2010 Final Day.

It is this time of year again, the final day of 2010.

There is indeed quite a lot of interesting things that had happened in my life. Just for reminiscence, among the notable ones are undergoing my semester industrial training at a nice company - Integricity and meeting all the colleagues that working there.

I must say that one of the major things that I had purchased for this year is none other than my powerful gaming i7 rig. Well I only bought it as my laptop GPU had died on me after serving me a faithful 3 years. Every now and then I would need to bake it (yes, literally) in an oven just to 'resurrect' it should the same problem happen again. Come to think of it, the rig really costs a bomb yet it is really a worth purchase. I never need to concern about the numbers of program I open. I think it's better to put it this way, everything related to PC performance is nothing of a concern except electricity. Yes, the i7 and the 5870 certainly drained up quite some power but I managed to keep it at minimal using various power saving mode. But I'm not a bragging person, except when I am being asked about it. xD

Well I guess that's wrapped it out. Below are among the things that I had done and learned:

- Garmin Developer for voice content and POI.
- Learning various computer troubleshooting at client place, e.g. backup, server installation and migration, web hosting package, etc..
- Customizing mods for games like RE5 and GTA4.
- PC Overclocking and benchmarking.
- Latest CPU and GPU specification.
- folding.
- Playing video in 60 FPS using morphing technique.
- Movie critique :-D

I would say that I had become a more better person that I am before. Hopefully 2011 will be another great year for me to improvise myself and keep the mother earth green.

I shall come out with a 2011 wish list tomorrow. Cheers and enjoy your last day of 2010.

Various Source Links

HD Movie Download Link

As with the previous post, this post is the listing for downloading HD movies:





Lossless Audio Source Link

If you are a lossless album collector, but hate torrent such as myself, you can visit the following list of websites that host all the albums on various file hosting servers.

* Will update the list from time to time.



Customizing GTA4 mods

The following software (SparkIV) can be used to open GTA files (.rpf) for you to mod. I use this to change some sound effect file that can be located at 'C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto 4\pc\audio\Sfx'. The possibilities are endless with this. You can change the GPS voice, vehicle engine sound or just simply preview and listen to how much effort had Rockstar give to produce this popular open sandbox game.

The only problem that I had is that after playing the sound for some time it will crash. Nothing to worry about as a simply relaunching the program will do.

Customizing your Garmin Voice

To copy the voice file, just extract them to your Garmin Voice folder, e.g F:\Voice\.

After that, turn on your nuvi device and go to Tools > Settings > Language. Then select the voice language to use.

Note:
* For those sound that marked with ***, it will replace the American English file. So make sure you backup and remove the original american_english_.vpm in your voice folder beforehand.
* If you wish, you can manually change the language ID using Voice Editor utility to something else, e.g. Norski.

Custom Voice Pack
- Arnold Schwerzenegger***
Link: Megaupload
* Voice from the California Governer, Arnold himself.

- Borat (Displayed as Arabic)
Link: Megaupload
* Voice from the Celebrity Borat.

- Fukien (Hokkien) (Displayed as Catala)
Link: Megaupload
* Fukien (Hokkien) dialect. I had personally re-indexing the voice file to work with the nuvi version because the original index voice sample that works with mobile version doesn't match the nuvi version.

- Garmin Devil***
Link: Megaupload

- Sexy Sedara***
Link: Megaupload
* Sexy lady voices. Be careful of the kids in your car when using it.

- British (Displayed as American English)
Link: Megaupload
* Edited with 'beep beep' sound before some sentence and some voices from GTA4 GPS.

Additional official voice pack can be downloaded from official Garmin site (http://www8.garmin.com/vehicles/voices/) or through the Web Updater.

Software
- Voice Editor v0.8 (Megaupload)
Open it and select the vpm files. It will create a folder corresponding to the vpm filename. Inside the folder are the separate .wav files for the voice. Replace the .wav files to change the voice to something else.

I prefer the voice editor over this as the former is much easier to use and allow custom user sentence playback.

Use this to customize the sentence. *Work with TTS (Text-To-Speak) voice file only.
For example, changing the sentence 'recalculating' to 'proceed to alternative route'.

Perfect audio software to create your custom voice. Make sure each custom voice is exported to .wav format using the following settings:
WAV (Microsoft 4 bit IMA ADPCM, quality: 89 kbps, 22050 Hz, mono, 16 bit


Voice Testing
After you had downloaded the voice pack, make sure to test the voice by using the Simulation function. You can activate it by turning off the GPS function via Tools > Settings > System > GPS Off.

Reference:




Dragon Quest: Origin Mods + Patch

Mods for larger text:
FtG UI Mod (requires v1.03 and above)


v1.04 patch (download link in the end of article)


Following is a list of interesting mods available:

Guide for installing the mods (.dazip):
1. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Dragon Quest Origin\bin_ship\daupdater.
2. Drag the .dazip you downloaded to the column.


My Gaming Rig Stable OC @ 4.0 GHz on AIR

Just something to brag, I finally managed to OC my i7 950 stable at 4.0 GHz using the following settings. Now I can open 8 folding instances instead of 6. More score for me.



However, the core temps seemed a bit high at full load when I'm doing folding. Not quite I expected from Venomous X. A dual Arctic fans will helped but I will only buying it should the temps reaches over 80 Celcius.


Can't complaint much about the Windows Score though, HDD part as I'm just using traditional mechanical disk.



Creating Batch File (.bat) in Windows

I do folding all the time. So instead of opening each of the instances manually, I can create a batch file that open all the folding.exe all at once.

To open multiple instances of processes,

start /d "file_path" instance_name

Example:

start /d "C:\fah1_smp" Folding@home-Win32-x86.exe
start /d "C:\fah2_smp" Folding@home-Win32-x86.exe
start /d "C:\fah3_smp" Folding@home-Win32-x86.exe
start /d "C:\fah4_smp" Folding@home-Win32-x86.exe
start /d "C:\fah5_smp" Folding@home-Win32-x86.exe


To open Chrome in New Window + Multiple Links,

start "chrome_path" chrome.exe --new-window "url_1" "url_2" ...

Example:
start "C:\Users\Gary\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\" chrome.exe --new-window "forum.lowyat.net" "www.yahoo.com"

Resident Evil 5 Realistic Graphic Mod

Tired of the greenish graphic look when playing Resident Evil 5? Try out this realistic mod made by a Russian guy. It really made a day and difference and you'll soon be wondering how long had you endured the greenish graphic before.


Playing video in 60 FPS instead of 23.975 / 30

So you had played games on your PC on 60 FPS, your eyes had been used to it and you are sick of the console frame rate that capped on 30 FPS. And on top of it, you got yourself a 60 Hz capable monitor yet you are playing your HD video collection on the native NTSC (23.976) or PAL (25.000) frame rate. However, not all of us are financial capable enough to purchase a 120Hz HDTV. If you ever had question on whether it is possible to play those HD videos that you treasured so much on your beloved 60 Hz monitor, ask no further as it is possible, provided that you have a decent processor (Core 2 Duo and above).

* Warning: After viewing those movies in 60 FPS you won't be able to get back to 23.975/25 FPS. Be advised *

The following guides had been compiled for general audience.

Step 1: Download and install

1. Download and install K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 6.5.0.

2. Download and install Avisynth 2.5.8.

3. Download the Avisynth MT (Multi-threating pack)


This will allow multi-threading. Extract the archive and put the archive.dll in your C:\Windows\system32 folder or SysWOW64 (for 64-bit OS). You should be prompted to replace the existing file if you had placed it in the correct folder.

4. Download the system.dll to prevent ffdshow from crashing.

Placed them in the same folder that you placed the avisynth.dll in step 3.

5. Download the MvTools2 (frame doubling plugin).

The link is at the bottom of the page. Place it in your AviSynth plugin directory, e.g: C:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\plugins or C:\Program Files (x86)\AviSynth 2.5\plugins (for 64 bit OS).

Step 2: Customizing ffdshow Avisynth plugin

a) Go to ffdshow video decoder configuration window (Start > Program Files > K-Lite Codec Pack > Configuration)

b) Under the Codec tab on the left column and then the Decoder column, make sure AviSynth format is using 'AviSynth' (default is disabled) and Raw video is set as 'all supported'.

c) Next go to AviSynth tab and ONLY tick the following settings:

- AviSynth
- 3:2 Pulldown: Ignore pulldown
- Input colorspaces: YV12
- Buffer back/ahead: 0 10

d) Go to the Output tab and verify that 'High quality YV12 to RGB conversion' is ticked. Verify the same setting also in the RGB conversion tab just below the Output tab.

Step 3: Placing AviSynth script

Go to the AviSynth tab page in ffdshow video decoder setting and copy and paste ONE of the following script to play back your videos in 60 FPS fluid smooth motion.

Script 1: Standard script.


SetMTMode(1,0)
ffdShow_source()
SetMTMode(2)
super=MSuper(pel=1, hpad=0, vpad=0, rfilter=4)
backward_1=MAnalyse(super, chroma=false, isb=true, blksize=16, searchparam=3, plevel=0, search=3, badrange=(-24))
forward_1=MAnalyse(super, chroma=false, isb=false, blksize=16, searchparam=3, plevel=0, search=3, badrange=(-24))
backward_2 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, backward_1, blksize=8, searchparam=1, search=3)
forward_2 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, forward_1, blksize=8, searchparam=1, search=3)
backward_3 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, backward_2, blksize=8, searchparam=0, search=3)
forward_3 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, forward_2, blksize=8, searchparam=0, search=3)
MBlockFps(super, backward_3, forward_3, num=60, den=1, mode=0)
SetMTMode(1)
GetMTMode(false) > 0 ? distributor() : last

Personal Note: CPU Usage is below 20% when playing 720p video and 30% when playing 1080p .mkv. Tested under Core i7 950 @ 3.0 Ghz.

Script 2: Optimized for reasonably powerful processor with decent Core 2 Duo, i5 or lower i7.


SetMTMode(1,0)
ffdShow_source()
SetMTMode(2)
super=MSuper(pel=2, hpad=0, vpad=0, rfilter=4)
backward_1=MAnalyse(super, chroma=false, isb=true, blksize=16, searchparam=3, plevel=0, search=3, badrange=(-24))
forward_1=MAnalyse(super, chroma=false, isb=false, blksize=16, searchparam=3, plevel=0, search=3, badrange=(-24))
backward_2 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, backward_1, blksize=8, searchparam=1, search=3)
forward_2 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, forward_1, blksize=8, searchparam=1, search=3)
backward_3 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, backward_2, blksize=4, searchparam=0, search=3)
forward_3 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, forward_2, blksize=4, searchparam=0, search=3)
MBlockFps(super, backward_3, forward_3, num=60, den=1, mode=0)
SetMTMode(1)
GetMTMode(false) > 0 ? distributor() : last


Script 3: Only for the ultimate processor :-D

SetMTMode(1,0)
ffdShow_source()
SetMTMode(2)
super=MSuper(pel=2, hpad=0, vpad=0, rfilter=4)
backward_1=MAnalyse(super, chroma=false, isb=true, blksize=8, searchparam=3, plevel=0, search=3, badrange=(-24))
forward_1=MAnalyse(super, chroma=false, isb=false, blksize=8, searchparam=3, plevel=0, search=3, badrange=(-24))
backward_2 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, backward_1, blksize=4, searchparam=1, search=3)
forward_2 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, forward_1, blksize=4, searchparam=1, search=3)
backward_3 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, backward_2, blksize=4, searchparam=0, search=3)
forward_3 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, forward_2, blksize=4, searchparam=0, search=3)
MBlockFps(super, backward_3, forward_3, num=60, den=1, mode=0)
SetMTMode(1)
GetMTMode(false) > 0 ? distributor() : last
From the script you can change SetMtmode(2,16) to 2,8 for 8 threads if you have a dual-core.

The pel=x number dictates the accuracy of the estimation values being 1, 2 and 4. If you have less than 60% cpu usage but are still unable to move up to the next script, increase the pel value. Vice versa for freeing up some cpu without changing scripts. Overall, cpu usage should not go over 80~85% otherwise frames will get dropped.
The num=xx value is the outputed framerate. For most people, 60 is the best, some people have different monitors so always set it to a multiple of your monitors refresh rate.



Script 4: Use this only if you found that your processor usage is high when playing the movie.


SetMemoryMax(1280)
SetMTMode(2,4)
ffdShow_source()
SetMTMode(2,4)
super=MSuper(pel=1, hpad=8, vpad=4)
backward_1=MAnalyse(super, chroma=false, isb=true, blksize=16, blksizev=16, searchparam=2, plevel=0, search=3, badrange=(-24))
forward_1=MAnalyse(super, chroma=false, isb=false, blksize=16, blksizev=16, searchparam=2, plevel=0, search=3, badrange=(-24))
backward_2 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, backward_1, blksize=16, blksizev=8, searchparam=0, search=3)
forward_2 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, forward_1, blksize=16, blksizev=8, searchparam=0, search=3)
backward_3 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, backward_2, blksize=8, blksizev=8, searchparam=0, search=3)
forward_3 = MRecalculate(super, chroma=false, forward_2, blksize=8, blksizev=8, searchparam=0, search=3)
MBlockFps(super, backward_3, forward_3, num=FramerateNumerator(last)*2, den=FramerateDenominator(last)*1, mode=0)
SetMTMode(1)
GetMTMode(false) > 0 ? distributor() : last

Script 5: Use this script only if all else fail.


setMTMode(2,8)
source=ffdshow_source()
super = source.MSuper(pel=1,hpad=16,vpad=16)
backward_vec = MAnalyse(super, blksize=16, isb =true, chroma=false, searchparam=1)
forward_vec = MAnalyse(super, blksize=16, isb =false, chroma=false, searchparam=1)
source.MFlowFps(super, backward_vec, forward_vec, num=2*FramerateNumerator(source), \
den=FramerateDenominator(source), mask=0, ml=53)
distributor()
Step 5: Verify that the video is playing @ 60 FPS.

a) Go to View > Statistic under Media Player Classic and verify that the Frame Rate is 60 (1x).

Now you can sit back, relax, and re-watch your video again in 60 FPS!!

If you are not feeling comfortable with AviSynth (e.g. high processor work load), you can try out the following alternative solution that will do the similar job.

Alternative solution 1: using the framedouble plugin (48 FPS instead of 60 FPS)

1) Go to ffdshow video encoder configuration page and then navigate to Deinterlacing tab.

2) On the right pane window, tick 'Deinterlacing', 'Process whole image', and 'Process frames tagged as progressive'. Under the 'Method' drop down menu, select Framerate double (no brainer xD).

3) Hit Apply and OK.

Alternative solution 2: use Splash Pro media player.

You can try out this media player that uses their own proprietary technique to render the smooth image. The PRO version is trial though.


The guide is compiled from the following source. All credits goes to the author:


Top 10 Google Chrome Shortcut that you must know

I suppose that every Chrome user must know the shortcut:

Who say that human eye can't distinguish between 30 and 60 FPS

Seriously, one would better off gaming with 60 FPS on a PC rather than 30 FPS which most console do.

Link : http://www.boallen.com/fps-compare.html

Launch MITM attack using Ettercap

If you're using Windows 7 to launch Ettercap, you might notice that it will crash once you start the sniffing process. You might have tried to launch it in Administrative privilages, enabled WinXP compatibility mode, but nothing success. The reason causing all this is because Ettercap doesn't support IPv6, just not yet.

So if disabling IPv6 works, how do I do it? You can simply disable it by untick the IPv6 box under the active network connection properties. However, it will be re-enabled once again upon restart. To disable it permanently, a visit to regedit is inevitable.

Quote from AddictiveTips:
It gets enabled again once the system is restarted, so in order to permanently disable it, open the registry editor by clicking Start, then type regedit and hit Enter. Once it is launched, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > services >TCPIP6 > Parameters key.

Enjoy using Ettercap under Windows 7!

References:

Max Resolution supported by various display connector

Below are the list of maximum resolution supported by various display connector:

HDMI maxes at 1920x1200

DVI-D and Display Port maxes at 2560x1600

VGA at 2048x1536

Dell 27" U2711

I've been wanted to change my current 23' (Acer H233H) with glossy screen to a matte screen panel.

Here are some reviews from various source for future references.

Reviews:
FlatPanelHD
PRAD (German to English Translation)

Some issues that might concern you on U2711:
  • Anti-Glare (AG) coating (less intrusive and aggressive than U2410)
  • Non-native Full HD resolution

Something to keep in mind before purchasing U2711:

  1. You'll need dual DVI inputs to support 2560x1440 resolution.

From [H]ardForum:

Quote:
Originally Posted by VectraP View Post
Would I be able to get 2560 x 1440 working with a normal HDMI Cable?
No.

Single-link DVI can only transmit up to 1920x1200 at 60Hz. To do higher resolutions (including 2560x1440) at 60Hz, dual-link DVI is required. Single-link DVI uses 12 pins, dual-link DVI uses 24 pins, HDMI uses 19 pins and Displayport uses 20 pins. HDMI and DP achieve the higher speeds required for higher resolutions or higher Hz by sending more data through the same pins, while DVI achieves the higher resolutions or speeds by adding more pins in dual-link mode. HDMI and DP cables can transmit single-link DVI because they have more pins than necessary, but there is no way for HDMI or DP to transmit dual-link DVI because they don't have enough pins.

Edit: I speak here of converting HDMI from your video card to the DVI port on the u2711, because the u2711 is not capable of doing more than 1920x1080 through its HDMI port. According to the documentation, you can only get 2560x1440 on the u2711 through dual-link DVI or Displayport.

Mounting a UFS (FreeBSD) slice on Linux

1. As usual, open up a terminal and login as root: $sudo bash

2. To check which location is the UFS drive name, enter 'fdisk -l'. You should see a line such as /dev/sdc1. Note this down.

@ As an alternative, go to System Administration -> Partition Editor to find out the drive name.

3. Enter mount -t ufs -r -o ufstype=ufs2 /dev/sdc1 /media/freebsd to mount the slice as partition under Linux.

* You can just create a new folder under /media or /mnt, in this case, freebsd.

Enabling CPU Scalling in Linux to conserve power

Source: http://embraceubuntu.com/2005/11/04/enabling-cpu-frequency-scaling/

In addition, to add the option to manually select the speed via the CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor panel, you'll need to enter the following command in case you miss it on the source:

$sudo chmod +s /usr/bin/cpufreq-selector

HTML5 demo

Here are some of the features make available on HTML5.

Link

ZSNES - Alternative SNES Emulator than Snes9X

Here's another SNES Emulator I found from a forum thread today. Haven't try it out yet but the words had it that it might surpass the Snes9x emulator.

Link : http://www.zsnes.com/

Controliling PC/Console Emulator Games via iPhone/iPod Touch

Here's a good iPhone/iPod Touch app that can turn your iPhone/iPod Touch into a wireless gaming controller for PC or console emulator. Too bad I prefer physical button.

Link : http://www.wifipad.com

Streaming Video from your PC (Media Server) to your iPhone/iPod Touch

There are basically two popular streaming media server such as TVersity and Air Video Server (AVS). However, I choose to use AVS as it support conversion ON-THE-FLY. In other words, you can stream and watch the video without needing to wait for the conversion to be completed. I believe AVS is the only media server so far that support such functionality. I didn't experience any lagging at all when running on Wireless G signal and AVS is running on Intel Core 2 Duo laptop.

Link for Air Video Server.

You'll also need to download AVS app for iPhone/iPod Touch from iTunes Store after installing AVS on your PC/MAC. There are both free and paid version of the app. The free version only allow a maximum of 4 videos to be shown on the list.

However if you wanted to try TVersity you can read the guide here.

Streaming Music from foobar2k to your iPhone/iPod Touch

In order to stream music from foobar2k to your iPhone or iPod Touch. There are several things that need to be installed.

Below is my setup:
foobar2k v1.0
iPod Touch 2nd generation running firmware 3.0
Windows 7 Professional

Setup UPnP Server for foobar2k v1.0
  1. Download foo_upnp component from foobar2k official component page here.
  2. Upon extraction, copy foo_upnp into your foobar2k component directory. Eg: C:\Program Files\foobar2k\components
  3. Start foobar2k and go to the Preference page. The setting for UPNP component is located under Tools -> UPnP.
Purchase and download Plug Player from iTunes Store for $4.99.
* Despite many people giving unsatisfying comment about the app, it works just fine for me. None issue encountered. It works out of the box.
  1. After downloading it, simply launch the app and select 'foobar2000 Media Server' from the Select a Media Server section.
That's it! Now you can stream your music library directly from your foobar2k to your iPhone/iPod Touch.

Extra

If you wish to edit the layout of the 'Browse' list in Plug Player, simply read the documentation here.

5 N1 Phone to grab by mixing song

There are 5 Nexus One Android phone to be won. Simply create and mix your own tunes in the following website now:

http://www.rojaksong.com.my

[Link] Some site to start learning Morse Code

Here's some site that you could visit to start impressing your friend - Morse Code. I learnt it within 3 hours LOL!

http://www.learnmorsecode.com/

http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Software/Morse_Code_Training/

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-morse-code-062437/

High-Res Video Game Artbook and Guidebook

Check the following links for Video Game Artbook and Guidebook in high resolution:

http://forums.ffshrine.org/showthread.php?t=64743

http://forums.ffshrine.org/showthread.php?t=60989

Nice DSP plugin for Dolby Headphone user (foobar2k)

If you own a pair of Dolby Headphone you might want to enable this DSP.

http://pelit.koillismaa.fi/plugins/show.php?id=132

Nice DS

Enable TAK playback on foobar2k

Here's the plugin to enable the TAK file playback on foobar2k.


Link

foobar2k Plugins

XChange 3.6 - foobar2k v1.0 skin

Here's the skin I'm currently using for my foobar2k v1.0 running under Windows 7 x86. Thanks Br3tt for this amazing skin.

Forum Link

Full file list

The Best of Android Apps

Here's a site which features the best android app out there. It definitely comes in handy for those who are just starting to use Android OS or switch from other mobile OS.

Link : http://101bestandroidapps.com/

Linus Tolvalds Blogspot

How many of us know that Linus Tolvalds is using Blogspot? Well perhaps you do but I just knew today LOL! And it seems like he's using Nexus One too!!

Link : http://torvalds-family.blogspot.com

XBMC - A completely unique home theater experience

Do you own a massive collection of HD or DVD movies downloaded from the Internet? Do you properly organized all your movie collection by putting them in a folder tidy and neat? Tired of Media Player Classic, RealPlayer or WMP? Want to show to others how unique you are to others by using software that is not commonly used by others? And most importantly, do you want to show off your amazing collection in a unique sense of way that will just do the 'WOW' factor?

P/S: You would probably like it if you are a huge fan of alternative software that is used and known only by a small community of user which is mostly geeks who just want to be unique in another way. E.g: Foobar2k, Linux, Android OS.

If the answer to the aforementioned question is YES, then I believe you are ready to get yourself aquantained with XBMC, short for XBox Media Center. (Official site)

The coolest thing about it is you can customize it according to your need. Browse through your movie gallore and watch them in a totally unique way that you had never seen before. Forget the traditional way of opening a movie file of going to Windows Explorer -> Disk drive -> Folder -> double click on a movie file. Believe me, your movie watching experience will start with XBMC.

Worried about the trouble you might need to go through to customize the skin? Don't worry, installing skin is easy. Simply download a skin you like from their official site here. Extract the zip file directly to the /skin folder under the XBMC directory. It's a snap!

All movie information can be fetch automatically from various site such as IMDB and TV.COM.

XBMC does not only manage movie, it can manage TV shows, music and pictures as well. Perfectly fitting it's fuction as the full-fledged home theater software.

Heres a skin called Transparency! which I'm using as my main theme for XBMC:

Home Screen
Photobucket

Movie Library
Photobucket

Movie Information
Photobucket

Now Playing
Photobucket

Feeling impressive? Go download it now!!

Updated thought on my purchase for Nexus One

Before I proceed further, it is suffice to say that if I haven't heard of HTC Desire I would have owning Nexus One (N1) by now.

Here's some features offered by Desire which could not been found on N1:

HTC Sense UI (updated with Android 2.1)
I couldn't resist the elegant and simplified look of Sense UI by HTC. Every menu is accessible easily and it really make Android 2.1 shine. Personally I like the dial pad white-ish skin and the bottom screen menu (<>). It will definitely make me easier to call someone without needing to go to the home screen and click on the Phone app.

Although it's just a matter of time before someone will port the Sense UI ROM over N1, it's just feels good to own a Desire as it's the native ROM. Definitely great for Android beginner like me who doesn't want to void the warranty by rooting and flashing the ROM.

Physical accessible button at the bottom of the device
N1 had several issue with it's non-responsive touch sensitive button located at the bottom of the screen. Some user claimed that one will need to tap upper middle from those button for the tap to be detected. I do prefer physical button as it provide me a tactile feel like I had actually press on something.

RAM (576MB over 512 MB)
Now that's 64MB difference. Don't think that it's just a small amount of RAM. Those 64MB could determine the performance of your phone when running multiple app on the background.

FM Radio Transmitter
Well I seldom listening to radio but I suppose it might comes in handy for some people without the need to purchase any additional FM transmitter.

Optical touch button
HTC claimed that it should provide more accurate pinpointing while using it compared to N1 physical trackball. I do prefer it as it won't attract dust after prolonged use compared to the trackball.

Now here's what N1 got and Desire lack:

Growing LED on the trackball
The LED will grow in different color based on several different notification such as unread SMS message, unread email and miss calls. Nothing big deal for me as I won't be paying much attention to it while it's on my pocket anyway. Notification sound would suffice.

1 noise-canceling mic
Too bad Desire is lacking it. Perhaps the built-in primary mic on Desire could perform noise-canceling effect as well as processing voice?

Conclusion
Well after watching several videos and reading some reviews about N1 and Desire, I guess I would definitely wait for HTC Desire. March/April shouldn't be farther away from now isn't it?


[Link] Smartphones News Site

Android OS-based Phones

http://onlygizmos.com/category/android/

[Link Compilation] Mobile Phone Review Site

In the past few days I had done intensive research on smartphones as I'm going to upgrade mine from Motorola (couldn't even tell which model it belongs to LOL) bought in 2006. I had a few choices wandering in my mind:

Google Nexus One (N1)
Motorola Droid (or Milestone in Europe / Asia)
HTC Touch Pro 2
HTC HD 2
HTC Hero
Nokia N900
Nokia N95

But after doing the research my choice had narrowed to N1. Here's why:
Droid - Too bulky. You'll need to use your thumbnail in order to use the physical QWERTY. It's pretty hard to thumbling considering the almost flat keys and the limited space between each key.

HTC Touch Pro 2 & HD 2 - Simple. It's using Windows Mobile 6.5.

HTC Hero - The curving at the bottom of the phone where it is supposed to make the voice clearer when you talk as the mic is there.

Nokia N900 & 95 - Not so into Meabo OS.

---------------------------------------------------

Enough of those nonsense, here's some of the site which I found to be very useful for searching any reviews for any mobile smartphone you might have in mind:

DroidDog
http://www.droiddog.com/android-blog/category/android-device-list/

GSM Arena
http://www.gsmarena.com

Mobile-Review
http://www.mobile-review.com/pda/index-en.shtml

TechRadar
http://www.techradar.com

Here's a couple of product review from those sites:

Google Nexus One
Wiki
Specification

Reviews
TechRadar | DownloadSquad | HTCPhones | BGR | Ubergizmo

Discussion Forum
Official

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HTC Hero
Specification (GSM Arena)

Reviews
GSM Arena

***

HTC HD II
TechRadar

-------------------------------

Phone Comparison

Will HTC Desire replace Nexus One?

[Link] Great Download links for applications and games

Here's a treat for you guys. Definitely a great site to download all those popular Applications and PC games you would ever wanted. What's good about it is all games and applications will DEFINITELY runned on your PC upon installation.

Links are in Megaupload, Rapidshare or both.

Link : http://www.egydown.com/

[PSP] PSP Themes for CFW

Here's a link for all CFW themes:

Link : http://www.freeforpsp.com/CTF-Themes/

[Guide] PSP CFW

Here's link on all guides on how to upgrade to firmware 5.00m33-6, 5.50 GEN and so on. Also including a guide on how to convert your Battery <-> Pandora Battery and Memory Stick <-> Magic Memory Stick.

Link : http://forums.qj.net/guides-psp-hacks-homebrew-emulators/162702-guide-ultimate-cfw-installation-guide.html

[Guide] How to patch the 5.55/6.00/6.10 games to work with all firmwares

Here's a link to play those PSP iso that requires 5.55 firmware or above for previous firmware. I've been a loyalty fans to m33 but their latest release was 5.00m33-x. I wouldn't dare to try out GEN release as everything would be reset to default setting upon installing and some people are actually having game play issue.

So until Dark-Alex release his next update, 6.00m-33 which I doubt would be any time soon, here's a quick way to patch those iso's that requires firmware 5.55 and above, such as Disgaea 2 on your m33 firmware!

Link : http://forums.qj.net/guides-psp-hacks-homebrew-emulators/159330-guide-how-patch-5-55-6-00-6-10-games-work-all-firmwares.html

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So here's another link for those who want to patch the iso directly from their PSP without needing to access their PC. Obviously you will need to connect your PSP to your PC to copy the application, that's all.

Link : http://forums.qj.net/guides-psp-hacks-homebrew-emulators/163298-tut-easiest-way-patch-5-55-6-00-6-10-games-run-all-firmwares.html

-------------------

I will post up the games that is compatible to 5.00m33-6 after decrypting by using those guides above in the near future:

I had tried it and it doesn't seems to work.

I do personally recommend you guys to download your ISO's from ESPALPSP instead of PSPISOZ. What I found is all ISO downloaded from ESPALPSP will always playable on my CFW 5.00m33.

[Solution] Broken Camera Icon on Windows Live Messenger

Do you experienced a situation whereby you only see a broken camera icon next to your display picture whenever you tried to initiate a Video Call session with others? Or others can see you but you can't see your ownself in your webcam? Apparently it is a bug in Windows Live Messenger but not in MSN Messenger v8.1 or previous version of it.

If that is the problem, there's a viable workaround for it.

Link : http://messengergeek.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E3785B1281BBDA1!3016.entry

Link (Discussion, another method to use if the previous one failed) : http://www.ariam.co.il/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=82&PN=1