Jabra Halo BT650s: Less Wire, More Music

I’ve always been curious about Bluetooth headsets. While I get extra annoyed whenever I see people showing-off/talking loudly on these devices, truth is, I have always secretly wondered how it is to have one.

Just by looking at it, I could already tell that the Jabra Halo BT650s is not like the usual Bluetooth earpiece. Instead of looking like a hearing aid, this one greatly resembles a sports headband. Slim and elegant in its over-the-head design, this baby is actually a stereo headset. It is made of matte black plastic on the outside while the inside of the headband is covered with black felt for comfort. Weighing only 3 ounces, it folds neatly like a pair of sunglasses making it small enough to fit in your bag (but not in your pocket). It doesn’t feel like it will break easily but based on my experiences with slim devices, this baby needs extra handling with care. The battery and pairing indicators are hidden inside the headband while the answer/end/play/pause button is located outside the right earphone.

The Halo has no visible power switch. Unfolded, the Halo turns on and immediately goes into pairing mode. Folding it turns it off. On the box it says that it can connect to 2 devices at the same time. True enough, it easily connected with my Windows 7-equipped laptop and a Sony Ericsson W508 Walkman phone (reviewed separately) at the same time.

With such a slim device, I didn’t expect much regarding sound quality. Much to my surprise, it totally blew me away! Mid to high ranges were crisp and clear while the bass was uncharacteristically booming for its size. It was like a home theater in my ear and the sound never cracked even at maximum volume. In addition, music fades out when there is an incoming call. I couldn’t see any microphones on the device (the box says it has two) but I never had to talk loudly when I used it to make calls. With a listed talk time/music time of 8 hours and up to 13 days standby time, the Halo definitely makes an excellent multimedia accessory.

Using it is a bit tricky, though. The Halo’s answer/end/play/pause button is quite responsive and easy to handle but the volume/track control strip is a bit sluggish. Sliding the finger up the strip increases the volume while sliding it down decreases it. Double-tapping on the upper part of the strip plays the next track while doing the same on the lower part plays the previous track or restarts the current one. Easier said than done! The control’s sensitivity needs some getting used to. Sliding the finger too fast or too slow will result in too little or too much volume change. And since the strip is only marked by a line which I could not see while wearing the headset (ridges would have been better), I oftentimes had to tap on the earphone several times just to get the desired effect. Once, I wore it the wrong way and I ended up tapping on my ear like crazy. But I’m sure that once I get over the learning curve, I would finally enjoy controlling my phone or my media player just by tapping on my ear.

The Halo can also be used as a regular headset via an included 3.5mm jack if a device does not support Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) technology. Bluetooth features like receiving calls and touch control are disabled when using the Halo with a cable, though.

All in all, using the Jabra Halo BT650s is a great wireless audio experience. I could have never imagined that I would enjoy listening to music with all the conveniences of a wireless setup on such a slim device. I’m still on the fence if I should buy one, though. But for those who have the extra moolah, I’m sure they won’t regret it.

(Jojo Perlas, Manila Bulletin Technews)

Sony Walkman NWZ-W202

At first glance, you would think it is just a hip looking ear bud style headphones, but no, Sony went a step further by incorporating an MP3 player in the headphones. The new Sony Walkman NWZ-W202 indeed has a life of its own. It would seem like you are wearing a bluetooth device on each ear attached to each other by a flexible neckband. It is 1.3 oz in weight making it the lightest and smallest MP3 out in the market.

Because of its size and weight, comfort when worn won’t be an issue. It fits snuggly on each ear thanks to the silicone ear tips (ear buds come in different sizes for sure fit). You won’t worry if it’ll fall off when you walk, jog, jump or just feel like dancing with it. It fits securely and comfortably and best of all it is tangle free! That has always been a perennial issue with me when it comes to portable music players like these. The lengthy wire that jumps with me and goes around my arm and neck that most of the time strangles me. Well, with Sony W202 this problem had been totally eliminated! You won’t even waste your time untangling any wires when you store them in your bags or with your other gadgets.

I have actually used it while jogging and likewise brought it to the gym, it didn’t fail to cast a curious look on other people’s faces. First, it was eye catching because of its cool pink color (also available in black, purple, yellow and white) and secondly, I’m sure they were trying to figure out where it attaches to and if that was actually it. They were probably looking for an armband, a waistband or whatever “thingy” to which a player should be attached to. Nope…not with this one. With the Sony Walkman W-202, it is strictly between you and your music.

If its just between you and your music, so where does it come from? As previously mentioned, the headphone is indeed the MP3. It can store approximately 500 tracks in its 2GB memory. It supports not only MP3 audio formats but also AAC and WMA. Controls are all tucked on the right earpiece that holds the USB jack for transfer of music which is as easy as drag and drop between your PC’s Windows Media player and your Sony Walkman. It has the volume control, the shuffle switch and the jog dial where you can control the different music functions. Since it lacks a screen display to view the list of songs, Sony has created the “Zappin” mode activated with a long press of the jog dial. Once activated it helps you quickly browse through the music you want to listen to by playing a short snippet of the song and a quick press of the jog dial will resume play.

It has an excellent sound quality that is clear and crisp and is played at satisfactory volume just right whether you are working out in the gym or jogging outdoors. With a good battery life of up to 12 hours, the Sony Walkman W-202 is perfect for those you live an active lifestyle.

(Len Amadora, Manila Bulletin Technews)

Apple Sells Over One Million iPhone 3GS Models

Apple recently announced that it has sold over one million iPhone 3GS models through Sunday, June 21, the third day after its launch. In addition, six million customers have downloaded the new iPhone 3.0 software in the first five days since its release.

“Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With over 50,000 applications available from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever.”

The new iPhone 3GS is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, packed with incredible new features including improved speed and performance—up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G—with longer battery life, a high-quality 3 megapixel autofocus camera, easy to use video recording and hands free voice control. iPhone 3GS includes the new iPhone OS 3.0, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 100 new features such as Cut, Copy and Paste, MMS, Spotlight Search, landscape keyboard and more. iPhone 3GS customers get access to more than 50,000 applications from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world where customers have already downloaded over one billion apps.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.


(From Malini of Apple)

The "killer" in Nokia N97

The Nokia N97, billed as Nokia's flagship mobile computer, arrived last weekend and straight into the the MB Techlab. Boxed in black, dressed in black -- it was like a ninja ready to strike with shuriken.

Watch out, Apple iPhone 3Gs! There's a new "killer" in town!

Okay, out of the box you sneaky little devil, let's see what you've got.

First thing we tried here is the slider mechanism, and whoa, what a thunk! Now that's what we call a "killer move" (okay, so not as silent as a ninja).

The slide action has that solid, "aaa-tennn-shun!" feel which finished strongly to a 35-degree angle. Hmn, nicely done.

The keyboard we find quite easy to use, and played the keys like we play 'em second-rate phones to text. Amply spaced keys, we think, is key (pun intended) to fully enjoying a QWERTY keyboard. The space bar, by the way, is over on the right under the thumb, and no problem.

Oh, yeah, before we forget, the Nokia N97 is a touchscreen wonder. The screen bounced nicely under the finger after a good contact on an icon. Which means, the touchscreen would only be responsive when you hit an icon correctly.

Honestly, we see the Nokia N97 a cross between a lot of different phones from the "marked for kill" iPhone (3G, 3Gs) to the Google G1 phone. But who's complaining? People, assasins are supposed to be chameleons, too, right?

The N97's 3.5-inch screen is first to catch your attention. There's a little button on the bottom left side corner which serves as the shortcut key to the N series multimedia applications while the call and end buttons are, well, understandably side by side. On the top is the 3.5mm headphone jack and the power button.

The Nokia N97 is a bit larger and thicker than the iPhone, and we love that. Come on now, who doesn't want their "thing" big?

The added width, height and depth, we think, make the N97 so good to hold, with the bottom of the rear face curved downwards providing a natural handhold while stabilizing the unit when on a desk being typed on (guys, please, aren't we also talking of a miniature tablet computer here?).

Lest we get carriend away with the physical aspects of the N97, here's the beauty of the unit -- within.
The Nokia N97 is Nokia's first device to feature a personalizable home screen, which can be customized with a range of widgets which bring live information directly to the device. These widgets include key social networking destinations like Facebook and Hi5, news services like the Associated Press, Bloomberg and Reuters, as well as shopping and weather information.

The Nokia N97 is the first device to ship with the Ovi Store, which offers easy access to applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services, and much more. Ovi Store has paid and free content from a range of global and local content providers and developers, including Paramount Pictures, Facebook and Qik, as well as a selection of Twitter applications.

The Nokia N97 also has direct access to the huge catalogue of music in the Nokia Music Store. With multiple high-speed connectivity options and 32GB of storage (and if that's still enough for you maniacs, you can still go up to 48GB using a microSD card) it is possible to directly download and store tens of thousands of songs on the handset.

High-quality images and video clips at 30 frames per second (fps) can be captured using the 5 megapixel camera with integrated Carl Zeiss optics. Images can also be geo-tagged to specific locations and shared instantly with friends or uploaded online via Ovi Share, Twitter or Flickr.

The new N97 will tie in closely with Nokia's Ovi platform of software and services, which include music downloads, photo-sharing services and mapping software. A new-look Nokia Maps program on the N97 will allow users to pre-plan a journey on their computer and then synchronise the route across to their mobile phone.

Nokia has also promised that it will follow the lead of Apple, Google and Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry, by making it easier for third-party developers to write additonal software and programs for Nokia handsets.

So, is the Nokia N97 the true "iPhone killer"?

Too early to tell, but the unit we got at the MB Techlab is killing us...and we're loving it!

(June 22, Technews Manila Bulletin, By Badong)

This one's no Betty La Fea

HTC Magic a.k.a Google Phone 2

HTC Magic, or the Google Phone 2, is the much awaited upgrade of HTC's G1, the first smartphone that runs on Android software.

I called the G1 -- popularly known as the Google Phone -- the Betty La Fea of the mobile industry because like the protagonist of the TV show, the G1 is full of substance but suffers much on its looks.

Now here comes HTC Magic, or the Google Phone 2. It's everything the G1 has but less the boxy design and boring looks. HTC has removed the flip-out keyboard in the Magic, which means no more clunking sound everytime you use the keyboard. And also because of the absence of the keyboard, Magic is now slimmer, more sleek and sexy compared to the G1.

Setting up the Magic is similar to the G1, all you need is a SIM card and a Google account. Since the Magic is not yet officially launched in the Philippines, you need to manually input the APN of your provider whichs is "internet.globe.com.ph" for Globe and "internet" for Smart. From there, all you need to do is follow the onscreen prompts.

As expected because the phone runs on Google's Android, integration with its core application is perfect. Gmail, Calendar, Maps and Talk runs smoothly using the Magic. There is also a dedicated YouTube button for quick searching and viewing of YouTube clips.

Heard from the grapevine that by year’s end, there will be at least 18 phones on the market worldwide based on the Android operating system.

At present, there are at least two Android-centric phones — T-Mobile’s G1 and the "Magic" made by HTC and available in Europe -- but which we have right now in the MB Techlab.

The ramp-up of Android phones intensifies a battle among some of the world’s biggest software companies to create the operating system for the world’s phones. Android goes up against a coming-soon new version of Microsoft’s mobile version of Windows, Apple’s proprietary iPhone system, the Blackberry platform, a new Palm OS for its Pre called WebOS, Symbian and a host of Linux-based systems.

(Published June 5, 2009 in the Technews Section of the Manila Bulletin)

New Goodies from Nokia

Nokia N86


The N86 is Nokia's first 8-megapixel camera phone. It features a wide-angle Carl Zeiss Tessar lens for panoramic pictures, shorter latencies and variable aperture for photos in challenging bright and low light conditions. It also features a fast mechanical shutter that ensures pictures with less motion blur and the dual LED camera flash photography and video capture. Nokia said that the aperture of the N86 8MP is comparable to that of a high-quality, stand-alone digital camera. It is the first mobile device with variable aperture.

The device also offers a bright OLED screen with scratch resistant hardened glass, easy photo management, full sync capability with a PC and TV-out support for slide shows.


NOkia 6710 Navigator


The navigation solution provided by the Nokia 6710 Navigator provides the functions of a dedicated GPS device with all the benefits of a mobile device. The solution includes the latest developments in the Maps software with real time 'drive and walk' navigation, full regional maps and hardware elements like the dedicated navigator key, touch area for easy zooming and a display optimized for outdoor viewing.

The recent integration of Maps with Ovi allows people to pre-plan their journey at home on their PC and synchronize with their mobile device. Additionally, Maps has been updated to include a number of new features such as high-resolution aerial images, 3D landmarks for over 200 cities, terrain maps, weather service, premium travel and events content and traffic and safety warnings. Included in the box is the Nokia CR-111 car holder, which cradles the Nokia 6710 Navigator.


Nokia 6720 Classic



The Nokia 6720 classic offers an improved design with a slightly curved shape, providing a pleasant feel with a soft touch surface. When holding the devices to take photos with the 5 megapixel camera, standard with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash, the new shape makes it easier to hold.

It has an active noise cancellation feature which would significantly improve the quality of voice by cutting down on external ambient sounds. It has up to 20 days of standby time, high speed uplink and downlink Internet access and a TV-out connection for sharing images and video.


Nokia E75 and E55


E75

The Nokia E75 and Nokia E55, are the first Nokia device with new email user interface. Both devices also come standard with Nokia Messaging that, when added to the company's corporate email clients, gives people the solution for accessing the world's consumer and corporate email on the go.


E55

With the E75 and E55 devices, people will no longer need to boot up a PC to get a full desktop email experience. The enhanced email UI includes folder and HTML email support, expandable views and sorting capability by date, sender and size, as well as the most commonly used email functions. On top of email, the devices also offer calendar capability, as well as contacts and task management.


Speakerphone HF-310


Nokia Speakerphone HF-310, is a hands free with echo cancellation and noise reduction speakerphone. It is easy to use in the car or office and can be installed easily with three different fixings.

A netbook that is NOT

The Vaio P would be available on February 18 in the local market. My source abroad is sending me one on Saturday :).


Sony Philippines announced yesterday the availability of the Sony Vaio P in the local market. First launched in Las Vegas during the CES this month, the Vaio P is the world's lightest notebook to date at 1.4 pounds for the SSD model and 1.5 pounds for the HDD model.

(note for the untechies: SSD or solid state drive has no moving parts unlike the HDD or hard disk drive that has spinning platters. SSD is based on flash memory smilar to a camera memory card or a USB thumbdrive. SSD is faster, consumes lesser power and weighs less compared to the HDD. One of the major advantages of SSD is that it won't crash even if you drop it. One letdown however is that it costs much much more than the traditional HDD)

The widescreen 8-inch 1600x768 display looks really nice and the tiny keyboard with isolated keys makes it one of the best looking mini-notebooks available.

I however disagree with Mr. Toshiya Kagita, Sony Philippines president and managing director when he said during our converstaion that it would be more convenient if it has a some sort of a touch pad instead of a pointing stick. He said that in place of a pointing stick a touch pad small enough like the touch pad of the Sony Ericsson X1 could be more useful, he then showed me his X1. I think he was giving me a hint of what the next version of the Sony Vaio P would be. I told him that I am more at ease with using the pointing stick because it gives me more control and precision. I was of course careful not to mention that I got used to using the pointing stick because I have a ThinkPad at home.

Mr. Kagita also stressed that the Vaio P is not a netbook but a full pledged notebook with features that could best even the bigger laptops. Mr. Kagita said that Netbook is a step lower than the laptop which the Vaio P is not.

My issues with the Vaio P

1) The P49,000.00 HDD model uses the Atom Z520 processor. A much smaller processor compared to the Atom N270 used by netbooks from other companies. Although the Z520 is 20% cooler compared to N270, it is also 20% slower. Did Sony sacrifice battery life for speed with this model?

2) The P69,000.00 SSD model is a bit pricey even for an 8-inch mini notebook with really beautiful finish. The HP Mini 1000 with a newer processor and the same speed costs only about P20,000.00. The SSD model uses the Intel Atom Z530 processor.

3) The Atom Intel Z series was not designed for notebooks. It was originally for Mobile Internet Device or MID. MIDs are positioned between a smartphone and a netbook. So why use a processor for the Vaio P which is one step above the netbook?

Israel-Hamas war now in cyberspace

Al-Aqsa a Hamas television station that became famous for showing "Farfour" an anti-semitic Mickey Mouse look-alike was hacked by Israel Defense Force (IDF) last week. Reports said that the station was broadcasting live air attacks on Gaza Strip when it was suddenly changed to an animated clip of Hamas' leadership being gunned down.

The day before the hack, a broadcast on Al-Aqsa was interrupted by a Hebrew-accented Arabic voice saying: "Hamas leaders are hiding and they are leaving you on the front line."

In another development, a Turkish hacker using the name Agd_Scorp hacked and defaced a US Army website www.mdw.army.mil and NATO site www.nato-pa.int in protest for the Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip. The defacer left a warning to Israel and the USA.

An Israeli website Globes[online] reported that there is "an Israeli Internet initiative recruiting surfers for cyberwarfare to crash hostile websites." The recruited members were asked download files that can overload the Hamas servers causing them to crash.

At the other side, pro-Palestinian hackers are attacking Israel websites, hackers so far successfully defaced the website of Israel Discount Bank and the English Edition newspaper www.ynetnews.com.

The attacks against Israel were done using SQL Injection, a technique that exploits a security vulnerability occuring in the database layer of an application. The attacker could gain access by exploiting this bug caused by processing invalid data.

Nokia's Mail on Ovi public beta goes 'live' around the world

With Mail on Ovi, Nokia mobile phone users who use Nokia Series 40 devices can now set up their own Ovi email account directly on their phones.

The Ovi email account according to Nokia has all the features and functionalities of a typical PC-based email account. During the Beta period, consumers will be able to choose from 12 languages based on the settings of their device, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Hindi, Bengali, Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia.

Mobile phone users from India, Malaysia and the Philippines have been able to use the Beta service since November, with extremely encouraging results, and the availablity is now being extended to the rest of the world.*

Devices that enable Mail on Ovi include:

Nokia 1680 classic, Nokia 168Oi
Nokia 2320, Nokia 2323, Nokia 2330, Nokia 2600, Nokia 2600 classic, Nokia 2630, Nokia 2680 slide, Nokia 2760
Nokia 3210, Nokia 3555, Nokia 3600 slide, Nokia 3610 fold
Nokia 5000, Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, Nokia 5220 XpressMusic, Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, Nokia 5610 XpressMusic
Nokia 6267, Nokia 6300i, Nokia 6301, Nokia 6260, Nokia 6500 classic, Nokia 6500 slide, Nokia 6555, Nokia 6600 fold, Nokia 6600 slide
Nokia 7100 Supernova, Nokia 7210 Supernova, Nokia 7310, Nokia 7500 Prism, Nokia 7610 Supernova, Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism
Nokia 8800 Arte, Nokia 8800 Sapphire

MY PERSONAL TAKE: Don't trust this beta service as it may have the same problem as the Share on Ovi service that they have. This new service that they are offering is not the core competency of Nokia, although it is trying to re-invent itself from a phone manufacturer to an Internet company.

Nokia's share on OVI "a big joke"

Looks like it's not only me who's frustrated with the way Nokia is handling Ovi. It's the fourth day now that I could not get my photos in their site and I am not the only one whose having this problem, and it seems that Nokia is doing some damage control by CLOSING the comments of the blog they have created. Go to the share on Ovi blog to see the comments, I guess Nokia would soon sanitized this so better hurry up.

One poster said:

Your Share on Ovi service is a joke. Shut it down and outsource it to Google or MSN, one of the big boys who really know how to run a web service. Stick to what you know, making phones. You're wasting your $ and destroying shareholder value by trying your hand at web services.


The problem is also being discussed now at All About Symbian, the only positive comment came from one poster who is obviously working at Ovi who said that "There have been some glitches of course - at least one reader emailed in with a story of woe - but things generally seem to be working." All posts after that comment are all stories of woe informing the readers that nothing is working with Ovi.

What would happen now to my photos? If they could not let me in to manage my account they should delete everything in it.