Teaching cars how to look happy depending on the chemical balance of your sweaty palms may have topped the wishlist of every geek just a few months ago, but then, along came the recession. Now, it’s all about being faster, leaner and more collaborative—all that on a dime and without losing your rights to privacy and access. Here are the trends you need to follow if you want to keep your edge in a world where things become obsolete as soon as they hit the shelves.
BYE, BYE COMPUTER
Let’s start with the basics. You soon won’t have an office. So you can forget about that desktop, hell, you won’t even have a laptop. And you won’t store anything on a hard drive. Cheaper online storage and better web connections are driving a revolution where your computer is becoming a cheap screen and keyboard connected to the web. The best part of online storage is it makes it easier to share and collaborate with others. This process of working online, through your web browser (as opposed to Office, for example) and storing that work online is called Cloud Computing. The side effect of Cloud Computing is netbooks—little laptops with small hard drives and little processing power that are perfect for working online. (See Top Netbooks.) Here are some cool Cloud Computing websites to get you started:
Google Documents
http://docs.google.com
What: Google provides online clones of Powerpoint, Word, Excel and Acrobat Reader that don’t exactly rival MS (or Open) Office but do allow for easy online sharing.
How: Start a new document in Google Docs or import a file from an MS Word or Excel file. It’s really flexible. Once you’re done, export or share it online.
Perks: Unlimited storage but there is a limit on how the size of each file you can upload—up to 500k for word docs, 1MB for spreadsheets, 10MB for presentations and 10MB for PDF files. You can also use Google Docs to export files into PDF formats.
Supported Files: OpenOffice (.odt, .ods) and Microsoft Office (.doc, .xls, .ppt, .pps).
Price: Free
MobileMe
www.apple.com/mobileme
What: MobileMe is a program that helps Mac users synchronize their contacts, emails, files and pictures between their laptop, iPhone and iPod Touch.
How: Once you sign up you will get an account on me.com, where all your information is stored. It will automatically copy everything that is on your Outlook or contact list and then send this to your other device almost instantly. Just took a photo with your iPhone? It will get uploaded to your MobileMe server at the same time as it’s being sent to the photo album on your Macbook. It’s almost like magic!
Perks: As most of the world is still running on Windows, MobileMe also allows you to synchronize your data with PCs. MobileMe initially gives you 20GB for one year—a touch small for pictures!
Supported Devices: Computers and laptops running Mac OS 10.4 or later and Windows XP or Vista, iPhone and iPod Touch.
Price: B3,140 at iStudio, 2/F Zone F, CentralWorld, Ratcharamri Rd., 02-613-1540/1. www.istudio.in.th.
SugarSync
www.sugarsync.com
What: MobileMe for non-iPhone users.
How: See MobileMe. The only difference: it synchronizes your files (documents, photos, music, etc), as well as your emails or contacts.
Perks: Since your phone browses for files through the internet, any phone with an internet browser and wifi or EDGE can use SugarSync.
Supported Devices: PCs running Windows XP and Vista and Macs running OS 10.4
or later. For mobiles, it works with BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and iPhone.
Price: You can download the starter pack for US$24.99 (B904) a year, which gets you 10GB of storage.
Live Mesh
www.mesh.com
What: Microsoft’s very own cloud synching program to make your Windows computer talk to your Windows Mobile phone. Live Mesh’s forte is collaboration; its Mesh Bar shows who on your team is currently logged on, viewing, or editing files.
How: You sign up for an account, log onto your Live Mesh and start your synching. If you share your Live Mesh with your work group, you can also see a list of colleagues who are currently viewing the file on the Mesh Bar.
Perks: The “Live Desktop” is an online desktop where your files and folders are stored. Changes will then be synched with your other devices working with Live Mesh.
Suported Devices: Windows XP or Vista and mobile phones running Windows Mobile 6 or later.
Price: It’s free to sign up for the Windows Live account, which gets you 5GB of storage.
NEED FOR SPEED
While netbooks are one way to ditch the traditional desktop/laptop, you’re also going to be getting a lot more done on your phone. You need the right phone, of course (see iPhone Killers), but you also need a decent connection. 3G is the next big thing in data transmission, with speeds from 2MB per second, up to 14MB per second. That’s better than a lot of home connections! Cambodia and Vietnam may already have 3G, but according to the TOT, Thailand won’t get it until the end of 2009. Meanwhile, you’re stuck using Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE). It’s not 3G but it’s already up to three times faster than GPRS, the previous standard. So, who’s got the edge on edge?
AIS
1175, www.ais.co.th
Regardless whether you’re a privileged Serenade Club member or a lowly pre-pay customer, the charge for unlimited EDGE is B39 a day or B999 a month. The AIS service is by far the most economical in town. The speed is at 384kbps if you’re in the city but it shouldn’t ever drop below 114kbps. Also if you’re not a heavy user, AIS also offers packages from three to 250 hours, or you can go with their rate of B1 a minute for a quick flick through Facebook.
DTAC
1678, www.dtac.co.th
DTAC might be big on phone packages, but they can’t offer the best deals for online addicts. For unlimited usage at 384kbps, the same speed as AIS, DTAC users have to dish out B1,070 a month. A cheaper option might be the smaller packages as the charges are just B32 for three, B53 for six and B105 for 40 hours.
True Move
1331, www.truemove.co.th.
At first glance, True’s new Mobile Hi-Speed package looks like a winner—B20 a day; B450 a month for unlimited wifi and EDGE. Sound too good to be true? Well it is. True’s wifi, rate of 256kbps, is slower than its competitors’ and its EDGE is a measly 160kbps.
PRIVACY AND ACCESS
Sure, the new rules mean you need to work hard and fast, but you also need to make sure you’re not getting screwed. The MICT (Ministry of Information and Communication Technology) has been putting a lot more effort into curtailing your access to websites than in promoting consumer rights (see Q&A FACT, page 10). Here’s how to watch your back.
AIS
Call Center: 1175
AIS can help you fight off the spaSMS (a contraction of spam and SMS) only if you know the sender’s number. However, there are cases where the sender’s name shows instead of a number (such as ones from banks, events, etc). In that case you would have to call the culprits yourself. Once you know the number, you can call the AIS call center and have them block it. AIS also has a call screening service where you can automatically ignore calls from up to 10 specific phone numbers. That service will cost you B30 a month, though.
DTAC
Call Center: 1678
Although they don’t have a policy on blocking numbers, you can contact them and report spaSMSers. Write down the sender’s name and/or number and the message details and give the info to DTAC. They can then investigate if it’s a service you have registered for or if it’s a spamathon. If it’s the latter, they can act on the case. DTAC does has an excellent tool to fight another kind of cellular annoyance—private numbers. Their B10 “No Number No Talk” service can automatically ignore those anonymous calls.
True
Call Center: 1331
Yeah, True has everything—internet, music, cable TV and a cellular network—but they’re pretty far behind the others in terms of dealing with the nasty byproducts of advanced technology. Your only solution is to be a spammer yourself and repeadetly ring
their call center and hope that they will finally get the message.
Changing Phone Networks without Changing Phone Numbers
Bad news: phone number portability is not possible as of now. The National Telecommunications Commission
(02-271-0151/-60, www.ntc.or.th) had planned to put the policy into effect by 2008 but, as with almost all other
telecommunication plans, the policy has now been delayed until late 2009. Good news: there is one exception,
True Move’s new hard-binding-yet-mouth-watering iPhones contract allows you to keep your DTAC or AIS number.
Consumer Rights
The Telecommunications Consumer Protection Institute (TCI) was established in mid-2008 to act as a middleman between us and the tech companies. This is your go-to guy for complaints about your phone or web connection. So if your high speed internet is running at the pace of a 1998 dial-up, or you feel your monthly EDGE spending is a little too steep for its quality, the TCI is who you need to call. Their website also maintains a comprehensive list of the current Thai technology laws such as electronic transaction regulations as well as the infamous Cyber Crime Bill that helped send bloggers to prison for lèse majesté. Another section of the website that could be great is the mobile promotion comparison chart. It should list the latest offers from all the operators but currently just has those from AIS. This is still obviously a work in progress (we hope) as demonstrated by the “Statistic” page, which should list info about actual downtimes, and speeds for the different networks but currently just reads “Coming Soon.” Still, if you’d like to give it a try anyway, you can submit your complaint online at www.tci.or.th or call the hotline at 1200.
ROUNDUP Top Netbooks
Out with the laptops, in with their smaller, lighter brethren which harness the power of the web.
Sony Vaio Life Style PC
The Good: Sleek design, a compact rectangular size and a shiny Vaio logo that always looks good on a table. The specification is superb—actually it’s a Window Vista laptop in a very compact size.
The Bad: See prices.
The Price: B29,990-39,990 at Sony Style, 2/F, Siam Paragon, 02-610-9665.
HP Mini 100
The Good: It has a tough-looking design, comes with a hand-friendly keyboard and a genuine Windows XP.
The Bad: The mousepad is a little inconvenient, has a short-life battery and is pretty expensive for the spec.
The Price: B13,900 at Speed, 2/F Pantip, Petchburi Rd., 02-254-9797.
Asus Eee PC
The Good: You can choose from a 7”, 9” or 10” screen. It’s fast to start up and compatible with both Linux and Windows.
The Bad: Unstylish design, low-res screen and limited storage hard drive.
The Price: B9,000-12,900 at Asus retail outlets. Try SoftWorld, 4/F, CentralWorld, Ratchadamri Rd., 02-613-1671.
Dell Inspiron Mini 9
The Good: Small size with internal card reader. Easy to upgrade by yourself.
The Bad: The keyboard is too small to cope with two hand typing and it’s too pricey for a netbook.
The Price: 12,829-17,990 at JBizCom,
02-964-9880, www.jbozcom.com.
Rekindled reading: Kindle 2
Here’s another device that takes a function of computers—and books—and exports it to a smaller, more portable, wired device. It’s not a netbook, though. The Kindle is a reader. All it does is grab books and documents off the web and allows you to read them on its big, clear screen. The second version of this popular design, although still not available in Thailand, is already getting a lot of attention. The Kindle 2 has 2GB of internal memory, that’s 1,500 electronic books—should be enough for that weekend in Koh Chang. It works directly with wifi so no PC is needed, and can download books, newspapers and magazines from a library offering tens of hundreds of titles. This stuff isn’t cheap, though: US$1.99 (B72) for downloading newspaper or magazine and the device itself is US$359 (B12,982). For loaded, geeky readers who haven’t heard of paper.
iPHONE Go Legal Or Make The Break?
When it comes to the iPhone you have two choices: you take True up on their shiny new 3G package deal or you get involved with some nefarious goings on involving jailbreaks and downloads.
What’s the difference between the new True iPhone 3G pack and getting my own subscription?
If you’re asking, and don’t already have an iPhone, the answer is probably to go for True (1331, www.truemove.co.th). IPhone hackers extraordinaire will probably tell you of their faster DTAC EDGE connection, of the joys of jailbreaking an iPhone (and then having it crash on you, taking it back to MBK, etc.) and of things you can’t even begin to understand. But if you don’t want the hassles, True gets the job done.
No, I really want to get my iPhone at MBK. Then what?
1. Unlock It
MBK vendors will unlock the phone for you. If a friend brought your iPhone back from the US, you are going to need to unlock it. You can drop by at almost any MBK stall selling iPhones and get it done for around B1,000. Or do it yourself by checking out our online guide at www.bkmagazine.com/feature/how-unlock-iphone.
2. Jailbreak It
Jailbreaking means making it possible for your iPhone to install third party (non-Apple) software. Check out Lifehacker’s guide at http://tinyurl.com/227ewm. Keep in mind that there are different jailbreaking methods depending on your firmware’s version (see point 4).
3. Upgrade It
Like any other technological device, your iPhone needs an upgrade to keep up with the new features and functions. However, if you have an unlocked iPhone and you update the system, your iPhone will shut down and instantly turn into an iPod Touch. It is possible to upgrade AND have an unlocked iPhone, though—you just need to re-lock it before upgrading.
4. Re-lock It
Go into your computer’s iTunes. Plug in your iPhone, click “Restore” in iTunes and follow the instructions. Keep in mind that the process will erase all your settings and data such as SMS messages. Once you have restored it, you can now upgrade the firmware using iTunes.
5. Download It
Now that you’ve broken every law possible, it’s time to put your iPhone to good use. If you’re a Windows user, you need to use iBrickr (http://cre.ations.net/creation/ibrickr), and for Macs, the AppTapp Installer (http://iphone.nullriver.com/beta/). These programs will install an application on your iPhone, that gives you access to great third-party programs. For a guide on how to do all this, check out http://tinyurl.com/2a482k.
ROUNDUP iPhone Killers
Blackberry dominates the business segement thanks to its superior email handling and its fast keyboard; iPhones reign supreme for entertainment and sheer cool factor. But things are changing: the iPhone 3G’s push-mail now works with Microsoft Exchange and Blackberry has gone touch-screen on us. Here’s a list of all the players moving in for a piece of the cake.
GOOGLE ANDROID G1 (and G2)
Excellent with Google apps (gmail, google docs, google maps), it also sports a very businesslike trackball and keyboard. Unfortunately, its inability to function with Microsoft Exchange (like your office email) is a bit of a deal-breaker for the suits. Despite a 3.2MP camera, it also can’t rival the iPhone’s big screen and large memory for music, watching videos and playing games. The G2 might be coming out in Thailand as early as April and fixing the G1’s shortcomings. Meanwhile, the G1 is avaialble for B19,000 at www.mobiledd.net.
PALM PRE
The Palm Pre (www.palm.com/pre) is a sleek touchscreen with multi-touch, accelerometer, and a menu dock. Sound familiar? So familiar that Apple has launched an intellectual property lawsuit. There is little chance of this baby arriving in Bangkok but, just to get you drooling, it packs 3G, Wifi, a 3-megapixel camera, microSD support and 8MB of memory. The Pre also sports a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The operating system is based on Cloud Computing (see page 6) so it doesn’t hog valuable phone memory. The retail price is rumored to be around US$399 (B14,000).
SAMSUNG OMNIA
This Samsung signature touchscreen phone might boast Windows Mobile 6.1 (good for PushMail in Outlook), as well as a respectable 3.5” screen, but it definitely feels trickier to use than an iPhone, due to the tiny-sized fingertouch icons—hence the included stylus. With built-in 8GB memory that can be topped up to 16GB with an SD card, and a 7.2 million pixel camera, the specs are respectable, but what’s up with the monster B24,990 price tag?
BLACKBERRY STORM
Blackberry is famous for its small-but-easy to use keyboard, there are obvious question marks over its first touch screen phone. You still get a whole package of Blackberry features that support your business functions from Office Outlook to web-based interfaces in a sleek shiny black bar. It’s also packed with GPS and a real media player—yes, BB is taking on Appple. Don’t hold your breath as there’s no confirmation from AIS when this is scheduled to land in Thailand. It should retail in the US for around US$499 (B18,077).
NOKIA 5800
XPRESS MUSIC
The 5800 Xpress Music is like an iPod Touch that also makes phone calls. Nokia addicts, this is your iPhone-subsitute of choice. The model is pretty thick, but entertainment veterans are well provided for with 3.2” screen, FM radio, 3.2 million pixel camera, built-in stereo speakers, video and music player and recorder all accessed through screen shortcuts. The built-in 8GB storage that can top up to 16GB with SD Card makes this is a worthy iPhone rival. The plus: you can download songs from Sony, Grammy and RS for free for six months after your registration! B13,520 at Nokia Stores.
