Nokia N85, a good value for your money!

The screen on the N85 measures 2.6-inch and sports a resolution of 240×320, which is more than enough. This particular handset garnered numerous news posts when it went on sale here in the Manila, well not really sale but available. Although it doesn’t still stand up to the quality of the iPhone screen, it can still hold its own, especially when reviewing photos and recorded movies.

N85 is a slider phone, not a fliptop. But, it’s a little unusual in that it slides one way to expose the keypad and the other way to expose the media keys for accessing the phone’s music menu. When slid into the ‘media mode’ the screen automatically switches to landscape mode and the main nav button serves as the track forward/back and play button. Which brings me to my next point: The N85 include a real 3.5mm headphone jack. Having a 3.5mm input is a good point specially when you want a better headset, you can change the headphone jack into a better one.

Movies or pics, the N85 captures quality images. Sure, like most cameras phones it’s not great in low light scenarios but thanks to the LED flash it gives a boost to dim photos. At 5 megapixels your images and movies (640×480) will look as good as some of today’s stand alone cameras.

As for avid Mac users out there, for some reason I couldn’t get the N85 to show up in my iSync menu. So all I can say is that you’ve been warned. Sure, some trouble shooting might resolved the issue, but the point here is that this thing won’t just sync out of the box. Just wanna share that as well.

As for memory, the phone comes with an 8GB microSD card. This was more than suitable for me but you can upgrade if you’re looking to add your expansive music collection. As with most microSD card slots it was a bit complicated when you want to take out the card.

As for those who got cars FM transmitters, the Nokia N85 includes its very own. You can adjust the frequency, turn it on, you’ve got music streaming from your phone to your car’s stereo system. I know, the sound quality won’t exactly be top notch, but for some quick tunes and one less trip to Best Buy who can complain.

Getting online with the N85 can be achieved via 3G/EDGE or WiFi and setting up the wireless was super simple thanks to the WLAN Wizard. Surprisingly, it include a full HTML browser, which admittedly is a bit of a surprise given the small screen. Fortunately, the OS, Symbian S60, pops up a little screen when you start to move the mouse around allowing you to navigate the page from afar. In the end, I found the browser was only suitable for checking websites at a glance and really isn’t designed as a Web friendly device.

Battery life of the N85 is outstanding. I tested out the standby time, which means absolutely no use, and the handset lasted a few days short of 2 weeks. Plus the OLED screen makes the phone even more efficient when it is being used. When really using the phone I could get 4-5 days in between charges, but keep in mind your battery experiences may vary depending on signal reception and type of use.

Built-in to the handset is an accelerometer, but you wouldn’t know it at first glance. Factor settings set it to off, but that can be quickly over ridden by navigating to Tools>Settings>General>Sensor Settings. For the most part the accelerometer was very speedy to react but on occasion had a tendency to be a little over sensitive, ultimately changing the screen from portrait to landscape mode when not truly warranted. Another interesting feature, which also is turned off by default, is the Navigation Wheel. It can be turned to ‘on’, which essentially turns the circumference of the main joystick button into a navigation button. I didn’t extensively test out the option since it proved more annoying than useful. I suppose those used to a Blackberry experience might find it useful or just complete off setting.

Overall, I’m very impressed with the Nokia N85. I’ll be honest, it’s been many years since I’ve really used one but now I understand why they’re the number one handset maker in the world. The build of the N85 is very solid. At times the buttons on the phone proved a bit cumbersome and for anyone coming from a Blackberry or iPhone, or any handset with a touchscreen and full QWERTY keypad will find adjusting to the new layout challenging. The payoff of course is in the optics, small footprint.

Lenovo Constant Connect lets ThinkPads Instantly and Automatically Sync Emails With Blackberry Phones

Thanks to a new technology called Lenovo Constant Connect, Lenovo laptops will be able to sync enterprise-based emails with Blackberry phones at all times, even while the laptop is powered off.

By the power of Bluetooth, any enterprise based email will automatically be sent from your BlackBerry to your ThinkPad once configured. You won't have to initiate the transfer in anyway. Lenovo Constant Connect is set to release in Q2 2009, but it's still unclear which email apps will support the service and uncertain whether it will work with current/previous-gen ThinkPads.

LENOVO THINKPAD LAPTOP COMPUTERS TO GAIN NEW LEVEL OF INTEGRATION WITH BLACKBERRY SMARTPHONES

Research Triangle Park, NC and Waterloo, ON – February 16, 2009 – Lenovo and Research In Motion (RIM) today announced that the two companies will work together to promote new Lenovo mobile solutions that will help on-the-go business users enhance their mobile computing and communications experience through tighter integration between Lenovo ThinkPad laptop computers and BlackBerry® smartphones.

Leveraging Lenovo's extensive global R&D capabilities and engineering prowess in laptop computers together with RIM's expertise in smartphones and wireless solutions, Lenovo plans to develop and deliver a range of industry-leading solutions and technologies that can help professionals conduct business more effectively on the go.

Lenovo Constant Connect, the first solution developed by Lenovo, will leverage the strengths of the BlackBerry® solution and Lenovo ThinkPad laptops to deliver an unparalleled user experience for flexible, real-time access to enterprise-based email. Lenovo Constant Connect will allow enterprise email received on a user's BlackBerry smartphone to be automatically synchronized via Bluetooth® onto the user's ThinkPad laptop – even if the ThinkPad laptop is off – without the user having to take any additional steps.

This level of integration and availability dramatically improves access to email on the Lenovo ThinkPad laptop from wherever a BlackBerry smartphone can access a connection. In addition to greater flexibility and convenience, it can also reduce the need to use the laptop with fee-based Wi-Fi® networks. Lenovo Constant Connect is expected to be available from Lenovo and its business partners in the second quarter of 2009 in the U.S, and to be rolled out in markets around the world later in 2009.

"With more and more mobile professionals relying on both their BlackBerry smartphone and ThinkPad laptop PC, we view better integration between the two devices as a necessity. Today's announcement is the first step in combining these best-in-class solutions to deliver a more useful and powerful mobile work experience," said Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing.

"Lenovo is adding significant value for our mutual customers by developing tighter and more seamless integration between Lenovo ThinkPad laptops and BlackBerry smartphones," said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO, Research In Motion. "By leveraging the industry-leading, push-based connectivity of the BlackBerry solution, Lenovo Constant Connect will simplify email synchronization on the laptop and provide mobile professionals with greater flexibility to manage their email on the move."

HTC Touch Diamond2 and Touch Pro2 Feature Bigger Screens, Better Battery Life

HTC's Touch Diamond, and its QWERTY'd doppelganger the Touch Pro, have formally passed into their second generation, with bigger screens, higher (WVGA) resolution, better battery life, and deeper interface changes.

These handsets have always represented something of a standard to which WinMo phones are measured, and the tastefully restyled new versions, boldly called the Diamond2 and Pro2, play on their predecessors' strengths.

The Diamond2 gets a screen upgrade, from 2.8in to 3.2in, with an accompanying resolution boost from VGA (480x640) to WVGA (480x800). The lauded TouchFlo 3D alternative interface now reaches a bit deeper into Windows Mobile 6.1, making a few more functions touch-friendly, but stopping short of a total overhaul. The most interesting new interface feature is the "Single Contact View", which consolidates your complete history of communication (texts, calls, emails) for a given contact into a single screen. A SD card expansion slot replaces the old model's fixed internal memory, which results in greater flexibility but severely diminished memory size on delivery (gone is the 4GB internal memory, replaced with the wimpy 512MB ROM) and a new 5-megapixel autofocus camera.

The Pro2 is treated to most of the same upgrades. Its screen stretches to a full 3.6 inches, which is just .2 inches smaller than the monstrous TouchHD. It gets a louder speakerphone system and less-pixely camera than the Diamond2, but retains the larger battery and slide-out QWERTY keyboard that originally distinguished its dad from the Diamond.

Battery life is apparently boosted by 50% on the Diamond2 and "improved" on the Pro2, a change which is more than welcome, as this is one of the areas where the original Diamond/Pro fell down. Other, less immediately interesting new features include "HTC Push Internet", which is essentially pre-loads parts of your favorite webpages, and the inauspiciously-named "Straight Talk", which allows for easy transitions between text or email communications and regular or group phone calls, letting you immediately initiate a conference call with, say, the recipients of an email thread.

A few things don't sit will here—mainly the lack of internal memory and lost touchwheel—but anyone who has used the TouchHD knows that the enhanced resolution is a welcome change. And not to repeat an all-too-obvious grievance, but HTC fans have long said that the Diamond and Pro should have been the company's Android handsets from the get-go, so it's hard to avoid being slightly disappointed by Windows Mobile 6.1, again.

HTC hasn't announced pricing yet, but should hit European and Asian markets by early Q2, with early H2 availability worldwide.

Ipod Touch on Thick as Thieves

I was watching the latest movie featuring Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas, Thick as Thieves. As the movie goes, they used this handy gadget IPOD Touch to spy on their next "prospect project".

Here are some snapshot of the movie. I know you wouldnt like me spoiling the rest of the movie. I just want to share it to you readers.

And I wonder what type application could do this. Hmmm makes me think...really?

Sony Ericsson Unveils Latest 8MP, 12MP Handset

Sony Ericsson launches latest 8MP, 12MP handset in market with including excellent features this is the amazing design of latest handset with attractive color it has excellent sound you can easily use this handset it is best for calling anywhere it has amazing quality of features.

I have a great passion of handsets this Sony Ericsson is really an excellent quality of amazing handset it has 8.1-megapixel loaded with Cyber-shot features, a video recorder and picture blogging, auto-focus, image stabilization, a 16x digital zoom, face detection a flash. It has W995 kickstand for video watching. It has also including some advance features such as PC syncing, a speakerphone, stereo Bluetooth, a voice recorder, gaming and direct access to YouTube, FM radio, phone as modem capability, messaging and email.

It has also including 12 megapixel cameras (no CyberShot) with Xenon flash, DLNA-compatible WiFi and GPS receivers.

Sony Ericsson is such a great company that offers excellent quality of finest features many of the further handsets are available in market but this new Sony Ericsson is best to others the color and design of this handset is so attractive and stylish. So what you think about this amazing handset it’s a great offer hurry-up!

Mario Brothers Mushroom USB Massager

Shoulders or body parts feel tired due to always working with computer? Don’t worry. Mini Mushroom USB Massager will help to get rid of your tired and stress. This is a regular scenario for us Call Center Agents, now here comes a very innovative and techy solution for our aching pains. The Mario Brothers Mushroom USB Massager!

Product Specifications

• Mini mushroom design
• Massage your tired body parts
• Helps to release stress and get rid of the tired
• On / Off knob
• Powered by USB
• Or powered by 3pcs AA batteries (Not included)
• Size: 85*85*70mm
• Weight: 110g

Lego teams up with Alcatel to release LEGOPHONE

Earlier this year Lego and Digital Blue announced combined efforts that would yield a variety of Lego-centric electronics aimed at kids. Slated to be released by this Summer, the announcement included details on a digital camera, a walkie talkie and an MP3 player - nothing too crazy. These functional toys would appear as though they had been built from lego bricks and would all fall into an affordable $20 - $60 price range. Cool. An anonymous tipster may have just shined some light on a yet-to-be-announced element of this partnership however, that might bump the endeavor’s interest-factor from a 1.1 to an even 2.

As you can see from the image above, Alcatel is apparently jumping into the mix and the trio is planning to make their best effort at putting cell phones in the hands of children at an even more inappropriately young age. Woo! From the looks of things, the Lego phone will consist of a base structure containing the body and display of the handset, while a series of modular attachments can be snapped on - likely just for color variation as opposed to changing the functionality of the handset to some extent. Little else is know at this point but we’ll be sure to update you as soon as possible so you don’t lose too much sleep over it. Hit the jump for a bigger shot showing off more modular pieces.

Mozilla releases Fennec Firefox Mobile

Ask, and ask, and ask….and ye shall receive. Mozilla has finally unleashed a functional “Milestone Release” version of its Fennec mobile Firefox browser. Available immediately for anyone with an HTC Touch Pro. The release version is limited in several ways, most notably without support for soft keyboards, automatic version updating, and plugins, but everything else should work more or less as promised.

This is exciting news for anyone that has been eagerly anticipating Mozilla’s official move into the mobile space, and hopefully marks the beginning of significant product development for something that will hopefully do to Pocket Internet Explorer/Opera Mini what the desktop version of Firefox has done to its Internet Explorer equivalent, i.e. render it obsolete. Anyone interested in taking the release for a test drive should hit the Read link for access to the CAB file, though we definitely recommend making a complete backup of your handset before proceeding too eagerly.

Anyways, read all the documentation here.

Nokia 5800 XPRESS MUSIC Nam revealed details

Nokia fans in the US are most definitely used to waiting. First it was the long wait for Nokia to begin offering its Symbian handsets more widely in the US which then lead to the wait for a wider variety of S60 devices packing 850/1900 MHz WCDMA compatibility. While each of those issues have been addressed to some extent, there’s still the ever-present wait for NAM counterparts of handsets that have been available elsewhere for months. Enter the 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia’s first touch-enabled S60 5th Edition handset. Released months ago in some regions, it looks like North American Nokians will finally be able to get their mitts on the 5800 XpressMusic circa February 26th, a Thursday.

This is apparently the date the handset will become available to US retailers however, so we wouldn’t expect units to actually be fulfilled for at least a few days thereafter. As for pricing, MSRP is set at $399 which has ballooned slightly from the ~$360 at which the handset was announced. All the same, Nokians looking to get their touch on will still be likely to jump on the 5800 especially considering a new round of rumors that suggest a delayed N97 release.

Facebook now part of OpenID board

Social networking giant Facebook has announced that they are now joining the OpenID board.

OpenID is already supported by several other industry giants including MySpace, Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, and IBM.

Mike Schroepfer, Facebook’s director of engineering spoke about this new development: “It is our hope that we can take the success of Facebook Connect and work together with the community to build easy-to-use, safe, open and secure distributed identity frameworks for use across the Web.”

Facebook Connect is designed to make it easier for users to supply their personal information to web services on the web securely.

Luke Shepard, a member of Facebook’s Platform and Connect teams would now become a new member of the eight-member OpenID board.

David Recordon of SixApart and Chris Messina of Vidoop spoke about Facebook’s decision to join them: “Given the popularity and positive user experience of Facebook Connect, we look forward to Facebook working within the community to improve OpenID’s usability and reach.”

Chris Messina, David Recordon, Facebook, facebook connect, Google, IBM, Luke Shepard, Microsoft, Mike Schroepfer, MySpace, OpenID, SixApart, Social Networking, Vidoop, Yahoo

Nokia E63

The Nokia E63 has a beautiful deep colored shell and is very good with emailing if you need to and it has so many great features on it, it’s just like bringing your Pc with you, so you never have to miss your office if you just simply can’t be there. The E63 focus is to maintain your professional business and your more private matters in life, by allowing you to participate in your social life and browse your more private emails and now you have access anywhere to do this.

The E63 also has really neat Wi Fi Connectivity to keep you in touch in public or private places, and mail for Exchange support will keep you updated technically and even chatting with your buddies at the office. There are speed dial types of features so you won’t have to fumble through numbers trying to call and for such a small device you get access to 1GB file Storage. Now this phone is really a great buy.

The call center industry is dominating the world of the business process outsourcing (BPO) in which the Philippines is considered as the home for largest contact centers in the world.

Beyond this booming industry is a promising future for Filipinos being in the Third World country. The gift of call center is a blessing for Filipino people because the country is being looked up as leader in the outsourcing. This is true, several surveys have been done before why the Philippines is considered as location for outsourcing. The surveys led by the private sectors revealed that the country significantly compete in off-shoring industry. It is a window of hope to young Filipino workers, who directly employed in this industry even they are undergraduate.

Beyond call center promotes huge revenue advantage. In the Philippines, it was reported by the country’s Chief Executive that the earnings in the outsourcing dramatically increase this year. In return, the national government continue to strengthen their partnership among contact center executives. Proving their support of being friendly to the investors are proof why these giant contact centers want to stay up and running in the Philippines.

Beyond call center promotes a realistic preparation in the future of the Philippines. It is now known in the business world that can never be ignored. The presence of call center lessen the unemployment rate of the country. Since there’s no problem in getting job in outsourcing, Filipino workers can easily grasp the lifestyle in call centers. Filipinos are competent and can talk with passion and accent with their American clients. Their trainings are wonderful and considered as extensive.

Beyond call center is a reflection of having a stable industry, which will continue in the next following years. The target of the government will soon achieve because many call center companies are now entering in the country’s business circle. Large and small contact centers enjoy the privilege given to them by the government. No need to worry about security because they are safe and being prioritized all the time. The country’s finest policemen continue to conduct surveillance in any of the financial districts in metro Manila. call center companies are considered as vital installation, since many of them occupying the skyscrapers, the government always monitor them in a case to case basis.

Beyond call center is a strong nation. If the government is considered as investment hub, no wonder that this is a country which practices standard politicking. The Philippines is among of them. Though political bickering is almost happening elsewhere. But when it comes to the public interest, the politicians from the local and national unite each other to promote peace and nationwide camaraderie. No call center companies will stay in the country if political noise is unresolved. With the present situation right now, it is with great respect and desire that contact center locators will remain operational in the Philippines.

Call center and beyond is now the pride of every Filipino. Working closely with the government will provide a better chain of command between the business partners, the lawmakers and the workers. The Philippines will continue to raise up the flag that call center is a dominant industry in the country today.

The designer flash drive is usually overlooked as a status symbol, but not anymore. Whip out a one of a kind state of the art wookden beauty at your next cocktail party, and prepare to bask in the envious OOOHs and AHHHs of your friends and acuaitances.

Made by quirky Netherlands design company Oooms, each USB memory stick is arafted from an actual branch, handpicked from sylvan forests,. That means no two pieces look quite a likfe - some have knots or squiggly marks left by worms.

The drices are avaiable in 512, 1GB, and 2GB sizes. Its a steal for a piece of art, coz price is kinda steep.

But the sight of a protruding twig on you notebook is priceless.

A bill requiring “anyone answering or initiating a call at a center used by a U.S. business to disclose location” is currently under consideration in the US Congress. In short, if this becomes law, we’ll probably see employees at local centers say “My name is Juan dela Cruz, and I’m from the Philippines” at beginning of each call.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jason Altmire, a democrat from Pennsylvania, also wants it to apply to call centers based in the US. “It may make a difference for people in deciding who they will do business with” he said.

My source from the local call center industry (actually, a friend who used to work for eTelecare) said that she was not allowed to reveal her location unless asked directly by the customer.

So, if the Call Center Consumer’s Right to Know Act becomes law, how will it affect the growing call center industry in the Philippines? Personally, I think more “customer service associates” in the here will find out just what jingoism is, even if they’re part of the outsourcing process that lets Americans enjoy lower prices.

Would using wording like “Hi, I’m Juan dela Cruz, from the beautiful country of the Philippines!” work? Probably not.

How well do you look after your customers? Most companies probably think they do a good job, but the addition of technology into large, national call centers has caused many organizations to focus on technology solutions as opposed to people solutions.

• 1. If your call center uses a feature where a customer can leave a number where they can be reached by the next available customer service representative, turn it off and hire more customer service representatives.
• 2. A call center manager must rely on technology to track important statistics like the amount of time a customer waits on hold. Any time greater than one minute should be considered to be inadequate. By monitoring these statistics, priority can be given to improving staffing levels.
  
  
  
• 3. If your first point of contact with your customer is having a recorded message telling them how important their call is, you may want to look at changing the message. If their call was important, it would be immediately answered by a real person - not a computer.
• 4. If your marketing team suggests that a marketing campaign should be created around a “focus” or “commitment” to customer service, laugh at them and tell them they should take the marketing money allocated for that campaign and spend it on actually improving customer service.
• 5. Here’s a great idea. If your company sends invoices or bills to your customers, reduce the amount of calls to the call center by simplifying the bills. Bills that are too confusing are a leading cause of calls into a busy call center.
• 6. Make your executives and managers spend a day in the seat of a customer service representative. Give them a good idea of the challenges that are faced by your front-line workers.