My New Onkyo Home Theater

Finally I'd bought my home theater to go with my 50" Full HD Plasma. I had initially gave up the hope of getting an AVR and just get those Samsung or Panny's home theater system but when I saw this baby, I know I need to have it. It's Onkyo HT-S5300 home theater set which come with 7.1 system. The best part, it also come with an iPod/iPhone dock (charging) to go with it. How cool is that. I had initially plan to get a 5.1 system but since this system can go up to 7.1, I guess I can always use it later on when I have an AV room of my own. 

The HT-S5300 home theater comes with Onkyo's R580 AV receiver. It supports the new HDMI v.1.4a (which support 3D and Audio Return Channel). Although I am not currently using a 3D-TV but at least I am ready for it if I do upgrade in the future. It comes with audio & 1080p video processing via HDMI and I have 4 of those on the input and 1 output. I'm currently plugging in my Unifi TV box and also Media Player into the AVR. I still have two more for future use (i.e PS3 or XBox) and also Blu-Ray player. As usual, the AVR supports the highest level of sound like:

• Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD High-Resolution Audio;
• Dolby Pro-Logic IIz which features 2 more front high speaker input and 
• Burr-Brown 192 kHz/24-bit DAC (PCM1690) for all Channels. 

There's plenty of stuff in the specification sheet but I do not know from one to the other so no point writing it all out in here. 

The home theater come with one big 25cm Cone Sub-Woofer . Particularly like the conic legs underneath. Makes it look so classy. This baby weights 10.7kg. Not that heavy actually.

As mentioned the home theater is a 7.1 sound system so it means there's 7 speakers and one sub-woofer. The top horizontal one would be the center front speaker. It has a max. input power of 130W with 6 Ohms impedance. The two tall vertical speaker underneath the center speaker would be the front surround speakers. And the 4 smaller ones would be the surround and surround back speakers.

Lastly the iPod/iPhone dock for connecting my music with the AVR and also movies (480p only). The dock is so slick since it's a match with the AVR. And most importantly it charges my iDevice at the same time. How cool~!

So here's a rough diagram showing how a 7.1 surround system is being place. Being the geographical nature of my current living room. I am not able to place the 4 remaining surround and surround back speakers for the time being. Maybe I really need to do some modification on my plaster ceiling to pull the cables back from the AVR. For the time being, just gonna enjoy the current 3.1 system (which sound sound good on DTS). Tested my new home theater on Resident Evil and Ip Man 2 on DTS. Damn the sound system was so blardy loud. But as the technician said, the speakers need to be season in due time for better sound quality. Well let's see then. For the time being, gonna copy some DTS movies from my friends to test my new baby out.

(Picture courtesy of Cbiz)

New Toy @ Home

Finally my new toy had arrived. My friend initially told me I can get it on Sunday but at the end since most of his staff was not free, the delivery need to be delayed to Monday. Had waited in the house anxiously waiting for the cargo to arrived. Actually I never saw a 50" Plasma box before. I saw 42" or maybe 47" in the shop and it's really large. Finally when I saw them carrying down the box, it was really large. The plasma itself weight more than 30kgs. So they opened the box up and started to set up the stand as I am putting in on my new TV console soon. Nope, not hanging it on the wall. 

Well, since my TV console is not here yet. The plasma will just have to sit on the floor for the time being. My media player on the left white the iPTV box on the right. Just nice. Gonna bring down the router and add in a switcher too after the TV console had been installed hopefully by the week end. Quickly tested the quality of the plasma with some of the Full HD movies downloaded from my friend's achieve. What better movie to test rather than Avatar. And no that is not Avatar on the screen, it's Resident Evil IV on 1080 also . 

As you can see, the old 21" CRT next to the new 50" Plasma. It's like David & Goliath. Still flicking around with the settings and I am really glad right now that I am locating my Plasma under the stairs now. Cause it's far away from my sliding window which will give reflection issue if you are gonna watch it in the afternoon. Now I don't have to worry about glaring and other lighting issues. I can even use the plasma to go online and check in Facebook. Cool~! 

Full HD or 3D Plasma?

I posted few weeks back of my interest to get a Panny 50" Plasma. But as I was shopping around Ikano last weekend, I stumbled upon LG's 3D Plasma inside Harvey Norman. Checked out the spec and all, and everything seemed to be in place with Panny's U30K model. The only difference would be Panny come with Full HD while LG come with HD Ready. But then again, LG's PW450 is a 3D Plasma. So which is more important? What is so special bout this 3D plasma you asked? Well for one, it's their new technology using passive 3D rather than the conventional active which you see everywhere. So what's the different between passive & active you ask? Here's a few advantages which they claimed on their new passive 3D technology. 

1. Flicker Free
2. Light and Comfortable
3. Battery Free
4. Reasonable for extra glasses 
5. Brighter Screen
6. Flexible Viewing Angle (wide angle)

But they do have their limitation such as vertical limitation which I still haven't tested it out. The active 3D uses 1080 on each eye which means they are showing you true HD whereas passive cut down the resolution into half on each eyes to 540. You will see the difference if you really look carefully but I don't think that is really a major issue here. Most importantly it's flicker free which means you won't feel dizzy or nausea once you take off the glasses. It's light and so comfortable that you don't even know that you're wearing them. You don't have to recharge the glasses as there's no battery needed. And the glasses are so darn cheap. You can get extra 5 pairs of them for less than RM200 as compared to active glasses which cost you close to RM400 a piece. You can have a wide angle of viewing on this passive technology as compared to active which restrict to a certain angle only. 

So coming back to my predicament of either Full HD or 3D. Do I need Full HD or not? I did read around forums and reviews about this. They all agreed that for a 50" TV and with the recommended distance, you can't really see the difference between them two. Unless you're sitting 2.5m away from it, you won't really notice any difference between a Full HD or HD Ready TV. I had personally tested this last night by watching Panny's X and U series side by side. At a distance of 3m and less, you can still see the difference in sharpness on the wording especially. But if you go further back, you can't differentiate them two. I am sitting 13feet away from my TV at home, so I guess I won't see any difference. Picture quality, contrast and brightness is the same. Even if you're playing games or watching a movie at home. 

Then come the question of, "Do I really need 3D?". Since there isn't much 3D movies out there for the time being but 3DTV is the way to go in the future. The good thing about LG's new 3DTV is that, you can convert normal 2D to 3D. It's not true 3D but you do have the depth difference after switching it on and wearing those glasses. Another cool feature is the control of depth for the 3D. This comes useful for me since I am sitting further away hence I need a deeper depth in the 3D effect. So confusing on which to purchase now actually. And another  thing, LG's model has a higher resolution of 3M:1 while Panny only 2M:1. Not sure if this makes any significant difference over here or not. Never really have the chance to compare U30K and PW450 side by side till date. I need to decide soon as I really need a good TV for my home. For my video, you can watch it [HERE].

Street Fighter IV Volts

I was browsing the new apps section in iTunes when I came across this. It's Street Fighter IV Volts. It'd just released on the 30t Jun. I only managed to download it the next day since I need for it to be available in the free section. There is a new introduction price for this new apps as follow:

**FIGHT TIME SALES**

For limited time, we are offering “Street Fighter IV VOLT -Battle Protocol-(Fixed price $6.99)“ for below price!!

“Starting” 2011/6/30 : $0.99
From 2011/7/1 00:00am PST : $1.99
From 2011/7/2 00:00am PST : $2.99
From 2011/7/3 00:00am PST : $3.99
From 2011/7/4 00:00am PST : $4.99
From 2011/7/5 00:00am PST : $5.99
From 2011/7/6 00:00am PST : $6.99 (Fixed price)

Price goes up one day at time so get while you can!!

So if you are getting it today, you can still save $1 from it's fixed price of $6.99. Anyway, what is new from this installment of Street Fighter IV Volts from it's predecessor? Well for one, it has 3 new characters namely, Barlog, Vega and Cody. The graphics seemed to be almost the same with the predecessor but with some minor change in the Ultra Combos execution CG. I trust that Capcom is doing as much as possible to mimic the iPhone version of the game with it's Arcade or PS3. I still can't really feel the Retina Display on the game here but it's still a very awesome game. 

Other than the 3 new characters, the developer had also added a new feature which enable the players to fight against other players around the world via WiFi. Yup, you heard me right, you will be challenge by anybody anytime if you enable your WiFi. I was surprised too when I was being challenged during my first time playing this new version. But it was very laggy from my side. Not sure how it was from the other end though. Mind you I am using my home's Unifi line that time.You can earn points and status after each duel and show it to the world. Pretty nifty, since you can now brag to your friends of your awesome-ness. hahaha!   

My First Media Player - HiMedia H600A

Finally I'd decided on my media player after some long online searching through forums. The winner is HiMedia from China. OK, I know some of you are probably thinking how good is a China made product is. Well, this could be the heavy weight champion of the media player if I do say so myself. And the price is really reasonable too. You can probably get a media player for less than RM100 nowadays but I am looking for something that support 1080p Full HD for my coming plasma TV. So I need something good and also not burn my wallet at the same time. You can have other more expensive brand like Ac Ryan HD2 or Western Digital's Media TV, but those price tag will go as high as RM500-RM600 and above. So I don't need that. 

I am looking for something that support most of the common video files like, *iso, *ts, *mkv, *avi and *rmvb. Second would be the video format which support from 480p up to 1080p (60Hz). So for 1080p I will need a HDMI 1.3 input from the media player which is really important. Not many players out there which support a 1.4 version of the HDMI but I am not using that for my Plasma so it doesn't make any different here. I heard that v1.4 only applicable for 3D-LED for their high speed transfer. Another important thing is the user friendly GUI and also redesigned remote control. The remote control is really solid and has all the short cuts available with a single push of a button. It doesn't really look like anything from China in fact. 

Just tested it out with my old 20" CRT TV the whole weekend and was really satisfied by it. But using it on a 20" CRT is like installing a turbo charge engine inside a Kancil. LOLX! Now I am still thinking whether to wait for the new LG's PV250 50" FHD Plasma or just get Panny's U30K instead. Contemplating~!!! 

Which TV To Buy?

Finally I am moving nearer to my home entertainment system. I am getting a TV soon and had been discussing with my neighbors and friends bout it. I had been scouting around for months deciding what to buy. LCD, Plasma or LED. Some friends are recommending LCD but some of my more experience AV fans had recommended Plasma instead. But I too considered LED for a while since I can get a smaller size LED for the same price of a larger Plasma. But all of that is behind me as I had decided to go with Plasma now after long consideration. I had been eyeing for LG's 50" Full HD Plasma since early this year. Price is within my budget but since I haven't moved in my house (at that time) I had put the idea on hold. 

Now I had moved in and it's time to get myself a decent TV. So my quest continues where it left off last time for a home entertainment. I was again faced with a decision either to go with a 3D Plasma since the color is more darker and reflection issue is lower on it's panel. But definitely the price of a 3D Plasma would be higher comparing with the standard one. At the end decided to go with the normal one. Now is the brand issue. As mentioned earlier, I had been eyeing for LG for so long but lately my friends had recommended me Panny and   well, the thing that hinder me of it was the pricing. But now my friend was able to give me a really price for the Panny Plasma that is similar to LG. How can I say no. 

Can't wait to go test out the Panny new 50" Plasma this week. Gonna mostly test on it's USB connectivity and the files that it support. Since we download a lot of movies, so the model should be able to support the common files nowadays. Hopefully I can bring the baby home early next month so I can enjoy my shows through my Unifi in HD quality. And moving one step closer to buy my PS3 too. lolx!! It's such a good time to dream in the morning when my head is still half awake. After getting my Plasma, the next would be getting a good soundbar to support it. But that is another story la~ 

Digi's iPhone 3GS Is Finally OUT!

So finally the day is here. Digi finally announced the packages available for their iPhone 3G/3GS. I think a lot of people are quite eager waiting for the announcement. As everyone is waiting what is their promotion and how good it is compared to the current offered by Maxis. So here goes:

Here's Digi Plan and below is the one from Maxis which I upload for you to compare for yourself. 

And since they know Digi is coming out with iPhone, they have this RM200 'subsidy' for all. Haha!!!

This is for their iPhone 3GS - 32GB

And iPhone 3GS - 16GB

So is it as good as it seemed. Well it all depends on your preference. I mean if you are a new user, you might go with Digi as their plan is slightly cheaper compared to Maxis but not too much. The main highlight would be the massive data internet usage everyone that you can get. But do we need that much of data? I mean, I am using 500MB per month and I don't even used half of it sometimes. Well, unless you wanted to use your iPhone as a modem and go online with your laptop that is. So it's all on your need. But at least you have another choice now rather than sticking to the same old Maxis.

TM's New HSBB - UniFi

If you are reading the news lately or been following updates on the broadband happenings, you would had heard about HSBB or High Speed Broad Band by TM. Finally it's been revealed by TM on Wednesday night of their new services called UniFi. The packages are divided into three category and is differentiated by it's speed (doh!) and monthly payment. So let's see what's their offer.

As you can see above, those are the standard services that comes together with the packages. You got a wireless phone, Hypp TV Channels, wireless router modem namely. But the difference here with the conventional Streamyx other than the speed is the download/upload speed. The download/upload speed for UniFi are the same whereas for Streamyx it's half of the other. Which means that if I am subscribing the 5Mbps, I am downloading and uploading at the same speed. The packages are divided into three they called VIP5, VIP10 and VIP20. VIP5 gives us 5Mbps, VIP10 is 10Mbps and VIP20 is 20Mbps. The price range are RM149, RM199 and RM249 monthly.

What is Hypp TV Channel you ask? Well it's IP-TV or Internet Protocol TV. Now you can watch TV online using broadband. What are your options? Well just check out the channels on top. Not a very wide selection as ASTRO but it's getting there I hope. There is a hot debate on the unbundled issue of the IP-TV but TM officials had stated that it's not an a la carte that we can choose as it's already bundled together.

There are also a lot of hot words flying in their Tweeter, when TM annouced that they are going to have a cap monthly (even daily) on the download. VIP5 is cap at 60GB, VIP10 at 90GB and 120GB for VIP20. But the cap had been suspended till further notice currently as TM received a lot of feedbacks from the users. Currently there are four areas in Klang Valley with 311,000 premises passed and has 500 trials users. The areas are mainly, Bangsar, Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya and Shah Alam. You can check at their website, http://tm.com.my/ to check your location availability. Let see how it goes for this new broadband. RM149 per month is still acceptable for me as I am not subscribing ASTRO and will not be doing it too. So it's still acceptable for me. How bout you?

iPhone OS 3.1.3

Apple had just released their latest OS for their iPhone and iPod Touch devices. So what is new with this OS 3.1.3 updates? Let's see, from the description of the updates, it seemed like it's just some minor bug fixes and not any major changes made. According to the key notes released on the new OS, the updates includes a number of bug fixes and enhancement on issue with 3rd party apps that can't be launch sometimes and most importantly enhanced the accuracy of the battery life on iPhone 3GS. You can download and install the new OS via iTunes update now. Note, the new OS 3.1.3 (7E18) also updates the baseband firmware, so for those who use software to unlocked their iPhone, please don't update.

For those (like me) who had JB their iPhone, it is not recommended to update to the new OS just yet. At least for iPhone 3GS, iPod 2G and iPod 3G this is still not possible yet. The Dev Team are still testing their beta RedSn0w 0.9.2 for the said models. But for iPhone 3G users, they can use the RedSn0w 0.9.2 to JB after updating to the new OS. Redsn0w only works (JB & unlock) for iPhone 2G but if you don't care about unlocking, then iPhone 3G go ahead. Please take note again, it doesn't work on iPhone 3GS. As always, be reminded that hacking your phone might void your warranty so please proceed with caution and at your own risk. Always back up your phones data before trying it out. Will update you all when either Dev Team or GeoHot managed to JB the new OS. So for the time being, will still stick with my OS 3.0.

iTunes 9.0.3

The new iTunes 9.0.3 was just released a day ago and let's see what the new update had in store for us. From the key notes release, there were some important improvement but comparing to the iTunes 9.0 being released last September it's still a long way to go. According to the new key notes, the new iTunes update fixes on some bugs related issues like

• iTunes no longer ignores your "Remember password for purchases" setting.
• Addresses problems with syncing some Smart Playlists and Podcasts with iPod.
• Resolves a problem recognizing when iPod is connected.
• Addresses issues that affect stability and performance.

The new iTunes 9.0.3 is available using your Apple Software update and the size of the file is approximately 98.03MB. Or you can download directly from this link. Enjoy~!

iPhone OS 4.0 Features LEAKED???

OK, when I said leaked, it's not the water leak but rather information on the features of the new and anticipated OS 4.0 for iPhone. What I heard is that people at Boy Genius Report heard some news from one of their trusted source about the new upcoming OS 4.0 for iPhone. Words has been around town that the people at Cupertino had been testing the new OS 4.0 few months back and rumors has it, it was for the new iPhone 4G. Excitement and anticipation are growing each day as everyone is waiting for D-Day on the 27th Jan at 10am, when Apple will reveal their 'Latest Creation'. iTable is a confirm agenda of the day but rumors are mounting that Apple is gonna show their Demo iPhone OS 4.0 on the same day too. Only selected media and people are invited for the special occasion. Now let's get back to the OS 4.0 features.

According to the trusted source, the good news about the new OS 4.0 is, allowing 3rd party iPhone apps to be run on the background. There is also a revamp on the GUI which said to be more user friendly. But do take note that these changes only applies to iPhone 3G, 3GS and newer version of iPod Touch. So for those who are still using 2G, it's time to upgrade. This is what BGR sources had to say about the new OS 4.0.

• There will be multi-touch gestures OS-wide. (Would make sense for that as the rumored OS for the iTablet is close if not the same as the iPhone)
• “A few new ways” to run applications in the background — multitasking.
• Many graphical and UI changes to make navigating through the OS easier and more efficient. We haven’t had this broken down, but we can only hope for improved notifications, a refreshed homescreen, etc.
• The update will supposedly be available for only the iPhone 3G
  
  
  
  
  and 3GS, but will “put them ahead in the smartphone market because it will make them more like full-fledged computers” more than any other phone to date. Everyone is “really excited.”
  
  
• The last piece of information is the most vague, but apparently there will be some brand new syncing ability for the contacts and calendar applications. 

It's really nice to hear that Apple had finally open up to 3rd party apps to run on their background. I am currently using ProSwitcher which is really useful and also user friendly for switching between apps without closing them. So if the new OS 4.0 is as good as it sound, I might even considered upgrading my OS 3.0.

Google's Nexus One - Now Available

Finally it had arrive or arriving in our shore. I am talking about Google's Nexus One hand phone that is. Actually the phone can only be purchase online from a few countries, namely US, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore. So I was browsing my usual forum and saw that a guy started selling this phone in there. You can go to the website here to check the phone out. But if you notice, once you entered the website, you will be prompted with a message on the side, "Sorry, Nexus One phone is not available in your country". Cause as I mentioned earlier, it's only available in those named countries only for now (market testing purposes).

So there is this guy who works in Singapore, that will book the phone for you if you wanted. And the price is RM2,300 (non-negotiable). How bout the warranty you ask. Well it's not bond by Google but you can claimed your limited 1-year warranty with HTC. If you bought it in EU countries, you got 2 years Limited Warranty. I am waiting for anyone who would buy the phone and let me play around with it one day. So let me know anyone of you who bought it and share with us what do you think of the new 'super phone'. You can even engrave your name or whatever on the phone too. Cool~!

PS: Multi touch function only available when you install dolphin (not the real dolphin!!).

Google's Nexus One Vs. Apple's iPhone 3GS

(please click image to enlarge)

Finally Google had unveiled their first smart phone or rather 'super' phone as they called it, Nexus One. As always, in any case, Google claimed that their device is more superior than the current smart phone hence the name Super Phone. I am not sure what they are going to name next? Super Duper Phone? Anyhow, let's see what does the phone has to offer. The units bares a 3.7" WVGA AMOLED touchscreen with a 5MP (2x Digital Zoom) and auto focus at the back. The video is running on 720x480 at 20 FPS and above. The machine runs on 512MB RAM with a storage of 4GB Micro SD Card (expandable to 32GB). It's powered by Snapdragon's 1GHz core processor with bundle in features.

Now let's see what are the key features that the phone has to offer. They have this built-in noise cancellation feature which I think is the only one in the market (I think). For smart phone users, we push a lot of apps in our phones. How do we differentiate them without opening the phone. Nexus offers a LED powered trackball which shows you what type of notification that you receive. Another cool feature (which I am not if we need it) is  the dynamic wallpapers feature which changes according to the user's activities. But the best would be the voice integration feature. To make it simple, you can practically tell/instruct the phone what to do. Every text field and applications are able to be control by just simply talking to it. It would be cool to not have to type your sms rather than just speak it out. But I am not sure how accurate it is though.

You can purchase the phone from Google's website if I get my information accurately. US consumers can opt to buy the phone only or with subsidized by T-Mobile which means you have to sign a contract with them. Well at least you have a choice there. Google announced that countries like UK, Singapore and Hong Kong will be able to purchase their phone. Google hinted that this is just the beginning or a lot more super phones coming from them and a signal to Apple to look out for them. According to the analysis done above, the price of Apple's iPhone is 50% more than Nexus and this might become a disadvantage to the prior. I had initially said that Apple's iPhone 4G would most probably be launch this year and well, we just need to see how that is going to impact Nexus One and the smart phone market. One thing for sure, there is a lot more to choose from for us consumers. But like I always said, iPhone can only be kill by a newer version of an iPhone.

iPhone Alarm Clock Dock

 

Recently I had been searching around for an alarm clock dock for my iPhone. Been to Low Yat, Digital Mall, PC Fair, Pyramid and well you name it, I am there. Saw a few units from Edifier and Altec at PC Fair but it was too pricey. I mean RM1K+ for an alarm clock? Not to say it's over priced and all but since it's a branded speaker so maybe it's worth something to those who know how to appreciate it. Anyway, I saw the above unit and it looked very simple and nice to operate with acceptable sound system. This is the only unit I found below RM250. Will most probably be getting this one if I can't find any other which I like.

Saw this unit from TDK called iCubic which has a better sound quality compared with the above Memorex. But then again, the LCD is a bit too small for me to read and I don't like the white color outlook as it will looked very dirty after awhile with all the dusk all over it. As this unit come with a built in woofer so the quality is better. Size is moderate and not too large. But the buttons seemed too plastic to me and a bit fragile. The price for this speaker is the same as the previous unit. But I prefer the first as it looked more elegant.

Actually I wanted to get this unit but it's too pricey again for me. It's called iHome and the sound quality is better. LED is large and clear which I like too. For this baby I need to fork out RM549. Just for a night stand alarm clock? Well, not for me. And most important for all the alarm clock above, it must be able to charge my iPhone in the process. I mean no point docking on it for music without charging it. Not all dock support iPhone so you need to test it out with the actual unit and see for yourself. Cause most of them are made for iPod Classic or Nano and some for Touch only. But the new ones should be compatible with all.

 

This unit isn't too bad either. It's called Moondance Home by Altec. Tested this baby out at Harvey Norman last night at Sunway. Sound quality is what you would expect from Altec, solid and transparent.  The unit also come with a remote control for you to play around with the music, FM channel and other usual stuff that you would find on a normal radio remote. This baby will cost me around RM475, so called PC Fair price.

Saw this baby during PC Fair by Edifier. Damn the speaker is large. I heard that it contain 6 speakers inside that large black piece of speaker at the back. This baby can really blast you back to the future from the size of that speaker. I think my iPhone will get damage from the sound vibration of the speaker after a period of time *kidding*. Anyway, the baby cost close to RM1,000. Worth it?

Jailbroken iPhone User - Take Note!!!

For those who had jailbroken their iPhone, this would be some serious news which you will need to take note. There had been two attacks on jailbroken iPhone previously with the first being just a warning while the second being a mild cough but the latest worm/virus attack on the phone is definitely something you need to take care off. For those who is so clever to jailbreak their iPhone and don't know how to reset their root password, well then please listen on.

Instructions to Install Mobile Terminal:

Step 1: Tap on the Cydia icon on your jailbroken iPhone to launch the application

Step 2: Open the 'Sections' tab on the bottom of the screen and select 'Terminal Support'

Step 3: From the list of packages, select and open 'Mobile Terminal'

Step 4: Tap on the 'Install' button and choose 'Confirm' to begin installation

Step 5: Once installation completes, tap on 'Close Window' button to finish the installation process.

Once mobile terminal is installed on your iPhone, you can proceed to changing the root password

Instructions to Change Root Password:

Step 1: Tap on the 'Mobile Terminal' icon on your iPhone Springboard to launch it.

Step 2: You are shown a black screen. Against the command prompt, type su and tap the return key.

Step 3: You are now prompted for the password. The default password for root is alpine. Input this text and tap the return key once again.

Step 4: You are now logged in as the root user. Against the command prompt, enter the command passwd and tap the return key.

Step 5: You will be prompted to enter a new password. Enter this new password and retype to confirm.

And please make sure that you don't forget the password that you had change as you might need to reset/restore your whole phone to set it again.

Google Phone?

Rumor had started to float around the net that Google is coming out with their own phone soon. If you all remembered, there are rumor back at 2007 that GPhone gonna be out at that time, but the rumor was brushed off by them eventually. People from TechCrunch strongly believe and confidence from the news that they had (somewhere) that Google is gonna launch their new phone really soon and get this, it's complete with Google branding. From what they heard, the phone would be Android based and manufactured by Korean phone maker, most probably LG. So you can expect the outlook to be really stylish and cool from them. The phone should be branded as Google as well.

TechCrunch also reported that the phone would be a data ONLY device and VoIP enable. In other words, all voice call will be routed over data services. Since the phone is integrated with Google Voice, all the contacts will be provided by Google itself. So what will this new device impact on the current iPhone market? Google had an advantage of open source whereas Apple lost out on their super strict policies on Apps developers. This might not be a competitor that Apple could just brush off like the other Palm Pre or even Android. Since Google planned to run on a data only service utilizing VoIP, this means that carrier would be greatly effected as they can bypass the lucrative voice call charges by using data lines for overseas calls.

But all of this are just rumors and we are not sure how true is it. But as mentioned, TechCrunch are strongly confident of this report. So we will just have to wait and see how it goes then.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Finally it's out. Sony Ericsson's next year big  gun is out of the dark. It's been called their flagship for next coming year. Xperia X10 or previously called SE X3 or SE Rachael. This is their first android featured phone. So everyone is looking forward for it. The phone has a large 4 inches, 65K color TFT capacitive touchscreen. It has the same scratch resistance screen as iPhone 3GS has. With a dimension of 119 x 63 x 13mm and weighing at 135 grams, this baby will really give a lot of smartphone in the market a run of their money. Imagine a 4 inch TFT screen for you to surf the net or viewing documents. We all know how useful that is nowadays.

Internally it has 1 GB of storage and 256 MB RAM running on Android OS 1.6 (Donut). The phone featured the new Snapdragon 1 GHz processor, so expect some really heavy duty processing speed from this baby. All the usual connectivity such as Class 10 GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, Bluetooth and USB 2.0 comes as a standard. Packed with a 8 MP, 3264 x 2488 pixel camera, this baby can take some really serious picture quality. Auto focus, LED flash and touch focus (similar to iPhone 3GS) is also featured in the phone. It comes with image stabilizer, face and smile detection software too. Something worth mentioning is the the digital compass in the phone which is similar to iPhone.

We are all expecting a lot from this new X3 next year and hopefully it's not as disappointing as X1 when it was launched previously. X1 boost a lot of hype during it's time but faded away quickly too. Although Android 2.0 (Eclair) had been launched but SE still stick with the older OS 1.6 (Donut) as they had some difficulty adjusting their proprietary UI for OS 2.0. Their launch for the baby would mostly be after the festive season which mean they will lose out on the big profit which they can earn but I guess the development team are more concern of the quality and stability of the phone upon launching rather than rushing out an uncompleted work. So we will all see what is this baby gonna impact the market next year.

8GB iPhone 3GS Coming Soon??

There are news saying that iPhone is going to launch a 8GB iPhone 3GS this coming festive season. The reason is because their rival Motorola are launching their new Droid Phone and this will definitely cause a stir in the smartphone market and in other word, Apple's share in the market. Verizon had a very good strategy by setting the upfront cost, average usage plan costs and the unlimited usage plan costs for both iPhone 3GS and Droid at almost the same level. Verizon had use the psychological approach to this battle as they are betting that at the same price and cost, buyers would always choose to go for a new gadget in the market rather than something which had already been in the market for some months already. So what will the people from Apple do? BoyGeniusReport had reported that Apple would be launching their new 8GB iPhone 3GS for as low as USD99 to counter Droid's 'attack'.There are speculation that the pricing of the new 8GB iPhone could some how hurt the current 16GB and 32GB iPhone which is much more expensive. But nothing is sure for now. They might opt for a limited time sales (during this festive season) for the 8GB iPhone but nothing is sure for now. We will all need to wait and see what will happen at the end of the year.

Sony Ericsson New Flagship

Finally the hand phone or rather smart phone from Sony Ericsson that all been waiting for had arrived into our shore. This smart phone is the best in their shelves right now. The phone best feature and worth mentioning would be their 12 Mega Pixel camera. Weighing at 126gram and boosting a 16M color TFT screen this baby comes with a 3.5 inch screen. This is one of their first smart phone with full touch screen feature. Played around with it today and found it to be a bit rigid. Although it's a new unit, but I found that the unit is a bit slow and hanged during some stage. But the camera is so damn nice. So how much do you need to pay to get this baby home? RM2499 which come with a VH300 Bluetooth Headset (worth RM169). But the sales girl told me that I can get it for RM2300 cash.

The second phone coming out together with Satio would be Aino. The phone is not fully touch screen as the touch screen is only available on the main screen before you unlock it. So you can play around with the pictures, movies or music store using the main screen without having to slide out the keyboard underneath it. And not forgetting the phone pack a 8 Mega Pixel camera too. The baby weight at 134gram and has a smaller screen size of 3.0 inch. Aino is the has the same display as Satio with a 16M color TFT screen. It has an internal 55MB of memory while Satio has a 128MB memory. Surprisingly, this phone looks more better and perform much better than Satio during the test drive I had with it. The retail price for this baby is RM1999 but I can get this for RM1830 cash according to her.

Last but not least an entry level phone from SE. The phone is 115 grams meaning that it's the lightest of the three. But come on, can you really feel if you're phone is 10 grams heavier? The display is TFT but only boost a 256K color. The screen is smaller with a 2.4 inch and a 60MB of internal memory. The camera is quite decent with a 5 Mega Pixel, auto focus and LED flash. It's just like your normal phone right now. So if you're looking for a simple yet high on the camera side, this is something for you. I didn't fool around long with this but from what I experience, it's not bad. Response quite fast and the camera is good. Come on, it's SE. Retail price starts from RM1099 for the phone. Didn't asked for special price for this phone but I guess it should be less than RM1K.

The blackra1n has arrived!!!

For those who had/plan to Jailbreak (JB) their iPhone & iPod, the name purplesn0w, redsn0w should be very familiar to them. Now George Hotz or more familiar with Geohot had finally released the all new blackra1n to JB the new OS 3.1.2 on any machine. As claimed by Geohot, the new blackra1n only requires 30 seconds to JB your phone running on OS 3.1.2. Even the ipt3 but is tethered. In order to boot it, you will require to rerun blackra1n.

But there are some warning to those who wanted to unlock their iPhone 3G & iPhone 3G S.

Warning 3g and 3gs unlockers, do not upgrade to 3.1.2 using iTunes if you want to keep your unlock. Baseband cannot be downgraded. Check out the dev team's offerings. Also blackra1n doesn't hacktivate.

Take note that blackra1n only JB your phone and doesn't unlock it. So for those who wanted to unlock their 3G and 3G S, you will need to wait for the iPhone Dev Team to release a new version of the PwangeTool which allows you to upgrade to JB iPhone running on OS 3.1.2 and also preserve the baseband.

If you just wanted to JB your phone and not unlocking it, then you can start to download blackra1n now from here. Always take note that hacking your iPhone could VOID its warranty. My advice is, backup all your data before before proceeding with the JB. Please take note that the author will not be liable for any damage to your device as this is just for personal sharing info only. Please proceed with CAUTION always.

PS: Thanks to Geohot again for this superb contribution.