alternate choice: Panda Firewall

Windows Mobile
Call Firewall 1.4 – This WM software is a freeware. Can automatically add blocked call as an Appointment (editable in Notes). The full name of the software is “Novan Digital Labs CallFirewall”, just search Google for a download.


Tested on LG KS20, HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Diamond2 Topaz, HTC HD2 Leo, Samsung Omnia i900

Alternate choice: Mcleaner 1.4

iPhone
MCleaner (should require jailbreak) - download at http://www.mcleaner.com/
Panda Firewall (require jailbreak)
Disclaimer: Jailbreaking iPhone may void warranty and may brick your phone

Android 2.1 for HTC Hero

Official Android 2.1 update for HTC Hero not yet available
Early December, a leak of screenshot shows that HTC Hero will get an official 2.1 ROM, and yes, it's later official that an update will be available in early 2010. Quite a wait, yes. For those who are impatient, we recommend a try on a custom ROM done by behnaam.


Unofficial tryout of an unofficial Hero Android 2.1 Rom
This thread on HTCPedia.com forums has the most stable Hero Android 2.1 build around. It's cool to update if you are impatient to try out all the new features, to use apps only availble to latest versions of Android (Namely Google Goggles).As of today (2 January 2010), the latest ROM, "HERO21 Community" v1.8 lacks the HTC Contact feature in the HTC Sense interface. The speed of the ROM is barely acceptable - and become unacceptable once we acquired the Motorola Milestone (aka Droid). You get some, you lose some. A review on the Motorola Milestone is on the way. (Around 388 euros for Motorola Milestone).

Alternate build for HTC Hero
After a couple of hours of experience last week, we reverted the Hero to the ROM by MoDaCo, which can be found here. (WaveSecure is a great app addition in the ROM)

How to install custom builds to HTC Hero
- Install a patched recovery image (Read how and download here in MoDaCo's forum)
- Download the ROM and copy in to the Micro SD card. Download the latest Radio ROM if necessary.
- Boot the HTC Hero in recovery mode: Start your phone with the home button pressed. Use the Recovery Image to run a "nandroid backup"
- After running a "nandroid backup", wipe the machine, and apply the zipped Radio ROM. If you apply the Radio ROM, after applying, reboot the device, and enter the recovery mode again.
- Apply the zipped custom ROM, reboot after done.
Warning, the above customization might void the warranty of phone. It might also has a chance to brick your phone if some steps were not followed. Use at your own risk.


Click on the respective links for the buying info for HTC Hero white / silver or Motorola Milestone (GSM only, they are not CDMA ones, sorry American friends)

Motorola Endeavor HX1 Review.

A Google search for "HX1" will normally only get you a "Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1" review, which barely helps.

Recently, we have acquired a Motorola HX1 bluetooth headset. We don't do unboxing, as there should be a plentiful of them on Youtube. We did, however, take a couple of photos of our very headset.

Price
We got this piece of small headset in Hong Kong at HK$1280 (€110), it was easily the most expensive bluetooth device we've bought - we could have gotten the Jawbone Prime thing below this. We picked the Motorla "清" Endeavor HX1. It's the second product with a Chinese model name - the previous one was the A1200 "明" Linux based phone.^

Setting up
I couldn't wait to unpack the phone in office, I dismounted the packaging on metro. Setting up a connection is amazingly easy and user-friendly - as I wore the headset and turn it on, it has internal voice instruction in English to help me pair up the machine with my HTC Diamond. It took me no time to finish the whole pairing thing. Note that I didn't even need to read the manual.

Voice Quality
I tried to make a call when I was in an East Rail Train, the railway notorious to every Hong Kong citizen as each compartment of the train is equipped with five televisions which keep spamming ads very loudly, damaging the ears of the passengers. My friend took my call and found that my background voice is acceptable and my voice was able to be heard quite clearly. Then I tried to activate the stealth mode with a single press on a button which I suspected to be the stealth button, and poof! I heard "Stealth Mode On", while my background noice was vanished, as reported by my friend.

My friend was astonished and could not believe that I was on the loudest train on the world. He commented my voice was a little bit "stacked" though. (After reading manual, it does say the voice will be a bit distorted when the stealth mode is on)

Further tests involving talking in front of a loudspeaker was equally impressive for the recepient (although you might be unable to hear them because of your own noisy environment)

Comfortability
Despite that the package was bundled with two sets of clips and earplugs of various sizes, we found it quite a challenge to obtain the best result. Both the two earplugs will make the ear painful after using for an hour or two. Besides, it would need experience to calibrate the HX1 for the other side of phone to hear clearly. A misplacement inside the ear canal could result in hearing hasard on the other side of phone.

Overall comment
Despite being dissatisfied by the awfully designed phones, Motorola impressed us this time with the preipheral. If you need to work or stay in a noisy place for long time, this HX1 will be your choice (providing your budget allows - the price seems to be vary greatly among different countries, as we heard the retail price in mainland China for HX1 is double that than in Hong Kong). Normal users can buy a headset paying a less prohibitive price.

Caution when buying
Interested users have to notice that the headset's voice instruction has different languages but should be not changeable. So if you buy in mainland China, you get Mandarin voice instruction, if you buy in Hong Kong, you get English.

^ Side note: 明 means bright, 清 means clear, but 清明 is the Ching Ming festival, the grave-sweeping festival (wiki here))

Lenovo to honor 87% discount mis-pricing of desktop computer

Late last month, precisely 2PM HKT 27 October 2009, the Hong Kong section of the Lenovo website had a minor error, the prices were incredibly low. The license alone of the newly launched Windows 7 Premium 32 is believed to be more expensive than the whole machine. It was believed that Lenovo had some minor problem distinguishing between Hong Kong dollars and US dollars. (Pic: click to enlarge)

The news spread fast among forums. Users from some local forums like HKGolden and HKEPC attempted to order multiple machines. It was believed that more than 100 machines were ordered within the short period of time.

Initially, those smart customers were not hoping to get a successful order, since not long ago, Dell Hong Kong made similar mistakes and was shamelessly voided affected orders with no compensation whatsoever (whereas Taiwanese users get a 20%-off coupon in a case where discount and price interchanged).

Affected customers were contacted by Lenovo from 30 October, confirming that their order are honored provided that a supplementary Non-Reselling Contract was to be signed. As of today, the order are being processed (and some buyers are blantantly reselling the machines in smaller local forum)(links deliberately not given)(good luck to them).