yongkailoon.com
Just another average weblog
DiGi to Offer the Apple iPhone
Mar 1st
Just when you thought Maxis will be the only network operator to sell authorized Apple iPhone 3G and 3GS sets in Malaysia, DiGi came out with a breaking news announcing that they will be offering the Apple iPhone 3G and 3GS by Q1 2010 which would probably be somewhere in the month of April.
This three years agreement will be a great boost to DiGi’s sales especially when network operators these days are focusing on selling their data plan as mobile Internet is becoming a need in most mobile phone users. With the Apple iPhone, the users’ Internet browsing experience will be much different especially with the ever attractive touchscreen capabilities. The price is still not known yet but you can register your interest here so that you’ll be informed of any updates. A history check will definitely be able to speculate that the pricing will be very competitive to have the extra edge of Maxis.
Are you ready for this? 
A Storm is Coming
Feb 24th
I’ve been a BlackBerry lover ever since I bought the BlackBerry Curve 8520 months ago during the launch by Celcom Xpax. A BlackBerry may seem to be a boring device to most people but once you’ve get the hang of it, your perception to it will change once and for all. Recently Celcom launched the brand new BlackBerry Storm2 9520 in Chinoz KLCC, not long after the launch of the latest BlackBerry Bold 9700.
The new Storm by BlackBerry is in short an improvement over the first generation Storm whereby there were some flaws in it that brought the attention of RIM. One of the notable improvements is of course the better touchscreen experience whereby it was not very responsive in the first generation Storm. With the launch of the further improved Storm model, no doubt it will strengthen BlackBerry’s position in the touchscreen field lining up against many other tough competitors such as the Apple iPhone.
I myself as a current BlackBerry Curve 8520 user will definitely want to get my hands on the new Storm simply because its really one of the coolest gadgets to own. A BlackBerry is really a helpful gadget in a sense that it brings a whole new level of communication to the owner. Features like push e-mail and instant messaging is already a very good explanation if you ask me “Why BlackBerry and not others?”
Why I would like to own the BlackBerry Storm2 9520 is because of the sleek design it has compared to the first generation ones. Nothing counters the desire of falling in love with a phone when you come across a sleek looking phone. After all, we live in the year of 2010 now where the latest in design and size matters. 
The organizer features of a BlackBerry is also truly amazing. Long time ago, most people who require a mobile yet interactive organizer will get themselves a PDA (personal digital assistant) device to help keep all appointments and to-do list in an organized manner. These days, a smartphone is all we ever need. With a BlackBerry, I’ll be able to keep track on all my to-do list effectively, so no more forgetting any appointments!
A BlackBerry is also unique for its state-of-the-art connectivity to the Internet world. With the BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service), all data that passes through the server will be compressed significantly so if you’re a heavy mobile Internet user, with the BIS I’m sure you’ll see a significant drop in the data usage not because of less usage, its just the compression. I would definitely love to have mobile Internet as it can come in handy at times when I’m in need of an Internet connection. Facebook and Twitter addicts will surely benefit from a BlackBerry too!
Celcom would be the best Storm-tastic place to get this gadget because Celcom is now offering the BlackBerry Storm2 9520 from as low as RM216 monthly or RM1,588 with the CEP50 together with a BlackBerry Advance plan but sadly as a student, I’ve yet to earn my income so the best I could do is dream on and look at the website as well as the advertisements that comes out in newspapers. Why would Celcom be so cruel to offer such irresistable offers?
Another reason why Celcom would be the best place to get it from is simply because of Celcom’s widest network coverage and one of the fastest network throughout Malaysia. I don’t have to worry about not getting any reception in many places with Celcom all thanks to their wide network coverage area. Moreover, with the fast network, I will be able to take advantage of the HSDPA features of the BlackBerry Storm2 9520. How about blazing fast speed on-the-go?
In short, a BlackBerry Storm2 9520 on Celcom’s network will definitely cause a massive storm in Malaysia!
TM HSBB – How About Speeding?
Feb 23rd
If you’re a tech savvy person especially in the communication field, I’m sure you have probably heard about TM’s plan to roll out their HSBB (High Speed Broadband) service in the Klang Valley throughout this whole year. I know that most existing Streamyx users will just wonder what’s so great about it since they can’t even provide a stable broadband service with their Streamyx most of the time but HSBB incorporates the use of fibre optics and I believe it will be the next step to further improve the broadband service here in Malaysia.
So what exactly is this TM HSBB? It is also known as high speed broadband with speeds of up to 20mbps (might be higher when it is officially launched) allowing the users to download files in just “a blink of an eye”. With HSBB, your downloading experience will never be the same again. Just imagine downloading a movie at speeds higher than 10mbps, I think hard disk drives will be selling like hot cakes by then. Besides having blazing fast download speed, the latency/ping to local servers will also be drastically reduced, it will be capable to get below 5ms and it’ll almost be like playing LAN games for gamers all thanks to the fibre optics technology.
If you ever come across the white/beige small box with a TM FTTH sticker on the box attached to any of the telephone poles in your housing area just as it is in the above photo, be prepared as your housing area is already ready for the TM HSBB service.
Even any sight of a green box that looks similar to a really nice looking rubbish bin is already a sign of TM HSBB in your housing area. If you have not been paying attention to any of it then maybe you should starting from the point you read this post.
In the above photo is the modem provided by TM in order to get connected with their HSBB service. For the current beta testers, they were also given a D-Link DIR-615 wireless router which had the configuration to connect and the beta testers were advised not to do a hard reset on the router or else they would lose the configurations causing them to be unable to connect. To those of you who thought that you will also need the router provided by them to connect, its not, the truth is that TM did not openly reveal the configurations so you wouldn’t know what parameters to use for your own router.
Above are some bandwidth test results via speedtest.net conducted by one of the HSBB beta testers. If you look at the connectivity to the local server, it is a whopping near 20mbps for both downstream and upstream with only 2ms ping, if we have more local content in the future then HSBB will definitely benefit a lot of the users since everything will be speedy. International connectivity for most of the servers are not even 50% of 20mbps and it is disappointing but since its still in the beta testing stage, it is still a bit early to judge the whole HSBB service. However, if the existing international pipes don’t get an upgrade, it will be difficult to achieve even 10mbps to an international server.
The pricing for the service is still not known until today but there are rumours speculating that it could be somewhere around RM150 for the lowest package believed to be a 5mbps package. The packages are yet to be revealed so if you have any insider information, share it via the comments!
While the HSBB service by TM definitely sounds convincing, the test results by the beta testers have yet to show the public the worth and what HSBB can do. I am still awaiting for the full potential to be unleashed, I hope it will. If you’re one of the beta testers, do not hesitate to leave a comment and share your opinion on the service. If you’re not a beta tester, you too can share your opinion and will you subscribe to it when it reaches your place?
*Credits to dr3nchippo and mytechnews.info for the photos
Namewee Screws TNB
Nov 1st
Most of you Malaysians would probably know who a man calls himself Namewee is. If you’ve not heard of him before, he is the man behind the controversial Negarakuku song. Recently he circulated another video of him complaining or should I say screwing Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) for a power outage in Muar, Johor. I have embedded the video in this post but parental guidance is recommended for the young minds as the content is explicit at some point.
Now of course anybody who experienced a power outage frequently will feel mad about the incident. To make things worse, there’s nobody answering calls for TNB’s hotline. A hotline is made for the public to call should they experience any outages or inquiries. However, I think this video is also creating another controversy here. Imagine if many decided to follow the footsteps of Namewee, what would happen to Malaysia? As an example, let’s say a guy is having really terrible Internet connection with his TMNET Streamyx and he decides to go to a TM Point branch and starts swearing, now this is only one guy, what if many do the same?
In some angles, I’ll have to agree with Namewee such as the eating banana part, instead of slacking at the office shouldn’t the staffs at TNB do something about the outage fast? As we are in a modern world now, there are many things we won’t be able to do without electricity. A student can’t revise without lights and a working person that requires his computer to complete his task will not be able to do it as well. The staffs at TNB don’t show any concern about the outage and this is the main reason why there’s rage in the public.
Whether or not Namewee had done the right thing is very subjective and it varies from one another. As for me, I would have to disagree of his doing with the fact that if many others do the same or similar to Namewee, don’t be surprised if things get chaotic in the future. So what are your opinions on this?
Guide to Tethering Your BlackBerry
Oct 27th
I noticed that many BlackBerry owners do not know how to tether their BlackBerry with their computer. Tethering in simpler terms means linking your BlackBerry to your computer to act as a modem so you’ll have a wireless Internet connection no matter where you are. Today, I’m going to give you a guide on how you can set that up in no more than 5 minutes. Before tethering your BlackBerry, you should check if your BIS data plan includes WAP/3G usage or not or else you’ll be charged according to the amount of data you download/upload. This guide will be done with a Windows 7 and should be similar to the Windows Vista.
First and foremost, the BlackBerry Desktop Manager has to be installed in your computer. If you do not have it installed and you don’t have the CD to your BlackBerry Desktop Manager, you can download it here. After you have installed the Desktop Manager, it is also important for you to connect your BlackBerry device to your computer via USB as well so that the standard modem drivers will be installed.
When you have installed both the BlackBerry Desktop Manager and the standard modem drivers, the next step is to add in some initialization commands so that it works with the BlackBerry. To do this, at the Start Menu, right click Computer and select Properties. On the left sidebar, select Device Manager and locate Modems, expand the list and double click the Standard Modem which will then open the properties page for it. Go to the Advanced tab and enter the following initialization command exactly like it is:
Celcom Users:
at+cgdcont=1,”ip”,”celcom3g”
Maxis Users:
at+cgdcont=1,”ip”,”unet”
Once you have entered the initialization command, hit OK to save the command. Note that “celcom3g” and “unet” is the APN for the respective mobile network operator, it varies from one to another so do check with your network operator for the APN.
The next step is to actually test if its working fine so double click the Standard Modem again and go to the Diagnostics tab. Hit the Query Modem button and it should show you Success at the Response field. Hit OK and close your Device Manager.
You are just a step away from connecting to the Internet if you reach this far. All you have to do now is to create a new dial-up connection. To do this, go to your Control Panel which can be found at your Start Menu, select Network and Internet and proceed to Network and Sharing Center. You should then see a Set up a new connection or network, select it. Now you’ll be given a list to choose from, select Set up a dial-up connection. If you are prompt “Which modem do you want to use?” then select Standard Modem. Fill in the fields as follow:
Dial-up phone number: *99#
The User name and Password field:
For Maxis:
User name: maxis
Password: wap
For Celcom:
Just leave the User name and Password field blank.
As for the Connection name, just key in anything you like so as long you can identify it. In my case, I entered Celcom 3G. Do note that the BlackBerry Desktop Manager has to be running with the BlackBerry device connected to work, so if you have both of this done then click Connect and you should be connected!
There’s also an easier way to tether your BlackBerry recently. The BlackBerry Desktop Manager 5.0 SP1 now comes with an IP Modem feature for tethering so it can all be done via the BlackBerry Desktop Manager now. You can download the BlackBerry Desktop Manager 5.0 SP1 via this link. You have two ways to tether your BlackBerry, which would you prefer? 
