G-Blogs 2.0 Still In Beta
G-Blogs is where I started blogging in 2004, it was a moblog or mobile blog. Due to many glitch of the old g-blogs system, there are rampant hacking of blogs just to prove their worth. Was it worth it? That’s a long story but without g-blogs, I maybe not here blogging. I still love g-blogs even if I did got tired of the old system. If not, I will not be blogging about it now.
Just a short recap of the old system. Old g-blogs can be access to any built in browsers before, it was possible to moblog using third party browser such as Opera, Opera Mini, Netfront etc. Legitimate bloggers can download images, audios, videos from other moblogs for Php 5 per file. I did forgot the rates already. To some, they can upload and download other files such as mobile applications, virus, ebooks and other unsupported files for FREE.
Those were the happy days until the Globe Telecoms numerously changed the system from time to time and our moblogs are always unavailable. Good thing that they decided to use wordpress to their recently launched g-blogs.
What’s with g-blogs 2.0?
G-Blogs 2.0 is built to give you a refreshing experience in personal blogging. Powered by the powerful open blogging platform, WordPress MU, G-Blogs 2.0 is equipped with new and exciting features that enhance the way your life’s moments with your friends online.
This is a giant step forward on blogging considering that I, myself experienced blogging at g-Blogs before. Indeed a wise decision but the normal mobloggers are waiting to access the site using their built-in browsers just like the old g-blog days. Globe Telecoms temporarily disabled G-Blogs’ SMS/MMS and WAP blogging service, as they prepare for the enhancements which they will be launching soon.
G-Blogs 2.0 is still in BETA – fresh out of the clinic after a thorough beauty makeover. This means you may still see a few bumps, scars, unwanted moles or hairs – things you would want us to tweak a bit, or probably even get rid of, here and there. If ever you do encounter any, do send us a note at gtg-blogs@globetel.com.ph and we’ll gladly tidy them up for you.
After recovering my old g-blog, I access the page for my old entries retrieval. They said wait for 24 hours to export my blog blog to new blog. That was 4 days ago and still nothing happened. Since I already knew wordpress, I hope they add more widgets (and plugin if possible), add page feature and more template choices. As of now, there are only two available template.
G-Blogs is built on WordPress MU. Should you need an extra know-how on advanced coding and features, feel free to visit their FAQ section.Technically, no need to hack for free download anymore just like the old days… The site can be access using Opera using Inet connection on mobile.
Sony eBook Reader
iPhone 3G, a PDA, Sony eBook Reader or a new symbian phone?
Sony eBook Reader is available in two colors, (PRS-505/LC) blue and (PRS-505/SC) silver. You can also get free 100 Classic titles download. On September 3, I heard there will be 10,000 or more eBooks ready to buy. The Reader Digital Book holds about 160 eBooks or hundreds more with optional removable memory cards. Its nice to know that it reads other eBook formats such as PDF, RTF, TXT, JPEGs, MS Word documents and plays audio books. The specs below sounds fine to me but I still need a new cellphone and have to read Sony Reader reviews first. Its hard to decide when I’m comfortable on reading mobile eBooks on my mobile phone.
Sony Reader specifications:
Weights and Measurements
* Dimensions (Approx.) : 6.9″ x 4.8″ x 0.3″.6 (175 x 122 x 8mm)
* Weight (Approx.) : 9oz.6 without soft cover
System Requirements
* Hard Drive : 20MB9 Minimum available Hard Drive space
* Internet Connection : Broadband suggested3
* Operating System : Operating System — Windows® XP (Home Edition/Professional, Media Center Edition, Media Center Edition 2004, Media Center Edition 2005)& Windows Vista® (Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate).
* Optical Drive : Optical Drive capable of reading CD-ROM
* Processor : 800MHz Intel® Celeron® class processor or better
* RAM : 128 MB Minimum
* USB Port : USB 1.1 or faster USB Port (Optimal with USB 2.0)
Power
* AC Power : Optional AC Charger requires 120 Volts 60Hz
* Battery Life (Approx.) : Up to 7,500 page turns2
* Battery Type : Rechargeable Lithium-Ion
* Recharging Time : Approx. 4 Hours with USB charging from powered Computer or Approx. 2 Hours when using optional AC wall charger
Media Formats Supported
* DRM Text : BBeB Book (Marlin)
* Image : JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP
* Unsecured Audio : MP3 and AAC7
* Unsecured Text : BBeB Book, TXT, RTF, Adobe® PDF10, Microsoft® Word (Conversion to the Reader-requires Word installed on your PC)
Display
* Gray Scale : 8-Level Grey Scale
* Resolution : Approx. 170 Pixels Per Inch
* Screen Size : Approx. 6″ Measured Diagonally
* Technology : E Ink® “Electronic Paper”
Price $299
Sony eBook Reader eBook Reader
Smart UZZAP Extended Free Trial
Smart Telecommunications has a new baby, UZZAP which they launched last July 7, 2008 for free trial until July 20, 2008. The good news is the free trial is extended until July 31, 2008.
Update (7/31/08): The promo is extended again until September 8, 2008.
Update (9/08/08): The promo is still ongoing until further notice.
UZZAP, derived from Filipino word which means usap or talk is a mobile application for all-in-one messenger service. During the trial period when registered, subscribers have 10 free SMS daily. What’s more is UZZAp has chat, email and SMS component. UZZAP allows to connect to your Yahoo and MSN Messenger.
After the trial period, UZZAP has a fee of Php25 for 1 day of UZZAP service with 100 SMS, Php150 for 1 week with 500 SMS and Php400 for 1 month with 2,000 SMS. For Smart users, text UZZAP to 7272 to download the program for free. No Internet browsing charges for Smart mobile subscribers.
UZZAP other features:
Connect to your favorite IM – wait a few seconds and watch your familiar YM and MSN buddies appear.
Go to the address book on your phone and invite friends to join your personal network to share in cost savings or add other contacts by simply selecting their details and add their number or email address giving you the ultimate flexibility.
Join a chatroom and meet new friends, you can even use an alias to try it out.
Activate buddy matching and watch your buddy list grow authomatically day by day.
Send a message, make a call or even send an email.
With UZZAP, you will never miss your chat buddies. Perfect for people always on the go.
Maintaining A Free File Host
File host offers webspace for our important documents such as images, documents, videos, audios etc. There are many file host sites in the web but some are not accessible to mobile phones (depends on the site and connections). To mobile community, using a file host means sharing our files to others.
During my active moblog days, I have an account at xthost and fsphost. The later closed their site and I lost my files, my xthost accounts are still running until now for so many years. To maintain xthost account, take note of these rules:
- inactive sites will be deleted with less than 1 hit/week
- No adult content allowed!
- Hosting copyrighted/illegal material is not allowed
- no mp3 storage (like 1 mp3 per account…)
- actually you know what’s going on, if you abuse it we will delete your account
- XT Host reserves the right to delete any page it deems unacceptable for any reason without prior notice.
- XT Host makes no guarantee as to the availability of service.
Its not that easy maintaining the account if no single hit (download) a week. There was a time that I have to download a single file from each of the accounts regularly to maintain them. If the first rule is not accomplished, that means account expiration. The trick here is upload an image and use the link in forum, blog or site.
A friend also informed me that my xthost links were posted on other popular wap sites which I’m not aware. If they’re receiving a regular download from those wapsites, I guess I owe them a lot.
Rule of thumb, always read the terms of service when signing up.
Ways To Transfer eBook To Mobile
When I started on mobile ebook reading, aside from where to get the ebook files, the transfering of ebook files to mobile is another problem. Of course, these days there are numerous solution especially if you have access to computer. Let me share the things I did before (no PC access) and the present solution to this problem. Again, I’m concentrated on symbian 60 phone mobile ebooks.
Here they are:
- OTA (Over The Air) Direct download using built in browser and other third party browser (Opera and the like) – the common way to download files provided that you have a working gprs and/or internet settings connections. This way, it doesn’t matter whether you have the direct link or simply search for the files.
- Download using fget – fget is a mobile application wherein the only purpose is to download files such as ebooks and other files. Click here for more details.
- Get it using comobi – a mobile application installed on your phone and a friend who will give you the files.
- Download using raccoon – a mobile application of a friend or colleague, setup a mobsite on his phone and share the files by giving you the link.
- Email attachment – have the ebook file send to your email as email attachment. Download the attachments through your email account. Just make sure that you have WINRAR or other compression mobile application just in case you need to uncompress it.
- Via MMS – (added May 11) With a few tricks, its now possible to send ebooks via MMS.
- Bluetooth – the easiest and free download from a friend. Don’t forget to turned off the bluetooth after file transfer.
- Card Reader – use card reader on transferring mobile ebooks you download using computer to your mobile.
- PC Suite – I haven’t tried this yet. I will reinstall PC Suite again and make a separate article for this.
