Alan's Space　伟伦的家: i-mode

i-mode launch tomorrow!

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 11:43:53 GMT

Just receive this i-mail from Starhub marketing department...

i-mode will be launched officially tomorrow.
Twice the number of i-mode contents sites will be available
i-treat goes live. i-treat is an invitation program that allow i-mode trial users to invite ppl to use i-mode.

The invite consists of:

Exclusive special discount on i-mode phone.
i-mode unlimited dataplan at $10.50/month (UP: $21) for the first 3 months-Quite a good price.
Free content subscription for 1 month

This looks pretty impressive.... $21 for unlimited data. That's the cheapest mobile data package available among all 3 telcos. Looks like I may get it for surfing web with phone. But I hope to be able to get an i-mode phone that is cheap instead of the NEC N600i that I'm using now as I feel that it is quite an overkill to me.. hmmmm....should decide when my trial end.

i-mode update

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 16:29:15 GMT

1 week in camp and without my i-mode phone with me.....hmmm..

Miss out on some stuff..But not much..

Heard that GV i-mode site is delisted on the i-menu. Heard from other bloggers like sheylara that it's pretty buggy. So I think they better do something about it...After all it's an e-commerce webby. If it's screw up, customer will lose confidence. It's powered by Nexmedia btw.

Speaking of Nexmedia, they work with streetdirectory.com to bring the street directory on i-mode. That's a nice 1. It's free for now. So I can use it and dun need to pay for using any service on the full online internet version and it is on the go. So that's great. BTW, saw on straits times today that Neopets are partnering with starhub on i-mode as well........What's going on......kids play Neopets on i-mode?? Although kids are getting more tech savvy nowadays but I dun think i-mode may be a right platform for kids to play their neopets on.... 1. Screen is small....I dun think parents want their children to strain their eyes. 2. Once i-mode begin to charge, u think parents will want to let their kids play neopets on i-mode......eh....GPRS charges will cost a bomb...

NEC N600i Review

Fri, 04 Nov 2005 14:33:28 GMT

After using the phone for so long, I think it's time for a review for it.

NEC N600i

Specifications:

Bands: WCDMA 2100, GSM 900/1800/1900
GPRS: Class 8
Battery Standby: 230 Hours
Battery-Voice Call: 180 Min
Battery-Video Call: 120 Min
Dimensions: (LxWxH): 94.5x45x24.5 mm
Weight: 115g
Display: 2" 65k Color
Sub Display: Info Window, mono
Main camera: 1.3MP, High/Standard/Economy picture mode, 10s self timer, Auto/Sunny/Cloudy/Indoor Lighting settings, Video/Recording/Playback/Streaming, 2x Zoom max
Internal camera: 110KP, same as above for all except no zoom
Doja 2.5
Internal Memory: 20MB
Transflash expandable
Bluetooth, USB Cable
Speakerphone
PIM functions (Datebook etcs)
Email/MMS/SMS
Phonebook: 500+SIM
72 tone polyphonic
Voice Recording
PC Sync
Macromedia Flash Lite
MP3/AAC/MPEG4 playback

Physicals:

Set feels comfortable on hand and I can flip open the phone with 1 hand. Thickness is ok.

Display:

Up till now, my friends who have seen the phone all like the screen. Their verdict: bright and clear. But, make sure the screen is not under a bright sun as u will not be able to see a thing. External display backlight is white and I like it.

UI:

UI is ok to me. Seasoned Nokia users need to get used to it. Can replace menu image with another image if u want so that it is easier for u to identify. Can also add menu items to "My Menu" for easier access. + sign on the right of menu tell u that that menu has a sub menu. 4 direction joypad allow access 1 touch access to Incoming/Missed call log, contact list and profiles.

Add contacts:

Can select add to phone/SIM easily.

Messenging:

Buttons are quite ok to press. I can type message at ok speed with it with the T9 input. Ability to switch input method/language fast. Especially to chinese. (Samsung cannot SMS in chinese) No need to go through menu to change.

Music playback:

LOUD AND CLEAR with the in built speakers. Small but powerful.

Connectivity:

Bluetooth-Cannot send/receive files other than contacts. (Samsung can) Earpiece works well with it. Need to go to pairing standby mode when another device want to pair to it. (Samsung dun need)

USB-Fast + good

Mobile Reception-Good

Camera:

Photo quality so so. Video also average only. Limited zoom capability. No frame selection to add frames to decorate ur photos. (Samsung can.)

Battery Life:

Everyday must charge. (Based on a usage of yakking on phone, surfing like siao, listening to music, play game like siao!)

i-mode browsing:

Fast. i-mode browser run better on this phone compared to other phones. (Samsung S410i/NEC N411i users have told me that they encounter probs with some sites like EPL video etc)

To do list once u get ur i-mode phone

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 14:09:02 GMT

Here's a To-Do list that I feel will be useful for those who just receive their i-mode phone.

Charge the phone. (DUH!)
Get ur contacts into the phone. (Many ways to do it. Send from another phone using Bluetooth or whatever.)
Setup ur Bluetooth earpiece if u have 1.
Change ur i-mode email address. (Phonenumber@imode.sg is not really a very cool address. Somemore u want to declare ur phone number to the world meh? A lot of people I know in this trial dun do this. Please...Do it!!! How? Read the i-mode user guide.)
Download stuffs (Ringtones, games, i-appli etc)
Subscribe to contents! (Contents make i-mode rocks!!!)
Take pictures/video and use functions like i-mms and i-mail etc to send them to friends.
NEW!!!! Use i-mail to post photo and blog entry to MSN spaces!

This is sort of what I do when I receive my phone. So hope it will be useful to fellow i-mode newbies.

Cheers,

Alan

i-moder

i-appli

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 11:58:39 GMT

Today also spend some time playing with some i-applis.

I downloaded 4 i-applis and 2 of them are from Hudson (Bomberman race and super bomberman) and the other 2 are from Sega (Street fighters). I love the bomberman games......Have a lot of fun on them. Will post some screenshot once I have taken them.

i-mode site subscriptions

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 02:39:52 GMT

1 of the good feature of i-mode is the subscription feature. I have been playing with it for the past few days and I have subscribed to quite a lot of sites. Here's my list.

STI
CNA
Barclays EPL
Zao Bao
Mediacorp
SPH Lifestyle
GameMaster (Hudson Bomberman!!!!)
Eurosports
Streetdirectory.com
StarQ Horoscope
Makansutra
Taito Gamepark
Football 365
Sony BMG
Madfish
Kraash Comics
Master Q (Lao Fu Zhi)
Slim Assistant
Oxford Dictionary
Zenops games
Mister-i Contactos

Bookmarks:

Geomancy.net
Singapore pools
MSN Mobile
e-messenger
google
Way geomancy
philipspore
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (Show this page at their outlet and get $1 off regular ice blended)
MSN Spaces (my blog's mobile access! Only i-mode can access!)
CAN mobile. (Map is damn useful)
Hardwarezone. (mobile tech guide!)

What's ur list? Share them with the rest of the i-modders!

Cheers,

Alan

i-modder

Official i-modder

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 14:23:08 GMT

Hi all!

For those who have drop by my blog today morning, u should have seen the test post on this blog that I have done with the NEC N600i. YES! I have just got my NEC N600i this morning and I have been playing with it since morning till now haha!!

I spend the whole day copy contacts, download ringtones, take shots and also subscribe contents. Nice!

Played with the phone and there are some good and bad points.

The good: LCD is nice, polyphonic sounds good, speaker sounds good when playing mp3, camera is good, the netfront browser is damn good, i-mode browsing was a breeze, BT earpiece works with it well.

The bad: BT can only be used to send/receive contact (other files cannot), connect to PC as modem and also use with BT earpiece. (oh my! A crippled Bluetooth!!!), cannot use mp3 as tones.

Anyway, as this is a 3G phone, I'm quite happy with it and I really look forward to try video call with people. (ANYONE?) Besides that, I'm also quite happy that this phone will allow me to surf net on the go at high speed.

At the i-mode expo this moring, I kaput a lot of freebies. (Yippie!!!) I took a doggie softtoy, CD Holder (Good stuff) and also Magnets. Besides that, the staffs there are super friendly and they are all out to make my i-mode experience an enjoyable 1. Kudoz to them.

I have taken some pictures at the expo and they are posted below.

Chers,

Alan

i-modder

alan98ATimode.sg

My i-mode N600i phone

Thu, 20 Oct 2005 15:25:10 GMT

Soon, I will be the proud owner of NEC N600i i-mode phone. I am selected for the i-mode trial by Starhub. As part of the deal, I will be loaned the NEC N600i phone, a free starhub line, free subscription to their mobile plan, free imode data usage, free subscription to imode content and many other freebies. Isn't it good?! I can't wait to get it. It will be on my hands on 30th Oct. Will post more update on my i-mode experience here. So keep a lookout.

Alan's Space 伟伦的家: i-mode

i-mode launch tomorrow!

i-mode update

NEC N600i Review

To do list once u get ur i-mode phone

i-appli

i-mode site subscriptions

Official i-modder

My i-mode N600i phone

Alan's Space　伟伦的家: i-mode