Here at Mobility Nigeria, we predicted sometime back – and have stood our ground – that mobility is the future of personal computing.

With last week’s announcement by Nokia of the Booklet 3G (Nokia’s own take on mini Laptops), we just might be inching closer and closer to true mobility in the PC world. The Booklet 3G is essentially a netbook – a mini laptop, but a little bit more.

One of the things that the Nokia Booklet 3G brings to the PC world was included in Wikipedia’s list of the seven things that a mobile can do that a PC cannot do – the ability to stay connected all the time. See our article on that, The Modern Mobile Phone is Inherently Superior in Capability than a Laptop or Desktop PC.

The new device from Nokia will have always-on connectivity, thanks to a built-in 3G/HSDPA modem and a SIM card slot. With this inclusion, Wikipedia’s list has been reduced to six and the PC has taken one more step towards becoming truly mobile.

Battery life does not make it to Wikipedia’s list, but I think that one of the advantages that a mobile has over the laptop is the fact that its battery life lasts much longer than that of a laptop – many times going for more than 24 hours before running out. This, my humble opinion, is part of what true mobility entails. The Nokia Booklet 3G, while still not offering battery life that is at par with mobile phones boasts an impressive 12hrs of battery life. More and more, battery life is increasing on laptops, thus making them all the more truly mobile.

As we become more and more mobile, one wonders, “Will the mobile phone replace the laptop PCs or will the PCs become 100% mobile to the point where mobile phones are no longer needed?”

My thinking is that both will compliment each other to give a truly mobile experience.

I held out for as long as possible, hoping against hope that Zain Nigeria would have a re-think about some of their services.

No; I wasn’t asking for too much. I only needed stable mobile internet services. Because this is 2009, I also wanted that internet connection to be high speed. GPRS is good. EDGE is faster. 3G is not bad. But in 2009, anything short of a 3.5G connection does not qualify as high speed.

Recently, a Zain official confirmed to me that 3G and 3.5G are available (officially) only on post-paid SIMs. He spent time trying to convince me to migrate my line to a contract package. But I know better. I’ve had my fingers burnt on contracts a couple of times. I know others who have too.

But I was willing to stay with Zain on their pre-paid platform. You see I have high-speed internet connection at the office and at home, so I could tolerate GPRS or EDGE when out and about.

Then suddenly, Zain internet went bunkers. Tolerating GPRS/EDGE was one thing. Tolerating GPRS/EDGE that was not working was… well… you get the picture.

‘Dayo and others who know me well have been wondering why I have stayed with Zain this long. They know I normally have no qualms changing my line. It baffles them. It sort of baffles me too.

I finally gave in this morning. I just could not bear it any longer. I got myself a SIM from another network. When I popped in the new SIM, 3G/3.5G internet was ready and waiting. My Xperia X1 simply connected on schedule to download my mails. What bliss!

I am sure that Zain works for some people – perhaps people who want nothing than just voice and SMS; people who are not so into mobile internet; and people who do not need a high speed connection.

Mobile internet is primary on my list. SMS follows. Voice comes last. Yes; I’m wierd. Welcome to my world.

No; I am not so naive as to think that I won’t experience any issues with the new network. In Nigeria, that is wishful thinking. But at least, whatever it is I have to tolerate, I now have high-speed internet on the go. At least when it works.

Thanks to a heads-up from WAP Review, we present you the much welcome news that RIM, manufacturers of BlackBerry smartphones, have acquired TorchMobile, the developers of the Webkit-based Iris browser.

By way of a refresher, I reviewed the Iris browser on back in February of this year, and came off with positive impressions.

I also recently tried out the BlackBerry 8900 Curve, and found a great letdown and show-stopper – the highly limited web browser. Now with RIM’s acquisition of Iris, we can look forward to seeing a more modern and more impressive browser on future BlackBerry devices.

New lease of life for web browsing on BlackBerries – currently let down by limited web browser capabilities.

 

Webkit is dominating the mobile browser engine scene more and more, being the core for great browsers as found on the iPhone, Symbian smartphones, and Android smartphones. That is a huge chunk of the market.

RIM’s acquisition is certainly a smart one. The BlackBerry platform is about to become more attractive to mobile web users.

Consider this a sequel to Brymay’s earlier article on flashing ROMs, and you wouldn’t be off-the mark.

In the following discussion, Brymay correctly predicted that I would soon get bored and attempt a flash. Yes; he was correct. It took me only about two (2) weeks to arrive at that perfect state of boredom that geeks know too well.

Anyway, I rolled up my shirt sleeves today and gave it a go, transforming my X1 into an HTC clone running TouchFlo 3D. The flashing process was smooth and easy (thankfully).

Also, although I was shy of WM6.5 ROMs, Touch-IT v13.2, the ROM I downloaded turned out to be based on v6.5 – and I had no clue until it was purring smoothly on my device! Oh, well.

Touch-IT Xperience v13.2: My Thoughts

So far, this ROM has been impressive. While I have used installer/CAB versions of TouchFlo 3D (TF3D), this ROM update delivers a faster, smoother and sleeker experience. The difference is clear.

In addition, most of the issues on the TF3D CAB/panel installations don’t exist here. Landscape functionality is better, though there are a few glitches here and there.

It is a good job, but I’m still experimenting and will be sure to try out one or two others before settling down.

One thing I will be observing is battery life. Touch-IT v13.2 seems to have been optimised for performance and speed. How much impact that will make on battery life is yet to be seen.

Screenshots

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That’s it, folks. Now, who’s going to welcome me officially into the Windows Mobile ROM Flashers’ Club?

The following screenshots are of a clone of HTC’s sense user interface as first seen on the Android-powered HTC Hero smartphone.

You would be forgiven if you assumed that the screenshots are from a Hero. But you would be wrong. The following screenshots are from a Sony Ericsson Xperia X1.

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This Sense UI is a modification of SPB Shell 3.0, and works well so far.

Touchscreen responsiveness is good and landscape view is almost perfect, unlike the less than satisfactory landscape experience with Touch Flo 3D (not a ROM) I ran on the device earlier.

In my opinion, this is a keeper. Unless something better pops up, this is the UI I will keep active on my X1 for a long time.

The X1 is undoubtedly a very good smart communications device. Still, there are no perfect devices out there, so here are a few things that annoy me on this one:

1. The Panel Button: Why dedicate such a prominent button to a feature that one does not use so often? The button is hard-coded to let you switch panels – ONLY. Errr… that does not sound like something anyone should be doing daily. I wish I can re-map that button to do something more useful.
2. The back cover requires a plier to pry open each time. Perhaps this is why some X1 users have cracks on their cases?
3. The QWERTY keyboard needs more tactility. It works just fine, but could be better. Makes me long for my E90′s excellent keyboard.
4. Task Manager: I wish that the built-in Task Manager can be mapped to a hardware button (preferably the Panels button). That way, it is easier to switch between running programmes.
5. Loudspeaker: Why did SE put in such a small loudspeaker on this? There are software audio boosters to help boost the sound volume, but a bigger speaker (or two of the built-in one positioned on two separate sides of the device) would simply have been better
6. Active Sync: This is peculiar to all WM devices I have used. Active Sync is simply too obstructive in its operations. It distracts, annoys and gets on my nerves.

Well, that’s my list of irritants on the X1. None of the above is a deal-breaker for me. In all, the X1 seems to be a well-rounded smart device.

Have you used an X1? Do you have any other irritants? Are any of them deal-breakers for you?

There’s a discussion thread over at Nairaland focussed on Z3, the Zain 3G service. The gist is that the Z3 service is officially restricted to post-paid (contract) plans, though it appears that some very few non-contract lines are able access it (a system glitch?).

In addition, if what the original poster says is true, Z3 coverage is wider than we had supposed, but the majority of Zain subscribers are unable to access it simply because the service is not activated on their SIMs.

I am not able to confirm this right away, but I will find hunt out the truth of this matter. I have held on to my Zain line this long in hope that 3G will show up in the picture sometime soon. If this bit of news is true, I may be replacing my SIM with one from another network.

As much as I have shied away from another line change, I am just not excited about having no 3G access for a long time to come.

Anyone here has access to a Zain official in the know?

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Update: 20th August 2009
Dayo and I were at a Zain shop to ask about 3G service. We were able to confirm that Zain Nigeria’s official policy is that 3G service is available only on postpaid lines and data-only lines.

While the official I spoke with did his best to convince me to migrate to a contract package, I simply won’t. A GSM contract is always a bad idea.

I did purchase a data-only SIM to test out the official’s claim that Zain 3G is present in my area. Guess – it isn’t.

None of the above surprised Dayo, the eternal sceptic. Me? I really don’t care anymore.

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Mobile enthusiasts are awaiting the release of Window Mobile 6.5 later this year. As we have heard, it is an upgrade designed to improve the WinMo user interface prior to release of the much awaited Windows Mobile 7 in 2010.

To get Windows Mobile 6.5 when released, you have to buy a new WinMo device or upgrade if you have a compatible device released in 2009. But if you are desperate and impatient like me, you can get the various leaked WM6.5 ROMs floating in the WinMo community and flash them to your device.

One good reason for trying out WM6.5 ROM is the improved user interface which comes with finger friendly menus. Another reason is the new pocket internet explorer, referred to as IE6. It sports a revamped web browser built on the same code that runs the desktop version of Internet Explorer 6.

I flashed my HTC wizard with a ROM named “CR96 Touch HD”, a cooked job by Cracing of XDA Developers site.

Here are screen shots:

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If we eliminate the cost factor – in other words, the availability or non-availability of funds to buy the phone is not an issue – what existing mobile phone would you rather be using now?

Battery life on a smartphone is important to me. Afterall, the idea behind mobility is that one should be able to use his or her device out and about without it dying out in a short time.

Windows Mobile phones have not generally had a good reputation with respect to battery life. I have used a few, and all of them ran out of juice quickly. In comparison, my Symbian devices over the years (including my most recent, the E75) have performed excellently with regards to battery life. I just never really had to worry about carrying a charger about with those.

One of the 10 Gripes I had with the T-mobile G1 was battery life as well. The G1 simply had the worst battery life on any smartphone I had used in years. I carried the charger with me to the office, to church, when visiting my parents, and all the way back home.

I have had the Xperia X1 with me for a week now, and I must say that it has the best battery life of any Windows Mobile phone I have ever used. I haven’t had to worry about carrying a charger around, and even after a full day’s use, there’s plenty of juice left on the phone.

I have the email client connecting to my mail server every 30 minutes, I play music and video files for a few minutes daily, among other things, and the X1 has been impressive all through. Add to that the fact that it runs the Touch Flo 3D user interface panel and has been tweaked to improve performance using 3rd party apps (which should increase power consumption some), and you can perhaps understand why I am really impressed.

With the G1, going to bed with a fully-charged battery meant that I would have to charge it again before leaving home the next morning. With the X1, going to bed means the battery charge is usually hovering between 97 and 99% when I get up in the morning.

Believe me when I say that it is a sigh of relief I breathed after watching the power indicator for the first few days and found out that there was no need to watch it so closely. Deliverance!

Here’s hoping to see more WinMo devices that stand out with respect to battery life – especially those upcoming devices from Samsung.

PS: Which manufacturer is going to deliver an Android-based device with good battery life as well? Word on the street is that even the spectacular-looking HTC Hero performs badly in this area.

My successful experience in hacking and installing Mods on my UIQ device sometime last year inspired me and gave me the boldness to try out Windows Mobile hacking. I have been on the WinMo platform twice in the past but never dared tweaking, modding or flashing ROMS on my devices.

The big fear of hacking and installing (flashing) ROMs on your device is the possibility of bricking it and rendering it completely useless. In our climes, this fear is bigger because WinMo devices are very expensive and there are no WinMo service centres to fix a bricked device. In my case, I chose to use an old HTC Wizard running Windows Mobile 5 (which I got for free) as my guinea pig.

Following a series of steps carefully outlined on the XDA Developers site (the haven of WinMO ROM flashing), I was able to prepare my device for flashing ROMs by CID unlocking it.

What is CID? CID stands for Carrier ID and devices come with either a carrier or manufacturer’s ROM. To enable flashing of ROMs other than your carrier’s ROMs you have to CID unlock your device with a software.

Thereafter, you can flash your device with several compatible ROMs. There are so many of them to choose from. The beauty of these “cooked” ROMs is that several irrelevant customised programs are removed while better programs are inserted to optimise performance and user experience on your device.

I installed a WM6.1 ROM successfully but when I tried another WM6.1 ROM, I bricked my device. Did I panic? Yes, big time!

For 2 hours, I desperately looked for a cure on the XDA site and eventually got one that asked me to reflash my device with my default ROM since it was already unlocked. I did just that and I got my device working again.

One good advantage of flashing my old device with WM6 ROMs is that it is now possible to install WM6 applications like Facebook on it.

Below are some screenshots of my HTC Wizard powered by Hornet’s WM6.1 ROM.

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Zain Nigeria has been making a lot of noise about its new “Joli” packages in the last few days. Looking at the Joli tariffs, it is clear that voice subscribers get a better deal by migrating from the old packages to the new.

However, if you are currently subscribed to an internet bundle plan, you may want to stay away from those Joli migration codes for now. Migrating to Joli de-activates/cancels any existing internet bundle plans you may be subscribed to. Without notice. Yes; whatever you paid for the bundle package is gone. But that’s not all.

Because the bundle is now cancelled, if you have any available airtime, your line keeps connecting, eating up your airtime without your being aware of it.

Lastly, internet bundles cannot be activated on the Jolli platform. Joli subscribers can only enjoy pay-as-you-go internet at 15 kobo per kb. Well, at least till Zain sort out how to get it done.

Bad. Very bad.

A note of caution if you do choose to migrate to the Joli package: While it may be tempting to switch in order to enjoy lower call rates, also note that there is currently no way to switch back, if you are not satisfied. The migration is currently on a no-return basis.