Mobile Phone Upgrade

Well, my HD2 has been with me for nearly 2 years. While that's sounds like the normal life cycle of a mobile phone these days, it's been like dog years for my HD2.

From cracking the screen, to being flung in a drain to being dropped on gravel roads, my HD2 has been through a lot. However, its performed beyond expectations with me having loaded about 15 different WinMo 6.5 ROM's onto it. Then came Froyo, which was nice change. Finally, Windows Phone 7 to which it ran a lot smoother than Froyo.

Alas, it is now overheating for no reason, unlocking itself and uploading pictures of my armpit to Facebook and not responding at times. While I am sure a software refresh would fix it, its best to look at the available upgrade paths.

First up, we have the currently available HTC HD7 running Windows Phone 7. I loved my WP7 experience on my HD2 eventhough it was limited due to the hardware. Since I already have a Galaxy Tab running Android, it would be nice to have a phone running something else, just to add some flavour to life. A summarised run down of the specs below show that this is quite a beast of a phone :

1. Released October 2010
2. 122mm x 68mm x 11.2mm
3. 162g
4. LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
5. 480 x 800, 4.3 inches
6. 16GB with 512ROM and 576 RAM (No expandable memory)
7. HSDPA 7.2Mbps, HSUPA 2Mbps, and WiFi (b/g/n)
8. 5MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, AF and dual-LED Flash
9. 720p recording
10. No secondary camera
11. 1Ghz Scorpion processor, Andreno 200 GPU
12. 1230 mAh battery

The rest of the specs are what you usually find on a higher end mobile phone these days. Full review can be found here.

At one point, this was a no brainer. However, Samsung had to come along and spoil the fun. The Samsung Galaxy S II was announced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and will be available soon. Specs below:

1. To be released Q1 2011
2. 125.3mm x 66.1mm x 8.5mm
3. 116g
4. Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
5. 480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches
6. 16GB/32GB Storage with 1GB of RAM (MicroSD expandable memory)
7. HSDPA 21Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps, and WiFi (b/g/n), DLNA and Bluetooth 3.0
8. 8MP, 3264 x 2488 pixels, AF and LED Flash
9. 1080p recording
10. Secondary 2MP camera
11. Dual-core 1Ghz ARM, Mali - 400MP GPU
12. 1650 mAh battery

The HD7 loses on every single count. On the software end, the HD7 is running the latest and greatest Windows Phone 7. The Galaxy S II will be running Gingerbread.

The HD7 is currently going for RM 1,388 with a 24 month, 3GB data plan with Maxis.

Sigh...

Toll Traffic...

Now that I work in Glenmarie, I have to use the toll twice a day and there is something that baffles me. The queue at the cash lane.

I don't get it. Fine, if you want to argue that the SmartTag cost about 100 bucks to get, I understand. But as far as I know, the Touch N Go card is virtually free. Why don't more people just get that?

I save AT LEAST 20 minutes of travelling time by not paying cash and using a SmartTag.

Surely the queue can't be caused purely by people wanting receipts or not having enough on their Touch N Go?

Why am I proud to be a Malaysian?

I actually got this title from someone who wrote in to Malaysiakini and thought it to be a very apt title in light of the recent 52nd independence day and other happenings in the country.

I think every Malaysian should ask themselves this at one point or another.

Personally, the main reason I am proud to be a Malaysian is the cliche saying of muhibbah. The love of my life is Indian. My best buddy is a Malay. My drinking kaki's are Chinese. We all get along just fine.

However, recently there have been events that have rattled my faith in the country. From power grabbing politicians, to corrupt officials to misinformed groups of a community. The main gripe I have with all these things is that it happened/happens so openly, and unless you're from a certain political party or religion...it just goes unnoticed or a big hoo haa is done and then its buried in page 24 of the papers.

I know I just posted about the severed cow head protest but even more unbelieveable than what they did is the fact that our HOME MINISTER is defending them. He said that "“they just wanted their voices to be heard”, "“However it was unfortunate that the protest was given negative publicity because it was linked to religious and racial sentiments,” he said.

With all due respect, how idiotic can one get? What would have happened if the roles were reversed ? A group of Indians marched with a pig's head ? I got ten bucks saying they wouldnt have gotten more than 100 feet without being arrested immediately.

Not only are they "having discussions" on this matter, a Minister is defending their actions.

I urge anyone who reads this to sign these petitions : Petition 1 and Petition 2

A fair and progressive country ? Far from it....