I am KY and I’m a gadget junkie.
I have 6 phones, 3 cameras, 4 watches, 2 desktops, and a life so entrenched in technology it is bordering lunacy. The latest shiny toy that I have with me, thanks to Kim, is a review unit of the Garmin-Asus nüvifone M10.
Garmin Asus nüvifone M10
I must be one of the earliest adopters of GPS devices. Back in 2002 I bought a usb GPS receiver, hooked it up on my laptop and drove around Northern Virginia. There were no routing program I could use back then, just a little moving dot on the map showing where I was.
I felt like James Bond, the concoction was as cool as it was impractical.
Fast forward to 2010, enter the Nuvifone M10.
Nuvifone M10 in action, a true road warrior
In essence, this is the same solution in 2002 shrunk to a little device not larger than any ordinary smart phones. Running Windows Mobile 6.5.3 Professional with full featured Garmin GPS.
Flip it around (actually works in portrait mode too) to landscape mode, search or input your destination, click a button, and viola! The phone is now a true blue GPS device.
The Garmin GPS is definitely not stripped down mobile version found in some other phones. It is turn-by-turn navigation that actually speaks out the road names, and there’s even junction view too.
Since it’s a Nuvifone designed to move you, locking on GPS is a snap. I can’t tell you how many times I actually need to stop the car and wait for GPS on my other phones to lock, no such problem with this nifty little thing.
The car kit for M10 is pretty smartly designed. I like how the power cable is connected to the kit so when you remove the phone from the kit there’s no need for the extra step to take off the cable.
the bright 3.5″ screen
The 3.5 WVGA display is bright and very refined. With 800 x 480 pixels, it is actually very useful to browse most websites without having to scroll side to side especially when you use it in landscape mode.
For the workaholics, there’s also Office Mobile with the familiar Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
mini keyboard and wireless manager
When I first lay these fingers on Windows Mobile, it was on a Sharp PDA with a built in 36 kbps modem (to hook up with an actual phone line!) running on Windows CE 2.0. It didn’t have colors, it was sluggish, sucks battery faster than little kids with on lollipops, and downright impractical. Of course, that was something like 1999.
Actually even just a few years back working with Windows Mobile 2003 and version 5, I wasn’t impressed. However, with version 6.5, I think Microsoft has finally gotten it right. The UI is much cleaner, sleeker, and finally very usable. The touch interface is very responsive too.
sample photo shot with the M10
The M10 comes with a 5 megapixel camera that takes pretty good photos, just about the only qualm I have with this phone is the lack of flash (just like iPhone). Fortunately, the sensor managed to do pretty well even in pretty low light condition. The above photo is taken straight out of the camera at KLCC during night time when it wasn’t brightly lit.
I hooked up the phone on my work laptop running Windows 7 trying to download the photos, and within a few minutes this little applet showed up – Windows Mobile Device Center. At the end of the day, mobile phones running Windows Mobile is going to beat any other platform when you pair it up with a Windows machine.
Here you can download/transfer photos, music, video, change device setting, install programs, etc etc. Pretty cool, I didn’t even insert the CD to the laptop and all this was done automatically.
The Garmin-Asus nuvifone M10 will be released on the 25th of March, and I’ve heard that it’s gonna be priced below RM 1.8k.
I think this is unquestionably the #1 choice if you’re looking for a GPS phone, nothing I’ve tried came close to it, unless you prefer to have a 14″ laptop in your car…
For all Blackberry users, and especially the new comers who’s just signed up via Xpax with their brand new BB Curve 8520, it’s time to update your Blackberry Desktop Manager (originally came with the CD).
notice the IP Modem icon?
With the latest update, the desktop manager not only allows the usual contact sync, backup, application installation, and media synchronization that some of you are familiar with, but also the new IP Modem functionality.
Modem tethering with Blackberry isn’t something new, but it used to be quite a hassle to set up and usually only someone who are quite well versed with the computer could get it done. With the latest Desktop Manager, setting up your blackberry as a modem is made very very simple.
Simply click on IP modem – Configure, then choose Celcom as the connection profile. To connect to the internet, click Connect! That is all.
Do note that data rate and caps apply, for example, Xpax has a quota of 1GB per day for unlimited access, while Hotlink capped their monthly BIS premium at 1.5GB per month. Use wisely, for more comparison, refer to the rate plan comparison post.
By now, you’ve probably read about the Blackberry 8520 that is designed with prepaid customers in mind from this blog and/or elsewhere.
Although I’ve been talking pretty much exclusively about the offer from Xpax (advertorial ma..), we do something a little different today, lets put Xpax and the offer from Hotlink head to head for an very direct and simple comparison.
rate plan for Xpax from here
First, from Xpax, there are two plans to choose from, and they are pretty simple.
So in short, it’s around RM 30 to RM 75 per month.
note: although branded “unlimited”, the data rate is capped at 1 GB per day, additional data usage subject to RM0.10/10kb. Source.
rate plan for Hotlink from here
Now lets look at Hotlink’s offer. There are four plans in total, so a direct comparison gets slightly more tricky.
Data cap is for Hotlink as per the subscription period of either weekly or monthly, additional rate is at RM 0.01/1kb peak and RM 0.005/1kb off peak. Source (pdf).
Conclusion:
In terms of pricing, Xpax is clearly cheaper with RM 75-77.50 vs RM 98 per month for Advance/Premium plan, while Hotlink priced their Social plan slightly lower at RM 28 vs RM 30/31 per month.
Hotlink has the Push mail + Instant Messaging plan that Xpax lack (at RM 28/month)
However, the biggest difference in these two offering is at the data caps. Xpax’s quota is on at 1 GB per day while Hotlink’s cap varies from 100MB to 1.5GB per month is just a lot lower in comparison. If you’re a heavy user, this is quite clearly a cause for concern.
It’s out, and I now got not one, but two units of Blackberry Curve 8520 with me from the xBerry launch party last Saturday at Republic, Sunway Pyramid.
I got the phone from the one-day only deal at RM 888 + RM 50 xpax reload + RM 8.50 for a celcom prepaid number. Total damage = RM 945.60.
brisk business at the launch party, check out the giant 8520
I got the extra unit for a colleague who didn’t want to miss out the deal but couldn’t make it to the party. There were hundreds of people at the event and within a couple hours, half of the 500 allocated units of Curve were already gone.
The phone is now RRP at RM 1188, still a pretty good deal since it’s completely unlock and you’re not tied down with any contract.
KY, Cheesie, Tzia, and Cindy at xBerry party
Now I’m just waiting for everyone to get their BB services activated so we can have BBM orgies! That’s you Cheesie and Cindy!
The Xpax Blackberry you’ve been hearing about all these while is finally being launched this Saturday, and you can score an invite simply by pre-registering for the BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone with Xpax right here.
Details on XBerry Party:
Other than the performances and free drinks vouchers, there’re also lucky draws and other freebies at the party. There will also be these promotions that runs precisely only for this particular night!
RM 888 for this phone is gonna be pretty sweet. I actually went to the shop this afternoon and asked for the price on “underwater” set and it came up to some 1.2k.
Cindy, Cheesie, and I are going to be there, see you! Remember to preregister yourself with Xpax!
