The Four-eyed Journal » K800i

Problems with Sony Ericsson Update Service software + Vista

jhay — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:17:22 +0000

For now I’m giving up on fixing the corrupted Java games on my Sony Ericsson K800i phone because of time constraints (I have a lot of more important things to do for today). It’s all because Sony Ericsson’s Update Service Software is having problems running on my Vista laptop. Trying this step first because I don’t want to do a master reset on my phone.

Tried this workaround from Esato forums by running the Update Service as an administrator.

Right Click on the Sony Ercisson Update Service shortcut on the desktop and under Compatibility tab, goto Show settings for all users, and tick “run this program as an administrator” under privilege level.

This finally got the Update Service software running and downloading the latest updated firmware for my K800i. I thought it would take only less than half an hour just like on my PC running XP, but not this time. I was already done preparing my school uniform and all the things I’ll be bringing with me to school but lo and behold, the darn Update Service software is still taking time out after I chose English as my preferred language.

My hunch is that it really does take that too long a time and I’ll try again when I have more over this weekend. The same issue first appeared when I installed the PC Suite for the K800i on my laptop which took almost 45 minutes! Again things went a lot faster on my PC running on XP.

Another crappy thing about Vista I guess, or the Sony Ericsson guys need to improve their support softwares.

Be back with updates and how I fixed my main problem of corrupted Java games on my phone this weekend. That is if I could fix it without the need to do a master reset. Oh dear God!

Invisible Shield now protects my K800i

jhay — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:40:13 +0000

The day before I succumbed to the flu, a package arrived for me and it was something I almost forgot about. It was the Invisible Shield protective film I ordered for my Sony Ericsson k800i last December 9, 2007!

First heard about it from Jaypee, was impressed when I checked out their site and decided to try it on, if they had one for the SE K800i. They did of course and so with some extra funds in my PayPal account, it was just $9.95 after all, I ordered for one and had to wait for more than a month for the Invisible Shield to shipped all the way from Salt Lake City, Utah were ZAGG was based.

Geekiness has taken over ever since I got the package as I stopped everything that I was doing just so I could install the Invisible Shield on my phone and see for my self what was all the buzz about.

What’s the Invisible Shield?

The box, dvd-casing-like packaging for the Invisible Shield hinted at how serious the product was in its claim to be the “the ultimate gadget protection” money can buy. Well, according to their website;

The invisibleSHIELD is the toughest, most durable gadget scratch protection film available on planet Earth. The film has its origins in the U.S. military, where it was used to protect the leading edges of helicopter blades from wear and tear while traveling hundreds of miles per hour. Our proprietary film is a clear, urethane plastic (invisible, invincible) with unique properties that allow it to provide self-healing qualities and unparalleled abrasion resistance.

The film itself was just an ordinary-looking film that was wrapped in plastic and stuck to its paper backing. In the kit were two tools to help in the installation of the Invisible Shield; a bottle of SHIELDspray and a Install Squeegee.

The SHIELDspray was some water-based liquid which would be used to facilitate the application of the Invisible Shield. Sort of like an adhesive that would help the film to stick to the LCD screen and eliminate imperfections like micro bubbles and wrinkles. To further smoothen the application of the film, the Install Squeegee was there to smoothen things out, make sure the film sticks and snugly fits the screen of your device. It also squeezes out the excess liquid from the SHIELDspray which must be quickly dried-off with some lint-free cloth. You don’t want your device to be ruined by liquids spilling in the insides and damaging the circuitry would you? Besides, it would defeat the purpose of the Invisible Shield if this were to become true.

Installation for me was quite easy, it was just like returning that original protective plastic film that covered the K800i’s screen when it was totally brand new. The instructions printed in the box was simple and easy enough to follow and in less than half an hour, my phone was now protected by the Invisible Shield.

The final look and feel?

At first it was a bit of a let down, as the brightness of my K800i’s screen was diminished by some 10%, plus some pockets of air and debris was still present at the top most portion of the film but the box reminds me that this will work themselves out in 24 hours. It has been more than 48 hours after I’ve installed the Invisible Shield and though I haven’t really tried to scratch it just to see if it would really work, I feel much safer now that I could put the phone in my pocket without worries that the screen would be scratched by a coin or something else. The phone may have lost some of its shine and glare but it’s a bit a trade-off for the protection it now has.

Over-all, I’m satisfied with the Invisible Shield. It does provide some serious level of protection for the screen but since it diminished my screen’s brightness and the phone’s over-all look and glare, I cannot agree wholeheartedly that it is truly an ‘invisible’ shield.

Below, is a slideshow of the photos I took when I installed the Invisible Shield on my phone.

Anyone else who ordered the Invisible Shield? How is it doing so far?

Expanding the memory of my SE K800i

jhay — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 12:41:17 +0000

Yesterday, I finally had enough money to do my K800i a favor by buying a 2GB Memory Stick Micro M2. Yes, that’s a whopping 2GB of storage space all packed within that tiny black chip which is almost the size of my thumb’s fingernail.

Aside from the awesome storage capacity, another mind-blowing attribute of this tiny storage media is its price tag. Most dealers I visited are selling the 2GB M2 at almost Php4,000!!

Even my friends and a fellow professor who also use Sony Ericsson phones where kept at bay and frustrated by the price tag. It finally made me realize that there’s really something unique to owning a Sony Ericsson phone, aside from the good quality of its Cyber-shot and Walkman phones, the price tags on its accessories do set SE users in a different class. A class that must really dig deep into their pockets if we want to ‘pimp’ our phones or extend and enhance its already cool features.(Curse Sony’s adherence to proprietary technologies and gadgets )

So after months of saving up on my earnings, I finally braved to scour the malls for a good bargain on the M2. My obsessive-compulsiveness didn’t help me much as I was hell-bent on getting the 2GB version of the M2 so that “it would be the last M2 I’d ever buy.”

3 Phone shops in SM City Dasmariñas offered the M2 on the same price range, which was the near dreaded Php4-k level. I was nearly heart-broken and was about to resign my self to getting the 1GB M2 which was offered at Php1,900 at CD-R King. Luckily, I had a last-minute change of mind and sudden renewal of hope. I went out again in search of store that had the 2GB M2 on price I could afford.

It seems the fates were on my side as I found my way into City Telecom and there it was, a 2GB M2 on sale!! From it’s original price of Php3,000 it was brought down to Php2,100 which was well within my budget. I wasted no more time as I told the saleslady that I was going to buy that M2.

I left that store with a big smile on my face and a 2GB M2 in my pocket. I couldn’t wait to get home, plug it in my K800i and put all the photos, music, games and apps I’ve been saving up ever since I decided to upgrade my phone’s memory.

At the moment I have over 500MB worth of compressed music, 10MB worth of games and apps and almost 5MB of photos. Speaking of which, it is the desire to increase the number of photos I could take and store in my phone before it needs to be transferred or the bad ones deleted in order to make space for more photos that I was determined to get the 2GB M2. Just point-and-shoot the K800i now, delete the not-so-good shots later.

What’s the use of a 3.2 megapixel Cyber-shot phone if the number of photos one could take is quite limited right? Now that my phone’s memory has been greatly expanded, storage space or the lack thereof would no longer be an inhibition to my budding interest in digital-photography. (even though I only have 3.2 megapixel camera-phone to take photos with)

Aside from more photos, more music, more apps and games I could fit in my K800i, I’m beginning to like the idea of using the phone as my primary portable storage device, instead of my aging Creative MuVo thumb drive/mp3 player.

Oh my, I see techie experiments brewing in the horizon. I just hope my phone would not end up broken or screwed up.

Top 5 reasons I switched to Sony Ericsson

jhay — Wed, 09 May 2007 15:14:48 +0000

A few days ago, I wrote about where the heck I’ve been and that I’m back with a new blogging tool, a sweet and savvy Sony Ericsson K800i mobile phone.

In this post, I’ll share the Top 5 reasons I spent my money to switch from a Nokia mobile phone to one that is made by Sony Ericsson. In turn, this post is also my entry to the latest group writing project by ProBlogger Darren Rowse themed, what else, ‘Top 5′

In this group writing project, any blogger can join in by following the directions given by Darren and of course writing about anything that revolves around the theme of ‘Top 5′ whether be it the top 5 reasons why you blog, top 5 movies you’ve ever seen, top 5 reasons you’d go help in protecting the environment, top 5 plugins a blogger uses, top 5 gadgets you own, anything.

This group writing project has always been a fun and rewarding exercise because it helps bloggers get to know more bloggers, learn from them and get some awesome link love from most of them. This time around, the reward is even sweeter because a prize of $1001 USD courtesy of Chitika awaits the one lucky blogger who joins this group writing project.

It’s just awesome, and so with out further delays, here’s my Top 5 reasons why I switched to Sony Ericsson phone instead of just getting another Nokia mobile phone.

I’m tired of Nokia phones – it’s not that I hate Nokia, they make really good phones but I’ve been using a Nokia phone since ever. My first phone was Nokia 3210 which I loved very much because of its usability and durability. It was followed by a Nokia 3530 which I also enjoyed very much because of the colored screen, solid usability and sturdy construction. Also, here in the Philippines, almost 8 out of every 10 who owns a mobile phone got theirs from Nokia. So to once again break from the norm and be the few and unique, I decided to get a phone by Sony Ericsson. Not just any ordinary Sony Ericsson phone, it’s a K800i. Sweet!

It’s keeps me connected – Bluetooth, Infrared and 3G are the standards of today’s mobile phone connectivity. All 3 of these wonderful technologies are built-in to almost every Sony Ericsson phone from the entry-level models like the K510i up to the higher end models like the W880i. This is unlike with Nokia phones wherein you have to get the more expensive higher end models to have both Bluetooth and Infra-red ports on the same phone. I keep on hearing my friends and schoolmates complaining about their Nokia phone having only either a Bluetooth capability or the IR port as connectivity options. Not like me though, the K800i comes with both technologies that keeps me connected in more ways than one.

It’s a portable hard drive – yes, the K800i can also serve as my own portable USB mass storage device that I could connect to any computer for file storage and transfer. I just plug it in and select the ‘File Transfer’ mode and the computer sees the phone as another removable storage drives. The neatest thing about this is, it doesn’t require specific software to be installed for it to be detected by the computer you’re using. All I need is the USB cable, the phone and and USB port. Talk about plug ‘n play right?

It charges up super fast – One of the best features I love about the K800i is that it takes less than an hour to fully charge its battery. This is so much better than waiting for more than an hour or more for a Nokia phone to be fully charged. Fast charging, it minimizes my phone’s downtime and giving me more productive time instead.

It’s a Cyber-shot! - 3.2 megapixels may be a far cry from today’s dedicated digi-cam devices but compared to other phones of its class, the K800i’s camera is among the best in its class.

There you go, my top 5 reasons I switched to Sony Ericsson phone. I could give more reasons but I think this should be enough for now. For more Top 5 posts, I suggest you stop by at Problogger because the first batch of posts are already up and it’s quite a goldmine of good content.

Something to consider

Nokia and samsung mobile phones have launched special cell phones for sportsmen. These phones can be customized with football and cricket ringtones and wallpapers. In addition there are some advanced features like camera, cell phone gps and maps to facilitate sportsmen. Cell phones with built-in camera allow beginners to take photos with luxury to attach a canon photo printer with their phone for direct printing. However, professional photographers still prefer to buy digital camera .

Capo at Stonehouse Star Tavern

jhay — Sun, 06 May 2007 00:33:11 +0000

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was going to test how far my health has recovered by going to see the band of my best friend in their first-ever mini-concert. It was worth risking having a relapse of flu all over again because Bogs, my best friend and lead vocals of Capo, has been my best friends since we were little kids. We go way way back. High school days was the golden age of our friendship and it is what has kept the bonds between us today.

Being a successful musician or music artist has always been a dream for Bogs, we knew it was going to be his destiny, and nowadays it’s becoming a reality. From the channels of YouTube to guestings at Pinoy Big Brother, Breakfast and Y Speak, to the stages of the various clubs and bars in the Metro, Bogs and Capo has been making it good in the local music scene.

Last Friday was another great step forward in their journeys to musical greatness, it may not be the biggest event in Manila, but it sure was a great event for all of them and to their growing crowd of followers and fans.

The event was dubbed “Moon songs: a night of enchanting and soulful music” and organized by double 10 events. Enchanting and soulful indeed it was. The venue and the ambiance was near-perfect. It was set on the rooftop of Stonehouse and everyone was being serenaded by the music of each of the talents that joined Capo, the clear night sky gave way for the moon to shine in all its glory.

I arrived there at Stonehouse which was located at E. Rodriguez Avenue in Quezon City with my good friends Sheena and Cherrisse after chasing after taxi after taxi back in Lawton area. The event was supposed to start at 8pm but during that time we were stuck without a ride at SM Manila. I really need to save up on getting my own car, but that’s in like 10 years from now. Going back, we arrived there an hour late but just right in nick of time, because the show was just about to actually start.

Being on the guest list of one of the performers, we were treated to a front row spot, not tables though, but a cosy, feel-at-home floor mats accented with candle-lit paper bags. We settled down and set our gaze and ears on the stage as each artist performed with their hearts, talents and soul. It was a night of great music from great artists that are just waiting for their big break in the local music scene. After hearing them perform live, I know that they will have that big break and it could be sooner than anyone present that wonderful night expects.

Aside from treating my self to a great time and good original Pinoy music, it was an opportunity to field test my not so good photography skills and the limits of my Sony Ericsson K800i. It’s 3.2 megapixel camera, auto-focus, nightshot and image stabalizer features were really pushed to their limits as I took snap shots of each performance. A few of them I share below.

The remains of the fries we had and the ticket. The smoke is not mine for I do not smoke. Seriously.

Here’s Camille on the keyboards, her voice was sweet and she sang a wonderful rendition of ‘Runaway’ by the Corrs.

Here’s The Modes in action. These band can perform, and perform good they can.

It’s Fatima and she really drew in the crowd with her voice.

A surprise for the night was a guest performance by Goeff from Pinoy Dream Academy. (I forgot his last name though, wasn’t much of PDA fan, or any talent search on TV)

And of course, it’s Capo with by best friend Bogs leading the act.

Here is Capo’s bassist Momar, percussionist Yum, and lead guitarist Lee making good music.

Bogs joins Girl Valencia in a duet. She can sing, her voice is just so beautiful and powerful, reminds me a lot of Bayang Barrios actually, and she has her album out.

Here’s the show’s host Sam proving to the crowd and silencing her critics that she can sing, and she does that wonderfully.

Finally, here’s my friends, Sheena, Cherrisse and Roger.

Of course a shot of all of us, including me in the background. I know, but to be honest I’m not one for the cameras, I prefer to be behind them. LOL

Here’s a video of Capo’s medley shot with the K800i which explains its video quality, still it’s quite good.

The rest of the photos could be seen in my Picasaweb Album because my limited Flickr is now asking me to pay for more features while Zooomr is giving me a headache to get it going my way. Anothere video can also be seen in my YouTube channel. (Finally I get to say that. lol)

Moon songs were a great success and a wonderful achievement for Capo, their fellow artists and the producers. Congratulations to all of you, thank you for that wonderful night and I look forward to attending another one real soon.

This concludes the filler-arc of posts while I try to reorganize my self and go back to my normal workflow. Regular geeky, tech-related posts would resume tomorrow. See you all then and have a great weekend!