Daily Bitekletas

Smart Communications and Dream TV are in a rat race to make Mobile TV part of every Filipinos love for mobile phones. Mobile TV is different from an earlier TV streaming services by both Smart and Globe Telecom when they were just introducing 3G to Philippine market. Mobile TV does not ride on the same spectrum used in GSM/GPRS for phone calls and text messaging.

Smart is already doing a test broadcast of it’s mobile TV service starting in key cities in Metro Manila and recently rolled out transmitters in key cities like Cebu, Cagayan De Oro, Dumaguete, Davao and Boracay, Aklan.

Mobile TV signals are delivered using DVB-H (standards for digital television) technology. One needs to have a DVB-H compatible handsets which are already available in the market a few months back (Nokia,Samsung, and Sony Ericsson). Mobile TV works just like a regular cable television with default features such as addressable box (which is the handset itself).

Dream TV is aiming to launch their Mobile TV months earlier than the target date of Smart. Dream TV also uses DVB-H for signal or content delivery to mobile phones. An Inquirer.net article provides information on pricing which includes service fee of PhP 300.00 for twelve channels (eight free and 4 pay-per-view). Dream TV, a brand of Philippine Multimedia Systems Incorporated (PMSI) which also owns Dream Satellite TV is I think a very welcome addition to the growing market of mobile content providers. This move of Dream TV will mostly benefit those who are interested in the service by providing competitive price and NOT allowing monopoly in pricing scheme by by either of the two biggest wireless carriers in the Philippines.

Sources:

• Smart demos TV on mobile phones
• Smart expands mobile TV infra in Visayas, Mindanao

I can’t stand watching this spoof video about a fictitious Microsoft oPhone without laughing. “They’ve done it! They’ve really done it! They’ve reinvented the wheel!”. Talke about “circular display”. What a terribe design for a phone. Thankfully it’s a joke!

So you want to know about N95 before buying one from your favorite dealers and sellers? Here’s a really good review by Eugenia Loli-Queru on the latest phone from Nokia called N95 with screen and phone shots all over. Head over to the official review site now! (and please come back again… will you? :p)

By now, we already know what the Origami Project is after a long teaser-ads, hypes and campaigns by Microsoft back 4 or 5 months ago. Now we know that it is all about UMPC or Ultra-Mobile PC, a small form factor PC capable of running Windows XP Tablet Edition and probably Linux.

Histor repeat itself. Innovation takes time and timing. What’s “in” before will be revived today and in the futre by anyone wanting to push it to the next level. Remember the “a head of it’s time” Apple Newton whose capabilities is being slowly implemented on mainstream smart phones and PDAs. Same goes for UMPC!

Epson announced in 1981 the first portable computer (based on Osborne 1). So in reality, the first UMPC was released more than 2 decades ago long before Intel and Microsoft was even considered an established tech company. The machine has a full QUERTY keyboard; display (20 chars , 4 lines); storage; printer (wow!); rechargeable Ni-Cad bettery that can last a whopping 40 hours(!); weighs 1.7k or 3 lbs.; allow optional (has a built-in version) casette deck (storage); an RS232 serial ports (38.8kps); 16KB internal memory (upgradable to 32KB); dual processor for processing control and display and keyboard; CPUs were 8-bit Hitachi 6301s clock speed approx 600kHZ. Epson sold the machine for 7 years ( up to 1987 )

So UMPC is not a new technology after all. There you go, a proof that history and innovation repeat itself bringing improvement of existing or failed products of the past.

On the side note, I was just wondering about the Origami/UMPC project, is Microsoft/Intel really pushing for market acceptance of UMPS is because the “Table PC” hype didn’t do much to add more revenue to their revenue. The latter failed to make it to mainstream PC users because of high price and specific usage. It’s not an everyday device. UMPC could also face the same faith if the pricing will stay at more than USD 700.00. If I’d have the money, I’d get one but it should be lower what it is today for the sake of trying it out. Ubuntu might run in it you know!

Sources:

• From 1981: the World’s first UMPC
• http://www.artscipub.com/history/hx20/
• http://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/epson-hx20/index.html
• OSNEWS - “From 1981: the World’s first UMPC”
• Ultra-Mobile PC

I got a chance to borrow my boss’ 3G data card and brought with me to Bicol for the long break. I used my Smart prepaid SIM card to connect to the internet. So far the performance is very nice with minor disconnection when the signals gets too low. Here are the technical details:

Max Speed: 384Kbps (3G), 57Kbps (GPRS)
Speakeasy.net Speed Test.

It’s pretty impressive and a good alternative to Globe’s HSDPA service. Although for heavy users, Smart’s 10 Pesos per 30 minutes will set up back around PhP 3000.00 per month for 5hours/day of internet access.

With a lot of exciting happenings on the web today, we need to always catch up right? Imagine yourself on a beach, under the summer sun, enjoying the scenery while still connected to the information superhighway. Isn’t that a perfect moment that most of use wants to experience? Unfortunately, wireless broadband access is pricey these days and bulky laptop might hinder your mobility. Let’s admit it..most of us can’t afford to buy Vaio lappy and UMPCs. It’s just too expensive!Mobile device however, is one thing we can afford. Get a decent J2ME-enabled or Symbian Phone and download plusmo.com’s software. plusmo.com is a company that will truly mobilize you and your phone. With their software, you can get updates of your favorite blogs, news sites and even locate the nearest Starbucks for FREE!

It really rocks and runs smoothly on my Treo 650 phone! Now, I can get access to information anytime, anywhere at a fraction of a cost.
A perfect reason to avail of the Smart GRPS pricing which is PhP 10.00 per 30 minutes!