Month: October 2010
I Love the Nokia Booklet 3G
This has been a long overdue post. Anyway, back in June 2010, I looked into the WOMWorld/Nokia website and sent a request to trial a Nokia Booklet 3G. I was excited on seeing and getting my hands on this product since I am a Nokia fan. I’ve owned several Nokia phones before and have been impressed by them, so I was curious to find out if this product (which is something new for them as they only normally make phones) would be a good one as well.
The Nokia Booklet 3G is about the size of a netbook, however Nokia doesn’t refer to it as such. They refer to it as a mini laptop.
When I first unboxed the product, I was impressed with how it looked. I fell in love with it at first sight. It had a sleek shiny black top exterior. Then when I opened it, I liked the 10.1-inch HD glass display, and the matte aluminum chassis which measured at only 2cm thin. It was also very lightweight as expected (2.7lbs).
-More after the jump-
This product has Windows 7 running on an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor with 1GB DDR2 memory and a 120GB hard drive. The expected battery life is about 12 hours. When I tested it, I think I had it running for about 10 hours and I only had a couple browser windows open. I would say that’s really pretty good. I could have tried playing a movie on it to see if it would make a big difference on the battery life, but I was too busy to test it out like that.
One thing I liked about this mini laptop was that it was capable of running on a 3G cellular network just by inserting a SIM card in it. I have a Rogers SIM with a data plan so I tested it out with this. It worked really well right away, no need to configure anything! (See screenshot below). It is capable of download speeds up to 10.2 Mbps.
-More after the jump-
It has three USB ports, an HDMI output port, and comes with the usual Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, which is good. It also has an integrated A-GPS which I didn’t really get to try out. The A-GPS works with the Nokia Ovi Maps. Amazingly, the Booklet 3G ran very quietly, especially since it had no fan.
The Nokia Booklet 3G isn’t available in Canada although it’s been released in the US since last year. Retailers sell it for about $600, which I think is a little bit pricey. If it was in the $400 range, it’ll probably be worth buying it.
The overall rating I would give this product is 4.5 stars out of 5.
Adding a Switch Port Interface to a VLAN
In an internet data centre, clients can set up a colocation where they can run their servers for access with the internet. In my job, what I would do is configure the Cisco Catalyst switch 3750 for new colocation clients. It is pretty simple. I check for a free port, assign this to the client, then assign them to a VLAN.
Here’s a configuration sample of how it would go:
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colo.switch>en
colo.switch>password:
colo.switch#show run int fa 1/0/11
Building configuration…
Current configuration : 36 bytes
!
interface FastEthernet1/0/11
end
colo.switch#conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
colo.switch(config)#int fa 1/0/11
colo.switch(config-if)#desc ClientNum – ClientName – VLAN 311
colo.switch(config-if)#switchport access vlan 311
% Access VLAN does not exist. Creating vlan 311
colo.switch(config-if)#dup full
colo.switch(config-if)#speed 100
colo.switch(config-if)#storm-control broadcast level pps 10k 9k
colo.switch(config-if)#storm-control multicast level pps 10k 9k
colo.switch(config-if)#storm-control unicast level pps 10k 9k
colo.switch(config-if)#switchport mode access
colo.switch(config-if)#no shut
colo.switch(config-if)#^Z
colo.switch#show run int fa 1/0/11
Building configuration…
Current configuration : 298 bytes
!
interface FastEthernet1/0/11
description ClientNum – ClientName – VLAN 311
switchport access vlan 311
switchport mode access
speed 100
duplex full
storm-control broadcast level pps 10k 9k
storm-control multicast level pps 10k 9k
storm-control unicast level pps 10k 9k
end
colo.switch#copy run start
Destination filename [startup-config]?
Building configuration…
[OK]
colo.switch#
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Always keep in mind when configuring a switch port that there are no existing configurations there that you would be overwriting by mistake. This is why the show run int fa 1/0/xx is important as it would display the existing running-configuration.
When you’re done with your configurations and have verified them correct, be sure to save them to the memory by using the command copy run start.
This post just shows a sample of configuring a switch port to a VLAN. Of course, this is not all that needs to be done for the client as they wouldn’t have access yet to and from the internet. The next step would be assigning them IP addresses and configuring the routes. More of that in another post.
iPhone 4 / iOS4 New Features
This post is quite a bit late already as the iPhone 4 has been released a few months ago. However, I know the following are really useful bits of information, so read on! (Reference: iPhone Support documentation)
Antenna (low signal / dropped calls)
The iPhone 4 has a new Antenna system. If you are having reception issues, Apple recommends getting a bumper case that will help safeguard the antenna from touch. To avoid poor reception issues if you don’t want to use a bumper case, make sure you hold the device by not touching the area where the black strips are at the bottom of the unit. It is also recommended to update it to iOS 4.01 or above which corrects an abnormality in the signal strength meter.
Cellular Data
iOS4 includes a new feature called Cellular Data – it allows you to turn off DATA CONNECTIVITY while still being able make and receive voice calls and using SMS. This is good if you are one of those users who wish to turn off data to conserve battery life or to safeguard against accidental roaming charges. When this option is OFF, you will not be able to use MMS, Tethering, use Visual Voicemail (the phone will still allow you to call into your voicemail box from the voicemail screen), and any application that requires data or location services will not function.
FaceTime
FaceTime is Apple’s new video calling feature, which is only available if you and the person you’re calling has an iPhone 4 as it requires the front facing camera. At the moment it only works through WiFi – 3G service is expected to be coming later this year (with Rogers Wireless users). If you are experiencing issues placing a call after porting your number, follow the steps HERE.
Should you have issues placing FaceTime calls and are behind a firewall, make sure you enable port forwarding for the following ports 53, 80, 443, 4080, 5223, and 16393-16472 (UDP). Refer to your router manufacturer for assistance or to your local IT Group.
Picture Restrictions
You can only copy five images at a time into an email. You can also now share up to nine images via MMS and five via email.
Voicemail Info (VMRN – Voicemail Retrieval Number)
| Check Current VMRN | *#5005*86# call | |
| Set Visual VMRN | *5005*86*+16478029327# call | (This is for Rogers iPhone users only. You may need to use a different VMRN. Contact your service provider.) |
Text Message
| Set Service Centre # | *5005*7672*+17057969300# call | (This is for Rogers iPhone users only. Contact your service provider for applicable SMSC#.) |
VPN Access (requires the Public IP Service)
| APN: vpn.com | Username: wapuser1 | Password: wap | (This applies to Rogers iPhone users only.) |
Other Useful Links and Support Tools
| iTunes Account and Purchasing Issues | 1-800-MYAPPLE |
| Apple Support and Tutorials | http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/ |
| Apple Expert (1×1 Phone Call) | http://www.apple.com/support/expert/ |
| MobileME Support | http://www.apple.com/support/mobileme/ |
| iPhone Troubleshooting Assistant | http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/troubleshooting/ |
| General iPhone Troubleshooting | http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2802 |
| Multitasking (iOS4) | http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4211 |
| MMS Issues | http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2755 |
| iOS4 User Guide | http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/iPhone_iOS4_User_Guide.pdf |
| Purchasing and Creating Ring Tones | http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1398 |
| Warranty Validation | https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do?newid=y |
Tech-Life in Pink 
