[{"title":"The size of things to come (updated)","content":" 2020 has been a weird year, but thankfully, that doesn't seem to have affected device release schedules too much. Can't say the same for movies, but that's another story.\nThere's been an undeniable trend in the mobile space -- after a period of shrinkage, flagship devices are getting bigger. This trend has been facilitated by several advancements in the space as mobile phones with screens we see today were simply not possible, say, 10 years ago.\nChips are faster, more parallel and more efficient\rBatteries have more capacity in smaller spaces, and devices have more sophisticated power management\rScreens have higher resolutions, higher refresh rates and better efficiency\rAdvancements in technology, such as flexible screens, under-screen fingerprint sensors, facial recognition in mobile, etc., have allowed for a higher screen-to-body ratio -- bigger screens within similarly sized housing across the generations\rFor better image and video quality, engineers are not just cramming in bigger sensors - they are adding more cameras\rMore features\rThe only large phone that's ever made sense to me is the ultimate large phone -- the Samsung Galaxy Note. That's because it has a stylus - the S-Pen. It's easier to write on a screen that's bigger, and the engineers at Samsung recognized this from the beginning. The first Galaxy Note phone had a screen that was a \"whopping\" 5.3 inches across - pretty small by today's standards. The main criticisms of such a \"monster\" size were that it wouldn't fit in most pockets and that one-handed use would be difficult. To put this in context, Apple just announced the iPhone SE, a compact alternative to their flagship phone that has a 4.7-inch screen...\nNow I took a break after drafting the above. Now, four years later in September 2024, it's fair to say a lot has changed!\nThe Galaxy Note is dead, but its spirit lives on—the Galaxy S2X Ultras carry the Notes' large screen and stylus. Foldables are a major (expensive!) thing now—these are the new flagships, or rather alternative flagships, at least in the Android space; Apple hasn't quite made the jump yet, but rumours suggest that will happen.\rGenerative AI is all the rage, and it's in all the things!\rI have thoughts. I think the Galaxy S2X Ultras are among the top phones, true flagships each year. I get a sneaking feeling Samsung will drop the integrated stylus at some point though. It's either you use the stylus or you don't, and I get the sense most people buying the S2X Ultras don't use it. I used to use the sylus daily, and I struggled when I switched to iPhone. I couldn't imagine not having the stylus for input but I got used to it. The degrees of freedom, speed and overall flexibility of the stylus make it hard to beat. I've since found alternative devices for pen input (SuperNote A6 X2 Nomad and Boox Note Air 3C for instance) but having the option to use pen input on my phone any time is something I miss. Foldables seem cool, but they cost a tad too much! Locally, the base level 256GB S24 Ultra is $2,450, and the base 256GB Z Fold6 is $3,050. The Ultra is already pretty expensive, but the Fold6 takes it up a notch. Don't get me wrong, they are a lot of phone, but these sound more like high-end laptop prices. I do think the (full) folding phones are the new tablets - actual Android tablets feel like a neglected category, but the form factor and innovation continue to progress in foldables.\nLike many have said, it feels like these are the early days of AI, akin to the early days of the web. There will likely be some kind of AI boom - I think the possibilities in the short term may be exaggerated but in the long term underestimated. We have no idea how it's going to turn out, but it's going to be something! AI is here to stay.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/the-size-of-things-to-come/","summary":" 2020 has been a weird year, but thankfully, that doesn\u0026#39;t seem to have affected device release schedules too much. Can\u0026#39;t say the same for movies, but that\u0026#39;s another story.\nThere\u0026#39;s been an undeniable …"},{"title":"Fixing old posts","content":"Ever since I migrated my blog to something self-hosted, way back when, I've hopped across a few hosts and domain registrars. In the middle of all that, at some point, I lost some content. I though it was at the old https://anphase.wordpress.com site where I tried to mirror all the posts but unfortunately most of those where only links back to this blog!\nBUT! Thanks to the awesome folks at the internet archive I can restore a lot of the old content. I'll be doing that over the next little while and replacing the placeholders with the proper articles.\nA colourful past!\rOn that, note, where are my robots at? Oh wait, looks like I asked that question 8 years too soon, they're on their way now.\nFunny it never occurred to me that I could recreate/replace my posts using the internet archive until at all until today.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/fixing-old-posts/","summary":"Ever since I migrated my blog to something self-hosted, way back when, I\u0026#39;ve hopped across a few hosts and domain registrars. In the middle of all that, at some point, I lost some content. I though it …"},{"title":"Tech overload","content":"Overload!\rThe tech space is one of the fastest growing and changing of all the spaces. The amount of innovation and courage in this industry is awe-inspiring to say the least. Staying on top of it has always been a challenge but it seems that the pace is not just increasing steadily - it's accelerating.\nDon't get me wrong, overall, I think this is a good thing - technology enriches lives in so many ways and the more people are exposed to it the better. The difficulty is that with so much choice, a couple of issues arise:\nAnalysis paralysis - there are so many things to think about and consider that it slows or even prevents the adoption of particular technologyIt's a more complex space - it's difficult to know where to begin or where to stop when so many products and services cover so many things, often with overlapIncreases the barrier of entry - as a result of the above a lot of people would just rather not bother or get overwhelmed quickly because it all looks too hardFeature creep - with increasing competition and demands from people, the products themselves become increasingly complex (case in point, iTunes)More products are created to simplify the now complex ones (that's the unbundling of Excel)...and on and on and back around we go...\rSo what can we do about this? One realisation I've come to is that a lot of popular systems are good enough. So a good solution is to start with something popular and stick with it for a good amount of time. If it ends up doing everything that you need, that's great, otherwise I just move on to the next popular thing. This strategy works because it gets your foot in the door, lots of help is available and mastering one thing will make it easier to pick up the next thing.\nOf course there are numerous other strategies but in the spirit of keeping things simple (and without getting too meta!) that's all I will mention. The strategy is good enough and its worked well for me so far but I will probably shake things up in time.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/tech-overload/","summary":"Overload!\rThe tech space is one of the fastest growing and changing of all the spaces. The amount of innovation and courage in this industry is awe-inspiring to say the least. Staying on top of it has …"},{"title":"Blogging from a plane...","content":"What a time to be alive! I\u0026rsquo;m on a flight to Bali at the moment and on the line! The 20 MB limit is not all that great, but enough for my needs.\nThis trip hasn\u0026rsquo;t been without incident though. For starters, my Windows installation is not booting all of a sudden. Haven\u0026rsquo;t really had enough time to figure out what\u0026rsquo;s happening between checking in and running to the gates\u0026hellip; The boot process was taking a while - possibly the result of throttling when on battery power. Windows machines seem to be notorious for throttling on battery - Mac OS X doesn\u0026rsquo;t have that problem.\nThe laptop I\u0026rsquo;m using is the Acer Aspire S5 with 8 GB memory and a core i5 6200U processor. I have 3 OSes installed - Windows 10 on the biggest partition and Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS (booted into this now) and Fedora 28 on 2 smaller partitions. This setup works well for me, I may end up wiping the Fedora partition as I don\u0026rsquo;t use it much - I boot into it to update it basically.\nTo get the tri-booting setup working was tricky - Acer seems to have hard-wired the Windows EFI boot directory into the boot process so I have to overwrite the Windows EFI file with a custom file with all 3 OSes. That\u0026rsquo;s complicated by that the partition is only 100MB and every big Windows update re-writes the file! I created a simple bash script that I run after every big Windows update that:\nmounts the EFI partition\rdeletes the unnecessary language files (so my custom files fit)\rcopies my custom boot file\rbacks up the new Windows boot file - just in case.\rIt's a long story, I'll post the details and the script sometime.\rAny way, hopefully this post can be published while I\u0026rsquo;m in the air - I\u0026rsquo;ll punctuate it with links etc. when I have a better internet connection.\nUpdate: Published mid-air!\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/blogging-from-a-plane/","summary":"What a time to be alive! I\u0026amp;rsquo;m on a flight to Bali at the moment and on the line! The 20 MB limit is not all that great, but enough for my needs.\nThis trip hasn\u0026amp;rsquo;t been without incident …"},{"title":"Hello {again} world!","content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve lost quite a bit of content in my transition from my previous host. Long story short, I forgot to renew my hosting, and my content got erased. To be fair, I was given ample warning but I just didn\u0026rsquo;t react in time.\nNo matter, we will begin anew!\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/hello-world/","summary":"I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve lost quite a bit of content in my transition from my previous host. Long story short, I forgot to renew my hosting, and my content got erased. To be fair, I was given ample warning but I …"},{"title":"The times, they are-a changin'","content":"It\u0026rsquo;s been years and the landscape has changed quite a bit. In many ways it hasn\u0026rsquo;t really changed much. What I mean is, on the small scale, things have changed greatly, Moore\u0026rsquo;s Law continues to go strong and tech is generally better in every way. On the large scale though, nothing\u0026rsquo;s happened. It\u0026rsquo;s just another year.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/the-times-they-are-a-changin/","summary":"It\u0026amp;rsquo;s been years and the landscape has changed quite a bit. In many ways it hasn\u0026amp;rsquo;t really changed much. What I mean is, on the small scale, things have changed greatly, Moore\u0026amp;rsquo;s Law …"},{"title":"The Best Tablet So Far: The HP TouchPad(video)","content":"The Best Tablet So Far: The HP TouchPad via Anphase.\nRecovered from internet archive:\nHP TouchPad\rThe HP TouchPad’s is the\u0026nbsp;epitome\u0026nbsp;of tablets in 2011. It has the design, the guts and the user interface of a true champ. It’s even better than the Apple iPad because it beats it at its own game — blending elegance and emotion with functionality. The TouchPad takes functionality to a whole new\u0026nbsp;level. Design\rThe TouchPad is slim and it has a glossy finish. It’s got a gorgeous 9.7-inch XGA capacitive, multitouch screen with a vibrant 18-bit color and a 1024x768 resolution. It also has a 1.3MP front facing camera and internal stereo speakers with Beats Audio\u0026#x2122;. A well thought out design.\nGuts\rThe TouchPad performance is awesome. Way better than anything we’ve seen on Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets — that’s the Motorola Xoom and the Samsung Galaxy 10.1. It has a snappy Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060 clocked at 1.2GHz. Each core is faster than the processor on any tablet released in 2010 and there are two of them! It is the best performing tablet yet.\nUser Interface\rThe UI is what sets this tablet apart more than anything. It’s beautifully done and very well thought out. The ‘cards’ and ‘stacks’ and especially the notifications all make for an unparalleled experience. The integration of services like Twitter and Facebook is deep — the experience feels more complete than anything. I’ve embedded a video demo posted by HP to show you what I’m talking about after the break.\nWebOS Think Beyond Event\rUPDATE 2019. I've inserted AnandTech's review from back in the day by Anand himself no less. The tablet was ahead of it's time. A lot of the features in there are what we see in design now -- No physical home button, gestures etc. Oh well.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/the-best-tablet-so-far-the-hp-touchpadvideo/","summary":"The Best Tablet So Far: The HP TouchPad via Anphase.\nRecovered from internet archive:\nHP TouchPad\rThe HP TouchPad’s is the\u0026amp;nbsp;epitome\u0026amp;nbsp;of tablets in 2011. It has the design, the guts and the …"},{"title":"The Paperless Dream","content":"The Paperless Dream.\nvia Anphase - Root of Negative 0ne\nRecovered from Internet Archive:\nSince the beginning of time I’ve been searching for a device to replace paper. The problem with paper is that I use a lot of it. A whole\rlot of it. For performing a quick calculation, jotting down some notes,\rmaking a quick sketch etc., paper is the easiest, cheapest and fastest way to get that done. But there are several problems with paper.\nPaper occupies physical space. I have so much paper lying around everywhere in the form of notebooks and refills and random scraps of paper it’s crazy.\nThat brings me to another problem. Managing all of this paper. One can form only so many stacks and each stack can only be so high. The result is that I can never find anything and I just have to dispose of the older stuff. It’s all quite depressing.\nA few years back, I got the HP iPaq 211 PDA. That was my first serious paper replacement contender. With a 4″ resistive touch screen that has a 640×480 resolution and Windows Mobile 6.0 , I thought it was perfect. I got the ultimate writing app too – PhatPad (shown below). HP iPaq 211 - PhatPad Soon I realised it wasn’t quite what I thought it would be. While it is very responsive, the screen size, 4 inches, is just too small for writing stuff. You will notice also that the edges of the screen are raised creating a barrier around it that shrinks the writing space even more. The app is also pretty slow when it comes to flipping pages and awkward when changing colors or undoing something. The same goes for other apps too. It does have character recognition software that can turn written notes into text but that’s not the point. So the iPaq didn’t deliver what I was looking for. The Apple iPad - Penultimate Then Apple announced the iPad. As soon as I heard the iPad was coming, I knew I had to get one. I thought the iPad combined with a stylus would be the combo I’ve been waiting for. I have most of the popular and not so popular notes apps on the market. From Penultimate to Noterize to Note Taker HD to Note Hub to Use Your Handwriting Gold (UYH Gold). I got ’em all. Of the 500+ apps that I have installed on my iPad, a good number of them have something to do with notes. I also got a capacitive stylus early on. Unfortunately, although the apps are top notch, the accuracy of a capacitive screen/stylus is really low. These devices are designed for finger use and not for pen input. I use the Apple wireless keyboard more than I do the stylus now. The NoteSlate I believe the solution is finally\u0026nbsp;upon\u0026nbsp;us. The NoteSlate is it. Here’s a break down of the features:\nBasic Characteristics\n– REAL PAPER look design (pictured at the top of the page)\n– ONE COLOR display (Optional multi-color display?)\n– ONE TOUCH ability just with pen / eraser\n– 210x310x6mm thin body\n– 13 inch matte monochrome eInk display\n– 190x270mm active display, 750x1080pixels\n– 180 hours battery life (almost 3 weeks of daily work !)\n– 280 g weight !\n– basic inputs: pen with eraser, USB mini, SD Card, Jack 3.5 mm, AC/DC 12V\n– Wi-Fi module on request with order (no added charge (!))\n– no web browsing !\n– end price $99\n– ONE POINT OF SALE – NoteSlate online e-store\nThe\u0026nbsp;highlights are\u0026nbsp;3 weeks battery life and the 13″ e-ink display. It’s flat like a paper notebook with no raised edges. It runs custom software so it’s probably not going to have performance issues. If you’ve seen e-ink\u0026nbsp;eBook readers like the Kindle\u0026nbsp;or the Kobo reader, you can appreciate the quality that e-ink technology offers. It’s very close\rto paper quality clarity. That, together with a stylus and high screen sensitivity and accuracy can make for the ultimate paper replacement.\nThis thing is not like the feature rich tablets that we have today. It’s bare-bones simple yet powerful. The perfect paper replacement. Lets\rjust hope it doesn’t remain vapourware. It’s set for release in June 2011.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/the-paperless-dream/","summary":"The Paperless Dream.\nvia Anphase - Root of Negative 0ne\nRecovered from Internet Archive:\nSince the beginning of time I’ve been searching for a device to replace paper. The problem with paper is that I …"},{"title":"The Symbian Advantage","content":"\rThe Symbian OS is powerful. Extremely powerful. There’s nothing that you can’t do on Symbian that you can do on the other platforms. The same\rcan’t be said about the other platforms. Allow me to illustrate.\niOS is not open, there’s no secret about that. Although Apple is becoming more flexible on the kind of apps you can use on the iPhone, there are still a lot of things they don’t allow. That is why the jail-breaking scene is so huge – it allows you to do some simple to complex things that Apple won’t allow. From turning the phone into a WiFi hotspot (coming soon in iOS 4.3 maybe?) to displaying more info on the lock screen or transferring files via Bluetooth – features that have been available on Symbian devices either out-of-box or through apps for ages. We often take these features for granted. It’s when you don’t have them that you realise the central role they play in your mobile experience.\nOn to Android, the new kid on the block. Just after I got my\rAndroid phone, my first after a series of Symbian devices, I noticed something quite disturbing. The APN settings were not copied from the SIM card/carrier or where ever they come from! This NEVER happened with any of my previous Symbian devices from both Nokia and Samsung. Even the\rones I imported from around Asia and Europe. I had to go through many hours of searching and trying\u0026nbsp;deferent combinations\u0026nbsp;until I got it right. So much for first impressions. So, you just got an Android phone with a front facing camera. You should be able to make regular video calls over 3G right? Wrong. Android doesn’t support the standard protocol. The same protocol that’s on many feature phones from many manufactures! You have to get apps like Skype or something – major bummer because if like me, you had a deal with your carrier for free/subsidised 3G video calls, you’re out of luck.\nOn both Android and iOS, data can be used without warning. For the first time I’ve had to get a data plan for my phone. With Symbian, there’s a pop-up with options to choose the network to connect to when a\rconnection is needed. There are no services that use data in the background unless you allow them to, i.e, you have more control.\nThe connectivity on Symbian is unrivaled. From\u0026nbsp;Bluetooth\u0026nbsp;connectivity\r(v3.0 on the N8)\u0026nbsp;for headsets, keyboards(Android lacks this) and file transfer(iOS anyone?), to the FM radio(iPhone again) and FM transmitter(both lack it), there is no competition. Some older Symbian devices even have Infrared ports(like the legendary n95).\nThe Symbian touch UI is probably one of the most complex on the market. People who hate it probably don’t know how to use it. There’s also an advantage to it – if you can use a Symbian touchscreen phone then you can probably use any touchscreen device that has and will ever come out without reading the manual!\nThere are some major kinks that Nokia/Symbian need to work out on the UI front though. If they are able to sort that out in a huge way, Symbian will become/remain the top smartphone OS of them all.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/the-symbian-advantage/","summary":"\rThe Symbian OS is powerful. Extremely powerful. There’s nothing that you can’t do on Symbian that you can do on the other platforms. The same\rcan’t be said about the other platforms. Allow me to …"},{"title":"3D Phones? Come On, Really?","content":"Maybe 60 years ago the headline was Colour TVs? Come On, Really? And a few years before that it was Sound In Movies? Come On, Really? But seriously, come on, really? My point is, 3D at the movies and especially 3D in the home, hasn’t really taken off. What gives them the impression that it will work on mobile phones? Google certainly doesn’t support 3D in Android yet and there aren’t many apps(if any) that have anything to do with 3D in the Android Market.\nLG Optimus 3D LG is going to\u0026nbsp;unveil the worlds first full 3D smartphone capable of 3D photography and video recording at Mobile World Congress(MWC) 2011. The phone also features a glasses-free LCD 3D display.\u0026nbsp;The thing about 3D is that it’s not everywhere. Where are you going to view these movies and photos? On your phone’s ~4″ screen only? On the 3D \u0026nbsp;TV that you probably don’t have yet? Granted, there are some 3D TVs, photo-frames and laptops on the way and already on the market, but they cost a lot. This 3D phone is like an invitation for an expensive ride that’s going to crash.\nIt’s future proof though, right? Not even close. First, there’s no\u0026nbsp;guarantee that this 3D phone thing will take off. We might remember it as one of the great flops of 2011.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;Second, 3D hasn’t really been standardised. So the kind of 3D that this phone produces and displays may not be the one used by everyone else, making it redundant.\nThe ultimate questions are, does a 3D user interface have advantages over 2D interfaces to justify the price? Are videos or pictures that much better? Like the difference between black/white and colour, SD and HD, day and night?\nPhone screens are small and you interact with them; tap, flick, swipe, long press etc – effectively obscuring your view of the display partially. They are also flat; 2D with a width and a height. Introducing\rdepth in the UI without extra screen\u0026nbsp;real-estate\u0026nbsp;is a\u0026nbsp;formula for disaster. Unless it’s just a cosmetic change and that makes whole thing pretty pointless.\n3D phones are a gimmick not worth paying for. I wonder when coffee making holography phones are going to be announced? It’s about time!\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/3d-phones-come-on-really/","summary":"Maybe 60 years ago the headline was Colour TVs? Come On, Really? And a few years before that it was Sound In Movies? Come On, Really? But seriously, come on, really? My point is, 3D at the movies and …"},{"title":"Plans for the future","content":"Out with the old, in with the new\rSamsung i9000 Galaxy S\rWell, figured I should use this blog to vent other thoughts.\nFirst off, a bit about the Samsung i8910. I thought the most likely update for it to get was Touch Wiz 3.0. I emailed some folks at Samsung and they don\u0026rsquo;t have any plans to implement that on the device.\nWindows Phone Series 7 on the i8910? Well, that seems unlikely. Turns out, Microsoft made a \u0026lsquo;gimmick i8910\u0026rsquo; just to get people excited. It\u0026rsquo;s totally not happening. To get it in on our current devices we would have to replace the display with a smaller one. Microsoft certainly wouldn\u0026rsquo;t let us have this device with WP7 without Windows branding on the buttons. So sad but true. If that i8910-like device running WP7 is ever to be released, it will be different from what we have now.\nOther OSes are just not going to happen. It\u0026rsquo;s too complex to implement them and there are few people who have the time or the skills to do that successfully.\nWith the slew of new devices coming out and Samsung\u0026rsquo;s heavy marketing of the i9000 Galaxy S, the i8910 is pretty much dead. Updates will come, but mainly to fix bugs. The introduction of kinetic scrolling will remain the biggest update the i8910 will ever receive. Modders simply mix and match what\u0026rsquo;s there, and they are doing some awesome things with the device but not a lot will change.\nA combination of old hardware(developed about 2 years ago), poor coding, and an ailing OS(Symbian^1) are to blame for the i891o\u0026rsquo;s demise. It\u0026rsquo;s a pity it fell even before it had a chance to shine.\nPity I can\u0026rsquo;t afford these new devices coming out. I\u0026rsquo;m stuck with my i8910 for a least the next year\u0026hellip; Heck, I\u0026rsquo;ll probably have this same phone for the next 4 years!\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/plans-for-the-future/","summary":"Out with the old, in with the new\rSamsung i9000 Galaxy S\rWell, figured I should use this blog to vent other thoughts.\nFirst off, a bit about the Samsung i8910. I thought the most likely update for it …"},{"title":"The big move: anphase.wordpress.com to just anphase.com","content":"\rThe big move\rMy new website is http://anphase.com\nI have decided to move from wordpress.com to wordpress.org.\nThere are several reasons for my move to the new domain.\nMore control: with the move I am more able to control everything about the website. You will see that the difference between this website and the new one is quite big. I can now embed videos from any services, store more data etc.\nEase: wordpress.com and wordpress.org are about the same, I transferred about 99% of the blog/comments etc to the new site.\nAds: As you may know, I\u0026rsquo;ve been doing all this work in my spare time without much to show for it. The new domain allows me to place a few subtle ads so I can make a dollar or two out of it :-)\nEasy to remember: anphase.com is easier to remember, it just rolls off the tongue.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s still a work in progress, tell me what you think, suggestions, attacks etc. all welcomed :-)\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/the-big-move-anphase-wordpress-com-to-just-anphase-com/","summary":"\rThe big move\rMy new website is http://anphase.com\nI have decided to move from wordpress.com to wordpress.org.\nThere are several reasons for my move to the new domain.\nMore control: with the move I am …"},{"title":"Support for Samsung i8910 Omnia HD to continue till end of 2010","content":"From what I\u0026rsquo;ve observed with the Samsung i8510 Innov8, it is apparent that Samsung will continue to produce updates for the i8910 up to at least the end of 2010. That\u0026rsquo;s really promising considering that many people thought the i8910 had reached the end of its life cycle and it had been left out in the cold. So, the question is, what are they going to be doing in this time? Fixing bugs only? From my meeting, it appears as if the features are generally permanent and they may consider implementing only a few of the proposed suggestions from the report. Adding kinetic scrolling was quite a leap, it was never described as a feature on the phone but they decided to add it to enhance the devices functionality. What else is in store for the next couple of months?\nSamsung has failed to deliver\rBefore we go into the updates, it is now apparent that Samsung has failed to deliver the official update on time. They said in their press release that:\r\"The firmware update will be available from January 2010 in the UK and gradually rolled out to other European markets, Southeast Asia, the Middle East Asia, Africa and rest of the world.\"\rAccording to information that I got from i8910 owners around the world, the update has not been released anywhere.Versions of the firmware that have the features described as coming in the 'big' update i.e. kinetic scrolling, improved web browser and new graphics engine are available from websites such as http://samsung-firmware.tk/. The owners of this particular website claim to have firmware that comes directly from Samsung. Whether the firmware they have is in beta form or whether it's the final release remains a mystery.\rI get the impression that Samsung produced the press release prematurely in an attempt to calm the storm caused by the petition(which now has almost 3800 signatures), the report, the phone calls and the emails that users sent to Samsung in their respective regions.\nThe probable reasons for the delay are the bugs and stability issues. I\u0026rsquo;ve installed the version i8910XXIL5 on my i8910 and I\u0026rsquo;ve noticed pretty much all the problems I noted in version i8910XXIL3 in my video are still present. An even more recent firmware i8910XEJA1(also available from http://samsung-firmware.tk/), dated January 2010 was also released but no significant differences have been noted in that either.\nUpdate problems: Phone not supported etc..\rMany users have resorted to using firmware that was not meant for their devices; firmware from different regions. Each device contains some key that is region specific. When you connect your phone to PC Studio to check for updates, you may get an error saying that \"the device connected is not supported\". This may be because the firmware on the device and the region information are conflicting. Custom firmware also has that same result since it's made up of several components from different builds. This may not always be the case however. To ensure that your device is ready for the update, you should get this message when you select the phone software update option:\rUpdate ready\rIf the firmware you\u0026rsquo;re using does not produce the window above but gives some error, then the firmware and hardware may not be working together in complete harmony. The technical manager at Samsung said you may actually lose some functionality/performance as a result of the mismatch.\nPatience\rAgain I must emphasize that Samsung will continue making updates and ironing out bugs for at least the next 12 months. They failed to meet the date they promised but we can rest assured that something will eventually come after they sort the problems out. The phone is stable and it works as it should in its current state no matter which firmware you have, as long as it was officially released.\rWe likely to see more awesome updates especially since the report is out there with them and they know what we want.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/support-for-samsung-i8910-omnia-hd-to-continue-till-end-of-2010/","summary":"From what I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve observed with the Samsung i8510 Innov8, it is apparent that Samsung will continue to produce updates for the i8910 up to at least the end of 2010. That\u0026amp;rsquo;s really promising …"},{"title":"Apple iPad: The be all and end all of mobile computing","content":"The Apple iPad has been bashed the blogosphere over, even I took a swing at it. Reading through all the problems, I believe we\u0026rsquo;re missing the point. The iPad is a revolutionary device and it will change mobile computing as we know it forever.\nApple iPad, the future is now\rPurpose\rThe first thing that I'm going to tackle is where the iPad fits in. That, I believe, is the fundamental key to its success. It covers a lot of categories under its umbrella, making it a 'must have' device among 'must have' devices.\rE-Book reader\rE-book Reader: There are plenty of e-book readers on the market and more on the way. Most are bogged down by E ink technology in an attempt to mimic the \u0026lsquo;real\u0026rsquo; reading experience. The iPad, like the iPhone, uses transreflective technology for its display allowing for easy operation even in direct sunlight. That makes it good enough for almost any conditions thus easily outweighing any advantages E Ink has in when it comes to displaying content. Concerning battery life, the iPad doesn\u0026rsquo;t disappoint with 10 hours of continuous use and up to a month of stand-by time. Millions of e-readers have been sold worldwide with their limited capabilities. The Kindle DX for instance is priced at US$489, just $10 shy of the iPad\u0026rsquo;s price yet it\u0026rsquo;s vastly inferior. Coupled with the iBook store, the iPad will be the best e-reader yet.\nThe Netbook\rNetbook: The Netbook started as an in-between device; the device that bridged the gap between the mobile phone and the laptop. With a low price and conveniently smaller size, the netbook got really popular. Running Android, Linux and especially Windows operating systems, consumers started realizing just how limited the netbook was; they wanted more from their Netbooks at that same low price. Netbooks started to grow in size and power to a point where the lines between a netbook and a laptop are blurred. The big problem with netbooks is that they are wannabe laptops. The form factor, Operating Systems, and even manufactures all reek of laptops; this is where they fail. They are deliberate attempts to something that\u0026rsquo;s already there, a step backwards from the laptop computer. The iPad on the other hand, is an entirely new category. It is an expansion of the brilliant iPhone OS which revolutionized the mobile phone industry. In this sense, it is not a step backwards from anything, but rather an extension; a leap from something that was already brilliant but limited by size.\nEnhanced User Experience\rOne thing I took away from Steven Fry's take on the iPad is the user experience. He said\rThe moment you experience it in your hands you know this is class. This is a different order of experience. The speed, the responsiveness, the smooth glide of it, the richness and detail of the display, the heft in your hand, the rightness of the actions and gestures that you employ, untutored and instinctively, it’s not just a scaled up iPhone or a scaled-down multitouch enhanced laptop – it is a whole new kind of device.\rI used that extract as I have not handled it myself but his words say it all. From my experience with Apple products, the iPhone and my iPod touch, there is no doubt in my mind that the iPad will deliver an unparalleled user experience, unlike anything we've ever seen. Even without multi-tasking, which may actually be a good thing, the device will be very powerful and extremely easy to use.\rThe number of applications available at the launch of the product, pretty much all the iPhone apps, is staggering. About 140000 in total and obviously more on the way. This guarantees that users will never be bored and developers will continue to deliver on innovation in more awesome ways.\nPlenty of room for improvement\rApple is probably one of the best in the industry at maintaining their products and keeping them up-to-date with the newest developments. The iPod Touch 1st Generation was launched in 2007. Over the years it has received updates that have taken it to a whole new level. In that same light, the iPad has deficiencies with Flash Support and other things but there is potential for all that to be addressed. There are some hardware issues, such as lack of a camera, that are more permanent but that's hardly a deal breaker. It's possible that Apple excluded the camera to keep the price down, a worthy compromise I think.\rIn a nutshell...\rIn a nutshell\rThe Apple iPad is an awesome device by a company with a lot of passion for its products. Despite a few shortcomings, the potential of this device is high. With its awesome Operating System, wide variety of applications and its massive screen real estate, it will no doubt change the mobile landscape and in some ways, it already has.","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/apple-ipad-the-be-all-and-end-all-of-mobile-computing/","summary":"The Apple iPad has been bashed the blogosphere over, even I took a swing at it. Reading through all the problems, I believe we\u0026amp;rsquo;re missing the point. The iPad is a revolutionary device and it …"},{"title":"Apple iPad Launching in New Zealand first","content":"\rApple iPad Launching in NZ first\rThe Apple iPad is set to launch worldwide in late March 2010 starting with the WiFi version which will be followed by the 3G + WiFi version in April. As with the iPhone 3G launch and the iPhone 3GS after it, the Apple iPad will be sold in New Zealand first before the rest of the world. From other similarly priced devices, the iPad should be starting at about NZ$799 which is a really good price. That places it smack in the middle of Netbook-ville. I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t wait for the 3G version which is considerably more expensive since I\u0026rsquo;m either at home or at university 90% of the time, breathing WiFi. Besides, NZ 3G plans are really bad, not at all practical for the ordinary human being.Whether or not I\u0026rsquo;ll be in the queue to get it on the first day is a mystery to me. I really want to like it as it is, but I know that Apple will respond to user feedback and launch a much better device with a camera, faster processor, support for flash content and multitasking in 2011. Not to worried about the software side of things, but that missing camera is a pain that can not be \u0026ldquo;fixed\u0026rdquo; with a software update. Time will tell.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/apple-ipad-launching-in-new-zealand-first/","summary":"\rApple iPad Launching in NZ first\rThe Apple iPad is set to launch worldwide in late March 2010 starting with the WiFi version which will be followed by the 3G + WiFi version in April. As with the …"},{"title":"Video demonstration of the new Apple iPad","content":"Engadget just got a hold of the new iPad and took it for a spin. Here\u0026rsquo;s the video taken at the Apple Launch Event for the iPad.\nOriginal video no longer available (Viddler has shut down).\nIt looks really awesome and operation is fluid. Except for the bad points, the Apple iPad is a winner. Can\u0026rsquo;t wait to get my hands on it myself.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/video-demonstration-of-the-new-apple-ipad/","summary":"Engadget just got a hold of the new iPad and took it for a spin. Here\u0026amp;rsquo;s the video taken at the Apple Launch Event for the iPad.\nOriginal video no longer available (Viddler has shut down).\nIt …"},{"title":"Apple iPad: The bad","content":"\rA couple of problems with the iPad\rSo the Apple iPad has just been announced and I couldn\u0026rsquo;t help but notice a few bad points. It looks awesome and promising and it will probably do well but there are some short comings, as expected.\nNo flash support. As a device for the \u0026lsquo;ultimate web experience\u0026rsquo;, this comes as a bit of a surprise. I thought Apple would up the game and come up with a flash enabled browser. Given that they do not allow 3rd party browsers, this is how it\u0026rsquo;s going to be for a long time. Maybe they\u0026rsquo;ll release the iPad Flash in 2011?\nNo multitasking. Very disappointing as well, even more than flash. Symbian phones have been doing it for years and they are not nearly as powerful as the iPad. Why Apple, why? Maybe it has to do with performance? iPhone apps rarely stutter or crash and they probably want users to experience the best of which ever app they\u0026rsquo;re using on the iPad as well. Bummer.\nNo camera/webcam. Maybe I\u0026rsquo;m being picky here but this is very restricting. A webcam or camera of some sort would have opened a whole new dimension and given greater reason to get this device. Coupled with its 3G capabilities, it would have become a more useful communication device. Even the new iPod nano has a camera for crying out loud! It turns out that the iPad SDK thinks it has a camera as covered by Crunch Gear. Two possibilities; either it\u0026rsquo;s coming soon or they for got to strip it out from th iPhone software. I certainly hope it\u0026rsquo;s coming before the launch in 60 days.\nWill the iPad change the world like I thought? Probably it will and that\u0026rsquo;s really exciting despite these drawbacks.\nSo those are my thoughts. Not a lot of problems really, and they are not really deal breakers. There are other minor gripes though; I wish it had a stylus of some sort or some new input method at least. But no qualms. I like it, Apple did an extraordinary job with this. Here\u0026rsquo;s hoping it will be released in NZ promptly. Now on video!\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/apple-ipad-the-bad/","summary":"\rA couple of problems with the iPad\rSo the Apple iPad has just been announced and I couldn\u0026amp;rsquo;t help but notice a few bad points. It looks awesome and promising and it will probably do well but …"},{"title":"Apple iPad: The moment of truth","content":"\rThe moment of truth\rWell the time has come for Apple to reveal the tablet that everyone has been waiting for. Even Bill Gates said that\n\"the future of computing lies in the small genre of portable computer called a 'tablet PC'.\"\rback in 2001. In an interview in 2007(at around 3:28) on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart he went on to say that he uses a tablet in meetings. But I digress, the Apple Tablet is here and now. Apple is a game changer and there\u0026rsquo;s no doubt in my mind that the game will change in some way. The tablet, based on the iPhone OS, which in itself revolutionized the mobile phone industry, is bound to have the same, if not a greater impact than the iPhone. The tablet industry has been awfully clumsy and filled with really expensive devices. Devices that offered nothing special when compared to other computing devices, only compromises in an attempt to cram a lot of technology and power into a very small space.\nTechnology has evolved over the years. A quote from a Popular Mechanic\u0026rsquo;s article on of James Cameron\u0026rsquo;s Avatar movie applies to tablet computers up to now:\n\"the project was so ambitious that it took 10 more years before Cameron felt cinema technology had advanced to the point where Avatar was even possible.\"\rUnder that same light, technology has advanced to a point where tablet computers can be. That is in terms of several factors including computing and graphics processing power, price, battery life and more recently, purpose.\rE-book readers have really taken off as evidenced at CES 2010 and with the popularity of products such as the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Noble Nook. This market is still relatively young but promising. Most popular e-book devices use E-Ink technology and there\u0026rsquo;s really no perfect e-book reader out there. That\u0026rsquo;s not to say that Apple\u0026rsquo;s tablet will be perfect, but it will change the landscape and redefine what people expect from e-book readers.\nAn innovative and attractive user interface and a massive applications store, coupled with support from major media publishers such as McGraw Hill and others, guarantee that Apple\u0026rsquo;s tablet will live up to the hype. There have been many attempts before it, dating back to the 90\u0026rsquo;s and even beyond that. Recently, it was the Crunch Pad, which had crashed and burned before it became the JooJoo and the slates demonstrated by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at CES 2010. All these are interesting devices, but Apple differs in how much passion, innovation and hard work they put in their devices.\nThere\u0026rsquo;s no point in doing what we\u0026rsquo;ve always been doing with books/news papers/magazines etc. on this new technology. The innovation brought by Apple will create a whole new frontier in content distribution. That\u0026rsquo;s the key. It could potentially change all these industries as we know them forever.\nAt the end of the day, the success of the device is out of Apple\u0026rsquo;s hands. It depends on whether these industries can adopt to the changes, if they want to adopt to the changes and most importantly whether or not consumers are ready.\nThe Apple iPad\rSpecifications: 9.7\u0026quot; 1024 x 768 resolution capacitive display\n16GB to 64GB storage\n1 GHz Custom A4 processor\nBluettooth 2.1 + Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)\nAssisted GPS + Digital Compass\n3G UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz) + GSM/EDGE (850, 900,1800, 1900 MHz)\nRunning a more advanced iteration of the iPhone OS\nSupport for all iPhone/iPod Touch apps\nVideo playback up to 720p\nIntroducing iBook Store\nYou can get more information from the iPad website.\nThe best part is, it\u0026rsquo;s starting at just $499. $499?!?! Wow.\nAwesome ;-)\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/apple-tablet-the-moment-of-truth/","summary":"\rThe moment of truth\rWell the time has come for Apple to reveal the tablet that everyone has been waiting for. Even Bill Gates said that\n\u0026#34;the future of computing lies in the small genre of portable …"},{"title":"Battle of the mobile browsers: Opera Mobile vs. Skyfire on S60 5th Edition(video)","content":"Tested on the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD\nMajor highlights\nOpera Mobile:\nMore fluid browsing\rBetter User Interface and elements\rTabbed browsing\rSkyfire\rBetter home screen with social media integration\rFaster browser load times\rSupport for flash/ajax scripting/javascript\r...and both of them are free, You can download the browsers at these links:\rDownload Opera 10 Beta 2 here\nDownload Skyfire 1.5 Beta here or by directing your mobile browser to http://m.skyfire.com\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/battle-of-the-mobile-browsers-opera-mobile-vs-skyfire-on-s60-5th-editionvideo/","summary":"Tested on the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD\nMajor highlights\nOpera Mobile:\nMore fluid browsing\rBetter User Interface and elements\rTabbed browsing\rSkyfire\rBetter home screen with social media integration …"},{"title":"Can't Samsung Re-Launch the i8910 Omnia HD?","content":"\rBright Future?\rThe Samsung i8910 was announced at the Mobile Wold Congress 2009 and officially launched around the world some time in May 2009. At the time it was announced, it was not short of innovation. Being the first mobile phone to boast a 3.7\u0026quot; AMOLED display, first Symbian phone with a capacitive screen, first mobile phone to support OpenGL ES 2.0 and the first mobile phone with HD video recording. Add to that an ARM Cortex-A8 600 MHz processor with a Hardware Graphics Accelerator, 256MB RAM, an 8 Mega pixel camera and a compass just to mention a few of the highlights. Some of these features are the same as, if not better than the features seen in mobile phones that have been launched lately.\nThe Sony Ericsson Kurara for instance, set to be launched some time this year has a 3.5\u0026quot; LED display, S60 v5 and pretty much about the same features as the i8910. According to an early leak(Russian), the Kurara offers nothing that hasn\u0026rsquo;t been seen before on the i8910.\nSony Erricson Kurara, offering nothing new\rThe Omina HD has had at least a 6 month head start against this device. It has the upper hand, or does it?\nSamsung Mobile Innovator was launched in late 2008 as:\n\"a new program enabling mobile software developers to create applications for use across all Samsung S60 devices for the first time.\"\rIt was launched just in time for the arrival of the i8910. To date, there are only 12 applications available for download for the i8910 at the website, more than a year on. This has been attributed to poor sales and lack of developer interest as a result. Despite that, Samsung went on to unveil the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD Gold Edition, a moved that puzzled many. Interestingly, in the Gold Edition launch article, GSM Arena called the phone an\r\"extremely popular... multi-media monster\"\rThe price of the phone has gone down significantly since its launch. In some regions, such as my own, you can get the device for about half the initial price. From a consumers' point of view, that's very appealing. It's features are comparable to newer models that are on the market now, making the i8910 an easily relevant smart phone.\r3.7\u0026quot; AMOLED display - similar to the Google Nexus One(January 2010)\nARM Cortex A8 600MHz processor - similar to the Motorola Milestone(Droid)(November 2009)\n8.1 Mega-pixel Camera with HD video recording capability- similar to the rumored Sony Ericsson Kurara(to be announced)\nIts ground breaking features are the driving force behind its longevity. The technology though may be inferior to the current crop of devices, as shown in my previous article on the displays, and other areas. The i8910 is an example of risk taking and pushing technology to the limits. To date, it\u0026rsquo;s the only smart phone with HD video recording capability. The HD recording feature may not be perfect, probably because it was ahead of its time, but it\u0026rsquo;s there, taking full advantage of the phone\u0026rsquo;s hardware. The phone may fall short in the applications arena, but the HD video recording and playback make use of most of its power, to the extent of almost failing with HD video recording.\nSo, clearly the phone has some firm footing, but if Samsung is to re-launch it, what would they need to do? Put Symbian^X? Not necessarily I think.\nSymbian^4 not happening for the i8910\rSome of the UI elements of Symbian^4 have just been detailed and I have to say, I\u0026rsquo;m not really impressed. Skimming through the document, I noticed they don\u0026rsquo;t really mention much that\u0026rsquo;s new. An extract from the document released says:\nUser interface design solutions that exist for other operating systems are similar in the following respects:\r- HTC Hero and Motorola Droid, both on Android, have a Homescreen with movable Homescreen widgets; however, each has one multi-panel homesceen page, whereas Symbian Foundation has independent unique pages\n- Palm Pre’s WebOS eliminates Exit commands, but instead of saving state and releasing memory it keeps applications running\n- iPhone has a flattened application library; however, it is displayed to the user exclusively as a manually organized grid, whereas the Symbian Foundation application library is an alpha-ordered list with multiple filtered views. Right\u0026hellip; not as revolutionary as I would have liked. I was expecting something more daring, adventurous and funky like the new Symbian Foundation theme. I was expecting to be blown away with something like this..\nSymbian^4 as I imagined it\rBut that\u0026rsquo;s just me. In my opinion, Touch Wiz running on the i8910 with Symbian^1 works ok for now.\nOf the issues in the report, Samsung has only managed to address about 27% of the problems and features suggested. The ~73% percent or so of the issues and features that are not being addressed are enough for a product relaunch. I mean killer features like a torch, threaded SMS, video editor, fm transmitter, VoIP, multi-touch etc. are enough to make a whole new product. Instead of launching a whole new product, they can just re-launch it. In my meeting with Chris, he mentioned that the i8910 missed out on a lot of these features because they were either not yet popular or they were not yet developed. The device is capable of supporting the features, it\u0026rsquo;s not the technology that\u0026rsquo;s the problem. The problem is resources for carrying out such a project.\nIt is not unheard of that users have had to pay for new updates. The iPod Touch is one such example. Apple charges for new updates for the iPod Touch because they introduce\n\"significant enhancements to a device that has already been launched.\"\rAdding 30 or so new features, fixes and enhancements is a mammoth task. iPod Touch users paid $10 for about 20 new features in the 2.0 update and another $10 for the 3.0 update. Apple unveiled new iPods/iPhones to coincide with these releases. Samsung could potentially use that same approach when launching the i8910 Gold Edition. People who already have the device can pay a small fee, and the new devices can come with the new features on board.\rUnfortunately, that\u0026rsquo;s probably not going to happen. New devices are going to come out and leave older devices like the i8910 behind eventually, that\u0026rsquo;s the way it\u0026rsquo;s always been.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/cant-samsung-re-launch-the-i8910-omnia-hd/","summary":"\rBright Future?\rThe Samsung i8910 was announced at the Mobile Wold Congress 2009 and officially launched around the world some time in May 2009. At the time it was announced, it was not short of …"},{"title":"Screen test and simple concept for a torch app for the Samsung i8910","content":"DIY Screen test\nI recently read this article, on the MOTO labs website, for a DIY touch screen test for capacitive touch screen phones. So, I decided to put the i8910 to the test to see how it compares to the others and this was the result, click on the image for a better view:\nThe test on the i8910 showed there\u0026rsquo;s waviness and stair-stepping, an indication of low touch screen sensitivity. The outer edges show low sensitivity as well but this is probably deliberate because of the screen\u0026rsquo;s close proximity to edges and also because there are no contours around the screen. The lower edges are even more sensitive than the iPhone though. That\u0026rsquo;s not bad considering that the i8910 is the \u0026lsquo;oldest\u0026rsquo; device in this test and it has similar with performance similar to the Droid.\nI should make a note that this is not a 'scientific' test and the fact that the testers were different could mean the results are not entirely correct. The purpose of this test was just to see how the i8910 fares against the competition. I took a lot of care in trying to carry out the test in the same way it was on the other devices.\rIf you'd like to try the experiment yourself, I used Mobile Paint which has no line correction algorithms and it makes use of a large screen area. I couldn't find anything better, feel free to try whatever you like.\rVery Simple Torch App Concept\nOne of the features i8910 users want is a simple torch application. This is my concept for a very simple one. Simple but very functional. One of the biggest problems with mobile phone UI(user interfaces) is having to dig through menus to open applications each time you need them. Some of the apps you need access to as quickly as possible, especially for simple operations.\nMy design is like this. Say you first open the application. An icon appears at the top of the screen to show that the torch app is active.\nTorch icon on the top right of the screen\rThe problem with most mobile phone UIs(user interfaces) is that you have to dig through menus to access your applications even for simple applications. The i8910 has a handy pop up menu that allows you immediate access to new messages, bluetooth or WiFi when it\u0026rsquo;s on. Extending this menu to include an on/off switch for the torch and we have something like this:\nSimple switch for the torch application\rThat\u0026rsquo;s my concept for a torch application. I\u0026rsquo;d like to see something like this and not a metal detector or bounce ball app as seen on the Samsung Mobile Innovator website. I don\u0026rsquo;t see any \u0026lsquo;innovation\u0026rsquo; there.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/screen-test-simple-concept-for-a-torch-for-the-samsung-i8910/","summary":"DIY Screen test\nI recently read this article, on the MOTO labs website, for a DIY touch screen test for capacitive touch screen phones. So, I decided to put the i8910 to the test to see how it …"},{"title":"What to expect in the upcoming update and a bit more(video)","content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve prepared a video to give you a preview of the upcoming update. The firmware is not final, it still has a few issues to be ironed out but it does give you an idea of what\u0026rsquo;s to be expected. I\u0026rsquo;ve also included a few apps from Samsung Mobile Innovator and Imagination Technologies PowerVR SDK. All these are freely available for download. So far, these demos are as close as we can get to the full power of the i8910, and that\u0026rsquo;s a lot of power. I\u0026rsquo;ve also added an extra video with a preview of Symbian^4 running on the i8910 courtesy of AAS from The Symbian Exchange and Exposition SEE 2009.\nShort demo of upcoming update and a bit more\nLinks\n(Updated) You can download qt demos from qt demo website. To get Qt to run on the i8910 you need to install the following files:\nQt_selfsigned\rQt_installer\nFluidlauncher After that you\u0026rsquo;ll have a suit with several Qt demos. You can then install the Weather, Budget apps etc that are on the Qt website above.\nA bunch of Qt apps on the i8910\rSMI Demo pack from Samsung Moblie Innovator (You need to have a free account with Samsung Mobile Innovator to download)\n(Updated)Opera moblie browser from Opera Mobile. Watch a video comparison of Opera Mobile vs. Skyfire (with links)\nFring for VoIP from the Fring website\nYou can get more free apps from AAS(All About Symbian) over here on their top 20 list of applications for the i8910 compiled by Steven Litchfield.\nSome of these apps take a while to install because they consist of several applications. You will need to accept a bunch of things many times when installing\u0026hellip;maybe 20 prompts, I lost count :)\nCheck out some Symbian^4 action on the i8910. As this runs right on top of Symbian, since Qt is a UI framework, we may see it coming later on. The demonstration starts around 40 seconds into the video. Courtesy of AAS.\nI have no links though, it was strictly a demo for SEE 2009.The Demand Issue\nOne of the major gripes from the comments on my meeting with Samsung and forum discussions is the issue of \u0026ldquo;demand\u0026rdquo;. Samsung was talking about market demand (when considering other popular devices) for these features. Here\u0026rsquo;s an example. Let\u0026rsquo;s look at the iPhone for a second. One of the most popular devices on the market. We could say its features are the benchmark (no, not really, but it\u0026rsquo;s the single most popular device in the world). It has no FM transmitter, neither does the Motorola Droid(get it? Droid does\u0026hellip;not), or the Palm Pre, why? This feature never really took off, most people don\u0026rsquo;t even know what it is. It was more \u0026lsquo;popular\u0026rsquo; 3 years ago on the Nokia N95 and in a few other devices today. The iPhone doesn\u0026rsquo;t even have a flash so a torch is out of the question. No HD video to talk about at all. It may be choppy, but it\u0026rsquo;s there on the i8910 together with other video resolutions that work flawlessly. The iPhone didn\u0026rsquo;t even have video recording until the iPhone 3gs which came a while after the i8910 was announced(after its design and feature set were finalized) so auto focus is not implemented. Neither is front camera access, the iPhone doesn\u0026rsquo;t even have a front camera, just a 3.2MP one at the back. Call recording is rarely ever seen in any device, certainly not on the iPhone etc. etc. Ok, I know I\u0026rsquo;m being overly positive for a change, deliberately picking on the features that the i8910 has over the competition. The point being that we should be more realistic. Yes, we want these features, we\u0026rsquo;re \u0026lsquo;demanding\u0026rsquo; for them, but they were not really in demand at the time the i8910 was designed and overall when we look at other \u0026lsquo;similar\u0026rsquo; devices on the market. I\u0026rsquo;d like more features packed in yesterday but we have to be patient. The guys at Samsung are playing their part.\nWhy am I trying to justify Samsung\u0026rsquo;s responses? They made an effort to address these issues and to talk to me and we\u0026rsquo;ve made serious tangible progress. Very few comments about Samsung are positive yet they went out of their way to make this happen. This is not the end, it\u0026rsquo;s only the beginning so be more optimistic please.\nCheers.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/what-to-expect-in-the-upcoming-update-and-a-bit-morevideo/","summary":"I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve prepared a video to give you a preview of the upcoming update. The firmware is not final, it still has a few issues to be ironed out but it does give you an idea of what\u0026amp;rsquo;s to be …"},{"title":"My meeting with Samsung, report back on the i8910","content":"I had a meeting with Samsung Technical Manager Chris. The meeting lasted a total of 4 hours - that\u0026rsquo;s right 4 hours and we discussed everything in the report, point by point.\nUpdate: I\u0026rsquo;ve made a few changes as suggested by Samsung to clarify some of the points.\nFirst off I have to say I was thoroughly impressed. The meeting left me with a whole different perspective on things. I\u0026rsquo;ll go point by point discussing each of the points mentioned in the report and Samsung\u0026rsquo;s response, so here goes!\nChange log for updates: This is available from Samsung on all updates. You can get in touch with Samsung for the change logs.Usually there are hundreds of changes, most too technical for the average Joe to understand. They make an effort to highlight the important things mostly to do with the UI (user interface) because these affect how users interact with the phone.\nUpdates for all regions: Samsung is continuously making updates. So far, there have been heaps of updates developed for the i8910. Only about 4 (a really small fraction) have been released so far. Samsung has an extremely strict quality assurance team that has to go through each and every detail with great care. The amount detail in each report for each update is staggering. They check everything from spellings to audio quality, to video quality and beyond.\n(Updated) Thing is, updates are region/supplier/carrier specific, even for generic firmware. In order for an update to be pushed in your particular region, Samsung in that particular region has to know that you want an update. If someone in the UK for instance complains about a certain thing and an update is available, the update is pulled or requested to resolve the issues for the UK only. If Samsung HQ reckons the update is necessary for all regions, they inform each of the subsidiaries in all regions. Each will then discuss with operators and HQ to decide whether to apply it or not. If you have any problems with your device, contact Samsung in your region so they look into it.\nOver The Air updates (OTA): Supported but only for small patches. We\u0026rsquo;ve only had big updates so we haven\u0026rsquo;t seen any of these. It also has to do with the carrier; whether they can support updates over the air and they can handle the amount of data required. i8910 firmware typically occupies a lot of memory. Even over WiFi it would take a long time to transfer that much data.\nUser Data Preservation: For small updates it\u0026rsquo;s already there. For the large updates like the ones we get, backing up all the data then transferring it back means that the update can take ages. It\u0026rsquo;s just not practical, so back up all your data before each update and restore it later.\nCamera problems: At the time when the i8910 was released, the camera hardware included was the latest and the best. Samsung is aware of the problem with HD frame-rate but says these are the same issues across the board. The same problems can be replicated with other devices.\n(Updated) Auto-focus in video is something they are looking in to. There wasn\u0026rsquo;t enough demand for this feature so they excluded it but it is possible. Even if it is applied, the quality of the video remains pretty much the same so it\u0026rsquo;s no use.\nThe settings for the camera were the optimum settings decided on for the i8910. They are looking into the n86 settings discussed in the report.\nThe feature to activate the camera in video mode has been passed on to product design for consideration.\nWeb browser: The problems with the web browser were noted and you should be getting a fixed web browser in the next update.\nSlow operation: They are working on new methods(algorithms) for the operation of the phone. The old methods used were OK at the time when the phone was in development but they are working on new techniques to keep up with the competition. You should see improved performance in the upcoming update and future updates.\nJava(Updated): Java can not be updated. In fact, the process is so complex and time consuming it would be easier to release a whole new device.\nSpace on C: drive: The solution is just to install everything on mass storage, they can\u0026rsquo;t free up any more without compromising.\nCustomization: Things like the options on the bottom row and the swipe programs are nominated with several factors to consider. A large factor is the carriers, each part of the UI is decided upon by the carrier and approved for particular regions. Ease of use and innovative or distinctive features are also favored over practicality. So in a nu shell, they may consider some customization options but it\u0026rsquo;s not likely to change.\nThemes: Fevves suggested Carbide UI plugin and full themes specification. Samsung responded that Carbide is third party software so they can\u0026rsquo;t guarantee compatibility. Also, there are heaps of compatible themes available in the Samsung Fun Club. Even though, Chris mentioned that they might make a program that\u0026rsquo;s specific to the i8910 that allows users to make compatible themes. They might, time will tell.\nLack of Support: Pretty much out of Samsung\u0026rsquo;s hands. The phone isn\u0026rsquo;t that popular so third party developers aren\u0026rsquo;t really attracted to it. Samsung admits that it\u0026rsquo;s really unfortunate and they\u0026rsquo;ll try to do what they can.\nWidgets: They are region specific. Some regions have more than others. They are continuing to work on more widgets.\nKinetic Scrolling: Coming in the next update.\nEmail Configuration: Not coming, too many changes need to be made. At the time of release the feature wasn\u0026rsquo;t as common.\nFM Transmitter(Updated): It\u0026rsquo;s there! But it was not developed for the phone. It was considered in early product planning phase, however, due to strict regulations in some regions as Samsung was targeting global launch, it was removed. Samsung has low end handsets which have FM Transmitting, but those product are developed to support FM Transmitting. FM transmitting was never advertised by Samsung.\nScreen saver: Battery drain, most manufactures choose not to include any screen savers for this reason.\nPhysical music controls(via volume rocker)(Updated): Samsung appreciates this suggestion and they will review this concept and apply it for future models.\nVoIP: Conflicts with a lot of carriers. There are many free third party apps like Fring that have this feature.\nFront camera access(Updated): People rarely use this feature outside of video calls. None of Samsung’s recent models support this as the quality is not great.\nCall recording(Updated): i8910 device specification doesn\u0026rsquo;t include it.\nTime-lapse video: They have forwarded this to the development team. They are considering it.\nSupport of other languages: Samsung doesn\u0026rsquo;t have enough resources to support as many languages as they would like to. As they expand more, support for more languages will continue.\nWMV/WMA support: The formats are quite popular but they are part of the the few that are not supported. Samsung is not promising any future support of these formats.\nVideo editor(Updated): It was there initially in pre-release firmware but due to time to market, failure rate and not being a must have, it was removed. You can only do so such on a mobile phone, video editing requires quite a lot of processing power. They didn’t feel the feature did justice to the i8910\nPortrait QWERTY: It was initially included but feedback from early models showed there were too many complaints. In the end they had to scrape it off.\nVoice Commands: Notoriously difficult to implement without problems. There are many accents and a lot of work has to been done developing recognition solutions for each region. Ffor this reason, they excluded it from design phase.\nHandwriting Training(upadted): Handwriting recognition in the i8910 is a feature that\u0026rsquo;s so well developed that there is no need for a training program. Training software was popular in the early days when the technology was still premature. Now it\u0026rsquo;s not necessary.\nVPN (updated): i8910 is not designed for business portfolio, unfortunately VPN is not supported.\nTorch function(Updated): Samsung said that this feature couldn’t be accommodated from the design level. Samsung does have many devices which support torch function. For high end devices that have more functions, it’s expected that a torch will consume a lot of battery power so it wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be an ideal feature. It’s expected and more common in lower end models and generally not found in smart phones. It would be very ideal to fully pack all functionality into a single device, but it\u0026rsquo;s not practical.\nThreaded SMS: They said it’s unfortunate this feature was not available when i8910 was developed. Again it would take a lot to develop something like that. We have to rely on the Free-iSMS forever!\nKies: The Kies Application at Samsung Apps website is not made for Symbian.\nAlternative Operating Systems: It is possible to have these on the device. Problem is that the work required to do something like that is equivalent to developing a new product all together. So no, it\u0026rsquo;s not happening.\nOk, that\u0026rsquo;s it. If I left out anything please feel free to ask, the meeting was very long and I learnt a lot of things. I must say kudos to Mr Chris Kim for having the patience to listen and address every single issue on the report. I met several other Samsung employees there and the whole experience was simply awesome. Thank you.\nAs you might know my i8910 is dead. I should have been upgraded to the latest firmware dated 29 December 2009 today. This is the update that will be pushed to everyone very soon, its already there but it\u0026rsquo;s probably awaiting approval. I was given a loaner so I can try reproduce some of the issues and test drive the new firmware. I haven\u0026rsquo;t tested it too much but Kinetic scrolling works like a charm.\nI now have a deep respect for Samsung and their operations. Their approval/ quality assessment system may be really strict but that\u0026rsquo;s why their products are really good and generally bug free. I\u0026rsquo;ll update you on more progress.\n(Update) Video of what to expect in the new update firmware update\nAn important point to note is that Samsung is divided into regions then countries and carriers. I'm based in New Zealand where the i8910 wasn't even launched. It's a lot that Samsung even considered what I had to say. If you have issues with your device, make an effort to at least point Samsung in your region/carrier to the report/petition and indicate that you want an update with such and such features in case they are not aware. Updates won't just come by magic for your region if no one complains. Approach Samsung, they won't bite.\rCheers Anphase.","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/my-meeting-with-samsung-report-back-on-the-report/","summary":"I had a meeting with Samsung Technical Manager Chris. The meeting lasted a total of 4 hours - that\u0026amp;rsquo;s right 4 hours and we discussed everything in the report, point by point.\nUpdate: I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve …"},{"title":"The iSlate (...or whatever it will be called) just might work","content":"Why have tablets failed thus far?\nThing about tablets is that they\u0026rsquo;ve never been great. The reason for this being that virtually all of these tablets are built on desktop/laptop software or mobile phone software. Microsoft has made moves to include programs that try to make the UI more suitable for tablet PCs, that\u0026rsquo;s not enough. A lot of manufactures also loaded their tablets with mobile phone operating systems ranging from Windows CE to Android. This is where they all failed and continue to fail. Desktops and laptops are built around the premise that there is a keyboard and mouse. In order to make a tablet that works, the OS has to be built from the ground up with tablets in mind. Everything about the UI for a tablet computer has to be for a tablet computer for it to work. There should be a radical difference between how people use a tablet, a laptop and a mobile phone.(update: It\u0026rsquo;s Official)\nTablet..a whole different ball game...\rForm factor\nA tablet is in between a mobile phone and a laptop. It\u0026rsquo;s about as different from a mobile phone and a laptop as they are from each other, if not even more. A tablet, unlike a laptop or mobile phone shares the same form factor with something we\u0026rsquo;ve been around since the beginning of time. A sheet of paper. The dimensions of a tablet computer are also similar to a typical writing pad or magazine. This fact has implications, writing with a stylus for input; that\u0026rsquo;s how it\u0026rsquo;s always been done on this form factor and finger input for other interactions.\nWhat the iSlate needs to have\nHandwriting recognition has come a long way and I don\u0026rsquo;t see this being a problem for Apple. My experience with my 2 year old iPaq 210 has shown me just how far this technology has gone with it\u0026rsquo;s flawless handwriting recognition. The UI used on the iPhone is beautifully crafted for finger use. Swiping, pinching, zooming, panning, crunching and more touch/multi-touch gestures would work better on a bigger display. The soft keyboard can not go unnoticed though. Input via some virtual keyboard is a must. Again, this must be optimized for use on a tablet. Rumor has it that the display will feature a tactile-feedback screen. I\u0026rsquo;m not quite sure how Apple will pull that off, but setting standards and risk taking is nothing new for the company.\nAbove all, support is key. If partners like NYT, Time and other media powerhouses get on board, you\u0026rsquo;ve already got something that has never been seen or experienced before, something people actually want.\niSlate, the future\rThere are numerous reports around the internet, some for and some against and some not so sure about the Apple Tablet. What\u0026rsquo;s going to happen remains to be seen but Apple seems to be on to something.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/why-the-islate-or-whatever-it-will-be-called-just-might-work/","summary":"Why have tablets failed thus far?\nThing about tablets is that they\u0026amp;rsquo;ve never been great. The reason for this being that virtually all of these tablets are built on desktop/laptop software or …"},{"title":"If wishes were horses...the i8910 would ride","content":"Note: this article is not factual. It's a wishful/sarcastic post meant to highlight the potential of the i8910 and what Samsung could do with it. I've included details and ideas that I mean to present to Samsung in my meeting with them. This may not be real now, bit with more pressure on Samsung it could soon be a reality.\rExciting news guys, Samsung has just released an awesome update for the i8910! Pure gold of an update! This update is packed to the brim with features and fixes I don't even know where to begin! That's a lot coming from me after that report and petition fiasco.\rThe browser has been overhauled. It works like a breeze now, navigating through the browser is like running your fingers across a small puddle of water, it's pure fluid. It pans smoothly, responding to the slightest stroke with no stutter at all. Zooming in and out is far smoother, it feels more natural now, it's almost like there's no other way to do it better. Flash content now runs like a charm with major improvements to sites like YouTube. The browser now at least matches that of the iPhone in general browsing, beating it with flash support.\rThe camera has also been improved across the board. First off, after you press the camera button, you are greeted immediately with a transparent menu that has 4 options; Photo, Video, Galley and Cancel. These allow you to jump straight to the mode of choice or to exit in case you hit the button by accident or you change your mind. Tapping on the camera button twice gets you straight into the Photo mode. The camera itself is now much faster, it takes photos much faster. In tests it took about 5 seconds to take a picture before it was ready to take the next, a 3 fold improvement from its previous 15 seconds before the update.\rHD video recording has been improved now pushing up to 30 frames per second. When frame rate drops, it never drops below 24 frames per second and the result is possibly the best pocketable HD video recorder on the market. Sound for the video recordings has also been improved with higher bit rate audio. The result is that videos occupy more space in memory but with the price of micro SD cards so low and with video quality that good, there's nothing to complain about. Picture quality has also been vastly improved with pictures appearing more vivid than ever. More tweaks made to the exposure settings mean that pictures appear in focus even with a shaky camera.\rIt doesn\u0026rsquo;t end there. Also included is a new feature called Spot Focus. It allows focusing in video and photo mode. All you do is tap on an area on the screen and the camera focuses on that area. How it differs from other mobile phones out there is that you can focus during video recording. That\u0026rsquo;s right, as you\u0026rsquo;re recording video, if you decide to focus on something else you can do that on the fly without stopping the recording. Just tap on an area and the camera will adjust its focus to that area. Samsung went a step further and included a method to suppress the noise produced as the camera focuses such that it is barely audible. You can easily switch to macro mode in video recording in this way. The messaging app has also been upgraded in a huge way. Gone is the old boring s60 5th messaging app, say hello to Samsung Messaging+. This blows almost every mobile messaging app out of the water, literally. Messages are now threaded and colour coded. They are arranged in collapsible manner sorted by contact, date or subject. Messages from the same person appear together like a conversation with received and sent messages appearing chronologically complete with avatars. A single thread can contain a combination of SMSs, MMSs and emails sent and received between you and the contact.\rThe email app within messaging allows automatic configuration for common email services such as Yahoo and Gmail with more to come. All you have to do is enter your email address and password and it will figure out the rest for you. The email app also supports receiving, viewing and sending HTML, .pdf, .doc and .docx messages together with several other common formats. Also included is a Twitter app which is on par with the rest that are out there allowing status updates, viewing timelines, direct messages, re-tweets, searching etc.\rSamsung Messaging+ was really well thought out and its additional features and customisation options make it a great stop for all your messaging needs. Add to all that a faster UI with several new effects (similar to Kastor Effects we\u0026rsquo;ve seen), flawless Kinetic scrolling through out the UI, physical music controls via the volume buttons, a torch function using the camera LED, widgets for launching virtually all the apps on board, updated Java engine, customisable menus, portrait keyboard, equaliser in music player, video editing and a myriad of other tweaks and you have one of the best phones on the market once again.\ni8910 Super again!\rThis Update also comes at a time when Samsung just announced support for the i8910 in the App Store. With almost 50 top quality apps to start with including several iPhone ports, the i8910 looks set to topple its newer counterparts.\nWith the same hardware and face lifted software, the i8910 has proved that with a solid foundation and a bucket load of hard work, anything is possible. It makes me a proud owner of the i8910 and it gives me so much confidence in Samsung products knowing that they care. Good on you Samsung Electronics, good on you.\nsigh\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/if-wishes-were-horses/","summary":"Note: this article is not factual. It\u0026#39;s a wishful/sarcastic post meant to highlight the potential of the i8910 and what Samsung could do with it. I\u0026#39;ve included details and ideas that I mean to present …"},{"title":"Update for i8910 Omnia HD to come 2010... Resolves some issues, neglects most","content":"So, Samsung has announced that they are releasing an update for the i8910. That\u0026rsquo;s shortly after I released the final report to them and a month after the petition started. The press release says this:\nSEOUL, Korea - December 23, 2009 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today announced a firmware update to the Samsung I8910 HD (OMNIAHD, GT-I8910) to further improve the speed of multimedia performance and add new functionality to the device.\rThe I8910 HD is Samsung\u0026rsquo;s ultimate multimedia powerhouse with high definition, giving users full-touch control of their multimedia lives. The new firmware improves the user experience by delivering faster Web browsing, an improved graphics engine and enhanced full-touch screen experience:\n-Webkit update: A faster user-interface when online, for swift navigation of your favourite websites -Graphic engine: An improved graphic engine, increasing the speed to access the multimedia content -Kinetic scrolling: The addition of a kinetic scrolling system provides a superior full-touch experience\nThe firmware update will be available from January 2010 in the UK and gradually rolled out to other European markets, Southeast Asia, the Middle East Asia, Africa and rest of the world.\rTo a greater extent, this is a good thing. This may be the start of more updates to come and most importantly it shows Samsung is listening. The disappointing thing here is that they didn't mention anything about the camera which is one of the greatest problem areas. A substantial part of the report covers the camera very extensively and they didn't bother to look into that. On the other hand, maybe they didn't feel inclined to mention every detail of what they cover in the upcoming update.\rAnother big point that was left out is support for the device. Support in the sense of people developing apps tailored for the i8910 and its capabilities. This issue is pretty much out of Samsungs hands. It's up to developers and companies in the industry to get on board. The only way they can get on board is if there's a real incentive. With support for Symbian dwindling coupled with the problems the i8910 has, there is no incentive. The i8910 just isn't exciting or popular enough. At the end of the day, it comes full circle right back to Samsung. From media response though, people are still interested in the i8910 so there's hope for something better. Follow the links for the official release from Samsung and the articles from the press.\rSamsung Official Press Release\rGSM Arena Article\rEngadget Article\rSamsung Omnia HD Blog Article\nSamsung Omnia HD Users Article","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/update-for-i8910-omnia-hd-to-come-2010-resolves-some-issues-neglects-most/","summary":"So, Samsung has announced that they are releasing an update for the i8910. That\u0026amp;rsquo;s shortly after I released the final report to them and a month after the petition started. The press release says …"},{"title":"Why the iPhone changed the game","content":"Now the iPhone has been around for a while and it is apparent that it\u0026rsquo;s changed the game. It\u0026rsquo;s changed what people expect from a mobile phone. The key behind its success being that it\u0026rsquo;s more than just a mobile phone; it\u0026rsquo;s a mobile platform, a platform that has evolved over time.\nFigure 1 iPhone 3GS The latest iteration of the iPhone platform.\rLooking at the iPhone's hardware specs, there's really nothing that we haven't seen on other devices. It has the usual features that are found in other smart-phones, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, large display, plenty of memory, a plethora of sensors and more recently GPS, 3G, compass and many other goodies. So what sets the iPhone apart? Others may argue that it is the App Store that sets the iPhone apart but it is not. The App Store is merely peripheral; it is the result of that which sets the iPhone apart. Figure 2 Lots of great mobile devices out there. From left the iPhone, Nokia n97, HTC Hero, Palm Pre, Samsung i8910 and the Sony Ericsson Satio\rI'm by no means an iPhone fan boy, in fact, I'm almost a hater. I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to follow the crowd and I've chosen other phones over the iPhone twice so far; big mistakes. But I'm likely to do it again next time aroundJ. So what is it about the iPhone that's made the world fall in love with it? This is something that most people overlook when they look at the iPhone or any other phone for that matter; support.\rThe effort that Apple puts into the iPhone is what sets it apart. They put their heart and soul into it. They listen to what people say and they make significant changes that have significant effects. The original iPhone was launched about 2 years ago and it is still evolving with the same momentum it had from the beginning. Apple has remained passionate and persistent with the iPhone even after it\u0026rsquo;s been around for so long. Other manufacturers, such as Samsung, tend to back away from their products just after they let them out the door. It\u0026rsquo;s almost as if any complaints made by users land on deaf ears.\nInitially the iPhone had no applications at all, just promises. Samsung had the same, lots of promises with the i8910 Omnia HD. After a while, some web apps popped up for the iPhone and before long the SDK came out and a lot of new innovative applications followed it. A lot of changes were also made with the user interface, more functionality and more features were added. The iPhone evolved into what it is today with no change in the hardware in the case of the original iPhone which has the same firmware version as the iPhone 3GS. There are of course a few differences to accommodate the newer hardware and features of the 3GS.\nSoftware-wise and support-wise, the original iPhone launched 2 years ago is better than the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD. With support and actual progress made being the most important factors for a mobile phone, this makes the original iPhone better the Omnia HD overall. Despite the significantly superior hardware, a powerful operating system and a massive head start, the Omnia HD falls short compared to the iPhone in many ways. I\u0026rsquo;ve already gone through the problems with the Omnia HD in my report and it is really disheartening.\nFigure 3 Legendary iPhone next to the i8910, a 'potential' monster of a phone\nOthers still may argue that these are early days but they're really not. We've seen the same pattern from Samsung with the G810 and more recently the i8510 Innov8 just a year ago. They were released with a lot of promise, a lot of hope and a lot of potential but were abandoned almost as soon as they were released.\rNow don\u0026rsquo;t get me wrong, the iPhone is not perfect. It has its flaws, users have their fair share of issues, but Apple seems to make a real effort to address them. For instance with cut, copy and paste. This is a feature users requested from the get go and Apple delivered. It\u0026rsquo;s a pretty big feature and engineers had to really work to get it up and running. Another thing is portrait keyboard for notes/mail app. A small request, but guess what? Apple delivered. These are just a few examples. Of the things users want from their i8910, Samsung hasn\u0026rsquo;t delivered a single significant update to date!\nDespite all that, all is not lost. There is still hope that Samsung will pull up their socks and get their act together before it\u0026rsquo;s too late. As with any other phone, since the iPhone came out (and before), people expect their voices to be heard, people expect changes to be made when overwhelming numbers voice concerns. We do not expect the i8910 Omnia HD to evolve as much as the iPhone has but we expect the existing problems to be resolved. The petition that I started has been progressing quite slowly but clearly a lot of people agree with my views.\nNow, this is not the first time a mobile phone company has failed to deliver. HTC failed to deliver graphics drivers for the TyTN II resulting in the website http://www.htcclassaction.org/ with the tag \u0026ldquo;Because HTC dropped the ball, and it\u0026rsquo;s about time they pick it up!\u0026rdquo;. This was for graphics drivers only! Samsung raised the bar with the i8910 Omnia HD. They completely walked off the pitch with this one! Wake up Samsung.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/why-the-iphone-changed-the-game/","summary":"Now the iPhone has been around for a while and it is apparent that it\u0026amp;rsquo;s changed the game. It\u0026amp;rsquo;s changed what people expect from a mobile phone. The key behind its success being that …"},{"title":"Version 3 of the report on the Samsung i8910 is ready, a great conclusion...","content":"Report on the i8910 v3 Yes the report is up, better than ever before! It took hours so feel free to dive in and enjoy!!! 7421 words, 38 images and countless hours of work! Coinciding with 2000 signatures signed! Here\u0026rsquo;s a screen cap of a few pages:\nA few corrections have been made, some people picked up a few typos and stuff. This is the last report. The journey ends here.. I\u0026rsquo;ve worked really hard to deliver on this report but now I have to move on to other things. Three weeks in the making and countless hours of work. I really hope this pays off, I put my heart and soul into it. At the end of the day, the situation is out of my hands, its up to Samsung. I will continue to update on the progress the report has made but unless something really big happens, this report is final. Thanks to everyone for the support, it has been a great journey and learning experience for me.\nSo here\u0026rsquo;s the press coverage so far for the petition and report:\nEngadget Mobile: Wronged i8910 buyer prepares doctral-quality thesis on issues\rSamsung Omnia HD Blog: Samsung i8910 owner preps 25-page quality control report\rGSM Arena: Report on the i8910 Omnia HD points out its flaws\rAll About Symbian: Samsung i8910 HD: Miscellaneous Musings\r8910.cz: 20 years after a general strike against Samsung\rOmnia HD Users: Petition for Samsung to improve i8910 Omnia HD Firmware\rYup, the petition and reports are all over the place too, like Twitter, Digg, Facebook etc and the stories from the above have been recycled by several blogs. So for now, that's what I've done with the first 3 weeks of my summer amongst other things.. Gotta keep it moving!","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/version-3-is-ready/","summary":"Report on the i8910 v3 Yes the report is up, better than ever before! It took hours so feel free to dive in and enjoy!!! 7421 words, 38 images and countless hours of work! Coinciding with 2000 …"},{"title":"Version 3 of my report almost complete and thoughts on the Gold i8910.","content":"Version3 of my report is almost complete. This time around I\u0026rsquo;ve made several changes and corrections and I\u0026rsquo;ve also included a change-log to show all the changes I\u0026rsquo;ve made. I\u0026rsquo;ve taken more contributions from the community as well so the report is slightly longer and yet easier to read. The special thing about this report more than any other is that I will be submitting it when the petition signatures reach 2000 AND I will be submitting it directly to a top figure at Samsung who contacted me after my first report came out.\nAn update to my previous article on my i8910\u0026rsquo;s white screen of death: I\u0026rsquo;ve taken it back to the retailer and they said I should expect it back in 3 weeks. That basically means I\u0026rsquo;m not getting it until after the holidays and that really sucks. Someone else had the exact same problem as me in the forums so we might be seeing more white screens of death soon!\nAll that glitters...sometimes has bugs i8910 Gold Edition; Hope for a better tomorrow?\rWith the recent announcement of the new Gold Edition of the i8910 it is hoped that new firmware will come, but who knows?\nI haven\u0026rsquo;t seen shots of the phone from behind but I\u0026rsquo;m guessing it is going to have a similar to the back panel to those on early models seen in February when the phone was announced.\ni8910 back panel on early versions of the device. You can see the metal back and camera shutter.\rNew i8910 back panel, the camera shutter is gone and the metal back is replaced by hardened plastic.","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/version-3-of-my-report-almost-complete/","summary":"Version3 of my report is almost complete. This time around I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve made several changes and corrections and I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve also included a change-log to show all the changes I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve made. I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve …"},{"title":"Hiccup: White Screen Of Death on the i8910","content":"In an unfortunate twist of events, my i8910 is dead! Yup, it showed the white screen of death (wsod). I\u0026rsquo;ve Googled it, searched several forums and stuff but I\u0026rsquo;ve found nothing - nothing that even closely resembles it. I\u0026rsquo;m assuming I bought a faulty device but it has worked flawlessly for the past 2 months or so; so sad after my petition and reportL. But never the less I will continue my efforts and return the phone for repairs or whatever tomorrow.\nI was in the middle of a phone conversation when the screen just went all white; a stained sort of white. As I touched the screen I could hear the sounds and feel the vibrations, meaning that everything else was and is working. I\u0026rsquo;ve tried everything, switching the phone off then on, checking for updates, syncing, hard reset, soft reset, taking out the battery, leaving in on, leaving it off and nothing stillL. Leaving it on the charger it starts to heat up like crazy and I don\u0026rsquo;t want to leave it there for too long to find out what happens. Here are some screen shots:\nReally sad for me... I've switched back to my trusty innov8, I used it to capture these horrific images and it did a decent job really. Hopefully my i8910 will be back by Christmas, but knowing the retailer, that's not likely...\rUpdate1: I took it back to the retailer and I\u0026rsquo;m waiting for repairs to finish. I\u0026rsquo;m still not sure what the problem was/is I\u0026rsquo;ll have to wait for an update from them. Hopefully I\u0026rsquo;ll get it shortly after Christmas.\nUpdate2: According to the retailer its the result of physical damage! I quote:\nChange LCD as screen was damaged due to Impact.\rWorse still, it's not covered under warranty and I have to pay $150 to fix it! Ouch. That's a quarter of the price of this phone! Double ouch.","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/hiccup/","summary":"In an unfortunate twist of events, my i8910 is dead! Yup, it showed the white screen of death (wsod). I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve Googled it, searched several forums and stuff but I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve found nothing - nothing …"},{"title":"The battle continues...","content":"As more and more people are becoming aware of the report, a lot of requests have started coming in. I\u0026rsquo;m continuing work with the report to see where it will take us. The hope is that Samsung will catch wind of this and respond/react to all this. The i8910 is a great piece of hardware, it\u0026rsquo;s a great base for awesome stuff but that\u0026rsquo;s not what we\u0026rsquo;re seeing. I was looking at the Sony Ericsson Kukura coming out next year. It has nothing new when compared to the i8910. The only difference there is the software running the phone.\nGiven that the i8910 has had a 6 month head start, you\u0026rsquo;d think surely it\u0026rsquo;s that far ahead. Unfortunately it\u0026rsquo;s not, the Kukura might very well steal the limelight from the i8910 without breaking a sweat despite the odds. That\u0026rsquo;s how bad the situation is with the i8910.\nGreat hardware, horrible software\r___________________________________________________________________________________________________\nAnyway, here are the latest stats for the petition:\rSignatures Per Month for All Time Month\rSignatures\r2009.11\r1653\nSignatures Per Day for the First 2 Weeks\rGraph of signatures\rNote that the 30th had just started but the signatures are slowing. I\u0026rsquo;m hoping we can eventually hit 2000. That\u0026rsquo;s when I plan to submit the report to Samsung..again, they ignored my last attempts. They ignored us when we didn\u0026rsquo;t have the report and a petition but people have power. Power in numbers.\nAnphase 2009\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/the-battle-continues/","summary":"As more and more people are becoming aware of the report, a lot of requests have started coming in. I\u0026amp;rsquo;m continuing work with the report to see where it will take us. The hope is that Samsung …"},{"title":"Engadget coverage!!!","content":"This is awesome! I just got coverage from Engadget!!! Engadget!!! This is cool, my document was seen and liked! This link is over here Engadget Article\nThe article reads:\nBy Chris Ziegler\nWronged i8910 HD buyer prepares doctoral-quality thesis on issues\rWhat do you do when you're unhappy with a product you've bought? Return it? Complain on an online forum? Write to the company? Well, for one Mr. Panashe Ngwerume, the answer's a little more complicated than that. You see, this particular gentleman was so incensed by the Samsung i8910 HD's problems and lack of continued development that he felt compelled to write a 25-page -- yes, 25-page -- report detailing the issues and proposed solutions. Unfortunately for Ngwerume and other i8910 HD buyers, Samsung seems to have effectively abandoned Symbian in favor of Android, Windows Mobile, and the company's own bada, but the report suggests that Samsung throw the phone and its firmware to the hacker community for further development, possibly on Maemo or bada. Knowing what we know of giant, global firms like Samsung, the blood, sweat, and tears that went into this Nobel-worthy work were probably for naught, but it makes for a riveting read and a great rallying point for i8910 owners around the world.\rWow!!!! Nice and thanks to Chris for this, he's the man!\rUltra awesome I know!","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/engadget-coverage/","summary":"This is awesome! I just got coverage from Engadget!!! Engadget!!! This is cool, my document was seen and liked! This link is over here Engadget Article\nThe article reads:\nBy Chris Ziegler\nWronged …"},{"title":"Version 2 of my report for Samsung Mobile","content":"My report on the Samsung i8910 v2 is complete..\nBigger, better and stronger!!! Over here: Report on the Samsung i8910 v2 final enjoy! This took me hours, please take time to read it. I hope it has the impact I wish for - enough for Samsung to actually do something..\nAbstract\nThe report was prepared to highlight problems with the Samsung I8910 firmware and software and to suggest possible solutions and additions that can be made to make it better for the users. The report will cover factors that are only software/firmware related (which can therefore be addressed in an update by Samsung). It has been prepared in collaboration with members of several forums related to and/or dedicated to the Samsung i8910, backed by a petition signed by more than 1460 people (as of 27 November 2009) from all over the world at http://www.petitiononline.com/fixi8910/petition.html at the time of writing. Problems discussed include- lack of firmware updates for certain regions in which the phone was officially launched, inexplicable lag or delays in opening the media and applications folders, faulty web browser that crashes out of websites without warning, lack of auto focus function in video capture(although it can be achieved by tapping the phone lightly) and the lack of kinetic scrolling, a feature which has been implemented in the a new Chinese firmware update but not in any other, to name a few. The report also covers the accomplishments made by individuals such as hyperx and se7en (forum names) in the online communities to fix these problems and others and their short comings. As individuals taking time out of their busy lives without as much experience, resources and knowhow as Samsung engineers, they can only go so far which is why we need Samsung Mobile to play its part. Also promised, was an applications store for the i8910 [2] but sadly the device is not supported even though it is flaunted in the advertisement for the store. One of the main features of the device is its HD video recording capability. Again it falls short by not delivering the promised 24 frames per second [3] but 20 or less. We also suggest the possible implementation of the Symbian^2/3, Android 2.0, bada, Maemo or Qt. These platforms are/are going to be well supported and as users, that’s all we want from Samsung- support.\nCheers\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/version-2-of-my-report-for-samsung-mobile/","summary":"My report on the Samsung i8910 v2 is complete..\nBigger, better and stronger!!! Over here: Report on the Samsung i8910 v2 final enjoy! This took me hours, please take time to read it. I hope it has the …"},{"title":"Editing in progress...","content":"I got a lot of feedback from users in the forums asking me to add more stuff.. The response has been generally positive and I'm glad people appreciated all the time I spent doing this project.. The petition is starting to slow down now.. I mean look at these statistics:\rSignatures Per Month for All Time\rMonth\nSignatures\n2009.11\n1318\nSignatures Per Day for the Past 30 Days\rDay\nSignatures\n11/18\n286\n11/19\n255\n11/20\n294\n11/21\n128\n11/22\n136\n11/23\n77\n11/24\n118\n11/25\n28\nThe momentum is slowing so its best I wrap it up and get it over with.. This whole process is eating up my whole summer!!! So I gotta push to the end and see where it goes.. We'll see.. Keep ya'll posted!\rAnphase\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/editing-in-progress/","summary":"I got a lot of feedback from users in the forums asking me to add more stuff.. The response has been generally positive and I\u0026#39;m glad people appreciated all the time I spent doing this project.. The …"},{"title":"My report is up!","content":"Finally, version 1.0 of my report is ready. Please feel free to comment, add suggestions, object and help make it better. The link for the report is here /wp-content/uploads/2009/11/report-on-the-samsung-i89101.pdf\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/my-report-is-up/","summary":"Finally, version 1.0 of my report is ready. Please feel free to comment, add suggestions, object and help make it better. The link for the report is here …"},{"title":"Petition to Samsung Mobile to improve/fix/maintain the Samsung i8910","content":"My first post! Whoo! Right to it then.. Ok, so I started a petition to Samsung Mobile so they would fix/improve/maintain the Samsung i8910.\nMy petition is over here: http://www.petitiononline.com/fixi8910/petition.html and as I write we are slowly approaching a 1000 signatures(964 to be exact). The statement reads:\nTo: Samsung Mobile\nFor Samsung to live up to its promise to maintain, improve and fix problems with the Samsung i8910/Omnia HD. We paid a lot for this device and we expect as much back. If not with Android, at least to fix the firmware/software problems so we get what we put down our hard-earned money for.\nSincerely,\nThe Undersigned\nNot too shabby but the petition statement was sort of rushed, I\u0026rsquo;ve been criticized quite a bit about it. Got some advice from Steven Litchfield of http://www.allaboutsymbian.com from the Phones Show, one of my favorite podcasts. Hope it gets enough momentum I\u0026rsquo;ve been putting a lot of effort into this. I\u0026rsquo;m currently working on a report that I will send to Samsung Mobile. It could take up all my summer break but its all for a good cause. I mean I love the phone, its got a lot of potential but I think for that potential to be realized some people need to be pushed - no shoved - AK.. ok, getting carried away, but you get my point. Sweet. That\u0026rsquo;s my first post and I\u0026rsquo;m loving it!\nAnphase\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/petition-to-samsung-mobile-to-improvefixmaintain-the-samsung-i8910/","summary":"My first post! Whoo! Right to it then.. Ok, so I started a petition to Samsung Mobile so they would fix/improve/maintain the Samsung i8910.\nMy petition is over here: …"},{"title":"Hello world!","content":"I\u0026rsquo;M HERE!!! I Have Begun!! What you ask!? I don\u0026rsquo;t know..\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/posts/hello-world-2/","summary":"I\u0026amp;rsquo;M HERE!!! I Have Begun!! What you ask!? I don\u0026amp;rsquo;t know..\n"},{"title":"About","content":" anphase I\u0026rsquo;m Panashe and I\u0026rsquo;ve been writing about tech things I care about since 2009. Started as a WordPress blog covering Samsung smartphones, mobile OS updates, and early touchscreen devices, it has evolved alongside the technology it covers.\nThis site has been rebuilt in 2026 as a static Hugo site, preserving all the original content from over 15 years of (on and off but mostly off) writing.\n","permalink":"https://anphase.com/about/","summary":" anphase I\u0026amp;rsquo;m Panashe and I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve been writing about tech things I care about since 2009. Started as a WordPress blog covering Samsung smartphones, mobile OS updates, and early touchscreen …"}]