Yesterday, 21st Tuesday, was the second day of my mobile-only adventure. It was an interesting day, as I was posed with the challenge of transferring my music and video files from the now retired Nokia E7 to the Samsung Galaxy S II – without the use of a PC.

You see, I love my music and carry my albums with me on my smartphone. If I couldn’t copy those files, this experiment was messed up immediately.

Thankfully, both devices are USB-on-the-go enabled and I quickly found a solution. The tools I needed:

- a USB-on-the-go cable
- a USB microSD Card reader
- a microSD card

I slipped the microSD card into the card reader, which I in turn plugged into the USB-on-the-go cable. Plugging that into the E7, I quickly copied all my files from the E7′s mass memory to the card.

Once done, the microSD card found a home in the Galaxy S II. Done.

Besides this, my standard routine on the web went well without any special occurences or situations arising. My core devices were the TouchPad and the Samsung Galaxy S II.

BlackBerry Bold 9650: N30,000

BlackBerry Tour 9630: N17,000

The seller can be reached on the following numbers: 08054658790, 08032189170.

PS: If you would like to put up your mobile devices and/or accessories for sale on the Mobility blog, please email details and pictures to us at mobility@mobility.com.ng. Fee: N1,000 per device.

Yesterday was Day One of my mobile-only experiment. It generally went well with minimum hitches.

The HP TouchPad, a tablet running WebOS, was my primary computing tool. I did lots of web browsing on it, as well as all publishing of articles to Mobility blog.

Editing articles in the blog’s WordPress interface was generally okay. I had a minor issue with the WebOS browser while putting text in blockquotes though. Instead of putting just the highlighted text in the blockquotes, it would include all text in the text box. As such, I have been having to do blockquotes manually.

Besides publishing here on the blog, I did most of my tweeting on the Samsung Galaxy S II, and a little bit on the Nokia E7. All my instant messaging was done on those two as well, as the TouchPad is a very limited computing tool due to the extreme lack of 3rd party apps to extend functionality. Android and iOS tablets are far better value for this reason.

Day One has come and gone. Keep a date with me tomorrow for my memoirs of Day Two.

Many months ago, I subscribed to the standard Etisalat BlackBerry service in order to both review it and a BlackBerry device that was available that time.

At the end of my review period, I had issues unsubscribing from the package. Eventually, I got informed at a customer care centre that the code for standard BlackBerry de-activation was *399*2#

That code worked and I was able to get off the plan.

Enter BlackBerry Complete

Some months later, I subscribed to the new BlackBerry Complete plan, and when done, I assumed that the same code would work for de-activation.

I executed the code and went on my way. Little did I know that a rude shock awaited me. The following month, I loaded some amount in order to subscribe to an EasyBlaze internet bundle plan. But as soon as I had loaded N1,500 on the line, that amount was pulled out. A few minutes later, I received an SMS to the effect that my Refusals BlackBerry Complete plan had been renewed. What the…!

BlackBerry Complete As A Tariff Plan

Etisalat’s BB Complete is actually a separate voice tariff plan, similar to EasyLife and EasyCliq. For example, when on the BB Complete plan, your voice calls are charged at the rate of 20k per second, a huge discount over what you get on EasyCliq (50k per sec).

To get off Etisalat BlackBerry Complete, simply execute the appropriate code to return to EasyStarter or EasyCliq. Simple.

When you subscribe to BB Complete, you actually opt out of either EasyStarter or EasyCliq, depending on which of them you were on. For example, to de-activate BB Complete, dial *244*1*# to return to EasyCliq. That opts you out of BB Complete.

To return to EasyStarter, execute the code for that package too. Simple.

Now you know how Etisalat’s BlackBerry Complete plan works and how to de-activate it.

I made up my mind sometime ago to try out what I call a mobile-only experiment: use only smartphones and tablets for ALL MY COMPUTING NEEDS – both personal and official.

Well, that day has come. As of this morning, I have kicked off that experiment. I have no idea how long it will last. Think of it as one of those crazy adventures.

I will report here with my successes, frustrations and any brick walls that I may run into.

In the meantime, did I tell you about that dream I had last night? No? Right; I will dedicate another post to that dream. Trust me, I don’t talk about my dreams unless they are exciting. Or plain silly. Or both.

Toodles!

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 costs around N90,000. The Galaxy 10.1 costs a little bit more at just below N100,000.

The smaller Galaxy Note, however, costs around N125,000 at last count.

I am wondering why the heftier price tag on the Note. Does it cost that much because it is newer in the market, or is there some other reason? Anyone?

The debate over which is preferable between on-screen keyboards and hardware keyboards on mobile have gone on for years. Usually, adherents of either camp pitching their tents without consideration of a number of factors that influence the choices involved.

If you don’t have the time to read a full article, here’s the summary: the two most important factors are the size of the user’s fingers, and the size of the touchscreen display.

If you have the time for the detailed analysis, here goes.

Exhibit One: Tablets

I am not sure that there has been anyone who has used a tablet and complained that the onscreen keyboard is inadequate. The reason is simple: the tablet’s display is large enough to deliver a pleasant typing experience. As such, there is very little valid reason to desire a hardware keyboard.

Exhibit Two: Budget Smartphones

At the other end of the divide are those budget touchscreen smartphones with 2.8 inch displays. Maybe even those with up to 3 inches in size.

Have you tried typing on some of those? I have used and reviewed the Gaga phone. Simply, put: it is not impossible to type on it, but with my big fingers, it is painful and fraught with errors.

EveryOne Has A Tipping Point

The truth is that everyone has a tipping point at which finding touchscreen typing uncomfortable or unusable becomes a non-issue.

Very likely, the smaller your fingers, the lower your tipping point. For example, many users find the 3.5 inch displays of the iPhone and others like the Nokia N8 a comfortable spot. Those are usable for me, but that’s not my tipping point.

Exhibits Three: HTC HD 7; Samsung Galaxy S II

What do the HD 7 and Galaxy S II have in common? A 4.3-inch display. I find that with my large fingers, I am able to comfortably type on the on-screen displays of both of these devices?

Is 4.3 inches my tipping point? I doubt it. But I am almost fairly certain that the 5.3 inches display of the Galaxy Note will be. or maybe not. One thing is for sure, I don’t find myself longing for a hardware QWERTY keyboard on a tablet. That tells me in what direction to look.

Conclusions

In my opinion, it isn’t a case of hardware keyboards being obsolete. Below a certain display size, a hardware keyboard is a more efficient text input tool. Above that, things begin to change. The tipping point – that point where you no longer find a hardware keyboard an absolute necessity – is different for everyone, but I believe that it is there.

The question is: What is your tipping point?

I have always given the Blackberry its due respect for what it stands for and what it has been able to achieve but I have never particularly liked it for a lot of objective reasons that I have listed here. From this disadvantaged point, I only need the slightest reason to nail its coffin and burry the device for good.

You see, my wife had her birthday sometime this month and she got a Blackberry as a gift. Of course she was excited about it but I had some reservations which I expressed to her. She replied, “Oh, I wont go about adding just anybody’s BB pin, just a few friends”. Very reasonable, isn’t it? She has kept her word on this but the problem is, I would gladly trade the few friends she has added for the whole world!

Right from when she wakes up, till she goes to bed, there is always that irritating and annoying chime that is always driving me to the wall. There is always a chat session going on.

Chime…Chime…Chime….arrrghhhh!!!

“So, who are you chatting with this time”
“Banke”
“But you have been chatting with her all day, and it is rather late”
“She wants to know who got evicted from Big Brother’s house”
“Please just switch off that thing and spare a little time for your family”
“Why should I switch it off, at least, when you are with your iPad, you rarely have time for anyone too”

I paused as the truth sank in. As usual, she has won the argument. How exactly can I explain to her that what I do on my iPad is “brain” work on how to make the world a better place and not some idle chat?! I became more resolved in my conviction to sabotage her phone.

I had threatened to sabotage the phone and, really, I can do it. Thankfully, she is not very tech savvy, so I could just tamper with the Internet configuration and she would be no wiser. I am really bidding my time, will strike at the right moment, leaving no trace of my dastardly act.

Hehehehehehe. (Wicked laugh)

FEATURES

First off the phone runs on the Blackberry 7 OS and features a 1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 CPU with 768MB of RAM. It also has a 2.8-inch touchscreen with a screen resolution of 640 x 480 powered by a 1,230 mAh battery.

Other features that the P’9981 sports are GPS, Near Field Communication(NFC) and a 5MP camera that has a LED flash and shoots 720p videos.

Even though this phone is made and is marketed as a premium product, it’s chasis and to some extent shape is based off the Blackberry Bold 9900. It features a custom user interface skin that matches the styling and also comes with a price tag of $2,300.

PRICING

That last paragraph must have gotten your attention because this phone costs $2,300 which when converted to Naira is a whooping 365,700 Naira minus shipping and retailer charges.

It is that expensive because of premium materials used in the manufacture, the craft involved and hey it has Porsche in the name which among the wealthy screams splendor and swag.

I further investigated by going to the Porsche Nigeria website to check out the price of Porsche cars and the cheapest car was the Cayman which cost 11.5 million Naira and the most expensive being a Panamera Turbo S which goes for 49.5 million Naira.

By analysis, Porsche’s do not come on the cheap side so i wasn’t really surprised when someone told me that it goes for 400 thousand Naira in Nigeria at the moment. Several people however are so stunned by the price that someone even asked me one day if it had unlimited “pinging”.

CONCLUSION

Many people fail to grab the concept of such a product like the P’9981 and that it is not a mainstream product but a product that is exclusively made for those that can afford it. Business men and stinkinly rich millionaires fit the profile of people who aquire such devices like this most times as a show of wealth and splendor.

What do you think about the Porsche Design P’9981 by Blackberry and if you had the capacity to buy it would you?

Sources: Porsche Nigerian Website, Porsche Design Page

It had started as a childhood fantasy. But unlike most childhood fantasies, this one had stayed. And stuck like an obsession.

His foundation had been built with the comic books that he devoured and collected as a kid. He simply fed on those materials, building the worldview of a super hero in a world that needs saving.

Everyday, during break time at school, he would steal to the lone comic book stand at the school gate to run through the available titles. Everyday, he had exchanged most of his lunch money for one title or the other. A new edition of an old comic. Or the very first edition of a new title on the market.

He jumped buildings and battled Doctor Octopus, Sandman and many others with SpiderMan, defeated Lex Luthor alongside Super Man, and policed the night alleys of Gotham City beside the dark-caped crusader, Batman.

He knew he stood no chance of being Super Man, unless he was – unknown to himself – an alien. He did fantasize of helping to build Nigeria’s first nuclear reactor. Hopefully, something would go wrong enough for him to be transformed into something skin to a Hulk. Barring that, he deeply fantasized of building a super suit like Iron Man’s.

Yes; Iron Man was cool. Way cooler than most of the other options. Like Batman, Iron Man was not the product of an accident. The two shared the common thread of being the creations of highly intelligent minds.

That had appealed much to him. He loved to create. Cables, metal, cloth, plastic, glass, and other materials brought together intelligently to produce something that worked. That was his greatest appeal.

That appeal never left.

At secondary school, he had chased his dreams with a passion. He spent more of his pocket money on technology books, toy cars and electronics than on food. He had spent countless hours daily in the school library reading up everything from wood and metal works to nuclear physics and chemistry.

He was at home carving pieces of wood, cutting and gluing pieces of cardboard together, and extracting working parts from electronic items as he was with the concepts of neutrinos and positrons or advanced space travel.

By senior secondary school, he knew what chemicals to mix to produce various levels of combustion for propelling objects. One of his favourite pastimes at Christmas was buying fireworks and refitting them on his home-made cars and aircraft, lighting them up and watching them go. And they did go!

Well, to be honest, his creations mostly blew up or caught fire at first. But his persistence paid off. Very soon, he was scoring as many successes as failures.

Where other kids saw pure fun, he saw tools. He saw opportunities. He manipulated and built. And he got better at it year after year. Often the object of jokes from the regular school and neighbourhood bullies and pranksters, he took it all in stride. He never for once re-considered.

He studied the galaxies as well as the deep seas. He knew the skies and the reaches of the solar system. If his dreams were to come true, he would need every bit of knowledge about how this planet worked and what to expect. Never before had any child been so fixated on the dream of becoming a super hero.

Never before had any child dreamed his way into becoming one either. Never before. Not until him. But against all the odds, he had.

Nokia has finally rolled out the long awaited firmware update sequel to Symbian Anna. Dubbed “Nokia Belle”, the new firmware has been made available for the Symbian^3 range of smartphones, including the E6, N8, E7, X7, C6-01, and now 500.

I had been using an unofficial version of Belle on my E7 for sometime before the update. As such, I could not update via the standard process. It had to be done manually. After a couple of failed attempts, I finally got it done and my E7 was smart bang up to date.

We have already seen Belle on both the N8 and the Nokia 701, so we don’t need to go through all the details again.

It is sufficient to say that Belle transforms the user interface of your Symbian^3 smartphone into something similar to what obtains on the N9. You can check out the two referenced links for more about Nokia Belle.

In summary, Belle brings the following: free-form, resizable, live widgets; more homescreens (now 6); improved status bar; modernised navigation; informative lock screen; Visual multitasking; and an improved web browser, amongst other benefits.

Bugs Ahoy!

Unfortunately, this official update also comes with some bugs, including the following:

• When typing SMS, the character counter is missing
• No visual email notifications
• Wi-fi disconnects or goes dormant occassionally
• Upload/sharing of photos/videos from Galleria is no longer available

I am not sure how all these were left out of the new firmware, but there you are. In addition, there were a few times that tapping shortcuts on the homescreen didn’t yield a response – all shortcuts.

App Updates

After the update to Belle, certain apps have updates waiting in the Nokia store. Be careful how you update.

For example, I had an issue with the IM for nokia (Chat) app. This app lets me use Yahoo Messenger on my Symbian^3 devices.

An update was available for this app, and I simply hit the update button. On restarting the phone after the update, I found that the chat app simply didn’t load any more.

Eventually, I decided to uninstall it. However, instead of uninstalling from inside the Settings menu, I simply tapped and held the app icon and selected “Delete” to uninstall. Wrong move.

To cut a long story short, I eventually had to go to the Settings menu to uninstall – and guess what, found two Chat apps under installed files. Apparently, the update had been installed side-by-side the older app, instead as a replacement.

Anyway, I uninstalled both, then went back to Nokia Store to re-install the IM For Nokia (Chat) app. After that, it worked smoothly and with a new sleeker widget too.

Conclusions

Nokia Belle is an excellent upgrade to Anna. It transforms any Symbian^3 smartphone into a totally different device. If you haven’t upgraded your device, I recommend that you do in the shortest possible time. In spite of the bugs I mentioned, it is a worthy upgrade.

Nokia began pushing out the Belle update to Symbian^3 smartphones last week. We have received reports of successful updates to devices such as the N8, E6, and E7.

Have you updated your Nokia smartphone yet? What was the update experience like? What do you think of Nokia Belle? What do you like and dislike about it? You tell us!

This is one really substantive bit of news that is worth carrying. In a world of cheap China knock-off tablets that are simply re-branded for startups, here is a real work of innovation.

Arthur Zang, a 24-year-old Cameroonian engineer, has built the CardioPad, the first fully touchscreen medical tablet that can perform tests such as the electrocardiogram (ECG) and transmit results wirelessly. Software built into the device allow the doctor to give computer assisted diagnosis.

Think of the costs and size of standard ECG machines, and its easy to see how this invention can be a great plus to healthcare here in Africa.

Here is an excerpt from news sources:

“The Cardiopad will cut down the cost of examination. We intend to sell the device for 1500 euros, while the current price for an electrocardiograph device is 3800 euros. If hospitals purchase the device at a low price, they will be able to lower the prices of medical examinations”, Arthur Zang hopes.

However, there is still the issue of energy, as many of the country’s remote regions do not have access to electricity. “The Cardiopad is equipped with a battery that can independently power the machine for more than seven hours”, the engineer assures.

Our doctors here on Mobility blog can appreciate in more details the value of the CardioPad. Comments welcome!

Source 1 | Source 2

I had been curious to see how Wi-Fi hotspot on BlackBerry OS 7.1 would work. Would it share a user’s BIS subscription or would it utilise a generic internet connection?

I finally got to find out today.

Using a BlackBerry Torch 9810 running OS 7.1, I went to the Wireless Options menu, where the “Mobile Hotspot” option is displayed. Ticking that option to activate the feature threw up a warning that additional charges might apply, and then a setup menu, with options to enter network APN settings.

At that point, I was pretty much sure of the result of my quest. I entered the network internet settings and the service got running. Blackberry Mobile hotspot supports connecting a maximum of five (5) devices. It is WPA2 secured, mening you can encrypt your hotspot with an eight digit passphrase. There is also an autotimer, allowing you to set a time after which the hotspot is disabled.

The hotspot feature also has the option to allow connected devices to exchange information between one another. Interesting, and a good feature too. Once connected, you are able to monitor activity on your wireless network.

So, how does the hotspot work? It uses a generic data plan. That means it either eats your airtime (if you are on pat-as-you-use data), or you subscribe for a data plan in addition to your running BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service).

Connecting to the BlackBerry mobile hotspot with a Nokia E7 was a breeze. Within a few moments, the device was connected and using internet services from Etisalat. Without an active bundle plan, the connection used some of the available airtime on the line.

That’s it folks, BlackBerry mobile hotspot, available on OS7.1 devices and above.

I have followed with keen interest the ongoing debate about the data guzzling capabilities, or otherwise, of the android OS platform. Expectedly, most of the arguments made in favour of the IOS or Android platforms have been mainly subjective. An objective analysis of this subject, admittedly, is quite difficult.

CNET summarizes this adequately; “It is a question that’s on the minds of plenty of tech-obsessed folks. But it’s one that’s very hard to answer–especially if you’re trying to be objective rather than grasping for evidence that conveniently supports the mobile operating system you happen to be rooting for.” However, a quick research on the Internet brought up some very interesting facts.

Before we proceed, I would make one fact very clear; No matter what platform you choose, smartphone users are consuming more and more data, and there is no sign of that trend stopping. Smartphones will continue to use a lot of data, it’s a fact of life.

However, the general consensus so far is that the Blackberry is probably (one of) the most data friendly platform out there. Beginning with the first devices RIM produced, data compression was part of the design. Called DataSmart Technology, it works a lot like zipping large files on your computer. When you use data on a BlackBerry smartphone, it’s almost as if the data is zipped up before it’s sent or received so it is smaller.

On the flip side, whether the quality of their devices compare favourably with devices in the same class that are based on Android and iOS platforms or their relatively high price tag is a subject of discourse for another day.

That said, so how do Android and iOS compare in terms of data consumption?

Analyzing the underlying differences between Apple’s iOS and Android would give us a better understanding of how their apps’ data consumption model work. The Onavo website captured this adequately:

Each OS was designed and implemented in light of a unique product philosophy, affecting both the user and the developer experience.

iOS: Apple iOS adopted the user-driven data consumption model, which means that at any given time, mobile data is only used (with very few exceptions) by the app you, the user, are actually looking at.

Android: With Android, a more app-driven data consumption model has evolved, meaning that mobile data is (primarily) used whenever apps choose to use it.

There are several reasons why those models are different, here are three:

OS design
The Android OS design makes it far easier for an app to run in the background, giving the opportunity for such an app to use available system resources at any given time, specifically – mobile data. With Apple’s iOS, apps have a much more limited lifecycle and running scope, enabling them to consume data primarily when the user is actually using them. For example: on Android, an app you installed but never use can be eating up your data plan.

“Adult supervision”
In Android, there are no guarantees that an app available on the Market behaves itself, data-wise or at all. This is because there is no review process for Android apps pre-market upload. iOS apps go through a (somewhat) thorough review prior to being uploaded to the App Store, a process which weeds out some irresponsible behavior on their part, including data usage related issues.

Centralized Notification Service
iOS features APNS – Apple Push Notification Service. This allows developers to implement notifications for their apps using a centralized, relatively data-light infrastructure that aggregates multiple apps’ messages, thereby consuming less data. Android does not have an equivalent service (at least not yet), pushing developers to implement such a service for themselves. This often results in repeated network operations which can get data-heavy.

So what does this all mean? Well, if you’re an Android user, it means that there might be a lot more going on on your smartphone than you think: substantial amounts of mobile data are consumed in the background – by apps you didn’t even know were running.

Other secondary factors that may contribute to the data consumption rate of Android, which gives the iOS its advantage:

• Apple requires apps that are bigger than 20 MB to be downloaded over Wi-Fi rather than on a 3G connection.
• It also does its software updates over a wired connection via iTunes, while Android users get their updates wirelessly. Those updates are more limited in their impact since they’re not frequent, but it does show that Android can natively route more traffic via cellular networks than iOS.
• Android also has a higher percentage of free apps compared to iOS, and it’s likely the free apps monetize more through ads, which have to communicate frequently with ad servers.
• Another consideration is Android’s better multitasking and differing user interface that allows so much to stay active even though in the background.

Conclusion
It would be nice if Apple allowed its users to see an overview of data consumption on a per-app or activity basis and set data thresholds. While iOS lets you check cellular usage in Settings > General > Usage > Cellular Usage, this is a far cry from understanding your data usage and having the controls to better manage it like it is being done on Android.

Also, there have been a lot of mixed feelings about iOS 5 with the high data usage of some of its apps, in particular that of Siri, iCloud, iMessage and Location Services.

Lastly, to a large extent, data consumption rate on any platform is still a lot dependent on individual users and the choice of apps they play with, and not just a blanket summation of the superiority of data management on any OS platform.

I run Africa’s top mobile blog and would be stupid if i didn’t talk about it. why? Our conditions here make it a big issue for the majority.

Here’s an excerpt from a report on what Google’s top man had to say when asked about plans to expand in Africa. I have emphasised the key part in bold. It is informative:

Among the highlights of my Davos week was a media round table with the top management of global giant Google – executive chairman Eric Schmidt plus lieutenants Nikesh Arora, Marissa Mayer and David Drummond. The theme of the hour and a half chat was how rapidly the internet is becoming mobile. In June 2011, for instance for the first time more people accessed Google Maps through their cellphones and iPads than via desktop computers. Half of those accessing Facebook are doing so through mobiles – with the trend suggesting it will reach 80% in five years.

I managed to pop a question around Google’s plans to expand its activities in Africa. Judged by other major corporation hunger for a bigger piece of the African pie, I waited pen at the ready for fresh info about how the “Don’t Be Evil” crowd wants to grab its slice. Instead, Schmidt’s smile turned to a scowl. Google’s not doing anything like as much as it wants to on the continent, he admitted, because it’s just not possible. Africans, he says, are forced to cough up “20 to 30 times what we (i.e. Americans) pay for data.”

See that? Google acknowledges that data costs are a hindrance to their push in mobile in Africa.

A mobile OS that guzzles data (and power) and that requires management to keep both factors within tolerant levels is a real issue in these parts. I recently used an automobile analogy in responding to this issue. Let’s explore that further.

Of Mobiles. And AutoMobiles

The African market (add Asia and South America to that) will remain this unique for a long while. It is the reason why Toyota cars (being as a rule more fuel economical – and cheaper – than most other brands) will outsell BMWs and Mercedes Benz models. With Korean brands stepping up their games too, its the same reason(s) that Hyundai and Kia models sell like hot cake.

That Your Silly Neighbour

Have you seen those silly guys in the neighbourhood who make a little money and go buy a Mercedes Benz right away? Have you observed how after a short while, they cannot keep up with maintaining the car? They spend on fuel like mad, alongside other expenses. Soon, the car is sitting in front of their residence, a monument to their lack of wisdom.

Meanwhile, the truth is that a less expensive and less fuel guzzling model would have served their purposes better.

The Vocal Minority

Those who want to deny Android’s data guzzling can keep sticking their heads in the sand like Ostriches. It is not a real issue for me as an individual. I can afford a 6GB data plan monthly – over $50 (that’s a month’s wage for lots of folks) – though I’d rather not, so I can use some of that amount for something else. It is not an issue for some of you other folks who regularly comment on this blog.

The vocal Android fanboys here are in reality a tiny minority of the market that we live in. They earn much more, are more comfortable, have internet access on their PCs at work and at home. They can afford to turn off data on their devices and nurse them as they wish.

On $2 Per Day. And Hustling!

Not so the vast majority of the African market, who are busy struggling to survive. They have little or no access to power, and nursing a mobile phone is the last thing on their minds. Life is a hustle. They want to just use the darn phone and get on with hustling. Babysitting a phone ain’t on their agenda.

It is a real issue for hundreds of millions of Africans. They earn $2 or N320 or less per day! Think about that. It is why I write about it. It is why I offer tips to manage it. It is also why I must offer alternatives.

Cloud Storage. iPhone, Windows Phone Too

It is the same reason that Cloud storage won’t be taken up in a huff and puff in Africa. It is the reason why I can say that it looks like Nokia is about to lose the smartphone market in Africa if they are shutting Symbian down at this point. It is the reason why iPhones and Windows Phone devices will remain niche here for a while.

It is why whoever sells (or can sell) a smartphone platform that delivers affordable data services on budget devices will take the market. Whoever that is, I don’t care. But that is the truth.

Africa Stuck With FeaturePhones?

If no mobile OS meets that need, we might as well expect the smartphone market in Africa and similar areas to shrink, as people will shy away from smartphones. The small smartphone market will likely then be dominated by Android. But the vast majority of mobile users will stay with feature phones while the rest of the world moves on.

Some people think that I am hating on Android. That’s silly. I provide information to a primary target audience – Africa, most of whom are affected by this issue.

However, as stated already, Blackberry deals with this issue – and if the guys at RIM are any smart, they need to go ballistic now. Not tomorrow. You pick up a BlackBerry, set it up once and just get up and go. That too, for about $9 (N1,500) per month. Nigeria just seems set for a Blackberry outbreak. Africa too.

Of course, whether RIM rises up to the task or not is a different matter.

Am I Biased?

The heck, I am!

I am biased towards the mass market.

For that reason, I was biased towards GSM when the CDMA-GSM debate came up. I was biased towards mobile internet services because I believed that would deliver internet to the mass market, and it is doing just that. I was right.

I was biased towards Symbian OS, because it met the needs of the mass market – good resource management in particular. With Nokia shooting Symbian dead, I am biased towards BlackBerry for the same reasons that I recommended Symbian for years.

Give me any OS that meets the same specifications, and I am biased towards it. This is Nigeria. This is Africa.

I am very, very biased. It is not an OS/brand thing, but it is bias all the same.

Of course, Google might pull a rabbit out of their hat and modify Android’s code such that it becomes more resource efficient out of the box. Who knows?

Back To The Future

Hopefully, we will get rock bottom data tariffs and it won’t be so much of an issue later. Hopefully, standards of living across Africa will improve significantly to reduce the importance of this. Hopefully too, public power supply will become stable and reliable, so we don’t have to carry a charger for our Android smartphones.

Until then, I owe the public that info. I owe them sound advice on choices and options that meet the peculiar circumstances that they live in.

If you cannot live with that, errrr….try a cup of Ice Cream Sandwich Toodles!

Check out the full Google story here

You see I am a very heavy data consumer and i burn through data plans that is initialy meant for a month in weeks, even days atimes.

Then I continued to follow the discussion and I found out that there may be a possibility that tethering to devices like laptops do not attract any extra charges and i started getting interested.

I am an avid Android user and I really like the whole concept and implementation of the operating system as a whole and the thought of me using a Blackberry would repulse me on a normal day.

See, I do not hate the Blackberry OS. In fact I have really admired how they have gotten this far considering that they evolved from making pagers back in the day. Another feat that makes me respect Blackberry is the social network integration and how they are able to provide enterprise like security on a mobile phone.

All the feats aside, I at one stage in my life had declared that I wouldn’t want to be caught dead with a Blackberry because it just wasn’t made for me.

But I think that I’m going to have to swallow the Blackberry pill because that is looking like the best alternative to having unlimited data and blazing fast network combined in a cheap package that is both economical and value for the money (If the service works).

Lastly anyone knows how much a Blackberry 8520 costs?

I am a long-time fan of Sony Ericsson mobiles. My first smartphone ever was an Ericsson, the R380. From then, I have used several other products from that lineage.

The Xperia Pro is the latest in the long line of my encounters with Sony Ericsson, now just Sony.

Quick Review

If you don’t have the time to read the full review, here’s the lowdown:

Pros

• Good in-call audio quality
• Good audio playback quality
• Good keyboard

Cons

• Doesn’t feel quite robust
• Poor sunlight legibility
• The 1Ghz processor often feels inadequate to run the device smoothly.

Hardware

The sliding keyboard is firm and I didn’t experience any wobbles. The device is well put together, but feels plasticky. Maybe I have just been spoilt by the E7′s tank-like robust feel.

Sony Ericsson claims that the 3.7 inch display is scratch-resistant glass. However, in real life, I got a light scratch so fast just putting it in my trouser pocket with another phone. It is a light scratch, as you don’t see it, but when using the touchscreen, i can feel it on the glass.

Operating System

The Xperia Pro unit here came with Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread on board. An update later via Sony Ericsson PC Companion and it was bumped up to version 2.3.4. There may be minor changes in the OS/UI, but almost nothing visible.

Gmail, email and Web browsing on the Xperia Pro are standard Android fare – meaning that Gmail is stellar, while email and web browsing are good.

Again, as with all other android devices that I have trialled, I was unable to setup my Mobility blog email on it. That was the same experience that both Jesse and Dayo have had with Android. Meanwhile, we had no issues setting up our corporate mail accounts on Symbian, Blackberry and Windows Phone devices.

The Xperia Pro is upgradable to v4.0 (Ice cream Sandwich) too.

Performance

As far as I can see, the 1GHz processor struggles to run things smoothly. There are slight delays, sluggish responses and pauses everywhere.

Particularly annoying is the fact that returning to the desktop after web browsing or Tweeting for a while often results in a slow loading of widgets and shortcuts there.

By way of comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S II (with a Dual Core 1.2GHz processor) is significantly snappier.

Running apps also regularly shut in the background and relaunch when you return to them. Apparently, the 512 MB RAM is not quite adequate either.

There’s only 320 MB user memory available, but you have the option to expand that with a microSD card.

Multimedia

Sony Ericsson are reknowned for stellar audio reproduction. The Xperia pro lives up to this reputation. Music playback is loud and good, certainly better by miles than what the Samsung Galaxy S II offers. I don’t have the Nokia 701 anymore to compare with, as that is my new standard to measure other mobiles’ audio quality by.

Video playback is okay, but the limited codec support is a bummer. There is no DiVX/XViD.

The 8 megapixel camera is a bit of a disappointment. It produces a mixture of results – sometimes good, sometimes bad. Never stellar. If you are a shutterbug and want a top-range camera, you are better off looking at the iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy S II and Nokia N9.

The single LED flash helps a bit for close shots in the dark. Anything beyond a few metres and like most other LEDs, its no use. In my opinion, nothing beats a Xenon flash.

The camera shoots 720P video too.

A few photo samples:

3rd Party Apps

With Gingerbread, you have the best of Android minus IceCreamSandwich (which is available on only one other device for now).

It is standard Android fare, and there is no need detailing all that Android does here. It does mean, for example, that using the S II gives you access to hundreds of thousands of applications in the Android Market.

There is a lot of trash in there, honestly, but there is next to nothing that you need that you cannot find there.

The QWERTY Keyboard

Of course, the primary selling point of any device labelled “Pro” is the hardware QWERTY keyboard. The Xperia Pro has a good keyboard.

Using the keyboard is not a bad experience at all. Typing is comfortable and breezy. In all, I like the keyboard. But it is not at the level of the keyboard on the Nokia E7, for example.

Xperia Pro Versus E7

It was inevitable that I run some comparisons with the Nokia E7, another QWERTY slider device that has been lying around Mobility Towers for about a year now.

External hardware wise, there is no contest. The keyboard, display and build of the E7 trounces those of the Xperia Pro hands down. It is under the hood that the latter has any advantages.

Being Android, the Xperia Pro offers all the niceties and a huge array of apps via the Android Market. It has a faster processor, though in daily use, the 1GHz CPU seemed to struggle to keep things smooth.

The E7 also gives better battery life and data management.

At the end of the day, its your choice.

Conclusions

The Xperia Pro is a good buy if you are after an Android smartphone with a hardware keyboard. It has got a 3.7-inch display and a good keyboard. Music playback is excellent, while video playback and camera performances are average. There’s Stereo FM radio and a 1,500mAh battery to keep things going. In my standard setup, the Xperia Pro needs charging before the end of the day. Sometimes twice.

It does not shine brightly, and that’s no issue. It is not a flagship. The important things is that there is nothing terrible about the device. It works well.

And for N65,000, plus or minus, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro is all yours.

• Ported Debian Linux to Palm Treo 650
• Cooked WM6 and Android ROMS on HTC TyTn II
• Cooked ROMS onto a couple of other HTC phones that I cannot recollect their models
• Jailbreaked iPod Touch, iPad, and lately
• Rooted my dear Toshiba Thrive

Anyone who owns a device based on the Android OS may already know that the Google operating system provides a tremendous amount of freedom right out of the box. Notwithstanding this, people still have the urge to hack their devices to extend its limits.

Why?
The question now is, Why do people hack their mobiles? What is the cause of this insatiable urge and addiction to push your mobile computers to their limits? What are the benefits of gaining root access to your device?

People say there are always two classes of technology users; those who take and use technology the way it is brought to them, no questions or complaints, and those who want to indulge deep into the very essence of what’s being offered, and want to empower themselves with everything to take the maximum out of that technology. This rule of thumb holds true for mobile phones as well. The poweruser crowd has always been different from the average user.

Rooting Your Android Mobile

Rooting your Android device gives you unparalleled access to every aspect of the device. It allows you to download tons of root-only applications, push your hardware to new heights, and on some devices even flash different, customized versions of Android.

Android OS is based on Linux. Someone described Linux as a big, bad, scary computer operating system known only by people with neck beards. While this is no longer true, people like “maddog” probably still fit this picture perfectly. Android apps need permission to access certain parts of Linux, and not all apps have this special “root” access. The parts having restricted access include the camera flash and the ability to take screen shots. There are a bunch of other apps that need root access for other reasons, too, but the basic premise is the same.

How Does Jailbreaking Your iOS Devices Compare?

The concept itself is identical to what obtains with rooting on Android.  Jailbreaking an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch opens up things like using applications that are not manufacturer-approved or changing the look and feel of the device UI. Android already allows this to a very large extent by default. The changes behind the scenes are the same way. A lot of what you can do with a jail broken Apple device, you can already do with your Android device, but to really unlock everything you’ll need to root it. You’re allowing things that usually wouldn’t have root permission to have them.

Why Root?
Searching the web, I came across some other reasons why people root their Android devices and I have taken time to compile them here:

• Overclocking a device’s CPU is fairly simple and rather safe thanks to many third-party apps, yet the Android OS does not allow it natively.
• Removal of manufacturer installed bloatware
• Performance improvement via kernel tweaks
• Ability to take screenshots (Now native in Android 4.0 ICS)
• Use of root only apps
• Lastly, you root your device because you can!

Word Of Caution

By not allowing access to the superuser account, the manufacturer and your carrier have basically protected you from doing things that can change the system and make it unusable.  All it takes is one wrong keystroke to turn your shiny new Android device into a plastic and metal brick with no connection.  Most times this is recoverable, but not always.

Rooting your mobile can open up a world of liberty and fun, but note that you root at your own risk.

This is how it works, take for example you are in an emergency situation and you really need to make a phone call and there is no place to purchase airtime in sight or perhaps it is late in the night what do you do?.

This is where this new service comes in. It allows you to load airtime on your Airtel powered phone without actually recharging with a grace of four days for you to pay back what you loaned by recharging the amount.

A feature of this service which I do not really consider bad is that there is a 10 Naira service fee deducted by Airtel when you loan. As such, if you loan 200 Naira, you will get 180 Naira in your account with 20 Naira going to Airtel.

If you use Airtel and you want to loan airtime, all you need do is type *500*Amount you want to loan#. For example *500*200# with the 200 being the amount you want to loan.

CONCLUSION
I think this is a very good initiative by Airtel but the major gripe that I have with them is that it has not been given much promotion like their other packages but that aside I think it is a very good move for once. What do you think?

Click to enlarge

If you own a mobile device and you watch YouTube videos on the go, you may want to download some of them and i’m here to quickly give a brief review of major YouTube download clients on mobile operating systems.

1. ANDROID

Tubemate is my favorite Youtube download application and the reason for this is that it has several options and even a fast download mode. You can choose to download videos at different resolutions and even save a video as an mp3 file. Another reason that it is superb is that you can log in to your Youtube account and you can view and download from your subscriptions.

Download Tubemate

2. SYMBIAN

A very good app for downloading Youtube videos onto your Symbian S60V3&5, Belle is called Youtube Downloader(self explanatory eh). I do not use Symbian any longer but from reviews i think you should give this app a go if you use Symbian.

Download Youtube Downloader for Symbian Devices

3. BADA/JAVA

If you use the Samsung powered Bada operating system or you use a feature phone that uses Java mobile applications, you can also grab a downloader called YourTube. It can download videos in various formats and also save videos as MP3 audio files.

Download YourTube

4. WINDOWS PHONE

There is also a Youtube downloader for Windows Phone called udownldr. I read several reviews about it and i think that it is worth checking out.

Download udownldr

5. IOS

I put iOS last because all the applications that i saw to download Youtube videos required that you jailbreak your device. If you already have a jailbroken device, you can download MxTube on the Cydia store. If you have a downloader that does not require a jailbreak on your device please share.

CONCLUSION

I think this about covers all major mobile operating systems, if you have/use any other downloaders not included in this post please share them in the comments below.

It is no mistake that for years, Symbian became the dominant smartphone OS here in Nigeria, and indeed Africa. The peculiar conditions of this environment ensured that. Despite all the razmattaz of iOS and Android, Symbian kept its strong hold on the African continent – and for good reasons too. Here are a few:

1. Good power management. Most Symbian phones have good battery life
2. Data management. With some of the most basic bundle internet plans, you could run the average Symbian smartphone conveniently for a month. This means huge cost savings.

My 60+ father recently replaced his Symbian smartphone, a Nokia 6760 Slide (yes; dad uses smartphones too) with the new Blackberry Curve 9360. He had used his 6760 Slide for business purposes for over a year now. Of course, he got tired of Symbian S60 3rd Edition eventually. Who wouldn’t (remember my position that Nokia needs to stop producing those older versions of Symbian)? This is 2012, please.

What were dad’s motivating factors in his choice of a Blackberry? The two items that I listed above were key, of course!

BlackBerry devices are legendary for good battery life and data management. Dad is extremely delighted to have access to a full smartphone and internet service at only N1,500 per month.

Special Data Bundles For Android?

I have heard some Android users gripe and demand that network operators are biased and should also provide special bundles for Android phones. This is mostly based on ignorance (or just arrogance, of course). Network operators provide special Blackberry bundles because of the benefits that their networks derive from BlackBerry’s server compression service.

RIM’s compression technology means that BlackBerry devices eat up less data and put less pressure on mobile networks than devices from other platforms. Get it? As such, if Google would implement a data compression service for Android devices, then the networks would gladly provide special low-cost bundles for droids too.

BlackBerry And Good Battery Life?

Some of you are probably screaming blue murder about Blackberry battery life. Hold your horses while I burst your bubble.

Nigerian network providers have been notorious for epileptic Blackberry services. That’s what’s eating your BlackBerry’s battery for the most part. Get on a more stable network and see how much better your Blackberry’s battery performs.

BlackBerry, The Best Alternative To Symbian

As people flock away from Symbian, they are looking for an alternative smartphone platform that provides similar benefits to what they have been used to – multi-tasking, Mass storage, Bluetooth file transfer, and good resource (data and power) management.

With N28,000 or less, a brand new Blackberry 8520 can be picked up at most mobile retail outlets. That is not nearly as cheap as the cheapest Android and Symbian devices, but it is not a bad price either.

The Blackberry platform is the logical way to go for the most part. Even a non-geek like my dad can tell. He has never heard of Android. He knows iPhone, but won’t buy that. But he knows Blackberry, recognises it, likes the hardware QWERTY (he finds touchscreens unintuitive, but that’s an article for another day), and thinks it is both functional and cool. So does his business partner, who also uses a BlackBerry.

Last year, I wrote an article titled Will BlackBerry become the Number One Smartphone OS in 2012?. I still do not believe that it will happen in 2012, but it is certain that with the recent news of Nokia’s change in plans for Symbian, Blackberry now stands a good chance of indeed becoming number one smartphone OS in Nigeria. Perhaps in 2013. Perhaps beyond that.

Perhaps I will be getting a Blackberry as my primary smartphone too.

You see, I like photography, actually love is the word. I think if money wasn’t a factor, a phone’s camera would be the first thing I consider in making my choice of a mobile device.

I can’t stand phone cameras that transform a living being into one from the mogue. My response is always ”did the manufacturer really have to include a camera on this device?”

Ok, this post isn’t about me and my love for photography, its about a new technology in flash.

A swiss electronics manufacturer STMicroelectronics has said it’s got the solution for taking perfect pictures with a mobile phone, in low lights. This solution is a new kind of chip for controlling LED flash.

The chip STCF04 has been produced with a super capacitor, and STMicroelectronics is stating a claim that this super capacitor will allow phone flashes to rival xenon flashes found in handheld cameras

This chip allows the flash to produce 40W burst of light, which is a really big improvement to the 2W of power most LED flash produces. This additional power will produce a flash equivalent in brightness to an outdoor security floodlight.

STCF04 is light weight, measuring 3mm per side and costs £1.25.

My opinion: I think this is small enough and cost effective to fit into today’s phone even those in the low budget range.

Will this chip see early adoption?

Is this the end to blurry pictures and the beginning for better pictures on mobile.

I just want to see wacky cameras scraped. What’s your take?

The Chrome browser by Google features a minimalistic interface that is easy to use, has awesome syncing capabilities and most of all, is very fast.

Porting of the Chrome browser to Android has been a move that has been long expected but has been delayed because, according to Google, they wanted it to be released at it’s best possible state.

Some examples of features of the browser are hardware acceleration, pre-loading of pages and Desktop Sync.

Below are screenshots of the browser running on my Android device, a Samsung Galaxy S running Ice Cream Sandwich, Enjoy!

A Nigerian Start-Up has developed a mobile app for sending SMS across all networks in Nigeria for as low as N1.50. The Java based application is portable and runs on most mobile phones (Nokia, Samsung, BlackBerry etc).

The solution has been optimized for Nigeria as it uses very small data bandwidth for sending SMS and manages latency issues. This is a pocket friendly application for communicating with friends and family at a time of rising costs in the nation.

Users can download the application for free at www.joggesms.com/mobile. Registration is needed on the website: www.joggesms.com

SMS credits purchased can be used on the web or in the mobile application.

The first 100 registered users get 10 SMS free. There is a referral program that credits your account with each purchase of 500 units made.

One of the dilemma of changing ISPs here is that you are not so sure if the new guys you are considering cover your present location, and if service there is reliable.

When I first wrote my article, Mobile Data: Bridging The Internet Divide In Africa, back in 2005 (also re-published here on Mobility in 2008), one of the factors that I considered in making some of the forecasts that I did is the flexibility attached to GSM-based mobile services.

Permit me to explain how that plays out in this scenario.

You want to subscribe to a new service that is CDMA-based. There is no way to determine availability and/or reliability in your area. For the most part, the ISP themselves do not have accurate information on this either.

If you do not have a neighbour who uses that service in the same vicinity, you are effectively at the mercy of fate.

If you were considering a GSM-based service, however, you could simply purchase a SIM for N150, register it, put it in any internet-enabled phone lying around, load just N1,000 and activate a 100MB data plan and use that to test the service.

If you are not satisfied, simply repeat the process with another service provider. If/when satisfied, you can then splurge out more cash on a modem or mifi device for PC use. Of course, if your phone has a built-in modem or Wi-Fi hotspot, you can retain the SIM in your phone.

This sort of flexibility, alongside other factors, make GSM-based internet connectivity very appealing for a wide range of users.

Here is a sneak preview of the upcoming Mobility blog app for Android.

We have a talented Port Harcourt based app developer who we are working with to bring you a user-friendly solution for Android users.

The Mobility blog app for Android will incorporate the following core features:

1. Viewing of latest articles and comments
2. Posting of comments
3. Searching of the Mobility blog archives

We are quite excited about this, as we have a fast-growing community of Android OS smartphone users here on Mobility.

More features may be added and the layout as shown above may change.

We will be following up with a BlackBerry app as soon as possible. Already, our Symbian/MeeGo/Java app has clocked over 6,000 downloads.

Whatever happens, exciting times are ahead here. Brace up!

Since the mobile phone crept into our lives, gradually taking control of almost every facet of our being, it has become an addiction that most people can not do without for any significant period of time. It is against this background that digital bible advocates probably believe that the only way to make the Bible still relevant in our fast paced, technological world is to incorporate it in our new found addiction – mobile. Over time, the term mobile device have come to include ereaders and tablets, with both form factors now having an overwhelming array of Bibles available for them too.

The question however remains, can the eBible effectively replace the print Bible in every regard? Many would also ask, can an exorcist cast out demons with a digital Bible like they do with the print version?

The fact that most people still feel uncomfortable using their mobile devices to read their Bibles in church probably speaks volumes as regards the way it is still being viewed, especially in Nigeria. This was the subject of my write up almost two years ago which I aptly titled “Ebook Readers – Technology meets Religion” wherein I discussed the trend.

I asked my non-techie wife about her view on the ebible in the church. Her response, “Well, as long as you are reading your Bible on it and not checking your emails or something“. That probably throws a little light on why people view Bible on mobiles in church with suspicion, especially with the advent of the Blackberry.

However, I do remain convinced that the leather-bound Bible on every household bookshelf — like records and videocassettes and newspapers — may soon be endangered, if not extinct. The overwhelming advantages that the ebook, in general, has over the printed book will ensure that the eBible stays very relevant for a long time.

Here are a few:

• Ebook readers will allow readers to take thousands of ebooks everywhere they go.
• Thousands of ebooks take up no more space than the reader than stores them.
• Ebooks typically cost less than paper books.
• Readers can easily switch from one ebook to another with very little effort.
• Obtaining additional ebooks requires only a few keystrokes.
• A new ebook is available immediately for reading.
• Ebooks consume fewer natural resources such as trees, water and petroleum for shipping.
• Ebooks have a lower cost of production

What is your take on this?

I was asked a question about mobile in Africa by PhoneBoy on Twitter the other day, “Way more mobile phones than computers in Africa, no?”

My response: “Way more. Computing is predominantly mobile here.”

In other words, mobile is the first and only computer many Africans have ever owned or used. I know this is not true in Victoria Island, Abuja, Pretoria and business centres of our cities in general. But move outside of those cities, and voila, it is mobile and nothing else for the most part.

PhoneBoy’s response was a clincher: “Funny even with computers all around me, I do most of my personal computing on my mobile.”

That rang a bell with me. I have PCs around me both at home and at the office, yet most of my personal computing is done on mobile too. The point is that mobile has advanced to the point where it is so compelling that even when there is access to Desktop and notebook/netbook PCs, the natural inclination is likely mobile.

I recently decided on an experiment: get rid of my PCs and attempt to do all my personal computing on mobile (smartphone and tablet). I am convinced that I can get away with it. A few people have expressed reservations about it though.

But you know me, I dare things that most others won’t attempt. Remember how I ran a webhosting business on a Nokia 9500 Communicator ALONE some years back? Today’s tablets are even more capable than that. So, why not?

Wish me luck!

PS: You should follow PhoneBoy on twitter. He has rich experience and insights in mobile.

If this scoop by The Register is to be believed, Symbian is finally dead.

In brief, Nokia won’t push out 150 million Symbian devices again as previously announced, and are cancelling all future Symbian devices except one – an N8 successor.

If the N8 successor is a compelling upgrade, I’m game. And then, the curtain closes on Symbian. The register calls it pouring oil on burning Symbian. I call it The end.

Notable Highlights

Besides the obvious, here are some other notable points from the Canalys report:

1. Total annual global shipments of smartphones exceeded those of client PCs (including pads) for the first time
2. Samsung shipped 3.8 million Bada OS smartphones
3. Nokia shipped 1.2 million Windows Phone smartphones
4. Nokia shipped only 0.6 million MeeGo smartphones, so the N9 didn’t sell as much as some hoped

Nobody is paying Bada OS much attention, but Samsung is making great progress with it. 3.8 million Bada OS smartphones is no joke. It is doing significantly better than Windows Phone at the moment, though that may change as Nokia increases Windows Phone shipments this year.

Most importantly is the fact that smartphones have finally overtaken the PC. Do click the source link below to access the full report.

Source

There have been some leaked info on new features coming to Windows Phone in version 8. My heart initially skipped a beat, as I hoped that the core features that were keeping many of us “free spirits” from adopting Windows phone would be on the list.

Well, I was disappointed. Here are the leaked features:

Data Smart. A way to actively save cellular data when possible and avoid “bill shock”. Microsoft (not coincidentally) just blogged about this feature in relation to Windows 8. Re-read that post and think about how a smart phone would need/use exactly the same functionality. Data Smart can be extended by wireless carriers to integrate with their offered data plans.

App-to-App communication. Because Windows Phone 8 apps, like Windows 8 apps, are sandboxed from each other, this new system will provide a Windows 8 contracts-like app-to-app communications capabilities.

Internet Explorer 10 Mobile. Windows Phone 8 will continue to used a highly tuned version of IE which utilizes the latest web technologies.

Shared components with Windows 8. The kernel, multi-core processor support, sensor fusion, security model, network, and video and graphics technologies are all coming to Phone from Windows 8.

Companion experiences with Windows 8. Microsoft is offering a very similar user experience across phone (Windows Phone 8), PC (Windows 8), and TV (Xbox vNext). Pocketnow says there will be a new sync client, and not Zune PC software, though I can’t confirm that part, and a set of common cloud services that will work across all three. This includes the ability to sync content (photos, music, movies) between the three screens, phone management from PC or web, shared content between each device, and Xbox LIVE games, entertainment, and more.

SkyDrive integration. Microsoft will make your content available on all of its platforms via SkyDrive.

Skype app. Still a separate but better app and not integrated into OS. Still optional.

NFC and Wallet. Windows Phone 8 will allow users to securely pay and share via NFC and manage an integrated Wallet experience.

Local Scout. Now with personal recommendations.

Camera improvements. New “lens apps” and a far more powerful camera experience.

Business features. Windows Phone 8 will include full-device, hardware accelerated encryption with BitLocker and always-on Secure Boot capabilities, just like Windows 8. Also, it will support additional Exchange ActiveSync policies and System Center configuration settings and inventory capabilities. Businesses will be able to distribute phone apps privately as they can with Windows 8 apps.

You can get more details of the leak on WinSuperSite.

There. Microsoft is adding the most sophisticated features on the planet to windows Phone, but leaving out two simple features that could turn the fortunes of Windows Phone around.

Still Missing

1. USB Mass Storage
2. Bluetooth File Transfer e.g. of music, videos, and pictures
3. Lack of support for J2ME/Java

How hard can it be to add these two simple features?

Microsoft sure are acting strange. Can I say this: You are not Apple. Wake up!!!!

Sorry, guys. I like the Metro UI on Windows Phone. I like some other neat integrations. But, sorry, its not good enough for many of us yet.

At the moment, I am torn between using or dispensing with the case that I bought along with it. The case does not do too much justice to the aesthetics of The Thrive. It makes it even more noticeably bulky, with its width about that of a regular netbook computer.

My choice of Toshiba Thrive over other tablets was not without a lot of mental exertion.

For the records, and strictly a personal opinion, the iPad still remains the most widely accepted tablet because of its quality build, quality of apps, popularity, the perceived status symbol it confers and, well, as a fashion accessory to some.

However, for the serious-minded geeks out there, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the iPad is not in the least functional. From simple tasks like attaching multiple files to emails (not even the premium app Goodreader can attach more than a file at a time) or viewing flash enabled sites (which unfortunately is not going away anytime soon) to more serious tasks like accessing the iOS file system, nothing comes easy or straightforward on the iPad.

It really was a very long search, no thanks to the endless streams of tablets coming into the market. However, my search was being guided by 6 key considerations, based on my present circumstances and needs:

1. COST : A budget of $400
2. ACCEPTABLE BATTERY LIFE
3. SCREEN SIZE : Preference for 10.1 inch tablets. I read a lot of A4 formatted PDF files.
4. 3G CAPABILITIES
5. APPS : Acceptable availability of apps for the OS platform of choice
6. EXPANSION PORTS : Presence of any or all of the following ports; MicroSD, SD, mini or full HDMI and mini or full USB.

At the end of the day, the following tablets made the first cut based on possessing at least 4 of the criteria listed above:

- Samsung Galaxy 10.1
- Archos 101 G9
- Lenovo Ideapad K1
- Acer Aconia A500
- Toshiba Thrive

It is very common place to find a lot of these tablets touting very similar features (1Ghz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor; 2MP and 5MP front and rear facing cameras; 1GB RAM, etc) and only differentiated by brand names and inconsequential features. However, two of these tablets were able to separate themselves from the pack, thereby making my second cut:

1. Samsung Galaxy 10.1 (a.k.a Beauty)

Regarded as the iPad of the Android world, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is indeed a fantastic device and undoubtedly, the Android tablet with the best user experience.

Slim, light and quite pretty, the device compares very favourably with the iPad 2 and possesses very similar design and features (no wonder Steve Jobs was pissed!). And with a 10-hour battery life, it tips the scale in probably being one of the best Android device around.

Unfortunately, just like the iPad, it lacks expansion ports. None at all!

2. Toshiba Thrive (a.k.a. The Beast)

Weighing in at 1.66 lbs and with 0.62 inches thickness (almost twice the thickness of iPad 2), the Toshiba Thrive makes no pretences at being slim or pretty. It was intended as a near laptop replacement, thanks to its array of expansion ports; Full HDMI out, Full and mini USB, Full and mini SD (max 32GB), SDHC and SDXC (max 2TB).

With the Thrive, the possibilities and expandability of the full USB port are almost endless. It accepts your regular keyboard and mouse (wired or wireless), flash drives, portable drives,etc. And to top it all, the tablet is about the only one that has a user replaceable battery!

Simply put, the Thrive is for those that expect a lot more than an iPad.

Probably the only snag with this tablet is the relative limited battery life. The max you can probably squeeze out of it is about 8 hours.

Since I pride myself as a geek, I guess it wouldn’t come as a surprise that I settled for The Toshiba Thrive.

I will not bother with a detailed review of this “big boys’ toy,” as it is already awash on the internet. However, I can not help but mention again that the the Thrive comes second to none in terms of port expandability. Of course, this is the reason for its bulk.

Full Expansion

It has a full HDMI port, SD slot, full USB and mini USB slots. Thankfully, there is a well stocked computer accessory store in my neighbourhood where I made a quick purchase of a USB flexible keyboard, USB optical mouse and a USB game pad. Since the Thrive has only one full USB port, I also got a USB hub to connect my multiple USB peripherals.

I am sure that the wireless keyboard option too would work, but let’s just say that I am watching my pennies at the moment, so I didn’t buy it.

The keyboard and the mouse work like a charm, simultaneously, via the USB hub. I was so emotional about this, so much that I felt like shedding a tear.*sniff*.

Game Pad

However, I was not so lucky with the game pad. I read somewhere before now that the device is a little bit choosy about game pads. I also understand that there is a need for game developers to incorporate necessary codes into their games for USB game pads to work with them. However, I heard the Xbox console works well on it though.

The key advantage here is that the Toshiba does not require any specialized or proprietary accessory to work with. Your regular PC USB peripherals would do just fine! However, these peripherals should not be used too extensively except when the Thrive is connected to a power source as they may cause just a little more drain on the battery.

I do not intend to “root” (“jailbreak” in Apple parlance) this device just yet, but that is the only way Android OS would recognize NTFS hard disk file system. However, I had no problem assessing my FAT formatted flash drive or the exFAT formatted external hard drive.

exFAT is the preferred filesystem format for mobile devices and it supports hard disk size of up to 512 Terabytes (in theory). From experience, for drives with high capacity, I would advice the use of powered external drive against USB powered ones because the USB port my not have enough voltage output to power this category of drives.

Wireless Connectivity

Though I strongly wished the Thrive has a 3G modem built in, however, the speed of my Cobranet powered home Wi-Fi provided even better browsing and download speeds for use on the tablet. I was able to make a number of device software updates quite smoothly, including that of the stock OS from Android honeycomb 3.1 to version 3.2.1 in a few minutes.

There is a “thriving” community on the net for the Toshiba Thrive at www.thriveforums.org. I am hoping that the community would come up with a way to use regular USB 3G modems on the thrive as it is one of the few USB peripherals not yet supported.

It is great having the feeling that I OWN this device, with no Apple-like restrictions. I can actually tinker with it to my heart’s content.

Over the next few weeks, I will be exchanging my views on this device and Android OS in general.

Stay tuned.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 is the sequel to the Curve 3G 9300, but even more.

One of the first surprises of the 9360 is how slim and sleek it is in comparison to its older siblings. The 9360 is only 11 mm thick, as aginst the 9300′s 13.9 mm. Beyond the slim lines, it is the first Curve to deliver that premium quality feel. It almost looks and feels like a Bold.

Top: 9300. Bottom: 9360. Note how slim the 9360 is.

But then a Bold it is not. You can tell immediately from the keyboard that this is no Bold. The keys are distinctively all Curve.

Quick Specifications

• 2.44-inch, 480 x 360 pixels non-touchscreen display
• 512 MB RAM
• 800MHz processor
• 512 MB internal memory + microSD slot
• BlackBerry OS 7.0
• 1000 mAh battery
• 5 Megapixel camera with LED flash
• GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA
• Wi-Fi
• A-GPS and NFC

OS7

The 9360 runs OS7. Honestly, minus a few visual touches to AppWorld, BBM, Facebook and Twitter, I can’t tell much what has changed visually or in terms of performance. In general, Blackberry OS7 looks and feels just like OS6. Perhaps much of the tweaks to the OS are under the hood.

Note though that some 3rd party apps which ran on OS6 are not yet available for OS7 and I had to do without those while I had the mobile with me.

Display & Keyboard

The 9360 does not have a touchscreen display, which is not a problem. BlackBerry OS works just fine on it. It is a good display, though not spectacular.

I found the keyboard very good again, and had no issues with typing on it with my big fingers. The individual keys are small, but well shaped and spaced such that typing is easy.

NFC

There is NFC on board the 9360, but I had nothing to try it out with. If you do need that feature, this mid-tier offering has you covered.

Camera

The 5 megapixel camera on the 9360 is fixed focus and nothing much to write about. It doesn’t sit among the best 5 megapixel cameras on the market. However, it is usable for your casual shots and videos. Just don’t expect anything spectacular.

Of course, BlackBerries have never been spectacular in the camera department. This is no exception.

General

The 9360 does what other BlackBerries do – email, web browsing, SMS, BB Messenger, etc.

There’s a music player, as well as a video player, and they work fine. The speakers are quite good in terms of audio quality and volume. I was impressed on that point.

Battery Life

Battery performance of the 9360 was a mixed bag. With only a 1,000 mAh fitted in to accommodate the slimmer profile, I was expecting battery life to be very poor.

Well, it didn’t turn out exactly poor. I found myself needing to charge the device before the end of the working day. If you are an addicted BBM user, for example, keep your charger nearby always.

Of course, if the 9360 had been fitted with a touchscreen, it is likely that battery life would be much poorer. Thankfully, RIM didn’t.

Performance

For the most part, the 800MHz processor delivered smooth performance with OS7 on this model. However, there were times when I felt some sluggishness in responses. I have had a brief hands-on with the 9810 (also running OS7) but with a 1.2GHz processor and didn’t notice such on that device.

Again, the 9360 is mid-tier and the 800Mhz CPU is part of the compromise for the lower cost. The occasional slowdowns weren’t enough to make me want to tear my hair out though, so I won’t call it a deal breaker.

Conclusions

I honestly find doing Blackberry reviews difficult, because there is little differentiation across models: minus the Storm and Torch series, they are the same form factor. They mostly have similar features in terms of hardware and software.

The 9360 does everything you’d expect it to do. However, it wasn’t designed to be outstanding at any of them. Most mid-tier devices are not either, so that’s not a bad thing.

If you want a Blackberry device running the latest OS and do not intend to cough out a fortune, the 9360 comes highly recommended.

The debate about what smartphone OS is the best has been an ongoing and heated one. Is there a general best smartphone OS?

I don’t know if I am alone on this, but picking a single mobile device that suits my needs and meet my budget can be a very challenging task. I have moved from one mobile phone to the other in search of the smartphone that will meet my need just because I do not want to carry more than a single device.

How Did I Get Here?

Before I get into the meat of this article, permit me share a vital point with you.

I have however noticed how some people push for a particular device (or operating system) recommending it to others without first finding out what the unique needs of those people are. I think this is shortsightedness.

To make it clear, you may want to read this piece by Rita. She wrote about her unique needs as someone who resides in Lebanon.

She had once stayed in Paris where she enjoyed high-speed internet, both on wi-fi and on mobile internet (unlimited data). On moving back to Lebanon, she had to stay within a 150mb to 200mb internet data window per month.

200mb per month!? I don’t know how I can use 200mb in a month on my former Samsung Galaxy S2. Yes, former. You see, I have traded my Samsung Galaxy S2 for a Nokia N8. All these adventures of mine have given me a broad perspective about my needs and how different mobile phones can meet them.

Before you blindly go ahead and pick an Android, iPhone or a Windows Phone, please hear me out. You need to weigh your needs and pick your device based on accurate information available.

Why did I switch to the Nokia N8?

These are MY OWN reasons. Note: I am not trying to say that the Nokia N8 is the best phone for everyone. I am sharing from the perspective of MY needs. Those who share my views and have similar needs with me can then hop on a similar device.

1. The N8′s power lasts longer than my Samsung Galaxy S2, even if I use them for the same period. I have used the Nokia N8 for more than two months previously. This is my second time of buying it.

2. The internet data management on the N8 is minor. It is not as data hungry like the Android powered Galaxy S2.

I found out that I use between 2GB to 4GB on my mobile monthly. I download and try different applications, Youtube videos, pictures and sometimes tether my internet with other people’s devices and my PC.

I found out that the Samsung Galaxy’s power and data management was digging too deep into my pocket, as I do not have access to Wifi. All my internet needs are supplied by mobile internet data subscriptions. I would have kept the Samsung Galaxy S 2, got an extra battery (since the battery is replaceable) assuming I have access to free wireless internet.

3. The N8 is not as pricey as iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, which were also on my list of options. I tried the iPhone 4 running iOS 4 for 24 hours and was impressed with the battery performance. I will eventually get an iPhone, but for now I do not have a budget for an iPhone. You know we do not get iPhones on contract packages here in Nigeria. We have to buy them cash down.

4. The Camera is superb. Not just because it has a 12 megapixel camera. The N8 simply shoots amazing pictures.

5. I can use one of my most preferred applications that is available only on Symbian – Gravity.

Things I am going to miss while using the Nokia N8

1. I will miss the swift and very fast UI of my Samsung Galaxy S2 (But I will save money and use less internet data now)

2. The productivity apps that I have grown fond of — Springpad, Evernote, Anydo, Bufferapp, Facebook for Android, Dolphin browser, plus the ability to download and read PDFs easily without stress.

Moving On

I hope to keep this Nokia N8 for a very long time. Even when I pick my next phone, which would most likely be an iPhone, the Nokia N8 will still remain with me.

There will always be a battle between fans of different OSes till the Lord’s kingdom comes. However, when we engage in those debates, let us keep things in perspective. We must consider specific factors in specific scenarios.

However, in some cases, hardware QWERTY lovers are also interested in a top-specified camera on their mobiles. In this mixed scenario, there are not many options available.

I went searching, and have come up with a list that some might find helpful. 8 megapixel cameras are the rave these days, so I have used that as the yardstick for drawing up my list.

These are devices that are available in the Nigerian environment. For those who live in other markets, you will be able to easily add to this list.

Symbian
1. Nokia E7
2. Nokia E6

Android
1. Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro

Sadly, there are no 8 megapixel phones from Blackberry yet. Crazy; isn’t it? I wonder when (or if ever) RIM will step up their game in the camera compartment? The lack of top-range cameras on BlackBerry devices is one of the reasons why I find it difficult to use a BlackBerry as my primary smartphone.

Many respondents were of the opinion that the smartphone market would yield greater returns for a long time. I deliberately kept quiet though I disagreed with that general flow of thought.

Well, we have it on good authority from Forbes that the feature phone market is now more profitable than the smartphone market. Here is how the Forbes article opens the subject:

For many handset vendors, the world has turned upside down. Nokia‘s $40 feature phones are vastly more profitable than Sony Ericsson‘s $200 Android models. This is not how the smartphone revolution was supposed to turn out.

Well, that didn’t take long! Just about four weeks after my article.

Yes; the feature phone market is shrinking, but also consider that there are now very, very few feature phone manufacturers (almost everyone has abandoned that field for smartphones), and your guess is as good as mine who are benefiting from this shift.

Most people will agree with the Forbes article that this is not how the smartphone revolution was supposed to turn out. Not me. I saw this coming.

Read the full Forbes article

Just over a week ago, we published information that our app for Symbian, MeeGo and Java phones has been downloaded over 6,000 times.

As at that times, it still carried the old “Mobility Nigeria” branding – logo and name. We have since modified it to bring it up-to-date in terms of branding.

The app is now called the “Mobility blog” app and carries the current logo and look.

You can easily find it by searching for “Mobility blog” in the Nokia Store or using any of the direct links in the sidebar of this blog.

The Mobility blog app is available for Java, Symbian and MeeGo devices. Android users can expect an app for their platform very soon

Of course, for everyone regardless of the OS you use, Mobility blog loads a mobile-friendly version when you visit it on any mobile.

Here are a few pictures that I took.

First Impressions

I have used two Windows Phone devices before now, and so I am already familiar with the OS and UI. It runs fluid on the Lumia 800. Very fluid.

In addition, Nokia’s homegrown services, Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive and Nokia Music are present.

Hardware-wise, the Lumia is almost a replica of the N9′s superb body. It is sleek in the hand and to the eyes. However, the display being 3.7 inches felt really cramped to me.

Personally, Windows Phone looks the most superb on displays of 4 inches and above. It works the same but larger displays certainly make it look better.

Nigeria Launch

We still do not have an official word on the launch date for Nokia’s Windows Phone devices here in Nigeria, so enthusiasts will have to wait a while.

Miss Onyinye Achigbi, a Customer Service Executive at Airtel Nigeria, who resides in Abuja; was the lucky winner of the grand prize of the two Hyundai Accent cars. She expressed her gratitude to Nokia for making an owner of two cars. ‘I did not believe it when I was called. I thought it was a fraud’.

Assistant Director, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Abuja, Mr Henry Uwadia; Grand Prize Winner of Two Cars, Onyinye Achigbi; General Manager, Nokia West Africa, Chris Brown and Lagos State Lottery Board Compliance Officer, Mrs Toyin Daramola at the Nokia SIM Promo Grand Prize Presentation held in Lagos yesterday.

Onyinye Achigbi, Grand Prize Winner of 2 cars of the Nokia Dual SIM Promo posing with her two cars at the Grand Prize Presentation held in Lagos yesterday.

Assistant Director, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Abuja, Mr Henry Uwadie; Mr Henry Uwadia; Grand Prize Winner of Two Cars, Onyinye Achigbi and General Manager, Nokia West Africa, Chris Brown at the Grand Prize Presentation held in Lagos yesterday.

It wasn’t long before my teachers and the school authorities heard about it. I attended a boarding school. Eventually, I got the school’s permission to print out and sell my comic books in school.

My main hero was named “AquaLord”, a super-strong character with other powers that i won’t present here. According to my storyline, He was the product of the sexual union of two prominent Yoruba deities.

To think that I was already being entrepreneurial in secondary school. Some friends of mine pooled money together to get the comics printed and then sold them. Sheeesh.

I haven’t done any AquaLord writings or drawings until recently, but AquaLord is on his way back as a character in a novel I am working on. I have been writing the novel for some time now and it is coming out nicely. Early reviews and critiques have been positive.

Enough of AquaLord. Enter Mr. Mobility

Well, here on Mobility blog, we have introduced a science fiction section and your favourite superhero, Mr. Mobility (certainly not me! We only share the name).

I haven’t done any serious comic book drawings in about 10 years, but today one of the items on my agenda is creating a look for Mr. Mobility – his stature, costume and general brand.

I will be including his images/pictures in the series that is running here on Mobility blog and elsewhere.

This is going to be interesting going, as I am hoping that I can incorporate certain elements of the look and feel of today’s smartphones in his costume. For example, a helmet that has a full display (just like full touchscreen devices) for his face instead of just holes for the eyes and mouth.

How about his armour being powered by Android? Nah; I wouldn’t want Google coming after me. But then, maybe I can strike a deal with Google to actually do that as a way to further promote Android?

I might as well just invent my own OS for the armour to run on Ha, the things you can do when you live and breath in creativity – create your own worlds, rules, physics, and pretty much anything that catches your fancy.

Your Input?

So, any ideas from you guys? What would you like Earth2′s superhero, Mr. Mobility to look like? Feel free to be as descriptive as possible. Colours too?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Android fanboys are quick to jump to their favourite OS’ defence when we mention its data guzzling weakness.

I have published articles here to show that Android OS guzzles much more data than any other mobile OS – even when it is idle. I have owned and reviewed several Android devices and seen data consumption that is simply outrageous even when I am not doing anything with the devices.

I remember a particular discussion on this blog during which someone said that he had been using Android and had never had data issues. However, several comments down the line, he mentioned that he managed data consumption on his Android devices with certain 3rd party apps. That was hilarious! I was quite decent and let it pass without a comment from me – till now.

Well, here is news that finally a network operator is calling Google out on Android’s data consumption levels. Japan’s largest network, NTT DoCoMo is reported to be asking Google to reduce the amount of data its mobile OS consumes after a recent disruption to their network caused by an android app.

If anyone should know about data consumption, it is DoCoMo. You see, they are one of the world’s most advanced networks. They are also a network that have had tons of Symbian-powered devices used on their networks (Japan’s advanced mobile networks have been mostly dominated for years by Symbian-powered phones).

DoCoMo knows the difference.

Now, this is not a Symbian versus Android article. It is an article to make a case that is so obvious that NO-ONE should be arguing it – Android is a data guzzling beast.

An excerpt from the news item:

NTT DoCoMo Inc will ask Google Inc to modify its Android operating system so that smartphones running on it will generate less data traffic, the Nikkei reported.

The leading Japanese mobile phone service provider identified an Android application, which enables free-of-charge voice communication, as a major cause behind a service disruption that occurred on Wednesday, the business daily said.

This is probably the first time that any mobile operator is approaching a smartphone operating system provider to amend how its software operates. Telling.

But does this make Android a failure? No.

Does this mean that Android is a terrible OS? No.

Should anyone stop using Android phones because of that? Their choice.

But facts are facts.

It is better that potential users and buyers know upfront what they are getting, so that they can make informed decisions. Nothing more. Android guzzles data (and power too). Yes; it can be managed. If that’s okay with you, buy. If not, get something else.

Now, where is my Android-powered Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro? I was in the middle of a WhatsApp chat….

Source via TNW

I just got this text from Airtel:

Re-live exciting browsing moments with the NEW Airtel Surf Plan. Dial *141*712*12# to enjoy 500MB worth of data for N1300 only valid for 30 days!

Any other person in the house got the same message? I’ve not confirmed this from their website or elsewhere, if this is true, then this year is going to be wonderful in the mobile space, notwithstanding the fuel subsidy removal.

My present plan on Etisalat runs out on the 9th of next month, I will be able to tell then, but I hope this is not repeat of what they did last year. In any case, I’m going to confirm this before subscribing to the plan.

Personally, I haven’t received such a message on my Airtel line yet, but who wouldn’t hope that this is true? The ripple effects would be nice for consumers’ pockets.

Have you received a similar message from Airtel, or have access to any info to confirm the above?

I enjoy good movies. A lot. Even better, I enjoy movies on the big screen more. The big screen, the group reactions, and the company of one or more friends simply make the movie experience better.

If you are a cinema buff like me, then you will appreciate a handy app on your mobile to check movie locations, listings and special deals; right? Right.

Enter SeeNeeMa

SeeNeeMa is a home-grown application that makes checking movie listings on the go a whole lot easier.

The user interface is neat and easy – anyone can use this app.

Launch it and the home screen presents you with options to check:

• What’s Hot – currently showing movies
• Coming Soon – upcoming movies
• Cinema Info – listing of cinemas across the countyry
• Movie Reviews – weekly movie reviews
• Special Discounts – where you check which cinemas are offering special deals

That’s it. Simple. Net. Straightforward. Useful. Very.

Multi-Platform Too

Guess what? SeeNeeMa is available for several platforms, including:

• Blackberry smartphones & PlayBook
• Android 2.1 & above
• iOS (still in development)
• Java/J2ME
• Mobile Web

The version that I tested is the Android version, and it works as I have described in this review. It is possible that the different versions for other platforms work slightly different.

Verdict

This one gets a 4-star rating from me. Why did I leave out one star? If the developers, Quadtech Mobile, can add a way to book movie tickets right on the app…. HALLELUJAH! 5 Stars promptly.

Download SeeNeeMa

Even with the introduction of GSM in 2001, CDMA was still the preferred choice for a large majority of Nigerians. This was especially because of the astronomical tariffs that GSM services offered then.

Today, the story is different. CDMA subscription is going down, along with its fortunes. Reports from NCC show that CDMA networks operating in Nigeria dropped by 1,069,485 lines from January to October in 2011. That is a 17 percent drop.

The CDMA networks comprising of Visafone, Starcomms, Multilinks, Zoommobile opened business in January 2011 with a total number of 6,186,442 subscribers in all.

There Was A Rising Demand Once…

In 2008, it was reported that a survey was conducted in Abuja. This survey showed that there was a growing demand for CDMA despite the domination of the market by GSM technology.

Affordability of CDMA phones and clarity of communication when compared with GSM where cited for this rising demand. According to telecommunications consultants, CDMA technology has the capacity to provide quicker transmission of data and internet than GSM.

…Then The Killer

GSM has been fished out as the killer of CDMA in Nigeria. According to Mobitel’s boss, the pervasive nature of GSM and its allied data technologies like SMS, GPRS, EDGE, HSPA, all contributed to the decline of CDMA in the country.

While CDMA has being losing subscribers, GSM networks comprising of MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and Etisalat, have gained a subscriber base of 93.9 million at at October 2011 as against 82.6 million in January 2011.

CDMA networks are also losing money as the drop in subscribers represents a loss of an estimated N10bn in revenues that would have accrued to the networks during the period under review. This figure was calculated using the Average Revenue Per User ARPU which is pegged at N1000 in Nigeria by industry experts.

Is this the beginning of the end of CDMA in Nigeria? Only time will tell.

The strategy is very simple,create a phone and then split it into different variants with certain features removes. A classic example of this is the Nokia 5800 split into two different phones namely the 5230 and the 5530.

The Nokia 5230 features the same screen size of 3.2 inches that is on the 5800 and has 3G connectivity while the Nokia 5530 features a 2.8 inches screen with XpressMusic branding and WiFi.

Even on lower end phones like the Nokia C1 and C2. The main difference between the two is that the C1 is a single SIM phone while  C2 is a dual SIM phone.

Samsung on the other hand seems to have widely fine-tuned and adopted the strategy across their whole mobile product line and across the different operating systems that they support.

A very good example of this is their Galaxy line of phone and tablets. Do you want a 4 inch mobile? Get a Galaxy S. Is it a 3.5 inch display that you fancy? Get a Galaxy Ace. For 3.2 inches, you can get the Galaxy Gio.

If you want to get a tablet, you are offered different choices too with Samsung making a tablet for practically anybody that wants to get a tablet.

You can either get a 10.1 inch version, a 8.9 inch version or a 7.7 or 7 inch version, should you want a tablet of more compact size.

Even when you look at lower end Samsung phones like the Chat series, there is the the Ch@t 222 and Ch@t 322 with one of the major differences been the optical trackpad.

Platforms

On the Operating System level, Samsung has various operating systems running on their wide array of phones. These include: Android, Windows Phone 7, Bada and TiZen.

Last year, Samsung shipped a total of 300 Million devices which goes to prove that they may finally overtake Nokia this year as the number one handset maker in the world, thanks to their versatility in production and distribution.

In December 2011, in publishing the news of Sony taking over Sony Ericsson, I made a brief mention of the Ericsson R380 as the very first Symbian smartphone.

In this feature article, I am going down memory lane to talk about that elegant device. Being my very first smartphone, the Ericsson R380 holds a special place in my mind.

The very first time that I saw it, it was love at first sight. Gadget lust waxed strong within me and I told myself that I was getting one.

But it wasn’t just my first smartphone, it was the first smartphone ever!

Meet The Great Grandfather Smartphone

Released in 2000AD, two years after Psion became Symbian, I didn’t get my hands on one until December 2002.

The R380 was the first device to be marketed as a smartphone – PDA and phone wrapped into one, and in a nice form. As such, sentiments aside, this guy is the grand-daddy of every smartphone circulating around today. Even the first of my beloved Communicators didn’t show up until 2001 in the form of the Nokia 9210.

The R380 looked and worked like any other mobile phone of its day when closed up. But you can open the front flip to reveal the large landscape display. It weighed only 164g.

The R380′s main specs:

• WAP 1.1 browser (an improved version later shipped with WAP 1.2.1)
• Large 3.5-inch backlit monochrome STN touchscreen display (120 x 360 pixels)
• Flip cover with regular alpha-numeric keyboard for use as a regular phone
• Stylus for use with the resistive touchscreen
• POP3/IMAP Email
• Calendar & notes
• Synchronization with Microsoft® Outlook and Lotus® Notes and Organizer
• Symbian OS version 5
• Infrared port
• GSM 900/1800 dual band phone
• 2MB RAM
• 1.2 MB user-accessible storage
• Handwriting recognition
• Voice notes
• Speakerphone functionality
• Dial-up (CSD) internet connectivity
• 1 -chord (monophonic) ringtones
• Built-in Games:
• Built-in modem
• RS-232 cable for PC connectivity

Though running Symbian, the OS was “closed” at the time, as no 3rd party apps could be installed on it. But it came with pretty much what everyone used then.

Here are some screenshots:

The R380 was a delight to use back then. I subscribed to CSD (circuit Switched Data AKA dial-up internet) with MTN back then, with which I browsed and managed my emails. At that time, this was magic to almost everyone I met here in Nigeria then. Very few of us used mobile internet on mobile back then.

There were no expansion slots yet, and Bluetooth wasn’t on the table either. But infrared was king of the day for wireless connectivity.

I wish I had details of the processor (if someone can help me out with that, I’d be delighted), but the R380 performed admirably. It wasn’t a perfect smartphone. I also remember some occasional freezing up, especially when using internet connectivity (which in retrospect may have been network issues).

It is such a privilege to have been around early enough to use the very first smartphone on the planet as my first smartphone. Ladies and gentlemen, a hat tip to the stately Ericsson R380.

Asus announced and promptly released the Transformer Prime, an Android tablet that has many geeks and Android fan boys (me included) drooling over the wonderful hardware that it packs in such a slim package.

At just 8.3mm, it is slimmer than both the iPad2 (8.8mm) and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (8.6mm). Around the back it features an all aluminum panel with the front packing a 10.1 Super IPS+ display. It also features a sharp 8mp camera that does 1080p/HD video recording.

With all these specs, you may be asking about the interface and processing power. Ask no more. This baby packs a Tegra 3 Quad-Core processor with console type gaming ability for those that want to really hammer out games on the tab.

The name ‘Transformer’ is gotten from the fact that the Asus has a keyboard dock that it can be plugged into. The battery life of the tablet clocks in at around 12 hours with the tablet only and 18 hours while docked with the keyboard.

What I like most about this tablet is that unlike Sammy, it doesn’t imitate the iPad curve for curve but instead brings a design of its own in a slimmer, more powerful and longer lasting way.

In conclusion, this tablet (to me) is the messiah of the Android Tablet and the only major gripes that end users might have with it is that it only has a WiFi only version and it does not have enough apps or games to really beat what obtains in the iOS ecosystem. Otherwise trumps the iPad in every other aspect.

So if you wanted to get a tablet that is not an iPad, this is the tablet to get, chikenah!

For some of us, it just gotta be QWERTY.

Because my job requires that I review phones, I have no problem using a pure touchscreen device when I have to. But my preference – a hardware QWERTY!

You see, I have large hands and big fingers. Nothing like an excellent hardware QWERTY agrees with those more.

My very first smartphone had a hardware QWERTY keyboard. The mobiles that have spent the greatest amount of time with me were all hardware QWERTY devices. Examples include the Nokia E61, Nokia 9500 and Nokia E90.

I loved the Nokia N8 for its fantastic camera and multimedia prowess, but I kept picking up the E7 again and again. That superb keyboard just wouldn’t stop haunting me. Even now, I still carry it around every now and then.

Commie, Anyone?

I particularly love the Communicator form factor. No; its not the same as side sliders. If its not a commie, it is not a commie.

Back in the day, when you owned a communicator, you had the most powerful devices on the block. Commies were the top dog.

I once ran my entire webhosting operation on the Nokia 9500 Communicator. That was a 4.5-inch display beast with a 330 MHz processor, a 640×480 VGA camera, and Opera HTML browser.

However, Nokia has done away with that form factor, and no-one else is doing anything like that.

My QWERTY Smartphones Till Date

1. Nokia 9210 communicator
2. Nokia 9500 communicator
3. Nokia E61
4. Nokia E61i
5. Palm Treo 700P
6. Sony Ericsson P990i
7. Sony Ericsson P1i
8. HTC Titan/Sprint Mogul pocket PC
9. Samsung i780 pocket PC
10. Nokia E90 communicator
11. T-mobile G1
12. Nokia E75
13. Sony Ericsson Xperia X1
14. Samsung B7320
15. LG GW550
16. Nokia N900
17. HTC Touch Pro2
18. BlackBerry 9630 Tour
19. Nokia E5
20. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro
21. Palm Pre
22. Blackberry 9800 Torch
23. Nokia E7
24. Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510
25. Blackberry 9300 Curve 3G
26. LG C660 Optimus Pro
27. BlackBerry Curve 9360
28. Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro

Trade-Offs

I also love great multimedia on my mobiles. Unfortunately, devices with hardware QWERTY usually don’t come with the best camera and musical experiences. However, as long as the multimedia experience is not poor, I can live with the trade-off.

A guy Can Dream

If I had one mobile wish that any of the gods of mobile can grant right now, here it is: iOS or Windows Phone user interface, plus mass storage functionality, with a 4.5-inch display in a communicator form factor.

I would bite. Hard.

There you are – my world of QWERTY smartphones. Give me QWERTY or…

I first got wind of the news on Twitter this morning, and I was shocked to find that some people were already rallying with statements like, “RIM Co-CEOs step down, RIM is burning”.

In response to that, I tweeted this:

Does a CEO quitting mean that a company is burning? Not necesarilly. We just throw words around carelessly these days. Come on guys!

Freedom of speech is a lovely thing, but that freedom comes responsibility. To think. To understand. To weigh our words before speaking.

I think that it is irresponsible and non-constructive for us to make alarming statements. They do more damage than good.

If you see specific problems with a product or company, spell them out and spell out possible ways out. That’s constructive engagement.

Just saying that something “sucks” or is “burning” is childish, insipid, and many times irresponsible.

How do you even define “burn” in this scenario? it just paints an inflammatory picture. No pun intended.

Just after I began writing this article, I ran into a tweet from @amasonic that touched on another aspect of this subject:

One of the perils of our modern world today is that ppl don’t take time to understand contemporary issues in-depth b4 forming opinions

I see a lot of that on Facebook, Twitter and even here on Mobility blog. But its worse than that. If it is just a matter of forming opinions, it might not be so bad. But people form opinions without understanding issues in detail and then recklessly broadcast those opinions.

I will always stand for responsible use of freedom of speech, and I do not suffer fools gladly. Regulars on this blog know how strong my stand is when it comes to people being irresponsible with their comments.

Inflammatory statements cause more damage than we can ever tell. RIM may be in trouble, I agree – and trust me, everyone has troubles; just of different sorts and magnitudes.

I have had trouble more than many of you will ever know, and there were times it looked hopeless. Thankfully, I deal with them. I am just glad that there were no idiots around to get on Twitter screaming, “The end has come for Mister Mobility!”

When people start saying that RIM is burning, I really do not know.

I have observed that often the more knowledgeable people are more guarded in their statements. I respect people like that. They know the implications of their words.

To you, dear friend, a BlackBerry (or any other) device may just be a mobile. But to others – many others – it is years of investments, and to even many more, its jobs and livelihood.

Think about that.