Anas Imtiaz

Universal Mobile Chargers by 2012?

// February 20th, 2009 // 7 Comments » // Mobile Phones

Looks like the cell phone industry is finally talking sense. The GSMA and leading manufacturers have announced the plans to implement a universal charging solution by 2012. I’ve always been stumped by the fact that all different companies have different charging pins despite all of them requiring almost the same voltage-current characteristics. I have even cut the wire and changed the pins whenever my chargers were dysfunctional. Similarly, some companies have more than one charging pins for different models.

But now finally there is some good news. We may be able to get rid of numberous chargers soon. I hope the digital camera industry also takes a similar step and develop a common charging solution for all manufacturers.

Here is the news story from Symbian Freak which gives the detail about universal charging solution for mobile. I still think this doesn’t need 3 years!!!

Black is Back

// August 30th, 2008 // No Comments » // Mobile Phones

How dearly I missed this black gem of mine which succumbed to the desert heat of Abu Dhabi some two months ago. The feeling of envy whenever I saw the same piece in someone else’s hand (and the feeling to grab it by force!) is now placated for sure.

The good guys at Nokia have replaced my faulty N95 8GB with a brand new one In this interim period, I used an N95 (borrowed from my dad) which is almost identical in functionalities, looks, size and weight but there is something about the black color which makes the latter version much more attractive.

I hope to stick with this handset for a much longer time than the previous one.

N95 Goes in ICU !!

// June 4th, 2008 // 6 Comments » // Mobile Phones

Just when I was blabbering about the lack of temperature sensor in cell phones, my N95 8gb succumbed to extreme heat, high humidity and started malfunctioning. The handheld device began to restart abruptly and most of the keys were performing all other functions than those which they were supposed to perform. Basically, it got screwed up.

Ironically, while riding outside earlier in the day I, along with my dad, spotted a new Nokia Care Center in Abu Dhabi. My dad immediately commented that now it’ll be easier to get the phone fixed if anything happens to it (never happened before!).

Anyway, knowing that my warranty card was lying comfortably in my closet in Karachi, I went to the new Nokia Care Center and to my utter surprise they verified that my phone is still under warranty using the IMEI number There were two phone doctors (the engineers, who were wearing lab coats) who gave the reasons for the phone’s malfunctioning. However, the phone will remain under doctor’s observation for the next weeks.

Luckily, I do have an older N95 to fall back on. It’s not black though

Temperature Sensor in Cell Phones

// May 31st, 2008 // No Comments » // Mobile Phones

In this age of rapid cell phone advancement, the users are struggling to keep apace with the burgeoning mobile technology. Yet it often surprises me when I’m walking out in this Middle Eastern heat dumbfounded; trying to guess the temperature with which the sun is burning my face. I’m unable to comprehend why the mobile phones which are packed with features such as accelerometer (motion sensor), GPS receiver, FM receiver and transmitter, high-end camera, xenon flash, WLAN, etc. lack a simple sensor which can detect the atmospheric temperature. I’m aware that some mobile phones do show the battery temperature by using external programs but I haven’t come across anything, merely known as a thermometer. With my phone capable of counting my steps with accuracy and pinpointing my exact location, I don’t see any reason why a device as simple as a thermometer is not made a part of its package. Perhaps, is it too simple?

Aisi Taisi by Azal – Ringtone

// April 30th, 2008 // No Comments » // Mobile Phones

A couple of ringtones, as promised, extracted from the song Aisi Taisi by Azal have been added on the ringtones page. The catchy tune does sound extremely nice on my phone! The link to the Ringtones page is now located in the main navigation menu on the top.

Automatic Screen Rotation on N95 8gb

// April 20th, 2008 // No Comments » // Mobile Phones

With the release of the latest firmware (v20.0.016), the good guys at Nokia have officially added the Automatic Screen Rotation (ASR) feature to N95 8gb phone. It is located in Tools->Settings->Personalisation->Display->Rotate Screen. This feature uses the built-in accelerometer on the phone, which Samir used earlier in his software RotateMe for the same functionality. The update is available for all unlocked phones via NSU.

Other updates include bug fixes and stability issues, but frankly I never experienced any bugs before. So for me highlight of the update is the ASR and it works very neatly.

More Ringtones

// April 8th, 2008 // No Comments » // Mobile Phones

The first three tones that I posted were greatly appreciated which motivated me to put some more effort in this business. I have uploaded four new ringtones, and I am pretty sure that they will be liked by everyone. The new tones include:

Dard-e-Disco (Om Shanti Om)

Deewangi Deewangi (Om Shanti Om)

Jashn-e-Baharan (Jodha Akbar)

Yeh Pehli Mulaqat (Sonu Nigam)

Check out the updated ringtones page here, for the new tones.

Ringtones

// March 31st, 2008 // No Comments » // Mobile Phones

I did a comprehensive Google search trying to find the ringtone of the song ‘Woh Larki Hai Kahan’ from the movie Dil Chahta Hai. The starting music of the song would have made a brilliant ringtone. But unfortunately, that specific part was not found in isolation. The only way remaining ahead of me was creating/editing it myself which I did successfully.

Therefore, I proudly present a beautiful ringtone after editing a part of the mentioned song. Its in high quality mp3 format. Do check it out!

Meanwhile, most of us remember the Djuice advertisement that ended with a nice shrill shout like this: EEEEAHHHAAAAAA. I also tried looking for that but ended up in cutting it out myself. Trust me, it makes a great SMS alert!

Another fine ringtone that I engineered today is the starting music of Pappu Yaar by Junoon.

Check out the RINGTONES page here, and do let me know if I can come up with something better.

N95 Accelerometer Applications

// January 2nd, 2008 // 8 Comments » // Mobile Phones

An accelerometer is a device used to measure the vibration or acceleration of a structure. It is a micro elctro-mechanical system device available in a wide variety of ranges. For more information about it, refer to Wikipedia’s article on accelerometer.

Recently, it has been used in sports watches, Nintendo Wii and more famously (and pertinent here) in Apple’s iPhone. People have been fascinated by the advertisements of iPhone in which the screen auto-rotates when the user turns the phone by 90 degrees (landscape). This, sensing of rotation, is performed by a small accelerometer embedded in the phone.

Nokia’s N95 has been bundled with one too, however, its use was limited to camera app only to determine whether the user has shot a portrait or a landscape photo. The shrewd ones already knew about the presence of accelerometer, probably. But, it came as a surprise only when applications began pouring out from different directions. So what sort of applications does accelerometer lend itself to? Well, the sky is the limit! Here are some of them, that I’ve come across. Note that all applications require the Nokia N95 Accelerometer Plugin to be installed on the phone to run these applications.

Activity Monitor from Nokia Research Center. “The Nokia Activity Monitor displays charts and statistics, in real-time, about your movements while walking or running. It counts the number of steps, and determines the distance covered and the energy expenditure…..”

Nokmote (set to release soon), is the one I’m looking forward to. It is THE most intriguing display and use of accelerometer that I (and everyone else) have seen. Words, alone, can’t do justice to this one. Check out the video of nokmote in action. Hats off to Samir for pulling this one off.

RotateMe (by Samir, again) replicates the screen auto-rotation feature of iPhone. An unsigned version is available for download at Samir’s website.

(more…)

my new tech toy: N95!!

// December 30th, 2007 // No Comments » // Mobile Phones

I traded my good ol’ N73 for a new N95 and this multimedia computer by Nokia is a gem. The top notch features include:

• GPS: not much use in karachi due to the lack of maps, but still it does work giving coordinates fairly quickly (with the new firmware, v20). I do intend to use it in some other mysterious way at a later stage.
• WLAN: yes! it hooks up pretty easily
• 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Optics
• some other great features….which are advertised on nseries.com
• oh and not to forget, TV out option
• and it also uses standard headphones, which i wanted for quite a while

But, what the guys at Nokia never advertised before is that N95 is also equipped with an accelerometer!!!! I don’t know how they kept quiet on this for so long…so what can an accelerometer do?? I will post a detailed account on this soon…..but trust me, its magical!