BMobile data settings for iPhone
Aug 19th
If you’re an iPhone user and you’re local to Trinidad and Tobago, I found the following settings useful for allowing my iPhone to connect with my B-Mobile Edge data plan (Yes, you read that correctly, Edge, not 3G, but that’s another post by itself).
Go to Settings >> Network >> Cellular Network Data.
Enter the following values:
- APN: internet
- Username: LEAVE BLANK
- Password: LEAVE BLANK
It’s as simple as that. You’re iPhone should be connected to Trinidad and Tobago’s incredibly fast Edge network.
For more information, check out B-Mobile’s site.
*Note* These settings are for B-Mobile services in the British Virgin Islands but the settings work accurately on the iPhone in Trinidad.
October 1st is coming, Gran Turismo PSP is upon us
Aug 5th
Image from ign.com
After YEARS of speculation, claims of vaporware and talks that it wouldn’t be available until Gran Turismo 5 is released, Gran Turismo PSP is upon us. Honestly, this is the only reason that I bought my PSP. I’ve played some incredible games on the PSP since then (including FIFA 09, Tekken 5, Lumines, Loco Roco, God of War and Patapon…to name but a few) but GT is the reason I own a PSP. A handheld version of one of the greatest driving games of my generation? Gran Turismo PSP is a Day-1 buy for me.
Even better than just releasing the game, Sony has provided incentives for those who choose to pre-order the racing title. If you pre-order, you’ll receive a voucher to unlock one of five top of the line cars in the game.
Pre-order and can choose from:
- 2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 (black)
- 2002 Enzo Ferrari (Giallo Modena….yes, that’s yellow)
- 2008 GTbyCitroen (in yellow)
- 2009 Nissan GT-R Spec V (metallic blue)
- 1974 Lamborghini Countach LP400 (Arancio…orange)
This pre-order bonus seems to be for those who pre-order the UMD. The Playstation article indicates that those who download the game via PSN will also receive some sort of bonus (although it has not been specified yet).
Personally, I’ll be downloading the Bugatti. So happy driving, October 1st can’t come soon enough!
Zenzizenzizenzic
Jun 26th
After playing a few games of Balderdash the other night, I came across what I believe to be one of the coolest words I had ever encountered. As much as I enjoy math, I had never seen the word before and it became one of the running jokes for night.
The word is:
zenzizenzizenzic
The zenzizenzizenzic of a number is its eighth power. This term was suggested by Robert Recorde, a 16th century Welsh writer of popular mathematics textbooks, in his work The Whetstone of Witte, published in 1557, although his spelling was zenzizenzizenzike.
The word is obsolete except as a curiosity; the Oxford English Dictionary has only one citation for it. It survives as a historical oddity.
For more information, visit here.
I really wanted to acquire the domain, www.zenzizenzizenzic.com but it was already taken. Maybe I’ll scoop up the .us or .org sites.
So the next time you raise a number to the eight power, just remember, zenzizenzizenzic.
Click here zenzify your numbers. Note: large input values will not be “zenzified” (due to the limits of the unsigned integer).
Manchester United 09/10 Schedule
Jun 17th
So the Premier League season is over, so what are Manchester United fans to do? I guess I could pick up FIFA 09 and relive many of the games (that I didn’t) during the season.
In anticipation of the upcoming 09/10 season, download the Manchester United 09/10 schedule of games and upload it to your smartphone or pim. Just make sure you don’t miss a match next season.
You can download the calendar in .ics format here.
First Game Posted on Kongregate.com : A Day at the State Fair
Jun 17th
A Day at the State Fair has been submitted to Kongregate.com and I am pleased to say that since it has been posted, it has been played 660 times. Not bad for a game that has been posted for only 13 or so hours.
Considering A Day at the State Fair was a 3-week project with a development team of 2, the fact that people outside the classroom have played it legitimizes the time and effort put into this simple point-and-click shooter. This is truly a rewarding feeling.
Just by posting the game on Kongregate.com we have seen a 300% increase in the game’s exposure. I have never dealt with Kongregate from the developer-side but my present experience has been a good one. Implementing the Kongregate API and adding it to the game was a breeze as was adding the code to submit and retrieve scores. Unfortunately at this time, neither of those mechanisms are functional but there is a post in the Developer Forum, so hopefully the issue will be resolved soon.
Another lesson learnt: Kongregate users are very honest and very critical, which is good for any designer. We already got feedback from users who liked the game but weren’t too captivated because of the game’s simplicity. Plus Kongregate users are the perfect batch of game testers for your game. I have already received feedback on in-game issues that will be cleaned up.
This exposure definitely improves upon a 2-person development trying to produce and then re-produce the same bugs all the time.
It truly is a gratifying feeling having the world be exposed to your game. It’s even more gratifying that they like it!
Go play A Day at the State Fair and be kind, rate it !
The Final Nail in the Coffin or How Nokia made me dislike my Nokia E71
Jun 14th
Nokia has announced the Nokia E72 by briefly posting a video demo of the smartphone over at Nokia Conversations.
I understand that Nokia is a hardware company but its just wrong that they still show no software consideration for users of older handsets. 1st generation iPhone users will be installing iPhone 3.0 on Wednesday and will be reaping the benefits of the updated software along with their 3G and 3GS brothers and sisters.
So why can’t Nokia show their loyal users the same kind of appreciation? The Nokia E71x has proven that the Nokia E71 can run Feature Pack 2 (FP2) but Nokia has been reluctant to release such an update for the handset, claiming that Feature Pack 1 (FP1) was stable enough for business users and FP2 was untested in the business world.
Now that FP2 is heading to the business world, will the Nokia E71 see any kind of FP2 upgrade consideration?
As it stands, I don’t think it will.
Would my PSP library be homeless if I got a PSP Go?
Jun 13th
Sony’s new handheld is upon us in the form of the PSP Go (which was E3′s worst kept secret this year but that’s for another post). As a consumer, I wonder what this new iteration of the PSP platform would offer me that my current PSP-2000 doesn’t. (The PSP Go definitely doesn’t have the limited edition Darth Vader print on the back of it. Score 1 for PSP-2000).
Soon to be homeless library of UMDs?
New PSP Go Features (and why I don’t need them)
1. No UMD Drive. The UMD-less design does not appeal to me because it makes my library of games useless. Sony has mentioned that a large number of UMD titles will be made available digitally but Sony has not commented on how this affects current UMD owners. Would UMD owners be able to download the digital equivalent of their game, much like DVDs that have digital versions available for owners to download?
2. Internal Memory. It’s nice to see that the PSP Go has internal memory, 16 GB plus a memory card slot for addition storage. This is a no-brainer since the Go doesn’t have a UMD Drive (see above). My concern is that 16 GB may disappear quickly if the user plays with the PSP Go quite often. The re-release of Final Fantasy 7 easily takes up 1.4 GB of space. If early UMD titles make it to the digital distribution channels that Sony has spoken about, would they be optimized for space or would they be “digital rips” of the games, consuming the same amount as they would on a UMD disk? As the price of solid state memory continues to fall, my PSP-2000 is still relevant because I can cheaply add memory to it.
3. Bluetooth. I see no reason for me to ever use this while playing on my PSP. ‘Nuff said. I’m sure it could have some application, such as using headsets for multiplayer games but this only interests me if I can use a bluetooth headset I already own. Having to buy a new Sony branded headset for this to work is a no-no in my book.
4. Universal Connector. This would have been great, if only it was a part of the original PSP’s design. With a slew of accessories already available on the market, it would be hard to convince me to trade up to the PSP Go AND have to buy new accessories to replace the older ones.
5. UMD Rentals. If I ever needed to rent/borrow a UMD, I could. Digitally, there is no equivalent.
And for these 5 reasons, I will hang onto my PSP-2000 for a while longer.
Windows Task Bar Notifications
Apr 17th
Is this what you want to see when your Windows Vista machine is crashing?
Why I won’t be updating my E71 to firmware 210.21.006
Mar 22nd
Another firmware update is here for the E71 and I can say that I won’t be installing it. After the previous update, it took me quite some time to get my phone back into a usable state. Since the E71 doesn’t have UDP, all personal data has to be restored to the E71 after an update. I do have all my information stored in Outlook, Google and Ovi, so restoring my handset would not be too complicated.
What is complicated is re-installing applications and themes. Why couldn’t the process be as simple as reinstalling iPhone apps (which are backed up in your iTunes) and definitely LESS cumbersome than re-installing a Windows installation. That is what the process feels like and it definitely doesn’t suit mobile culture. Smartphones are meant to be functional devices that enhance our day to day lives by letting us communicate with the world. Messaging, emails and txts are all functions of my phone that I use daily. The second my phone doesn’t function, I lose this connectivity. Updating my phone should not be as complex as this is.
I’m left to contact 3rd party application vendors anytime I update my phone in order to get my software re-activated. This is an unnecessary. Shouldn’t my IMEI and software key be enough?
Currently, my E71 is stable, very stable. I don’t feel like spending 2-3 hours restoring applications after installing this minor update.
I think I may actually wait until firmware 30.xx.xxx. Until then, my E71 will run on its older, stable firmware.
You can see one discussion about this firmware on e71fanatics.com.
What the Nokia E71x and the Symbian Foundation could mean for the E71
Mar 22nd
Being a hardware company, Nokia banks on consumers buying new handsets to generate revenue. If a newer software update comes out, more than likely it will be delivered on a new handset and not as an upgrade to your phone (no matter how closely spec’d your phone is to the newer one released). From instance, the Nokia E71 runs Symbian S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1 and the newer Nokia E75 runs Symbian S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2. (Confused yet?) This model is different from Apple’s, who have similar handsets across a few generations and all updates are accessible by these handsets. One OS to rule them all, if you will.
I can only speculate that this may actually be changing in the Nokia camp. As an owner of the E71, I can only wonder if Nokia will be bringing the Feature Pack 2 OS as a firmware update to E71 handsets. I speculate because ATT is in the process of readying the Nokia E71x for sale. Although the E71x and the E71 share the same hardware, the handsets run different versions of the S60 operating system. The E71x runs Feature Pack 2 and the E71 runs Feature Pack 1. With no difference in hardware, it should not be technically difficult for Nokia to offer a firmware update to FP2 for current E71 owners. This does open the question to whether Nokia will use this opportunity to please loyal customers and release such an update for free OR alienate customers by charging for this update. Personally, I would pay for such an update. For a small price, I can easily infuse some life into my handset and will extend its life significantly. To be fair, as an iPod Touch owner I have paid for an OS update and I will continue to.
With the Symbian Foundation announcing their release plan for 2 releases of their platform each year, again I wonder if this indicates more software updates for handsets or Nokia’s need to push new handsets into the market.
With such frequent updates, one can only imagine a quicker maturity of these mobile operating systems which would indicate that users would be privy to these updates on their handsets.
I can only hope that this update does surface for the E71. It will be sometime before they design another handset as functional and aesthetically pleasing as the E71, so I will be holding on to mine for quite some time. Let’s hope they keep the OS current.
