3G SIM

Finally I decided to upgrade my GSM phase 2+ SIM to a 3G card. I've been reluctant to do so as the old SIM was actually coded by myself when I was with a SIM card vendor. It was the first STK offer in Singapore, with Info-On-Demand SIM application on it. This fact has kept me loyal to that telco and to the particular SIM card for the past 8 yrs as I'm able to load additional STK applications therefore turn it into a live test card.

Now with 3G or even 3.5G network having phrased in and offering much faster data rate & more features, I can't hold on any more but to upgrade (I now have to pay for it!) & switch to the 3G network. Moreover, SIM application has become the past story though most handsets still (quietly) support STK. The VAS platform has changed from SIM card to Java application and now to the smartphone OS e.g. Windows Mobile or Symbian. WAP did not even get a chance to really fly. The role of SIM card has been demoted to its original function, i.e. subscriber identification and storing network parameters; it is no longer the key player in VAS development, nor is SIM vendor.

Actually, many of the original SIM functions become insignificant in today's mobile experience. For example, the SIM phone book is seldom used and SMS is not even stored into SIM any more. My new 3G SIM (btw, I can recognize it as Gemalto card by its contact-pad shape :-) is said to be 128K card with the capacity to store 1000 phonebook entries. But who really cares it? The phone usually provides megabytes (if not gigabytes) of dynamic memory that effectively stores unlimited number of contact & SMS records. It also offers a more sophisticated phonebook with, for example, voice tag, customised ring tone, face image, email & address that the SIM phonebook doesn't.

The world changes fast. The eight years are long due to flash the concept about GSM VAS...

Nokia N80 firmware v4.0707.0.7

It's lucky that I checked forums before connecting to Nokia firmware update service. There is a newer version v4.0707.0.7 released on the 28th of March (seems only in Europe market?) but many are annoyed by its full of bugs & its damaging their previously-working features. The only good thing I read so far is that it enters the sleep mode sooner to improve battery life. So, don't rush to upgrade it & stay on the current v4.0632.0.38.

More S60 App

Searching for more Symbian S60 3rd Edition freewares, I discovered the following applications:

Y-Browser (v0.80) by Jukka Silvennoinen is a full & extendable file management application with most standard features on files (such as copy, cut, paste, etc) & folders (create, remove, etc).

Screenshot (v2.60) by Antony Pranata captures screenshot on S60 mobile phones and saves it to a file in JPEG, PNG, BMP or MBM format. Actually those captures posted here are by the Screenshot.

MetrO (v5.5.1 / May 2007) by F Van Caenegem & P Bernard helps you find your way in the public transport systems (subway, bus, trams) in more than 350 cities around the world. It is originally for PalmOS and Windows Mobile devices and extended to Symbian Nokia phones. The Singapore database is not too useful though -- it only covers MRT/LRT but not the most needed bus system. One can easily find his way on the graphic route map being posted everywhere at station and on the train.

China stocks

China's stocks have eventually declined since May 30 when the government tripled the stamp duty on securities trade. The index for RMB-denominated A shares listed on Shanghai & Shenzhen exchanges yesterday dropped nearly 8% and today another 6.4% (to 3287). The benchmark has tumbled 21% from its May 29 peak.

Personally, I think it's a healthy movement as it is widely believed that China stocks have bigger & bigger bubble, which is doubled this year. It seems to me that many of the new comers are poor but greedy individuals who is thirst for making quick money but without much knowledge of the risk. Hearing the successful stories of their neighbours for having made 20% or higher profile from the stocks, they're rushing to open account and dumping in their hard-earned money. With so many people's blindly believing without reason that the market continues bullish till 2008, it indeed keeps breaking its record high despite financial experts have been prompting the bubble warnings. I insisted on that these people are not the rich ones who 'invest' with reason but those who 'gamble' -- I don't even call it speculation. Once the bubble burst, they are not prepared for the lost and can blame anything but their losing sense, so they will cause social & political problems and eventually damage the state economy.

The earlier decline helps to cool down and educate people, before it's too late to retrieve. I don't think China can afford the unstabilization caused by millions of stock losers one day.

smart2go

I like the S60 (3rd edition) application 'smart2go'. The beta version is a freeware for S60 mobile phone that allows you to load maps from around the world, discover interesting places nearby and find your way: with optional GPS receiver hardware and navigation license (an extra subscription-based service: for Sin/KL/BKK area, $12 for 7-day, $15 for 30-day, $142 for 1-yr and $162 for 3-yr), one can get turn-by-turn navigation by a voice prompt in your chosen language. Even without GPS or the navigation subscription, one can still get the route planner (completely free-of-charge) that is equivalent to the yahoo map service.

The Singapore map (1.9MB) is with 'okey' details -- at street level (without street number) that is similar to the google or yahoo maps but definitely not as useful as streetdirectory whick includes building details & other searches besides by street name. For example, you can't search & locate Vivo City unless you know a nearby street name. And no building is marked on the map so you can't confirm the location. Once at there, the nearby restaurant search reports Sentosa Food Ctr (900m), Seafood Sentosa (920m), Lakshimi Vilas Restaurant (1.0km) and Telok Blangah Cres Market & Food Ctr (1.5km) etc. The route planner to Changi airport reports the distance 24km and travel time 19 min. by car:

* Harbour Front Walk
* after 216m turn right & continue on Telok Blangah Rd
* after 1.3km keep right & enter AYE/ECP
* after 19.4km keep right & leave ECP
* after 1.9km keep right & continue on T2 Blvd
* after 857m keep left & continue on T2 Blvd
* after 225m destination reached on T2 Link North.

The navigation simulation (if GPS is unavailable) is also interesting and demonstrates the voice instructions... Since Singapore is such a small downtown place, the navigation at only street level is however not very useful.

The China map (18.5MB) is totally disappointing. I would say that it is not useful at all as there is absolutely no content other than a few unnamed inter-city roads. For example, the city 'Beijing' is marked at the cross of two unknown roads.

Other maps that I tried out are acceptable in general: KL (Malaysia map has 10.5MB but it seems only KL area is good -- Malacca is not, for example), HongKong (0.7MB), Taiwan (7.7MB), California (74.5MB) & Paris (17.3MB). They recommend nearby hotels, eateries, public transport and so on and calculate effective route to your destination.

East Coast Properties

I guess I won't continue like this --didn't mean to become a property agent :) one day. Anyway, it's the third of the 10-part series on 'The Sunday Times' for East Coast Road area.