Category Archives: Mobile Life

My Smart Money MasterCard problem

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Smart Money MasterCardWhen Smart relaunched its mobile payment platform and dubbed it as “bagong pambayad ng bayan,” I thought it’s the best time to have my old, beaten, and recently misplaced Smart Money card replaced.

I have been using Smart Money to pay (via mobile-to mobile transfer) for goods I buy on ebay and to sell cellphone load to my friends and officemates.

A friendly customer care representative at Shangri-La mall assisted me in placing my replacement request, and I received my new Smart Money card after around a week. The first thing I noticed was that it didn’t look like the one being advertised, and it had a MasterCard Electronic logo instead of MasterCard. The last two digits of my Smart Money account number also changed.

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TXTPower: Lower rates, ban text spam

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TXTPowerBelow is a press release from our group, TXTPower, issued on Saturday:

To solve “vanishing load” scam, NTC must lower rates, ban spam — TXTPower

The National Telecommunications Commission must “do more” than extend the expiry of prepaid load to decisively end the issue of “vanishing prepaid load” that is bedeviling the country’s more than 70 million mobile phone subscribers.

In a press conference, consumer advocacy group TXTPower.org Inc. (TXTPower) said that “the absurdly short expiry load, arguably the shortest in the whole world, is the least of consumers’ problems. To solve “vanishing load”, the NTC must exercise its powers to immediately lower rates for cellphone calls, text messaging and other mobile phone services. The NTC must also crack down on telcos and content providers that abuse their licenses by sending millions of spam messages,” said TXTPower president Anthony Ian Cruz.

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Smart to offer Android fone HTC Magic

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HTC Magic (Image from www.htc.com)

I just learned from Migs Mobile and ABS-CBN News that Smart  is bringing HTC Magic, a Google Android-powered smart phone, to the Philippines.

HTC Philippines country manager Mark Sergio reportedly said that Smart will start shipping units of the HTC Magic to the local market by the end of June.

Update from YugaTech: Globe was able to sell HTC Magic starting last week, and will be able to do so until Smart’s exclusive contract with HTC takes effect. Continue reading →

AvantGo no more

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AvantGoNew things eventually become old. Such is the case of web clipping service AvantGo.

After syncing my Palm Centro earlier this week, I was surprised and saddened to see this message: “Starting June 30, AvantGo will no longer offer mobile Web content.”

The linked announcement page further said: “Subscribers will not be able to sync their AvantGo accounts or update their channels.”

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Smart offers 12 hours of mobile Internet for P100

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smart-alldaysufSmart’s new All Day Surf promo introduces two new mobile Internet plans besides its regular rate of P10 for 30 minutes.

Under the promo, prepaid users who enroll in the Daily Surf plan pay only P100 to stay online on their cellphone for 12 hours.

Users may also opt for the 50-peso Budget Surf plan, which gives five hours of Internet time.

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Palm EOS — post-Pre phone?

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Palm EOSThe Palm Pre isn’t even in the market yet, but the tech bloghosphere is already buzzing with rumors of an upcoming mini-Pre phone.

The device, dubbed Palm Eos, will supposedly be Palm’s next webOS phone. Engadget reports that it is codenamed “Castle”, while MobileCrunch also calls it “Pixie”. Other bloggers give it the nicknames Mini Pre, Palm Pre Mini, and Pre Lite. Can we also call it Palm Pre Nano? :p

While the yet-to-be-released Palm Pre will initially be sold exclusively by US telco Sprint, the Eos will supposedly go to rival AT&T.

Engadget posted these specs:

* 4GB storage
* Price: $349 (pre-rebate)
* Camera: 2 megapixel fixed focus digital camera and flash / video capture
* Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP and EDR, USB 2.0 via micro USB
* Removable 1150 mAh battery (4 hours 3G talk time)
* Messaging: SMS, MMS (picture and video only), integrated IM client
* Contact sync with AT&T Address Book
* MediaNet
* Cellular Video
* Email: POP3, IMAP4, and EAS support
* A-GPS
* Audio: WAV, MP3, AAC, AAC+ ringtones
* Video Playback: MPEG4, H.264, H.263

Engadget readers’ reactions to the reported device vary. User oghowie says “Pre looks better and is better spec wise. This looks like a lower end Pre.” On the other hand, reader Reality Check noted that this rumored device has no Wi-Fi, has only 4 GB of storage, and is more expensive than the iPhone. He concludes: “Pre wins.”

Of course, actual pricing may still change, but for now , I tend to agree that the Pre is better. The wait for the Pre continues, and Palm fans on our side of the world are on the lookout for any mention of a GSM Pre.

Converting videos for Sony Ericsson

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After several attempts, I was finally able to successfully convert using VisualHub for Mac a video file for viewing on a Sony Ericsson phone.

Here’s the config:

(Convert) To: MP4
320 Pixel Wide : Checked
Quality: Standard
RTSP Streaming: Do not check
H.264 Streaming: Do not check

In the Advanced settings, check Force and select QuickTime Decoding. Ignore all the other settings.

Thanks to this article for giving me some ideas on the correct settings.

Twit, Plurk through SMS using Ping.fm and YM

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I love posting short updates on the Web using my Palm Centro. I caught this habit in 2001 when PinoyExchange.com (PEx) introduced its Wireless Journal feature.  For only  P2.50, I was able to send through SMS short thoughts, notes, mini-poetry, and quotes to my own WJ page.  But PEx eventually stopped this feature.

Years later, a new site called Twitter emerged and began offering a similar service.  It even went a step further as, for some time,  it allowed members to receive their friends’ updates as text messages.  Posting SMS updates to Twitter was expensive then, though, as users had to send messages to an international number.  But phTwitters.com later solved this, allowing users to send updates to a local SMS gateway. When Plurk became popular, phPlurk also became available.

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