23 September 2011 02:58:26: My ADSL session ends. I didn’t know it at the time: cable theft. This is quite common in South Africa.

24 September 2011: I complained to MWeb my ISP although it was, strictly speaking, not their problem. Telkom is is responsible for POTS equipment. Dealing with them is a frustrating. There is a fault logging system but is rarely, if ever, updated.

The idea behind calling MWeb is that they might have some way, unknown to me, to get Telkom to act a little faster. I logged a fault with Telkom anyway. Needless to say it is still open with only one entry:

I also logged the fault using their ARS or action response system. You get a number back but there is no simple way to track it. They still have to respond to my request for feedback. At some point I did they unthinkable: I called Telkom’s fault reporting number and asked what the problem was. Stolen phone cables. Naturally they couldn’t tell me how long it would take to repair the phone lines. They also couldn’t give me any contact details of someone who was in a better position to give feedback.

12 Oct 2011 10:20:10: My ADSL modem connects again. Thanks Telkom. Can I make a suggestion? Some feedback in future? Please.

I’m a netaddict and I need connectivity. It all went well for a few months and then no ADSL. It was back to messing with 3G. ADSL was back again on a Tuesday. Then down again on the Friday. On Tuesday I get a call.

Telkom guy: “Do you get a dial tone?”

Me: “Yes. I can still make voice calls”

Telkom guy: “I know what’s wrong…”

To myself: Then why did you wait until now? You could have fixed the problem when it was reported.

Telkom guy: “…Is your modem turned on?” “Yes.” “OK. I can see when you’re up again.”

So my connection was restored again a few minutes later.

This episode did allow me to play around with 3G again. I found that CellC, that had ironically been the worse, was now a lot better than Vodacom.

Huawei B970B

It is 3G modem with WiFi 802.11b/g but no “n” and LAN connectivity but sadly no ADSL. It’s also got a phone jack which is not an ADSL port but allows you to plug a phone into the modem and make cellular phone calls using the SIM card. On the plus side for us South Africans: it also supports HSPA at 900MHz which means it can use CellC(including Virgin Mobile), MTN and Vodacom SIM cards. You can access its features using a web interface so no drivers or OS specific software is required. I currently use it at the office where we have no ADSL. On the downside: there is, as far as I can tell, no way to access SMS/MMS messages on the SIM card or send USSD strings.

Drifta on Android.

The DStv Mobile Drifta now supports Android. Or at least the Sumsung Galaxy S, SII and Galaxy Tab. Luckily I own the Galaxy S and the Galaxy Tab. I was able to install the Drifta software on the Galaxy S and the Tab but unfortunately the Tab is rooted so the Drifta software won’t run. It displays a message that it won’t run on rooted devices and then quits. I assume it’s a DRM issue. It does however run on my Galaxy S. On startup it insists on messing around on the Internet for a while before it goes to the channel menu. Overall though it seems to work at least as well as the iOS version.

So you want to watch Big Brother. He also wants to watch you.

Channel menu

Cry for me Argintina

Installing iOS 5 beta.

Your mileage may vary. This is what I found:

• Get the latest beta of iTunes 10.5.
• Get the latest XCode with iOS SDK
• Get the latest, or maybe a minor version behind, version of iOS 5 beta
• Read up on DFU mode.
• You’re a member of the Apple Developer program, aren’t you?

I decided not to go for the latest beta of iOS so I could see OTA updates in action. I struggled getting the beta on my iPod and at some point my iPod appeared “unflashable” and DFU mode saved the day. Also remember that you can  shift+click in Windows or alt-click on the Mac on the restore button in iTunes. This will allow you to select the firmware image you want to flash. If recovery mode on your iDevice is unresponsive then try DFU mode.

Samsung Galaxy Tab P1000

A Samsung Galaxy Tab P1000 with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Replacement for your netbook? Probably not.

From PC to MAC in 10 very complicated steps

Although my “conversion” has been easier than I thought it would be, I’m still not satisfied. The simplest solution is to install a VM such as Parallels which will then allow you to run Windows and this is what I’ve done. The problem is many apps simply don’t have Mac equivalents. This has left me wondering why I didn’t simply get a Windows laptop.

There is one reason why do need a Mac: iOS software development. I have seen no workable workaround for this issue. To be able to sell via the App Store you also need to register which will cost you $99 a year. I had to fill in a form and fax it. Yes that’s right fax it. After a few days I was finally registered. So now I’m ready to write the next killer iPhone app. I just need to get an idea for an app, get an iPhone, learn Objective C and Cocoa and Xcode.

Review (sort of).

I decided to go for the 15 inch model. My initial inclination was to go for the Macbook Air but I was worried that it might not be powerful enough to run Windows in a virtual machine environment.

The Macbook Pro 15 inch has a 500GB harddisk and 4GB of RAM which should be enough for my purposes although I’m considering upgrading the memory for better support for Parallels with Windows 7.

The machine has an attractive and sleek design which is the norm for Apple. The main shell, as I understand it, is made from aluminum. There is a video that show the fabrication process for this shell. It’s also got the lit Apple logo on the lid so that everybody can see you’re working on a Mac.

The I/O ports are located on the left of the machine. You’ll find:

• Headphone socket
• Microphone socket
• SD card slot
• Two USB ports
• Thunderbolt port
• Firewire
• Ethernet
• Power connection

There is also a charge level indicator. You press a button and a row of small green lights indicates the charge level of the battery. This only works if the computer is turned on. I expected at least four USB ports. I am not altogether happy about the power supply option Apple implemented.

The source of power.

Most “traditional” laptops come with their own power supplies. You can however use car chargers, rechargeable batteries  or generic chargers as long as you have the correct voltage and tips to connect to your laptop. This is not the case with the Macbook. It comes with a so called MagSave power supply that uses a non standard “plug” that attaches magnetically to your computer. The built-in battery should last a few hours though, definitely better than my old (2009) Toshiba.

The DVD drive.

The DVD drive is located on the right. It’s a slot and doesn’t use a tray. The downside is that you can only use standard size disks. There is also no eject button – this functionality is under software control only. The slot for the Kensington lock is in such a location that its cable may block the DVD slot.

The rest.

• Built-in camera
• Stereo speakers
• Built-in mic.
• Multi touch trackpad
• Wi-Fi which also suports 802.11n
• Light level sensor
• Backlit keyboard.
• Infrared sensor for Apple remote.
• Sleep indicator LED
• Two graphics processors
• Bluetooth

The trackpad.

This trackpad is “clickable”. As you press down it “clicks” which is the equivalent of a mouse click. A two fingered click is equivalent to a right click. A major irritation is that only the botom two thirds of the trackpad is clickable and as you move closer to the top more force is required to register a click. Drag and drop requires a fair amount of skill. One finger has to keep the trackpad pressed down while the other moves the object on the screen.

More to follow…

Rooting.

There was one outstanding issue: The Android Market paid apps weren’t available in South Africa. A workaround was to use Marketenabler which requires rooting. That’s changed and these apps are finally available without resorting to tricks.

Goodbye N8

It was an accident. A loose table top at a restaurant and lots of hot chocolate. My wife’s N97 did not take well to being immersed in hot chocolate. So she now has my N8 and I went back to using the Galaxy S permanently. I’ll miss the excellent camera and great battery life.

OK the point is I bought an iPod touch 64GB. I don’t really know why. Most cellphones these days function adequately as an iPod. Truth is Apple make very sexy products. They also make very sexy UI’s. It’s when I use the Nokia N8 again that it feels like going from a Sony PS3 to an old Atari game console. Ugh.

But why can’t I download an MP3 to my iPod and have it automatically added it to its music library? You have to download it to you computer and then transfer the Mp3 using iTunes. Did anyone mention the word “Jailbreak”?

Pity there’s no GPS and the camera sucks. But there’s WiFi and it runs iOS apps. I have just discovered voice control: “Play songs by Duran Duran” and I get “Come Undone”. Pretty neat.

I was able to watch a cricket match last night using Dstv Mobile.

DStv channel view

iPod touch camera

.

DTSV Mobile Drifta

It’s a DVB-H receiver smaller than a Nokia N8. It has a WiFi and a USB interface. Currently iDevices and PC’s running Windows are supported for viewing DSTV channels. The image resolution is 320×240 and you get access to nine channels although the technology supports fifteen.

DSTV on a netbook

I had some difficulty getting hold of one: nobody seemed to know what I was talking about (Update: I saw some in a Makro store today). In the end I ordered it online. You need to activate it before you can use it. A call to a call center and about ten minutes later I was able to use it. The iPad installation is simple enough. I downloaded the DSTV application from the app store, enabled WiFi on the iPad and started the DSTV app. The PC app takes a bit longer to install from the supplied CD. The iPad allows you to view the image full screen while the PC version is limited to a window. Just keep in mind that the resolution of the original image is still only 320×240 though.

You can also use other DVB-H receivers such as the Nokia N96.

I cannot help but wonder if the Drifta will catch on. There is bandwidth for six more channels left unused. The variety is limited: mainly sports channels. Apart from that: Where is the “good stuff”? Discovery, History, movie channels.

Drifta on the iPad

Er… yes the camera is good and I like the phone and USB-on-the-go is a bit of a gimmick and er … I really don’t know what more to say. Well I tried anyway.

iOS 4.2 is in da house or on the iPad rather.

I don’t have ADSL because our phone line is never up for more than two weeks. Telkom sucks. I have to use 3G and Apple doesn’t know about resuming an interrupted download  it seems. So it ended up being a pretty expensive upgrade. Then I was a bit embarrassed to discover that I didn’t know that to call up the task manager you double press the home button. “Multi tasking”, eh. Well I wonder.

I also managed to get Airpint to work on my WiFi network. Only trouble is to print anything I have to enable the WiFi connection first which has no Internet connection and then after printing disable the WiFi connection so that I can continue using the Internet via 3G. To eliminate this hassle I’ll need an Internet connection on the WiFi network. One more 3G modem and another prepaid SIM card to keep track of.

N900 and USB hostmode

To me it’s rather sad that the N900 has so much unexploited potential. Now that I’ve switched to the Samsung Galaxy S as my main device, I am free to be more experimental with my N900. So I installed the power kernel and the host mode enabler.

I have not been able to access USB powered hard disks or DVD drives even after powering them with an external 5V supply. I could access a 12V powered hard disk though. I can access memory card readers and USB hubs too.

Samsung Galaxy S

Here’s my review: Battery life kind of sucks. I don’t know why it is that all the non-Nokia phones I’ve had have less than stellar battery life? And hey where’s Froyo? Samsung Kies hangs most of the time. Skype doesn’t work. Samsung, where are the notification lights  … so I can ignore them anyway?

Final thoughts

• Supports HSUPA for faster uploads.
• Ovi Maps is free. Free navigation.
• I like the clock on the standby screen.
• Supports USB charging as well.
• Nice new running applications screen showing miniature views of running apps.
• No QWERTY keyboard in portrait mode. The keys would probably be to small to be usable.
• 360×640 screen resolution and 680MHz processor in a flagship product these days are a bit behind the times.