Business Times reports that the Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture (KPKK) has setup what it calls a Broadband Action Brigade that will comprise of representatives from the ministry, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and local telcos to identify and fix broadband problems faced by individual consumers or firms.
The report says the brigade is a part of the Government’s initiative to boost Internet accessibility in the country, enhance broadband speeds, cut subscription fees and meet the Government’s targeted 50%household broadband penetration by year end. That’s a mighty big ask for the three month old brigade that’s currently being headed by the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Kamaruddin Siaraf. Right now the brigade meets every week to resolve broadband problems.
At the same time, KPKK has just launched a six-month long broadband awareness program to disseminate information on the benefits of broadband to the public, especially the rural areas to get more Malaysians to jump on the broadband bandwagon. We have to say, the program has a very catchy slogan though – “Get Broadband, Get Everything“.
On top of that Rais said that we can look forward to more affordable broadband fee as the the ministry is currently finalising its study on the subscription fees charged by various telcos to make them more affordable.
The report ended with Rais saying “It will be ready soon. It is not possible for us to standardise the charge by telcos, but we can make sure that it is affordable,”.
The PACIK is not going to like this one bit.
But seriously, ss cheap broadband really the answer to boost penetration? We’re still skeptical.
We tried searching online on how do we get in touch with this Broadband Brigade but we couldn’t find any leads. But if you have a complaint, you can try here and here.
Google wants to eliminate skinned Android with Gingerbread
Techcrunch reports that sources close to Google are looking to offer a complete revamp of the Android OS user experience when the new version, codenamed Gingerbread, becomes available.
The endgame for Gingerbread, Google says, is to make the user experience so fluid and compelling that device manufacturers don’t see the need to add their own skins on top of Android, like the HTC Sense and Motorola Motoblur. Word has it, Google wants Android to feel close to how the iPhone is now and make skinned Android interfaces obsolete.
Techcrunch says that skinned Androids “aren’t all that great” and “tend to slow down devices”. We have to disagree on this. We’ve been using the HTC Legend side-by-side with a Nexus One running Froyo and we dare say that the HTC Sense on the Legend offers a more integrated user experience compared to running native Android alone.
Getting manufacturers to shed their skins and run on natve Android is going to be difficult though as device manufacturers rely on skinned UI to differentiate thier products from the rest.
On the other hand, Google will need to lock down Android to ensure that the mobile OS can compete with the likes of Apple’s iOS4. But this is going to be difficult considering the fact that Android is an open operating system that is designed to handle a variety of hardware options.
When there’s a variety in hardware, it’s going to be very hard to make the user experience perfect. Which is why Apple’s Macs, with locked down hardware, have always been a better experience than the hugely hardware-flexible Windows operating system.
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Nexus One comes to Korea, gets Froyo 2.2
We’re on a roll with Froyo and Google updates at the moment. It took a while but the Koreans will be the latest lucky geeks to be getting the Google Nexus One. And the deal gets even sweeter as the Nexus Ones heading to Korea will be running the latest Android OS, the 2.2 aka (Froyo).
KT will be the telco of choice if you’re in Korea and is in the market for a Nexus One. Outright it’s going to set you back an equivalent of RM1,900 or a very attractive RM410 for a 24-month contract.
Sadly, we’re nowhere near Korea at the moment. What’s more important is, when will Google and the device manufacturers clear the confusion on which devices that will be getting the Froyo and which will not.
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HTC Singapore says no Froyo update for Legend
UPDATE: HTC Singapore removes comment, there’s still hope for HTC Legend being upgraded to Froyo
Just while we’re talking about handsets getting Android 2.2 Froyo update, we got tipped off about HTC Legend’s upgrade to Froyo. Responding to a question on Facebook, HTC Singapore had mentioned that the HTC Legend is not upgradable to the latest Android 2.2 (Froyo).
So far this is the only mention of HTC Legend’s upgrade from a HTC representative. There isn’t other source to back this up so it may or may not be true. Last month, HTC did mentioned that handsets released this year will be getting some Froyo loving but they didn’t specify which models are getting it. Since HTC Legend is launched in March 2010, we believe that it could be one of the recipients.
The Legend in our opinion is a pretty good Android device with an affordable price tag but it will be even awesome to function as a WiFi Hotspot if it runs on Froyo.
In case you missed it, check out our unboxing and usability review.
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TuneTalk celebrates 1 Million subscribers, offers free calls
Barely a year since launch, Tune Talk has announced its 1 million subscriber base. Quite an impressive feat considering it is a young MVNO. They have even created a cheap looking ad citing the lack of funds as they’ve focus their efforts and expenditure in creating the best low cost mobile operator.
In conjunction with this milestone, TuneTalk is offering FREE calls which we believed is free only within TuneTalk network as announced over twitter. TuneTalk is also running a contest that gives free trip to London for 2 for the highest top up user.
Check out our previous posts on TuneTalk here.
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We’ve just gotten word that P1 together with Intel will be organizing a media briefing on what could possibly be the country’s first range of WiMAX embedded laptops next week.
Not much details has been given, except the fact that P1 together with Intel will be launching WiMAX embedded laptops that offer both WiFi and WiMAX connectivity very soon.
This is not the first time P1 has mentioned WiMAX embedded computers out in the open, we recall reading reports early in the year that P1 was working on a WiMAX embedded netbook but didn’t hear much of it after that.
Michael Lai, P1’s CEO was quoted saying the his company promised to bring into the market “Malaysia’s first WiMAX embedded devices this year”. He added that P1 will deliver as pormised, saying that WiMAX embedded devices will become game changers in the local wireless broadband industry.
Maxis opens pre-order for the Samsung Galaxy S
Malaysia’s biggest supporter of Android devices — Maxis — will be bringing in another high-end Android phone, this time in the form of the Samsung Galaxy S.
Details are sparse on the Maxis pre-order page, safe for the fact that the device will retail for RM2599 outright. No indication how much it will cost with a plan attached but we’re assuming that it will be very close to HTC Desire range, which is around RM1500.
So what will you be getting with the Galaxy S?
- 4-inch Super AMOLED screen that 20% brighter, 80% less reflective and more touch responsive. Apparently the screen on the Galaxy S is the thinnest display technology in the market
- 1GHz processor which we believe is Samsung’s proprietary S5PC110A01 processor based on the same ARM CORTEX A8 core as Apple’s A4 processor which is inside the iPad and the upcoming iPhone 4
- 5MP AF camera with 720p HD recording. There’s no indication of zoom capabilities on Samsung official site
- On board storage include an 8GB and 16GB option with MicroSD expansion support up to 32GB, making the Galaxy S the smartphone with the most storage potential
Samsung has also included a propriety augmented reality app in the Galaxy S that it claims will offer rich augmented reality and location based content.
Maxis says the Galaxy S runs on the latest Android OS. We’re not sure that their definition of “latest” if but the last time we checked, the Galaxy S runs on Android 2.1 NOT the latest 2.2 Froyo. And to date, there’s no indication that a 2.2 update is available for the S, so we’re not too sure what they’re on about.
In the meantime, hope on over to the jump for some promo videos of the Galaxy S
Android 2.1 dominates 50% of Android devices, 1.6 & 1.5 still alive & kicking
The Android device segment is an interesting one where the platform is fragmented with different versions. As mentioned earlier, fragmentation is a big problem for Android where there are multiple versions namely Android 1.5, 1.6, 2.1 and the latest 2.2. Most newly developed Android apps only work well with the latest version and this will leave many Android users behind.
Just about months ago, the then latest 2.1 version stood at 27%. Today, Android 2.1 accounts to half of all Android devices out there. Not surprising considering new Android devices aggressively pushed today runs on Android 2.1. Contributing to the rise also are handset manufacturers that started offering firmware upgrades of older Android devices to version 2.1, like the HTC Hero.