Tag Archives: Malaysia

iPhone Review Part 4 – Camera and Video

Posted by Pradeesh on October 8, 2010 2 comments

In this part , basically I’ll be focusing on the camera quality and video quality and how these two can be combined to make something useful , which I’ll show you in a while.

As you’ve read in my previous reviews on how iPhone 4 works generally , in this part – I’ll be focusing on the Camera and HD Recording functionality. As we all do know that iPhone 4 camera is somewhat way behind compared to other phone camera , for instance when iPhone 3G was launched in circa 2008 , other phones were already using 5.0 Megapixel with LED Flash. Now in 2010 , iPhone 4 has 5.0 Megapixel camera with LED flash and with HD Recording functionality.

PS –  If you’re looking for a good camera , just get a DSLR (the professional camera) or a good digital camera. Phone cameras are generally mediocre and no doubt iPhone is one of them !

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HSBB (Malaysia) Details

Posted by Pradeesh on September 24, 2009 12 comments

I was lurking in lowyat today and found this article on HSBB project in Malaysia. It was posted in a message board. So thought of posting it here in my blog and as well as discussing my opinion about it . You can check it out here for more details . I would like to take this opportunity to credit Razer1911 and xts of lowyat.net for sharing this information

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Detailed Information on HSBB rollout

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HSBB is coming soon ! - Thats right folks

Click on the photo to enlarge and do have a look at this as well

So the main question is can TM deliver its promise. Generally we all do know that Broadband in Malaysia tend to suck. Even new  companies , at first when they roll out. it would be certainly great , but sooner or later – it would start to go downhill as they get more and more users to sign up for their services. This leads to overselling , ISPs tend to do this in order for them to maximise their profit and to cover up their investments.Now when we are talking about HSBB , we are talking about high-speed broadband , speeds up to 1Gbps. This is great to enable content providers to make use of the bandwidth to deliver HDTV content and such (Let’s face it ASTRO in Malaysia sucks and everyone knows it). That’s the good side , but the question is TM is capable of delivering customers.

At first , they may able to deliver it , but then once more and more customers start to make use of HSBB , can it be really called HSBB ? . What are the efforts that TM has taken to make sure that everyone gets a fair slice of the pie ? How about Local bandwidth ? I wouldn’t mind to have 1Gbps for local links , as it makes transferring pretty easy from one place to another place. Plus its possible for us to host servers within our homes , thus making sharing large files easier. Of course this would in-directly result in servers which may host copyrighted materials. Anyhow , what are your thoughts on HSBB

TM’s new package discrimination policy

Posted by Pradeesh on May 10, 2009 Comments Off

Well it seems that TM is offering “good IPs” to its premium users (which is good news for me as I am a 4Mbps streamyx user) which is 218.111.x.x. For the first time in my life , I am getting 218.111.x.x IP. It was impossible for me to get this IP before , trust me – all I would be getting is 118.100.x.x , 115,.x.x.x, 124.13,x,x . Now all of a sudden I am getting good IP with good speeds for most of the International links such as to US ! It seems that TM is now practicing , price/service discrimination , the more you pay , the better the service would be. As in if you upgrade to 4Mbps/2Mbps , they would serve you better , as in giving you a new and better IP range. This issue was brought up by a MP in Parliament , if you want to take a look at it , then click on this link (it takes you to YouTube anyway). But again , this question remained unanswered.

So what concerns me most is that why TM is doing such a thing to 1Mbps/512Kbps/384Kbps users ? Is it because that they pay less so that they deserve to get a not-so good IP address or is it simply because that these class of users are commonly using the Internet to download copyrighted material via peer-to-peer networks such as Bit-Torrent. Only TM knows the truth. If you take a look for 4Mbps/2Mbps users , such as myself – limiting IP address allocation is kind of dangerous as in now your IP address allocation are limited.  There is an on-going discussion over here in lowyat.net . As for the speed of this newly allocated IP address , it seems to be pretty goof for US links as I am finally able to get 80%-90% of the subscribed speed for US sites

If you take a look , its amazing that I can 4Mbps for US sites. This shows that TM does indeed have the potential of giving good speeds to its customers. Unfortunately , due to the fact that they monopolize landlines , we would just have to accept whatever that they throw to us (You may want to talk about change and other alternative ISPs , but the only so-far which seems to be good is P1 – however that its wireless and the speed isn’t consistent at all)

Streamyx’s New TOS

Posted by Pradeesh on May 1, 2009 13 comments

Firstly let me quote on the latest Streamyx’s Terms & Condition and later we will do the analysis (a.k.a “The Talking)

 

xv. Streamyx download and upload speed is guaranteed for local content access only. TM is not responsible for the low speed of either download or upload of international content access.

Source : http://www.streamyx.com.my/get_streamyx/get_streamyx.php?id=getstreamyx_package_Details 

 

So there you go folks. TM is not responsible if your download speeds are very slow when you access International links. In other words , you’ll be enjoying fast local link speeds ONLY. Your cries are in vain  - This is because lets face it. You’ll be calling their toll free number , ranting to them on how slow is their International link speed and you were unable to play your World of Warcraft with your US buddies or you got kicked out of your guild because of your crappy connection. Chances are , TM would just simply ignore it or just give you a standardized answer saying that their International links do have problems. Its the typical same ol’ excuse that we have been hearing for a very long time. Beating around the bushes , and giving the same excuse

 

What is it for us consumers ? Well we can’t really exercise our rights as TM monopolizes the whole landline broadband industry. They have the rights to adjust the price and the quality of broadband which they would like to supply. They could either over-sell it and still make a profit out of it or they could just simply increase the price and still make a profit out of it. Either way , they gain and we consumers , do lose out. I do agree that there are some advantages of monopoly such as helping the poor and needy (for instance , TM offers RM 20/44 package for those who can’t afford to fork out a lot of money for Internet as opposed to other providers (i.e P1 , Maxis) whereby their monthly commitment fees start from RM 60+) . But it does have a lot of disadvantages , I am sure you could list down all the disadvantages.

 

Basically , we’re pretty much screwed as there is no law in Malaysia that protects us (basically MCMC states that you must at least get 80% of the advertised speed for local links)  , the only way that we could express our thoughts is by visiting our Prime Minister’s blog and maybe give some suggestions or make our cries heard. Who knows – Our broadband might improve after that as I do see that our Prime Minister responds to some of our cries and trying his best along with his cabinet to form a better Malaysia ! I do think improving broadband connectivity here in Malaysia also should be one of his agenda - I’m sure it would make Malaysia proud !

P1 WiMax Wiggy Review (Part 1)

Posted by Pradeesh on April 10, 2009 19 comments

This time its not their latest review which is on their Wiggy – the portable wimax .P1 guys are being nice with the bloggers as in giving bloggers and forumers alike to test out their device and share our thoughts. In this part , we will be taking a look at how the device looks like and how it feels (as in its looks and “aesthetic values” )

First things first , Wiggy (a cool name indeed)  as you see below (the size).

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Its pretty small and it fits in the pocket - Its not bulky at all. Click on the picture to have a closer look at it !

I am holding it and its pretty slim !

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"Look ma , it fits in my hand" - That is how I would describe it - Put it in the pocket and connect to any PC and voila you have your own personal Internet Service ! *provided if you're within P1's coverage area*

Connected to my netbook – Wow , its like 1/4 of the size of my netbook

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When its connected to my Fujitsu U1010 - Its just handy. Netbook + P1 Wiggy = Road Warrior

For the sake of comparing with something. I’ve taken another photo which compares the size of the old modem with the new one. I’ll leave the maths to you to calculate which one is easier to carry around !

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Words can't describe it - Just click on the picture , do the maths and do your own comparison !

Anyway , the modem itself works automagically with Windows XP/Vista/7 , whereby it installs the drivers and sets it up automatically. All you have to do is hit the connect button. Now that is what I call it simple. I was bit disapointed when there were no drivers for Linux and Mac (For your information I am a Mac user myself !) , but however I was told by the great staffs of P1 that drivers would be out for Mac/Linux somewhere in Q2/Q3 2009. So Mac users , don’t worry as we still do have a chance to use this device once the drivers are out !

Apart from that I believe that plug-n-play-n-forget makes it easier for grandma and grandpa to surf the Internet and not to mention an average Malaysian to use the Internet. In the next part , Before I end my first part of the review , in the next part. Let us take a look at how it performs on real-life senarios , such as speed-tests and stuff like that. The first part of the review (just like my old P1 WiMax Review) basically talks about the device itself ! The next part , we will be taking a look at the setup part , speed-tests and its performance. So do stay tuned for it !

Earth Hour – My Thoughts

Posted by Pradeesh on March 27, 2009 22 comments

It seems that everyone is going crazy over this earth hour thingy whereby you’ll have to turn off your lights for an hour from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm . Nice concept but the execution seems to be bit of more into commercialism  – in sense of calling celebrities , sending out adverts to turn off the lights. My question is how in the world its going to reduce global warming in a day. People in Malaysia (and I believe around the world) are going crazy about this. I see this as a competition and for me , it seems that Malaysia wants to be in the list again proudly boasting that its possible to do so (just for a day). Thus reminding me of the space program which they did recently. I believe that such money could be put into better use – and most importantly for the welfare of the society especially in the rural area of Malaysia and such ! Don’t get me wrong , I am just expressing my thoughts on Earth Hour. I am not against it nor in favor of Earth Hour !

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DiGi Broadband – My Analysis

Posted by Pradeesh on March 26, 2009 29 comments

There is a big rave about DiGi’s latest offering – DiGi Broadband. One thing caught me eye – “Broadband done right”. Okay , so I took at look at their packages and hows their offerings and such. For starters , their package seems to be too good to be true (It seems that DiGi has done some homework before rolling out their service). Kudos DiGi

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P1 has enabled port forwarding !

Posted by Pradeesh on March 25, 2009 7 comments

This is great news for those who were ranting on how they could not host their own HTTP and mail server with their P1 WiMax Connection. Oh yeah , not to mention that it causes gamers (xbox 360/playstation 3) a havoc when they weren’t allowed to host game (because of the way of how P1 set it up)

Anyway , Miss Noami from P1 e-mailed us regarding this and she sent the username and password in order to configure port forwarding , DMZ and stuff like that. I’ll be doing a full story on this later but for now , this is the user name and password and the address

Address : http://10.1.1.254

Username : admin

Password : admin123

Troubleshooting your ADSL Connection : Part 2

Posted by Pradeesh on February 26, 2009 2 comments

This is the 2nd part of my troubleshooting series (That’s right folks – learn it from the expert). Anyway in this segment (uh well its like a TV show right ?) . Now let us take a look at the factors which plays a role in influencing our signal strength (for DSL). Psst if you haven’t read part 1 , I recommend you to do so now !

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TmNet 2Mbps/4Mbps Package is Now Nationwide

Posted by Pradeesh on February 15, 2009 3 comments

It seems that TmNet has finally launched their expensive and overpriced 2Mbps and 4Mbps service nationwide in West Malaysia. Well that means for those of you who are carving for 2Mbps or 4Mbps package. Now you have a choice. This is the official announcement which I am cutting and pasting it from here

Kindly be informed that Streamyx 2Mbps & 4Mbps (HSI) is available NATIONWIDE. The HSI packages will be available in selected location (where IPDSLAM resides). Service also will be provisioned based on outcome from technical testing at the point of installation. Packages that available in the system are as per below:

CONSUMER PACKAGES

· Streamyx 2.0M (Streamyx Combo) – RM140

· Streamyx 4.0M (Streamyx Combo) – RM160

Firstly , we all do know that streamyx is overpriced and its congested as in a sense that bandwidth is being shared. TMNet also thorttles large bulk traffic such as BitTorrent and even YouTube traffic. From what I’ve heard from a guy who is with TM is that , this packages aren’t capped per username and at DSLAM (like your 512Kbps/1Mbps) , whereby its capped in DSLAM (aka the port) itself. This would be an advantage if you could get persuade the technician to cap at a higher speed. I was told that for 2Mbps package (if the line is good) , you could get capped at 2-3.5 Mbps – meaning that you’ll enjoy a faster speed and as for 4Mbps , you can get it capped up to 8Mbps. It depends how you deal with it

As for are there any differences and is it worth to upgrade. I’l lleave that up to you , read my first part of how to troubleshoot your connection here to check if your line is okay and then ask yourself if you’re sharing the connection with a lot of people or are you a heavy downloader. Most importantly , are you willing to pay for it. The quality of the service is remarkably questionable .

Nevertheless , I’ve signed up for 4Mbps and I’ll let you know the outcome if I am sucessful or not and if possible to see if I can get capped at a higher speed (and if the hypothesis holds true) !