My New Sun Elite Plan And Kudos To The Sun Cellular Twitter Team

Regular readers of this blog are probably used to my rants about Sun Cellular and the ordeal I have been going  through with my Sun Broadband Wireless 3 MBPS Plan. It's still ongoing and I posted earlier, a link to the current status hoping that the same Twitter Team can resolve it as competently as they did with my Elite plan.

I upgraded our Plan 1000 to the Sun Elite P1,500 plan about a month ago. This was prompted by the insistence of my HTC Desire (and myself) to log on to the net in order to be constantly in touch via email, Facebook and Twitter. Regular readers might also remember that I am embarking on developing a new skill which is social media consultant, so my training is underway and a fast connection is definitely a big asset to me.

So the Sun Elite Plan comes with Call and Surf, Unlimited Internet and a Suntel Landline, all in one sim! You can imagine the load it is putting on my Desire with it's wimpy battery, but such is the price of being perennially connected. In its first week alone, I turned into an avid fan of a 3 in 1 sim. There are other variants depending on your needs, you can have just any two of the services above which would leave you some consumable amount for your communication with other networks.

Anyway, after the initial euphoria had settled, I realized that the internet was running a bit slow, actually that's a gross understatement because despite a strong HSDPA connection, I was getting 260kbps in Speedtest. Definitely unacceptable. I though maybe it was the phone so I benchmarked my Sun Broadband Wireless 650 account which was loaded in a USB modem, the E160. I have always been happy with this particular plan which puts my 3 MBPS to shame, despite costing twice as much. So this modem/sim combo promptly registered speeds in the 1.10 mbps, pretty much par.

Then I tried my Elite sim and it registered a lackluster 400kbps! That was actually the highest figure I got. The rest were pretty pathetic. This development promptly ended my honeymoon with the Elite plan and I was seething over having to pay so much for slow internet service AGAIN.

Then I came upon "the official Twitter account of Sun Cellular Customer Relationship Management Team" at
http://twitter.com/suncelltweets

Figured I had nothing to lose so I send a tweet their way, sharing my disappointment and expected nothing in reply. ZMuch to my surprise, in 24 hours I received a reply asking for my Sun Elite number!

Feeling a wave of hope, I promptly sent my number to them, keeping my fingers crossed...

Then what do you know...within 24 hours again I received a direct message from them informing me that the matter was resolved and that I should now remove and reinsert my sim to rety the internet.

At this point, I have to say that I was still skeptical because of my ongoing saga with my 3 MBPS account where I was promised resolution of my problem dozens of times, only to be disappointed.

So I started up my Desire and surfed on over to Speedtest. The very first test went all the way to 1.2 mbps! The second and third were all above 1 mbps. I was surprised and my faith in Sun Cellular is experiencing a renewal.

I tweeted them right away, expressing my gratitude. Then I asked another question about upgrading our 600 line to call and surf. Within 24 hours again, I got my reply. VERY IMPRESSIVE.

So I am now on my second honeymoon with my Sun Elite. Once again , my HTC Desire is getting a massive battery workout on a daily basis. Now I feel I am getting my moneys worth and I look forward to being able to say the same thing about my 3 MBPS plan.

I will be tweeting them now with my concern, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that FINALLY after almost a year of waiting, I can finally enjoy what is supposed to be my fastest wireless internet service.

So to the Sun Cell Twitter Team, THANK YOU VERY MUCH and I hope that you will be able to maintain this extremely competent and high quality customer care.

The Sun Broadband Wireless 3 MBPS Saga - is the end near?

For almost a year now, I have been calling the Sun Customer service about the pathetic speeds of my Sun Broadband 3 Mbps Wireless Internet. I even changed the sim at my expense just to try and solve the problem.

BUT TO NO AVAIL.

I have yet to enjoy the true speed of Suns 3 MBPS because I have not even exceeded 2 MBPS. They cannot even pull the "fair use policy" on me because I have a wired 3 MBPS PLDT MyDSL at home and I only use the Sun when I am out on a client call which is extremely rare, or on weekends for my kids.

Anyway, I had a very pleasant experience with the Sun Twitter team, where my concern about my Elite plan was attended to, and resolved within 24 hours. Hence I am looking forward to getting the same quick and competent resolution from them.

I am posting below the Speedtests from today which is representative of the speeds I get from my 3 MBPS which is basically what I get from my Plan 650 SBW. So I am paying 1399 for 650 speeds, something I have been doing for nearly 1 year.

I hope that the next Speedtest I will show here, will finally symbolize the end of this saga because I am truly tired of calling and complaining, My hopes are high that the Sun Twitter Team will deliver again, so stay posted. I will update this blog with the results.

Impatiently waiting for the Galaxy S Froyo update and other thoughts

I've spent the better part of a month waiting for the Galaxy S Froyo update. Despite having installed different firmwares on my Samsung Omnia 2, I felt that I should not go out of my way to make up for the shortcomings of Samsung in posting updates.
I still like the Galaxy S, and I can't think of any phone that will takes its place as my primary phone for Globe. However, if I had to choose only one phone today, it would still be my HTC Desire. Perhaps this is why I am a bit impatient about the Galaxy Froyo update, after all, the first thing I did upon getting my Desire was to update it to Froyo 2.2.
The new date for the worldwide Froyo 2.2 update for Samsung Galaxy S is November 11 so let's wait and see what will happen then.
In the meantime, I am currently on the lookout for a new phone so I can maintain 3 primary phones covering all the networks.
I already have Sun and Globe. All I am waiting for is an appropriate phone for Smart. Right now, my inclination is to use the Galaxy S for Smart and get a new phone for Globe. I considered the Iphone 4 but unless my work requires that I get an Iphone, I would much prefer to get the Desire HD. Windows 7 is also under consideration like the HTC HD7, but I am a very happy Android user right now and unless Windows 7 proves at the very least, equal to Android, I don't see a Windows 7 phone in my future.

How To Trade Forex on the Samsung Galaxy S

How To Do Forex Trading on the Samsung Galaxy S
Forex trading is one of the things I find interesting. However, once a person becomes a serious trader, it's a bit hard to be away from your PC, wondering how things are going.
I for one, cannot bear not knowing what the current exchange rate is and to think, I am only trading with play money!
So I decided to install a forex trading system on my phone. First up was my Desire, and it is a big relief for me to know that rates and trading are but a few clicks away.
Here is the link to a tutorial which shows how to install forex software on the Samsung Galaxy S


 

 

 

Got The Galaxy S

 
I am now the happy owner of a Galaxy S, an early Xmas present from my beloved mother.
We went over to a Globe Business Office to apply for a Globe line.
Luckily, I had the sense to call ahead two days before, to inquire about the Galaxy, as well as the promo. In the course of my inquiry, I informed the Globe staff that we intended to get the unit on Thursday and without my explicitly stating it, I was to find out later, that a unit was actually earmarked for us.
It was also great timing that we arrived before 5:30 so there were very few people in the store. The person who attended to us was very efficient and inside of 30 minutes everything was done with the exception of the unit, which I was informed, was down to the last piece, which was unfortunately, reserved. Then the staff noticed my name on the box! It was reserved for me! That to me concluded a very serendipitous series of events and I was a very happy new Galaxy owner and Globe subscriber.
Ok, the purpose of this post was to provide first impressions so here they are:
Good Points:
The Galaxy screen is really great, for most people, this alone will seal the deal.
The phone is super light and slim. The phone weighs only as much as my Sony Ericsson K810, give or take a few grams.
Music player audio quality is very good.
Battery life is very good.

 
Bad Points:
GPS is erratic and has problems picking up signals
FM audio quality is not good, unlike the Omnia 2 which had awesome FM sound
Phone feels fragile
The package is pathetic given the fact that this is a premium phone. No case and no memory card.
No Froyo upgrade yet, but its expected on September 23

 
So, does the Galaxy dethrone the Desire?
Nope, for me, the Desire is the BEST phone right now. But the Galaxy is a close second, and for the next few months, I won't be experiencing any gadget envy at all, even if the Desire HD should land on Philippine shores.
Personally, I feel that the Galaxy is at its best as a multimedia and social media phone, the type you take on vacation. The Desire on the other hand, feels and behaves like a solid business tool, except for the battery which I hope to sort out with an extended battery later on.

 

The New Sheriff Is In Town – HTC Desire HD

 
I was waiting to see how the real thing looked like before I got my Desire. The rumors were flying fast and furious about the successor of the Desire but I needed my Android NOW so I had no choice.
Barely a week after I got my Desire, the HTC Desire HD and the Desire Z were launched in London, hot on the heels of the Nokia smartphones.

So do I regret my Desire purchase?
Not by a long shot. The HD seems to be nearly similar to my HD2 in size and form factor so its not the type of phone I can carry around in my pocket. At this point the size of the Desire is perfect for me.
Will I be getting the Desire HD sometime in the future?
You bet, but not to replace my Desire. From the looks of it, it might replace my HD2, but I was holding out for a WM7 to replace the HD2 so I don't know who's going to be replaced…
Will I still get the Galaxy ?
The answer is yes, and the Desire HD just might replace it IF, the screen of the HD is comparable and the multimedia, especially the music player is up to par.
Some might be asking, why get the Galaxy at all?
The answer is because it's a bargain for me at this point. Besides I just launched my Android site and I am about to jump into social media for work so I have no time to wait for the HD. The fact that the social media experience is supposed to be better integrated on the Galaxy is also a big factor.
Moreover, I have not even seen the Desire or the old HD2 being offered by the local telcos so it will be expensive for some time.
I have to admit that I am loving the design and ease of use of HTC more and more. This is why I will only replace my HD2 with another HTC.
Anyway here are my preliminary impressions of the Desire HD.

• The size is ok for multimedia. The 4.3 inch screen will most definitely trump the Galaxy
• The Galaxy however seems to have the better screen, but that remains to be confirmed
• In the HTC, EVERYTHING works. My Omnias GPS is driving me nuts.
• The 8 megapixel (with flash) is another big plus over the Galaxy
• The build quality will probably be like the HD2 which means rock solid and oozing of quality. Beats the Iphone any day.

If it were not for my need to have MS Office applications to sync with my work PC, I would have gone totally Android. For those who need to keep a task manager easily accessible to shut down applications, the memory and resource management of Android is heaven sent. 

As it stands now, here is my wish list of phones:
1. HTC Desire HD
2. Samsung Galaxy S
3. WM7 Phone, preferably HTC or Samsung
4. Nokia N8 (maybe)
Time to fill up my vision board again.

More Useful Info for the HTC Desire Owner

The "getting to know you" portion of a new phone is always a fun time where you learn all the new things that your phone is capable of. Of course, like all things new, there will be some faults and issues that will come to light, because devices, like people, are never perfect.

So here are a few links I ran into while checking out some details about my new tool:

XDA Developers Thread about HTC Flaws and Annoyances with Workarounds

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=666332

Android Headlines Article: HTC Desire Ultimate Review: Everything you could possibly want to know

http://androidheadlines.com/2010/04/htc-desire-ultimate-review-everything-you-could-possibly-want-to-know.html


This is an awesome SMS application for the Desire and other Android phones. Check it out.

It's FREE

http://www.handcent.com/index.php


Tips And Tricks for the Desire from the Geekzone NZ forum
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=97&topicid=60136