I received a request from an iPhone owner who wants to be able to use his PC internet subscription on his phone. In this article, I present a tutorial on how to setup a wireless hotspot on your notebook and browse with your Wi-fi enabled phone through that wireless connection.

The idea is that you can bypass your GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSPDA network and save some cash (please be sure to send a donation!).

On to the business at hand…

Stage One: Setup your WLAN Network

1. On your notebook, go to Control panel
2. Click to open “Network Connections”
3. Right click on “Wireless Connection” and click on “Properties”
4. Click on the “Wireless Networks” tab and select the check-box tagged “Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings”
5. Under “Prefered networks” click “Add”
6. In the text box labelled “Network name”, type in a name for your network
7. Under “Network Authentication”, select “Open” or “Shared” (shared is more secure)
8. Under Data encryption select “WEP” and type in your password in “Network Key” field. Use a 5-character password. Click “OK”
9. In the list of preferred networks, you should now see your new wireless network.
10. Select/highlight your network, then click on the “Advanced” button. Select “Computer-to-computer (ad hoc) networks only” and hit the “Close” button.
11. Click “OK” to close the box

Stage Two: Share Your Internet Subscription Through the New Network

In all probability, you have a subscription from Starcomms, DirectOnPC or iWireless, or some other ISP

1. In Control Panel, click to open “Network Connections”
2. Look for your ISP connection, right click it and select “Properties”
3. Go to the “Advanced” tab and under “Internet Connection Sharing” check the box which says “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection”
4. Right below it is a selection box. Choose “Wireless Network Connection”
5. Click “OK”. That’s it. Your very own WLAn hotspot is ready!

The Rest…

Enable WLAN on your notebook (hardware button or desktop icon). Then set your phone (in this case my Nokia E90) to search for available WLAN networks. Your new network should be discovered and displayed. Works a treat here, and I’m browsing on my commie at breakneck speeds (I have a HSDPA link on my notebook).

When asked for your WEP key, enter your 5-character password, and depending on the device complete the process and start browsing!

Feel free to ask your questions using the comment box below. Just be sure to give as much details as possible.

We are building a directory of Nigerian mobile sites.

So, please post the URL of your WAPsites and mobile-friendly/mobile-OK sites in the comments box below. In addition, if your website has a separate mobile version, please post the address to that as well.

Thanks!

Finally, those of us with GPS enabled phones in Nigeria can now at least put them to use, albeit in a limited way.

In the past, most navigation applications that run on GPS enabled devices didn’t come with support for Nigeria and that included the widely popular Google maps. But that has changed now with the release of the latest version (3.0.1.4) of Google maps for s60 devices.
Google maps loaded the map of Lagos when I launched it and it pinpointed my location.

Features like getting direction from your current location to a new location are currently not working, but we can expect that with further updates of the software more and more features will have support for Nigeria.

In case you are itching to see your street on your phone, move over to http://m.google.com on your s60 browser to download the software. And don’t forget to give us feedback of your experiences and impressions.

Traditionally, the Mobility Nigeria team has focused on reviews of higher end mobile devices. In truth, that is where most of the action have been for years. The higher end of the mobile market is always the cutting edge, and that is what we have focused on.

However, with the current economic climate we understand that many phone users will be looking more at the mid-tier range for a balance between cost and features – and that makes a lot of sense.

We also see that manufacturers are now in a drive to push out some high-specs mid-tier devices. Think of the Nokia 5800 and the E63. Under normal circumstances, devices with those capabilities didn’t come at those prices.

But even the 5800 is still in the higher bracket of the mid-tier. On the lower rungs of the mid-tier are some interesting devices that we will be bringing your way.

Help Us Bring You These Great Reviews

You can help us bring you more great reviews by patronising Alireta for all your mobile phone purchases. Here are some of the benefits of buying from Alireta:

1. – our team of consultants will help you narrow your choices down to the best 3 devices suited to your needs and budget
2. – have your phone delivered to your home or office
3. – have your phone configured for internet and/or email via GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSDPA on your network (optional, and also network-dependent)
4. – enjoy the option of a 30-day instalment plan i.e. put down a deposit of 75% of phone cost, and a cheque for the balance to be presented within 30 days, and take immediate possession of phone
5. – upgrade phones purchased from us within 365 days of purchase by trading them in for new ones
6. – enjoy telephone and email support on phone usage, features, troubleshooting, and data configuration (9am – 4pm, Mondays through Friday)

Call 0808 439 1076 or 0806 216 7275 to place your order.

Until now, I had never purchased nor used an LG device. I got this device out of a spirit of adventure. The QWERTY keyboard onboard such a mid-tier device was an object of fascination for me.

The KS360 has ended up a bundle of surprises, and I bet that you are itching to find out for yourself. So, let’s cut to the chase…

Quick Stats:
1. GPRS/EDGE
2. 240 x 320 pixel screen + touch dialling
3. 2 megapixel camera (no flash; no autofocus)
4. Side Slider form factor
5. Bluetooth, USB
6. WAP 2.0/XHTML browser
7. Email client
8. 15mb shared memory + MicroSD slot
9. Slide-out QWERTY keyboard

Form factor, Display, and Keypad

The KS360 looks like the regular slider phone – except that the slider opens sideways this time to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. In size, its also quite compact.

The KS360 spots a huge 2.4-inch display that takes up most of the front. Below the display are several buttons, including a clusted navigational set, two soft key buttons, hang up and dial buttons, a “C” button that takes you a step back in whatever menu you are in. The last button is that which activates the touchscreen dialer.

This touchscreen dialer gives you numeric as well as alphabet keys for either typing in a number or typing out a name from the contacts application respectively. The implementation of this touchscreen dialer is beautiful, and it works well. Note though that the touchscreen functionality is avaoilable only in the standby mode with the slider closed. How did LG pull that?

The LG KS360 has well thought-out ergonomics. With slider closed, it fees good in the hand, and is very comfortable even with the QWERTY keyboard slid out.

The display is quite brilliant, and bright. It is one of the better displays in this price bracket. You are also able to adjust the brightness and time-out.

Slide out the QWERTY keyboard, and the display rotates to landscape mode. In this mode, you can hammer out your email, and text messages, and also enter text into webpages.

The QWERTY keys are small but slightly domed for easier usability. The keyboard works well, but don’t expect the most spectacular performance for a phone this size. The smaller a phone is, usually the more of comfort and usability is given up with text entry.

The spring-loaded keyboard slides in and out smoothly, and feels very well built. Actually, the whole device has a feel of sturdiness and quality, though it is made of plastic.

Multimedia

The KS360 has a fixed focus 2MPX camera that delivers good shots. No; not great or spectacular shots. But what do you expect from a 2MPX camera without flash, and without autofocus?

Close-up shots in good lighting come out fine. Anything beyond that is more of a hit-and-miss affair.

Video playback is included in the KS360. Anything above 20 frames per second, though, and playback gets jerky and unstable. I converted a number of DVD movies to MP4 at 15 fps, and they played smoothly. Of course, 15fps meant that the video quality was greatly tampered with.

The KS360 has a built-in MP3 player too. It is quite basic, and produces fairly good sound in terms of quality and loudness. If you are a music buff who is used to iPod-like quality music, however, stay away.

Part two coming up shortly. I am deliberately breaking this review into paarts so as to keep page size down for those browsing on mobile.

Here’s a short video clip of the LG KS360 QWERTY keyboard device. My full review still on the way!

LG KS360 Video (6.2mb)

Every year, to mark my birthday, I treat myself to a new mobile phone. Usually, it is a smartphone. This year, however, I have departed slightly from the regular pattern and gotten myself a mid-tier non-smartphone.

While traditionally a Nokia and Sony Ericsson fan, I have been getting quite adventurous for some time now, straying into the territory of other manufacturers, including Palm and Samsung. Well, the adventurous streak in me is apparently still at work.

I got myself an LG this time. My very first LG. Yes; life’s good!

The LG KS360

The KS360 is an interesting device from LG that sports a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a stunning 240 x 320 pixel, 2.4 inch, display with touch screen dialling functionality, GPRS and EDGE, Bluetooth, 2 MPX camera, FM radio, threaded SMS view, and microSD slot, among others. It is primarilly targeted at heavy messaging people.

KS360 beside the E90

The size difference is amazing! The KS360 is the size of a regular phone and weighs only 108g.

The KS360 with Keyboard Slid Out

I’ll be doing a full review soon, so watch this space!

In June 2005, Mobile Africa published an article in which Mr. Tayo Ajakaye raised issues (and some very valid ones too) about the quality of value added services being provided by GSM network operators (see: Value Added Services: Who Uses Them?

I followed that article with a rejoinder, RE: Value Added Services: Who Uses Them?, in which I faulted Mr. Ajakaiye’s argument, though I agreed with him that quality of service needed (and gasp – still needs) improvement.

Who uses value added services? Let’s look at two popular ones: Mobile Internet and SMS.

Mobile Internet
Let’s take WAP (mobile internet): Opera’s State of the Mobile Web report for 2008 says that Nigeria was the 2nd fastest growing mobile internet community in the period under review (with 1854% growth), and is currently globally number 12 on the mobile internet usage scale.

An incredibly large number of Nigerians must be using value added services. As far back as 2006, the BBC had reported that in July of that year, 61% of its international traffic from mobile devices (a whopping 13.2 million page views in one month alone) was from Nigeria.

SMS

Let’s not go there. The SMS market is so rich today that there’s no point flogging the statistics. TV reality shows run interactive SMS campaigns, businesses and non-profit organisations use SMS notifications to reach their target audiences, and there are already interactive SMS applications deployed for instance in banking, financial, and web hosting services.

An incredibly huge amount of Nigerians have been using value added services for years.

Are these services perfect yet? Dream on. It is a long road ahead, but warts and all, value added services by GSM (and CDMA) operators have made a huge difference in the Nigeria before GSM and Nigeria after GSM.

Mobile value added services are here to stay.

Traditionally, smartphones have always had an edge over and above feature phones (non-smartphones). Smartphone users were the cream-of-the-crop, so to speak.

You see, on smartphones, you had the best of features. You had multi-tasking – that rare ability to run several appliccations at the same time and simply switch from one to another. And of course, with smartphones, you had the ability to install 3rd party applications. All these literally set smartphones aside from other phones and made them mini PCs.

But over the last 2 to 3 years, the line between smartphones and feature phones have continually been erased, so much so that what is left in some cases is a very thin – almost indiscernable – line.

There are a number of feature phones from various manufacturers that now come with multi-tasking and high-end features. All that separates some of these outstanding feature phones from smartphones is their inability to install 3rd party applications. Of course, there’s java (J2ME) to bridge even this last gap a little.

Look at the iPhone, for example. Though marketed as a smartphone, this beautiful device did not qualify on at least two fronts when first introduced:

1. it lacked multi-tasking
2. it lacked an openeness to 3rd party applications

Yet, it was successfully passed off as a smartphone.

Several feature phones from Nokia, LG, Samsung and others already pack the same features and capabilities as smartphones, bar installation of 3rd party apps and multi-tasking. LG in particular is breaking down the barrier even better than Nokia and Samsung by introducing multi-tasking into a good range of their feature phones.

Is there really any serious difference between the overall capabilities of feature phones and smartphones anymore?

I purchased a top-of-the-range smartphone late last year, the Nokia E90 communicator, but found that there was very little 3rd party applications that I needed to run on it. The device came with most of those features I needed built-in.

Now compare that with several high-specified feature phones. Those too come with many of my requirements built-in, and where necesarry there are often a number of java applications available to fill in the gap.

Would I be wrong to argue that a non-smartphone with a similar feature-set as my E90 would have been able to meet my needs just as well?

What do you think? Is this the beginning of the war between smartphones and feature phones? Do you absolutely need a smartphone now, looking back at growing similarities between smartphones and non-smartphones?

Zain has announced a promo running from now till May 31. For every minute you call another Zain line, Zain pays for the next.

Basically, you pay for two minutes on a four-minute call. So, just start calling!

If you change phones a lot for any reason, you must be familiar with the problem of transferring your contacts.

One way to solve that problem is to regularly backup your files. But this does not have to be limited to just contacts. Other files, such as SMS, pictures and calendar entries, can be backed up too.

If you have a PC, you can backup your phone via whatever PC Suite the manufacturer supports. If not, an online backup service is a viable alternative.

ZYB is an online sysstem that backs up all the contact information on your phone to the internet. ZYB automatically updates your contacts, on the phone and internet, whenever you or your friends change or add information. This basic functionality is free.

Basically, you need a GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSDPA connection, and you can backup and restore your files anywhere, anytime as long as you are within network coverage.

You can also backup your contacts by sending SMS to a predefined number. Picture backups can be done via MMS as well.

The advantage of thee online sservice is that you are not tied to doing backups and restores from just one location (wherever your PC happens to be).

In addition to backing up contacts, ZYB also backs up your calendar entries. You can also backup your SMS, pictures and videos for a small subscription.

In addition, ZYB shows you your frieends’ Social updates from Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Hyves and blogs.

Sounds like something you could use? Then head over to ZYB.COM to signup free and Keep your phone in sync.

According to Wikipedia, Mobile Number Portability (MNP) enables users to retain their mobile numbers when they wish to change from one mobile network to another. For instance, I can retain my Glo number when switching to the Etisalat network – this means I will make calls and send messages at Etisalat’s tariffs. When I call friends and family, my Glo number is displayed.

There are 2 ways in which MNP can be implemented – the more popular method is for the customer to contact the new operator (Recipient) who then makes the arrangements on behalf of the subscriber with the old operator (Donor). The other, only practised in the UK for now, only allows the subscriber to contact his old network (the Donor) to obtain a code which he then gives to the Recipient.There are several technical issues involved in MNP but the most significant is the routing of calls and messages to the mobile number once it has been ported. The widely accepted means is through the use of a Central Database (CDB) of ported numbers. Worldwide, porting times have varied from as fast as 3 minutes in Australia to 2 hours in the US and currently 2 working days in the UK. The service has been mostly free in most countries but has also attracted a minimal charge in some. MNP costs about 30 Euros in Germany.

The idea of MNP was first mooted in Nigeria by the NCC in 2007 but since then little has been heard of it. Some of the reasons given for its proposed introduction back then were to break operators’ monopoly of numbers, help reduce complaints of poor quality of service/improve quality of service and reduction of tariffs. As at 2007, Engr Ndukwe was credited with saying that it would only require a dial to migrate from one mobile network to another. Other technical officials were quoted to have said that the service might attract a “little” cost to subscribers.

Recently, in a March 31, 2009 article on NEXT, Engr Ndukwe has set May 2009 as the date for the announcement of a timetable for MNP takeoff. On the mode of implementation, he said that the NCC will be working with an independent company which would be responsible for subscribers wishing to retain their mobile numbers while switching networks. He also revealed that the operators were on board and ready.

However, no mention has been made of the cost implications to the subscriber (if any). Aside this, how long will it take to carry out the change-over process (porting time)? Also, to prevent abuse of the system how often can one change operators over what time period? Is MNP going to be limited to GSM or are the CDMA networks involved too?

The benefits of MNP are immense for any telecoms market. It will truly create an atmosphere for competition. Operators can be free to roll out better packages for subscribers without restrictions (within limits, that is). New entrants are also better positioned to compete favourably as they can be judged by the quality of their service and products. In the long run, the customer, as king, benefits the most – increased choices, ability to retain your mobile number, improved service, lower tariffs. On the other hand, the system could be abused by subscribers who flit from operator to operator at the slightest whim. Also, there could be underhand practices from operators who want to hold on to their customers at all costs. This calls for proper regulation by NCC and the establishment of proper and adequate protocols for the process and regular reviews to ensure compliance.

All in all, I am eagerly awaiting the advent of MNP here in Nigeria. Maybe, just maybe, it will be the harbinger of better things in the telecoms industry.