Last weekend, the trackpad of my BlackBerry Curve 3G began to malfunction and inevitably I ended up sending it down to Lagos to be replaced. Coincidentally that same day, BlackBerry services in Europe, Africa and Asia were interrupted due to a core switch failure within RIM’s infrastructure. This interruption made it impossible to receive email, BB messages and browse the web.

Though the Blackberry internet service is gradually being restored, I can’t help but be somewhat amused at what my state of mind would have been if my BlackBerry hadn’t developed a fault during this period.

Massive Frustration!
I’ve gradually gotten so addicted to the damn phone that I simply can’t imagine carrying it about without connection to the world for 2 days.

It suddenly dawned on me that without BIS, BlackBerry devices are no different from generic cell phones that can only make and receive calls as well as send text messages.

In my honest opinion, I think it’s about time that the folks at RIM worked hard on an OS update that would enable BB devices function even when their servers go down. Right now only a select number of BlackBerry apps can function without BES/BIS. The important functions like Browsing, Email, BlackBerry and Social Network Messaging are tied down to BIS/BES.

My mind is now set on getting a backup smartphone with a sexy sturdy email client but all the available ones aren’t Dual SIM enabled and I don’t like the idea of carrying around 3 phones.

To my fellow BlackBerry users, how did you all make it through the 2 days of BB darkness?

On the 10^th of February 2010, I struck a deal with the sales lady at one of Nigeria’s top IT shops to take delivery of a Dell Vostro A840 at the price of N92,900. This was after I had researched the market for my little brother who wanted a HP or Dell laptop below N98,000. While I preferred another item, an Acer E-Machine E725 which was cheaper at N88,000 and had better features (the best of them being the Bluetooth and in built webcam which the Dell Vostro A840 lacked), I settled for the Dell. The offer included an external web cam, specifically a Logit Webcam.

The day after our discussion, I was at the retail outlet and paid for the laptop.  As was written in their offer/advert, an external web cam was added to the mix. In the rush to get back home (because I’ve got this condition whereby whenever I’ve got something of great value of me, I feel as though everyone around me is a potential thief and is aiming at ridding me of my stuff.) I forgot to give the webcam a thorough look until I got home safely.

At home, I unpacked the webcam only to find out to my consternation that I had been given one of those poor made-in-China items. It was so poorly made that it looked as though the casing had been carved with a knife. As a matter offsact, the padding was already coming off.

Disgusted at myself for being so stupid as to have not checked the camera at the point of sale, I called the sales lady and after much deliberation, I was asked to return the next day to have it changed.

The next day, I waited over an hour at their main office before one of their representatives attended to me. He told me that the camera wasn’t bad at all even though it was “China”. I adamantly refused and stood my ground that I wasn’t leaving their premises without a Logit webcam. The only reason I bought the laptop was because the advert said LOGIT WEBCAM not CHINA WEBCAM.

Apologies were tendered again and he offered me yet another CHINA WEBCAM which by the way was better packaged than the first one . In one sentence, I made it clear I wanted MY LOGIT WEBCAM. Nothing more; nothing less. Somewhat frustrated with my adamant behavior and arrogance (No blame me, I paid my money and so I must demand quality for my money), he went away and got his “Oga” (Yoruba for Boss) to talk to me.

His “Oga” launched into some speech that ended with his telling me that the piece of crap was way better than a Logit webcam. Suppressing the weight of my anger, I told him I had seen and used a Logit webcam in the past and I don’t care if he feels the china webcam was better than the Logit. My little brother was expecting a Logit web cam and he was GOING TO GET IT! So help me God!

Seeing that his salesman speech was wasted on me, he got up, conferred with the Managing Director of the company and returned to tell me that there was no Logit webcam available in the market. He assured me that they could get me a Creative webcam if I could exercise some patience. Apparently, they had to go buy it elsewhere. Having used the Creative muV100 mp3 player in the past, I knew it was a quality brand, so I accepted the offer.

Thirty minutes later, he handed over a new Creative Live! Cam Chat, with the complaint that it had cost them way over what I had paid for it and that he didn’t even know why the webcam was so damn costly when it does the same function as the “China” one.

Creative Live Cam Chat

There and then I installed and tested the webcam and when he saw the quality of the picture, he had to admit that the quality was WAY BETTER than that the other webcams.

I thanked them graciously for their understanding and left having made up my mind that due to the way they had handled the situation; I was MOST DEFINITELY going to keep doing business with them, as well as recommending them to my friends.

Lesson for everybody: If I didn’t know my way around webcams and computers etc, I would have ended up with a USELESS webcam. Even if you ain’t tech savvy, try and research what you’re buying on the internet before entering the market where an undecided mind can be made to buy some COSTLY CRAP! I’ve talking from experience ?.

Lesson for the IT firm: They made a loss because what their advert displayed wasn’t in accordance with what they were actually offering and since the laptop had been opened, they couldn’t offer me a refund and thus they were left with no option other than paying more to get me a good webcam. At the same time they showed a bit of professionalism expected of a big establishment like theirs.

To the MD of the firm involved I say a big thank you for resolving the issue as amicably as possible. A police/court matter was diligently avoided because my mum, as always, was waiting patiently to cause trouble if the error wasn’t rectified.

Have a great weekend guys.

19 months after being granted a Unified Access License by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and launching the 0809uchoose campaign, Etisalat Nigeria rolled out their services in 7 major cities across Nigeria and have continued to expand at a fast rate.

After careful analysis of their offers, I got myself a SIM and I’ve been hooked ever since. The reasons aren’t too farfetched.

1. At N30/minute (EasyCliq) and N24/minute (Easy Starter HomeZone), they offer the LOWEST OFF-NET TARIFFS amongst all the functional GSM providers. I basically make most of my calls (ON-NET & OFF-NET) on my Etisalat line because it’s way cheaper, with the exception of GLO 2 GLO calls, which are currently, pegged at N18/minute based on an ongoing promo.
2. SMS communication is cheaper at the rate of N5 to Etisalat Networks and N10 to other networks. Other networks charge N15 for off-net textmessages. On Etisalat, I also get one free SMS for every two that I send
3. On the EasyCliq plan, for every N500 I spend on making calls and texting each month, I’m assured of 3MB OF FREE INTERNET DATA, as well as the occasional free SMS and free talk minutes. Though 3MB looks small, it goes a long way for checking my emails and Facebook while on the road. Of course Opera Mini is needed so as not to waste the bandwidth
4. I rarely get the annoying “NUMBER NOT AVAILABLE/UNREACHABLE” prompt while making calls on Etisalat and the calls are mostly crystal clear.
5. Their Internet services though ridiculously priced and lacking 3G connection, are the most reliable in my opinion.

In the title of this entry, “Five Reasons Why I’m Better Off On The Etisalat Network For Now!”, the emphasis is on the phrase “for now“. I am probably enjoying the Etisalat network because they are still UNDER-SUBSCRIBED. Only time will tell if they can keep up the brilliant services as their active subscriber base grows.

Note: Coverage is still a bit shaky even in covered cities so I wouldn’t suggest you make Etisalat your primary telephone number.

I would be literally lost without my Etisalat line. What network’s services can’t you live without? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Browsing through the Monday January 18, 2010 issue of The Punch, I came across this promo advert for the Samsung OMNIAlite B7300 and Samsung OMNIApro B7320.

Samsung Introducing enLITEn: A unique handset internet bundle service in Nigeria

Buy the Samsung OMNIAlite B7300 or Samsung OMNIApro B7320 and get FREE 12 months internet access on the Zain Lite Plan featuring 1.2GB Data Allowance and 360 days validity.

Get the Samsung OMNIApro B7320 (shown below) for N49,999.00

Or get the Samsung OMNIAlite B7300 (shown below) for N59,999.00.

This offer is available at all Zain shops and selected Samsung Distributor Shops nationwide.

My View of the Promo
I have never been a fan of buying mobile phones that are linked to mobile operators. My last experience at the CarPhoneWareHouse in September 2007 left me with a phone that was locked to the network, had a few accessories missing from the package (cost-cutting tactics, I was later on told) and had to replace it once because it was faulty and thereafter the phone decided to give me problems with Nigerian networks despite having the same frequency.

As a cheap skate and one who is always paranoid of being ripped off, I have to say that this promo is a JOKE because getting the Samsung OMNIApro B7320 from a trusted Samsung dealer will set you back N36, 500 which is clearly N13,500 less than Zain’s offer price!

This past post shows evidence of that: Samsung B7320 smartphone for sale.

It is like paying N13,500 for internet service of 1.2GB Data Allowance and 360 days validity which has been proven to be unreliable in most quarters.

Just my two cents anyway. For all interested parties, simply visit your nearest Zain shops. As always GSM Arena has got the full specs for the Samsung OMNIAlite B7300 and Samsung OMNIApro B7320.

You can also read a MobilityNigeria review of one of these phones Samsung B7320 OmniaPRO review – Efficient Workhorse.

This is my first attempt at reviewing a phone so bear with me.

As some of you already know, I’m yet to join the Smartphone bandwagon which is why when I decided to get another cell phone to replace my stolen Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, I chose to get another non-Smartphone but this time around, with the intention of killing two birds with one stone.

After much research (I hate going to the market without an idea of what I want to buy), I settled for the Samsung Dual Sim GT-C3212.

The Dual SIM Samsung C3212

I’m only going to highlight what I feel are the highs and lows of this cell. For full specifications, do please check out GSM ARENA.

HIGHS
1. The battery takes approximately 2hrs 30 minutes to charge and in my case with so much music playback, java gaming and few calls and text messaging, it lasts 2 days just like the Nokia 5130 XpressMusic (Please note that I disabled some unnecessary features)
2. Ability to record radio shows for listening at a later time.
3. Cheap design/look that doesn’t readily attract “agberos” (touts).
4. Ability to suspend Java applications when a call comes in or you want to quickly do some texting etc before continuing with your games.
5. Supports Music playback (MP3, ACC and WMA)
6. Earphones are of a better quality than the Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, with adequate length and great positioning of microphone for easy accessiblity.
7. Create value for money when you consider cost of buying two new internet/music playback enabled phones.
8. Ability to fake an incoming voice call that sounds real: A ready getaway strategy from those uncomfortable meetings/conversations I unfortunately seem to have a lot of. .

LOWS
1. No silence button for unwanted calls: A work around this which I discovered this morning is pressing the down button of the navigation key so as to reduce the ringing volume. Not to worry, this only affects the volume of the incoming call. Once the call ends, the phone’s default volume level takes over .
2. Limited Java applications. Java apps weighing a little above 500KB can’t be installed on the phone.
3. Graphical User Interface (GUI) is average but you get used to it after a while.
4. No USB data cable or memory card included: I had to buy them separately costing me an extra N4,500.
5. VGA Camera sucks but I can’t be bothered as I really don’t need the camera feature.
6. No PC Suite installation CD included: You will have to download it from their website. It zapped a whopping 112MB of my Glo Leisure monthly bandwidth.
7. No call recorder function: I loved this function in the Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, as it enabled me keep track of certain conversation/transactions to avoid the “I didn’t say that” scenario.
8. Music player’s album arrangement only works for MP3 and ACC files. WMAs will not be arranged in form of albums.

I guess that’s about it. The MAIN REASON why I chose this particular DUAL SIM was the battery life. The Samsung D880 and D780 where spotting talk times of about 4 hours only while this one boasted of 10 hours.

Do please feel free to ask me anything else regarding this phone. Cheers