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I tested the new Samsung Wave mobile phone for 3 weeks. It feels like a premium phone thanks to the well designed mostly metal case, great screen and multimedia features and yet it is available for an amazing price of $469 outright from online retailer Mobicity or relatively low cost Vodafone cap plans from $29+.

The Wave has many features which are unmatched by competitor phones with a similar price like a Super AMOLED screen, 720P video recording, 5MP camera with flash, fast speed, excellent audio quality for phone calls and many multimedia features like built in H264/DIVX HD/XVID video playback, good MP3 player and DLNA network file share capability.

However while it’s far better than other phones sold for a similar price it still isn’t a smartphone because the internet related features of the underlying Samsung BADA operating system (web browser, GPS, social apps) are nowhere near as good as iPhone or Android phones and there are very few BADA applications and games available at the moment compared to the iPhone appstore or Android app Market.

So is it a Great Budget Phone or a Basic Smartphone? I’d say it’s a great budget phone because a true Smartphone needs to be able to offer a top notch web browsing and social media experience when using Twitter, Facebook etc and have a lot of available 3rd party applications to add to the phone’s inbuilt features.

Strengths

• Excellent audio quality for phone calls – this is an important feature because even expensive smartphones often have only average voice quality these days
• Amazingly low outright phone cost / low plan contract cost
• Well designed partly metal phone body has a premium solid feel
• Great Super AMOLED screen
• 720P video recording and 5MP camera with flash
• Fast speed thanks to it’s ARM Cortex A8 based 1GHz CPU
• Long lasting 1500 mAh battery
• Many multimedia features like built in DIVX HD/XVID video playback, good MP3 player and DLNA network file share capability
• Wifi 802.11b/802.11g/802.11n

Weaknesses

• First generation BADA operating system with very basic web browser that doesn’t always display pages correctly, clunky GPS Maps and other poor internet apps like Social Hub
• Very few 3rd party apps available for BADA compared to iPhone/Android
• The 3.3″ screen is narrower in width compared to current best selling phones such as the HTC Desire which impacts web browsing and DIVX movie watching

LCD vs AMOLED vs Super AMOLED

I was commissioned by Mobicity to record this video comparing LCD/AMOLED/Super AMOLED and explaining why Super AMOLED is best.

Other Reviews of the Samsung Wave

At AU$29 per month, the Samsung Wave lives in a space usually populated with plastic handsets and terrible touchscreens, and stands out as being completely the opposite. The hardware is absolutely top notch, the metal chassis feels great and the Super AMOLED screen stands head and shoulders above phones almost twice the price. The Bada operating system definitely needs a few refinements, but is still better than the vast majority of proprietary systems used by LG, Sony Ericsson and Samsung on previous products.
- CNET Australia

Samsung’s first bada phone is a remarkable achievement, in terms of design and technology. It looks great and feels awesome in the hand. The 3.3-inch screen is incredibly bright and vivid, with some pretty nice detail to it. Although not as spectacular in the photo department, the 5MP camera shoots awesome 720p video, and when you throw the Wave’s prowess at playing back high-resolution video in various formats, we really have a true multimedia powerhouse at our hands. Finally, the Samsung Wave S8500 is super fast, making everything happen almost instantaneously.

Now for the bad. The Bada operating system is far from being perfect right now. It does make things work really smooth, but still has quite a few kinks to get worked out. Most importantly, the small annoying details in the interface that kind of hamper the overall user experience. The other deal breaker here might be the very poor application catalog in Samsung Apps right now.
- Phone Arena

The Samsung Wave is available in Australia for $469 outright from online retailer Mobicity or relatively low cost Vodafone cap plans from $29+.

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Thanks to 2 Belkin UPS (Uninterruptible power supply) units none of my key electrical equipment got damaged last week when the electrical wiring in part of my home failed.

If you don’t use a UPS then you’re taking the risk that a lightning strike, power surge, electricity brownout or blackout will cause your Computer, modem, TiVo/Foxtel IQ etc to get damaged.

I initially got a Belkin F6S600au 600VA UPS for use in my office to protect my computer, monitor and the gadgets I recharge there including a laptop, mobile phone, video and digital cameras etc.

Note that electronic devices which draw a lot of power like laser printers and heaters should always be plugged in a surge protector socket of a UPS, never in a battery backup socket.

The F6S600auUSB 600VA has 6 power sockets which supply upto 300 Watts of power. All 6 power sockets have surge protection and 3 have battery backup as well to keep your equipment running long enough to safely shut it down in the event of a electricity brownout or blackout.

It worked well during tests like me manually turning that power circuit off at the switch so I bought the cheaper and lower capacity F6S400auUSB 400VA UPS (200 watts) to power and protect my home theatre devices (ADSL modem router, TiVO, Netgear NAS networked storage etc.)

Both the F6S600auUSB and F6S400auUSB have a built-in pass through phone line socket to protect your landline phone or ADSL modem. This worked fine with a traditional ADSL phoneline which had a PSTN dialtone and a naked ADSL line without dialtone.

During times of peak power use such as a hot day in summer, Sydney (like the other big cities in Australia), suffers from brownouts (short power outages) due to the crumbling electricity infrastructure and inefficiently designed houses and buildings which use air conditioning a lot to maintain a comfortable inside temperature.

Brownouts can be particularly damaging to electronic equipment because it is common for brownouts to occur several times at close time intervals with power going up and down.

This causes devices like Computers, NAS or PVR’s such as the TiVo and Foxtel IQ to crash due to lack of power, restart and then crash again potentially losing data in the process.

Many people run a small business from home but probably don’t realise that a home and contents insurance policy only covers lightning/power surge etc damage to your personal electrical equipment.

Any electrical device you’ve bought for your business or which is used primarily for business purposes isn’t covered for damage from a lightning strike, power surge, electricity brownout or blackout so it makes sense to self-insure by supplying these with power through a UPS.

Belkin appears to have a lot of confidence in their UPS product because they offer:

• A 3 year warranty for the UPS,
• Agree to repair or replace any equipment damaged by a surge, spike, or lightning strike while properly connected to a Belkin surge protector with battery backup
• And include a Data Recovery Warranty so if your Belkin UPS product fails while properly connected and your hard drive is damaged, Belkin will engage Seagate Recovery Services to recover the lost data.

If you want to buy a Belkin UPS, shop around on the internet because prices vary a lot eg: F6S600auUSB ($110-170), F6S400auUSB ($90-$130).

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This review covers 3 digital radios which are innovative for different reasons: PURE Sensia (unique colour touchscreen and apps like Facebook), KOGAN Deluxe (packed with features and stereo sound for less than $200) and BUSH Walker (very small and light portable pocket DAB+ radio).

I’ve been interested in Digital Radio in Australia since it launched in mid-2009 and have reviewed several budget, mid-range and high-end digital radios.

Unlike the three radios reviewed in this article most DAB+ digital radios sold in Australia differ a bit from each other in price and features but aren’t very innovative.

PURE Sensia (Portable Digital, FM and Internet Radio with Colour Touchscreen)

Few digital radios could be called “Cool” but the PURE Sensia certainly qualifies with it’s unique colour touchscreen interface, internet connectivity and ability to run applications on screen like Weather, Facebook, Twitter and soon Picasa photo galleries.

If you get bored with the range of DAB+ radio stations available in Australia you can listen to thousands of podcasts and streaming internet radio stations using the PURE Sensia’s WiFi connection to access the “PURE Lounge”.

However this means you have a tricky decision to make when deciding whether to buy the PURE Sensia because evidently a lot of effort has been put into the striking physical design and 5.7″ inch (640×480px) colour touchscreen but this is at the expense of audio quality which is not as good as the slightly cheaper and more plain PURE Evoke 2S digital radio which has exceptional audio quality.

Note that the touchscreen is as easy to use as a modern smartphone like iPhone/Android phones but it isnt quite as fast and responsive. Also the power button just above the screen is located in a way that resting your hand on top with the lightest touch can turn the radio on/off when you didn’t mean to.

The PURE Sensia is available in black, white or more exuberant yellow or red colours to match your decor and comes with a nice curved remote (pictured).

The PURE Sensia has a $749 recommended retail price but you should be able to find it sold at retailers like Ryda for roughly $630 including delivery.

KOGAN Deluxe (Wi-Fi DAB+ Digital Internet Radio With Iphone Dock)

Kogan concentrates on manufacturing consumer audio/visual consumer electronics products which are value for money and the KOGAN Deluxe radio offers value in spades since it’s the only sub-$200 stereo DAB+ digital radio sold in Australia with so many features.

Particular standouts are Stereo speakers (at this price point digital radios usually have 1 mono speaker), WiFi and Ethernet connectivity to access internet streaming radio/local network file streaming audio files, iPod/iPhone dock and large OLED multi-line screen which displayed menu and audio information in orange letters which matches the jet black radio finish nicely.

Sound quality from the stereo speakers and front tweeter is certainly powerful with decent bass but lacks finesse at the high end. Also because the stereo speakers are side mounted the KOGAN Deluxe radio has to be in an open area, you can’t place it in a home theatre cabinet with partitions on either side blocking the speakers.

The KOGAN Deluxe uses two rings of buttons, one inside the other to manage all the radio functions and this generally works well except when navigating through 1000’s of song files on the local network when using a knob would be faster. A credit card sized remote is included but it looks very cheap.

The KOGAN Deluxe (Wi-Fi DAB+ Digital Internet Radio With Iphone Dock) is currently sold for $199+delivery. If Kogan continues with their strategy of dropping their prices for products over time it will be even cheaper 12 months from now.

Bush Walker BPR07DAB (Handheld Ultralight DAB+ Radio)

There are very few DAB+ digital radios sold in Australia which call themselves “portable” but the Bush Walker BPR07DAB is the smallest and lightest available by a longshot with a similar size/weight to a matchbox so it easily fits in the palm of your hand or pocket.

The Bush Walker managed to tune all 39 digital radio stations currently available in Sydney once earphones were plugged in (it uses them as antennae). It rarely dropped the audio signal whether in my office, outside while walking or on the bus and achieved close to its stated 10 hour battery life.

Although it has a small screen the BUSH Walker manages to display the current station name, scrolling program information, battery and signal strength as well as whether you have it set to FM or DAB+ digital radio mode.

Overall a big thumbs up due to its size and simple menus because it is amazing that BUSH managed to output decent audio quality with 2xAAA batteries taking up most of the internal space inside the radio case.

The Bush Walker BPR07DAB has a $129 recommended retail price but if you buy it from a retailer who stocks BUSH products you should be able to knock that down to $110.

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Buying an ADSL modem is not an easy choice because some modems are best if you live close to the local phone exchange and others are better if you live far away, as well as their prices, features and capabilities varying a lot.

Many Australians have ADSL or ADSL2+ broadband internet access. This requires an ADSL modem plugged into your phone line to connect to the internet and then share the connection via network cables or WiFi to all the devices in your home which access the internet.

I’ve been testing 2 ADSL2+ Modems with VOIP internet phone call capability for the last few months: the Netcomm NB9WMaXXn and Billion 7404VNPX.

More Features Doesn’t Neccessarily = Better Product

Comparing the specifications alone it would seem that the Billion 7404VNPX ($270+ at time of writing) has extra features (ADSL2+ with auto failover switch to 3G data, 3 WiFi antennas and Gigabit ethernet) that the slightly cheaper Netcomm NB9WMaXXn lacks ($200+ at time of writing).

However sometimes its better to chose a product which has less features that all work reliably rather than a product which is a packed with as many features as a swiss-army-knife but some of them don’t work all the time.

This is one of those situations. I tested the Netcomm NB9WMaXXn vs Billion 7404VNPX at 2 locations in Sydney which have Internode ADSL2+ broadband internet connections.

The first one was close to the local phone exchange with a top quality phoneline underground, the second place was in an apartment far from the local phone exchange with a phone line cable that is open to the rain and weather in parts.

Both modems could hold a solid ADSL connection at the location close to the local phone exchange with a top quality phoneline. The Billion 7404VNPX seemed more aggressive in trying to get top speed, achieving an ADSL2+ connection speed about 10% faster than the Netcomm NB9WMaXXn (10mbit vs 9mbit).

However the tables were turned at the apartment far from the local phone exchange with a dodgy phone line cable. The Netcomm NB9WMaXXn was able to hold a solid reliable ADSL2+ connection at 6mbit for over a week compared to the Billion 7404VNPX which connected at a faster rate 7-7.5mbit but was very unstable, disconnecting at random intervals every day.

This is because the Netcomm NB9WMaXXn uses a Broadcom chipset which is generally recognised as one of the best options for people with dodgy phone lines who want a modem that provides a stable ADSL/ADSL2+ connection without needing manual configuration to make it reliable.

Both modems were used with Internode’s Nodephone VOIP phone call via the internet service. The Netcomm NB9WMaXXn VOIP quality was reliable, with clear voice quality indistinguishable from a real landline phone whereas VOIP conversations using the Billion 7404VNPX were regularly spoilt by crackly sounds and echoes.

Really fast Wireless N WiFi speeds are supported by both modems at the 2.4ghz frequency and both performed admirably, providing WiFi coverage for laptops and mobile phones in all parts of both testing locations.

Both modems have administrator interfaces which haven’t really evolved or become more user friendly in the last 10 years and could do with being reworded and made more user friendly eg: the Netcomm NB9WMaXXn requires the IP address of your VOIP SIP server which is very silly and Billion sometimes needs you to save settings twice before they stay saved. Unfortunately this isn’t unique to Netcomm or Billion because it applies to all the modem brands I’ve ever tested.

Verdict – Netcomm NB9WMaXXn is the Safe Reliable Option

Neither modem is particularly fantastic looking but the sleeker Netcomm NB9WMaXXn looks slightly better in my opinion if you have it positioned in your lounge room to connect to a NAS, TiVo, internet connected TV etc. A black case option would be good as most home theatre equipment is black.

If you want an ADSL2+ modem which is going to be solid and reliable for a budget price, are going to use VOIP for cheap phone calls or live far from your phone exchange or have a bad quality phone line, than the Netcomm NB9WMaXXn is far more likely to provide a trouble free internet experience.

On the other hand if you live close to your phone exchange, have a reliable good quality phone line and won’t use VOIP than the Billion 7404VNPX is more likely to give you a faster ADSL2+ connection speed as well providing the benefit of Gigabit ethernet networking.

I live in the 2nd testing location with a bad phone line and bought the Netcomm NB9WMaXXn after I reviewed it because I need clear voice quality since I use VOIP phone calls all the time and would rather have a reliable rock steady 6mbit connection to the internet rather than the slightly faster but very frustrating unstable connection the Billion 7404VNPX provided.

Other Options – Router with Dual Wireless N and Gigabit Ethernet

If you already have an ADSL modem you’re happy with but want fast Wireless N WiFi access with dual 2.4ghz and 5Ghz bands as well as Gigabit ethernet networking you may be considering buying a separate Router/Wifi solution that plugs into your modem like the Netgear WNDR3700 or Belkin Play Max.

I’ve tried both and would suggest buying the Netgear WNDR3700 which looks boring but worked flawlessly during my tests. Belkin’s Play Max promised more features but proved to quite be frustrating when trying to actually use them in real life.

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EXCLUSIVE: Hybrid TV’s chief executive Robbee Minicola said that by late 2010 their CASPA video on demand service will have FREE advertiser funded pay per view TV shows and movies on TiVO Australia PVRs and other devices, in a one-on-one interview with Rambling Thoughts Blog late last week.

Hybrid TV’s Plans To Dominate Australian Video on Demand Market

CASPA (Content And Services Platform Asia) is a video and music on demand system owned outright by Hybrid TV and currently available as a service from Hybrid TV’s TiVo Australia digital TV PVR and planned to be integrated into TV devices from other manufacturers like Samsung in the near future.

In a clear reference to soon to be launched services such as Telstra’s T-Box and Fetch TV’s subscription IPTV service via broadband Minicola emphasised that “people are fundamentally used to sitting in their lounge room and not having their wallet pick pocketed every time they get entertainment. Companies relying on pay-per-view will never get a sustainable ARPU [average revenue per user] because customer behavior will not change”.

Hybrid TV doesn’t rate digital TV PVR’s from Beyonwiz and Topfield as a threat since they’re “not on the same battlefield” because while they are “fantastic products with the rudiments of DVR … the UI, EPG and the broadband proposition doesn’t match us [TiVo/CASPA]”.

“There will be a new dawn when TV on demand can be advertiser funded and that’s why the 7 Media Group is supporting the Hybrid TV strategy because it underpins the basis of the trifecta that 7 is successful because of … the consumer, the advertiser and aggregator of content. Only difference is that TV model is linear and CASPA model is on demand”.

Minicola outlined Hybrid TV’s plans for CASPA as a multi-phase process:

Phase 1 – 12 Advertiser Sponsored Genres/Channels (July 2010)

CASPA currently has 4 TV genres (Drama, Comedy, Doco and Kids) which will be increased to 12 TV genres. Each genre will be sponsored by 1 sponsor for 12 months.

Hybrid TV is in final negotiations with an agency whose clients will have the exclusive rights to buy sponsorship rights for a branded CASPA channel/genre. Minicola anticipates that “advertiser funded TV genres will go live from July.”

Mincicola explained that the aim of this phase was to help “us buy more content … we went first for all the big studios which was the biggest cost. But now we want to backfill with classic movies, foreign films, documentaries, animation which aren’t quite as expensive but still require millions of dollars. So we’re going to traffic the money from the TV sponsorship into building a very robust portfolio of content”.

Phase 2 – Advertiser funded Pay Per View TV Episodes (September 2010)

From September the CASPA TV content will be sponsored whereby you can pay eg: $1.95 for an episode or choose to make XYZ brand pay instead.

XYZ brand is then the sole advertiser during that program and if you choose this option you’ll be forced to watch several unskippable ads during the show which can’t be fast forwarded.

Phase 3 – Advertiser funded Pay Per View Movies (Christmas 2010)

The third stage is advertiser funded CASPA per view movies which would have similar unskippable ads during the movie viewing experience which can’t be fast forwarded.

Hybrid TV aims to have this service launched by Christmas but this date might slip.

Verdict

These plans are very interesting because TiVo Australia customers have their TiVo PVR connected to broadband internet access and they will all get access to the new advertiser funded pay per view TV and movies from day one when the service is launched.

To the best of my knowledge all the other planned video on demand services which will be launched this year in Australia have at best, a mixture of free and paid for content. This ad funded model proposed by Hybrid TV’s CASPA service is unique in that it won’t require customers to pay per view if they choose to watch some ads in return for free content.

To date the response to CASPA from Australian customers has been mixed with many complaining that there is no search functionality and the interface is slow and kludgey. Minicola said that this feedback has been considered and there will be some search functionality added as well as a slight improvement to the CASPA interface.

As a TiVo customer myself, I will report back here when I’ve tried the ad-funded pay per view TV and movie services to tell you what the user experience is like versus watching TV/Movies via Free to air digital TV, DIVX files and DVD/Bluray.

PS since Hybrid TV is part owned by TV NZ I would anticipate the same free ad-funded pay per view TV and movie services will be available for New Zealand TiVo customers and owners of CASPA integrated devices.

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I recently bought a Telstra NEXTG compatible HTC Desire Android smartphone and did a video review of it for online retailer Mobicity. Since I’ve tested a lot of Android phones as a journalist I know how to tweak them to add extra features which aren’t enabled out of the box. I’ve listed the best tweaks here for you to enable on your own HTC Desire.

Excerpt from my iTnews preview article: the HTC Desire sports the new Android 2.1 operating system, a snappy 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, 3.7 inch WVGA (800×480) display and phone body which has a similar shape and weight/shape to Google’s Nexus One Android phone, also built by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC.

The HTC Desire improves on Google’s Nexus One in three key ways.

First, the choice of an optical trackpad instead of a mechanical trackball is a good move. Second, the Desire offers physical menu keys that offer tactile feedback which is lacking in the Nexus One because of it’s touchscreen keys, and third – HTC’s Sense interface – which offers a richer user experience than standard Android.

HTC Desire Tips To Enable Extra Features

• Enable Voice to Text transcription button on keyboard
  Difficulty: Medium. Issues: None
• Install the Cooliris 3D photo gallery from the Nexus One android phone
  Difficulty: Easy. Issues: Pressing the camera icon in the Cooliris 3D photo gallery might crash the application.
• Download the Google Earth for Android application and install using the ASTRO file manager.
  Difficulty: Easy. Issues: Use via a WiFi connection as Google Earth can download a lot of data.
• Add Turn by Turn GPS Navigation functionality to Google Maps.
  Difficulty: Medium. Issues: Not as fully functional as the official Turn by Turn GPS available in the UK and USA.
• If you find the startup sound when turning the HTC Desire on annoying install the Silent Boot application which mutes your HTC Desire on shutdown to keep it silent on boot and restores previous volume settings after startup.
• Make sure you don’t accidentally call people by mistake when navigating your list of contacts with the Call Confirm application.
• Easily access the files on your phone’s microSD card with the ASTRO file manager application.
• If you like to read eBooks in the ePub format I suggest trying the Aldiko eBook reader application.
• If you want to use your HTC Desire for emailing a lot from various POP and IMAP accounts use the K9 mail application

Removing Telstra Branding & Software Shortcuts

If you’re annoyed by the inbuilt Telstra website shortcuts which clutter the Application menu you can get full admininstrative access over the phone by wiping it and replacing the Telstra HTC Desire software with generic HTC Desire software. Note that doing so is not recommended unless you know what firmware upgrade and bricking phone mean.

My HTC Desire Video Review

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