Meet my new PDA pal- Samsung Omnia

Yes. I've had this unit for 1 month and continue to admire the device- for its hardware and software specs! Why did I choose this device? The HTC Diamond, HTC Raphael and Sony Xperia have better screen resolutions than the Omnia. But in other specs they are lacking- a faster Processor, bigger Storage Capacity (16gb + SD Expansion of up to 16gb), Optical Navigation or Mouse, and 5mp Full Function Camera!

I'm a person who can sacrifice Screen Resolution. It is not a must have- after having a look at the HTC Diamond. Yes- Text and Print are legible if viewed on a VGA screen. But the screen size is just too small at 2.8". And besides- a VGA screen requires more memory.

The Omnia has a 3.2" screen size. And the WQVGA is perfectly fits the screen size. With 128mb RAM- there is sufficient memory to run programs without the need to reset the device. And Samsung has loaded the unit with the most needed applications except for the Weather.

Samsung provides 3 Today Interfaces- which is far better than the traditional WM screen. I prefer using the Widget Screen. The screen allows you to mix and match most need applications- a calendar, contacts,web browser, game folder, radio tuner, photo browser, or connection manager in an ICON form on your today screen. The ICONS can overlap each other- COOL! Just TAP an ICON to run a particular program- tap the Calendar and your preferred PIM program will execute.

The bottom of the LCD screen you will see the words "PHONE" and "MAIN MENU". Tap the PHONE to execute the PHONE Dialling Screen. Tap the MAIN MENU to execute the most used PDA applications- settings, camera, Programs, and etal. Another screen provides 12 user editable buttons to execute their programs. Samsung has put great effort to give a TOUCH friendly experience to the OMNIA. You will still encounter some relics of the tradition WM interface. Overall- I'm :).

The Omnia runs fast- faster than my previous Atom Life PDA. And with 16gb on-board Memory- its quite a shattering experience!

My O2 Atom Life- a good PDA but its adios....

Yes. I've had my Atom Life for 1 year and 4 months. It's still a very capable device as compared to other WM brands- especially that 624mhz processor and 800mb ROM Storage space. But the Today interface is quite dated and RAM memory is a piddling 64mb. Add a new slick Today interface and you will find that available RAM memory will decrease to 16mb. You will face a constant task to RESET your device more often.

And with regrets I say adios to my Atom Life PDA.

Freecom MusicPal- initial opinion

The Freecom MusicPal is your 21st gateway to the world. You can tune-in to a multitude of worldwide Radio Stations streaming music to the internet in MP3 or WMA format. Plus extra functions not standard in other Internet Radios.

To set-up, you will need to have a broadband access. The Musicpal connects to your broadband in wired or wireless mode. All you need is to enter your encryption code to access the internet to finish the set-up.

You can customize the unit in a variety of ways. And Freecom has included the software Storage Assistant to alter, with ease, the MusicPal via PC (You can also customize the unit without a PC!). You can instruct MusicPal to automatically retrieve your Home Time from the net, turn-off the unit at a set time, wake you up at set time and many other tweaks.

It was a breeze to locate Radio Stations. Just rotate and press the Navigate Button when a particular station is located. You have the option to search by Country or Genre. And requires no remote control. To store your station to the Favorites Menu simply press the Navigate Button, scroll to Add to Favorites, and press to save- no memory buttons necessary. To locate a saved Station, just navigate to the Favorite Menu, and scroll thru the all the stored Stations.

Extras? The MusicPal is capable of retrieving RSS Feeds, Stocks, World Weather, World Time and Calendar. No need to open the Computer, and wait to boot-up before being able to retrieve information. What other internet Radio can to all of these extras?

And there is one more extra- MusicPal can access and play your music files stored in your Computer. Just like a Mac AirBook Computer. No need to have a built-in or external CD player to listen to music.

Quality of Sound? The MusicPal has only one speaker. You can't expect much in terms of sound quality. But don't fret- Freecom includes two options to upgrade sound quality. You can connect the unit to a receiver with aux inputs. Or connect a powered speaker to the headphone jack. The other point to note is the kps used by a particular Radio Station. The rule is the lower the kps the lower the sound quality. And the higher the kps the better the sound quality but you will require a faster broadband connection. Otherwise, you will hear a lot of skipping.

Size? The MusicPal is small and light to lug around the house. But Freecom forgot to include a battery option. You are stuck will lugging around an A/C adaptor. What happens if the power is cut? Your settings and saved Favorites remain intact.

Built quality? You will not be disappointed by the built quality of MusicPal.

Design? The MusicPal won the IF design award.

Any caveats? When MusicPal was first introduced to the market it did not have WMA capabilities. A lot of internet blogs ridiculed the lack of WMA support. The current firmware update 1.47 supports WMA streaming to a certain degree. The other caveat is MusicPal on occassions my hang-up. No worries. Just power down and turn-on the unit again.

Overall, I love my MusicPal. It is my new companion to the World!

Panasonic HDC SD9

The HDC SD9 is the latest camcorder from Panasonic that records AVCHD video in SD/SDHC cards. The cam records in true 1920x1080 pixels using 3 CCD's to correctly record the blues, reds and greens.

Whats my opinion? It's an awesome camcorder! It does record sharp HD videos contrary to many reviews in the internet. It is simple to operate and with enough manual controls to produce videos to your own standards.

This cam smoothly zooms in at 10x optical using the Leica Dicomar lens system. And scene modes enable the cam to adjust to a wide variety of situations such as low light. You have the option to turn on/off the Face Detection feature that detects Faces and automatically adjust the brightness and picture quality recorded. Sound clarity is exceptional with the ability to record in Dolby 5.1 surround system. And the OIS ensures stable video shots. The cams weighs a mere 337g using the standard battery. You hold the body by the palm of your hand. And record using the 2.7 inch, 300,000 pixel, LCD screen.

You can also use the cam as your back-up camera. It takes 2.1mp pictures. And can shoot 25frames/second or 72 shots in 3 seconds in high speed burst mode. A built-in flash ensures clear shots indoors.

There are various optional accessories you can buy to expand the functionality of the SD9 such as wide/tele converter lenses and video dc light.

On the negative side, Panasonic chose to hide the A/C and HDMI plugs behind the battery. You have to remove the battery to plug-in the A/C and HDMI cables. The other negative is the supplied software is inadequate for editing AVCHD videos.

This is a superb camcorder to own despite the negatives. It may not be the smallest but sure is fun to use. And despite bad reviews by bias websites, you will not be disappointed by videos it records. The best judge will be YOU.

A new and fun application to view entertainment and information content on your PDA is Zumobi. It comprises of 16 tiles, grouped into 4, to view information such as weather, stocks, news, and entertainment. Pressing the "z" will zoom-in on 4 tiles that displays a downsized content version on your screen. Tap a particular tile to see the full information. To zoom-out just tap the "z".

Tile content is still limited. You only have Associate Press for News. Other tiles of interest are Engadget, Weather, MTV Movie, Chinese Horoscope and DIY. And hopefully, more tile content will be available within the year.

You may also need to have a PDA with a speed of at least 400mhz to enjoy the use of this application. And a wi-fi or broadband plan to retrieve and update tile information. Click on www.zumobi.com to download the software. :)

SlideIt- a revolutionary text input for PDA's!

There are numerous text input alternatives for PDAs. And all fall short of my expectation in terms of speed to ender text. Enter SlideIt developed by Dr. Daniel Suraqi. His concept is to tap and slide letters to form a word. Does it work? The answer- YES!

Finally, a solution to speed-up your text input on your PDA. To form the word "YOU' tap on Y and slide the stylus to all the remaining letters. Then lift your stylus and a SPACE is automatically created to enter your next word. You can see word suggestions on the left side of the PDA screen which you can tap for quicker text input. For numbers and special characters, you may opt to write using graffiti in the left side of your PDA. I suggest you download and try the software. There is no trial expiration but only a nagging ad to purchase this revolutionary application.

There are 2 caveats to note. First, it is not possible to use the SLIDE mode when typing words such as www, Yahoo, and Google. The application will guess and input the best possible word that fits your first three letters. You have to turn-off the SLIDE mode and manually tap each letter on the keyboard. I have given an email to the developer to ask him to incorporate a feature that will turn-off word suggestions on SLIDE mode. And I received a positive YES reply.

Second, the developer is asking a steep price for the software at US$40.00! That is big price to pay. But for PDA users with lots of text to write - IT'S WORTH IT! No alternative text input application can compare with SlideIt- IPHONE included.

You can download and try the application at http://www.mobiletextinput.com/Product/SlideIT/SlideIT.php.

A new life to your old Canon Powershot Cameras!

Got an old Canon Power Shot camera? This includes the SD and G models. Sure looks outdated. But cheer up! All is not lost! Go visit the URL- http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK. And bring life to your old Canon. The most important new feature is the ability to record in RAW mode. Can my old Canon do that? Why did Canon not include RAW? Probably Canon feared that enabling RAW in their Compacts will erode sales of their DLSR line.

First step is to check if your model is supported. And then download the approriate HACK to your camera's memory card. And choose FIRMWARE UPDATE from your Camera Menu. Presto! You now can shoot in both RAW and JPEG. You can alter your shot to your desire without losing precious details due to JPEG. The hack does not alter your Camera's firmware. It only appends to your firmware. You can remove it anytime you want.

I tried the hack on my Canon Powershot A700. And have not experienced any problems. You get the option to save the RAW file in a separate folder or JPEG folder. It took approximately 3 seconds to save the file to my memory Card. Other cool features - a Histogram display when taking your shot, Under/Over exposure indicators, and 2 GAMES- reversi and sokoban. :)