Samsung Omnia – Verizon Wireless

I recently changed my phone  to Samsung Omnia, amazingly it  has lot of cool features and performs decently without disappointing too much.

What is good.

1. Phone with a laptop style mouse, comes handy when it is hard  to press keys in virtual keyboard
2. Side bar like in VISTA – another  cool feature, comes handy with limited widgets!!!
3. FM Radio
4. About 4 types  of virtual keyboards, not all the best.. but once you get used to it, can’t complain much
5. WIFI – I think this is windows mobile – very easy to configure and pops up whenever it finds a network
6. Opera browser is nice, but  it is  much better with www.skyfire.com  – generally on any windows  mobile
7. Camera – never had  such a good experience in a Phone camera before.. really nice.. see some pictures I took

this is a one click – point and shoot panorama photo without much effort..

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What is not good!

1. GPS – I wish it worked better without having to disconnect my phone/broadband – and again, when i do it doesn’t work with google maps or Live Search
2. Even after selecting  not to notify on a wireless network, it keeps notifying – little  annoying
3. Battery Life – it was good until i  configured my email, once i configured my email to check every 5 minutes. i have to recharge twice a day – this is again depends on individual user preference
4. FM Radio doesn’t work on Bluetooth stereo headset

DLINK Media Lounge with Media Mall (PlayOn)

I signed up a beta service on The Media Mall to watch NetFlix (www.netflix.com) on the XBox, since I also have a DLINK DSM-520, I thought i will give a try!. First off, for my long waiting, this is an wonderful experience. I had to move all my wireless to the wired setting, otherwise there is a pause every few seconds, it makes for a the quality of video i was getting ranging from 5mbs to 7mbps, (yes you will need at least 6 Mbps Internet bandwidth).

Ok for someone who doesn’t know what I am talking about, I have Netflix account to get one movie at a time for about $9, and also I get the online video service, which i can watch unlimited movies anytime. I have been watching TV Series and movies, connecting my laptop HDMI to the 50″ Plasma (Home theater). well using the laptop is not bad using a wireless keyboard (built-in mouse), but it is not as convenient as using a conventional remote.

Now, with the Media Mall PlayOn, I can run this PlayOn software on the PC on my home network, and the DSM 520 automatically detects and shows the list of my favorite movies in my NetFlix account, and again this DSM 520 is part of my home theater setup with HDMI and a simple to use Remote. Now I can watch video from Hulu, CBS etc.

IceRocket Tags: DSM 520,Media Lounge,NetFlix,Hulu,Home Online Video

Trend in Hybrid Digital Video Recorder (DVR)

DVR – Digital Video Recorder
NVR – Network Video Recorder
HVR – Hybrid Video Recorder

Working in the surveillance for the past 7 years, this is one of most spoken word today "Hybrid", the ability to record video from both Analog Cameras and IP Cameras.

There were few companies started about 10 years back, revolunazing the industry by removing the VCR to DVR – able to record video from cameras to PC hard disk. In the past few years, with the IP Cameras into market, there are companies who started software only solution that can record video from IP Cameras and with a encoder box to connect to Analog cameras (or sometimes called Streamers).
Also, the traditional DVR companies jump into the market with the "Hybrid" Concept, improving the product by adding the ability to record from IP cameras as wells as analog Cameras.

If we look at this trend, there was no software presence at the beginning, when the industry was using just the VCR and analog cameras. As the industry step into the Software world, with DVR, it brought more flexibility, and so the complexity to install and maintain.
And now, having the software presence (firmware) in the IP Cameras, there is another variable in the equation. Ofcourse there is much more flexibility, and so the complexity. What it means is, if anything goes wrong, it always starts the Interface what Customer is using, but it could the software the Customer using, but also there is a possibility the Network, Switches, bandwidth, firmware in IP Cameras etc.

Today, if we look at what happens, after having a perfect IP Cameras/NVR or HVR installation, measured, tested and handed to a Customer (End user), how much the Customer understands or how much knowledge the Customer or Installer do have when things go wrong. It makes me wonder.

Today, the Customer is also expected to be not just a Security Expert but also an IT Expert or at least have an IT expert to evaluate and approve the Security installations.