Gadget Scraps
Everything about Gadgets…
Archive for June, 2007
Nokia N95
Jun 25th
Nokia N95 is a much awaited mobile of the year 2007 I can say. At last when I received a complimentary pack for reviewing that in here, I was so surprised. I never thought I will get my hands on this device until it’s another 6 or 8 months. Anyways, let’s see what it delivers.
At first when I unwrapped the package, I’ve been presented with the beautiful N95 in it’s pitch black casing. It seems just like Nokia N80 (the other one from N-Series which is also a slider phone). But when I took a closer look it revealed the efforts Nokia taken to make this mobile ultimate mobile computer device. The front-side of the mobile is fully dedicated to the large scree. The screen is simply superb. The screen provided excellent contrast, brightness and color depth. And what’s more? The screen has a small light sensor next to the Front VGA Camera which adjusts the brightness levels automatically according to the outside lighting conditions. I should say excellent! Read the rest of this entry »
Cameras and Camcorders Power Saving Tips
Jun 25th
Use the maximum power of your Camera or Camcorder by making use of the following Power Saving Tips:
- Reduce the LCD screen brightness.
- If Optical View finder is available, switch off the LCD and use it instead.
- Keep the image review option set at the shortest time available or better even turn it off.
- Set the camera to switch itself off when idle, at the shortest interval.
- Do not indulge in on screen image editing or deleting
- Make use of flash and zoom only if absolutely necessary.
MP3 Players and PMP’s Power Saving Tips
Jun 25th
Save the Power on your MP3 Players and PMP’s (Personal Media Players) by using the following Tips:
- Reduce the screen brightness
- Set the screen to switch itself off in 5/10 seconds.
- Video playback on low batter is NOT desirable, but if it is a must then do not use the loudspeaker and decrease the screen brightness as much as possible.
- Volume level should be kept a bare minimal
- With MP3 Players and PMP’s, even after the device shuts down on music/video playback, you can switch it back on and listen to FM Radio for a neat duration.
Mobile Phone or PDA Power Saving Tips
Jun 25th
Saving Power on Mobile Phones and PDA’s is another hefty task. But you can make use of the following tips to make sure you always get the maximum Power you need.
- Reduce the Brightness of the Screen, if possible, switch it off completely
- Turn off vibrating alerts
- Reduce the volume level in calls, ring tones, and text alerts.
- If possible, set the ring tone and text alert to a simple beep.
- Turn off Keypad tone.
- Disable the screen saver, if you’re using one
- Turn off Bluetooth.
- Disconnect GPRS (Disable the Always-On connectivity to GPRS)
- Stop using the phone as a modm as quickly as possible.
- Avoid playback of video and music (especially on loudspeaker)
- Minimal usage of camera or image related operation
Laptop Power Saving Tips
Jun 25th
Power Saving on Laptops will be really tough for the novice. But for a freak, it’sn’t tough at all. See some of the following tips & tricks that might come very useful to you.
- Reduce the brightness of the screen to the minimal level in viewing comfort
- Switch off Bluetooth. Many isn’t actually using Bluetooth much. Deactivate Wireless Connection when NOT in use.
- Avoid Power intensive tasks like Playing of Video, Music or running a CD/DVD
- Keep the sounds audible but as low as possible
- Close all running application and processes that is not being used (Start -> Run -> taskmgr or Ctrl+Alt+Del or Ctrl+Shift+Esc)
- Switch to Portable/Laptop or Max Battery profile using the Windows Power Management settings (Start -> Control Panel -> Power Options)
And there is one more automated solution in a form of Software is available which is highly reliable one
Dachshund Software’s Battery Doubler 1.2.1
The same company also offers another famous Product named Hare 1.5.1. This product helps you to greatly improve the Performance of your Laptop.
Go on, have maximum fun at your Lappy!
Sony Ericsson P990i
Jun 22nd
After my previous post about O2 Atom XDA, I’ve decided that I should buy another PDA. You all know how hard it is to satisfy me when it comes to Gadgets. And that’s what happened to my good old O2 Atom XDA once I’ve dropped it.
Even though the O2 Atom XDA was my best choice, I was wondering whether I can have a PDA with BlackBerry features after all AirTel in India started providing BlackBerry services since 2006. Anyways, after a long search and analysis, the Sony Ericsson P990i seems to be the BEST choice. So, I went ahead to buy one for myself.
At first, I thought Sony Ericsson would easily satisfy my needs. Yes, it’s true to some extend. The Package they’ve sent to me contained everything I need to start playing around. One of the BEST things I’ve liked about this mobile is that it has both options of hardware like you can use the mobile as a complete PDA with full QWERTY keyboard or you can use the mobile as a complete Mobile+PDA with mobile phone keyboard and QWERTY keyboard. It sounded cool, but at first I thought the extra flip-flop keyboard make it look very bulky. So, I’ve got rid of that using the inbuilt screw driver and the replacement piece they’ve provided in the Package. With the flip-flop removed, it looked stunningly cool and provided me all the options I needed in a PDA. The sad part is, this one is NOT a Windows PDA. Of course, I knew it before I bought it, but what’s more, I thought their unique Symbian OS UIQ 3.0 will have loads better than a Windows PDA. But I should say I’m wrong. There is not even softwares for the new UIQ 3.0 system. Some softwares cost me very much.
As usual, I’ve put a 2 GB MemoryStick Duo Pro card into the Phone and it became the ultimate storage device. I tried installing Adobe Reader with failure. The Adobe Reader for mobiles doesn’t support Symbian 9.0 OS. My ultimate wish of a PDA that’s eBook Reader ready failed. The included PDF Reader PDF+ is not at all what an eBook reader should be. As this, the included QuickOffice is also another mess when compared to the Windows Mobile PDAs. So, I’ve ultimately lost the Application and eBook facilities that I always wanted in any PDA. Anyways, I tried the other facilities of the mobile.
The included 2 Mega Pixel camera is ultra cool and captured some nice shots even in the night time. The Business Card reader included in the phone is excellent. It saved me a lot of time by entering my Contacts. I wonder is there any software application available in Windows PDA’s to do this Job. The Sound Quality as usual to Sony Ericsson Mobiles was excellent. The bundled head sets are also very fine in quality though I felt a little disturbance in maximum volume. It surely can’t combat with Sony Ericsson Walkman phones. The Jog Dial in the left side is a cool idea. But I thought like the BlackBerry devics the Jog Dial in the right side would have been better. The return back button and the Key lock sliders were cool ones too. But all of them in the left side makes me a left handed man which I’ven’t felt much comfortable because, I’ve been more productive when I play around with my right hand as I’m a right hand man.
The Touch Screen is ultra sharp, crispy and very smooth. Unlike the O2 Atom XDA, I don’t need to give much pressure to my Stylus as the smooth surface received light touches easily. I think this is because, this PDA is NOT a surface-mounted one like the O2 Atom XDA. The voice call and video call both (oh… I forgot to say, this one comes with front-side VGA Camera for Voice Calls as this PDA is the 3G one!) offered nice connectivity and there were no disturbances in the voice clarity.
But I must say, making calls and accepting incoming calls are a mess as you have to completely rely on the touchscreen to do those things. This really frustrated me very much at last I’ve decided to try the flip-flop attached with this phone. I should say the effect is ultimately impressive. Once I’ve attached the flip-flop with the mobile phone, it provided me two interfaces. When the flip-flop closed, the mobile acted exactly as a cellphone with limited applications and more of call related services and the mobile-phone keyboard on top of the flip-flop is really very much useful. When the flip-flop is opened, it provided me the bigger screen with touch sensitivity and allowed me to use all the applications installed. This fitted me perfectly well (even though I should say, the mobile became reasonably bulky) as I’m a frequent caller.
Also I’ve been impressed by Sony’s technology of closing the touch sensitivity whenever the flip-flop is closed and allowing us to touch the screen once the flip-flop is opened. They should’ve got really good engineers.
The PDA phone of course lacked in many things as usual to any other PDA’s. The first thing being the Battery Backup again. Even though this one provided more battery backup than O2 Atom XDA, it still provided me only one and half days on full recharge. The major problem with this PDA which was NOT in the O2 Atom XDA is the memory power. It lacked so much in memory power that ultimately killed me from using more than 3 applications at a time. Even for smaller applications like Contacts and Messages, I’ve received frequent warnings saying the Memory is full and it abruptly ended the application. Many times, this leaded to crashes and even restarting of the device. I should say, Sony Ericsson MUST improve in this area very much. I don’t quite understand why all these people do these kinds of silly mistakes. When they provide all the things you need in a Mobile or PDA, why they don’t give you enough Memory and Battery Backup to play with it? It’ makes the device ultimately useless and pointless right?
That being said, please let me know your comments…
Stolen Mobile Finder
Jun 1st
A resident of Visakhapatnam, Tamil Nadu, INDIA has lost not one not two but thirty mobiles.
The experience of losing so many cell phones got him thinking and he started experimenting with making devices that could track mobile thiefs.
N. V. Satyanaraian, an M. Tech and a scientist, finally managed to do something about it.
Hours of experimentation resulted in software called Stolen Mobile Finder, a unique device to track down mobile thiefs of which he now holds the patent.
This Visakhapatnam resident claims that once the software is installed, it is difficult to change the sim card of the phone. If the thief tries to change the software, the handset asks for a password and accepts whatever password the thief puts in. However, then the software starts its trick.
Rs 900 will be reduced every hour from the sim card and this will happen without the thief’s knowledge. It requires no operator help. The mobile will take care of this on its own and inform the real owner of the status of the phone, says he.
And there’s more. As soon as the theft is identified, the software transfers the entire address book to the actual owner of the phone within seconds and regularly communicates with the owner about incoming and outgoing calls.
It also uses some old fashioned psychological pressure. The software makes the mobile emit a loud alarm at odd hours even when the cell is switched off.
The incoming calls, outgoing calls and vibrator mode of the mobile is suspended and gets into the dormant mode. The thief’s voice can be picked up and his intentions can be monitored, says Satyanaraian.
Besides this mobile thief catcher, Satyanarain has another wonder up his sleeve.
He is developing a micro-windmill mobile charger, which harnesses wind energy.
The Research and Development Division of the Department of Science and Technology at the National Innovation Foundation and some venture capitalists fund his innovations.
Satyanaraian has already won a national award for his innovative inventions and is now negotiating with mobile phone makers to use his software, which he recently got patented.