Samsung Galaxy Nexus – personal review

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Farhan Sabir

I got a new phone this march. Samsung Galaxy Nexus. I believe the only official phone from Google with Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) or Android 4.0.2. This phone is really amazing. I will not go into specs as they are available everywhere. Some of my observations are as below:

1. ICS 4 has a limit on number of screens you can get. That is 5 only. Although, i am sure with Launcher Pro and other software like that you can increase it, but its not needed.

2. Related to above, there is an add on. Each icon on desktop or status bar is actually a folder. So basically you can drag one icon on another and it becomes a shortcut to both. Which is very convenient. You can easily group similar apps together and name the folder whatever you like.

3. WiFi speed and Data speed have become extremely fast compared to my old HTC Magic keeping in mind Nexus is not LTE. On full WiFi signals (g), SpeedTest.net App returns: Ping=21ms, Download=15,038kbps, Upload=544kbps (my connection limit)

4. Using Skype Video calling, or playing games for about an hour makes the phone so hot, you start thinking something might go wrong if i don’t power it off NOW. The area that becomes hot is where the back camera is and obviously effects front-top as well.

5. Battery life is not so good. If i am playing games or doing video calling, it can survive may be 3-5 hours approximately. On normal usage i.e., just skype chat, FB messenger, GPS, and few calls … it normally lasts 8 hours approx. But comparing with others in this class, it is considered to have a better battery :-) I was just thinking what do others do ;-)

6. Speaker volume is really low on this device. So you have to install or buy the utility Volume+ to increase the base volume. With that, everything seems to be okay.

Will further update it if i find more stuff that is mentionable.

 

Posted in Android Devices | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

HTC Magic upgrade to Android 2.2.1 (CM6)

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Farhan Sabir

[This post is only to express my recent experience. Please check the links and read thoroughly before doing any upgrades. I will not be responsible for any damage to your phone or if you brick it. Please also check your device for 32A or 32B; You should also know your radio version and recovery version etc.]

I had HTC Magic 32A for a long time (Basically Rogers HTC Magic). I rooted it so no more warranty, no upgrades from rogers and no support. This one had an old hero ROM with HTC Sense and Android 1.5 and i wanted to upgrade it to at least 2.1 as this has become minimum requirement for several apps. I tried several ROMs available, but they did not work. Then i tried the most famous and reliable CyanogenMod 6.1.0 stable. The process was fairly simple with one major problem described at the end. So i thought i better share my experience. Their website described the process in detail.

Cyanogen Mod 6 a.k.a. CM6 bring you Android 2.2.1. Here are the links i followed:

Page-1: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/HTC_Magic_%2832A%29:_Rooting_%283.22.x_radio%29

Page-2: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Upgrading_from_CyanogenMod_4.2_to_CyanogenMod_5/6

Just a quick note, if you have the same phone from rogers, after upgrading the radio and recovery, (and optionally wiping everything), you need three updates:

1) update-cm-6.1.0-DS-signed.zip

2) bc-6.1.0-ebi1-signed.zip

3) gapps-mdpi-tiny-20101020-signed.zip (optional, but i guess you have to)

This upgrade process went so unexpectedly smooth, couldn’t believe i have Android 2.2.1. However, there were a couple of problems with the new CM6.

Problem-1: The phone became too slow after a couple of days i.e., after installing all the apps i had before. icons would disappear for a couple of minutes; at times will become totally non-responsive and i have to takeout battery to restart etc.

Solution: “Home Switcher for Froyo”, “Launcher Pro” with some tuning. Sorry i do not have a link to the original post right now. Will try posting it later.

Problem-2: Auto Rotate did not work :-( This was a big mess, no leveling games (teeter, speedcar etc). And above all Google Sky Map doesn’t work anymore.

Solution:

a) replace akmd from an older version and reboot. The link i followed was:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4456785&postcount=23

b) Use app “GPS Status & Toolbox” and recalibrate.

 

It seems pretty simple, but searching for right solutions took me really a long long time. I just hope it helps someone else.
I love using https://play.google.com/apps. If you have Android 2.1 or above, you can easily install all the apps from a computer. No phone connections needed. Your phone has to be connected on WiFi though and using a google account.

Posted in Home | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Honda Accord 1998 – Keyless Remote Programming

Posted on December 19, 2010 by Farhan Sabir

I bought a used Honda Accord recently and its remote wont work in terms of unlocking/locking the doors. This was pretty irritating. So, i did two things. I took it to mechanic and got the door locks checked for being hard and got them oiled (well, only the rare left had a problem). Second thing, while searching on the internet for the problem, I found a link for remote programming. Its available at:

http://driveaccord.net/PDF/remote reprogram 98-011.pdf

It was pretty easy to program and works fine now. Hope it helps someone.

Posted in Home | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Windows 7 and Image Preview (Thumbnails)

Posted on June 27, 2010 by Farhan Sabir

Since I got Windows 7, one thing that really sucked was I couldnt view the image previews (or thumbnails) in the folder view. After searching the internet, i eventually foudn a solution. It so easy, I wish i knew how to fix it before.

All you hvae to do is go to TOOLS->FOLDER OPTIONS->VIEW. Now uncheck “Always show icons, never thumbnails”. Thats about it. Click apply, and Okay. You now have thumbnails of all images. Good luck!

Posted in Home | Leave a comment

Buying a Digital SLR (DSLR) is not as easy as I thought

Posted on June 21, 2010 by Farhan Sabir

Hmm … so I need to buy a DSLR, cheaper and quality. Open up Google and you will find prolly millions of links providing detailed guides to Digital SLR world. Frankly, I dont need all those details. I am not even sure what a DSLR is .. I just need a nice Camera to get professional pictures, and then I will learn how to use it :)

So, I started my research. In a couple of days I had already shorlisted the manufacturer i.e., Top of the Line: Canon or Nikon. Others just go down the list. So with this I started searching for Cameras. Not aware of the features and stuff, I started with Nikon D3000. Almost ready to buy but delaying …. just in case I am missing something in my research. Next day I found out this one doesnt have videos at all. costs around $450 CAD. Ok, so i move to the next step Nikon D5000. Now this one has video at 720p (better than nothing). 12.3 MP i guess. Looks cool. Priced at around $650 with standard 18-55 lense. Now stuck on this one, did some further research. Sooner, I read reviews stating the video is very difficult and doesnt really produce professional results. I might be wrong, but thats what i gathered the next day. Now, whats the next one …..

I talked to a friend in an arts company and asked for his opinion. “Cheap with Quality” is something that we all ask for and where all professionals laugh. They are right, but what do I do … I need a good one with teh cheapest price. This guy said he personally likes Canon instead of Nikon. Canon lenses are a bit costly, but you get the same quality. Cheap, he said Nikon D3000 is cheap and is good starter camera for still pictures only. So, now, I started looking for something equivalent in Canon. Later my wife said, if you have to spend that much, why not spend a bit more and get a good quality camera instead of regretting later why didnt I buy xxx model. Something like that is hardly expected from a wife, but wasnt bad at all. So i jumped a step up. Was thinking of buying Rebel T1i, but then decided on T2i.

Canon Rebel EOS T2i 550D is really a nice one. Its 18.x MP, deal got me a 16MB SDHC card as well, and a camera cover. And its Canon … so I just bought it for 999 + taxes/warranty.

Initially I was just using it with full automatic mode. Which actually gives you some real nice quality pix, but … thing is, if you want to get pictures like that, why not buy a $200 camera and enjoy the ease of use? :) Thats what my friend told me who has some quality DSLRs. Very true. But when you turn away from automatic, things change drastically. You are suddenly sitting in an aero plan and you know nothing about it. Some experimentation and paying around with image settings,i got around 5 good ones out of a 100 that i took. I specially like its continuous shooting mode. Taking a picture of someone, we normally have sudden unexpected things. The person blinked or moved a little and picture got screwed. In this one, instead of 1, take 2 or may 10 snaps at a time. At least one will be really good. Frankly, I got more than one out of those 10. Yu get pics with eyes closed. looking away from camera and stuff, but you get really nice pictures as well.

I love this camera for indoor and outdoor shooting. Indoor, i still need some tuning and practice to get nice pictures. Kind of the same with outdoors as well :) but outdoors is easy. Sunlight pictures, shaded area pictures, images with backlight, taking a picture with camera facing the sun. I am loving it.

Video, havent tried long ones yet but unlike standard point and shoot cameras, you have t be an expert to record videos. Focusing is a problem when the object is moving. Will post more when i am done with the reading-manual step (hard for me), and watching some more learning videos.

Feel free to leave your comments or questions if you want.

Posted in Digital SLR, Home | Leave a comment

HomelandConnect.com – Long Distance Calling

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Farhan Sabir

I have spent quiet some time working with VoIP Solutions for small businesses and personal requirements. When you go to a business solution, all the long distance rates become high. For personal connection, it can vary. You can get better rates but poor quality, good quality but costly, or you face the standard calling card cheating techniques including shorter minutes than 60 seconds. It hard for a normal person to understand, so its easily taken advantage of.

In a try to provide a better service on better rates, we opened up this company initially providing Low Cost long-distance calling; just like calling cards. We then started the pin-less calling when you dont need to enter your card number.

In addition to that, we provide international phone numbers. How it works is simple. You get a virtual number on your existing phone. For example, you are in New York, but you have close friends and relatives in London, UK. Its hard for them to call you, and its hard for you to call the high cost to call UK Cell phones. That is where are solutions come in. You can get a UK-London phone number, on your existing cell phone. So your friends and relative can now dial a local UK-London number and it rings on your cell phone, home phone, or even in your office.

If you have any such requirements, please contact sales@homelandconnect.com with the details.

Homeland Connect . com – Long Distance calling, VoIP, SIP/IAX,

A-Z Termination

Posted in Home, Voice Over IP (VoIP) | Leave a comment

TigerDirect.ca – Bad Customer Service with Good Prices

Posted on January 26, 2010 by Farhan Sabir

TigerDirect.ca has very good prices. I am not sure about their other stores, but the one in Markham … is probably owned by *all* special people including sales reps, tech people, and the manager. Worst customer service experience you will ever have. Two of my personal experiences:

1. I purchased a WD Passport 500GB external drive which was supposed to have a standard USB. A couple of my friends already have WD with standard USB cable). However, the one I got had a special Non-Standard-USB connector connecting to the drive side. So i cannot use a standard USB cable with it making it useless for me, as i have to carry the cable with me all the time. I went back to the store to return it. First rude guy on counter said “You have to pay 15% restocking fee”. Why? Because the drive is ok and we cannot help you with the USB problem”. Not so nice. So the next step – talk to the store manager. This guy is more rude than the sales person on counter. After explaining everything to him, he said “There is nothing wrong with the drive. It can still work. So if you want to return something on your own choice you have to pay 15 percent fee”. I tried explaining to him the problem again. But its like talking to a wall, a robot or grocery store person about IT things. No way, same answer “if you want to return it pay the restocking fee”. So … eventually you say ‘to hell with it’, its useless anyways. Paid the fifteen percent fee, and returned home  Point is, these guys on the store are really rude. No customer service experience, no nothing. Its like you ask another question and this guy will punch you in the face. It’s like talking to a grocery store person about IT Stuff. I had the same experience on BestBuy and they returned it with smiling face and NO fees of course.

2. I saw a Samsung 24 inch monitor on their website, and thought it is quicker and saves shipping if I pick it up myself. Went to the same Markham store and there was only one Samsung 22 inch on the floor. So I asked a rep do you have other Samsung models that i saw on your website? TigerDirect.ca rep tells me and trust me VERY rudely “This is our store, we keep the inventory of the items we like. TigerDirect is a franchise. What they keep on their website is their choice, what we keep in the store is our choice”. That really sucks. What if you go to a big chain of stores, with one of their Web SKUs, and they tell you its an independent store and they cant help you what the head office keeps in web stock. (20100125)

TogerDirect Markham – if you want to run your own store, get out of the umbrella of TigerDirect. If you want to keep it, give some respect to its customers.

Posted in Home | Leave a comment

Elastix – the best choice for an in-house phone system

Posted on July 20, 2009 by Farhan Sabir

Elastix is a linux distribution / a package / a bundle based on CentOS 5.x, Asterisk, FreePBX and several other utilities. In addition to the standard FreePBX features, some special features include the built-in drivers of most of the telephony cards, easyily configurable phones, Asterisk2Billing, Conferencing, Conference-Bridges, GUI for Network Setup, Backup and Restore, updates, SugarCRM, VTiger CRM, mail client and a lot more.

Elastix is FREE. Thats the best quality of this system compared to it predecessor Trixbox who have commercial and freeware editions, which really sucks. But its the choice of people using it, Elastix is new compared to something in the market for years. So the users are very limited, but growing at a very fast speed.

Posted in Home | 1 Comment

Hi Everyone! Thank you visiting my blog

Posted on March 15, 2009 by Farhan Sabir

I plan on putting on more stuff during the days to come which are numbered :-)

Lets hope i can do what i plan to do.

Posted in Home | Leave a comment